4`gZU TRdVd URZ]j T`f_e Uc`a dYRca]j - Daily Pioneer

18
F or the first time in the last one-and-half months, the number of active coronavirus cases in India has dropped below the 8-lakh mark. However, reviewing the pan- demic situation in the country on Saturday, Prime Minister Narendra Modi cautioned against any complacency even as experts have warned that the onset of winters and the forth- coming festivals could lead to a spurt in the cases as has hap- pened in Kerala after Onam. With 70,816 patients recovering in the last 24 hours, India’s tally of active cases dropped to 7.95 lakh. Though India continues to report the highest number of new cases in the world, the daily surge has come down from over 90,000 fresh daily cases in mid- September to about 70,000 since the past week. Decline in cases in Maharashtra has contributed in the overall decrease, even as the sharp surge in daily Covid-19 cases in Kerala, Karnataka, Rajasthan, Chhattisgarh and West Bengal has worried the Central Government, which has rushed high-level teams of experts to help control the pandemic there. Chairing the meeting to review the Covid-19 pandem- ic situation and the prepared- ness of vaccine delivery, distri- bution, and administration, the Prime Minister noted a steady decline in the daily cases and the growth rate but he insisted on continued social distancing and Covid-appro- priate behaviour such as wear- ing the mask, regularly wash- ing hands and sanitation, espe- cially in the wake of the upcoming festival season. “The Prime Minister directed that we should make use of experience of successful conduct of elections and dis- aster management in the coun- try. In a similar manner, vac- cine delivery and administra- tion systems should be put in place. This should involve the participation of States/UTs/dis- trict-level functionaries, civil society organisations, volun- teers, citizens, and experts from all necessary domains. The entire process should have a strong IT backbone and the system should be designed in such a manner so as to have a lasting value to our healthcare system,” a PMO statement said. The meeting was attended by Union Health Minister Harsh Vardhan, Principal Secretary to PM, Member (Health) NITI Aayog, Principal Scientific Adviser, senior sci- entists, officers of PMO, and officials from various other departments. The PMO said two pan- India studies on the Genome of SARS-CoV-2 (Covid-19 virus) in India conducted by ICMR and Department of BioTechnology (DBT) suggest that the virus is genetically sta- ble and there is no major muta- tion in the virus. The PMO said three vac- cines are in advanced stages of development in India, out of which two are in Phase II and one is in Phase-III and Indian scientists and research teams are collaborating and strength- ening the research capacities in neighbouring countries such as Afghanistan, Bhutan, Bangladesh, Maldives, Mauritius, Nepal and Sri Lanka. There are further requests from Bangladesh, Myanmar, Qatar and Bhutan for clinical trials in their countries. To help the global community, the PM directed the health authorities that India should not limit its efforts to its immediate neigh- bourhood but also reach out to the entire world in providing vaccines, medicines and IT platforms for vaccine delivery system. Turn to Page 9 I ndia has been ranked 94th among 107 nations world- wide in the Global Hunger Index (GHI) 2020, faring poor- er than all its immediate neigh- bours and being put in the “serious” hunger category. Neighbouring Bangladesh, Myanmar and Pakistan too are in the “serious” category but ranked higher than India in the latest GHI. While Bangladesh ranked 75, Myanmar and Pakistan are at the 78th and 88th position. Nepal at 73rd and Sri Lanka at 64th position are in “moderate” hunger cat- egory. In the region of south, east and south-eastern Asia, the only countries which fare worse than India are Timor-Leste, Afghanistan and North Korea. Last year, India’s rank was 102nd among 117 countries. China, Belarus, Ukraine, Turkey, Cuba and Kuwait, fig- ure among the top 20 with GHI scores of less than five. The Global Hunger Index is a peer- reviewed annual report, joint- ly published by Concern Worldwide and Welthungerhilfe, designed to comprehensively measure and track hunger at the global, regional, and country levels. Turn to Page 9 A suspect shot dead by police after the gruesome behead- ing of a history teacher — who discussed caricatures of Islam’s Prophet Muhammad with his class, leading to death threats — in an attack near Paris was an 18-year-old Moscow-born Chechen refugee, officials said on Saturday. France’s anti-terrorism prosecutor’s office said author- ities investigating the killing of Samuel Paty in Conflans- Sainte-Honorine on Friday also arrested nine suspects, includ- ing the teen’s grandfather, par- ents and 17-year-old brother. Paty had discussed carica- tures of Islam’s Prophet Muhammad with his class, leading to threats and a com- plaint from a parent, police officials said. Islam prohibits images of the prophet. The offi- cials could not be named because they were not autho- rised to discuss ongoing inves- tigations. The French anti-terrorism prosecutor Jean-Francois Ricard said an investigation for murder with a suspected ter- rorist motive had been opened. Ricard told reporters that the suspect, who had been granted a 10-year residency in France as a refugee in March and was not known to intelli- gence services, had been armed with a knife and an airsoft gun, which fires plastic pellets. Turn to Page 9 D espite prohibition imposed in the State, over 9.89 lakh litres of liquor have been seized in Bihar so far ahead of the first phase of polls for 71 Assembly seats. And not just booze, authorities have also seized 1,139 illegal guns from across the State, known for its illegal gun factories. While more than 2.54 lakh people having criminal back- ground have been put on notice, there has been a seizure of 16.81 crore of unaccounted money, includ- ing about 90 lakh Nepalese currency. Raids and checks have also yielded a huge quan- tity of contraband drugs including 956.625 kg poppy, 106.825 kg hashish, 10.5 kg poppy rolls, 40 packet smacks, 150 gram brown sugar. The revelation was made in a seizure report of the Election Commission (EC). Over 200 “expenditure sensitive pockets” have also been identified by the EC in the State, which shares its borders with Nepal. The flying squads, static surveillance team and other agencies have seized 9,89,973 litres of liquors including “mahua” (Madhuca indica) made liquor from different locations, mostly rural areas. This is the first assembly polls in dry Bihar. “The liquor mafia in the dry State has sud- denly become more active in smuggling alco- hol as it is often used by politicians to lure voters”, offi- cials added. “The drug consumption has significantly increased after a statewide ban has been imposed on alcohol. As a result, an increase in the secretive sup- ply and sale of narcotics like brown sugar has been observed,” officials said. The income tax flying squad has recovered 16,81,29,023 unaccounted money, of which about 90 lakh are Nepalese currency notes. The special surveillance team and field surveillance unit has recovered about 11.72 crore during checking of vehi- cles from different locations. “More than 2,100 gun licences have been cancelled,” said an EC official. About 2,56,447 having criminal back- grounds or bad characters have been put on notice across the State. This means if anything happens, they would be behind bars. Turn to Page 9 D r Reddy’s Laboratories on Saturday said it along with Russian Direct Investment Fund (RDIF) has received approval from the Drug Control General of India (DCGI) to conduct phase 2/3 human clinical tri- als for Covid-19 vaccine Sputnik V in India. This will be a multi-cen- tre and randomised controlled study, which will include safe- ty and immunogenicity check, the Hyderabad-based drug major said in a statement. “This is a significant development that allows us to commence the clinical trial in India and we are committed to bringing in a safe and effi- cacious vaccine to combat the pandemic,” Dr Reddy’s Co-chairman and Managing Director GV Prasad said. RDIF CEO Kirill Dmitriev said the entity was pleased to collaborate with the Indian regulators. Turn to Page 9 3 R eiterating his government’s commitment towards digni- ty, safety and empowerment of women and girls of the state, Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath on Saturday launched the ambitious state- wide Mission Shakti programme with a stern warning to those who perpetrate crimes against the fairer sex. Launching Mission Shakti in Balrampur where it would con- tinue for the next six months till Basant Navratri, the chief min- ister said his government had zero tolerance towards crimes against women and girls. “Those who cast an evil eye on the dignity and self-respect of women will find no place in the state. The perpetrators of such crimes are a blot on society and the government will deal with them with a heavy hand,” Yogi thundered during his impas- sioned address on women safe- ty, security and dignity. The chief minister, who launched Mission Shakti from Balrampur, the work place of for- mer prime minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee, described women as a symbol of Shakti. “Women are venerable in our eternal tradition and Navratra signifies this. In the changing times, the new gener- ation should become the carrier of our eternal tradition which always professes the cause of women as the prime duty of mankind,” he pointed out. The chief minister said that Mission Shakti was a reminder of our duty towards women and girls. Asserting to bring home the issue of gender equality and terming female foeticide as a curse, Yogi said that girl protec- tion and respect to them should start from home itself and every- one should realise that there was nothing like gender dis- crimination. The chief minister also expressed his strong views against child marriage and said these rituals should be publicly condemned. Yogi also empha- sised on the facilities provided by the government to protect women and girls and asked them to approach those when in dis- tress. “In case of violence against women, 1090, 1070 and 112 and 189 numbers are always at their service,” he said. Terming the recent Balrampur incident against a girl as unfortunate, the chief minister said that Mission Shakti was a tribute to her. “The first phase of Mission Shakti will focus on spreading awareness towards ensuring safety and dig- nity to women and girls. In the second phase, Operation Shakti will target eve-teasers and put them to punishment or reforms. If such elements do not mend their ways, they will have to face social boycott and their pictures will be displayed publicly,” he said.

Transcript of 4`gZU TRdVd URZ]j T`f_e Uc`a dYRca]j - Daily Pioneer

����� ��������

For the first time in the lastone-and-half months, the

number of active coronaviruscases in India has droppedbelow the 8-lakh mark.However, reviewing the pan-demic situation in the countryon Saturday, Prime MinisterNarendra Modi cautionedagainst any complacency evenas experts have warned that theonset of winters and the forth-coming festivals could lead toa spurt in the cases as has hap-pened in Kerala after Onam.

With 70,816 patientsrecovering in the last 24 hours,India’s tally of active casesdropped to 7.95 lakh. ThoughIndia continues to report thehighest number of new cases inthe world, the daily surge hascome down from over 90,000fresh daily cases in mid-September to about 70,000since the past week.

Decline in cases inMaharashtra has contributed inthe overall decrease, even as thesharp surge in daily Covid-19cases in Kerala, Karnataka,Rajasthan, Chhattisgarh andWest Bengal has worried theCentral Government, whichhas rushed high-level teams ofexperts to help control thepandemic there.

Chairing the meeting toreview the Covid-19 pandem-ic situation and the prepared-ness of vaccine delivery, distri-bution, and administration,the Prime Minister noted a

steady decline in the dailycases and the growth rate buthe insisted on continued socialdistancing and Covid-appro-priate behaviour such as wear-ing the mask, regularly wash-ing hands and sanitation, espe-cially in the wake of theupcoming festival season.

“The Prime Ministerdirected that we should makeuse of experience of successfulconduct of elections and dis-aster management in the coun-try. In a similar manner, vac-cine delivery and administra-tion systems should be put inplace. This should involve theparticipation of States/UTs/dis-trict-level functionaries, civilsociety organisations, volun-teers, citizens, and experts from

all necessary domains. Theentire process should have astrong IT backbone and thesystem should be designed insuch a manner so as to have alasting value to our healthcaresystem,” a PMO statement said.

The meeting was attendedby Union Health MinisterHarsh Vardhan, PrincipalSecretary to PM, Member(Health) NITI Aayog, PrincipalScientific Adviser, senior sci-entists, officers of PMO, andofficials from various otherdepartments.

The PMO said two pan-India studies on the Genome ofSARS-CoV-2 (Covid-19 virus)in India conducted by ICMRand Department ofBioTechnology (DBT) suggest

that the virus is genetically sta-ble and there is no major muta-tion in the virus.

The PMO said three vac-

cines are in advanced stages ofdevelopment in India, out ofwhich two are in Phase II andone is in Phase-III and Indian

scientists and research teamsare collaborating and strength-ening the research capacities inneighbouring countries such asAfghanistan, Bhutan,Bangladesh, Maldives,Mauritius, Nepal and SriLanka.

There are further requestsfrom Bangladesh, Myanmar,Qatar and Bhutan for clinicaltrials in their countries. To helpthe global community, the PMdirected the health authoritiesthat India should not limit itsefforts to its immediate neigh-bourhood but also reach out tothe entire world in providingvaccines, medicines and ITplatforms for vaccine deliverysystem.

Turn to Page 9

����� ��������

India has been ranked 94thamong 107 nations world-

wide in the Global HungerIndex (GHI) 2020, faring poor-er than all its immediate neigh-bours and being put in the“serious” hunger category.

Neighbouring Bangladesh,Myanmar and Pakistan tooare in the “serious” category butranked higher than India in thelatest GHI. While Bangladeshranked 75, Myanmar andPakistan are at the 78th and88th position. Nepal at 73rdand Sri Lanka at 64th positionare in “moderate” hunger cat-

egory. In the region of south,east and south-eastern Asia, theonly countries which fare worsethan India are Timor-Leste,Afghanistan and North Korea.

Last year, India’s rank was102nd among 117 countries.China, Belarus, Ukraine,Turkey, Cuba and Kuwait, fig-ure among the top 20 with GHI

scores of less than five. TheGlobal Hunger Index is a peer-reviewed annual report, joint-ly published by ConcernWorldwide andWelthungerhilfe, designed tocomprehensively measure andtrack hunger at the global,regional, and country levels.

Turn to Page 9

���� �� �

Asuspect shot dead by policeafter the gruesome behead-

ing of a history teacher — whodiscussed caricatures of Islam’sProphet Muhammad with hisclass, leading to death threats— in an attack near Paris wasan 18-year-old Moscow-bornChechen refugee, officials saidon Saturday.

France’s anti-terrorismprosecutor’s office said author-ities investigating the killing ofSamuel Paty in Conflans-Sainte-Honorine on Friday alsoarrested nine suspects, includ-ing the teen’s grandfather, par-ents and 17-year-old brother.

Paty had discussed carica-tures of Islam’s ProphetMuhammad with his class,leading to threats and a com-plaint from a parent, police

officials said. Islam prohibitsimages of the prophet. The offi-cials could not be namedbecause they were not autho-rised to discuss ongoing inves-tigations.

The French anti-terrorismprosecutor Jean-FrancoisRicard said an investigation formurder with a suspected ter-

rorist motive had been opened.Ricard told reporters that

the suspect, who had beengranted a 10-year residency inFrance as a refugee in Marchand was not known to intelli-gence services, had been armedwith a knife and an airsoft gun,which fires plastic pellets.

Turn to Page 9

������� ���� ��������

Despite prohibition imposedin the State, over 9.89 lakh

litres of liquor have been seizedin Bihar so far ahead of the firstphase of polls for 71 Assemblyseats. And not just booze,authorities have also seized1,139 illegal guns from acrossthe State, known for its illegalgun factories.

While more than 2.54 lakhpeople having criminal back-ground have been put onnotice, there has been aseizure of �16.81 crore ofunaccounted money, includ-ing about 90 lakh Nepalesecurrency. Raids and checkshave also yielded a huge quan-tity of contraband drugsincluding 956.625 kg poppy,

106.825 kg hashish, 10.5 kgpoppy rolls, 40 packet smacks,150 gram brown sugar.

The revelation was made ina seizure report of the ElectionCommission (EC). Over 200“expenditure sensitive pockets”have also been identified by theEC in the State, which shares itsborders with Nepal.

The flying squads, staticsurveillance team and otheragencies have seized 9,89,973litres of liquors including“mahua” (Madhuca indica)made liquor from differentlocations, mostly rural areas.

This is the first assemblypolls in dry Bihar. “The liquormafia in the dry State has sud-denly become more active in

smuggling

a l c o -

hol as it is often used by

politicians to lure voters”, offi-cials added.

“The drug consumptionhas significantly increased aftera statewide ban has beenimposed on alcohol. As a result,an increase in the secretive sup-ply and sale of narcotics likebrown sugar has beenobserved,” officials said.

The income tax flyingsquad has recovered�16,81,29,023 unaccountedmoney, of which about 90 lakhare Nepalese currency notes.

The special surveillanceteam and field surveillanceunit has recovered about �11.72crore during checking of vehi-cles from different locations.

“More than 2,100 gunlicences have been cancelled,”said an EC official. About2,56,447 having criminal back-

grounds or bad charactershave been put on

notice across theState. This means ifanything happens,

they would be behind bars.Turn to Page 9

��� � ��������

Dr Reddy’s Laboratorieson Saturday said it along

with Russian DirectInvestment Fund (RDIF) hasreceived approval from theDrug Control General ofIndia (DCGI) to conductphase 2/3 human clinical tri-als for Covid-19 vaccineSputnik V in India.

This will be a multi-cen-tre and randomised controlledstudy, which will include safe-ty and immunogenicity check,

the Hyderabad-based drugmajor said in a statement.

“This is a significantdevelopment that allows us tocommence the clinical trial inIndia and we are committedto bringing in a safe and effi-cacious vaccine to combatthe pandemic,” Dr Reddy’sCo-chairman and ManagingDirector GV Prasad said.

RDIF CEO KirillDmitriev said the entity waspleased to collaborate with theIndian regulators.

Turn to Page 9

������������ ���������������� ��������������� ���������������������������������� ������������ � ���������

��� ����� ���!� ����"��#�����$%������������

&���'��� ���� ()�������*+�,�����-������������������������ ����������������������������������������������

-./� �������� ���,��� �������� ��0, �, �� "��

*1*�$,��2���� �3 ������4�,���, ���" ������������ �� ����������������������� ��������� ����������������

������������� ������� ����

����������� ��� ��������� ��������������������� ����������� ��������� �� � �����������������

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

$� ��������������������������!� ���������� �� ����� ��+�� �� ������������������ �1*� �������2��������� ���������� ����� �1*� ����������2��3������������������������������� ������������������ �������$������$����4������!����������������������������������������������#� �$���#�5����� ��$���#�����5�����+ �������� ���� �� ��������6�(�7����� �������*� ����� �� �+ ��� �!��������3���������������������������� ������������+ ��� �!��������8������� �������������������� ����������������� ���������������5����� ������������������� ����)

$����4��2������� �*� ��������������� �������'������������������!���������������� ���� ����*� ��2����������������������������������������+ ��� �!������

� ���� ���������+ �����8� �������������'�������������������� �������������� ������5����� �� ���� ���������� ����������� ���+ ����

$����4��2����� ���� ����� ������������ ������������������ ���������������� ��������������9�������������������������� ������ ����� ������'���������������������������� �:��������������������������� ������������� � ������ ��� ������ �

:���������������������5����� ���� ����� �� ����������!�� ��� �� ������9/;<0�!������������*� ������� 4����� �������������������������+ ��� !��������'������������ ��������� ����� ���������� ���������������� ��������� ������������������������������������ ������������������������������������������������������������ �������5����� �=��������� �����+ ��� �!�������

$�� �������������������������� ������������������5����� ������� � ������*� ���=������ �����/;>;�� ��/;<?�=���������!����������� ��� �������������������������������+ ������������!������ ��������������� �������������������5����� ������� �� ����!�������������������� � �� ����!����������������������������

����5���� ����%� ����5���� ���� ������������� �!������5������ �����+ �5� #����$� ���@3:5�� ���� �������!������������������������������� ������'������� ������������ ������������������������5����� �� ��� ����������!����������������� �� 5�������������� ��������������������*� ����'����� ������������������5����� ������� ������������ ������ ������������� ��

+������������������������ ������������!������������������ 5�� ��������������$��������������� ��8������������������������ ������5����� ������/;?A���������'��!���#������������������������������� �������� ������ ���������������������� ���������5����� ���������� �� �������������������������� ��������������������5����� ��������������������� ��!�������������/;0/���������������������������������� ���� ������ �����*� ���������

+���������� �� ����������������� ������ ��������������� �����3�������������� ������������ ���� ������������ ������������'����������������������$����4������������������������������������������ �����������9/;0/���� ��� � �

8���������������� ���������������� ���������� ����� ������'��������������������������� �"���� ����� ����������������� ������������"���� ���� �� ��� �������������� ��2��@�B��������������������� �/;<A�8������ ������������������� ���������(������ 2� ��)�� ��( ��� ��� �����������������@�B�)��������������������/;<A�� ������������������/;0C���'����2��"���� �������#�����8������ ����������������������������� ����� �� ������

+ �+ �������������������������� ������������������������������'������������������� �������� ����������� ��������� ���� ������������ ������������������� ���� ����������� ����������� �������������������������D�������/;<0������������������������ ��������������

���������������� �� ��#��� ����������������� 2���� ��+ ��� ��������������������E�#����������.������������� 2��'�������������������� ��������������+ ��� !���������������������� ������������������������ �������������� ��.��� ��������!������������������������������������������������%� �����������/;<0�

+���� �������������������������%� ������� ������� &����� ��������������*� �������������� ���:�� ����������� ��� ��4�� ������������ ������� ������������������

������������������� �����������

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

���������������������� ��� ����!����������������

���� ����������������� �� � ��� ��� ������������������������� �� ���������������� ������ �� ����! � � �� "#$

����� �������������������������������������*������������ 34�56�783�� 93�:48�����������37�45�6;6������������� :�:<�396 6�9;6�������������:�74�675=�������� :�45�4:9������������3;�98:������������6�7:�953�� �&����� 6�57�956���� 3;�456�����������6�78�:;5������������ 9�48�66; 6�68<�������������9�33�633=���&� 7�79�88< 3�39; 8�76�<5<��&��� 7�8:�:35 ������������������8�<5�547�����$����& 7�3:�;47 4�<<8�������������8�::�<9;>����� 8�66�794 3�3:9�������������8�99�88:��&������ 8�8;�6:4 3�864�������������3�<6�676$������ 8�;7�;6; <<; 3�<3�434���� 8�;;�7<3 564����������������3�:3�;53��+������ 3�:3�853 3�:74�������������3�95�8<3*���'�������� 3�4<�345���� 8�:47�������������3�98�:;:��+����� 3�45�674 7�68<�������������3�9;�43<,����������� 3�44�<5:���� 3�984�������������3�86�56<

����� ����������������������������������������������������� ��

��������"#�"#$"%�����

��� ��� ��� ������� ��������������������� ��� ������������ ���� ������%&�������� ���! �����'������&�" ��&����! � � �� �"

��������� ����������������� ����������������� ���������������������������������� �������!�"� ����

�����,��' �!"# 346��$$%& 857?���� ����������(�����"��!!&���%&�

$'()"*$+&,����� ���������� ��������������������������� ��

###$%��&'��( $)��

&!'()��*�,$�$���

�>@�� ����

+'(,$���A�*���������� �8������*������� ���

&!-�"%,����>��,�>� >1�������

������-�������.� ����/������ � �0���1����2���3

C������&'�#���� "���%##�-�# D���&'!�#������ �.�����/ �������� -�# D���&'!�#����D

(�������!� ���)��( *�%������+,������ ������������� % �������������� ��,=�>�

Reiterating his government’scommitment towards digni-

ty, safety and empowerment ofwomen and girls of the state,Uttar Pradesh Chief MinisterYogi Adityanath on Saturdaylaunched the ambitious state-wide Mission Shakti programmewith a stern warning to thosewho perpetrate crimes against thefairer sex.

Launching Mission Shakti inBalrampur where it would con-tinue for the next six months tillBasant Navratri, the chief min-ister said his government hadzero tolerance towards crimesagainst women and girls.

“Those who cast an evil eyeon the dignity and self-respect ofwomen will find no place in thestate. The perpetrators of suchcrimes are a blot on society andthe government will deal withthem with a heavy hand,” Yogithundered during his impas-

sioned address on women safe-ty, security and dignity.

The chief minister, wholaunched Mission Shakti fromBalrampur, the work place of for-mer prime minister Atal BihariVajpayee, described women as asymbol of Shakti. “Women arevenerable in our eternal traditionand Navratra signifies this. In thechanging times, the new gener-ation should become the carrierof our eternal tradition whichalways professes the cause ofwomen as the prime duty ofmankind,” he pointed out.

The chief minister said thatMission Shakti was a reminder ofour duty towards women andgirls. Asserting to bring home theissue of gender equality andterming female foeticide as acurse, Yogi said that girl protec-tion and respect to them shouldstart from home itself and every-one should realise that therewas nothing like gender dis-crimination. The chief minister

also expressed his strong viewsagainst child marriage and saidthese rituals should be publiclycondemned. Yogi also empha-sised on the facilities provided bythe government to protectwomen and girls and asked themto approach those when in dis-tress. “In case of violence againstwomen, 1090, 1070 and 112 and189 numbers are always at theirservice,” he said.

Terming the recentBalrampur incident against agirl as unfortunate, the chiefminister said that Mission Shaktiwas a tribute to her. “The firstphase of Mission Shakti willfocus on spreading awarenesstowards ensuring safety and dig-nity to women and girls. In thesecond phase, Operation Shaktiwill target eve-teasers and putthem to punishment or reforms.If such elements do not mendtheir ways, they will have to facesocial boycott and their pictureswill be displayed publicly,” he said.

��������*������ *���+�����,-.�/0/0

������������ ������������������������������� �������������������� ��! ����������""����������!�#��$���������%&''()*(����������+��+�����������,�������&--./���0������� .���1������������%�2�����3����������$�������2�����3���������������$101��')*(456�������%+� �"�����32�.783 )-(())!93'- 55:'�. ���;�����3<)5-'=' '):*:�' '*)*:�-'>) ()���"��;�����3<)5*'='-) ))(�'-) *(������;�����3<)5 '=' * '> �' * '>5�?� ��;�����31��(�7�����@� �7�%��7�������A������1�%?� ��&**)))'������3)**& )**) 55���//��������;�����3!&-*�������(�1;0?.�@��/7���1��&')*-)*�B��������3)*')& :6>:))C :6>>))

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

�����

Lucknow (PNS): TheBharatiya Janata Party in UttarPradesh is facing rebellion inDeoria Assembly bypolls withthe son of former party MLA,whose death caused the by-election, filing his nominationpaper as a rebel independentcandidate.

Deceased BJP MLAJanmejay Singh’s son, AjayPratap Singh, filed his nomina-tion as an independent candi-date on Friday, the last day offiling of the nominations.

At the last moment, theBJP decided not to give ticketto Ajay Pratap, a Thakur, afterthe other three political partiesfielded Brahmins. Hence, italso gave ticket to a Brahminparty worker, a senior BJPleader said here on Saturday.

After the death of JanmejaySingh in August, his son AjayPratap Singh, also known asPinto Singh, was the front run-ner as BJP candidate for thebypolls. However, the BJP field-ed Satya Prakash Mani Tripathifrom the seat. “Some senior BJPleaders who had come toexpress their condolences aftermy father’s death had asked meto prepare for the bypoll. But allof a sudden my ticket wascancelled at the last moment,”Ajay Pratap Singh said.

The bypolls for sevenAssembly seats will be held onNovember 3 while the count-

Lucknow (PNS): At least nine people were killed and30 injured when an ill-fated Uttar Pradesh Roadways buscollided with a SUV in Seramau area of Pilibhit districtearly Saturday morning. The deceased included a childand two women.

Soon after learning about the accident, Chief MinisterYogi Adityanath expressed his deepest condolences.

A state government statement said, “Uttar PradeshChief Minister Yogi Adityanath ji has expressed grief onthe tragic death of people in a road accident in Pilibhitdistrict. He has expressed condolences to the bereavedfamilies of the dead, praying to God for the peace of thedeparted soul.”

The chief minister directed the district officials to pro-vide proper treatment to those injured in the accident.He also announced an ex gratia payment of Rs 5 lakh eachto the families of the deceased.

����� ��,=�>�

In yet another embarrass-ment for the state govern-

ment, an audio clip has sur-faced on the social media inwhich Ballia murder accusedDhirendra Pratap Singh ispurportedly heard issuingthreats to a UP Police inspec-tor for failing to adhere to hisdemands.

Meanwhile, Singh alsoreleased a video message,pleading his innocence in themurder case and claiming thathe did not fire any shot duringthe stampede.

In the audio clip that hasgone viral on the internet,Dhirendra Pratap Singh asksthe police inspector about thestatus report in his case. Afterthe police officer tells him totalk to the SDM (sub-division-al magistrate) about the report,Singh threatens him with direconsequences, saying theinspector does not know whohe is dealing with.

Hours after the audio clipwent viral, Dhirendra PratapSingh released a video messagepleading innocent in the mur-der case and claiming that hedid not fire any shot or

attacked anyone during therecent incident in Ballia.

It should be noted that thepolice have arrested fiveaccused in the case so far butthe main accused —Dhirendra Pratap Singh — isstill on the run.

Interestingly, on Friday, aBharatiya Janata Party MLA inBallia had openly defended theprime accused and evenaccused the police of con-ducting a biased probe.

“Dhirendra Pratap Singhopened fire in self-defence orelse dozens of his family andassociates would have beenkilled,” Bairia MLA SurendraSingh had said, adding, “He(Singh) had no other option. Itwas a do-or-die situation forhim.”

Earlier, two people includ-ing the brother of DhirendraPratap Singh were arrestedwhen a fracas broke out at ameeting attended by adminis-tration and police officials inBallia district.

Five others were detainedbut till Saturday evening, themain accused was yet to bearrested.

Some close lieutenants ofSingh, however, claimed that

he was already in police cus-tody but the cops had notshown his arrest.

Meanwhile in Gonda,seven people, including aMahant, were arrested onSaturday in connection withthe attempt on the life of apriest of the Ram Janaki tem-ple in the Itiyathok Kotwaliarea.

Superintendent of PoliceShailesh Kumar Pandey saidthat with the intention of tak-ing benefit in the panchayatelections and for trying toimplicate opposition in a prop-erty dispute, the priest at theRam Janaki temple had beenshot at.

He said that MahantSitaram Das had got therounds fired on the temple’spriest, Samrat Das, to defamethe former gram pradhan ofthe village, in cahoots withpradhan Vinay Das on thenight of October 10.

The SP said that accusedMahant Sitaram Das had got areport filed against four peo-ple, including former pradhanAmar, Mukesh and BhayKaran Singh.

He said during probe intothe case and after questioning

the locals, the police teamarrested seven people, includ-ing the mahant, NeerajMunna, Sonu, Vidit,Shivshankar Singh and VinaySingh.

Three country-made pis-tols and a mobile phone wererecovered from the posses-sion of the accused. Search ison for another accused, Sooraj.

Pandey said that theinjured priest was undergoingtreatment at Lucknow’sKGMU Trauma Centre underpolice supervision.

����� ��,=�>�

With Bharatiya Janata PartyMLA from Bairia in

Ballia, Surendra Singh, alreadybringing embarrassment to theparty by openly siding with theaccused in the sensationalkilling in front of administra-tive officials, another partyMLA in Lakhimpur Kheri hasalso created trouble for the rul-ing party.

The leader and his hench-men allegedly created ruckusinside a police station andforcibly got an eve-teaserreleased from police custody.

Surprisingly, the BharatiyaJanata Party leader wasinvolved in the attack when justa few hours later the chiefminister launched MissionShakti, promising toughestaction against those who daredto play with the dignity ofwomen or tried to help theaccused.

Sources said that a videoclip of the ruckus created by theBJP MLA and his son and sup-porters was being widely circu-lated on social media plat-forms.

BJP MLA Lokendra PratapSingh and his son reportedlyreached Mohammadi policestation in Lakhimpur post mid-night along with scores of sup-porters and created a ruckusover the arrest of a party work-er in an eve-teasing case onFriday.

In the video that has sincegone viral, the ruling partyworkers can be heard asking forthe lock-up keys to release theaccused.

The policemen could notmuster the courage to opposethe agitated Bharatiya JanataParty workers and the MLAand the legislator’s supporterswalked away with the accused.

While the local police offi-cials were tight-lipped aboutthe incident, BJP MLALokendra Pratap Singh saidover the phone that there wasno ruckus at the police stationand it was being wrongly prop-agated to malign his image.

����� ��,=�>�

Uttar Pradesh GovernorAnandiben Patel flagged off 100

‘pink’ two-wheeler and 10 four-wheeler police vehicles of PinkPatrol, under the Safe City Project onSaturday.

Taking a bold step towards safe-ty and security of women and girlsin the state, a Pink Patrol, the first ofits kind all-women patrolling com-mand, was launched by the chiefminister on Saturday to ensure thesafety of the fairer sex under hisMission Shakti campaign.

The Pink Patrol is designed totake immediate action in cases ofmolestation and crime againstwomen in Lucknow. Approximately250 woman police personnel havebeen deployed in the Pink Patrol aftergiving them rigorous training.

Under the Safe City plan, thePink Patrol will operate in the stateat places that have been hotspots ofcrime against women as identified bythe Lucknow police. These will beinitially stationed at places, includ-ing girls’ colleges and women’s gath-erings where there have been inci-dents of molestation in the past or thelocality is on alert regarding suchoccurrences. Patrolling will also bedone on the basis of complaints andsuggestions from women. Accordingto Lucknow police officials, PinkPatrol can also be deployed at nightas per the need. Pink Patrol will alsobe directly connected to the nearestpolice station with 1090, 112 andintegrated control room so thatadditional police force can be dis-patched immediately, if needed.

After the successful implemen-tation in Lucknow, the YogiAdityanath government plans tolaunch the Pink Patrol scheme inother districts of Uttar Pradesh,namely Kanpur Nagar, Agra,

Gorakhpur, Varanasi, Prayagraj,Meerut and Noida

Speaking on the occasion, Patelsaid the Pink Patrol campaign of theCentral and state governments wasgoing to run for 180 days.

“We all have a responsibilitytowards the safety of women, it is notthe responsibility of any one depart-ment or an officer. The proceedingsof every case of atrocities againstwomen should be solved on time. Weshould take a pledge that therewould not be a single incident ofcrime against women,” she said.

She also said that vehicles pro-vided by the government under thecampaign should only be used forofficial work and not for personalpurpose. The governor extendedher wishes to the nation on the occa-sion of Navratri. “Today is the firstday of Navratri. I wish everyone avery happy Navratri,” she said.

The Union Ministry of HomeAffairs had approved the Safe CityProject for Lucknow at a total cost ofRs 194.44 crore under the NirbhayaFund Scheme in November 2018.

The project is implemented as acentrally-sponsored scheme withthe Centre and state governmentsharing the funding in 60:40 ratio.

This approval was a part ofMHA’s plans to implement Safe Cityprojects in eight selected cities,namely, Mumbai, Delhi, Kolkata,Chennai, Bengaluru, Hyderabad,Ahmedabad and Lucknow underNirbhaya Fund, with the purpose ofstrengthening safety and security ofwomen in public places.

The major components of theSafe City Project in Lucknow includesetting up an Integrated SmartControl Room, setting up PinkOutposts (exclusively administeredby women police) for facilitating easeof filing complaint by women, PinkPatrols of women police, setting upof women help desks in all police sta-tions with counsellors, augmentationof existing Asha Jyoti Kendras,implementing safety measures inbuses, including cameras, improvingstreet lighting in identified hotspotareas, setting up of pink toilets andthe integration of women power-helpline with single emergency number‘112’.

The Safe City Project forLucknow also envisages gender sen-sitisation awareness campaigns andcapacity building in collaborationwith community and civil societyorganisations.

%�������01!�2,%������������������������ 45�"�� �� � ��� ����ing will be taken up onNovember10, 2020. The changeof candidate by the BJP is like-ly to create problems for theruling party and is likely to dentthe Thakur vote bank of theparty. The deceased BJP MLA,Janmejay Singh, was electedfrom Deoria seat for the second

consecutive term since 2012. Interestingly, all the four

parties have fielded Brahmincandidates on the Deoria seat.While Satya Prakash ManiTripathi has been fielded by theBJP, the Samajwadi Party hasgiven its ticket toBrahmashankar Tripathi.

4�������� �6�,� �� ������� � � ����������������������������������������������������������������� ��������������������������� ���������������� ��������������������������������!��������������������������������"�����

Lucknow (PNS): All India MuslimPersonal Law Board has decided tochallenge the acquittal of all theaccused in the Babri mosque demoli-tion case by the special CBI court onSeptember 30. The decision to chal-lenge the trial court’s ruling was takenduring a two-day working committeemeeting of the AIMPLB that endedhere on Friday night.

During the meeting, held virtual-ly, the members also discussed thethreat of the uniform civil code (UCC)and it was decided that the politicalparties and religious organisationswould be informed about their appre-hensions. The AIMPLB also approveda proposal to set up a committee on theUCC issue. It also decided to set upan intellectual committee to suggestways for preventing misuse of theIndian Penal Code (IPC) and theCriminal Procedure Code (CrPC}.The meeting was chaired by AIMPLBpresident Maulana Sayeed Mohammad

Rabe Hasni Nadvi and it was coordi-nated by general secretary MaulanaMohammad Wali Rahmani.

The members expressed theiranguish on the verdict of the specialCBI court to let off all the accused inthe Babri demolition case. It was unan-imously decided that the AIMPLBwould challenge the verdict in the high-er court. AIMPLB spokespersonZafaryab Jilani said here on Saturdaythat Haji Mahboob and some otherswould file the petition in the courtagainst the verdict of the special CBIcourt in the Babri demolition case.

Haji Mahboob had earlier object-ed to withdrawing the cases against for-mer deputy prime minister Lal KrishnaAdvani and later the court too accept-ed his demand. The special CBI courtacquitted all the 32 accused, includingBJP veterans LK Advani, MM Joshi andUma Bharti, of their involvement in thedestruction of Babri Masjid 28 yearsago, in December 1992.

�*�$��#����&&����� !&�,$�#����)����������$�%���*��+���

3��� ��� ���4�����5������� ��

#����5� ����������

��������� �������" ������ %%��%������--�+��������������� ����-��� �������������������������"����" �������. ��������! � � �� "�����

REQUIRED

NOTICE

My name is Naushad Shah S/oChaman Shah not MohdNaushad. Naushad Shah S/oChaman Shah Village andPost Lalauli Mahammadpur,Fatehpur.

����#������� *������ *���+�����,-.�/0/0

����� ��,=�>�

Uttar Pradesh continues towitness a downslide in

coronavirus infections andnow there is almost a 50 percent decrease in active patientsand the recovery rate has alsotouched nearly 91 per cent.

The total confirmed coro-navirus positives cases in thestate on Saturday reached4,52,660 while 4,11,611 ofthem recovered. At present,34,420 COVID-19 patients areadmitted in hospitals or are inhome isolation for treatment.

As many as 2,880 freshpositive cases were reportedacross the state on Saturdaywhile 3,528 COVID-19patients recovered. Thepatients included 81 fromKanpur, 127 from Prayagraj,153 from Gorakhpur, 189 fromGhaziabad and 137 fromVaranasi.

There were 40 deathsacross the state, including five

from Gorakhpur, three fromSonbhadra, two each fromPrayagraj, Meerut, Mathura,Basti & Chitrakoot, and oneeach from Kanpur, Ghaziabad,Varanasi, Jhansi, LakhimpurKheri, Shahjahanpur, Deoria,Muzaffarnagar, Jaunpur,Kushinagar, Ghazipur, Sitapur,Rae Bareli, Siddharthnagar,Bijnore, Jalaun and KanpurDehat. The recovery rate in thestate has increased to 90.93percent. A total of 6,629 peo-ple have lost their lives to thelethal virus with 40 fresh fatal-ities being reported in the last24 hours.

Additional Chief Secretary(Health) Amit Mohan Prasadsaid on Saturday that the healthworkers in the state had pre-pared a list of children underone-year age and of pregnantwomen who had missed theirvaccine and tetanus injectionsduring the lockdown period.

He said there were 3.25lakh children and aroundfour lakh pregnant womenwho would be given vaccinesand injections, respectively,during a special drive inNovember.

On Friday, 1,62,471 sam-ples were tested and with it thetotal Covid tests in the state

went up to a record1,28,41,878.

Prasad said there were15,831 asymptomatic COVID-19 patients in home isolationwhile 2,980 patients wereadmitted in private hospitalsand the rest were recovering ingovernment-run Covid hospi-tals. Over 4.22 lakh surveil-lance teams have covered1,42,139 areas of the state andvisited 2.72 crore998 houses tocheck the health of over 13.44crore people.

Meanwhile, as many as317 persons tested positive forcoronavirus in the city onSaturday while 476 patientsrecovered, taking the numberof recoveries to 54,786. Thedeath toll in Lucknow is 811.

A senior official at CMOoffice said the new patientsincluded 38 from Gomtinagar,32 from Rae Bareli road, 24from Indiranagar, 18 fromAlambagh, 16 each fromAliganj & Madiaon, 14 fromChowk, 13 from Chinhat, 12each from Ashiyana &Hazratganj and 10 fromJankipuram.

There were eight deaths inthe district and the deceasedincluded three from Lucknowwhile five from other districts.

Two patients died at KGMU,including a 52-year-old manfrom Unnao and a 68-year-oldman from Faizabad.

With the number of coro-navirus cases coming down,the focus is now on reducingthe positivity rate further.Incharge of Integrated Controland Command Centre ManishBansal said they were pre-pared for the coming monthsand continuously working onincreasing their capacity andwith the festive season roundthe corner, they were chalkingout a strategy to preventcrowding.

He said they had done theground work thoroughly andwere hopeful that there wouldnot be too many cases in thecoming months.

Bansal said to curb thespread of coronavirus withfurther relaxation in guide-lines, the district administra-tion was ready and it hadalready started a widespreadIEC campaign.

“Today itself, we connect-ed 1,000 private and govern-ment schools in an onlinemeet and all were givendetailed instructions on how toadhere to Covid-19 guide-lines,” he added.

����� ��,=�>�

Various departments of den-tal sciences at KGMU will

be resuming their OPDs fromOctober 19. KGMU spokesper-son Dr Sudhir Singh said thepatients were required to com-plete online registration beforevisiting OPDs.

“There will be a capping of100 patients a day. All patientsneed Covid negative reportwhich should not be morethan three days prior to theOPD visit. Fresh Covid testswill be offered to patients witholder or no reports. Thoseaccompanying the patients willalso be required to produce aCovid negative report,” he said.

Reception facility will runat the department of oral med-icine and radiology and allpatients will be first examinedat the department of oral med-icine from where the patientswill be referred to respectivedepartments. There will bevarious services like root canaltreatment, braces treatment,partial and complete denture,implants, trauma, cavity filling,tooth extraction and scaling onday care basis. Special clinicalfacilities will also be availablefor paediatric patients andother clinics like pyorrhea clin-ic will also resume.

Meanwhile, KGMU’sdepartment of trauma surgeryorganised a walkathon onWorld Trauma Day onSaturday. The walkathon wasorganised at 1090 crossing. Itwas flagged off by KGMUVice-Chancellor Dr Bipin Puri.Doctors, health workers andgeneral public participated inthe walkathon. In his speech atthe training camp at ShatabdiHospital, the VC said aroundone million people die due toroad accidents in the world andabout 5 to 6 lakh people sufferfrom disabilities every year.Trauma is the third leadingcause of death in the worldafter heart attack and cancer, hepointed out.

$�.�.����������������� � ���7������ ��� ���&�8��������

9 ..�"� �,��� ������� :-�����������

00%6��������"&'��744������� ����������� ��,=�>�

Babasaheb BhimraoAmbedkar University

(BBAU) has received ISO14001 certification for betterenvironmental management.ISO 14001 is an international-ly agreed standard that sets therequirements for an environ-mental management system. Ithelps organisations in improv-ing their environmental per-formance through more effi-cient use of resources, reducingwaste, in competitive advantageand stakeholder confidence.

BBAU spokesperson saidthat recently, a green auditwas done by LMS CertificationLimited Company at the uni-versity. “The audit indepen-dently evaluated the universi-ty’s environmental manage-ment system. Assessed by thecompany in accordance withthe International GreenBuilding CertificationStandards, in which all stan-dards related to the environ-ment have been met. The uni-versity has been awarded greencertification by the companyafter the evaluation. The ISO14001 certificate shows that theBBAU is able to provide a bet-ter environment for studentsand staff to work and learn andat the same time, the universi-ty has made good arrange-ments to improve the environ-ment, which is the greatestneed of the hour,” thespokesperson said.

Lucknow (PNS): Speaking atthe CII conference on agriinputs, Minister forChemicals and Fertilizers DVSadananda Gowda said thetheme of the conference (Easeof doing agriculture – farm-ing innovations) is apt andtimely. He enlisted the stepstaken by the government tostreamline the supply of fer-tilizers to the farmers inCovid times. He highlightedthe role of direct benefits

transfer (DBT) in decisionmaking by analysing real-time information on demandVs supply.

Secretary, department ofFert i l izers , Ministr y ofChemicals and Fertilizers,Chhabilendra Roul also spokeon the innovative steps takenby the ministry for the bene-fit of farmers. He highlightedthe two initiatives, dashboard‘urvarark’ for farmers to givereal time information on

availability of farmers and asan extension of it, an SMSgateway which gives real-time information on fertiliz-ers in retail stores. He sharedwith the audience how thegovernment is engaging withfarmers on the use of newtypes of fertilizers such asnano or biofertilizers for pro-ductivity and sustainability.Roul said his motto is ease ofliving for 140 million farmingfamilies.

����� ��,=�>�

In a tragic incident, a 30-year-old truck conductor died

after being hit by anotherspeeding truck in Ashiyanaearly Saturday morning. Thevictim was identified asJitendra Yadav of Farrukhabadand the mishap occurred atShaheed Path under Ashiyanapolice station area.

As per reports, Jitendra,along with truck driver RamBrij Singh of Mainpuri, wasreturning from Khalilabad afterunloading goods. When theyreached a private companyoffice at Shaheed Path, thetruck developed a snag around5 am. As Jitendra came downto fix it, he was knocked down

by the speeding truck and hebled to death on the spot.

In another case, a 40-year-old labourer died after a wallcollapsed at an under-con-struction nullah in Kakori onThursday morning. Thedeceased was identified asJaved of a slum area inThakurganj. Reports said Javedwas hired by a contractor whois carrying out the constructionwork close to a primary schooland a park in the area. Around8:30 am, the park’s boundarywall collapsed all of a suddenand Javed got buried under thedebris. He died on the spot.Police sent the body for autop-sy and a case was registered onthe complaint of deceased'swife.

Lucknow (PNS): Recovery ofa mobile phone dropped in ahurry by thieves while fleeinga house that they had struck inAliganj helped the police nabthem. Those arrested wereidentified as Mohammed Salimand Mohammed Samad, bothof Thakurganj. The policerecovered stolen ornaments, awashing machine and Rs62,000 in cash from their pos-session.

As per reports, Yasin ofTriveni Nagar in Aliganj hadlodged a case of house theft onOctober 12. He had told thepolice he, along with his fam-ily, had gone to attend a wed-ding in Mahanagar and when

he returned home around 2:10am, he found two miscreantsinside the house. The thievesfled the scene after they heardthe commotion and in a hurry,one of them dropped hismobile phone.

Yasin chased the miscre-ants and picked up the mobilewhich he handed over to thepolice. Initially, the police didnot give much credit to Yasin’sclaim suspecting it could be aploy to frame some persons.Later on the instructions ofsenior officials, the policeworked on the case and foundthe suspect who was nabbedlater. The police nabbed hisaide as well.

'����� ������������� ������������

9�,� � ���������� � �

�#�����#������� &��������!!&'�#"�"����&�E���F�*��

state�$����� *���+���� ,-.�/0/0

�������-����������G�����

Under the joint aegis ofVishal Bharat Sansthan

(VBS) and Shri IndreshAshram, a nine-day HanumanChalisa Havan Mahayagyabegan with the offering ofahuti by national executivemember of RashtriyaSwayamsevak Sangh (RSS)Indresh Kumar at Lamahi hereon the first day of Navratra onSaturday. This Ram Path isbeing organised to mobilise thepeople towards their faith inLord Ram. The main priests ofMahayagya were Pt AnujPandey and Pt Pradeep Shastriwho performed the religiousrituals amidst the chanting ofVedic mantras. Indresh Kumarlaid the foundation-stone andBhoomi Pujan of the temple ofLord Ganesh and LordDattatreya. For popularisingShri Rampanth’s sutra sentence‘Sabke Ram, Sabme Ram’among all without any distinc-

tion of religion and caste,Indresh Kumar inaugurated‘Sri Ram Rajya Vahan’ donat-ed by a Haryana industrialistSunil Goyal.

Speaking on the occasion,Indresh Kumar said that todaythe whole world needs to fol-low the path of Lord Ram. ‘The

whole world can be freed fromdiscrimination with the help ofdevotion to Lord Ram. Globaldiscrimination is a major chal-lenge. Everyone has the right todevotion to Lord Ram. Nodeprived group can be sepa-rated from Lord Ram’s devo-tion on any basis,’ he said,

adding that Kashi has alwaysadvocated reforms andRampanth will become a sym-bol of the social reform move-ment of the world. The founderof Indresh Ashram and VBSpresident Dr Rajiv Srivastavasaid that the people from Dalitand Kinnar (eunuch) commu-nities would be given trainingto become priests and would begiven the responsibility of wor-shiping the temples of ShriRampanth. Spiritual leaderfrom Mumbai Arvind Nagarsaid that Ramapanth will be themost liberal cult in the world.Chatto Baba presided over theMahayagya. Ashok Sehgal,advocate of the Supreme Court,was nominated as the head ofthe international unit of theashram. The function was alsoattended by Prof SP Singh, DrNilesh Dutt, Moin Khan,Abhijeet Singh, Anand Mishra,Archana Bharatvanshi, NajmaParveen, Nazneen Ansari, DrMridula Jaiswal and RameshSharma.

�������-����������G�����

Hundreds of devoteesthronged Shailputri Devi

temple near Shakkar Talabbehind Varanasi City railwaystation on the auspicious occa-sion of first day of ShardiyaNavratra here on Saturday.Though the district adminis-tration and temple manage-ment tried their best to main-tain COVID-19 guidelines,many could not follow thesame by removing their maskswhen they reached the templewhere social distancing couldalso not be maintained. Inview to control the rush ofdevotees, outside temple areaswere barricaded apart frommaking elaborate securityarrangements.

Besides, rush was also seenthroughout the day at famousDurga Mandir (Durga Kund)

where the devotees lined up inlong queues and waited forhours to offer prayers. Near thetemple, huge quantities ofcoconut, chunris and otherpuja articles were sold. Rush

was also seen at some othertemples including Navdurgatemple at Navapura. Not onlythis, hundreds of devoteesthrough various vehicles alsorushed to Vindhyachal in

Mirzapur district to offerprayer on this auspicious occa-sion at Maa Vindyavasini Devi.

Apart from this, at manyplaces, idols of Goddess Durgawere installed where the pujacommittees observe nine daysfestival. The idols were installedas per the guidelines of districtadministration. All the confu-sions came to a halt whenpuja was started by installingKalash at Townhall where theMayor Mridula Jaiswal herselfoffered prayer. The idols werealso installed under the aus-pices of Maa Durga PujanotsavSamiti at Daranagar MaaDurga Puja Navyuvak Samiti atNavapura and others. Afterthe auspicious month ofShravan, religious mood wasseen for the first time in thisholy city as it virtually reacheda standstill since the outbreakof the coronavirus pandemic.

�������-����������G�����

Two brothers were stabbedand injured by some

unidentified miscreants atMuridpur village inChaubeypur police station andone of them succumbed tosevere injuries during the treat-ment at a trauma centre in SSH,BHU. When this news came tolight Saturday morning onSaturday, it led to a sensation inthe village. The police sent abody for autopsy and started aninvestigation to probe the mat-ter but failed in making anyheadway in this sensationalincident.

According to information,Aman Chaubey (17) and BadalChaubey (14), sons ofJaiprakash Chaubey, were athome with their grandfatherRajkishore Chaubey and oth-ers. Their father JaiprakashChaubey was in Azamgarhbecause of his job, while themother Rekha was in Delhiowing to personal work on thefateful night.

It was said that the mis-creants entered the house fromits backside at any time on

Friday late night and went tothe room in which both broth-ers were sleeping. Theyattacked Aman with knives. Onhearing the crying, his youngerbrother Badal got up and raisedan alarm. Sensing danger, themiscreants also attacked himand escaped from the house bycrossing the boundary wall.

On Saturday early morn-ing, when the grandfather wentto room to wake both up forthe morning walk, he wasstunned to see them lying onthe ground in a pool of bloodand started crying. Both werein an unconscious state. Onhearing his crying, other fam-ily members and neighboursreached there and they rushedthe injured to a private nursinghome in Maldahia area.Finding their condition critical,the doctors referred both to thetrauma centre in SSH, BHU.During the treatment, Amansuccumbed to injuries whilethe condition of Badal wasstated to be critical. The bloodstains were also found on thewall of the room.

On getting information,senior police officers including

SSP Amit Pathak reached thevillage and took a stock of firsthand information about theincident. The police alsoreached the trauma centre totake welfare about the injured.The police also used the help ofsniffer dogs to reach the mis-creants but in vain. On thebasis of complaints of familymembers, the police lodged anFIR in this connection andstarted investigation into thematter but failed in making anyheadway till the news last camein.

FELICITATION FUNC-TION: A felicitation functionwas organised at the office ofApka Swastha, health magazineof Indian Medical Association(IMA). In the function held atIMA building in Chetganj,here, the newly elected office-bearers of the magazine werefelicitated.

Dr Ashok Rai was electedas national vice-president ofmagazine and Dr ManojKumar Srivastava as honorarysecretary, while Dr SudhirSingh and Dr Ritu Garg as co-editors of magazine. The elec-tion was conducted unani-

mously. A book ‘Lockdown’sLakshman Rekha and Aap KaSwasthya’ written by Dr ManojKumar Srivastava and DrAshok Rai, was also released.

Dr Sanjay Rai, Dr PKTiwari, Dr Manisha SinghSengar and others extendedcongratulations to newly elect-ed office-bearers of the maga-zine and hoped that the mag-azine will achieve its newheight under the leadership ofnew office-bearers.

WEBINAR ON FOODSCIENCE: An internationalwebinar on ‘Global Perspectiveon New Horizons in FoodScience’ was organised by theDepartment of Dairy Scienceand Food Technology, BanarasHindu University (BHU) onthe occasion of World FoodDay here on Friday, in whichmore than 200 participantsacross the world took part. Theday is celebrated since thefounding of the Food &Agriculture Organisation(FAO) of the UN in 1945. Thisyear the theme of the day is‘Grow, nourish, sustain.Together. Our actions are ourfuture’

�������-����������������$��

Subsequent to restart of pas-senger service after the lock

down, the number and fre-quency of passenger trains arebeing increased by IndianRailways based on demand. Inview of the incoming festiveseason, the passenger trainservice is likely to be scaled upin near future.

With additional trainsplanned for festive season; total288 special trains and 130 fes-tival special trains i.e. total418 special trains shall becatering to different stationsover North Central Railway.Thus, festival season will alsowitness manifold increase in

footfall at Railway stations andtrains thereby making enforce-ment of protocol to control thespread of corona virus in rail-way stations and train difficult.Keeping this in view an inten-sive publicity campaign hasbeen launched to make thepeople aware about the ratio-nale in following the guidelinesissued by the railway adminis-tration and also to informthem regarding the prospect offacing penal action if the fol-lowing guidelines are not fol-lowed.

Not wearing a mask orwearing a mask improperly.

Not maintaining social dis-tancing. Coming to railwayarea or station or boarding a

train after having been declaredCovid positive.

Coming to railway area orstation or boarding a trainafter giving samples for testingof corona virus and awaitingresult. Boarding a trains afterhaving been denied to under-take travel by the health checkup team at the railway station

Spitting or wilful ejectionof body fluid/waste in publicarea Activities which may cre-ate unclean or unhygienic con-ditions or affect public healthand safety in railway stationsand trains

Not adhering to any of theguidelines issued by Railwayadministration for preventionof spread of corona virus

Any other act or omissionlikely to aid in spread of coro-na virus.

Since these acts or omis-sions arc likely to aid in thespread of corona virus, they willtantamount to interferencewith passenger amenities pro-vided by the railway adminis-tration, wilful omission orneglect endangering or causingto be endangered the safety ofany person or rash and negli-gent act or omission likely toendanger the safety of any per-son travelling or being uponany railway and may be pun-ished with imprisonmentand/or fine under section 145,153 and 154 of Railway Act1989.

�������-����������������$��

The reduction in the numberof corona infected patients

is a major relief for both Healthdepartment and district admin-istration. In the last 24 hoursonly 132 new corona caseshave been reported, while twopatients died. 3493 sampleswere tested in which 3361reports were negative. 183corona patients overcame thedisease. Now the number ofcorona patients has reachedbeyond 22,000 and the numberof healthy people is more than20,000.

Those who got infectedincluded an Assistant Professorof Allahabad CentralUniversity. He is posted in theEconomic department. A doc-tor from Preeti Hospital,Assistant Manager ofAllahabad Bank Jasra, super-visor of Meja Power Plot, aclerk at Ishwar Sharan DegreeCollege, Staff Nurse at KauriharCommunity Health Centre,Manager of Baroda of GraminBank Bahria, clerk of SBI LifeInsurance Katra and others

including ANM have also beenfound infected.

Patients admitted toSwaroop Rani Nehru CovidHospital are now being shiftedto the new Covid Hospital. 35patients admitted to Covidisolation ward have been shift-ed. Serious patients of coronaadmitted in ICU and HDUwards will also be shifted to thenew hospital.

At present, about 80 coro-na patients are admitted in thehospital. Superintendent ofCovid Hospital, Dr Mohit Jainsaid that the new 220 bedCovid Hospital has state-of-the-art resources available, itwill provide a lot of conve-nience in the treatment ofcorona patients

Meanwhile , WorldAnxiety Day was observed onFriday at Swaroop Rani NehruCovid Hospital. The doctorscut the cake and congratulatedeach other. The president ofPrayagraj Anesthesia Society,Dr Prabhakar Rai said that dur-ing the corona period, anes-thetics are engaged in treatingpatients by becoming warriors.

They also became a coronainfected but after recovering,they also went on their duty.The Head of Department, DrNeelam Singh said that thedoctors of anesthesia in theduty of COVID-19 stayed inCovid ward without caring forthemselves. On this occasion,Dr SB Yadav, Dr DharmendraYadav, Dr Rajiv Gautam, BKRao and others were present.

Meanwhile, research isbeing done in countries aroundthe world for the anti-coronavaccine, and the expectation forits availability in the next fewmonths has increased. If thevaccine is introduced in the dis-trict, first of all health workerswill be put up who have servedtheir patients putting theirhealth at stake. For this, thegovernment has asked fordetails of doctors, paramedicalstaff and other personnel fromall the districts.

The third phase of theanti-corona vaccine is stillbeing tested. It will be madeavailable in all the states anddistricts in the coming days.The CMO has set the Tej

Bahdur Sapru Covid Hospitalto keep it. DistrictImmunisation Officer Dr. AmitSrivastava said that no infor-mation about vaccines hasbeen received yet, but instruc-tions have been received fromthe government level that thefirst anti-corona vaccine will beput to the health workers first,because they are directly incontact with the coronapatients. They are at greater riskof becoming infected withcorona.

CMO Dr GS Bajpai saidthat the list of staff working inall other hospitals includingMedical College, AyurvedaHospital, Unani Hospital,Railway Hospital, ArmyHospital and ESI Hospital isbeing prepared. It consists ofdoctors, nurses, pharmacists,lab technicians, ward-boys,sweepers and other healthworkers. After this, the staff ofthose departments will beincluded in it, who continue towork as frontline workers. Thevaccine can come anytime sothere is a need to stay in alertmode, added Dr Bajpai.

�������-����������������$��

Asensational incident tookplace in Gajadharpur vil-

lage under the Nawabganjpolice station on Friday night..Here a nine-year-old minorgirl was brutally murdered bya man of the same village.

After crushing the facewith the brick, the killer wascarrying the body on the shoul-der and throwing it into thecanal, during this people sawhim doing so and caught himred handed and informed thepolice about it. Police reachedthe spot, took the body of thegirl in custody and sent it forpostmortem. However, thecause of the incident was notclear until late in the night.

Lavkush, who lives inGajadharpur village, works asa labourer. Neha was thirdamong his five siblings. She wasa Class II student in a prima-ry school located in the village.The kin of the deceasedinformed the police thataround 7 pm on Fridayevening, Neha went to thehand pump located in front ofthe house to fetch water, but shedid not return then.

When she did not returnfor a long time, the familymembers became distraughtand launched a manhunt for

her search. On the other hand,villagers were shell-shocked tofind Siyaram (50), who lived inthe same village carrying thebody of the child on his shoul-der and went towards the canal.When some women of the vil-lage stopped him, he left thebody and fled there.

On hearing the screams,other nearby villagers alsogathered there. It was thenrevealed that the deceased childwas Neha. Father Lavkush andother relatives also came on theinformation. On seeing thebody of an innocent daughter,they were taken aback. Onreceiving information aboutthe child being brutally killed,the Koraon police also reachedthere. Investigations revealedthat he was murdered the mur-der after brutally trouncingher face with a brick.

After investigation, thepolice took the body into cus-tody and sent it for post-mortem. Meanwhile, accusedSiyaram was taken into custodyfrom outside the village short-ly after. He was grilled in thepolice station. But the police areyet to find out the real reasonbehind the man killing theminor.

Senior Superintendent ofPolice Sarvashresth Tripathisaid that the accused Siyaram

has been taken into custody. Hehas confessed to have killed theminor but has not yet given thereason for the incident. He isunder interrogation.

FIVE GIRL STUDENTSRELEASED FROM JAIL : Fivegirl students, includingAllahabad Central Universityformer president Richa Singh,were released from NainiCentral Jail on Saturday.However, the release of theother three students could notbe done yet. All of them werearrested and sent to jail lateThursday night due to protestsfrom outside the Vice-Chancellor’s office.

In fact, eight girl studentsliving in the women’s hostels ofthe varsity arrived from differ-ent districts (Azamgarh, Ballia,Varanasi and Mirzapur) onThursday morning to study inthe hostels. The students start-ed their dharna outside theVice-Chancellor’s office whenthey did not get admission. Inthis situation, the RegistrarProf NK Shukla, FinanceOfficer Dr Sunil Kant Mishra,Chief Proctor Prof RKUpadhyay, DSW Prof KP Singhand Security Officer AjayPratap Singh were kept in theVice-Chancellor’s office,including the officiating Vice-Chancellor, Prof RR Tiwari

got stuck in the V-C office forlong. When the studentsremained adamant, the offici-ating Vice-Chancellor Prof. RRTiwari conveyed the entiredevelopment to the Ministryvia mail. It also clarified in themail that students are pressur-ing them to open hostels. Insuch a situation, he also soughtinstructions from the Ministryin this case whether hostelsshould be opened or not. Noresponse was received from theministry on the next day onFriday. At this juncture, the AUadministration could not takeany decision. In the case, SPCity Dinesh Singh arrested theformer president Richa Singh,Sakshi Yadav, Ekta, PriyankaGupta, Shivani Gaur, SharadShankar Mishra, SatyamKushwaha and Aneesh Yadavlate on Thursday night. A casewas filed against all at theColonelganj police station latenight against all of them forholding hostage of the Vice-Chancellor on the basis of thewritten complaint made by theChief Proctor RK Upadhyay.Thereafter, after midnight, allwere sent to Naini Central jailafter their medical check up.On Saturday, Richa and othergirl students were released onbail. However, other studentscould not be released.

'��� ��������� ������ / ��������� �� � 0�������������� �������������� ��������������� ���� � � �� ����������������������" � % /����! � � ������������������������"�����

-:907%��/-*���� ���"����

;����� ���� �$ ���� ���� �� �

2�������� ��������������� ���

$��������������&�� ������$�������� ��

0������������%��%�!� ��� ������������������� ������ � � ����1 � ������! � � ���������������������������������������������������������������������������"�����

+�� ���������� � �.����� �,����(�/�"��������

2!!��� ���$������3 � �������%� � ��� ��( � � %� � ��. � ������1 � ������! � � ���������������������������������������������������������������������������"�����

2�����������.���������

�������-����������G�����

As many as 108 newCOVID-19 patients have

been detected in the districthere on Saturday, increasing thetotal number of cases to 15,705.The day also saw one moredeath, increasing the toll to 252.During the day, the follow-upnegative reports included 97patients and all of them havebeen recovered from homeisolation, increasing the num-ber to 11,655, while the num-ber of patients discharged fromthe hospitals remained at 2,773.The total number of patientswho have been recovered so faris 14,428, leaving 1,025 activepatients. The recovery rate hasslightly declined to 91.86 percent but mortality rate hasimproved to 1.59 per cent.

Meanwhile, moving for-ward on its commitment toprovide good and accessiblehealth facilities to the patients,Sir Sunderlal Hospital (SSH),

Banaras Hindu University(BHU) is going to triple its oxy-gen storage capacity soon. Thehospital currently has a storagecapacity of 10 kilolitres of liq-uid medical oxygen. Toincrease this, another cylinderof capacity of 20 kilolitres isbeing installed, whose work isin final stages and it will becommissioned by the end ofthis month. MedicalSuperintendent (MS) Prof SKMathur said that in the wake ofthe worldwide COVID-19 pan-demic, there was a significantincrease in oxygen demand atthe hospital. At the same time,with the introduction ofMother and Child Care Wingin the coming time, thedemand for oxygen will alsoincrease, so it was very impor-tant to increase the oxygenstorage capacity of the hospital.

“The biggest advantage ofliquid medical oxygen is that itcan be stored in large quanti-ties in less space. Apart from

this, oxygen supply is alsoavailable in the hospitalthrough conventional means.For this, large oxygen cylindersare in sufficient quantity in thehospital and along with theirnumbers, the frequency of fill-ing them has also beenincreased. Small oxygen cylin-ders are also available in thehospital so that they can also beused when needed,’ he said,adding that apart from this,work is also going on to set upOxygen Generation Plant inSSH in future as the hospital isready to deal with any situationdue to the steps taken toincrease oxygen availabilityand storage. Earlier, ChiefMedical Officer (CMO) DrVB Singh has informed that inthe first report of the day, 69positive patients were foundout of 4,094 reports received.Till then, the total test reportsreceived were 2,75,947 and theresults of 1,456 are awaited. Outof them, 2,60,281 were nega-

tive, while 15,666 positive. Thetotal number of samples col-lected was 2,91,808. A maleaged 62 from Kadipur(Shivpur) succumbed toCOVID-19 at SSH BHU. Withthe addition of 12 new redzones, the total number ofhotspots has increased to 2,224including 265 red zones. Twogreen zones have been con-verted into red zones again.There are 1,959 green zoneswith 29 new ones. Under ongo-ing mass/ group antigen tests,all 489 tests at Shree ShivPrasad Gupta (SSPG) Hospital,Kabirchaura, 462 at adjacentGovernment Women’s Hospitaland 91 at Swami VivekanandGovernment Hospital,Bhelupur were found nega-tive. However one out of 111was tested positive at CHCShivpur while four each out of210 and 335 at LBS Hospital,Ramnagar and SSH BHUrespectively were also detectedpositive.

�48���������������������9������

������%��������*������ *���+�����,-.�/0/0

�;$$2��;1?21+� '(�)*�+�,

The local GRP arrested ayouth near platform number

1/2 and on frisking him recov-ered two mobile phones and�700 cash from his possession.The arrested youth was identi-

fied as S Chauhan, a resident ofChandauli, who sole goods ofpassengers at trains and sta-tions. Meanwhile the trolleybag of a passenger, Manas Rai ofMunger, which was was leftbehind accidentally at the DDUstation, was spotted by the GRP.

The personnel brought it alongwith them to the police station.The GRP handed over the trol-ley bag containing valuable itemsto the passenger concerned bycontacting him. On getting it backhis happiness knew no boundsand he thanked the GRP for it.

�;$$2��;1?21+� $-��.(#+�

For the convenience of thepassengers in view of festi-

vals the following puja specialtrains will be run betweenOctober 20 and December 2 bythe railway administration. Allthe coaches in these trains willbe of reserved category and pas-sengers traveling in them willhave to follow the Covid-19norms, CPRO PK Singh said.The 02595 Gorakhpur-AnandVihar Terminus triweekly pujaspecial from October 20 toNovember 30 every Monday,Tuesday and Thursday leaveGorakhpur at 20.00 hrs, Basti at21.03 hrs, Gonda at 22.30 hrs,on second Lucknow at 01.20hrs, Kanpur Central at 02.45 hrsand reach Anand ViharTerminus at 08.50 hrs. Duringthe return journey 02596 AnandVihar Terminus-Gorakhpur tri-weekly puja special will fromOctober 21 to December 1 everyTuesday, Wednesday and Fridayleave Anand Vihar Terminus at20.00 hrs, the second day KanpurCentral at 00.55 hrs, Lucknow at02.30 hrs, Gonda at 05.10 hrs, Bastiat 06.23 hrs and will reachGorakhpur at 07.50 hrs. A total of20 coaches, including two of gen-erator-cum-luggage van and 18 ofAC third will be attached in it.

GKP-LTT PUJA SPL: The05018 Gorakhpur-LokmanyaTilak Terminus (LTT) puja specialwill from October 20 to November30 leave Gorakhpur daily at 05:30hrs, Chauri Chara at 06.00 hrs,Deoria Sadar at 06.20 hrs, Bhatniat 06.55 hrs, Salempur at 07.08hrs, Lar Road at 07.21 hrs,Belthara Road at 07.36 hrs, Indaraat 08.13 hrs, Mau Jn at 08.35 hrs,Dulhapur at 09.04 hrs, Zakhaniaat 09.19 hrs, Sadat at 09.32 hrs,

Aunrihar at 09.57 hrs, VaranasiCity at 10.47 hrs, Varanasi at 11.20hrs, Chaukhandi at 11.40 hrs,Sewapuri at 11.48 hrs, Kapesethiat 11.57 hrs, Parsipur at 12.05 hrs,Bhadohi at 12.13 hrs, Mondh at12.25 hrs, Suriyawan at 12.33hrs, Sarai Kansrai at 12.44 hrs,Janghai at 13.20 hrs, Ugrasenpurat 13.40 hrs, Phulpur at 13.50 hrs,Sarai Chandi at 14.02 hrs,Phaphamau at 15.07 hrs, Prayagat 15.22 hrs, Prayagraj Jn at 16.10hrs, Naini at 16.32 hrs, Jasra at16.50 hrs, Shankargarh at 17.10hrs, Dabhaura at 17.46 hrs,Manikpur at 18.22 hrs, Jaitwar at19.10 hrs, Satna at 19.50 hrs,Maihar at 20:15 hrs, Katni at 21.10hrs, Sihora Road at 21.54 hrs,Jabalpur at 22.45 hrs, Madan Mahalat 22.55 hrs, Shri Dham at 23.35 hrs,on second day Narsinghpur at00.30 hrs, Kareli at 00.45 hrs,Gadarwara at 01.40 hrs, Pipariya at02:10 hrs, Sohagpur at 02.30 hrs,Itarsi at 04.30 hrs, Banapura at 04.56hrs, Timarni at 05.17 hrs, Harda at05.32 hrs, Khirkiya at 06.00 hrs,Barud at 06:17 hrs, Chhanera at06.27 hrs, Surgaon Banjari at 06.47hrs, Talvadia at 06.55 hrs, Khandwaat 08.15 hrs, Nefa Nagar at 08.50 hrs,Burhanpur at 09.10 hrs, Raver at09.30 hrs, Bhusaval at 10.20 hrs,Jalgaon at 10.43 hrs, Pachora at11:20 hrs, Chalisgaon at 11.55 hrs,Nandgaon at 12.22 hrs, Manmadat 12.45 hrs, Lasalgaon at 13:05hrs, Nashik Road at 14.00 hrs,Deolali at 14.10 hrs, Igatpuri at15.35 hrs, Kasara at 16.05 hrs,Kalyan at 17.10 hrs and Thaneat 17.30 hrs and reach LTT at18.05 hrs. The 05017 LTT-Gorakhpur puja special duringthe return journey from October22 to December 2 will leave LTTat 06.05 hrs daily, Thane at 07.00hrs, Kalyan at 07:28 hrs, Kasaraat 08.30 hrs, Igatpuri at 09.10 hrs,

Devlali at 09.50 hrs, Nasik Roadat 10.05 hrs, Lasalgaon at 10.42hrs, Manmad at 11.05 hrs,Nandgaon at 11:25 hrs,,Chalisgaon at 11.55 hrs, Pachoraat 12.25 hrs, Jalgaon at 13.00 hrs,Bhusaval at 13.45 hrs, Raver at14.15 hrs, Burhanpur at 14.30hrs, Nefa Nagar at 14.50 hrs,Khandwa at 16.35 hrs, Talvadiaat 16.52 hrs, Soregaon Banjari at17.03 hrs, Chhanera at 17.18hrs, Barud at 17.28 hrs, Khirkiyaat 17.43 hrs, Harda at 18.15 hrs,Timarni at 18.32 hrs, Banapuraat 19.08 hrs, Itarsi at 21.15 hrs,Sohagpur at 22.10 hrs, Piparia at22.26 hrs, Gadarwara at 22.56hrs, Kareli at 23.15 hrs,Narsinghpur at 23.30 hrs, thesecond day Shridham at 00.02 hrs,Madan Mahal at 00.42 hrs,Jabalpur at 01.05 hrs, SihoraRoad at 01.40 hrs, Katni at 02.25hrs, Maihar at 03.12 hrs, Satna at03.55 hrs, Jaitwar at 04.20 hrs,Manikpur at 05.45 hrs, Dabhauraat 06.10 am, Shankargarh at 06.34hrs, Jasra at 06.54 hrs, Naini at07.41 hrs, Prayagraj at 08.45 hrs,Prayag at 08.58 hrs, Phaphamauat 09.17 hrs, Sarai Chandi at 09.31hrs, Phulpur at 09.43 hrs,Ugrasenpur at 09.53 hrs, Janghai at10.13 hrs, Sarai Kansarai at 10.23 hrs,Suriyawan at 10.34 hrs, Mondh at 10.43hrs, Bhadohi at 10.58 hrs, Parsipur at11.08 hrs, Kapasethi at 11.29 hrs,Sevapuri at 11.50 hrs, Varanasi at13.10 hrs, Varanasi City at 13.22 hrs,Aunrihar at 14.02 hrs, Sadat at 14.25hrs, Jakhania at 14.43 hrs,Dulhapur at 14.55 hrs, Mau at15.25 hrs, Indara at 15.42 hrs,Belthara Road at 16.07 hrs, LarRoad at 16:20 hrs, Salempur at16.37 hrs, Bhatni at 17.15 hrs,Deoria Sadar at 17.40 hrs, ChauriChara at 18.10 hrs and reachGorakhpur at 19:10 hrs. A totalof 22 coaches will be attached.

�;$$2��;1?21+� $-��.(#+�

Five persons were arrested bythe police in connection

with the incident in which awoman and a child were mur-dered in Ramjanaki Nagar underthe Shahpur police station.Taking a serious view of the inci-dent SSP Joginder Kumar hadengaged SOG along withShahpur police and SWAT teamfor arresting the accused. Basedon CCTV footage surveillanceincharge Dhirendra Rai in col-laboration with the team, after

obtaining detailed informationabout the presence of the accusedhad engaged the teams alongwith informers in different areas.On being tipped off by aninformer that the accused, VishalSingh, son of Virendra Singh, aresident of Ramjanki Nagar,Basharatpur, and his accom-plice, Golu Vishwakarma, son ofTelia Vishwakarma, a resident ofTelia Tola Mohanapur, werearrested from the gardenbehind Bansmandi. Police hadalso arrested the husband of thedeceased woman, Virendra

Singh, son of Bhagwan Singh,a resident of Ramjanki Nagar,Basharatpur, under Shahpurpolice station, Ranjana, wife ofVishal Singh, BN Singh aliasBhrigunath Singh, son ofBaijnath Singh, a resident ofManas Bihar Colony under theShahpur police station. The teamwhich made the arrest comprisedShahpur SHO SK Singh, S-IsShobhanath Yadav, Arif Ali andMadan Mohan Mishra besidesSOG incharge ChandrabhanSingh, SWAT incharge SadiqParvez and others.

<, ������� ���� ����

"��������9.������#���������� ������.�FF�;$$2��;1?21+� $-��.(#+�

The following puja specialswill be run between October

20 and December 2 by the rail-way administration for the con-venience of the passengers inview of the festivals. All coachesin these trains will be reservedcategory and passengers travel-ing in it will have to follow thestandards of Covid-19, CPRO PKSingh said. The 05045Gorakhpur-Okha weekly pujaspecial from October 22 toNovember 26 every Thursdayleave Gorakhpur at 04.45 hrs,Gonda at 05.58 hrs, Gonda at07.25 hrs, Barabanki at 09.02 hrs,Badshahnagar at 09.38 hrs,Aishbagh at 10.30 hrs, KanpurCentral at 12.15 hrs, Etawah at14.04 hrs, Tundla at 15.30 hrs,Raja ki Mandi at 16:45 hrs, AgraCantt at 17.10 hrs, Dholpur at18.00 hrs, Morena at 18.25 hrs,Gwalior at 19.16 hrs, Jhansi at21.30 hrs, second day Bina at01.35 hrs, Mungaoli at 02.05 hrs,Ashoknagar at 02.49 hrs, Gunaat 03.40 hrs, Ruthiyayi at 04:15hrs, Biyavra Rajgarh at 05.30 hrs,Shajapur at 07.20 hrs, Maksi at08.22 hrs, Ujjain at 09.20 hrs,Nagda at 10.20 hrs, Ratlam at11.20 hrs, Godhra at 14.12 hrs,Chhayapuri at 15:07 hrs, Anandat 16.26 hrs, Manin Nagar at17.27 hrs, Ahmedabad Jn at18.05 hrs, Viramgam at 19.24 hrs.Surendranagar at 20.26 hrs,Wankaner at 21.35 hrs, Rajkot at22.40 hrs, the third day Hapa at00.03 hrs, Jamnagar at 00.22hrs, Khambhalia at 01.28 hrs andDwarka at 02.38 hrs and reachOkha at 03:35 hrs. During thereturn journey 05046 Okha-Gorakhpur weekly puja specialfrom October 25 to November 29every Sunday will leave Okha at21.00 hrs, Dwarka at 21:28 hrs,Khambaliya at 23.02 hrs, on sec-ond day Jamnagar at 00.04 hrs,Hapa at 00.32 hrs, Rajkot at 02.10hrs, Wankaner at 03:01 hrs,Surendranagar at 04.08 hrs,Viramgam at 05.15 hrs,Ahmedabad at 06.50 hrs, Anandat 07.56 hrs, Chhayapuri at 08.45hrs, Godhra at 10.05 hrs, Ratlam

at 13.00 hrs, Nagda at 13.45 hrs.Ujjain at 15.00 hrs, Maksi at 15.50hrs, Shajapur at 16.15 hrs, BiyavraRajgarh at 17.54 hrs, Ruthiyayi at19.30 hrs, Guna at 20.20 hrs,Ashoknagar at 21.10 hrs, Mugauliat 22.02 hrs, third day from Binaat 00.20 hrs, Jhansi at 03:15 hrs,Gwalior at 04.30 hrs, Morena at04.59 hrs, Dholpur at 05.40 hrs,Agra Cantt at 06.55 hrs, Raja kiMandi at 07:09 hrs, Tundla at08.30 hrs, Etawah at 09.32 hrs,Kanpur Central at 12.10 hrs,Aishbagh at 13.52 hrs,Badshahnagar at 14.30 hrs,Barabanki at 15.05 hrs, Gonda at16.30 hrs and Basti at 17.50 hrs,arrive at Gorakhpur 19.00 hrs. Atotal of 21 coaches including twocoaches of generator-cum-lug-gage van, three of general secondclass, nine of sleeper class, two ofAC second and five of AC thirdclass will be attached in it.

HOWRAH-KATHGODAMPUJA SPL: The 03019 Howrah-Kathgodam (via Bandel) pujaspecial from October 20 toNovember 30 will daily leaveHowrah at 21.45 hrs, Shriampurat 22.15 hrs, Bandel at 22.39 hrs,Barddhaman at 23.32 hrs, onsecond day from Durgapur at00.29 hrs, from Raniganj at00.52 hrs, from Asansol Main at01.18 hrs, Chittaranjan at 01:42hrs, Madhupur at 02:32 hrs,Jasidih at 02.59 hrs., Jhajha at04.35 hrs, Jamui at 04.54 hrs,Kiul at 05.22 hrs, Luckeesarai at05:28 hrs, Barhiya at 05:47 hrs,Dinkargram Simaria at 06.58hrs, Barauni Jn at 07.30 hrs,Bachhwara at 07.51 hrs,Dalsingh Sarai at 08.04 hrs,Nazirganj at 08.14 hrs, Ujiarpurat 08.23 hrs, Samastipur at 08.55hrs, Khudiram Bose Pusa at09.14 hrs, Dholi at 09.28 hrs,Muzaffarpur at 10.05 hrs, Goraulat 10.31 hrs, Bhagwanpur at 10.42hrs, Hajipur at 11.12 hrs,Dighwara at 11.55 hrs, Chhapraat 13.15 hrs, Ekma at 13.46 hrs,Durandha at 14.09 hrs, Siwan at14.50 hrs, Mairwa at 15.15 hrs,Bankata at 15.26 hrs, Bhatpar Raniat 15.38 hrs, Bhatni at 16.00 hrs,Deoria Sadar at 16:20 hrs, ChauriChara at 16.58 hrs, Gorakhpur at

18.00 hrs, Khalilabad at 18.38hrs, Basti at 19.08 hrs, Gonda at20.50 hrs, Jarwal Road at 21.35hrs, Barabanki at 13.00 hrs, onthe third day Lucknow at 00.45hrs, Hardoi at 02.17 hrs, Roza at03.35 hrs, Shahjahanpur at 03.57hrs, Bareilly at 05.10 hrs,Rampur at 06.35 hrs, BilaspurRoad at 06.59 hrs, Rudrapur Cityat 07.23 hrs, Lalkuan at 08.15 hrs,Haldwani at 08.57 hrs and reachKathgodam at 09.30 hrs. Duringthe return journey 03020Kathgodam-Howrah (via Bandel)puja special will from October 22to December 2 leave Kathgodamdaily at 21.45 hrs, Haldwani at22:08 hrs, Lalkuan at 22.45 hrs,Rudrapur City at 23.12 hrs,Bilaspur Road at 23.35 hrs, on sec-ond day Rampur at 00.45 hrs,Bareilly at 01.47 hrs, Shahjahanpurat 02.52 hrs, Roza at 03.12 hrs,Hardoi at 04.02 hrs, Lucknow at06.15 hrs, Barabanki at 07.40 hrs,Jarwal road at 08.25 hrs, Basti at10.45 hrs, Khalilabad at 11.18 hrs,Gorakhpur at 12.45 hrs, ChauriChara at 13.12 hrs, Deoria Sadarat 13.36 hrs, Bhatni at 14.03 hrs,Bhatpar Rani at 14.15 hrs, Bankataat 14.27 hrs, Mairwa at 14.38 hrs,Siwan at 15.36 hrs, Duraundha at15.51 hrs, Ekma at 16.13 hrs,Chhapra at 17.30 hrs, Dighwaraat 18.05 hrs, Hajipur at 18.55 hrs,Bhagwanpur at 19.15 hrs, Goraulat 19.26 hrs, Muzaffarpur at20.07 hrs, Dholi at 20.29 hrs,Khudiram Bose Pusa at 20.43hrs, Samastipur at 21.40 hrs,Dalsingh Sarai at 22.00 hrs,Bachhwara at 22:19 hrs, BarauniJn at 23.30 hrs, the third day Kiulat 01.15 hrs, Jhajha at 03.15 hrs,Jasidih at 04.01 hrs, MadhupurJn at 05:15 hrs, Vidyasagar at05.37 hrs, Jamtara at 05:56 hrs,Chittaranjan at 06:18 hrs,Rupnarayanpur at 06.27 hrs,Sitarampur to 07.50 hrs, AsansolMain at 08.40 hrs, Raniganj at08.57 hrs, Andal to 09:10 hrs,Durgapur at 09.31 hrs, Panagarhat 09.44 hrs, Barddhaman at10.36 hrs, Bundel at 11.49 hrsand reach Howrah at 12.40 hrs.A total of 17 coaches, includingtwo of GSLR/D and seven ofsleeper class will be attached in it.

"��9� � ��G�����'���� �����#�����������.�FC

. ��������������������� �������

�=��� � ��������� �������-�����������=����

Kanpur Nagar reported 76more coronavirus positive

cases on Saturday evening.Chief Medical Officer Dr

Anil K Mishra said that 76more people had tested positivefor coronavirus infectionbetween Friday evening andSaturday evening taking thetally of confirmed cases to27,222 cases. He said twoCOVID-19 deaths in the citywas reported till Saturdayevening keeping the death tollto 711. The CMO said with 79COVID-19 patients were dis-charged from hospitals thecured figure in the city was7092 and at present 1927 activecases were undergoing treat-ment. Dr Mishra said 5268samples were sent for testing inthe city.

�������-����������=����

In a case of love-jihad, theNaubasta police arrested a

youth and his sister for theirinvolvement in enticing ateenaged girl of another com-munity.

Later, the kin of theaccused staged a demonstra-tion at the police station lateThursday night, demandingrelease of the youth and hissister.

According to reports, alabourer, Mohd Uvaish ofAjitganj, who was working atan under-construction apart-ment in Naubasta, developedfriendship with a neighbour-ing girl (13), student of classVII by posing as Babu. Bothused to talk on mobile phone.

The kin of the girl allegedthat on Thursday, when shewent to the market with herelder sister, she was enticed byUvaish. The police immedi-ately arrested the youth andrecovered the girl.

Naubasta Station HouseOfficer Kunj Behari Mishrasaid during interrogation, thegirl disclosed that the sister of

Uvaish used to talk to her onmobile phone and on herinstance Uvaish had intro-duced himself to her as Babuenticed her.

The girl also said thatUvaish’s family members hadadvised her to speak againsther parents in front of policeand that they would soonmake her their family memberafter conversion of her reli-

gion. The SHO said on thecomplaint of the girl’s moth-er, an FIR was lodged againstthe youth for developingfriendship with the girl witha false name to entice her. Hissister Gazala was arrested forassisting him in enticing thegirl, he said.

1��1���A Scheduled Caste girl

was gang-raped in a villageunder Derapur police stationof Kanpur Dehat.

According to reports, the22-year-old daughter of afarmer was alone in the houseon the night of October 8when Kamlesh and Dinesh ofAmauli Kurmiyan villageforcibly entered the houseand raped her at gunpoint.They later escaped after issu-ing threats of dire conse-quences to the girl if she toldanyone about the incident.

The scared girl did notinform her family membersabout the incident but whenthe accused continued tothreaten her, she told themabout the incident onSaturday.

The family membersimmediately took her toDerapur police station andlodged a complaint.

Station House OfficerSamir Kumar Singh said onthe basis of victim’scomplaint, an FIR hadbeen registered againstKamlesh and Dinesh and raidswere being conducted to nabthem.

�������-����������=����

Kanpur Nagar’s ChiefMedical Officer Dr AK

Mishra said there was not onlya decline in the coronaviruspositive cases in the district butthe COVID-19 death toll hadalso been pegged successfullyand the credit for this went tothe perfect coordinationbetween the medical and dis-trict administration officials.

He said as per the newCovid protocol, the affectedpersons were now being mon-itored for one week only ascompared to 14 days earlier.

He said now the asympto-matic people were not tested asper the new guidelines andallowed to remain in home iso-lation for one week.

He said the painstakingsearch for the suspected coro-navirus positive cases and theircontacts by the surveillance andcontact tracing teams had final-ly bone fruit with the control ofthe spread of the deadly virus.

The CMO said there was asubstantial increase in antigentesting and home isolation hadproved highly successful. He,however, said this was not thetime to relax and become casu-

al as some countries wad wit-nessed a second wave ofCOVID-19 that was more sev-ers than the first wave of infec-tions.

He said every care wouldbe taken to ensure that KanpurNagar was not caught in theproblem once gain.

Dr Mishra said people whodevelop any COVID-19 symp-tom should strictly monitortheir oxygen level and if itdecreased, they should imme-diately be hospitalised.

He said in view of theapproaching festival, strictinstructions had been issued to

take to task people who did notwear mask or maintain socialdistancing.

He said police force hadbeen deployed to ensure thatpeople moving on the roadswore masks and maintainedsocial distancing.

He said till date more than24,300 COVID-19 patients hadbeen cured successfully in thedistrict.

He said home isolationwas highly successful and morethan 17,000 affected peoplewere cured, especially thosewho followed the Covid pro-tocol strictly.

��������������������� ������������/��2'

)5�������������5�������.��5�������:����/�2�������������-����������=����

Chief Income TaxCommissioner Ajay Das

Mehrotra, while addressing theRajbhasha Karyanvayan Samitimeeting, said according to thestrategic strategy of a country,it can impress upon the worldby projecting and promoting itslanguage and culture and itslifestyle.

He said there was certain-ly no doubt that India’s ancientlanguage was Hindi and it hadsuccessfully made an indelibleimpact on the entire world.

He said it was the duty ofevery individual of the countryto promote Hindi in everyways and also take pride inspeaking and working in Hindi.

He said the officials of theIT Department should notonly work in Hindi but alsotake initiative to motivate andpromote Hindi in the rightearnest.

He said Bollywood hadsince decades been strivinghard to promote the Hindi lan-guage and culture and thisshould motivate other depart-ments of the country to simul-taneously work in a similarmanner.

He said differencesbetween two cultures werereflected perfectly through lan-

guages and the only waytowards the establishment of acultured and civilised societywas when along with respect-ing the county, its tradition,culture, history, moral values,literature, dance, music, food,clothes and attires were equal-ly respected and given their duestatus.

He said Hindi was not justa source to express onesthoughts, it was our identityand our pride as well.

Commissioner (Audit)Somesh Tiwari said Hindi wasthe language that we all had

grown up with and it gave us asense of belonging. “Hindi is alanguage that binds us togeth-er and sets us apart from thecrowd,” he added.

He said that Hindi was notmerely a language or an expres-sion, it was the identity and amatter for great pride. He saidthat Bollywood had tremen-dous worked for the promotionof chaste Hindi and it was notjust a film industry but a cul-tural phenomenon that reflect-ed India’s vibrant and uniqueculture.

Addressing the virtual

meeting, Deputy Director DKMaurya said Hindi was the sec-ond most spoken language inthe world today. He said morethan 75 percent of people inIndia spoke or understoodHindi. He said apart fromIndia, there were many coun-tries in the world where Hindiwas spoken. He said Hindi wasalso one of the official lan-guages of UNESCO.

Prominent among thosepresent included CP Pathak,Harish Chandra, MSKushwaha, Pradip Kudesia,Manish Kumar and LBS Yadav.

#���������$������# 4������������&��/ ��0 ��(���� � �������%�����2 /�� �� �3�� �� ��! ������������������������������"������

).���� �� ��������������������:��������

� � �� �������� ������ ��� ���������������������/�� ��� ��5�������������������"�����5

�������-�����������>��=���

Vice Chancellor ofDeendayal Upadhyay

Gorakhpur University, ProfRajesh Singh, has issued direc-tions to strictly implement theban on plastics and junk foodon the university campus.

He has also asked the uni-versity administration toensure strict ban on pan, gutkaand tobacco on the campus.

In an attempt to make thecampus environment-friendly,Prof Singh said that wastematerial generated in the uni-versity would not go out of thecampus.

The vice chancellor hasdirected the university officialsto start working on recyclingand composting of thebiodegradable and non-degradable wastes in differentways by making pits at differ-ent places on the campus. Hesaid the fertiliser made in theuniversity would also be mar-keted.

For this innovative effort,different places on the campushave been identified for con-struction of the pits. Theywill be made in front of theBotany Research Centre,behind the Home ScienceDepartment, next to Delegacyand in Hirapuri Colony.Instructions have been issuedto arrange the machinesrequired for the functioning ofpits and vehicles to collectwaste.

Prof. Singh has also direct-ed that trees and plants shouldnot be harmed in any condi-tion on the premises and ifrequired, they be transferredto different place.

Dr Smriti Mall, BotanyDepartment, of the GreenCampus Initiative has beengiven the responsibility forimplementation of the initia-tive.

The vice chancellorinspected the university cam-pus and directed officials tomake it environment-friendly.

�������-����������=����

An FIR has been lodgedagainst the Bahujan Samaj

Party candidate and 19 four-wheeler drivers for violation ofthe Model Code of Conductand prohibitory orders Section144 of the Criminal ProcedureCode with the GhatampurKotwali police on Saturday.

The BSP candidate wasfound using four-wheelers inexcess than the permission fortaking out his vehicle proces-sion on Friday.

District Magistrate AlokTewari and ElectionCommission observerNarendra Kumar Dugga weregoing for an inspection of the

polling booths in Bhitargaonarea of Ghatampur Assemblyconstituency on Friday after-noon when while passingthrough Khadri village, theyspotted a convoy of 19 four-wheelers, including the one ofBSP candidate KuldeepSankhwar, against the permis-sion for 10 vehicles.

After several vehicles,including that of the candidate,passed with the procession,some of the remaining vehicleshaving BSP flags were inter-cepted by the district magis-trate for quizzing.

Meanwhile, some of thedrivers turned their vehiclestowards other routes and

escaped. On the directives of the

district magistrate, TehsildarVineet Kumar with the help oflekhpals noted the registra-tion number of 19 four-wheel-ers present in the procession.

Later, on the complaint ofMagistrate (FST-2) ShyamSingh, an FIR was lodgedagainst BSP candidate KuldeepSankhwar and 19 vehicle dri-vers for violating the ModelCode of Conduct and pro-hibitory orders.

Station House Officer ofGhatampur Kotwali, RajivSingh, said on the basis ofinquiry report, penal actionwould be initiated against theguilty.

6!"�� ���� ��&����������������������������������� ����

� �% ��� �� ���������� ���KANPUR (PNS): A wantedcriminal involved in a gangrapecase filed his nominationpapers for the GhatampurAssembly bypoll on Saturdayeven as the cops waited at thecollectorate premises to arresthim. It may be recalled that afew days back, a woman hadaccused a lawyer, RajendraDhamaka of Girsi(Ghatampur), of holding herhostage in his house and gang-raping her. An FIR was lodgedagainst him with theGhatampur Kotwali police andthe cops had raided severalplaces to arrest him. WithRashtriya Janutthan Partydeclaring Rajendra Dhamakaas its candidate for theGhatampur Assembly seat, thepolice were deployed at the col-lectorate to arrest him when hecame there to file his nomina-tion. But on Saturday,Dhamaka succeeded in filinghis nomination and givingcops the slip. Sources said thatRajendra had managed to gethis nomination papers sub-mitted through a close aide onWednesday. After completingall the formalities, he secretlyreached the collectorate alongwith the proposers on Saturday,a day before the last date forwithdrawal of nominations,and filed his papers before thereturning officer in the court ofACM-II.

1��������������� ���� ��� �7��������������������������

�������&��������*������ *���+�����,-.�/0/0

�� ������������� =>,�

He could be the only survivingAmbassador in the country who

scored a ‘faultless and brilliant’ 101 notout in his bout with life. AmbassadorV Madhavan Nair, born in the famousChettur family of Kerala in 1919 hada silent but joyous 101st birthday incompany of his wife and daughter inNew Delhi this week. The new gen-eration may not have heard of thisillustrious son of India as he belongedto another era.

Nair entered the Indian CivilService in 1943 and retired in 1977after serving the country for 34 years.The career took him to variouscountries in Asia , Africa and Europe.The period 1950s to 1970s was knownfor coups in some of the newly liber-ated countries and he had the privilege

to watch these developments fromclose quarters.

He was in Alexandria as India’sCharge’ d’ affaires when the thenmonarch King Farouk was over-thrown in a coup d’état by MohammedNaguib and Gamal Abdel Nasser in1952. Naguib was overthrown byNaasser himself and put under housearrest for decades. The King escapedto Italy by his personal yacht!

While he was serving as India’sAmbassador to Morocco and Tunisia,Nair was to witness an unsuccessfulbid by the Morocco Army to upstageKing Hassan II. The Ambassadorcould be the only Indian to get a spe-cial privilege to see the tooth ofBudha preserved in Candy and thattoo out of turn. The Budha’s tooth istaken out for public display only oncein seven years but the royal visit of the

King of Nepal to the island nationoffered him the rare chance to get aglimpse of it!

The Ambassador has sweet mem-ories about Cambodia and PhnomPenh which he describes as a big townbut scarcely a city. He had special rela-tions with Prince Norodom Sihanoukand till day remembers clearly the sail-ing expedition undertook throughRiver Mekong.

To some of the questions put tohim by The Pioneer, the Ambassadorchose just one query for answering.When asked why India was alwaysunder attack by most of its neighbours,he just replied; “”Is it the only coun-try to be attacked by neighbours”?

Nair is one not to rest with his lau-rels. He is still obsessed with the worldof diplomacy and wants to be adiplomat in his next birth too.

KOCHI: M Sivsankar, formerprincipal secretary to ChiefMinister Pinarayi Vijayan wasadmitted toThiruvananthapuram MedicalCollege on Saturday followingcomplaints of back pain.Sivsankar had been admitted toa private hospital in the capi-tal city late Friday eveningwhile he was being taken to theCustoms office for questioningin connection with the goldsmuggling scam.

On Saturday morning, hewas subjected to angioplastyand a team of cardiologistsexamine him to diagnose thepossibilities of cardiac issues.When it was found that

Sivsankar was perfectly alrightby the medical team, he start-ed complaining of back painand he was shifted to MedicalCollege Hospital.

Meanwhile a seniorCongress law maker P TThomas alleged on Saturdaythat the CPI(M) led KeralaGovernment was out to sub-vert the probe by the centralagencies into the GoldSmuggling Scam and LIFEMission bribery charges. TheNIA is yet to furnish docu-ments linking the accused toterrorism related activitiesthough they were arrested inearly July.

Customs officials said that

Sivsankar played a major rolein smuggling $1.9 millionfrom the country to WestAsia. Quoting from the sub-mission made by Bank offi-cials, the Customs officialssaid Sivsankaran had threat-ened them with dire conse-quences if they failed to obeyhis instructions. The Customsofficials said the ill gottenmoney was transferred out ofIndia with the connivance ofa UAE Consulate staff.

The Customs officialswere hoping to take Sivsankarinto custody for questioningwhen the IAS official feignedsick and managed to derail theCustoms. PNS

=���&��,*H���(I ��'��� ���������#�!���&�� �������# ������

� %�����#��G�*����)����������&�%������3;3���%H��'����������

1���������� ����� ���������

Firozabad (UP): A local BJP leader was shotdead by bike-borne assailants in Firozabad dis-trict of Uttar Pradesh ahead of the November3 Assembly by-poll in the area, followingwhich three people were detained, police saidon Saturday. D K Gupta, 46, was shot at in theNagla Beech area Friday evening when he wasreturning home after closing his shop. He wasrushed to a hospital where he died, they said.

The police said three people have beendetained for questioning based on a complaintfiled by Gupta''s family.

The area falls under the Tundla assemblyconstituency, where a by-election is scheduledfor November 3.

Among those detained is a person namedViresh Tomar with whom Gupta had some rival-ry, they said, adding the duo even had anexchange of words on Facebook recently.

Senior Superintendent of Police (SSP)Sachindra Patel said, “All the angles are beingthoroughly examined. Police teams were formedand Viresh Tomar and two others were detainedfor questioning yesterday night itself,” he added.

The family members staged a protestdemanding justice. The slain BJP leader’s sister,who sat on the dharna alongwith others, allegedthat the Vaishya samaj was being targeted. Theysaid they would not allow the cremation till jus-tice was not done.

Later local MP Chandra Sen Jadaun andFirozabad Sadar seat MLA Manish Asija reachedthe spot and pacified them on the promise thatthose responsible for the attack would be pun-ished and the family would be taken care of bythe party.

The cremation was then carried out in policepresence.

$0�&��������#����������1��#E�%��������#"�%'!#&&��7���������

�# ���&'������#�����!���#�#"�%���������"����$����&��9���&�

��� �� ���1(�� ����������3���� � ���� %����" � ��

63;� #��������!#����)�����0J=�

Agartala/Aizaw: Tripura andMizoram beefed up security andpromulgated prohibitory orders,even as the Tripura authoritiesstopped reconstruction of a tem-ple at the dispured Phuldungseivillage along the inter-state bor-der.

Mizoram Chief SecretaryLalnunmawia Chuaungo onSaturday said that in view of thepublic resentment, the state gov-

(��� ��������( � ��� ����������� ��&���� ���%�� ��

� �������� �� )# �������� �� �������;������/��3�������� �

ernment has taken precau-tionary measures along theinter-state borders withTripura.

“Tripura Home Secretaryis yet to respond to our HomeSecretary Lalbiaksangi's letterover the inter-state borderissue,” Chuaungo said.

According to Mizoram'sMamit district officials, pro-hibitory orders under section144 Cr Pc were clamped inPhuldungsei, Zampui andZomuantlang villages in viewof the proposed constructionof a temple in the area by anindigenous organisation ofTripura.

North Tripura districtSuperintendent of PoliceBhanupada Chakraborty saidthat troopers of the TripuraState Rifles and police wereposted at Phuldungsei villageon Friday.

“The deployment of secu-rity forces was done in view ofthe controversy over therebuilding of a temple.However, there is no untowardincident yet or any kind of ten-sion in our side,” Chakrabortytold IANS.

Mizoram Home SecretaryLalbiaksangi, in a letter to herTripura counterpart BarunKumar Sahu, said that theSurvey of India has beenrequested to facilitate the jointspot verification with theGovernments of Tripura andMizoram to resolve the inter-state boundary issue at theearliest.

The October 9 letter saidthat the Mizoram govern-ment has received reports thatSongrongma of Tripura, alocal indigenous organisation,

is trying to construct a“Mandir” (temple) at the “dis-puted inter-state border villagenear Phuldungsei”. The letterclaimed that the area is underMamit district.

Northern Tripura'sKanchanpur Sub-DivisionalMagistrate (SDM) ChandniChandran in a letter to theVice-President of BruSongrongma Mtho BabujoyReang directed to stop recon-struction of the temple.

Chandran in her lettersaid: “….the undersignedregrets to inform you that suchpermission cannot be granted.As you are already aware,such large congregations areprohibited in the country inthe context of spread ofCovid-19.

There is apprehension ofa breakdown of law and orderand communal clashes asthere is a boundary disputebetween Tripura and Mizoramin the area and thePhuldungsei village councilhas objected to the plan.

The letter said: “A path ofdiscussion and reconcilia-tion involving all the stake-holders is necessary on theissue and you are instructedto not undertake any suchactivities without the priorpermission of the authoritytaking into account the sen-sitive nature of the issueinvolving different commu-nities and strategic locationsof Phuldungsei.”

Phuldungsei has popula-tions of both the HinduReangs (locally called ‘Bru')and Lusai (Mizo), who areChristian.

�����1������� *�*$�

The Oshiwara police have registereda case against yesteryear actor

Mithun Chakraborty`s son and actorMahaakshay alias Mimoh based on acomplaint of rape and cheating filed bya 38-year-old woman.

In a complaint lodged againstMithun’s son Mimoh under sections376 (rape), 376 (2) (n) (repeated rape),328 (causing hurt by means of poison),417 (cheating), 506 (criminal intimi-dation) and 34 (common intention) ofIPC, the complainant has namedMithun’s ex-wife Yogita Bali as a co-accused in the case.

In her complaint, the 38-year-0ldwoman stated that she was in a rela-tionship with Mimoh from 2015 to2018 and during this period he had

promised to marry her.She alleged that during their rela-

tionship, she had gone to see Mimoh’sflat at Adarsh Nagar in Andheri West,which he had purchased in 2015. “Atthat time, he offered me a spiked softdrink that had been spiked and forcedher to have physical relations with him,”he added. The complainant went on toallege that when she became pregnant,Mimoh asked her to abort the baby andgave her pills.

“The woman said she used to askMimoh about their marriage. But inJanuary 2018, he told her that he can-not marry her, which led to an alterca-tion between them. She said when shecalled him, his mother Yogita Balithreatened her,” a senior police officersaid, quoting the contents of the com-plaint lodged by the woman.

Canning (WB): A group of people beat a 41-year-old womanto death and injured her husband in West Bengal''s South 24Parganas district on suspicion that they were thieves, policesaid on Saturday.

Four persons were arrested in connection with the inci-dent which happened at Chinepukur village under the juris-diction of Kashipur police station on Friday.

According to the complaint lodged by the deceasedwoman''s husband, Ali Hossein Molla, a total of 14 people beathim up with sticks and rods accusing him of stealing some-thing from the house of one of them.

Pilibhit (UP): At least 9 people losttheir lives and more than 30 wereinjured in a collision between a jeepand an Uttar Pradesh roadways bus inPilibhit on Saturday, police said.

The accident occurred inPuranpur Police Station area of the dis-trict, a senior police official said.

Superintendent of Police, Pilibhit,Jaiprakash Yadav said, “In an earlymorning accident involving a jeep anda roadways bus, nine persons werekilled, while over 30 persons were

injured.” He added that the deceasedinclude passengers of the bus as wellas the jeep. “Seven of the passengersdied on the spot and the injured areundergoing treatment at the districthospital. The ill-fated bus was comingfrom Lucknow to Pilibhit, and most ofthe passengers are from Pilibhit andnearby areas,” he said.

Police officials said that the acci-dent site is approximately 40 kilome-tres away from the district headquar-ters. Agencies

Srinagar: In all, 610 more persons tested coronavirus positivein Jammu and Kashmir on Saturday, taking its COVID-19 tallyover 87,000 and active cases to 8,704.

The Information and Public Relations Department said 247new cases were reported from Jammu division and 363 fromKashmir division.

���� ��!�7��������*������ *���+�����,-.�/0/0

����� ��������

ASpecial NIA court in Delhihas convicted 15 accused

persons in connection withthe ISIS Conspiracy case.

The case pertains to crim-inal conspiracy hatched by theISIS to establish its base inIndia by recruiting Muslimyouth for ISIS, a proscribed ter-rorist organisation by using dif-ferent social media platforms.

The case was registered atPolice Station NIA, New Delhion December 9, 2015 undersection under provisions ofthe Indian Penal Code andUnlawful Activities(Prevention) Act.

During investigation,searches were conducted by theNIA in various cities across thecountry and 19 accused per-sons were arrested.

It was revealed that theaccused persons had formed anorganisation styled as Junood-ul-Khilafa-Fil-Hind (a groupseeking to establish Caliphatein India and pledging alle-giance to ISIS/ISIL) to recruitMuslim youth to work for ISISand commit acts of terrorismin India at the behest of oneYusuf-Al-Hindi alias ShafiArmar alias Anjan Bhai, whowas based in Syria and was pur-portedly the media chief ofISIS.

“This case had a hugeimpact on the like-mindedpeople who were likely to joinISIS. After the arrest of the ISISterrorists, their activities were

minimised and theirother asso-ciates were identified and ques-tioned to unravel their furtherplans,” the NIA said in a state-ment.

Several ISIS sympathisers,who had gone to join ISIS, wereintercepted at various loca-tions in the Middle East andwere deported to India. Theinvestigation conducted by theagency stopped the facilita-tion of the ISIS members inIndia as well as abroad, it said.

After completion of inves-tigation, the NIA had filedcharge-sheets against 16accused persons in 2016-2017.

On Friday, 15 accused wereconvicted and sentenced with

rigorous imprisonment (RI)and fine.

The convicted terroristsinclude Nafees Khan, 10 yearsRI with fine of �1,03,000,Mudabbir Mushtaq Sheikh, 7years RI and fine of �65,000,Abu Anas, 7 years RI and fine�48,000, Mufti Abdus Sami, 7years RI and fine of �50,000and Azhar Khan, 6 years RIwith a fine �58,000.

Others convicted includeAmzad Khan, 6 years RI with�78,000 fine, Mohd. ShariffMoinudeen, 5 years RI with�38,000 fine, Asif Ali, 5 yearsRI and fine of �38,000, Mohd.Hussain, 5 years RI and fine ofRs 38,000 and Syed Mujahid, 5years RI and fine �38,000.

The five others convictedare Najmul Huda, Mohd.Obedullah, Md. Aleem, Md.Afzal and Sohail Ahmad forfive years and a fine each of �38,000.

This case was first of itskind in which an extensive ter-rorist conspiracy involvingonline radicalisation washatched on cyber space.

�;����������� ������������������$� ��

'�'�()*��'+�(,

����� ��������

Congress on Saturday kick-started the Smart Village

Campaign (SVC) with the vir-tual launch of a �2,775 crorecampaign to power the com-plete rural transformation ofthe State in Punjab.

The smart village conceptis to focus on core areas likerenovation of ponds, streetlights, parks, gymnasiums,community halls, drinkingwater supply, model anganwa-di centers, smart schools andsolid waste management, thusmaking villages self-sustainingby providing enabling envi-ronments.

While doing so, the focusshall be on ‘inclusive’ growth,i.e. to include households suchas women -headed households,persons with disabilities, crit-ically ill persons, families ofmartyrs, scheduled castes, etc,he said.

Party sources said that thesame is to be replicated by allthe Congress ruled States inway to showcase a better formatof the Modi government'sAdarsh Village concept whichhas not shown much enthusi-asm.

Launching the campaignvirtually from the nationalCapital, former Congress chiefRahul Gandhi said the schemewould lead to the creation ofenormous rural infrastructureto raise the living standard andquality of life by capitalising ontechnological advances, as partof his government’s RuralTransformation Strategy.

Punjab Chief MinisterCapt Amarinder Singh, officialsand Sarpanchs, joined in from

a total of 1,500 digital locations,paving the way for execution of48,910 separate works acrossthe state.

Singh assured of adequateallocation for the schemes to beundertaken under the secondphase, which has been kick-started on the successful cul-mination of Phase I, which waslaunched in 2019 for the exe-cution of 19,132 works at a costof �835 crores.

Underlining the impor-tance of villages to keep thenation’s foundations strong,Rahul Gandhi said any weak-ening of the rural structurewould impede the nation’sprogress. He stressed the needto strengthen these foundationsfor a better India, pointing outthat protecting the villages andthe people living there wouldhelp protect the cities and thecountry.

Congress' ruled other statesof Chhattisgarh, Rajasthan,Puducherry is also studying theproject initiated by their coun-terpart in Punjab.

Rahul said the Congress

believed in working at thegrassroots and Congress gov-ernments start programmesonly after taking the views ofthe Panchayats into accounts.Since the schemes under SVChave been envisaged after delib-erations at the ground level,they will deliver the desiredresults, he said.

Adequate funds in Punjabhad already been transferred toall 13,264 Gram Panchayats inPunjab, the Chief Ministersaid, adding that his govern-ment intends to give assis-tance to those house-ownerswho are living in houses hav-ing temporary roofs. The inten-tion is “Har ghar pakki chhat”i.e. to provide the rural poorwith better housing facility.

In addition, 750 stadiumsare being taken up for devel-opment in rural areas for 2020-21 in Punjab. For this purpose,a target of minimum of 5 sta-diums per block has been allot-ted for this purpose. Newdesigns of 4 acres, 2 acres and1 acre playgrounds have beendeveloped.

%� ����� ����$���G�������%������

����� ��������

The Union Culture Ministryhas issued detailed

Standard Operating Procedures(SOPs) for ‘culture functionsand programmes' on preventivemeasures to control the spreadof Covid-19, according towhich, no cultural activities willbe allowed inside containmentzones.

According to an officialfrom the Ministry, these SOPshave to be followed by themanagement of theatres andperformance spaces, as well asthe entertainment/creativeagencies, artists and crew orany other persons who hire theauditoria or any otheropen/closed performancespaces, whether on payment orgratis.

“Comprehensive guidelineshave been issued for artists andcrew, management of greenrooms, stage management, cos-tume and makeup trials, sani-tization of the venue includingstage, open area seating etc,” theofficial added.

Further, State/UT Govtsmay consider proposing addi-tional measures as per their

field assessment.Guidelines issued by the

Union Home and HealthMinistries shall be strictlycomplied with during all activ-ities and operations, said theofficial.

Social/ academic/ sports/entertainment/ cultural/ reli-gious/ political functions andother congregations havealready been permitted with aceiling of 100 persons, outsidecontainment zones only.

In closed spaces, a maxi-mum of 50 per cent of the hallcapacity will be allowed, witha ceiling of 200 persons.

Wearing of face masks,maintaining social distancing,provision for thermal scanningand use of hand wash or san-itizer will be mandatory, whilein open spaces, keeping thesize of the space/ground inview, strict observance of socialdistancing, the mandatorywearing of face masks, provi-sion for thermal scanning andhand wash or sanitiser has tobe followed.

"State/UT Govts will issuedetailed SOPs, to regulate suchgatherings and strictly enforcethe same," said the official.

"����������$.5��������������� �� ������������

������� ��������������������������*'����������������������������-&

������������������-&.��-/

����� ��������

The BJP on Saturday camedown heavily on the

Congress for its unequivocalsupport for the restoration ofJammu and Kashmir's specialstatus and the oppositionparty to include the restora-tion of Article 370 as apromise in its Bihar pollsmanifesto.

In a sharp riposte toCongress leader and formerUnion finance Minister PChidambaram’s comment onrestoring article 370, BJPpresident J P Nadda allegedthat the opposition party wassubscribing to a "DivideIndia" agenda. Another seniorBJP leader and union I & BMinister Prakash Javadekarsought to dare the Congressto put their promise of bring-ing back article 370 in theparty’s poll manifesto forBihar.

In August 2019, a presi-dential notification along withthe passage of requisite legis-lation in Parliament resultedin Article 370 becomingredundant and the state ofJ&K splitting into two- J & K,Ladakh- Union Territories.

Nadda drew a l inkbetween former Congresspresident Rahul Gandhi'srecent praise for Pakistan andChidambaram's pro-Article370 statement.

Chidambaram had wel-comed the formation of the'People's Alliance for GupkarDeclaration' and called for thepeople of J&K to be givenback their rights that existedbefore August 5, 2019.Terming the Centre's deci-sions as "unconstitutional",he said that mainstream par-ties, as well as people of J&K,should not be perceived as"anti-national".

Javadekar pointed out thatthe Congress knew very wellthat the people of the entirecountry had endorsed thedecision to scrap J&K's specialstatus.

"Congress leaders PChidambaram and DigvijayaSingh are saying that the deci-sion to abrogate Article 370was wrong and so, Congresswill take it back. Can theCongress include this in theBihar poll manifesto? Theyknow very well that the peo-ple of Jammu, Kashmir,

Ladakh and the rest of thecountry welcomed the move toabrogate Article 370. Theyhave seen the kind of progressin Jammu and Kashmir andLadakh in the past one year.But Congress is echoing thelanguage of the soft sepa-ratists," said the BJP leader.

Alleging that Congresswas endorsing the agenda ofsoft separatists, he regrettedthat the opposition partyrepeatedly went against themood of the people.

The Union Ministeraccused Sonia headed BJP ofpraising China and Pakistan.Maintaining that Article 370was always temporary innature, Javadekar listed thevarious benefits secured by thepeople of J&K and Ladakh inthe last one year.

"Congress is continuouslyadopting positions that goagainst the sentiments of thepeople of this country. RahulGandhi also praises Pakistan.They like to praise Pakistanand China on any issue.

The Constitution also stat-ed that Article 370 is for a lim-ited period, after which it willgo.

Separatism has ended andall the vulnerable sections ofthe society got the benefit ofreservation.

Many welfare laws wereimplemented in Kashmir," saidthe Union Minister.

Union Fisheries MinisterGiriraj Singh also expressed‘outrage’ at Congress' stanceand questioned whether theparty wanted to severe J&Kfrom India.

All original GupkarDeclaration signatories bar-ring for J&K Congress chiefGA Mir came together for thefirst time on Thursday sincethe abrogation of Article 370.The Gupkar Declaration was aresolution passed by NationalConference (NC), PeoplesDemocratic Party(PDP),Congress, CPI(M), JKPC andANC on August 4, 2019 (a daybefore the abrogation of arti-cle 370), pledging to protectthe "identity, autonomy andspecial status" of J&K.

After the meeting, NCpresident Farooq Abdullahannounced the formation ofthe People's Alliance forGupkar Declaration' andcalled for the restoration ofJ&K's special status.

6�"������� �� ��"���������� ���������� ��������������89-

����� ��������

Union Minister for RoadTransport, Highways and

MSMEs Nitin Gadkari hasrequested the MaharashtraGovernment to take initiativefor preparation of detailed pro-ject report (DPR) for formationof the State Water Grid toovercome the recurring floodcrisis in the State. This wouldhelp the Government to ensurethe availability of the water indrought prone areas and savethe resources to manage theflood crisis. In a letter dated14th October, 2020 to ChiefMinister Udhav Thackeray, hiscabinet colleagues and SharadPawar, MP, he has sought earlydecision of the StateGovernment on this issue, fol-lowed by actions thereon.

Gadkari has drawn theattention of the Chief Ministerin this letter towards the seri-ous issue of heavy loss of livesand property that occur in thestate of Maharashtra every yeardue to floods. He has addedthat the floods create and trig-ger serious problems in differ-

ent parts of the State and thereis an urgent need to chalk outa plan to manage this naturaldisaster that becomes gravebecause of other man madefactors.

The Union Minister hassuggested to the Governmentof Maharashtra to take up theambitious project of formationof the State Water Grid on thelines of the National PowerGrid and Highway Grid. Theidea is to divert the flood waterfrom one river basin to theother river basin in the droughtprone area of the state. Theareas with shortage of thewater, scanty rainfall can getrelief by the Grid. This wouldhelp to increase the area underirrigation, while bringing sig-nificant reduction in the num-bers of suicides of farmers. Theletter goes on to say that vari-ous studies have shown that theincidents of the farmers' suicidehave come down in the areaswhere the irrigation cover ismore that 55%.

The Minister mentionedthat this would also help toincrease agriculture produce

and strengthen the rural andnational economy. The divert-ed flood waters would relievethe stress on the local resources.Transportation of goods andpassengers through rivers(Water Transport) can be com-menced in near future. Fishingand other businesses can flour-ish alongside and majoremployment can be generatedif such project is taken up as anessential infrastructure.

Gadkari has informed thathis Ministry is doing waterconservation by using thesoil/murum from water bodies,drains and rivers for construc-tion of Highways.

This synchronisation ofN.H. construction and waterconservation results not only inincreasing water storage capac-ity but saving environment.Initially this activity was doneon large scale in Buldhana dis-trict as pilot project and hencenamed as 'Buldhana pattern'.With this activity inMaharashtra, around 225 lakhcubic meter of material fromwater bodies, drains and rivershas been used in Highway

works with a result of increaseof 22500 TCM (ThousandCubic Meter) of water storagecapacity at `No cost to StateGovernment'. This has chargedground water table. Due todeepening and training of river,drains, etc, the floods havereduced, which otherwisespreads in nearby field due toreduced discharge capacity ofrivers and drains. This con-vergence has been appreciatedand accepted by NITI Aayog,which is in the process offorming policy based on thiswork done.

The Minister furtherinformed that the TamaswadaPattern adopted in Wardhaand Nagpur districts is anoth-er effort towards Rain WaterHarvesting, Conservation andGround Water Recharge.

These works are done onthe basis of Scientific andComplete Development ofMini-Micro Watersheds basedon study of HydroGeology,Topography and CivilEngineering. Work is doneessentially in the directionfrom Ridge to Valley.Tamaswada Pattern is mosthelpful to create augmentedSurface rain and Ground Waterstorages. It creates Flood free aswell as Drought free situationin treated Watershed. Thesetype of works are resulting inPreservation and Conservationof Traditional natural waterbodies.

0��1�+'2)3� �0)42

����� ��������

External Affairs Minister SJaishankar on Saturday said

peace and tranquillity along theLine of Actual Control(LAC) is"deeply disturbed" and this isobviously impacting the over-all relationship between Indiaand China.

Jaishankar made thesecomments against the back-drop of the over five-month-long border standoff betweenIndia and China in easternLadakh where each side has

deployed over 50,000 troops.The Sino-India boundary

question a very "complicated"and difficult issue, he said at awebinar on his book ‘The IndiaWay', giving a historical per-spective to development of therelationship between the twoneighbouring countries in thelast three decades.

The external affairs min-ister said the relationshipbetween India and China,which was "very difficult",was normalised since late1980s through a plethora of

initiatives like trade, travel,tourism, and societal activitieson the premise of peace and

tranquilli-ty alongthe bor-der.

"It isnot ourp o s i t i o nthat wes h o u l dsolve theboundaryquestion.We under-

stand that it is a very compli-cated and difficult issue.There have been many nego-

tiations at different lev-els...That is a very high bar fora relationship," Jaishankarsaid.

"I am talking about amuch more basic bar which isthat there must be peace andtranquillity along the LAC inthe border areas and that hasbeen the case since the late1980s," he added.

"Now, if peace and tran-quillity is deeply disturbed,then obviously there will bean impact on the relationshipand that is what we are see-

ing," he said referring to theborder situation in easternLadakh.

Jaishankar said bothChina and India are risingand assuming "bigger" role inthe world, but the "big ques-tion" is how the two countriesfind an "equilibrium".

"That is the basic case Iaddressed in my book," theminister said, adding he com-pleted the manuscript of thebook in April, before the bor-der row erupted in easternLadakh.

"� ��� ���� �: ������� ���%�.���+����������� ����)�� ��� ��

����� ��������

Vice President M VenkaiahNaidu on Saturday called

for building a more equitablesociety on International Dayfor the Eradication of Poverty.

The theme for the Daythis year addresses the chal-lenge of achieving social andenvironmental justice for all,

according to the UnitedNations.

"Today, let us strivetogether for the uplift of thedowntrodden & build a moreequitable society. We need toaddress the root cause ofpoverty in all its dimensions,be it economic, social, legal or

environmental," the VicePresident Secretariat tweetedquoting Naidu.

1"�� �� �� �������� �����%�: �� ���������������$�����0 ����; ��� ��������"�����

����� ��������

ASupreme Court lawyers'body has condemned

Andhra Pradesh Chief MinisterYS Jagan Mohan Reddy's actionof writing a letter to Chief Justiceof India S A Bobde in which alle-gations have been levelled againsta sitting judge of the top court.

The Supreme Court BarAssociation (SCBA) said in itsresolution that “such action byconstitutional functionaries isopposed to conventions causingserious inroads impacting theindependence of the judiciary asenshrined in the Constitution ofIndia”.

The SCBA resolution waspassed days after anotherlawyers' body, Supreme CourtA d v o c a t e s - o n - R e c o r dAssociation (SCAORA), hadcondemned the "unwarranted"release of the letter written byReddy saying “it tends to scan-dalise and breach the indepen-dence of judiciary”.

The resolution of SCBA said

that its executive committee, ata meeting on October 16, strong-ly condemned the action of thechief minister of Andhra Pradeshin releasing his letter to theChief Justice of India (CJI) mak-ing allegations against the sittingjudge in the public domain.

A similar resolution wasalso passed earlier this week bythe Delhi High Court BarAssociation (DHCBA) statingthat the “ill-founded” letter“unfairly and without reasoncasts aspersions” on the conductof the apex court judge andjudges of the Andhra PradeshHigh Court.

The DHCBA said theOctober 6 letter is an abject anduncalled for

interference in the dueadministration of justice by thehigh court judges.

In an unprecedented move,the chief minister wrote the let-ter to the CJI, alleging that theAndhra Pradesh High Court wasbeing used to "destabilise andtopple my democratically elect-ed Government.

!�6��������������� �(<�� ���% ����� % ����������%�/ �%����� ��4��� �

0��!�������� ���������3������������������

������������5��������

����6 ��� ��� �����5��������������������������������������

������

=���!� ���> ����������� �����������������

����8��������*������ *���+�����,-.�/0/0

����� ��������

Paytm users will have to paya 2 per cent fee on the

amount added to their e-wal-let using a credit card.

Until now, users had topay 2 per cent fee if theyloaded more than �10,000 intheir e-wallets via credit card ina month.

A message saying“Nominal charge of 2 per centis applicable on adding moneyusing credit card. Nominal feeis applicable since we pay highcharges to your bank/paymentnetwork when you add moneyusing a credit card. Please useUPI or debit card to add moneyfor free” is displayed whencustomers attempt to addmoney to their Paytm wallet viaa credit card.

Paytm is also providingan offer, wherein users will get2 per cent cashback up to Rs200 on adding minimum Rs 50using credit card, as per themessage.

When contacted, a PaytmPayments Bank spokespersonsaid customers have the flexi-

bility to add money to theirPaytm wallet from any of theirpreferred funding source,including UPI, net bankingand cards.

“The banks and credit cardcompanies charge a fee forloading money into the Paytmwallet from any of thesesources.

The 2 per cent charge ispassed on to customers, whouse credit cards for addingfunds to their wallet. For allother sources, we will contin-ue to absorb the cost of load-ing money,” the spokespersonsaid.

The spokesperson furthersaid the company has tem-porarily waived the 5 per cent

charge that is levied on moneytransfer from wallet to bankaccounts as a promotional offerfor the festive season.

“The amount added in thewallet can be used to transfermoney to another wallet orbank account, to make pay-ments to online and offlinemerchants via QR codes, toprocess bill payments, dorecharges and multiple otherforms of transactions. All suchtransactions will also continueto be free of cost for our cus-tomers,” the spokesperson said.

In 2017, Paytm had intro-duced a similar fee on amountsadded to wallet via credit cards,but had rolled back the decisionafter pressure from users.

����� ��������

Genex Child DevelopmentProgramme, that works

on gender equality, on Saturdaysaid it will provide a fixeddeposit of �11,000 to every girlchild born in India, whoseparents register for the initia-tive.

Under the Genex GirlChild DevelopmentProgramme, every girl born inthe country, whose parentsregister for the same, will begiven �11,000 fixed deposit atthe time of birth. This is irre-spective of the religion, socialstatus or geographical locationof the parents, Genex said in arelease.

This programme is opento everyone in the entire coun-

try and it is free to avail thebenefits of this initiative, it said,adding parents can register onwww.Genexchild.Com.

This initiative is designedto empower the girl child withher own money when she turns18 and she would then have allthe right to use the same for hereducation, business or marriagewherever she deems fit. This isjust a step to make her feelindependent at the age of 18.The aim is to make girls eco-nomically strong and narrowthe age gap, Genex added.

Genex founder PankajGupta said, “We feel privilegedto be announcing the initiativealong with our 1,50,000 net-work partners. It is just a smallstep towards making the nextgeneration an independent.

����� ��������

As much as �1.08 lakh croreworth of loans under the

liquidity package for stressedpower distribution utilities havebeen sanctioned so far, RECsaid on Saturday.

In May, Finance MinisterNirmala Sitharamanannounced �90,000 crore liq-uidity infusion into cash-strapped discoms, facingdemand slump due to the lock-down to contain COVID-19.

This package waslater increased to �1.2 lakhcrore by the Ministry of Power.

“Till date, REC and PFC(Power Finance Corporation)have sanctioned �1.08 lakhcrore and released nearly

�30,000 crore to discoms underthe scheme,” REC said in astatement.

The loans under the pack-age will be co-funded by PFCand REC in equal proportion.The loans would be sanctionedin two equal tranches.

REC also said it has sanc-tioned � 2,790 crore to JammuKashmir Power CorporationLtd (JKPCL) under the scheme.

The agreement was signedbetween the Government ofJammu & Kashmir, JKPCL,REC and PFC.

Under the liquidity infu-sion scheme of the Centre,REC and PFC are extendingfinancial assistance at a con-cessional rate of interest, itadded.

����� ��������

HDFC Bank on Saturdayreported a 16 per cent

rise in its consolidated netprofit to �7,703 crore for thesecond quarter ended onSeptember 30, 2020.

The private sectorlender had posted a consoli-dated net profit of �6,638 crorein the corresponding quarter ayear ago.

Total consolidated incomeduring the quarter underreview rose to �38,438.47 crorefrom �36,130.96 crore in July-September 2019, the bank saidin a release.

Consolidated advancesgrew by 14.9 per cent to �10.89lakh crore at the end ofSeptember 2020 from �9.47lakh crore a year earlier, HDFCBank said.

On standalone basis,HDFC Bank said after provid-ing �2,597.2 crore for taxation,it earned a net profit of �7,513.1crore, an increase of 18.4 percent over the quarter endedSeptember 30, 2019.

Total income (stand-alone) grew to �36,069.42 crorein the second quarter ofFY2021 from �33,755 crore inthe year ago quarter.

“While the previous quar-ter largely bore the burnt of theCOVID-19 pandemic, someof the softness continued intothe current quarter leading tolower retail loan origination,use of debit and credit cards bycustomers, efficiency in col-lection efforts and waivers ofcertain fees.

As a result, fes/otherincome were lower by approx-imately �800 crore.

������ ���1���, ,>

Apple is expected to witness 15 per cent iPhonegrowth next fiscal year and the primary wave of

Apple 5G telephones has placed the ball in carriersand builders court, research-driven US venture cap-ital firm Loup Ventures has forecast.

“While we believe it will take carriers years tobuild a compelling 5G infrastructure, Apple is readytoday with a lineup of phones that should enjoy athree-year upgrade cycle, compared to a typical one-year duration,” wrote Gene Munster and DavidStokman.

“Additionally, the company continues to advanceaugmented reality. We see the combination of AR anda 5G iPhone as the basis for why Apple is the bestway to invest in 5G”.

According to a report in DigiTimes, AppleiPhone 12 series shipments are expected to reach asmany as 80 million units by the end of the year owingto more affordable pricing strategy.

Shipments of the new iPhone lineup, includingthe iPhone 12, iPhone 12 mini, iPhone 12 Pro andiPhone 12 Pro Max, will at least top 70 million unitsby the end 2020, with the possibility of hitting 80 mil-lion barring a further escalation of the US-Chinatrade conflicts, it reported.

According to Munster and Stokman from LoupVentures, “We imagine the variety of iPhones whichare three years or older has elevated by 90 millionitems over the previous year, which supplies a tail-wind for iPhone demand within the coming year”.

������ ��������

In a bid to encourage web check-in, airlinemajor IndiGo has introduced a service fee

for usage of check-in counters at the airports.Accordingly, the fee has come into

effect from Saturday.“We encourage all passengers to web

check-in as per the government directive,using our website or mobile app. The check-in fee at the airport counters is applicable onall bookings made, starting from October17,” the airline said in a statement.

The airline added that it is committedto take all precautionary measures for a con-tactless and hassle-free travel experience forits passengers.

������ ��������

First time since lockdown,diesel sale in the country

has crossed over the pre-covidlevel with the country’s mostwidely consumed fuel witness-ing a nine per cent year-on-yeargrowth in the first 15 days ofOctober. The surge in demandafter months of subdued salesis the direct result of anincrease in the transport activ-ities ahead of the festival sea-son as consumers move out tomake those necessary pur-chases. According to officialsources, during the first fort-night of October, the sale ofdiesel increased by nine percent (YoY) to reach a level of2.65 million tonne. The growthis even more significant atclose to 25 per cent in relationto the previous month ofSeptember.

������ ��������

As part of reforms orientedtowards providing cleaner

auto fuels in the country, gov-ernment will soon launch apilot on hydrogen CNG orHCNG soon, a senior govern-ment official said on Saturday.

Petroleum secretary TarunKapoor said that a pilot projecton HCNG is being undertak-en in Delhi soon that willimprove efficiency and reduceemissions drastically.

Speaking the InauguralSession of ‘Alternative FuelTechnology for Vehicles: ACure-all for SustainableMobility’ organised by PHDChamber of Commerce andIndustry in association withCSIDC, Government ofChhattisgarh, Kapoor said.

India is becoming a leaderin CNG, there has been a sig-nificant transition with theneed to move towards cleanerfuels like CNG, ethanol,biodiesel, and electric vehicles.

He said that we need toensure that CNG is availableand affordable ensuring thatvehicles are modelled to incor-porate CNG smoothly.

Discussing city gas distri-bution, he shared that there issignificant work happeningespecially in the infrastruc-ture so that CNG is seamless-ly available. “We will be doinga pilot project in Delhi onHCNG that will improve effi-ciency and reduce emissionsdrastically,” the secretary said.

Talking about ethanol, hementioned that by the nextyear, there would be a jump inthe ethanol production andIndia is planning to introduceE12 and E15 shortly.

Gradually, we will haveblended petrol all over thecountry and moving to a high-er percentage. We have to makepure ethanol available that ishappening in several coun-tries and, some countries alsohave multi-fuel vehicles likeBrazil. There is a pilot project

which will be implementedfor pure ethanol that will takeplace in Pune shortly, he said.

Kapoor deliberated aboutthe need to make biodieselaffordable and freely available.On the sector of compressedbiogas, he discussed that it’s anarea of focus as it’s importantfor the agriculture sector and,there is a huge source availablein the country. He also dis-cussed the projects undertak-en by the government for set-ting up biogas plants that willhelp in producing a large quan-tity of biogas that will also flowin the city gas distributionnetwork making it availablealong with CNG.

On Electric Vehicles, the oilmarketing companies are avail-able to facilitate and, we arelooking forward to better swap-ping coming to the petrol sta-tion, retail outlets, putting upelectric charging. We look for-ward to work closely with theindustry so that we can go for-ward, said Kapoor.

������ ��������

Low base, along with moresustainable pent-up

demand, boosted domesticpassenger vehicles’ sales inSeptember on a year-on-yearbasis.

According to industry datareleased on Friday, a total of2,72,027 passenger vehicleswere sold in the domestic mar-ket, representing a rise of 26.45per cent, against the 2,15,124units off-take during the likeperiod of 2019.

The data released by theSociety of Indian AutomobileManufacturers (SIAM) alsoshowed a sequential growth insales during September.

In August, the domesticpassenger vehicles’ sales hadrisen by 14.16 per cent to215,916 units from 1,89,129

units sold during the corre-sponding month of the previ-ous year.

Besides, the data showedthat car sales in the countryrose by 28.92 per cent to163,981 units in September,compared with 127,194 unitsduring the year-ago period.

As per SIAM, the datadoes not include sales figuresfrom some key players such asTata Motors.

In terms of utility vehicles,sales grew by 24.50 per cent to96,633, while vans’ offtake wentup by 10.64 per cent to 11,413units against the same montha year ago.

However, three-wheelersales were 18,640 units inSeptember 2020 compared to66,362 units on a y-o-y basis,marking a decrease by (-) 71.91per cent.

Jaipur: In order to fillip theeconomic growth in the city,Jaipur DevelopmentCommissioner (JDC) GauravGoyal announced that in themeeting of PWC, for the firsttime JDA has decided to devel-op Agro-Warehousing Schemenear Amber tehsil in Jaipur.

JDC said that in Zone 12falling in village Akeda andMaheshpura in Amber tehsil,one lakh nineteen thousandsquare meters of land hasbeen earmarked for the pro-ject.

In it, 33000 square metershas been reserved to develop 18big warehouse plots.

Balance of the land willhave facilities like Hotels,Restaurants, Petrol Pumps,

Banks, Electric Sub-station,Commercial Shops and estab-lishments, weighbridges, andautomobile shops.

Speaking about its loca-tional advantage JDCinformed, that the scheme issituated on Jaipur-SikarNational Highway Number 11in the west direction on a 30meters wide road that is just 2kms before Tatiawas Toll Plaza.From the highway, it is only 10Kms away, 30 Kms from JaipurAirport, 20 kms from JaipurRailway Station and 10 Kmsfrom Vishwakarma IndustrialArea.

JDA’s famous housing pro-ject Anand Lok and SwapnaLok are very near to theupcoming project.

����� ���A�$��

On Saturday evening, UnionMinister of State for Road

Transport and HighwaysGeneral VK Singh inaugurat-ed the free vehicle zone foodbazar in a ceremony at theRajnagar District Center(RDC) developed by theGhaziabad DevelopmentAuthority (GDA) on the linesof Gangtok, the capital ofSikkim.

Earlier, Singh also inaugu-rated Divyang Park atIndirarapuram and NandiGaushala at RajnagarExtension. A cost of �10.89crore has been incurred onthese three projects.

On this occasion, GeneralVK Singh said in a functionorganised at RDC that we wantto make Ghaziabad a worldclass city. GDA is playing animportant role in realizing thisdream.

*<� �����������������������������!����. ��

$����������� ��������������������������� ���� � %�

�3-;5�&������#����#���&#����������#�������������# �&�2�����'�!������

>����� ��������� ��� � ����� ��"�# ����� �����%�� �

+ ��������������������� ���������� �� ����������� ���� �� ����

+� ��5��3�=���.�� ��� �����/�2��

*&����������������9��������� ������� ����������

�������#��4����!!&� �'�����34K���#����#������(��"����&�'���

'�!04��$?9��������� ����"����� �-=������ ��:��

3���>�������������$�� �����444������� ���� ��������������������?� ���

1����)������%##�������&���&�����>������ �����!#)���&����'���

@������� ��� ������ "���� )� ��������� ��������

After six months of severestress triggered by the

toughest lockdown so far, somehigh-frequency indicatorspoint towards economic recov-ery but there are signs that thisrevival is fragile, BrickworkRatings said.

It estimated that the econ-omy is likely to contract by 13.5per cent in the second quarter(July-September), and the con-traction in FY21 (April 2020 toMarch 2021) is likely to bearound 9.5 per cent unless thegovernment takes immediateinitiative to revive the econo-my. “After six months of severestress triggered by the severestlockdown so far, there finally issome good news on the econ-omy. Some high-frequencyindicators point towards eco-nomic recovery,” it said in areport.

The manufacturing PMI

has shown a sharp increasefrom 52 in August to 56.8 inSeptember, the highest in eightyears.

GST collections at Rs95,480 crore in September haverecovered to increase by 3.8 percent from last year and werehigher than August collectionsby 10 per cent. Passenger vehi-cle sale has increased by 31 percent while railway freight traf-fic showed a 15 per cent rise.

After a gap of six months,merchandise exports registered5.3 per cent growth, driven byoutbound shipments of engi-neering goods, petroleumproducts, pharmaceuticals andreadymade garments. Therewas an increase in powerdemand and generation as well.

“However, there are indi-cations that this recovery isfragile. Capital expenditure onnew projects declined by 81 percent in the second quarterover the corresponding period

last year, showing a continuousdeclining trend in investments,”the rating agency said.

Also, core sector growthwas (-)8.5 percent in August.

The credit-deposit ratiodeclined in the three fortnightsending September 11, 2020,and non-gold, non-oil importscontinue to decline.

In the first quarter, theGDP contraction was 23.9 percent, and except agricultureand allied sectors, all other sec-tors suffered negative growthrates. The sharpest contractionwas in the construction sector(-50.3 per cent), followed bytrade, hotels, transport, storageand communication (-47 percent) and manufacturing (-39.3 per cent).

“Even as the economy isseen to be on the mend, con-tractions in these sectors arelikely to continue, although ata slower pace,” it said.

Stating that ‘crisis is the

mother of reforms’, BrickworkRatings said the governmenthas rushed in some importantreforms to remove constraintsin the farm sector and impartgreater flexibility to the labourmarket. “The merging of 24central labour laws into fourcodes is an important reform toimpart greater flexibility to thelabour market and endinginspector raj,” it said.

It said these structuralreforms are important toimprove the economic envi-ronment, ease of doing busi-ness and ending inspector raj.

“However, the immediatetask the government has toaddress is the removal of sup-ply chain disruptions and aug-ment aggregate demand to liftthe economy out of themorass,” it said.

“This requires the govern-ment to initiate measures toincrease public spending,undertake banking reforms to

incentivise lending, police andjudicial reforms to protect lifeand property, and enforce con-tracts and reverse the protec-tionist trend that has crept induring the last three years inthe interest of making thedomestic production sectorcompetitive and export-ori-ented,” the agency said.

Brickwork Ratings said thestimulus package announced sofar does not entail a substantialfiscal package.

The quick economicrevival requires the governmentto loosen its purse to augmentaggregate demand, it said.

“It should be less dogmat-ic on fiscal targets in the cur-rent and next year. Moreimportantly, it can substantial-ly augment public spending byundertaking disinvestment andin some cases such as AirIndia, privatisation to increasepublic investment expendi-tures,” the agency said.

0��������'�H�,#,��!!�#)������#&)���'����#&���#��!&������� *�*$�

Jet Airways’ committee of cred-itors (CoC) on Saturday

approved the resolution plansubmitted by the consortium ofUK's Kalrock Capital and UAE-based entrepreneur Murari LalJalan under the insolvency reso-lution process. The plan wasapproved after the conclusion ofthe e-voting on the proposal, JetAirways RP (resolution profes-sional) Ashish Chhawchhariasaid in a BSE filing.

“The resolution submitted byMurali Lal Jalan and FlorianFritsch has been duly approvedby the CoC under Section 30(4)of the Code as the successful res-olution plan,” said the filing.

The grounded airline hadreceived bids from two consor-tiums, one comprising UK-based

Kalrock Capital founded byFlorian Fritsch and UAE-basedentrepreneur Murari Lal Jalan.

The other bid was submittedby the consortium consisting ofHaryana-based Flight SimulationTechnique Centre, Big Charter ofMumbai and Abu Dhabi'sImperial Capital InvestmentsLLC.

The RP is in the process offiling an application in accor-dance with section 30(6) of theCode for approval of the said res-olution plan by the NationalCompany Law Tribunal (NCLT)and intimation of the same shallbe given to the members asrequired, the statement to theBSE stated.

The defunct airlines onFriday had extended the deadlinefor voting on the resolutionplans as only half the lenders had

submitted their votes and theremaining had sought time tillSaturday evening to submit theirvotes.

The carrier was admitted tothe NCLT in June 2019, and theCoC has met 16 times since then.

The airline, which ceased alloperations in April 2019, owesmore than Rs 8,000 crore tobanks, with public sector lendershaving significant exposure.

The NCLT had on June 20,2019, admitted the insolvencypetition filed by the lenders'consortium led by State Bank ofIndia against Jet Airways.

The insolvency process forJet Airways was supposed to becompleted by June this year andthe deadline was first extended toAugust 21, due to lockdowncurbs, and then extended for anunspecified time by the RP.

$��,���'�������""#����"#������#������)����&������ *�*$�

Hit by the fake TRP scam, TVratings computing body

Broadcast Audience ResearchCouncil (BARC) on Saturdaysaid it believes channels are com-mitted to maintaining a cleanecosystem and its efforts present-ly are focused on “individuals”responsible for infiltrating homesto influence the data. The bodysaid it is also cooperating with theprobe by Mumbai Police, whichhas so far arrested six people forallegedly influencing particularchannels’ ratings by inducing thehomes which formed the samplesize which was being monitoredto determine the ratings.

“Our efforts on combatinginfiltration are focused on theindividual(s) responsible for theseactivities and we firmly believethat television channels are com-mitted to maintaining a clean andtransparent ecosystem,” it said in

a statement. The city police hadclaimed that three channels,including Arnab Goswami-head-ed Republic Media Network,were allegedly influencing theTRP numbers. The Republic hasdenied the allegations.

According to the city police,brands take advertising callsbased on TRPs and over Rs32,000 crore of ad inventory issold every year, which makes itthink that it is a multi-crore scam.The arrested include formeremployees of an agency engagedby BARC.

“BARC is providing the nec-essary assistance to the ongoinginvestigation by law enforce-ment agency and this should beseen in the light of larger stabil-ity of the panel and in the inter-ests of self-regulation, ratherthan in isolated cases of partic-ular channels which leads to adistortion of facts,” the BARCstatement said.

������9��������*������ *���+�����,-.�/0/0

Madison: Rising coronaviruscases in key presidential battle-ground states a little more thantwo weeks before Election Dayare the latest worry for electionofficials and voters fearing chaosor exposure to the virus atpolling places despite months ofplanning.

The prospect of poll work-ers backing out at the last minutebecause they are infected, quar-antined or scared of gettingsick has local election officials inMidwest states such as Iowa andWisconsin opening more earlyvoting locations, recruiting back-up workers and encouragingvoters to plan for long lines andother inconveniences.

Confirmed virus cases anddeaths are on the rise in theswing states of Iowa, Michigan,Minnesota, Pennsylvania, Ohioand Wisconsin.

Wisconsin broke recordsthis week for new coronaviruscases, deaths and hospitalisa-tions, leading to the opening ofa field hospital to handleCOVID-19 patients. Gov. TonyEvers said he plans to activatethe Wisconsin National Guardto fill any staffing shortages atelection sites.

While holding a competitivepresidential election during apandemic is “tricky business,”the governor said, “People areready to have this election over,and I think it will be a success-ful election with very few hic-cups.”

In Iowa, Scott CountyAuditor Roxanna Moritz openedadditional early voting sites inand around Davenport, thestate’s third-largest city, to try toreduce the number of peoplecasting ballots on Election Dayand to keep the virus fromspreading in large precincts.

“We have to remember thatthere is this thing calledCOVID,” Moritz said. “Ournumbers aren’t getting any bet-ter. The more people I can get toearly vote, the better.” The pan-demic’s recent trajectory close tohome has some voters recon-sidering a lifetime habit of enter-ing a voting booth on ElectionDay.

Tim Tompkins, a weldingengineer in Iowa, took the dayoff work to cast an early ballotat the Bettendorf CommunityCenter. Tompkins, 62, said heand his wife, Pat, were afraid ofcoronavirus exposure in Election

Day crowds but determined tovote, so they brought their ownsanitizer to the community cen-ter Friday.

“We’d go through a vat ofboiling COVID to get the cur-rent president out of office,”Tompkins said.

In some states, voting earlystill has carried health risks.Voters in Georgia, Texas andelsewhere encountered hours-long lines that required congre-gating with hundreds of otherpeople this week. In Georgia,nearly a quarter of the workersin a warehouse where FultonCounty’s election supplies arekept and voting equipment isreadied tested positive forCOVID-19.

The positive test results for13 of the preparation center’s 60workers shouldn’t delay electionoperations, county electionsdirector Rick Barron said.Barron said Georgia’s most pop-ulous county is working to hirereplacement staff and to imple-ment additional safety mea-sures, including daily rapid test-ing.

Voters in several Midweststates contested by U.S. PresidentDonald Trump and his

Democratic challenger, formerVice President Joe Biden,encountered lines when theywent to cast early ballots onFriday. Some described the deci-sion to vote this year as one that

required deliberation and evencourage.

Robert Baccus, 52, an inde-pendent contractor fromColumbus, Ohio, was amonghundreds in line at the Franklin

County Board of Elections earlyvoting center. He said he does-n’t trust voting by mail, so earlyvoting was his best option forcasting a ballot while trying tosafeguard his health. AP

9������������5������ ��������&�������� �����������

Washington: Joe Biden is warning Michiganvoters that President Donald Trump wants tostrip health insurance from tens of millions ofAmericans with preexisting conditions.

Campaigning outside Detroit on Friday, theDemocratic nominee said Trump promises toprotect the insurance eligibility of all Americansbut in reality wants to scrap the 2010 AffordableCare Act.

That law for the first time set a federalstandard that requires insurers to offer healthinsurance to customers regardless of their healthhistory.

Biden says Trump “can only see from hispenthouse” in Manhattan and doesn’t seemost Americans’ daily struggles.

A 2017 study from the Department ofHealth and Human Services found that as manyas 133 million Americans could be defined ashaving a “preexisting” condition by the stan-dards insurers used before the 2010 law.

Biden noted that the number could rise inthe wake of the pandemic. AP

Macon: Former US president Barack Obama willcampaign for Democratic party presidential can-didate Joe Biden in Pennsylvania next week, theBiden campaign has said.

President Donald Trump, however, told hissupporters here that Obama was an “ineffective”campaigner and this was good news for him as in2016 “they did a lousy job and that’s why I’m yourpresident”. Biden, 77, was the vice president dur-ing Obama’s two terms. While Obama hasendorsed Biden and his running mate Harris bymaking online campaigns for them, this would bethe first time that the 59-year-old former presidentwould be campaigning in person.

Four years after he left the presidency, Obamabecause of his oratory skills, still remains the biggestcrowd puller for the opposition Democraticparty. “On Wednesday, October 21, (former) pres-ident Obama will travel to Philadelphia,Pennsylvania, to campaign on behalf of Joe Bidenand Kamala Harris,” the Biden campaign said ina statement on Friday afternoon. PTI

4�� ������;����������������, ��,��

7��������������"��4�� � �����

Baku (Azerbaijan): Azerbaijanon Saturday accused Armeniaof striking its second-largestcity with a ballistic missile thatkilled at least 13 civilians andwounded 50 others in a newescalation of their conflict overNagorno-Karabakh.

The Armenian DefenceMinistry denied launching thestrike, but the separatist author-ities in Nagorno-Karabakh putout a statement listing alleged“legitimate” military facilities inthe city of Ganja, althoughthey stopped short of claimingresponsibility for the attack.

Azerbaijani officials saidthe Soviet-made Scud missiledestroyed or damaged about 20residential buildings in Ganjaovernight, and emergencyworkers spent hours searchingin the rubble for victims andsurvivors.

Scud missiles date back tothe 1960s and carry a big loadof explosives but are known fortheir lack of precision.

In a televised address to thenation, Azerbaijan’s president,

Ilham Aliyev, denounced themissile strike as a war crimeand warned the leadership ofArmenia that it would faceresponsibility for that.

“Azerbaijan will give itsresponse and it will do soexclusively on the battlefield,”Aliyev said.

While authorities in bothAzerbaijan and Armenia havedenied targeting civilians, res-idential areas have increasing-ly come under shelling amidthe hostilities that have ragedfor three weeks despite Russia’sattempt to broker a cease-fire.

Stepanakert, the regionalcapital of Nagorno-Karabakh,came under intense shellingovernight, leaving three civil-ians wounded, according toseparatist authorities. AP

A�� ��������� $� �-: ����� ��� �<�)A3 ����B��

Auckland: New Zealand PrimeMinister Jacinda Ardern won asecond term in office onSaturday in an election landslideof historic proportions.

With most votes counted,Ardern’s liberal Labour Partywas winning 49% of the votecompared to 27% for its mainchallenger, the conservativeNational Party.

Labour was on target to winan outright majority of theseats in Parliament, somethingthat hasn’t happened since NewZealand implemented a pro-portional voting system 24 yearsago. Typically, parties mustform alliances to govern, butthis time Ardern and Labourcan go it alone.

In a victory speech in frontof hundreds of cheering sup-porters in Auckland, Ardernsaid her party had gotten moresupport from New Zealandersthat at any time in at least 50years.

“This has not been an ordi-nary election, and it’s not anordinary time,” she said. “It’sbeen full of uncertainty andanxiety, and we set out to be anantidote to that.” Ardernpromised not to take her newsupporters for granted and to

govern for all New Zealanders.“We are living in an increas-

ingly polarized world, a placewhere, more and more, peoplehave lost the ability to see oneanother’s point of view,” she said.“I think in this election, NewZealanders have shown thatthis is not who we are.” Arecord number of voters castearly ballots in the two weeksleading up to the election.

On the campaign trail,Ardern was greeted like a rockstar by people who crammedinto malls and spilled ontostreets to cheer her on and getselfies with her.

Her popularity soared ear-lier this year after she led a suc-cessful effort to stamp out thecoronavirus. There is currentlyno community spread of thevirus in the nation of 5 millionand people are no longerrequired to wear masks or socialdistance. AP

�?�"( ��������@����������� �������

"������� ������������% ����� ��%� �����������6 �%�������! � � �� �"

Bangkok: Pro-democracy activists in Thailandstaged a fourth straight day of high-profileprotests in the capital on Saturday, thwarting effortsby the authorities to stop them, including a shut-down of the city’s mass transit systems.

Unlike protests a day earlier, which saw policeusing water cannons to keep the protesters at bay,Saturday’s demonstrations were peaceful, with noreports of any clashes by the time participantsstarted heading home in the evening.

The protesters are calling for Prime Minister

Prayuth Chan-ocha to leave office, the constitu-tion to be amended to make it more democraticand the nation’s monarchy to undergo reform.

All stations of Bangkok’s elevated Skytraintransit system were closed Saturday afternoon totry to keep protesters from gathering. The under-ground MRT system was also shut, and policeblocked off several roads. Protesters met anywayas planned at the Skytrain stations, where they heldsmall impromptu rallies, in effect establishing a tem-porary but active presence across the city. AP

�������������#����"��&��#�����������!�#I�� #����'�!�#�����

���� >�����

Canadian Prime MinisterJustin Trudeau said Friday

his government will not stopstanding up for human rights inChina.

On Thursday, the Chineseambassador to Canada warned Ottawa against granting asylum to Hong Kong residents fleeing the situ-ation. Cong Peiwu said if Canadacares about 300,000 Canadian cit-izens in Hong Kong — andCanadian companies doing busi-ness there — it should support

efforts to fight what he called fightviolent crime. “We will stand uploudly and clearly for humanrights,” Trudeau said. “Whetherit’s talking about the situationfaced by the Uighurs, whether it’stalking about the very concern-ing situation in Hong Kong,whether it’s calling out China forits coercive diplomacy.”

Trudeau said Canada standswith with allies around the worldand the United States, toAustralia, to Great Britain, toEuropean nations to manynations around the world whoshare these concerns.

Canada’s oppositionConservative leader said theChinese ambassador shouldapologize or be expelled fromCanada. “The Chinese ambas-sador has decided to engage inbelligerent rhetoric unbecomingof his office,” Conservative leaderErin O’Toole said in a writtenstatement. Protests against theHong Kong and mainlandChinese governments swelledlast year, and Beijing clampeddown on expressions of antigov-ernment sentiment in the citywith a new national security lawthat took effect June 30.

0�������������������"��,�������,����0,���);��� ��

Washington: A woman con-victed of fatally strangling apregnant woman, cutting herbody open and kidnapping herbaby is scheduled to be the firstfemale inmate put to death by theUS government in more than sixdecades, the Justice Departmentsaid Friday.

Lisa Montgomery is sched-uled to be executed by lethalinjection on December 8 at theFederal Correctional Complex inTerre Haute, Indiana. She would

be the ninth federal inmate to putto death since the JusticeDepartment resumed executionsin July after a nearly 20-year hia-tus. Montgomery was convictedof killing 23-year-old Bobbie JoStinnett in the northwestMissouri town of Skidmore inDecember 2004.

Montgomery drove fromher Kansas home to Stinnett’shouse in Skidmore under theguise of adopting a rat terrierpuppy, prosecutors said.

When she arrived at thehome, Montgomery used a ropeto strangle Stinnett, who waseight months pregnant, butStinnett was conscious and try-ing to defend herself asMontgomery used a kitchenknife to cut the baby girl from thewomb, authorities said.

Prosecutors saidMontgomery removed the babyfrom Stinnett’s body, took thechild with her, and attempted topass the girl off as her own. AP

=��������4�� ����� ������������������

:+)3��0;-,>G��,� � �����@�,>�����>� ����@

Echoing the Prime Minister’s sentiments onletting the guard down, Dr RK Dhamija, pub-lic health expert and HoD of the Neurosurgerydepartment at Delhi-based Dr Lady HardingeHospital, said in Kerala after Onam there wasa 126 per cent increase in active Covid cases.

“People need to be cautious, maintainsocial distance, wear mask and implementhygiene. Gatherings and crowded places mustbe avoided. The Government should also be pre-pared and make arrangements for patients’admission with moderate and severe disease,”Dr Dhamija said while welcoming theGovernment decision to initiate the process ofimporting liquid oxygen to meet any unforeseenshortage during the winters and festival times.

The National Expert Group on VaccineAdministration for Covid-19 (NEGVAC) in con-sultation with State Governments and all rele-vant stakeholders have prepared and presenteda detailed blueprint of vaccine storage, distrib-ution, and administration. The Expert Group,in consultation with States, is working activelyon prioritisation and distribution of the vaccine,the PMO stated.

Modi directed that keeping in view the geo-graphical span and diversity of the country, theaccess to the vaccine should be ensured speed-ily. He stressed that every step in the logistics,delivery, and administration should be put inplace rigorously. “It must include advanced plan-ning of cold storage chains, distribution network,monitoring mechanism, advance assessment,and preparation of ancillary equipment required,such as vials, syringes etc,” the statement said.

According to Government data, the activecaseload is now only 10.70 per cent of the tally.“This significant achievement is the outcome ofCentral Government-led targeted strategiesleading to high number of recoveries andsteadily falling number of fatalities,” the HealthMinistry said.

�������@H ����1������>�1>�� ���=�G����� �����

“In addition to Indian clinical trial data, wewill provide safety and immunogenicity studyfrom the Russian phase 3 clinical trial. This datawill further strengthen the clinical development

of Sputnik V vaccine in India,” he added.Last month, Dr Reddy’s and RDIF (Russian

sovereign wealth fund) had entered into a part-nership to conduct clinical trials of Sputnik Vvaccine and its distribution in India. As part ofthe partnership, RDIF shall supply 100 milliondoses of the vaccine to Dr Reddy’s upon regu-latory approval in the country.

On August 11, the Sputnik V vaccinedeveloped by the Gamaleya National ResearchInstitute of Epidemiology and Microbiology wasregistered by the Ministry of Health of Russiaand became the world’s first registered vaccineagainst COVID-19 based on the human aden-oviral vectors platform.

Sputnik V is currently undergoing phase 3clinical trials in Russia and the proposed num-ber of subjects is 40,000. Additionally, phase 3clinical trial of the vaccine has commenced inthe UAE last week.

1���,�����,����$�������1>��,�� �>���>���,��,����� �

The prosecutor said a text claiming respon-sibility and a photograph of the victim werefound on the suspect’s phone. Ricard said thesuspect had been seen at the school asking stu-dents about the teacher, and the headmaster hadreceived several threatening phone calls.

French leaders offered messages of sadnessbut also of hope after the killing.

“We’ll pick ourselves up together, thanks toour spirit of solidarity,” said Laurent Brosse,mayor of Conflans-Sainte-Honorine.

“We are all affected, all touched by this vileassassination,” said Education Minister Jean-Michel Blanquer in a video message.

Mourners marched near the school in sol-idarity, holding signs that read “I am a teacher.”

A police official said the suspect was shotdead about 600 meters (yards) from where Patydied. Police opened fire after he failed torespond to orders to put down his arms andacted in a threatening manner. The official couldnot be named because of the ongoing investi-gations.

French President Emmanuel Macron wentto the school on Friday night to denounce whathe called an “Islamist terrorist attack.” Heurged the nation to stand united against extrem-ism.

“One of our compatriots was murdered

today because he taught ... the freedom of expres-sion, the freedom to believe or not believe,”Macron said.

The presidential Elysee Palace announcedSaturday that there will be a national ceremo-ny at a future date in homage to Paty, aboutwhom few details have so far emerged.

In a video posted recently on Twitter, a mandescribing himself as the father of a studentasserted that Paty had shown an image of anaked man and told students it was “theprophet of the Muslims.”

Before showing the images, the teacherasked Muslim children to raise their hands andleave the room because he planned to showsomething shocking, the man said. “What wasthe message he wanted to send these children?What is this hate?” the man asked. The AP hasnot been able to independently confirm theseclaims. Chechnya is a predominantly MuslimRussian republic in the North Caucasus. Twowars in the 1990s triggered a wave of emigra-tion, with many Chechens heading for westernEurope. France has offered asylum to manyChechens since the Russian military waged waragainst Islamist separatists in Chechnya in the1990s and early 2000s.

France has seen occasional violence involv-ing its Chechen community in recent months,believed linked to local criminal activity andscore-settling. This is the second time in threeweeks that terror has struck France linked to car-icatures of the Prophet Muhammad. Lastmonth, a young man from Pakistan was arrest-ed after attacking two people with a meat cleaveroutside the former offices of the satirical news-paper Charlie Hebdo.

The weekly was the target of a deadly news-room attack in 2015, and it republished carica-tures of the prophet this month to underscorethe right to freedom of information as a trialopened linked to that attack.

Friday’s terror attack came as Macron’s gov-ernment works on a bill to address Islamic rad-icals, who authorities claim are creating a par-allel society outside the values of the FrenchRepublic.

<-<���=������L�>�� �A������@�$����������>1���,�>�

To maintain law and order, the authoritieshave acted against 2694 people under the

crime control act. The police have registered 203cases for violation of model code of conductincluding 84 Illegal gathering and luring voters.Interestingly, a large number of sim cards werealso recovered during checkings.

According to the EC, 91 ‘expenditure sen-sitive’ constituencies of Bihar have been iden-tified based on both the profile of the con-stituency and the candidates in the fray. As perthe data, as many as 319 out of the 1,066 con-testants in fray in the first phase of polls hav-ing a criminal record. 71 constituencies situat-ed in 16 districts are going to polls on October28, the first phase of the three-phase electionsfor the 243-member Bihar legislative assembly.

During the 2019 Lok Sabha polls, the EC hadseized Rs 9.12 crore black money, 1.24 lakh litreliquor, 717 kg drugs and 62 kg precious orna-ments and jewelry from Bihar. In the Assemblyelections in 2015, seizures worth Rs 23.8 croreswere registered by the EC machinery with Rs19 crore of cash found circulating besides 5.48lakh litres of illicit country- made and foreignliquor from different places in Bihar.

��>$�������������MF�������<9����*>��3;:����>�

GHI score is calculated on four indicators— undernourishment; child wasting, the shareof children under the age of five who are wast-ed (who have low weight for their height reflect-ing acute undernutrition); child stunting, chil-dren under the age of five who have low heightfor their age reflecting chronic undernutrition;and child mortality -- the mortality rate of chil-dren under the age of five.

Experts have blamed poor implementationprocesses, lack of effective monitoring, siloedapproach in tackling malnutrition and poor per-formance by large States behind the low rank-ing.

According to the report, 14 per cent of India’spopulation was undernourished.

The index showed India recorded a 37.4 percent stunting rate among children under five anda wasting rate of 17.3 per cent while the under-five mortality rate stood at 3.7 per cent.

Wasting is children who have low weight fortheir height, reflecting acute under-nutrition.Stunting is children under the age of five whohave low height for their age, reflecting chron-ic under-nutrition.

�����1������� *�*$�

The Mumbai Police onSaturday registered an FIR

against Bollywood actressKangana Ranaut and her sisterRangoli Chandel following anorder by metropolitan magis-trate court for allegedly pro-moting enmity between dif-ferent communities.

Kangana found herself inthe dock as the Mumbai courtdirected the Bandra police toinvestigate a complaint allegingthat she and her sister RangoliChandel through their tweetshad tried to create “hatred” and“communal tensions” betweenHindus and Muslims.

After hearing a complaintfiled against Kangana and hersister Rangoli Chandel byBollywood casting director andfitness trainer Munawwaralialias Sahil A Sayyed,Metropolitan Magistrate JaidevGhule of Bandra 12th courtordered investigations undersection 156(3) of CrPC intoSayyed’s complaint allegingamong other thing that bothKangana and Rangoli hadtried to create “hatred” and“communal tensions” betweenHindus and Muslims and thatKangana had tried to lower theimage of Maharashtra ChiefMinister Uddhav Thackerayand created disaffection amongthe people against theMaharashtra Government.

“Perused the complaint,heard the advocate of the com-plainant along with the docu-ments filed on record. Onprima facie perusal of com-

plaint and submission I havefound a cognizable offence hasbeen committed by theaccused,” Magistrate Ghulenoted, as he directed theBandra police to register an FIRagainst Kangana and her sisterRangoli.

“All allegations are basedupon comment on electronicmedia that is twitter and inter-views. The accused used socialmedia like twitter and thoroughinvestigation is necessary by theexpert. All offences allegedand levelled against the accusedare cognizable. Search andseizure is necessary in thiscase, in such circumstances Ihave found it to be proper topass order under Section156(3) of CrPC,” the Judgeruled.

Among other things, thesection 156(3) of CrPC readwith section 190 empowers toMagistrate - upon receiving acomplaint of facts and uponinformation received from anyperson other than a policeofficer, or upon his own knowl-edge that such an offence hasbeen committed any magistrateempowered under 190 canorder an investigation to into acomplaint.

@�������������5��� ������������������7�4���������������� ����#��� �� � �������� ������

Watching one or the other dailysoap is our guilty pleasure.There is no denying that it

makes for a good watch if one wants totake a break from the reality of theirlives. Of late, daily soaps are so in trendand the one which tops the charts isSaathiya. Not because the storyline issomething out of the box, but becauseYashraj Mukhate decided to mix ascene from the popular show and itwent viral within no time.

Even Rupal Patel, who played KokilaBen couldn’t help but appreciateMukhate’s take on the popular scene.Now that the show has already receivedit’s share of admiration from theaudience, it is just the right time for themakers to launch Saath NibhaanaSaathiya 2 on Star Plus tomorrow.

Devoleena Bhattacharjee, who wasseen in Bigg Boss 13 is all set to playGopi Modi once again. If one is to askwhat Season 2 has on offer for theaudience, it’s a no-brainer that they haveto give it a watch.

“I can’t give out the story for Season2, because we are also not told about thewhole story, we just shoot as per ourdirector’s direction. Also there arefrequent changes during the shoot. Butone thing is for sure , that theentertainment quotient will surely behigh and with a message of womenempowerment. There will be a new loveangle between Gehna and Anant. I amsure audience will love it,” Bhattacharjeetells you.

Ask her about how excited she is tobe back on screen as Gopi and she isquick to answer — that herexcitement has no bounds. “I amsuper excited. I never imaginedthat I will be coming back onTV as Gopi. It gives me adifferent feel. Most of thetimes when there is aSeason 2 of a show, thecharacter remains the samebut the actors change. ButI am getting to play Gopiagain and it is nothingshort of a gift to me,” shetells you.

A new season, shesays, come with a lot ofnew challenges. “With asecond season, theexpectat ions of theaudience are high. So it ischallenging that way. To bringa second season of a hit show isrisky in itself, because of the highexpectations. But I think, wehave proved ourselves and nowthe responsibility lies on thenewer lot and it’s there chance toprove themselves. Having saidthat, it doesn’t mean we don’t

have any responsibility, it is just thatthey have a larger part of play in it,” sheexplains.

If one is to remember, the infamousscene of the show where Gopi washesoff Ahem’s laptop with soap and waterand hang it to dry, one would rememberGiaa Manek, who was then replaced byBhattachar jee . Ask her i f i t i schallenging to step in to the shoes of analready established character, she saysthat for her the role was as new as it canbe.

“I never thought that I am replacingsomeone. If I had would have focusedabout these things, I would have notbeen able to pull that off. My focus wason to do justice to my character. That’sall. I saw it as a new role,” she says.

Initially, Bhattacharjee struggledwith the character, so much so thatpeople told him that she won’t be ableto play it. “First six months werechallenging. Things were not falling inplace. I got to know that people felt thatthis was not my cup of tea. It felt bad.There were talks that the show mightget off air after Giaa’s replacement.People expected me to act like Giaa, butthat’s not possible. I have a differentpersonality and I will act in my way, Ican’t copy someone. But despite all this,I am a very stubborn person, if I takeup a job, I do my best to make ithappen. So was with Gopi. I fought formy character. I did things in my ownway. I just didn’t let it go. I put in all myefforts and hard work and eventually itdid work. And when the audience

accepted me, Gopi’s character waschanged quite a bit. She wasshown as a progressive woman.Even her style was changed,”

she tells you.She tells you that she has a lot

of fun memories from the sets ofthe previous season. “I was likethe queen on the sets. I shareda good rapport with everyone.We did so much fun. Somedays were exciting, some weregood and some were bad. Ilaughed, cried, got angry andwhat not. We were like a bigfamily and we enjoyed everybit of it ,” Bhattachar jeerecalls.

Daily soaps are alwaystagged as over dramatic and

over the top, Bhattacharjee hasa say on that. “That’s not true. The

reason people love daily soaps is thatthey find a connection with it.Everything that has been showhappens with us at some point oftime. It’s just that we modify it asper the need of the story. Otherwiseit is not over dramatic, it is just areflection of the society,” she opines.

#���������� ���������, # ����9�"�, ���,����� ��,��#���,C��,����#���,���"�����������1�8#4A'A#'���� �$����,�@%7>@@CA4'A;;A�0'A�5@@�$�&���4�,������,�� (��� ��, ����� ���$����� ����,���, �,����� ��,��� ��, ��, �� �� ������, �,��

��������*������ *���+�����,-.�/0/0 ��� �<��10

+� ���������� �����������

! ��A����$��

��&����"�&���)�����*�����!����&&'��������"#��'#���1����)�

���&�����N���� �&���,�@���=-�3("(+(4*� ("(*�(5&&4��*66( O1����,#������,������������������� �!����&����� ' �������#��#"���������������� �J������ # P,##�����������##�Q

����F��73;�!&���� ��(74('4*��8&9*("��+("*

O������������ � ��#!���� ������� ��#��������� ����D���������������� �������������������������������������&��� �������������������������������D%���������!��J�����Q

����F��99;�!&���� �

:'2-�):-%)(-

!6!�%�%$-2A�*�������������#�� �>�B���/�$��� 5�������������������%���0������3���� �2� ��$���9�����'���/�(� ���'C$���� �������:��� �� ���$� �&����������0����3�����(���/�DE�4

There is something inherentlycute and sweet when onewatches movies that have

animals especially dogs. RememberThe Call of the Wild, Benji andMarley & Me? While not all animalmovies have a happily ever after, butit doesn’t take away the aww factorfrom them and Pup Academy thatdropped its second season on theOTT platform is no different. It goeswithout saying that the pups areadorable, sweet and cute and if onehas ever had a dog before, a need tohave another one is going to betough to resist.

If you are not a dog lover, thisseries that takes off where the firstone ended — a street pup — Boxer

being thrown out of pup academy forbringing in other street dogs into the

academy who then wreaked havocmay have a change of heart.

In the meantime, why not havefun and watch the little pups get upto no good, get into trouble and dowhat pups do best — shower love ontheir master.

But then the show is not aboutthe story as much as it is about thebond between a human and pup andhow much it affects the dog if hedoesn’t have this bond with hischosen human. The adage: Dog isman’s best friend couldn’t have hada better setting than this show. Somuch so that there is a dog namedD.O.G. Couldn’t be cuter than this.

However, if one is looking for astory that stimulates the brain, thisis not a show to watch. The story issimple and banal and take-off fromSeason 1 — a bunch of wolves,instead of dogs — who want to takeover the running of the academytheir way.

The good part is that it is family-friendly and a perfect watch for alldog parents and kids of all ages.

A�!� �����! ����

��:���� ����� � �������� ���&������%������!����#"

%#���$����$#���37�����39�������#���������)���� �������# #��"#���� -�>���������!&��"#� ���������#������� ������

���&�������)������� �����E���&&������������ 2������������!��������#�������=�������"�&&�������"#�� ������ER���%�����������������#�-

=�������#"�����������)���� ������� ���&����!#���"�&����������������� ���#%������%##������#����!��� ��#������������ �-

������E������&��'��%����)��'!#������)���%#��� ����������������'������#���������������#���-��#������������������#���'��%#������������ �����#��������������#�-

����/������3������:�� ��;����&������������������� #�'

��&�%���������������"��R��&����������� ����!��"#� ���������������������� '�,�����)�����������#������)�����&��)��������#���������&����#"�����#��&���������#"���������������#�-��#�������������!��# ��#"��������"#�������������������������&##�����!#��%'"�������#��������#�����������������"���

����������# ������-����� �+#���#�!����#������&������������#�����#"��������&���������=� ���%��������������#��&�������"#��S$������������������������#&�R�"#�����!���# ���&�!��"#� ��������G##�� �&���R�>������&�������������-�

����������%#�������%��������������8;8;����������� '�,�����)����������������=� �������F�.�������������������!��#"��������� ������&'����������#�&��� �����#�%������ ���������-���������������#" � �����,���������&&��&��'��%���&#������# '������-����������� �&���#�������"#�� ���������� !&'��#�&��R����)��%����!#���%&�����#�������&#)��"�# � '�"����������!!#��"�# ��������������������������#"�*��E�-��#�&��&�����#���������+��)�"#��%������!���# ���&��#I��������������������"#�!������������ ��)�&#�������!������&� ������#"��#�����$#����������#�����#���"#�%�������������"�%�&#����#���!���#�&�"�-����&����%����#������&��������%���������'#���#G##�� �&����"#����)���� ����"��������!&��"#� ��#���#������ '���&���-��&##�"#�������#���&�)������ #���#"������ !���"�&�!��"#� ������������&&��#�������#���������� '��&"��#���������������������%������&�)��#��������-/

$�����#�������#)�&����� ����������������%'�����$�1�������� '��# ������0������������'���&&�� ���G##�� �&���R�#������&�*��E����������� ������&&�������"#&&#�������%�#"�&��������%����'�&�����#����������������������&��)����)��'#���#�"&������#����#�����!����������������-������������������������#"�:-7�#��*�$����������#�'���'�#"����� ��)�&#����&����#"#������&���)��&�%&��#��G##�� �&���-���������#��*�����������>���!&��"#� ������!��)�����)����������#����&&�������#�!������������)������#������&����!-

�����-������������H��#""����&N������"����)������#������

����������)��������%�#&�����������#���T ����������*�����*#������&&�%�������#���������������-�����H�������N���A��,�"UH���&&�������#�������������������*#��������������&&���������"&##���%&�E����������&�%���'��������(!����-��� #�������������������&��������#���&&�+�EE���������!��������������"����)���"����##�����!�����#��-� #������H������(�&���)�#!!#������'��#�%������!���#��� #)����� ����������*������������������������)��'����-��)������)������������ ��� ��������������&���#����&&��������#����������#&������#��>��#%���84���������)��'� ����'���3;�! �#��A���,�"U�����3;�� �#��A���G���#)� %���3�#��������&#��������A��4-

,#�"�� ��������%�EE��#���������#����� ����������*�����*#����#��������������� ��������#""����&����#���� ����#�>��#%���36-� �������������!!'��������������"��������"#&&#������ ��������)��&������"##�I��!!����!�# #������"�������!�#"����#��&�������������!�#!&��"�# ��&&��&���#"�&�"����##)�����#�����!�!!'�%����-�������������������%'������# !#����*�'��0� ����� �(���!#!�&���$#&&'�##���� %������������������#�����'#����##)�������'#�%�����"�������� ������'�"#����!!����������"����)������#�-

!��������%#����������#���� �����������&��'��G���!����������������� �����# ������*#��������F�.�#�������# !������#����"��&����#"���������'#���������#��-�%�&��)������#�%������ #���%�����"�&�� #��#�

��������&'��&�)�������!!'� # ��������#��&�)��-�$#���*����������"��&����������������#"�!#����)��'����������'�%##��������)����H���#�����������������H�����!����(�������#%����!����#"�A���,�"UH��&��������#������������*�-������)��!�����&#��#"�����������#�&�����������������%����!��"#� ��������������������#�����'#�������������'#���&�)����## ����������#!������)���������+#'���������������#����� ����������������%�������!����#"���-/

�#����������������������������!������*�����*#���������F�.��#������!������������&��'��%�����������������!����#"�#��&�)��-�$#��� �������������������!����#��"#�������������#���%�'#����#�������������H��������#���&�%���������+#'���������#������������#���"�������&'���&������������!�����#"� ��� ������ #��A���,�"UH������������-������%�����#���#"���� #������������)����#�H�����!����������H����!����(�������#�������&'���������������������������������#����"����##�����!�����!��"#� �����������%#�������������������!���-/

�����3� ��.������������-���������������������������

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

����������#����)� ����-�������#���&&��# ��#�!�# #����������!�# �����#��P� ��������"��������� ���������� ����������������� #������� ����-�����&&�%��2������(�������"#�����)��������#�������=�!�&����� ��������� �������������������� ���#���+#����'�#"����)����������#�����&����)��&����"������#���"������%#��������� ����%&���������������������"�& ��������'-�

�����!��#�����&&���"�����&'�%����+#'"�&�����"#������)�����������#������#�����"��������������� ����2�#�������=�������%�����������=���� ���������&&�%�������#������������������������������#�-

2 ; � � , + � � �

:������? ������������������

�����������@2��������������������������@'�����!������������������������������� ��������@'�����5��@"��'� �������55���

���������'��!����A�5�'�� 5����� �!���������

��������,"�������� ���

0,%�@!"#@/�,"3:)�6!�):-�&@A#�� �>B���/�)�������������/1�����1�������(�F�����,�(���/�;G;E�4

K-pop made its presence feltback in 2012 when Psyreleased his single —

Gangnam Style. The song hadgone viral and propelled Psy intoinstant stardom. Since then K-pop has become a must-listen forall music lovers. So it is notsurprising that when the all-woman band came into the scenewith their debut album SquareOne after a gap of seven yearslaunched by YG Entertainment,

the group won its first awardduring a musical programme forWhistle at Inkigayo, becoming thegirl group that won the award thefastest. Since then the album’stracks have since surpassed 1.73billion streams worldwide.

This and much more isrevealed in Black Pink: Light Upthe Sky, a documentary thatfollows the lives the girl group andhow they reached where they aretoday given that each one ofthem came from a differentbackground.

But the thing binding themwas and is their love to performand sing.

The documentary introduces

the girls collectively andindividually which gives us alittle peek into what makes themtick. But the real emotions comeinto play when their guards aredown and they talk about missingtheir family and experiences thata 15-16-year-old would normallybe part of.

The whole, now that we are sosuccessful, how do we live up tothe expectations of the fans is real.Where they will be when they are42-44 — married with kids? Howlong will this success last? Itgives a glimpse of real fears andreiterates that all that glitters isnot gold.

A�!� �����! ����

(� ���������������� ��

�������11��������*������ *���+�����,-.�/0/0

�� ������@����� ����������>�������>� ��

She is Deputy Conservator of Forest (Ecotourism),Forest & Environment Department, Odisha. Shejoined the service in 2007. She has extensivelyworked in Satkosia Tiger Reserve (STR),Mahanadi WildLife Division to reduce the

depletion of the tiger habitat. She mobilised the local com-munity to create Odisha’s first eco-village — Muduligadiainside STR. The ecotourism project — Satkosia SandsResort and Nature Camp run by 34 community mem-bers has a capacity to accommodate 19 guests and hasgenerated a revenue of �3 crore in the last four years.

She tells you that eco-tourism and conservation ofwildlife are two sides of the same coin. “One very impor-tant thread to wildlife and conservation is human-relat-ed pressures. Conservation can bring good results onlyif there is support from the locals. Eco-tourism is onesuch area that can help us strengthen economic devel-opment in remote areas. It can also bring social wellbe-ing,” Das explains.

She tells you that it was not easy to involve the localswith the conservation. There was a lot resentment fromthe locals. Das and her team started working in two areas— punishing the guilty for illegal activities and address-ing the long-standing grievances like all-weather road,we provided them electricity and introduced differentlivelihood alternatives. Gradually, this reduced thereduced their dependency on the forest.

The success story of Satkosia Sands Resort and NatureCamp tells you that when one involves locals, the resultscan be amazing. So much so that seven-eight villages areno longer dependent on the forest. “Earlier, they weretotally dependent on the forest for their firewood needs.We provided LPG. The income from the resort betteredtheir lives. It has also controlled migration. Locals helpedthe department set-up antipoaching camps. The pro-

tection at the tigerreserve got better. Weenrolled women inprotection activities.We managed to getgood informer net-work. People haveunderstood that ifthey work towardsconservation theirlivelihood and lifestylewill improve,” Dassays.

Due to the infor-mation provided, thedepartment was ableto nab an interna-

tional smuggler of pangolin Shamsuddin Khan in 2018.This would not have been possible without local support.

The good part about the revenue generated from theresort is that it goes back to the people who run it. About80 per cent is distributed as salaries depending on thework they do and how to manage the resort and itsupkeep. Part of the money — 10 per cent goes to theircommunity development as eco-villages. There is no plas-tic, there is no litter outside and no open defecation. Thehouses are colourful and depict their traditions and cul-tures. So much so that people visit these villages just tosee the houses. The rest 10 per cent goes the Governmentas revenue. There are 47 such eco-tourism that are underone portal. People can go the website and book wher-ever they want to stay,” Das says.

She tells you that the duty of a Government servantit is their duty to do their work diligently and honestlywherever they are posted. “Forest and Environment isone department where one gets to do varied work — thereis general conservation work, there is eco-tourism andthere is working towards saving species from extinction.One can even take up hobbies like photography and writ-ing that I have been doing for the last seven-eight years,”Das says.

Her publications Avifauna of Satkosia, SatkosiaSeen and Unseen and Birds of Satkosia Landscape havegarnered a lot of attention. Another feather in Das’ capis her work towards the gharial in STR.

“Back in 2015, there was only one left in the region.Illegal fishing in the area led to the extinction of this ani-mal here. It lives in deep waters. Satkosia gorge is the onlyplace in Odisha where we find gharial. Below Satkosia,there are no gharials. All the earlier release programmesdidn’t help because the entire gorge was under the coverof illegal fishermen.

“We apprehended 38 of them and rehabilitated them.We gave some of them jobs in the department and oth-ers were given alternatives. Gharials are extremely sen-sitive to the fishing nets. After the arrests were made, weartificially released a gharial and the numbers went upto eight in 2019. Of course, the success of this rehabili-tation is not just mine. I need to thank all my team mem-bers for their contribution in ensuring that the gharialthrives here once again,” Das says.

She opines that aim of conservation is to remove ille-gal activities. Hence, the area became safe for otherwildlife as well. This increased tourism. Today, peopleare not just traveling to see the tiger or eat good food orgo shopping. People today are looking for experientialtravel. They want to explore new places. Photography isa passion for the young. Then there is biking, hiking andbird watching. One of our projects offer canopy walk.These activities go well with eco-tourism and hence wehave seen such large number of travellers. Seeingwildlife is not the aim,” Das says.

� & % 9 " # 3 � 3 ( - %) � " # $ " % # � 0 6 & )% ( $ � " & � 2 A � � % , , " # 3 � # ' + �*�� ����0�*��� �G������ �,� ��������0� ����

�������35�����������&��������������� '-�������74�������������"�������)��������#����'�"#��3:�'����������������-�����

����� ��%�����#������# ��#������0����& �����+�������������������&##���������������R���#������������#�&���#���(����&&������ ���#��#�������������������$�������O�$Q����!�������&&'�����!!������"�# ����������#�-��������������������������������&&�����#�&�%�������"#���-�

.�������� ��%�����#�0����& �����8;3;����� ���#���#���#�������&�����%���"#�������#��� ����������& #�������!!�������������#��(�����)��!#������-�������&��'���������������!�#�#���!�'-�*'��# ���������������!���-������)���������# ��#�����#&���'���#�&���#� �������������������!�#�#�-�$��#���������%����"#���##������!#����

!#�������"�# � ��������������#�����1#������!��� �������8;38�%����������&������#��������T��"������)���$������#�&����)�������-� �������������)�� ������� ' ����#���#���)��������!������"�# ��(������#�-�

$�����������������#��������'�#��-�#!&��&�)������������������!������#����� #��'�������� ���#���� ������!�#!&��#�&���# ���#�������$������&&���&�"�� ����������E���-��#��������������������������������� ��#����������&�������)�� ���#���#����#�����&�)���������#�����'-

.�����)��'����'��#���'������!�#!&����#��!����#������"#�����������#�&##��"#�����&�������)����'��#��������&�)���-�>��������#�����������������#��������#��H����!������'#��������������#��������#��H��������������#�����'-��#!&����)��"� �&�����#�"���-�@#�+�������H����&&���� ��#��#����������������������%��������������#�������� �����!�#�����#�-�&�#����&�����!#���#���#"�"#��������������+�����������#��#�����%'�����1#����

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

��������&�#����)�����������#�#���'��&�&�"����������0����& ���������#I��)�&#! ����� ���������1#�������!��� ���- ����������!#���������"�����!#��������������!&�'�����������#&������������#)���#��#"�#&������&�������&#����������������������#�������������##!�����#��"�# �����#������)�&&�����-�0� ���������&�#�%���������� ����&���!�#)������� !&#' �����#�&#��&�!�#!&���#������#I��)�&#! �����# ������T

����������������������&�%#������"#����#)���#�-�������&����������'�������������������������)#���'�"#�������$���������&�����#����)���#������� ��������,�����-

.�)�����#���������)����� ����&�������)�� ������#��������&�)���-��#�#�)�������� ��#��������� ��!������#���-�#!&�������������#��&&���&�"�� ����������E��������������&��������������������#��+����$�%����������������%�����#"���������#�-����'����H�������#����������'�������#���������#��P����'�����%�����#���������"#��'����-��#&����� ��"�����������������������&���������#�&���##��"#����� ������&&�T����'�������������������&���#����E��������&���&&'�T&��)������&�����!#���#��"#���$�����#������&�&�"���#�����)������-�$����#���)���&�������)�� !&#' �����#��#� ��'�!�#!&�������""���&�-$�������)�&&��������&&� ��������"����'�������)����+#%�����'��#�&����#!��������#��&�!���������/0� �����(!&����-

������������#������#�� �����������������#��������������#��T� � �%�������!�� ��(� !&�-�.�������#I�#���� �����#!������##����#�&��������+#%�#!!#���������-����������&������&#���������%����)��������&&�����$H����%����-$��� #����������#�%���#��-����� #��'���������������"�# ���#I�#���� ���#�&���#��#�����&#��&�# ���������������������������� #��'����!����"#��������%����� ����/�0� ������&&��'#�-

�����&&��'#�������%�����������5;�������� %���#"������%�����"�&�%������##�����3�4;;���"#�������&'�������� %������������&����#&���������3;;����#�������#�8;33�������-�#��)����0� ���H���#�������!����#""-������&�&�"��#"������!�������!�3;��$�������#�%�����"����&&'�����������������������#��&���������+������-��&&���������������!�������!�"�# ������0� ��������%�����#����������&���&'-

.������##���#����� '��#���%�������!����#""�%������������ �����#��#-��������#�������������������&&�"#������������/0� ������'�-

����������,�>�����@�1��*���,��G�*���������� �*

He is an ornithologist, mam-malogist, an artist, avid pho-tographer and an author. Heis also the honorary ChiefExecutive of the Rhino

Foundation for Nature in North-east Indiaand was Deputy Commissioner of Baksaand Lakhimpur districts in Assam. Heretired as Divisional Commissioner ofBarak valley, Development Commissionerfor Hill Areas and Commissioner andSecretary to the Government of Assam lastyear.

If this was not enough to add to his listof accomplishments, Choudhury is amember of as many as nine IUCN/SSC/BLIspecialist groups. Due to his work, at least12 wildlife sanctuaries and two elephantreserves have been established. He was alsoinstrumental in upgrading Dibru-Saikhowainto a national park, inclusion of Laokhowaand Burhachapori Sanctuaries in KazirangaTiger Reserve.

Known as the Birdman of Assam, hewas the first to produce books on the birdsof different Northeastern State. His stud-ies have contributed enormously to theconservation and awareness in the region.

“I was born and brought up inNagaland. Back then it was a part of Assam.But later, I ended up finishing my school-ing and college from Guwahati. I wasalways interested in Nature and the diversewildlife this region has to offer. I used todraw birds from the region which laterturned into a scientific study. But I alsowanted to to be a Civil Servant and hencetook the UPSC exam and got selected. Asa Government official one can do so muchgood and that is what I did,” Choudhurysays.

He tells you how as an officer in theregion he was able to do so much for theconservation of wildlife and get the filesmoving at a fast pace. Though he agreesthat it is not always easy to get things donebut since he was an officer, doors that weredifficult to open, were wide open for him.

“Of course, I could sanction my ownrecommendations. Once I was in theForest Department, we didn’t have tocoordinate with other departments butwhere required, it was easy if you take per-sonal interest. Instead of sending the file,I would take it myself to my colleagues.Once I got talking about Nature, people gotinterested too. This made it possible for meto a lot when it came to conservation,”Choudhury says.

He tells you that even though it waseasy to get paperwork done, it was toughto involve the local communities. But indistricts where he had independent charge,he would organise awareness programmesparticularly at the panchayat level. “Iwould tell them the importance of con-servation,” Choudhury tells you.

Another challenge that the regionfaces is the loss of wildlife due to floodsespecially of the Kaziranga. But he explainswhy flooding in this area is extremelyimportant for the eco-system.

“Without floods, the eco-system wouldcollapse. Some seven-eight decades back,during floods the animals would move tohigher ground — Karbi Anglong withoutany human interference. Slowly, peopletook over and highways were made and theregion became busy restricting the move-ment of the wildlife. Unfortunately, thereis no long-term solution though some high-er grounds are being constructed whereanimals can rest during flooding,”Choudhury explains.

A major part of his work was declar-ing the white-winged wood duck as theState bird. This bird, one is told isendangered. This was part ofChoudhury’s work with the birds in theNorth-east. In India, there are 1,300species. Out of which around 1,000 are

����������� �����

����������� �����

�+&���'+��('<&$'�(4'+�&4!��<(4,$� � ��<&4&(55!%59&,�"($'�<&&6#������� ������9(%=+'�%8�<*'+�'+&�9+(>8*!5$�!?�'+&�(4'+�'!)4*5=�@!%�$'!4*&$�!?�<+@�'+&@�+(7&�,&,*9('&,'+&*4�"*7&$�'!�84&$&47*5=�'+&�9!%5'4@:$�4*9+�?"!4((5,�?(%5(�?!4�=&5&4('*!5$�'!�9!>&

;, ��������"A����

found in this region with Assam topping thecharts with 850 species — the highest in anyState in the country.

Now that he has retired, he tells you he hasmore time to write. But during the lockdown, fieldwork was hampered. However, things are back tonormal and Choudhury is back to traveling andworking towards general conservation.

A specific project that he just finished work-ing on is Amur Falcon, a migratory bird thatmoves from Assam to South Africa with theirbreeding place in eastern Siberia. There are tworoostig sites in Assam that we observe since lakhsof birds roost here. We had been working on thisproject for the last three years and last year sawthe highest number — three lakh — with theworld population standing at 10-12 lakh this wasa great achievement,” Choudhury says.

;����� ���������������� ����

���>���1�>>� ���=�A�������������,>I @ ��*��>����,>��� �-� >*� �G��I�������,��� �$�,=�������

1�>>� ���*�� �*>G����>�=��$�����>�����>�����@��>$��* -� �>��@���>���>>=�>G������������@ ������*��������������>��$�,�*��$� @��� ��,�������

*>G�*����>1�������*��

����� ��$��

They have been in rampagingform with five straight wins but

Mumbai Indians can ill afford to becomplacent against aChris Gayle-inspiredKings XI Punjab sidehere on Sunday.

A win for MumbaiIndians will virtually seal them aspot in the play-offs while a loss forKXIP could send them out of con-tention.

Mumbai Indians have steam-rolled opposition teams with anexplosive batting line-up comple-mented by a lethal bowling attack

and the latest side to bear theirbrunt were the Kolkata Knight

Riders who suffered an eight-wicket defeat on Friday.

Tabble-toppers MIboast of top batsmen such

as captain Rohit Sharma(251 runs) and hisopening partnerQuinton de Kock

(269) and both are ingood touch, while the

middle-order is mannedby the likes of Suryakumar

Yadav (243 runs) and IshanKishan (186 runs).

Rohit played second fiddleto de Kock in MI’s win against

KKR, with the South African hitting

78 not out from 44 balls.In the bowling front, pacers

Jasprit Bumrah and Trent Boult haveformed the most successful pair thisIPL with 12 wickets apiece fromeight matches so far. Spinner RahulChahar chipped in against KKR withtwo wickets for 18 runs.

On the other hand, KXIP arelanguishing at the bottom of thetable despite having the top-two

leading run-getters of the tourna-ment in skipper K L Rahul (387 runsat a strike rate of 134.84) and hisopening partner, Mayank Agarwal(337 runs).

KXIP’s problem has been thattheir batting and bowling have notfired in unison on most occasions

even though theirconfidence hasbeen boosted bythe return ofGayle.

The self-pro-claimed Universe

Boss made his first appearance thisIPL with a bang, hitting a 45-ball 53,a knock that was laced with fivesixes and a four in KXIP’s win overVirat Kohli’s Royal ChallengersBangalore.

A captivating duel may be instore between Gayle on one side andBumrah and Boult on the other.

KXIP have other in-form bats-men in Rahul and Agarwal, withboth or at least one of them scoringbig in almost every match.

But their bowling has been theweakest link. Barring MohammadShami and Ravi Bishnoi, none of thebowlers have inspired confidence,especially in the death overs.

Not being able to find the rightbalance despite trying out manyoptions has also contributed toKXIP’s rapid slide.

����� ��$�

AB de Villiers’ swashbuck-ling 22-ball 55 fashionedan incredible seven-wick-

et victory for Royal ChallengersBangalore over Rajasthan Royalson Saturday.

Chasing 178, DeVilliers smashed six sixesto help RCB win the gameafter all seemed lost forthem following the dismissalof Virat Kohli with the teamstruggling at 102 for threein the 14th over.

The seasoned SouthAfrican launched intoJaydev Unadkat for threesuccessive sixes in the 19thover to swing the match in histeam’s favour. He finished thegame in style, hitting JofraArcher for a maximum with twoballs still to go.

RCB lost Aaron Finch (14)after Australia’s limited overscaptain had hit two sixes.

Kohli and Devdutt Padikkalstitched a 79-run partnership forthe second wicket but consumedtoo many deliveries in doing so,failing to keep pace with therequired run rate.

Kohli brought the team’shundred by lofting RahulTewatia for a big six over long-on, but Padikkal, while trying tobreak the shackles after strug-gling his way to 35 off 37 balls,got out when his pull shot failedto clear Ben Stokes in the deep.

And then came the bigwicket of Kohli, thanks to a bril-liant piece of fielding byTewatia, who pulled off a catchinches from the line at deepmidwicket on the reboundafter the batsman whipped itoff his pads.

The ball travelled at a

great speed but Tewatia, comingoff a wicket in his previous ball,balanced himself after nearlyfalling over the line to completea fine catch.

Kohli made 43 off 32 ballswith the help of two sixes and afour.

The required run rate roserapidly as RCB struggled to findthe big overs, but de Villiers hadother ideas.

Earlier, skipper SteveSmith’s counterattacking 36-ball 57 guided Rajasthan to177 for six.

Smith struck six foursand one maximum beforeChris Morris bowled abrilliant final over, con-ceding only four runswhile taking two wicketsto check RR from goingpast 180.

Fa s t - m e d iu mbowler Morris fin-ished with excellentfigures of 4/26 infour overs.

Earlier battingfirst, Rajasthan were offto a brisk start as open-er Robin Uthappa (41off 22 ball) launchedinto the RCB attack witha flurry of fours and a six.

Back in his favouredposition alongside BenStokes after another

change in the combination,Uthappa saw his team play twoquiet overs before smashingWashington Sundar for fourboundaries in the innings’ thirdover.

Isuru Udana was pulled andthen lofted over long-on byUthappa for the day’s first max-imum as RR raced to 38 for noloss in four overs.

Morris gave RCB their first

breakthrough when he had thesubdued Stokes caught downthe leg side.

Uthappa scored two moreboundaries, off pacer NavdeepSaini, before his slow sweep wentinto the hands of the deep mid-wicket fielder off the bowling ofleg-spinner Yuzvendra Chahal.

Sanju Samson got going witha six that landed into the second

tier of the Dubai InternationalCricket Stadium. But he also fellto Chahal, taken at long-off byMorris as RR slipped to 69 forthree after a good start.

On the lookout for quickruns, Smith found an ally in JosButtler and the two added 55runs while steadying the ship.

Buttler fell for a 24-ball 25,but Smith continued to anchor

the RR innings.Chahal, meanwhile, bowled

two front foot no balls whichwere struck for boundaries bySmith, giving his team 10 runsand two additional deliveries.

After RR scored 19 runs inthe long 18th over bowled byChahal, Tewatia hit Udana for asix and four to collect 15 from thepenultimate over.

����� �$�����$

Anew captain inthe saddle,

Kolkata KnightRiders would look tosort out their batting woes andstrive for consistency whenthey face Sunrisers Hyderabadin an intriguing mid-table clashhere on Sunday.

After a string of below parperformances, Dinesh Karthikhanded over the reins to hisdeputy Eoin Morgan hoursbefore KKR’s match againstMumbai Indians on Friday.But the World Cup-winningEngland captain’s campaign asleader was off to a disappoint-ing start with MI handing KKRan eight-wicket mauling.

KKR are still in the top fourof IPL points table behindMumbai Indians, Delhi Capitalsand Royal ChallengersBangalore with four wins and asmany defeats. But if the two-time champions want to seal aplay-off spot, their batsmenneed to step up, shrug off theirinconsistencies and win match-es for the team.

After a massive 82-run lossto RCB, the KKR batsmenfailed yet again against MIbowlers as they were reduced to42 for 4 in the eighth over. Halfof KKR batsmen were gone for61 in the 11th over. An 87-rununbroken stand for the sixthwicket between Morgan (39 notout) and pacer Pat Cummins(53 not out) took them to 148for 5.

But MI needed just 16.5overs to overhaul the target, los-ing two wickets in the process.

At the top, Shubhman Gillhas failed to capitalise on hisstarts, while Rahul Tripathi hasnot gone past the 20-run markafter his brilliant 81 against theChennai Super Kings.

Nitish Rana has been prof-ligate and Karthik’s battingslot has been experimentedwith throughout the tourna-ment. Andre Russell andMorgan have also not been ableto make the kind of impactexpected from players of theircalibre.

The KKR bowlers did wellto fashion narrow victoriesagainst Kings XI Punjab and

CSK, but leaked runsagainst RCB and MI.To add to their woes,star spinner SunilNarine has beenreported for suspect

bowling action and he hasmissed two matches since then.

The Sunrisers, who occupythe fifth spot on the points tablewith just three wins from eightoutings, are also struggling.With the injuries ruling outpace spearhead BhuvneshwarKumar and all-rounderMitchell Marsh, the OrangeArmy is facing a conundrum ofwhether to strengthen theirbatting or their bowling unit, afact that skipper David Warnerconceded.

The team heavily relies onits batting unit, mainly on thetop four comprising JonnyBairstow, Warner, ManishPandey and Kane Williamson.

A cause of concern for theSunrisers is Rashid Khan’s form.After returning impressive fig-ures like 3/14, 0/12, 3/12, theAfghan leg- spinner remainedineffective in the team’s last twolosses. And skipper Warnerwill desperatelyhope that his starspinner finds hismojo back whichis imperativefor thet e a m ’ s success.

1� +���� $$B����

1�����+�5��� -C���!���

��������*������ *���+�����,-.�/0/0

-2

��������������������3���� ���������*�������

������������� ����������������������������������� ����������.�������������� ��������� ������� ��������&��G�������

+H������������ �������� �������,� �����-�� ��+���������������������� ����������+�� ���������������������� ������������ ����+H����������������������

'������������ ����������9�������� H��������3��������� ����������������������3������������ ����������������������������������� ���������������� ���

"��� ������� ���� ��������������� �������� �9�� ��� ������������ ������9������� �������9������������������������������������������������������ ���������

2)��,

$'�E�$$5.E'$�//

����������>6>C��� ����������06>C���

G$ G$

�)'*2�2�"�;5 3 � @EE 5'$

� !+ 5 6 8 V3-747 �

&% 5 6 8 V;-<<; �

� E%� < 6 7 I;-;<6 �

� 77E 5 9 9 I;-659 �

� $E8 5 7 4 V;-;;< �

� %$7 5 7 4 I;-7<; �

� EE < 7 6 I;-::5 �

� 7I+5 5 8 6 I;-8<4 �

0''2�&�+",,"#3#-&&�)'�"2!('9-*� %���������R�%#�&�����#���� �����$#������!��!������#��0��!����$� �������'�������������"����%#�&��R���������#�� !�#)�� ������� �#���#"�����%����"���%#�&������������#�&�-�$� �������#���#"������#�&�R�!�� ����"����%#�&�����������&'����)����&���������������������������"����I�)����������������������������&�����8;35I3<-�.�R��%����"�����&��'��&#)����#����������$## ��O$� ���Q����(�'������#��/������$#��������)���##��*� %��R��!�����������!#�����%'�*�#���������-�.����������&#)���%#���0��!�������������&&���������#�������#� !�#)�-���R����������!����������������O� 8;8;Q���������#����#�������""������%�&&���������� #��'���������'#�R�������������"�# ���!&�'�����#R����&"I #��)������#������������������%�����#�����#� ������ ��&"�%����������������R���#����!������#� ���������R��#���#"�����%���"����%#�&������������#�&�-/

$'#C)�0%)�"#�!(%�)"�-�!%#)&*� %���������R�#!������%��� ����������������!��L����#�����=#���!����!���!��"����!��"#� �������������%���#��1����'����������#�������99I%�&&�:5��#�&���������� ��#���������I�����������#)���=#&�����=������������-$����"�'#��������� �������#����*���&��0�'���������������#��#������%������������������R���(���&'�!��"���-����)���#���&������%'�����*� %����������#��������������"#� ��� ���������%��� �������������&&�������=#����#�)#���%����������!��������!��������������� #�����"���������#��1����'-��.�!����"�# �L����'��#��������%���������������!��������!�������)��'�������&�������!����'�������/������������������!#��I �����!�!���&����������� ��� !��&��)����#����������!&���-�.>����#��#�R���#�����������%����������� �����������'�������#���������!�#!&�����������������&&-�"�����#���������#����%�����R&&�#����# ��������&���/����������#����=#��-����=#�������#�&#��������+����'���������������������#���������#����������!�#������!��������!����-

������ �������������������� ���������������������� ��

!� ��) = �����==� � ��

������ �� � ��������� ��������������� ��

!� ��) = �����==� � ��

��� � ��������

The much awaited domestic crick-et season will start from January

1, BCCI president Sourav Gangulysaid on Saturday.

The BCCI Apex Council met onSaturday evening and a good amountof time was spent on discussing thedomestic calendar which had beenthrown in disarray by the surgingcases of Covid-19 in India.

“We have had extensive discus-sions on domestic cricket and we havetentatively decided to start the com-petitions from January 1, 2021,”Ganguly told PTI from Dubai.

When asked if it would be a cur-tailed season or not, the formerIndian captain said the board won’t beable to accommodate all domestictournaments for practical purposes.

“We will certainly have the fullfledged Ranji Trophy redball tourna-ment. It will probably not be possibleto hold all tournaments,” Gangulysaid, hinting that BCCI is eyeing theJanuary-March window for RanjiTrophy.

The BCCI president also assuredthat the junior cricket and women’stournaments will be held betweenMarch and April.

“We also have elaborate plans for

our age group and women’s cricket.We will start with Ranji Trophy andthen we will also have the othertournaments between March andApril,” he said.

He also informed that the Indianteam will be allowed to train inAustralia during their quarantinephase.

“Cricket Australia has sent us anitinerary and we discussed the modal-ities of that itinerary. We will be play-ing four Tests and that will end inthird week of January,” the BCCI pres-ident said.

The Indian team is expected toplay three ODIs, three T20Is and fourTests Down Under.

On the home series againstEngland, Ganguly said that the BCCIis monitoring the situation and thefinal itinerary will be prepared in duetime.

“The England series is good threeand a half to four months away. Westill have time. We are monitoring thesituation (Covid-19) which is prettyfluid and will take a call accordingly,”he said.

While hosting the series in India(Ahmedabad, Kolkata andDharamsala being likely venues)remains priority, the UAE is a secondoption.

��� � ��$��

RCB skipper Virat Kohli on Saturday called ABde Villiers the “most impactful player in IPL”

after the South African blasted a 22-ball 55 to setup an incredible win against Rajasthan Royals.

“AB is always been someone who’s been readyto look at the situation and adapt his game accord-ingly. In my eyes he’s the most impactful player inthe IPL,” Kohli said during the post-match presen-tation ceremony.

“If he goes, the opposition know they have a slimchance and there’s a good reason for that. It’s pure-ly because of the presence of someone like him thatteams feel we are never out of the game.”

“To be honest, you’re always tense in chasebecause you’re not sure how many balls AB is goingto get. Credit to Gurkeerat as well, he stuck with AB,got that important boundary. It doesn’t matter whothe bowler is, he does what he does.”

The seven-wicket victory takes RCB to 12 points— same as table-toppers Mumbai Indians and DelhiCapitals.

“The individuals are stepping up and we’ve beendone that all through the tournament, which is whywe have 12 points. Very happy right now becauseafter this we get three days off,” Kohli said.

Talking about his team, the Indian skipper said:“Our game pattern is very clear. Young Dev(Devdutt Padikkal) has batted beautifully, Finchy(Aaron Finch) has played some impact innings. Weunderstand the dynamics and we’re sticking to ourplans. The bowling has really stepped up this sea-son.

“(Chris) Morris has been brilliant, just that ener-gy he brings. (Navdeep) Saini, Washy (WashingtonSundar) and Isuru (Udana) as well, the bowling hascome together well.”

De Villiers, who was adjudged the Man of theMatch for his blistering knock, said he was nervousin the 19th over as he had to hit those big sixes toget his team home.

“I didn’t hit even one of them (sixes) off the mid-

dle. When Unadkat was bowling, I was looking legside but to be honest I was nervous because I knewI had to hit it well. Luckily I got a few away,” he said.

With four fifties, including a 33-ball 73 againstKolkata Knight Riders, the former South Africanskipper has been in rampaging form this IPL.

“I’m very very nervous and erratic (in chase)and I get very stressed like any player. I want to per-form for the team and show the owners I’m herefor a good reason.

“Last game I didn’t perform my role as well asI should have, but this time I did. It’s a cat and mousegame, I always respect the bowlers. If they bowl wellto me, they’ll have the upper hand.”

RR captain Steve Smith was crestfallen after yetanother defeat, their sixth in nine games.

“Sure it is a hard pill to swallow. Just got AB’dthere. That’s two in a row we were in the box seatto win but didn’t. Disappointing,” he said.

“I think it was a good score on a slow wicket.I thought we built the pressure pretty well and it tooka pretty special innings to take RCB home.”

=����!� ������� �����������@@�� ���BBC�� ����2�6 � ��������������

%0���9� ��� ��� S�$�����H�� #���� !���"�&�!&�'��H

77E���������������� ������

���! ���������"#

;��� ���, ������

����� ���0���

Spared by the fielders a num-ber of times, opener ShikharDhawan (101) hit his maiden IPLhundred while Axar Patel pulledoff three sixes in the final over asDelhi Capitals moved to the topof the table with a tense five-wick-et win over Chennai Super Kings,here on Saturday.

Dropped on 25 and 79, apartfrom surviving a half chance anda run-out opportunity, Dhawanmade full use of the lives given tohim to raise his best IPL knock asthe Capitals overhauled a stiff180-run target with one to spare.

On 99, Dhawan also got acaught-behind decision reversed,using DRS. Despite a well-setDhawan at the crease, SamCurran bowled an exceptional19th over, giving away just fourruns to keep CSK in hunt.

Capitals needed 17 runs off

the final over and it lookedDhawan’s effort could go in vainbut Axar Patel played a blinder ofa knock, hitting three sixes offRavindra Jadeja to finish off thegame in style.

DC now have 14 points fromnine games, one more than sec-ond-placed Mumbai Indians (12).

Dhawan took 58 balls for hisunbeaten knock that was studdedwith 14 shots to the fence and oneover it. He shifted the gears withease as he not only worked theball around but found boundariesconsistently to keep the askingrate under control. His straight sixoff Curran stood out.

After CSK pacer DeepakChahar, who was as usual veryimpressive, sent back PrithviShaw (0) Ajinkya Rahane (8),Dhawan kept one end safe.

Skipper Shreyas Iyer (23),who hurt his shoulder in the pre-vious game was not his usual

aggressive self. The fluency withwhich he times the ball was miss-ing. His 68-run stand withDhawan ended when he holedone out to Du Plessis off Bravo.It was a slower ball but Iyercould have dispatched that easi-ly into the empty stands on anyother day.

Marcus Stoinis added 24quick runs before being dis-missed.

Earlier, Faf Du Plessis hit hisfourth half-century of the seasonbefore Ambati Rayudu producedanother useful cameo as a collec-tive batting effort propelledChennai Super Kings to 179 forfour.

Du Plessis (58) added 87runs with Shane Watson (36) afterearly fall of Sam Curran (0), set-ting it up nicely for the CSK.

Rayudu hit 45 off 25 ballswhile Ravindra Jadeja hit foursixes in his fiery 33-run knock.

One of Jadeja’s sixes landed on theroad outside the stadium.

They added 50 runs in 3.3overs during their unbeaten fifthwicket partnership.

While Watson relied on safeground-strokes considering thesluggish track Du Plessis did nothesitate to improvise, playing a lotof scoop shots. He pulled theshort ones with ease.

Young pacer TusharDeshpande bowled a tight linewith decent speed and wasrewarded when Curran, withoutmeasuring the bowler, swung hisarms but just managed a top-edgethat was taken by Anrich Nortje(2/44).

Watson, using his experi-ence, got some quick runs byplacing the ball instead of goingafter the bowlers. His handling ofthe both pacers and spinnerswas sensible as the Australian keptthe scoreboard moving.

5�� � ������������������������*� �/6�"� ����

,�!����H����#���%'����������%�����, =

2�����!� � ���� ������� �� ������ D��� �� �

!������1� ��3������ ���� ����2�6 �� $".#@-5���

* ,���� ��� � ���� ��E�0� � �����1�� � ����� ��0 � �$���� ���� ��!� �� �����! � � ����� ����$". % ���������2�� ���� ����%���6 �% ���� ���2 / ��� ��2�� �� $".#@-5���

( �� ��$��� ���� ���� �����6 � ���� �������332����� �%� ���� �����!��� ��( ��� ���3 ������� % ���� D332����

�����-#��������*������ *���+�����,-.�/0/0

�3� � ��� �>�

Rangers beat a coronavirus-deplet-ed Celtic side 2-0 at Celtic Park

on Saturday to move four points clearof their bitter rivals at the top of theScottish Premiership.

Two goals from Connor Goldsonproved enough for Steven Gerrard’smen, who are desperate to stop theirbitter rivals winning a record-break-ing 10th consecutive title.

In the first Old Firm derby with-out fans, Goldson headed in JamesTavernier’s free-kick in the ninthminute and tapped in from closerange in the second half as Rangersrecorded back-to-back wins at CelticPark for the first time since 1995.

It was a first domestic defeat sincethe last clash between the Glasgowgiants in December for Neil Lennon’smen, who have a game in hand overRangers with a long title fight still tocome.

Celtic were without star strikerOdsonne Edouard, Nir Bitton andHatem Elhamed due to Covid infec-tions, while Ryan Christie missed outas he was forced to self-isolate forbeing a close contact ofSouthampton’s Stuart Armstrong,who also tested positive, while on

international duty with Scotland.But Gerrard said that took noth-

ing away from a dominant perfor-mance by his side.

“We’ve put in a really controlled,professional performance,” Gerrardtold Sky Sports. “I don’t think we wereat our fluent best but we’ve come hereand controlled the game with andwithout the ball.”

“We could maybe have scoredmore,” he added. “There will be nogetting carried away. We need toremain humble.”

Steven Gerrard’s side looks adifferent proposition this season andstayed unbeaten after 11 games. Theteam has conceded just three goalsand scored 26 — one more thanCeltic.

��� � ��������

The much awaited domestic crick-et season will start from January

1, BCCI president Sourav Gangulysaid on Saturday.

The BCCI Apex Council met onSaturday evening and a good amountof time was spent on discussing thedomestic calendar which had beenthrown in disarray by the surgingcases of Covid-19 in India.

“We have had extensive discus-sions on domestic cricket and we havetentatively decided to start the com-petitions from January 1, 2021,”Ganguly told PTI from Dubai.

When asked if it would be a cur-tailed season or not, the formerIndian captain said the board won’t beable to accommodate all domestictournaments for practical purposes.

“We will certainly have the fullfledged Ranji Trophy redball tourna-ment. It will probably not be possibleto hold all tournaments,” Gangulysaid, hinting that BCCI is eyeing theJanuary-March window for RanjiTrophy.

The BCCI president also assuredthat the junior cricket and women’stournaments will be held betweenMarch and April.

“We also have elaborate plans for

our age group and women’s cricket.We will start with Ranji Trophy andthen we will also have the othertournaments between March andApril,” he said.

He also informed that the Indianteam will be allowed to train inAustralia during their quarantinephase.

“Cricket Australia has sent us anitinerary and we discussed the modal-ities of that itinerary. We will be play-ing four Tests and that will end inthird week of January,” the BCCI pres-ident said.

The Indian team is expected toplay three ODIs, three T20Is and fourTests Down Under.

On the home series againstEngland, Ganguly said that the BCCIis monitoring the situation and thefinal itinerary will be prepared in duetime.

“The England series is good threeand a half to four months away. Westill have time. We are monitoring thesituation (Covid-19) which is prettyfluid and will take a call accordingly,”he said.

While hosting the series in India(Ahmedabad, Kolkata andDharamsala being likely venues)remains priority, the UAE is a secondoption.

5�� � ������������������������*� �/6�"� ����Karachi: Veteran Pakistan pacer Umar Gul on

Saturday announced he will retire from all formsof cricket after the ongoing National T20 Cup,ending an international career spanning 17 years.

The 36-year-old Gul, who played his lastmatch for Pakistan — an ODI — in 2016, fea-tured for the Balochistan team in the NationalT20 Cup, which ends on Sunday.

His side lost to Southern Punjab inRawalpindi on Friday to be out of reckoning forthe semifinals.

“With a very heavy heart and after a lot ofthinking, I have decided to bid farewell to all for-mats of cricket after this National T20 Cup,” Gulwrote on his Twitter handle.

“I have always played for Pakistan with allmy heart and 100 percent of hardwork. Cricketis and will always be my love and passion butall good things have to come to an end,” headded.

Gul could barely hold back his tears as hisBalochistan teammates gave him a guard of hon-our.

The Peshawar-born Gul made his interna-tional debut in an ODI in 2003. He played hisfirst Test that year itself. His last Test was againstSouth Africa in 2013.

From 47 Test matches, Gul took 163 wick-ets at an average of 34.06. He also claimed 179wickets from 130 ODIs, besides 85 wickets from60 T20Is.

“Praying that the future will hold muchmore for me. Secondly, I would like to thank@TheRealPCB and all the coaches and peoplewho have been a part of my cricketing journey.Special thanks to media, my fans and followerswho made it all worthwhile n supported me atall times,” he said. PTI

�3��� �*�

Kylian Mbappeshrugged off any

lingering fatigue to scoretwice in his secondgame in 48 hours asParis Saint-Germaindefeated 10-man Nimes4-0 on Friday to takeover top spot in Ligue 1.

The France forwardstruck the opener on 32minutes at the Stade des Costieres and net-ted again late on as a weary Nimes fold-ed following the early dismissal of centre-back Loick Landre.

Alessandro Florenzi scored PSG’ssecond on 77 minutes and Pablo Sarabianotched a fourth for the reigning champions as PSGclimbed above Rennes on goal difference after a fifthsuccessive win.

“I spoke with Kylian yesterday (Thursday), hetold me that he felt good and that he absolutelywanted to play,” said PSG coach Thomas Tuchel.

“He’s the guy who can always make a differ-ence and he did just that.”

New signings Moise Kean and Rafinha madetheir PSG debuts with a host of players missing fol-lowing the international break and just four daysahead of the visit of Man United in the CL.

Earlier, Rennes extended their unbeaten startto the Ligue 1 season despite drawing 1-1 at bot-tom side Dijon.

�3� � �>��>�

Liverpool were denied a cathar-tic victory against PremierLeague leaders Everton on

Saturday when Jordan Henderson’slate strike was controversially ruledout for offside as Chelsea shared thespoils with Southampton in a six-goal thriller.

Jurgen Klopp’s championswere desperate to atone for their7-2 humbling against AstonVilla before the internationalbreak but had to settle for a 2-2 draw in an incident-packedgame at Goodison Park.

Everton stayed unbeat-en this season to remainthree points clear at thetop of the table after anumber of controversialcalls went their way.

Klopp was mysti-fied as to whyHenderson’s goal wasruled out by VAR.

“There were anumber of bigmoments in thegame,” he said. “Theonly situation I sawback is theHenderson goaland I didn’t seeoffside. The pic-ture I saw is no off-side, but it was off-

side because some-body decided it.”

Everton managerCarlo Ancelotti was delightedwith his side’s performance,even though they were denieda fifth straight PremierLeague win.

“We competed with them,” hesaid. “We were 1-0 down andequalised, 2-1 down and equalised.It was a good test and I have a goodfeeling.

“To know we can competewith the champions of the last sea-son it gives us more confidence forthe future.”

Sadio Mane missed the VillaPark mauling after testing positivefor coronavirus and the Senegaleseshowed he was badly missed, witha smart finish from AndyRobertson’s cut-back to open thescoring in the third minute.

The pivotal moment camewhen Virgil van Dijk was on thereceiving end of a dangerous latelunge from Jordan Pickford insidethe box minutes early in the game.

However, no penalty wasawarded after a VAR reviewbecause Van Dijk had beenmarginally offside andPickford was lucky to avoida red card.

The Dutchman’s tower-ing presence was missed at the otherend as Michael Keane equalised inthe 19th minute.

Mohamed Salah put Liverpoolback in front with a spectacularstrike with 18 minutes to go butDominic Calvert-Lewin headedEverton level again.

The home side were reduced to10 men after Richarlison was showna straight red card for a dangeroustackle on Thiago Alcantara andlooked to have conceded in thedying seconds.

However, the drama did notend there as VAR deemed Mane tobe offside as he provided the crossfor Henderson, despite television

replays proving inconclusive.

������� ���Frank Lampard demanded

Chelsea cut out their costly mistakesafter Jannik Vestergaard snatched astoppage-time equaliser forSouthampton in a dramatic 3-3draw.

Germany forward TimoWerner scored his first PremierLeague goals to put Chelsea two upin the first half at Stamford Bridge.

Danny Ings got one back forSouthampton before mistakes fromKurt Zouma and Kepa Arrizabalagagifted an equaliser to Che Adams inthe second half.

Kai Havertz appeared to havespared his team-mates’ blusheswhen the Germany midfielder

restored Chelsea’s lead.But Lampard’s side were

denied when Southamptondefender Vestergaard headedhome following more poordefending in the closingmoments.Chelsea have just two wins

from five league games and havealready conceded nine goals, leav-ing Lampard to plead with histeam to be more efficient at theback.

“We need to be more solid.Making individual mistakes givesother teams chances,” he said.

“We are seeing lots of goalsacross the league and no manag-er is happy.

“There are attacking players inthis league and maybe pre-seasonand lack of working time plays apart. But we have to get better atit.”

Lampard was encouraged to

see Werner score for the firsttime in the league in his fifthappearance in the competitionsince his move from Leipzig.

“They are great goals. The sec-ond in terms of the team was classbut it is a lot to do by Timo. Thosemoments will come from him andother players,” Lampard said.

But, as ever with Chelsea, themiscues from Zouma and Kepaunderlined problems that remainunsolved at the back and couldprove fatal to their chances ofmounting a title challenge.

With Senegal keeper EdouardMendy injured, Kepa was making

his first Chelsea appearance inalmost a month after beingdropped following an error-strewnstart to the season.

Kepa’s latest blunder is likelyto see him exiled again and Zoumamay be axed as well once ThiagoSilva returns.

“You go two goals up, youwant to finish it off. Southamptonare a good side. They put pressureon us off the ball,” Lampard said.

“My message at half-time wasthat the goal shouldn’t change toomuch. We never got to the samelevels in the second half. We cando better.”

����� �������Manchester City eked out a

hard-fought 1-0 win over Arsenal,thanks to Raheem Sterling’s first-half goal.

Sterling slotted a rebound intoan empty net in the 23rd minuteafter City midfielder Phil Fodenhad a shot parried away by Arsenalgoalkeeper Bernd Leno at EtihadStadium.

City was missing star midfield-er Kevin De Bruyne because ofinjury, but did welcome back SergioAguero. The team’s all-time recordscorer played 65 minutes in his firstmatch since June.

�3� � $����

Robert Lewandowski main-tained his magnificent

goalscoring form as BayernMunich eased to a 4-1Bundesliga victory overArminia Bielefeld on Saturday.

Lewandowski scored fourtimes in Bayern’s 4-3 win overHertha Berlin in their lastmatch before the internation-al break and struck twice forPoland in a victory overBosnia-Herzegovina in mid-week.

The prolific striker tookhis goalscoring tally for theseason to nine goals in sevenmatches with a first-half dou-ble at Bielefelder Alm afterplaying a big part in ThomasMuller’s opener.

He then set up Muller forBayern’s fourth as the champi-ons, who conceded to RitsuDoan’s low drive before losingCorentin Tolisso to a straightred card, made it four wins ina row in all competitions andclimbed into second place.

Earlier, Substitutes ErlingBraut Haaland and MarcoReus fired Borussia Dortmundinto second (actually thirdafter Bayern’s win) place in theBundesliga, linking up in thesecond half to seal a 1-0 win atHoffenheim.

Dortmund, who hadalready lost one game thisseason, looked set to dropfurther points before youngsterHaaland and veteran Reus

came off the bench inthe second half tobreathe new life into ablunt performance.

Haaland, 20,surged forward on thebreak to set up Reuswith a tap-in and snatchDortmund’s first away victoryover Hoffenheim in eightyears.

Haaland was initially rest-ed after he played three timesfor Norway in the previous twoweeks, prompting criticism ofthe busy international sched-ule.

Hoffenheim were alsowithout three first team regu-lars, as Croatia’s AndrejKramaric, Ghana’s KasimAdams and Czech defenderPavel Kaderabek were all sent

into quarantine aftertheir return from inter-national duty. The clubconfirmed on late onFriday that two of threehad tested positive forthe coronavirus.

Mijat Gacinovic missed agilt-edged opportunity forHoffenheim early on, and bothGiovanni Reyna and ThomasMeunier came close forDortmund.

Yet it was Reus who land-ed the decisive blow, slottingHaaland’s square pass into theopen net to score his first goalsince February.

Dortmund now sit onepoint behind league leaders RBLeipzig, who held onto topspot with a 2-0 win against sur-prise high-fliers Augsburg.

�3� � *����

Luis Suarez partnered DiegoCosta for the first time and

scored as AtleticoMadrid beat strugglingCelta Vigo 2-0 win in LaLiga on Saturday.

But the Suarez-Costa combinationcame to an early end asCosta was forced off injured inthe second half.

Sitting in the stands,Costa was seen with his facein his hands and he was alsohobbling after the final whis-tle.

He is now likely to missAtletico’s Champions Leagueopener away at BayernMunich on Wednesday.

For Atletico, this was amuch-needed victory afterback-to-back goalless drawshad dampened enthusiasmfollowing their 6-1 openingwin against Granada.

Suarez made his debutthat day, coming off the benchto score twice when Granadawere already down and out,

but his early strikeshaped this gameagainst Celta, untilYannick Carrasco head-ed in a second in injury-time.

Diego Simeone hadkept Suarez and Costa apartby using one to substitute theother in each of Atletico’sfirst three matches but hepaired them together from thestart at Balaidos, with JoaoFelix on the bench.

There were flickers ofchemistry, with Suarez missinga chance for a second from theCosta pass that caused him tofeel pain in his lower leg.

But Felix also impressedwhen he came on and willprovide a more creative, if lesscombative, foil for Suarez inCosta’s absence.

�3� �*���

Zlatan Ibrahimovic made awinning return after being

sidelined with the coronavirus asAC Milan beat Inter Milan 2-1in an entertaining derby matchon Saturday.

Ibrahimovic only resumedtraining this week after recover-ing from the virus but the 39-year-old Swede scored twiceearly on. Romelu Lukaku nettedfor Inter in the 29th minute.

It was Milan’s first win in thederby in the league since 2016and sent the Rossoneri top of thetable. Milan is the only teamwith a perfect record, havingwon all four of its match-es this season.

Milan is three pointsabove Atalanta, who lost 4-1 at Napoli, and five aboveJuventus, which visitsCrotone later.

Lazio lost 3-0 at Sampdoria.It was a strange atmosphere

at San Siro with only 1,000 fansallowed in the 80,000-seat sta-dium because of the coron-avirus pandemic.

However, both teams werewelcomed by hundreds of sup-porters as the team buses arrivedat the stadium. Flags werewaved, banners unfurled andfans roared their support —through their masks.

The virus had ruled outInter players Ashley Young,Alessandro Bastoni, Milan

Škriniar, Radja Nainggolan,Roberto Gagliardini andIonut Radu.

Ibrahimovic won apenalty after a recklesstackle by AleksandarKolarov and, although his

spotkick was saved by SamirHandanovic, the former Interforward tucked home therebound to put Milan in front inthe 13th minute.

Milan doubled its lead justthree minutes later with a fan-tastic team move as Hakan Çal-hanoglu sent Rafael Leão downthe left flank and he crossed forIbrahimovic to volley in.

Inter halved the deficit whenIvan Perišic crossed for Lukaku

to sidefoot home. It was the firstleague goal Milan had conced-ed this season.

Inter, which had foughtback from 2-0 down to win 4-2the last time the two sides met,almost leveled shortly after asLautaro Martínez’s headerlooped over Milan goalkeeperGianluigi Donnarumma butSimon Kjær cleared off the line.

The Nerazzurri should haveequalized on the hour whenAchraf Hakimi was leftunmarked but his header flewinches wide of the left post.

Inter was awarded a penal-ty in the 75th afterDonnarumma brought downLukaku but the referee changedhis mind after video reviewshowed the Inter forward wasoffside.

A�2��� ��� �� ���� %A����� �' �� ���������� ���@� ������� ���$���� ��,��0,�������"��9/9

�����#������� ��� �������4���� �#� �������� ������0�������������A�� ��

+��������� �����!���

%� F����������� ��������

2�����.� ������������ ���� ���������%�6 �����������%� �� �"

!����������5$" ����

����� ��� ����

���� ��� ��0 �����7�!���� ���

7� �� �������

!� �� �����<��� �����1����% �&���������%��&������ ���� ���������%���������<�������%� �� % ����������� � �"

Every city, for decades, has hadthree main Chinese stops — aChinese doctor, a Chinese shoe-

maker and a Chinese restaurant. Allthree come with an old world charmto them, igniting a strange kind of loy-alty for the welfare of the tooth, footand palate.

Lucknow has grown on its firstoffered Chinese restaurant JoneHing, now a woebegoneeatery in Hazratganjwhich once did briskbusiness on theexperimental andgrowing tastes ofcollege students.So much so thatstudents wouldoften book a tablea weekend inadvance so that thequeues could be nav-igated faster.

That was the early80s and the samosa wasslowly being taken over bychowmein doused as it came in tangyvinegar, oil and chilli sauce. Thosewere the days when vinegar meant toIndian tongues either a cleaning agentor a condiment used for subtleenhancement and preservation ofwinter vegetable pickles.

Some tastes stay foreverwithout any change or cor-ruption. Zone Hing’s chillydry shredded lamb came inthat category. And you cansay the same for Berco’s,Delhi’s oldest and most visit-ed Chinese restaurant whoseChilli Chicken Dry has such adistinct crunch andjuiciness that nonehas been able tocrack, not eventhe likes ofM a i n l a n dChina or YoC h i n a

which are young in the journey andhave, in the name of corporate eating,changed the joy of eating in the oldtime, family outing manner.

From that solitary ConnaughtPlace inner circle perch to now over18 restaurants all over and growingpresence in malls, not to mentionhome deliveries, Berco’s has not just

survived the changing eatingmores but also maintained

its distinctness of taste,dishes and restaurant

ambience whichcontinues to givefamily values theplace it deservesin our evolvingsociety wherevalue systems arebeing eaten up by

cut throat survivalin a liberalised glob-

alised environment.As you spoon up

the chicken corn soup withsome real good pieces of

chicken and not just shreds that oth-ers have resorted to, you wonder whatBerco’s means. It’s very distinctly notChinese! It has no known Indianmeaning either, or anything to denoteany kind of food consumption. Well,it is not all those things simplybecause it is not even an English word

in that sense. It is an acronymwhich stands for BombayElectronics Radio Company,which used to sell musicalinstruments, cassettes etc,

s o m e -

thing that you may remember as ashop next to the original Berco’sbefore it was taken over by a suitcasecompany.

It’s, indeed, been a pleasure togrow up with Berco’s as a restaurant, beit their undentedfruit beers or hotand sour seriesof soups.

No other Chinese restaurantworth its name, and there are asmany in NCR as there are mobikeszipping around on crowded streets,can claim to give you the sameflavour and taste as Berco’s.

Time may have changed enoughfor Berco’s to expand into Thai andBurmese dishes to its original menu,but the originals continue to domi-n a t e ,

like the honey chilli potatoes forone, or

the honey chilli lotus stem. Add tothat chilli fish, paneer and juicychicken drumsticks and it becomesdifficult to progress to the maincourse with an accommodating stom-ach.

Talking about expansion, again,the Phat Thai and the Khao Suey cannever be assembled with the samefinesse that Berco’s does, especially thelatter which comes with a bevy ofcondiments to enhance the coconutcream adding paradise to this cloudnine dish. Have savoured thisBurmese speciality at almost all tablesin all leading Chinese eateries but allwill fall by the wayside, with youregretting the hole in your pocketwith an anti-climax dish.

The same goes for the lemoncoriander fish which delights you withits GH colour clarity as it does withits softness of being.

The staples, chilli garlic noodle,egg fried rice and the Americanchopsuey (kids love this sweet mess)are vintage stuff in the Chinglish sec-tion as is the Mogolian stir fry veg-etables to go with egg rice or hakkanoodles.

In these pandemic times, homedelivery has become inevitable but themost difficult foods to deliver and yetmaintain their texture are Chinese andItalian, both of which get soggy and

inedible. Two things here, maybeorder stuff that can beat thistrap or eat the moment it isdelivered. But like in all its

fare which Berco’s has nur-tured with sparing loyalty andindulgence, home delivery

too is being tackled well,and of course with cleanno contact delivery. For

a music company toexcel in old age is def-

initely music toyour tongue.

� What made you say yes to perform virtually?

When they approached us,there was no reason to turn

them down. They are sucha big name and havebeen promoting musicfor sometime now. It is

an honour for usthat they

gave usa n

opportunity to perform during these test-ing times. It was such a nice feeling to final-ly do a live performance albeit virtually.� In qawwali you need a certain setting,what were the challenges?

Not really. We have been singing fordecades. Sufi qawwali has been in our fam-ily for over four hundred years. Singing isin our blood but we had to learn from myfather, chacha and mamu. The good partwas that the technical team provided all thehelp that we needed on site.� What is the reason why you choose toperform sufi qawwali written by AmirKhusro in honour of NizamuddinAuliya?

This is not always the case. But yes, itis true. We are associated with theNizamuddin Auliya dargah. Our identityis from here. Hence, our sufi qawwalis areby Amir Khusro. But we sing Meera Baiand Kabir Das too. We sing Bulleh Shahtoo. Since we are associated with this dar-gah we start off with Amir Khusro’s praisefor Nizamuddin Auliya. Our main stay isclassic sufi qawwali.� Where does qawwali stand today asopposed to what it was before?

So much has changed — zameen aas-maan ka — I would say. The kind ofsinging that used to take place four hun-dred years back was on dhap (shallowrimmed drums) and in Persian or Arabic.Over the years, things changed. The per-son responsible for bringing sufi qawwalito the forefront is Khwaja Garib Nawaz —Moinuddin Chishti at Ajmer. Back then,there weren’t many instruments. Today,there are so many instruments — banjo,guitar table, harmonium to name a few.� Do you think that people's preferenceshave changed, how and why?

Yes. There is change in people’s think-ing and understanding as well. Even artistshave had to change. If we don’t change our-selves, we will lose our art and listeners.Jaisa desh, waisa bhesh. It is important tohave a taal-mel between the artist and theaudience. We play what the audiencewants but sometimes, we get requests thathave no relationship with sufi qawwali. Burwe pander to their requests� Bollywood shows qawwali between twogroups — men on one side, women on theother. Is that a true portrayal?

One has to understand that what was

being shown in films back then was notqawwali. Qawwali is not about competi-tion. It is something that was sung at dar-gah or what is happening now in films andwhat AR Rahman introduced. Not that theqawwali shown in films like Barsaat KiRaat or Mughal-E-Azam was not good. Butit was not qawwali. Sufi qawwali came intoprominence due to Sabri Brothers andNusrat Fateh Ali Khan.� Have you had to change your style withthe changing times? Has this been tough?

There are problems. But agar ghoraghaans se dosti karega toh khayega kya.People who call me and pay money, whenthey request a certain song, I sing for thembut tell them and this is being done at theirrequest and has nothing to do with sufiqawwali. It feels strange but we do. However,we always end with sufi qawwali. But I rarelyget requests to sing other songs from peo-ple who know who and what we are.� What is the future of qawwali inIndia?

Sufi qawwali is here to stay as long asthere will be dargahs and khan khaye.There may be some changes but it will notend unless the world ends.

� What is your song Awalla about?Awalla is about supreme love. The highest form of love —

the love for God. It is a sufi song where the devotee sees God ashis/her beloved. Meera bai was one of the most prominent sufipoetess in the Bhakti movement whom we have mentioned inthe song.� Your song has been receiving lots of love and appreciation.How does that feel?

Yes. A lot of my industry friends have showered their loveand appreciation on social media.It feels great to see so muchappreciation that the song is getting. More so because we madethis song without any commercial compulsion. We just wantedto make a nice song with everything from music to lyrics to thevideo according to our liking. This is the kind of song that I wouldwant to listen to and I was sure that there would be many whowould appreciate this kind of music. My brief to my arrangerand programmer Nirmalya Humtoo Dey was simple: I wantedthe music to sound rich. We have used live instruments and thathas added a lot of value to this song.� You have penned down many beautiful and hit songs. Anymemories that you can share.

Every song has an interesting story and every memory isworth sharing. I can go on and on. Let me share the story of oneof my earlier films My Brother Nikhil. It had only one song LeChale in three different versions sung by KK, Shaan and SunidhiChauhan. The song was to be used throughout the film in dif-ferent situations. While recording the song with Shaan, DirectorOnir felt the need of another antra for a particular situation. Shaanwas about to finish his recording. So Sanjay Suri who was alsothe producer of the film got into a conversation with Shaan andoffered him tea to kill time while I was frantically trying to adda new antra. Thankfully I managed to write it in minutes.

The cult song Alvida from Life in a Metro was written about10 years before it was finally used in a film. Pritam and I havebeen friends for a long time and we were also classmates in FTII.We made this song then and there. Anurag Basu heard this songand loved it so much that he decided to use it in the film. Anotherpopular song of mine Maa Ka Phone Aaya from Khoobsurat wasnot supposed to be a song. We were making a ringtone to be usedin the film. Once that was made Rhea Kapoor, the producer ofthe film loved it so much that she asked Sneha khanwalkar, themusic director and me to make it into a full song.� What does it require to come up with such good songs, Loveis a waste of time and Alvida to name a few?

I try to make a song that I would love to listen. It becomesa good song for the audience too because somewhere you con-nect with your audience. There are actually no rules. But thereare a few things that I keep in mind while writing a song. Butto answer your question, for me it is the melody and arrange-ment and then the choice of words that I feel makes a good song.A situation decides the thought and the mood of the song. Thedirector gives a brief according to which it is written. � How has your experience been in the industry?

So far so good. No complaints and no regrets. I have been verylucky to get a chance to work with directors like Raj Kumar Hirani,Anurag Basu, Hansal Mehta, Onir, Vikram Bhatt and many morein various capacity. I think I am one of the few filmmakers whohas actually experimented with various departments and have goodwork to my credit. From working as an Editor in feature films forwhich I was actually trained in FTII to getting to write scripts, tobeing a lyricist for songs that have become successful to becom-ing a director and now a singer, God has really been kind. � A change that you would like to see in the industry for musi-

cians, singers and lyricists?There is a lot of talent waiting to be

explored. New people should be brought tolimelight and new talent should be givenchance. We have to make this industryaccessible to more and newer talent. � Any upcoming projects?

Yes quite a few. My first film as a direc-tor called Teen Do Paanch should come

out soon. Though we had planneda theatrical release but going bythe present situation it will nowbe released on an OTT plat-form.

I have just finished aMusical Travelogue calledKaleidoscope of North Eastwhich I have produced, writ-ten and directed with mywife Shruti AninditaVermaa. This is forDoordarshan and it hasgiven me a chance toexplore the unexplored. Irecently made a shortfilm Bholi which haswon five international

awards and is still doingrounds to various

International film festivals.

5��!���!-4��������*������ *���+�����,-.�/0/0

�'������I������������I"�& ������*��$�� �G��*�����#�����������&'������������������������&&�����&&��*� $���� �*��%#����������!#�������������#���������������������#������#���������#�������������!�# ����!�#+����

6?������������������� �������

1+�������� ������+��������� � ���2

����E����������������������������������5�����������!���!���@2���� �5��� �

�������5��������������������������������

� !"#$%�&##'�(%�)*%("�+#�,#*!�+#-.*

&�� ����,�� �" ���� ��$ �� �An inevitable responsibility mark-

ing the beginning of festive sea-son in India is the clean-up drive inmost homes. The cleaning spree,akin to a family tradition, gets in fullswing once the festive season is near.But before moving to that stage, acrucial step that one has to gothrough is decluttering - it not onlyamplifies the aesthetics but alsoaids in physical and mental well-being.

Answering the tough questionsHas this specific product or

object been used in the last 1 year?If your answer is no, then chances areyou won’t in the coming futureeither. It’s time to quit the ‘you neverknow' outlook towards the things inyour house — if you don’t foreseeyourself using a particular object inthe coming six months definitively,then it’s time to bid it a nostalgicgoodbye.

Space it outIt’s never easy to admire the

beauty of an over decorated home.One should remember to have dis-tinctive high traffic and low trafficareas in your house. High trafficareas should be minimal with an easygrab-and-go flow for your everydayessentials. Low traffic areas can be asbeautiful as they are useful.Importance ofCompartmentalising

In order to make your home lookclutter free, one should divide upcorners into convenient sectionseverywhere around the house. Thisnot only helps to identify thingswhich are useful, but also make everyspace easy on the eyes.

Arrangement is keyGet to the bottom of those

galling wires which are just piling up— they’re probably not useful and allyour electronic junk, including bat-

teries can be donated. Be fastidiousabout these little things — get wireorganisers, label makers, baskets,acrylic storage to aesthetically organ-ise every corner.

Transform the old into newMake use of everything in that one

corner of your house which is a pan-dora’s box of all the festive gifts from the

past. Break out that new silverware,glasses, tea light holders etc. or simplygive them to someone who will use it.The festive, Indian clothes which havebeen nudging you during the monthsof lockdown can finally break free —audit your outfits and brighten upsomeone’s day by donating clothes,shoes, accessories and bags you nolonger need.

Getting rid of the unnecessaryScan your kitchen thoroughly —

take stock of everything which has piledup and look up the expiry dates.Unnoticed condiment packets, chippedcrockery and mugs which haven’t seenone useful day must be discardedfrom the cabinets. Your beauty andgrooming essentials need to be sepa-rated with a fine tooth comb as well. So,avoid the unnecessary hoarding ofthose supplies and keep only thosewhich are still good to use.

Glamming up your new space

It is now time to decorate yourhouse by being picky about what youput out and choose your curio with care- less is more in recent times andnobody ever has complainedabout less dusting. Recycle oldcards, newspapers, magazines,manuals, coupons, take outmenus, old paperwork, half-used notebooks etc. Or get alittle creative and refurbishsome items in a funfamily/friends group activity.Partly used candles can stilladd the glow to your house —collect all of them and lookupan easy DIY tutorial on howto repurpose your used candlesto make a new one.

Follow these simple and effec-tive steps to declutter your homes togive your home a vibrant and spaciouslook this festive season.

#����������"���� �!��%�&�=� ���&�(���

�$%&'()*��������� �� ����

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

���$��������1$%(/(��$&,*/$ ������������������ %��������������� ���� ��� �����������

4 ���������� ,��,���, ��������@���, ���� ����������� 1E ����"�,���������� ����,�� ���� � �� ��, 0��������� "���,�������� �� ��

� ������������� �������

���������

���� �������'������������"�� � �

������������

����������������� ������ �����������8%'$�'!�4&$'�(�"!'�!?

9!5'4!7&4$*&$�(5,�7&4$*!5$�!5�'+&*5?(>!%$�/('"(�!%$&�&59!%5'&4

: + ) 3 2 ; ' * � ' � ;

�1� %2� ����&��&��32�%(����'(�(4�%(&2���� �( 4&��(

�����&�2�%2����(123���� �%���25���%6���7�&

������� ��������� �������

���������������

This year, 41-year-old ArpitaSarkar is relieved that rather thanbeing stuck for hours in traffic inthe month preceding Duga Puja,she has been able to commute

smoothly to and from office. “Things hadcome to such a head that we had decidedthat even though we hate spending thesedays away from Kolkata, we would do so,”she says. But a tiny miniscule virus hadother plans. So now, for the six days of thePuja, rather than engage in pandal-hopping,Arpita along with her family will cooksomething special at home, probably go to arelative’s house where children too would beable to catch up with their cousins. “That iswhat Pujo signified for us when we weregrowing up. Heading to Mama baari orBade Papa’s place with our parents is whatwe did as children. Even though, it is acommunity celebration, the crowds thathave become synonymous with Durga Pujaare not the essence of the festival,” says 41-year-old Arpita who works as an HR in amulti-national company in Kolkata andcounts dance and drama as her areas ofinterest. She often performs at the culturalprogrammes organised during Puja and thisyear she is recording the performancewhich is being put up jointly with otherartistes on YouTube channels.

Over the years, for Bengalis and non-Bengalis, Durga Puja came to be centeredaround how many pandals they hadhopped, which one displayed the besttheme and which Puja Committee was like-ly to win an award that year. The lament,especially among the older generation, wasthat the emphasis was now on an extrane-ous journey while the festival was more ofan inward cruise of devotion which hadgone completely missing. But nature oftenhas a way of setting humans on the path ofcourse correction, sometimes in the form ofa virus, only if they are willing to listen toits call.

Like every year, Ayandrali Dutta, traveland food writer who has made Delhi herhome for the past 12 years, will be makingher way back to Kolkata be a part of the168-year old ancestral Burrabazar MallickBari Durga Puja that is celebrated at herhouse. “Over the past five-six years, DurgaPuja has become a social media activitywhere you have to do a check in at all thepandals,” says Dutta who sees her annualhomecoming as something akin to theGoddess Durga’s return to her maternalhouse.

At Ayandrali’s, till last year, there wouldhave been around 300-400 people visitingand eating at her house. These would befamily friends, relatives, people who hadheard about the puja through word-of-mouth. “This won’t happen this year,” saysAyandrali firmly. While the aarti wouldtake place, the ceremonial conch would beblown but the place where the five-feet idolis placed would not be flocked with peoplewho had queued up for a dekko at the prati-ma. This year there would not be more thanfive-six at one time. But Ayandrali believesthat this was very much-required. “Weneeded to slow down and cut down on lot

of frills which we thought were an impor-tant part of life. After all, that is what wehave been doing during the past sevenmonths and it has done us a lot of good. Ithas made us realise that minimalism couldbe a part of life. Instead of 400 people eat-ing earlier, now there would be 50 and thatit is perfectly fine. If we are feeding forthe sake of charity, we can do it insome other place and in some otherway,” she says adding that Pujas hadbecome a larger than life affair.

While Ayandrali is muchyounger, Arup Sarkar, a retiredgovernment servant can recall atime when Pujas were simpleraffairs. “The budgets havebecome huge due to sponsorshipby political parties and corpo-rates. There is an excess of every-thing — lighting, theme, decora-tion. A lot of money is thrownaround on the display but the devo-tion that is needed is nowhere to befound. Earlier, the way the face wascrafted, the body made and the decora-tions done were exceptional. The idols weresimpler but they inspired devoutness. Thebhakti that came from the heart is no longerthere,” he says. He hopes for a return to thesimplicity of earlier times but is not relyingon the fulfilment of his wishes — even dur-ing the pandemic.

Arpita, a trained Bharatnatyam andOdissi dancer, too is not fond of the themepandals. “The competitions are a way ofshowing off how much money can besplurged. The focus is on making expensivepandals and political parties have jumpedinto the fray as well. When we wereyounger, we went to see the pandals everyyear. The idols and pandals were the sameeach year but they inspired devotion. Sincethey are so intricate and expensive now,there are many restrictions about where wecan sit and what we can touch so much sothat people are not able to enjoy them-selves,” she says.

Arup points out that earlier there was alot personal involvement. “The entertain-ment was different. Everyone from theextended family pitched in ensuring thatthe festivities went off smoothly. On thecultural side, someone sang, another onerecited. It was unparalleled anand,” he says.

Ayandrali too agrees that the complex-ion of Puja underwent a change as differentmembers of the household became busierand a lot of work was outsourced to people.“Earlier every member had a responsibilityto go and get the flowers, buy the vegeta-bles, decorate the house and more so therewas personal touch. Many of us no longerstay in Kolkata and when we return for Pujawe prefer to outsource the work and spendtime with family,” she says.

Of course, like contemporary times,earlier too pujas entailed dressing up to thenines; dhaaki players who by their rhythmicpercussions signalled the arrival of MaaDurga to her maternal home; the dhunochinaach made popular in the non-Bengalispeaking areas by countless Bollywoodfilms as well as pandal-hopping but it is the

new norms of social distancing that haveforced many to sit back and rethink aboutthe hijacking of this festival by Mammon.

The change had started around 25 yearsback when the concept of “theme puja”made an entry. From 1993-94 each of thepaara (area) began to conceptualise thepandal around a contemporary issue. It

could be questioning violence againstwomen while celebrating a goddess or

depicting the condition of refugees orcreating awareness about social issueof contemporary relevance. As thepandals grew in scale, awards startedbeing handed out for different cate-gories like best idol, lighting, deco-ration, social work and more. Toremain a contender in the competi-tions needed a scaling up of budgetsand corporate sponsorship or by

political parties entered the picture.And after that there was no looking

back as each year the magnificence andsize of the pandals grew and visitors

from and around Kolkata lined up. However, 48-year-old Sutirtha Basu, a

regional manager in a pharmaceutical com-pany has a different take. Sutirtha, whoused to visit nothing less than 50-60 pan-dals every Puja, feels that these gave artistesand craftspeople a platform to display theirtalent. “Artistes who conceptualise the pan-dals are from arts college and are really tal-ented. Depending on the theme, they getvillage artisans adept in crafts like mud,metal or others to make the pandals andgive them an opportunity to showcase theirability. An entire economy depends onDurga Puja. These people have tremendousflair but it was never exhibited,” he says andadds, “The awards are a recognition of thehard work and talent.” Not just the pandalsand idols but also the social work done byPuja Committee is rewarded.

Despite the changes, a bonedi puja orthe one celebrated at a Zamindar baari(home) like the one at Ayandrali’s ancestralhome, still maintains tradition. “Even ifthey do not assemble at any other time,they make sure to come during puja. Theydress up in traditional attire, wear the heir-loom jewellery and have cultural pro-grammes,” says Arup.

In fact, historically it was only thezamindar and other rich families who cele-brated Durga Puja at their homes. “Therewas no paara puja which started 100-110years back during the British Raj. Thezamindars objected to the paara pujas asearlier they had exercised a monopoly overorganising Durga puja. Being allowed tovisit one was considered to be a favourbestowed upon one. While all the paarapeople were not freedom fighters but theywanted that they should be able to expresstheir hatred against the British. So the asur(demon) in the pratima (idol) was depictedlike the British and the Goddess was shownto be killing him,” says Basu.

Fast forward to today. And whether wewould be able to annihilate materialism andimbibe the true spirit of the festival, thisyear and in the ones that follow, is a storythat is unfolding and yet to be written.

�+&�($'4!"!=*9("�9+(4'�('�'+&�>!>&5'�>(6&$!5&�(<(4&�!?�'+&�8!'&5'*("�$&&,&,�*5�>*5,�>(6*5=�*'�8!$$*)"&�'!�?!4&$&&�'+&�?%'%4&

>����������� �����������%�����%���������� ��������0 % �" / ����������%�� �����F�!�$($�!�##�2����� ����������� �����3��� � �����,������������� �����

"�����)���� �� ���00 ��

1#���# ��� ���#�������������+��,# ������������&������������2������'��%#���������'����'��#�&���#������������&�%���������"����)�&�����#���������������!�#!&�

���&��������������������"����)�������� ������������-������%�����&�$����'#� � �������"#�� �#"�75��# ��������������&�%������������+������������&���"#� ����%#�����#'�������#����������#����������&���������!#�����)���&�!��&�'������*������ ��#�������!��'�,���"�*��������#"���&���"���&&'� ��������#��# ��#��������������#"������&�������������� !���#��#�%#��-

���&������*������'�#"����&���J�1� �&'���&"���O*#�1�Q���#)�-�#"�����������&����'���������� �������>!���������#��������O >�Q��������"����������#"����� #����������&������������*����� ��������#���'�O��*�Q��������I����# ��������#��&� �������-��&&������)����#������������)��#�#%�������2�������!�� ����#��"�# ��������������*����������#��������"#��#��������������"����)�&��)�������&&������)����-����#�������'�������������!����'�#"�������)����������#�&��%���������#������%�����#"�����������#���&�������������#� ��&�����#���%'�*���%'�������������&#�����!������� �(� � #"�4;�!��������#"�������&&���!����'��#�&��%���&&#��������������&����#"�8;;�!���#��������������#!����!�����������E��#"������#������#�&��%����!�����)���������������#%���)�����#"�#���&�������������#� ���#�&��%��"#&&#���-�������&&'���������������!����'�"#������������������#�&��%������� �������#�������#������#� ��#"��#���&����������������#%���)���,#)��I�!!�#!������%���)�#��-

������#�&�����&���������������!����������'������(�����������)������������&&�%��������&'�����&���������#�&'���#������������"���� �����#�&��%���&&#����������-

�)��'�#�����������# �����������!!#�����#�)���#I���#���������������)�����������#"���#!'�#"��������������)���#���#���������!��I���)�������������"������������"'����������#)�#&���#��#"����� >�D�����&������������%'��#)�-�#"����������#)�-�#"��,��#"���&�������������!&��������&&�%����% ��I�����#��#��&�#""��������������������#����#"��&#�����#"����!�#��� ��#"��������'-��������#"���'�)�#&���#��#" >�D�����&���������!�� ����#��"#���#�����������������)�������&&�%����)#����� ������&'�"#���&&���%��2�������'�-����&&��)�����#�&'���������#���������������#���&������������#� �����&&�%���&&#���-� ����%&��������� �������)���#�%� ����"#��������2������� %���#"��� !#���'��#�&�������#�����!�%&���"���&������&�����&��������'��������������������������� �&������������������������)����-

*����&�$�������������������&���������'��*�&����,�&����&�J��&"�������#�����#���*�'���G�����������&&����������%�����&$����'#� � �������"#�� �#"�75��# ���������������&�%�����������+������������&���"#� ����%#�����#�'�������#-� �'�����.>�&'�33�#"�����75��# ���������&&�#������������������+���������� �&&��#&-�����������#�&����)���� �����!"����#�-�������#&��#�&��%����#I"�����&'�����������I%�����#&#�������#"������������#"������I"�)��"���-� # ��#"������#��# ��������#�&��%��#����������#�&����!���!��+�&�-��#���&I����&��)�������������� �������&&���#�&��%���&&#���-/

�������*�&����,&�%�#��������'����������������� � %���������������#���������&��#�����"#��)������������!&���������������#&������!�-��������������������'��#�&��%���#�������"����)��'���&"�����#����#�������)��'#������������������#�#""��!��'�������&�� ������������#���&�����������-�,��&�����%�&#�38������&���&'�!�#!&���%#)��64���&&��#��%���&&#����������-

1#������� ����#����� ���&���������%��������������%'��%�����&�$����'#� � �������*�'���G�����=�&��$�����I3���������%�����=�&��$����O��(��Q�!�� ����������������+��# ������%�������)�������""�������� ���&#�-��+�� ������&&����"&#������&��)����������#����)����� ����&&��#��%���&&#������������ ��#"�� ����#�-�

*�������������,����W

���������� �

>G�������@��� ��1>�$����� ����

�>�I$����� ��������0��,�*���>�$�,����������>����>��*��@�$%&�%�����@������>���

��,��>���� ��@������$� �����*�����

��,���0�,>**������� ��=��@�>�����������������@���-�������*������ ����������*�� �� ��>��>����

�M�����>� �0>����@���������1� �G���� �*>���>1���������,�� ��>1

��G>�>����,������>���,>*�����@

* ��

������������

�������1��@����� �����*>������������F�>��$�,�� �����@������� ���������>� ��M ���$���$�,�� �����@������ ����������>� �,���$��$�����

T�������*�� ���������������

*;F�++'4���

1�����!�%&���������3<<;��������#������&$����&���%$����������������� ��&&�������&��#"�����S�����# ��H�#"�������������+���������������������!��������#"�������#�-$������������!�#���#��������#��������)��#)����������%���H�����&'����������)���#�"#� ���#������#���&��#��#����#���������&��#"�S���#��##�H����������#��������&�- ����������#�%���������&�"���"���������)��'!#���%&�������-�$���������&&'�������#��!�#)����#�%��"�&&�#"���#�����������������&&'"�����%����������"�# � ��'�2��������#"�����#����'-�����#�&'������������&������#��������#���%���#�������������#���##����&#�������&��)���%������������"���#���������&&��#"���������������#��#�������S�# �H��#�&'��#�#���"#����"�����������������T�����+#��������&����H���# ���#��#���"#����#�����#������������� #��-

����2;):F '2;3�+"�;�%(���%��8�+ %(��%2�&9��%(�(�����%��&�4�����6�.��:;0�

The book Batla House writtenby former police officer KarnalSingh is a real thriller and goldmine of information on theanti-terror operations, history

and great analysis on the terror outfitstargeting India. Karnal Singh (IPS) whoretired as Chief of EnforcementDirectorate was the Chief of Special Cellof Delhi Police which conducted theencounter with Indian Mujahideen (IM)terrorists at Batla House in Delhi inSeptember 19, 2008. The terrorists werehiding in a flat in Batla House afterunleashing a series of terror attacks invarious places in Delhi six days ago onSeptember 13 evening by placing bombsin waste depositing boxes, which killed22 people and injured more than 130people. There were lot of controversiesand different versions and even a moviewas produced on the Batla Houseencounter, which was the finest precisionoperation of the Special Cell, the counterterrorism unit of Delhi Police.

After 12 years, the writer — KarnalSingh — the man who headed theencounter is declassifying the details ofcountry’s much talked about encounteroperation. Apart from thrilling momentsof the encounter declassified by the veryman who conducted the operation, thewriter explains how his trusted deputiescracked the case within six days of theserial blast which shook the Delhi onSeptember 13, 2008 evening. This bookalso details the personal life of policepersonnel and their sacrifices in familylife for the Call of Duty for the Nation.

Singh goes in detail about the life ofhis team members of the Special Cell,where the life of the policemen is always24x7. The blast day was a Saturday andthe writer, who was then JointCommissioner and head of the SpecialCell of Delhi Police, was helping youngerson in solving Maths problems. Whilerushing to the blast spot hearing the seri-al blasts in Delhi, he tells wife to callelder daughter, who was in the cityenjoying weekend with friends, backhome. In six days of hectic work, teamcracked down the hiding terrorists.There are many tearful moments in thebook when the writer talks about lateInspector Mohan Chand Sharma, wholost life in the encounter.

On September 18, a day before theoperation, Singh recounts getting callsfrom wife reminding him of their elderdaughter’s birthday. That very day, thewriter learns (from other colleagues) thatthe key officer Mohan Chand Sharma’s

son was in intensive care unit with acutedengue and dipping platelet counts.When he asked Sharma, the officerdimissed it saying wife and parents weretaking care of the child, and got back towork. ACP Sanjeev Kumar Yadav wholed the back-end team in the operationwas facing tussle with wife due to his latehours. On the day of the operation too,he had fought with his wife and upongetting a call from office did not thinktwice before leaving his wife mid way torush to office.

The writer details the lives of all histeam members giving due credits tothem, which is very rare in service sto-ries. From constables to officers, thebook details their role in the operation —unearthing the location of the hiding ter-rorists by tracing emails and mobilephones, using human intelligence,analysing the previous blasts in Jaipur,Ahmedabad, Surat etc. The writeracknowledges the role of each team matechecking the blast sites, explosive materi-als, forensic work and digital mapping tothe person and how they undertook therecce operations before the shootout.

The writer clears all the doubts onthe Batla House encounter in the minds

of many for the past 12 years. There weremany questions including why Sharmawas not wearing a bullet proof jacket. Intheir defence, it was a secret operationand the main team was disguised in plaincloth shirts. Batla House is a crowdedarea and densely populated by Muslims.As it was the festive season, the teamdecided to strike in the day, as manywould be trying to catch up on sleep postnight celebrations. Singh and teamreached the spot upon hearing about thebullet injuries of Sharma, requisitioningmore force and commandos. He detailshow he entered the encounter spot with asmall team, weaving their way throughnarrow bylanes, past angry crowds.

This book exposes the dark side ofIndian politics that works on appeasingminority vote bank. As all the terroristsbelonged to a community and hailedfrom Azamgarh in Uttar Pradesh andshoot out location was a densely Muslimpopulated location in Delhi, the entirepolitical vultures were parading in theBatla House.

This book is full of so many interest-ing stories. One terrorist, who left thescene in the morning, got so frightenedupon hearing the news of the encounter

that he landed at a TV channel for liveshow in the evening. Nine bombs hadbeen planted and explosion and diffusiontook only in eight areas only. Explosionhappened at five areas and bomb diffu-sion happened in three areas. One bombdid not work and could not be identified.The email claiming the role by IndianMujahideen (IM) sent to media housesafter the first blast claimed nine spots.Book also explains back ground of manyterrorists, their role in money making byengaging in kidnapping for ransom,apart from role of radicalising agents.

The writer explains tough laws fordealing with terrorists. One such exam-ple is two days after the Delhi Blast, oneterrorist Aftab Ansari (already facingdeath conviction jailed in Kolkata for2002 American Centre) sent message toSingh saying he wanted to give details ofthe Delhi blasts. He had been caught bySingh in Delhi in 1995 and was jailed forsome years. Once out of jail, he master-minded the American Centre blast and isnow facing death conviction from 2005.After consulting Intelligence Bureau,Singh decided not to meet him inKolkata jail. This episode shows howflimsy are our laws in dealing terrorists

and Ansari is still on appeal against thedeath conviction. The writer argues fordifferent rules while arresting a personinvolved in terrorist cases. He says civil-ian norms on arrest can’t be applied to aterrorist, explain the loopholes in it.When a person is arrested, police is man-dated to inform relatives or near anddear ones. This is helpful for the otheraccomplices in the terror operations.

Singh explains the need for the maxi-mum possible information to be sharedwith media to avoid fake and wrong sto-ries. He explains in detail, how DelhiPolice suffered bad press due to the stop-page of press conferences by HomeMinistry and how he managed to handlethe media by calling people to provideright things.

He narrates how a lady journalist andher journalist husband gave valuableinputs on tackling wrong reports beingspread in media. The writer explains howhe met the Jamia Milia University ViceChancellor and appraised the exact infor-mation. Earlier the Vice Chancellordeclared legal help as some students werearrested. Actually the terrorists were liv-ing in garb of students and were doingprivate jobs. After an explanation by

Singh and DCP Alok Kumar with all evi-dences, the Vice Chancellor changed themind. The writer also explains how heconvinced then Union Minister KapilSibal with all details, when many rulingparty leaders were questioning the BatlaHouse encounter, as Delhi Assemblyelections and Lok Sabha elections werenearing. Sibal appraised the facts toPrime Minister Manmohan Singh thatday itself.

Apart from the thrilling narration ofa detailed probe on the blast and identi-fying the hidden terrorists in six daysand executing encounter in a crowdedarea, that too in daylight, this bookexplains many others aspects of policing.

This book is a classic book to beplaced in Police academies and librariesfor reference as it explains how to handleoperations and future cases on humanrights violation allegations and how toconduct trials. The book also details thehistory of terror outfits like SIMI, HuJi,IM and their linkages with Pakistan andits ISI funded training and how they rad-icalise the youth to work against India.Let us hope more declassifications willcome from Singh in the future throughmore books.

'����(���� ��&��������������&��#"��������I����#��#!�����#������&�)���������"#� -����&�#�!�����#�������&#��#"��#���#)�����������)����#���#��������"� #���$��&���#�������#��������������0��>=� ����

��������������������������������� ��������!��

�" ����"����� # �$%&

����������������"� "�'���������

The story of India’s wildlifesuccess is incomplete,unless its frontline warriors

are part of it. They are the firstline of defence in protectingIndia’s precious natural heritageand safeguarding its ecosystems.According to Sashidhar Vempala,author of first of its kind coffeetable book, titled The TigersBehind the Tigers, these men andeven women are the unsungheroes of India’s conservationsuccess story. Vempala is anacclaimed wildlife photographer,documentary filmmaker, conser-vationist and a sustainability pro-fessional. His films on conserva-tion topics and human wildlifeconflict, have won awards atinternational forums.

The book talks about thelives and stories of the forestguards, who are the real menbehind the conservation of tigersand the wildlife of India. The gistof six chapters of the book is thatthese men in khaki, patrolling thejungles are the real reason thetiger survives today.

All over India, 1,75,000 menand women serve the forests ofIndia, 24x7, striving to protectthe amazing natural habitat.Several lose their lives battlingpoachers of both wood and ani-mals, many are seriously injuredin animal attacks, but they go onwith a courage and valour that isinspirational. They have learntthe ways of the forest, the sounds,the animals tracks, the secretsand a sense of fearlessness,always bumping into the wildand that too, dangerous oneswhen on foot.

This book, published during

the Covid pandemic lockdownperiod, is a collection of picturesand the stories captured duringVempala’s work with them andhence it’s a tribute to these front-line forest protectors, who arealways at the frontlines of wildlifeprotection in our country.

In a recent conversation withAgenda, Vempala raised appre-hensions about the possibility ofthe big cat being susceptible toCoronavirus when Jim CorbettNational Park built quarantinewards. “But what about the forestguards? Are they still on duty?,”asked Vempala. But then he goeson to say most guards are underpermanent lockdown anyway.

Vempala in his book sayseach forest has a legend and eventhe vehicles have their stories. Herefers to one such instance in thedepartment bus at Kabini which

has many untold luck stories.Many, who cannot afford theexorbitantly high costs andmonopoly of Jungle Lodges andResorts, have to take this bus.The bus is considered extremelylucky in terms of a good sightingof the wilds when on board.

Each chapter deals with theimportance of the frontlineworkers, who have made it possi-ble to help tigers, lions, elephants,rhinos etc grow in numbers fordecades. Saving Tigers on Land,Saving Tigers in the Mangroves,Some Fauna They Save, HumanElephant Conflict, ConflictWithin and the Godspeed are thetitles which deal separately onsubjects and issues like economicvaluation of the tiger reserve,gene pool protection services,carbon sequestration, zone ofinfluence outside the reserve,

anti-poaching camps, theSunderbans mangroves, somekeystone species saved by thefauna alongwith hundred images.

While the book has notes onKaziranga, a separate chaptermakes for an interesting read onthe human elephant conflict.Vempala talks about a case studyin West Bengal where he men-tions that for many centuries, ele-phants have roamed the forest ofSouth West Bengal which has nonatural elephant/animal corridor.Yet, the elephants have passed ontheir knowledge of the routes totheir young ones.

Previously, the size of herd ofelephant was small —15-20, andtotal numbers of elephant thatroamed the zone was between 30and 45. This was for the period1970s-1980s when the forestcover was degraded to some

extent. But in recent time, in thelast 35 years, the zone hasimproved considerably in termsof green cover and the numbersof elephants have also increasedto more than 100.

The author narrates the sto-ries of women officers takingcare of Nature comprising thewild, the greens and the humansand their vested interests in keep-ing the cycle going. “No onewants to give up what they getand that’s why the solution canonly be collective and not con-flicting,” Vempala narrates, high-lighting that the conflict needsimmediate mitigation and theprotectors need their powers.

While it is understood thatanimals look for their own meals,there is an interesting chapter onhow the wild have their dedicat-ed cooks who besides making

their own meals, also cook forsmall animals to mighty ele-phants of the jungles.

In the last chapter, Vempalarues about the paltry wages ofthe guards risking the lives.World over, every year, morethan 100 rangers are killed inthe line of duty. India losesmore forest rangers each yearthan any other country in theworld. Yet, a forest guard inIndia is rarely felicitated or cele-brated.

The book urges us toacknowledge the work of theforest frontiers and details howthey work around the clock;what is a forest guards’ life likeand how they ensure that thetiger and all other wildlife isprotected in the forest. Thebook also mentions that the for-

est reserve runs on acute short-age of manpower and of availableapproved positions, they operateat 60 percent, going to as low as30 percent in some lesser impor-tant reserves. Daily wagers formthe bulk of the frontline forestforce and they supplement thepermanent staff of guards andforesters.

Such is Vempala’s passion forthe constituents of forest, that hefounded a nature conservationorganisation — GuardbookConservation Foundation —which works towards forest con-servation and supporting the for-est guards of India in their duties.Guardbook helps the forestguards not only with boots, jack-ets and torches but also withpowering up camps with solarenergy, setting up rainwater har-vesting pits and a lot more.

A������ ���, "������ ���� ����� ���������G� !�&�H��%##������%#�������&�)���������#�����#"�����"#��������������#������������& ���%�����������������#����)���#������������&�&�"����������������� ����=�=�*���0��

�����!(�������!�)������!(���

� ��* ��+�,� � �-#...�

��$�'��!!�H��)������������ ����&##���%����#������&�"�T�%���#�������%���������%���#����������%'��������%���-�����������&�"������%������2�����"#���# ����������#"�%�&#�����-���������'��������"�# ������&#����(�&����� �������#�����������#"�'#��'���%�����!�������� ���������������'�#�&�)�������"#����-������(�&���#���H�����-)����������� ��� ���H���#&�&#2�'F�>��� ���&#)�������!���� ���'#����������'#��'#������#������ ���'#����)��%��# ��T�#������� �����#���������&���%'������#'�&���#��-�*'�&#)��"#��'#���������(�����'������#-��� ������#"������&��$�'��!!�� �����������������!����#��� �������������������#��)���"#�������������%����&##�����!#�����#���%�'#�����!�#�����%���������������&#�������H&&��)����# ���#������������������ -

�22�+�1��*���$�$���& %''%

�6%.��;<<

�� �������B� �

���������.�����/J��FCFC

�5$'&(,�!?�<+*88*5=�%8'+&�&$!'&4*9�8+!)*('+('�'+&�5&<�?(4>�"(<$<*""�4&5,&4��� �$4&,%5,(5'��'+&84!'&$'*5=��'('&1!7&45>&5'$�$+!%",'(6&�'+*$�!88!4'%5*'@�'!>(6&�'+&$&�$"%==*$+)!,*&$�9!>8&'*'*7&�?!4?(4>&4$�)@�84!7*,*5=)&''&4�$&47*9&$�('"!<&4�84*9&$

!G��.�!!'73.�

�;+��;(2'4;

������ ���� ����� �������� � �������� There are exigent issues in

Indian agriculture. India,despite being the largest milkproducer and second largestproducer of food in the world,has just 2.3 per cent share inglobal export market, with lowvalue addition. We process lessthan 10 per cent of agricultur-al produce and lose �90,000crore rupees annually due towastages. 44 per cent of Indianworkforce is engaged in agri-culture, contributing only 14per cent to GDP — keepingthese people tied in very low-income traps.

India’s agricultural pro-ductivity is drastically low evenas compared to global coun-terparts like BRICS; at Chineseyield levels, India could near-ly double its production orhalve the amount of landdevoted to cultivation — free-ing up that land for other pur-poses. So far, the Government’sstrategy to help the farmers hasbeen to provide subsidies, espe-cially the MSP and input sub-sidies. However, only 6 per centof the farmers have benefittedfrom the fruits of MSP, whichmostly happen to be the bigfarmers; farmers from onlyfew States like — AndhraPradesh, Punjab and Haryana;and mainly for wheat andpaddy. Another undesired off-shoot of the MSP policy is theexcess procurement of foodgrains by the Government — ithas to procure 90 per cent ofwheat from Punjab andHaryana — while 62,000tonnes of food grains was dam-aged in FCI warehousesbetween 2011 and 2017.

At the time of indepen-dence, facing food deficit, weneeded the targeted approachof MSP to increase the pro-duction of food grains.

Currently, while having foodsurplus, we are suffering withthe unsustainability of growingwater intensive food crops atthe lands ill-suited for them,owing also to free water andhighly subsidised electricity,resulting in alarming fall ofwater table in certain States,especially Punjab and Haryana.

If agriculture is to be madeprofitable, a focus on produc-tivity increase, crop diversifi-cation, exports and food pro-cessing is essential, while cre-ating infrastructure for min-imising losses.

The productivity trapThe productivity differ-

ence between the rainfed agri-cultural area and irrigated landsis immense. SwaminathanCommission stated that 60 percent of cropped area falls underrainfed agriculture contributingto only 45 per cent of total agri-cultural output. Thus, povertyis concentrated and food depri-vation acute in this area.

Agriculture is a very high-risk enterprise, much more sofor small and marginal farmerswhich form 86 per cent ofIndian farmer community andpossess land holdings of lessthan 2 hectares. It is difficult tomake agriculture profitable forthem because they are toosmall for the use of modernimplements, suffer from highinput cost due to lack ofeconomies of scale, leading tolow productivity. Only 40 percent of them manage access toformal credit, with low pene-tration of crop insurance. Thus,bearing the brunt of vagaries ofnature as well as market volatil-ity of food crops, stuck in thedebt trap of money-lenders;these farmers are pushed to sui-cide. In 2019 alone, around

10,000 farmers and farmlabourers died by suicide.

The Ashok DalwaiCommission has also calledproductivity increase as the sin-gle most important factor indoubling the income of mar-ginal farmer group.

Contract Farming and FPOsIn the recent policy initia-

tive, the Government has adopt-ed a two-pronged strategy:Contract farming and FarmerProducer Organisations (FPO).Contact farming will help thefarmers, especially small andmarginal farmers to access for-mal credit, modern implements,technical assistance, low costinputs and assured price at the

farm gate; thus, increasing cropproductivity, avoiding wastage,shielding the farmer from preand post-production risks.Another benefit of contractfarming is selection of cropsbased on agro-climatic and soilcondition of the area, makingthe agriculture sustainable.

FPOs are registered groupsof local farmers — especiallysmall and marginal ones — witha company like managementstructure. The function of FPOsis to help farmers in pre andpost production operationsfrom access to formal credit,inputs, technical assistance toprimary processing, market-ing, etc. They will also be wellplaced to negotiate over contract

farming or private purchase offood produce with private play-ers. They will be given monetarygrant and credit guarantee bythe Government to promotelocal produce. Government hasalso created AgricultureInfrastructure Fund (AIF) of Rs1 lakh crore for creating post-harvest infrastructure, whichwill be mostly functional by pro-viding interest subvention onsuch projects; and theGovernment intends to utilisethis Fund through the FPOs.

It will have to be seen howmuch of this vision is actuallyimplemented on the ground.The sustainability of the FPOs,post Government grant period,shall also be an area of concern.

State rights and APMCsAllegations of encroach-

ment of State rights and feder-alism are also being made asthe Central Government usedthe entry 33 of the ConcurrentList to bring out the farm Acts.It would be interesting to notethat none other than Prof MSSwaminathan, the biggest well-wisher of farmers’ rights inIndia, had recommended shift-ing agriculture to theConcurrent List and creation ofa single Indian agriculturemarket in his report in 2006.

While the APMCs wereformed for fair and transparentprice discovery for farmers,they have failed and succumbedto cartelisation, while becominghighly politicised. In return tothe mandi fee, the services pro-vided to the farmers are abysmal— with no cold storage facility,no facility for grading, sorting,packaging of food produce.Before the onset of e-NAM, thepan India e-trading portal bythe Central Government, andpush for mandis to connect —most weren’t providing e-trad-ing facilities. Ashok Gulati, anagricultural expert, has placedan important question in thepublic domain: instead of fear-ing the redundancy of APMCs,why don’t the StateGovernments take this oppor-tunity to make them a compet-itive option for farmers by pro-viding better services at lowerprice? In fact, we are seeing atrend to that effect –Karnatakahas greatly reduced the mandifee; Punjab and Haryana havereduced the mandi fee for basmati by 50% or more. So,the future of APMCs is tobecome more efficient andeffective and not be wrapped up,and States must work to thatregard.

Farmers vs corporatesThe reforms in agricul-

ture have also created certainareas of potential hazard tofarmer’s interests. As restrictionfor stocking up food isremoved, it can lead to bigretailers or corporates manip-ulate prices in the market,often to the disadvantage of thefarmers. In contract farmingalso, corporates can dictateprice to farmers and rejectproduce on the basis of quali-ty, shape, size, colour, etc. Samefear of less negotiating powerof farmers vis-à-vis big buyers,during sale of food produceeven outside APMC, exists.

Create Market RegulatorWhile capitalism has taught

the world that competitionimproves quality of options, weare equally aware of tendenciesof monopolies forming withoutany active oversight of State, ren-dering the competition neitherfree nor fair. Hence, an inde-pendent market regulator anddispute redressal forum (akin toTRAI and TDSAT) must be cre-ated for agricultural sector tocheck unfair practices by cor-porates and private players andprotect the interests of farmers.

Further, if the farmers areto be truly free and agricultureto be made profitable and sus-tainable — there’s still no alter-native to Government’s ownwork on the front of setting upcold chain for farmers in vil-lages, implementing more irri-gation projects, recharging ofaquifers, greater push to exten-sion services and primary pro-cessing at farms.

(The author is a public pol-icy analyst and a lawyer, analumnus of National LawUniversity, Jodhpur)

C �� �����������$����������3����The sudden political unrest and

conflicts in former Soviet nationsare not accidental. The primary reasonis that all of them have suddenly ceasedto become a sphere of Russian influenceafter 1991. Kyrgyzstan, known as theonly democracy in Central Asia, has lit-erally turned herself into a mobocracyin a span of few days. The rag-tagOpposition backed groups are fastoccupying Government establishments,including the most prestigiousParliament building of the country.Currently, the protesters are appointingtheir favourites as mayors, ministers andeven Prime Minister. The only problemwith these self-declared or mob-appointed authorities is that all ofthem can be overturned by stronger andwell-armed groups again. So, therewould be no end to such chaos if it per-sists like this. The safe road ahead is tobring legitimate authorities back to theseat of power as per the law of the land.

However, Kyrgyzstan is no strangerto such calamities as its people had agood experience of Tulip Revolution of2005 and the resurgence of violence inthe year 2010. The Tulip Revolution isalso known as the First KyrgyzRevolution that led to the ouster ofPresident Askar Akayev in early 2005.Going back to the recent history of thecountry, what we find is the people ofKyrgyzstan had a strong yearning fordemocracy. The country conductedparliamentary elections on February 27,2005. The revolution started after theparliamentary elections when Askar’sallies came out victorious. But it wasalleged that the election was marred bywidespread election frauds. In fact, suchmalpractices were also confirmed by theOrganization of Security andCooperation in Europe (OSCE) afterthe election. Thus, a massive protestcampaign started to dislodge the cor-rupt and authoritarian regime ofAkayev, who had been ruling the coun-try since the 1990s. The revolution wasa turning point for Kyrgyz people as itmade them realise that democracy ispossible in their country.

The 2010 crisis took place becausePresident Kurmanbek Bakiyev wasousted from power in an uprising onApril 7, 2010. His stronghold in thesouth of Kyrgyzstan witnessed massiveviolence. During that time, the pro-Bakiyev supporters organised resis-tance to the interim Government led byPresident Rosa Otunbayeva by seizingGovernment buildings and taking offi-cials hostage. What added fuel to the firewas that the sizeable Uzbek communi-ty in the country backed the interimGovernment. Taking advantage of thepower vacuum, criminal gangs and

drug mafias aided in sparking com-munal violence in the southern city ofOsh between Kyrgyz and Uzbek groups.It forced thousands of Uzbeks to flee theregion. Most of them had fled toneighboring Uzbekistan only. As per theUN estimate nearly 4,00,000 peoplewere displaced during this violence. TheUN High Commissioner for Refugeesregarded the crisis as ethnic clashes. Butmany say that there was a strong ele-ment of Bakiyev in stoking violenceacross. But only this factor could hard-ly be blamed for mass killings and indis-criminate fighting among numerousgroups.

The current political turmoil start-ed only after the results of the parlia-mentary election held on October 4 wasdeclared. Interestingly, only four polit-ical parties out of 16 have crossed thethreshold to claim a seat in the coun-try’s Parliament called SupremeCouncil. This council was earlier knownas the Supreme Soviet of the KirghizSoviet Socialist Republic until 1991.Unfortunately, out of all these four par-ties, three are closely connected to rul-ing President Sooronbai Jeenbekov.None of the established Opposition par-ties has even secured a single seat inParliament. Therefore, all the 12Opposition parties have come togeth-er after the election to reject the results.That is how the current political dramaunfolded across the country, mainly inthe capital city of Bishkek. The prima-ry charges brought against the pro-Jeenbekov parties are vote-buying andvoter intimidation. For now, the author-ities have annulled the results of the dis-puted election, necessitating a re-run ofthe vote in the country of more than 6.5million people. What now the protest-ers are demanding is the immediateimpeachment of the President. A groupset up by several Opposition partiescalled as the Peoples CoordinationCouncil Opposition for now hasassumed all state powers and dissolvedthe Parliament. Meanwhile Parliamentagreed to nominate Opposition leaderSadyr Zhaparov for the post of PrimeMinister. He also aired his view that hewould propose a constitutional reformbefore holding presidential and parlia-mentary elections within two to threemonths from now. But he was uncer-tain about the backing of the coordi-nation council about his candidaturebecause there are strong differences ofopinions among all the allies. It wasabsolutely unclear when Parliamentcould be convened to approve hisappointment as Prime Minister. This alldemonstrates that the current situationis too fluid. And there is every possi-bility that some other leaders might also

claim key political offices. As PrimeMinister Kubatbek Boronov resigned,Jeenbekov called for an all-party meet-ing to resolve the political crisis.

Former President AlmazbekAtambayev might play a key role in thiscrisis. It’s very apparent from the seriesof events that have taken place in andaround Bishkek. The mob led byAtambayev’s son went to the StateCommittee for National Security andreleased his father from the prison.Therefore, Jeenbekov has termed thiscrisis as an attempt to seize power.Precisely, Zhaparov do not have aclean background and he was sentencedto prison for ten years for taking a per-son hostage. He is a former MP fromthe nationalist Ata Jurt Party. Aroundthe same time, some other notoriousleaders have also appeared in the scenejust to take the advantage of the chaos.Among them the most prominent oneMelis Myrzakmatov, who was a formermayor of Osh city, is now back from hisself-exile and started gathering hissupporters. He is well known for hisultra-nationalistic campaigns in theregion wherein ethnic clashes took placein the year 2010. Incidentally, he was themayor of the Osh when these conflictstook place there.

The problem at the heart ofKyrgyzstan is that it is the poorestnation of the former Soviet Union.There is an acute shortage of naturalresources in this country. But after thesudden collapse of the USSR, the coun-try became a gateway of trans-shipmentof Chinese goods for the whole post-Soviet republics. And the problem wasthat since the beginning, no singlegroup or leader could have monopolyover the country’s political landscape.It is only the coalitions that have beendominating the political scene so far.But ironically, there is no broad con-sensus among all these coalition groups.And again, those who were not includ-ed in the coalitions have also been ableto exert control over some pocketsacross the country.

Another issue is that in most of theCentral Asian Republics, the power ofthe First Secretary was brought topractice. But this did not materialise inboth Kyrgyzstan and in Tajikistan. Asa result in Tajikistan, the absence of anefficient leadership led to bloody civilwar in that country. When it comes toKyrgystan, the power calculation wasinitially stable, but gradually the fissureshave come to the fore. In fact, frequentchanges of leadership have led to fiercepolitical competition. Many a time,there is insufficient legitimacy of peo-ple who are occupying the corridors ofpower in Bishkek. These have added to

what we have witnessed today inKyrgyzstan.

At present, it’s simply mob rule.Now, to be pragmatic, Bishkek needs tofind a way to hold a fresh parliamen-tary election. But the worst-case sce-nario could be a fresh civil war. Thechances of such a catastrophe are toohigh. Too many groups are claiming andre-claiming their leaders as genuine rep-resentatives of the people. Better forKyrgyz people is to see that situationremains under control. The plain andclear message for both the vigilante andthe activists is not to destroy publicproperties in the days to come. After allthese are public assets. No one will gainanything by smashing public squares.Of course, they represent symbols ofpower and authority. But in reality, theyare run by the politicians. Henceinstead of crushing the physical struc-tures, it is better to change the leaders.And bring back true leaders so that theywould be able to safeguard commoninterests. Finally, it’s high moment forJeenbekov and the rest of the politicalfolk display complete sense and sensi-bility to save the fragile democracy ofthis former Soviet republic.

(The writer is an expert on international affairs)

�'�+($�)&&5�(�?!4'5*=+'$*59&�'+&��@4=@A8&!8"&�4(*$&,�'+&)(55&4�!?�4&7!"'(=(*5$'�'+&��9'!)&4��8(4"*(>&5'(4@�&"&9'*!54&$%"'$��<+*9+�+(7&)&&5�(55%""&,�?!4�?4&$+8!""$#�!<&7&4�(==4(7('*5=�'+&�94*$*$*$��88!$*'*!5�=4!%8$:*5()*"*'@�'!�(44*7&�('�(9!5$&5$%$�!5�8*96*5=%8�(�"&(,&4

(�3'���!!�$3$�

&���&����%������ �� ���������Sir Syed Ahmad Khan (1817-

1898) is generally misun-derstood as a rabid commu-nalist or, at best, a parochialactivist who promoted Westerneducation among his co-reli-gionists by founding in 1877Muhammadan Anglo-OrientalCollege which grew intoAligarh Muslim University in1920. He was a social reformerwho sought to improve morale,education and infuse criticalthinking and scientific spiritamong his country people.Several articles in his Urduperiodical, The AligarhInstitute Gazette, are illustrativeof his concern for social reformand enlightenment among theHindus of the day.

In his following piece witha telling title, “Hindus tooshould visit England” (AligarhInstitute Gazette, 27 April1866), against the backdrop oftheir reservations about seavoyage, he advises: “We rec-ommend all Indians, particu-larly the competent lawyers, toundertake a visit to England.We should make it a point tosponsor the visit of talented,sincere persons of integrity toEngland. They will learn therethe norms of governance. Theirinteraction with the Britishpublic figures will be ofimmense benefit to India andIndians.”

Equally sagacious is hisfollowing advice to Hindubrethren, published in AligarhInstitute Gazette, October 29,1868: “Your plight is owing toyour low morale while youkeep blaming others. Wouldyou like to remain in the samemess forever? We believe thatif Hindus persist in their super-stitions, other communities inthe country will outpace themand assume honour and power.Hindus will only then regret,full of remorse. We are confi-dent that their giving up super-stitions will accrue to themvery rich dividends.”

Against the backdrop ofthe British policy of “divide andrule” by creating discordamong Hindu and Muslims, heinstructed them to live in har-mony. “India is inhabited by theadherents of many religions.Hostility on the grounds oftheir religious diversity marstheir relationship. They haveturned more antagonistic toone another by the day. As cit-izens of the same country let ushave cordial relations, good

conduct and treat one anotherwell as fellow countrymen. Wecannot have a single religion forthe whole country. However,this should not give rise tointolerance and bigotry…WeIndians are afflicted with suchsectarian hostility that we haveturned into foes, forgetting allof our common ties. Thoseguilty of it are utterly foolish.This foolishness will disgraceus and our country.”

Female infanticide, remar-riage of widows as a taboo, andchild marriage vitiated the thenHindu society. Far fromdemonising Hindus and plac-ing the blame at the door ofHinduism, Sir Syed exhortedthem to reflect on these issuesand act in a logical, humaneway: “Our fellow countrymenoppose the remarriage of wid-ows. So doing, they violate thelaws of nature. This prohibitionis against the will of the creatorof this world.”

On receiving reports aboutcordial inter-caste programmesin Punjab, he delightfullyremarked: “We are proud ofthose gentlemen in Punjabwho have eliminated inter-caste segregation and forged abond among all. Let our otherHindu brethren emulate thispractice. This will bring aboutreal progress and happiness inour country.”

He spoke highly of thoseBhargavas, Thakurs, Vaishyas,Chaturvedi’s, Chaubeys, Jatsand Brahmins who had set upeducational institutions inAgra, Bareilly, and westernUP: “Out Hindu brethren haveexcelled us, while we sit idly.They have paid special atten-tion to promoting education.”

Equally gratified he was tonote Rajputs having mealstogether with members of othercastes, as mentioned in AligarhInstitute Gazette, January 3,1873: “In Jaipur, food wasserved. All of them sitting onthe same table took it. Rajputs joined, without anyreservation.”

Being an educationist, herealised the importance ofinteraction and academic excel-lence which could take thecountry to greater heights. Heurged: “Let all patriots note thatif you have a sincere love ofyour country, you shouldencourage overseas education.This will sensitize our youths tothe latest happenings in theworld, boost their morale and

reinforce their confidence.”Sir Syed had cordial rela-

tions, notwithstanding occa-sional ideological differences,with the leading reformers ofthe day. He paid glowing trib-utes in his writings and speech-es to Raja Ram Mohan Roy(1774-1823), Dadabhai Naoroji(1825-1917), Sir Surender NathBanerji (1848-1925), KeshabChandra Sen (1834-1884),Swami Dayanand Saraswati(1824-1883) Lala Lajpat Rai(1865-1928), Raja Shiv Prasad (1824-1985) andBhartendu Babu HarishChandra (1850-1885).

Sir Syed brought out foryears an Urdu periodical aptlytitled Tahzeebul Akhlaq (SocialReformer) which upheld theideals of pluralism, peacefulcoexistence, critical thinkingcivic sense and self-respect. Inthe words of noted historianProfessor Mushirul Haque, “Asa Muslim, he considered it hisduty to help the Muslims; as anIndian, he made it a point towork for the good of the wholecountry. There was no ambi-guity in his concept of nation.”

(The writer is a Professor ofEnglish. Presently, he is Directorat UGC Human ResourceDevelopment Centre, AligarhMuslim University)

�6072�22�';;(�33$0>�$

�*4��@&,��+>(,��+(5�<($!5&�!?�'+&�>!$'�!%'$'(5,*5==&>$��5,*(�84!,%9&,�*5�'+&��'+�9&5'%4@#��+&�4('*!5("*$'�>!4("*$'�(5,�+%>(5*$',@5(>*9�?!49&�<+!�,&7!'&,+*$�"*?&�*5�84!>!'*5=�>!,&45$9*&5'*?*9�&,%9('*!5�8(4'*9%"(4"@�(>!5=� %$"*>$�*$�!?'&5�?!4=!''&5�()!%'�+*$8"%4("*$'*9�7*$*!5#��5�+*$ ��4,�)*4'+�(55*7&4$(4@�!5�9'!)&4�����*'�*$�'*>&�'!4&>&>)&4�'+('��*4��@&,�<($(�)4*,=&�)%*",&4�)&'<&&5*5,%$�(5,� %$"*>$�($�<&""

����������������##���� ���#���+#'�'#������&�����������(�������� ��#�'#���!���#��-�@#�����������"�&���#!�"�&�����"�&&�#"�&�"�-�@#��������##�������#"�'#����&"���������!�#!&��'#�������#������������-�,# !�# ������#����&��������������#����)���%&�-�$�&����������'#����#��������&���#������� !#�����-�>�������������"�#����%������#����"�'#�����������+#%-�1#&&#�����������!&�������������&���#"�����#���������#��'#�������#�������������&��%������'��#�"�����# �����!&�������#"�'#�������#��-$������� �����#�&��%������"�&���������� #��'���������#��-������������#�"&����������#�"�#�����#�������� �'� ����'#��&#���'#�����& -�>������!���#��&"�#����'#�� �'�������)#&)����������������&���#����!-�@#�����&���&'��#�%��������# ������ ##�-��

�%96@�5%>)&4 3;�%96@�9!"!%4 �#&����%96@�,(@ ����'

��!�� =% )��/,>�' ���,<

����������'#���������%�����"�# ��#� �&�&�"�-�����������������#��&#���#���"�# �������������#���!����������&�(-�#��#��!����'#����&"������'#���������������� �'�������&&�����������+��'-�>�������������"�#����'#����)�����%���"����#"�'#����# �������#��%#���)��%�&�#���������������&&����������##�����������������'#���������-$������� ���������2��������������!#����#�� #������&'-��#���������)������&&�����������!!#���#"�����������#������%#�����������������������&���&'��#�!�#)�������!!������#�����������������-�$�������#�������'�"#������#�������'#�������#������)�-�>������!���#��&�"�#����������%��������������������(!������#�������#�����������-��������������� ������'#��������#��!����(�����""#�������������&���#����!����-

�%96@�5%>)&4 5�%96@�9!"!%4 ����&��#&#����%96@�,(@ ��������'

��������' ���/0>=%&�/0

��������#�'#���%#�'����������������������������#�-�@#������������#)���������#������)����'#����&"��#�&#���������-$#����������#�������%���"#�����&��-�$��������%�&�������"##����%�����#��#�&'���&!��'#���#� ��������'#���������%��������)���'#�����#�"������ ������-�@#������#����������&�����������'����+#'���������-�>�������#���"�#�����)��� �����#����������!��������# �����#�"�����#����������-����������%��&�����&�����������%�������#������������� #��'��#�'#�-�@#����&&�%�����!���������'#���)���#��-�@#��������������##��%##���#"�'#�������#������##����������&&�%���������-�>������!���#��&�"�#���&#)������� #��#�����&&������%��������-�@#��!��"����#&���#�-���#����# ������ �������'��#�������������������� ���#����!������!�����&�)�-

�%96@�5%>)&4 3:�%96@�9!"!%4 �'�$&���%96@�,(@��������'

(�/!�!�=%&�/,>"�(�/0

�����#��������!�����#�� �����������#&&�&��)����'#��(�����������������I�#�"������!���#�-��������� �������#�������&������(����������&&���)��'#����&��"�����##���&��!���&&���&!�� !�#)��'#���������#"� ���-�������������������#�"���#�����&�"����&&� �&�����'��"�'#���)����!#����)������������)�� ���-�>�������#���"�#���'#��������#� �����# ��2�����������#��-�*��������'#�������&&�����������&#�������������"#�����##�������-�#��#��������'#����� ��������!����-� #&���#��"#���!�#%&� �����&����'�������#����&&��# ���##�-�>�����!���#��&�"�#�����#�����������##&� �������������������������������-�"�'#�������&����'��������&���#����!����������%���� ���I#�I%�����!���#�-������������� ���#�����)��'�&�����%#��������'#�������#���#"�'#�����&���#����!�������������������!�����#�����&'-

�%96@�5%>)&4 83�%96@�9!"!%4������%96@�,(@ *#���'

�������"�(�/,>"��&�//

�����������#������%�&�������'#������ ��� #��'#���%#�'� ����������!����-��'����2������������#���#��&&������-*�������#���$����*�� ������&�����������������#�&���#���#����"�&&'-�����%���"��������"������������������'��""#��'#������!�����-��#"����#��&&'���#������#�����������!�#!&�����!����&&'�!�#!&��"�# �#�����&��������&&�%�%���"����&-��������������� ���#� ��������%�����������&�����������!�#+��������������� ����-�,�����'#���!#������&- ���������"�)#������'#�-�,�����)��'���������������)�&#! ��������������� ���#"���������-�>������!���#��&"�#������������������!&������&&���&!�'#���#���)���&����'#����&���#������������&#)���#���-��#)��������������������'#��������"�&&� ##���#��(!�����'#���"��&����-������������##��� ���#� ������&���#��-�

�%96@�5%>)&4 38�%96@�9!"!%4 @�&&#��%96@�,(@ �������'

+!�(����4�/?>�'�//

@#��������#�%�&�����'#������&����""#���������'#���!���#��&����!�#"����#��&����!#���%�&�����-�*��������������'#�������������� ��#���"#��'#�����&"��"#��������������&���-�"�'#�!���'#����&"�&����#������&����#"���������'#������&�����&&��""��-�*����������#���������2���������������&��!���##-�>�����!�#"����#��&�"�#�����"�'#������&##�����"#����+#%��'#���)�������%�&��'������������&&��#�"������-�"�'#�������&����'� !&#'����'#����&&�"������%������!#����#�-�"������H���#�## �"#����!�# #��#�����������������+#%����)������#����#������#�"��������# ��������������������������!#���%�&��'-�>��������&���#����!�"�#�����"�'#�������# �������#�H������������#��!����'#��� �����#�'#���%�&#)��-�@#������������!����������(!�����'#���"��&����-��������&&�#�&'� !�#)��'#�����&���#����!-

�%96@�5%>)&4 3<�%96@�9!"!%4 $&����%96@�,(@ ������'

�!�����'�/?>�)2�//

>���������&���"�#����'#��������#���&"I)�&����������%�&��)����'#�����&����-�@#��� #��#�#"�����������I"�������!!'"� �&'���&&�����'#��%��'-�������� ���#������#���#��&&'��""�����������#����"�&������������%�-��#"����#��&&'��'#�����!#����)��������&&���'��#�%�����&#)�������# !����#����'#����#��-�@#����������&'��������)���##-��#!&������ �E����#����������!���#���#"�'#�-������������� ���#"#����#��'#����#�&�������������-�$��"�� ���������� ����-��#������%��������������#�%���#����������� #��'���������#��-�>������!���#��&�"�#���� ���������������� #��#��������#���������""��������'�-���������������&'� #��#��&��� �����&#)����&���#����!�-������������2����&'%��# ��������-�������'#���&#)���&������"�����-��#�H��%����������'��#�����#���#�%���������&���#����!-

�%96@�5%>)&4 34�%96@�9!"!%4 ���'�%96@�,(@ 1����'

����0!���)2�/?>��7�/,

����������'#������&���&'��#�"��&����������#��-�@#�� �'%����!!��������'#���� #��#���������������&&�� !���'#���%#�'�������)�&'-�$������"�&��#������������������'#��)����'#���� #��#��&�������#��-��#����#�������'#����������&�)�&-�������!#����)�-� ��'���& �����#�������-��������������&������&&��-�>�������������"�#��������#��������������-�$��!#����)��������������� !#���'!����-�"�'#��������'����"#����+#%���������������������������� �-�*������!&����#�&'���&&��#����&!���(�������� ��������������'-�@#����)������!#������&��#������)�������������!#����#�-�>������!���#��&�"�#���������� ����������"#���#�&I������������������#)��'�#"�������������& �-��������)��'�!#����)���� ��"#��'#���������(��&&����#!!#������'��#��������������&���#����!�-

�%96@�5%>)&4 88�%96@�9!"!%4 $&���%96@�,(@ ����'

�1���!�� "%(�/0>���,-

�������������!�'#����������&�)�&��������#���#&��#����'����##�����&��-����&��������'�!�#%&� ��������# ���!!�'����&&'���#�H����'��#��)#������ -�$��������#�������#�������-�"�'#����������&���������"#����-� ������)��!�#!&������������������������� �����������������"�# ������"���������������&&��#���&#�����'��#��������!������� ����&��'-�>������������"�#����#�����!�#!&�� �'�#!!#���'#������������#��!�#!#��&���%����"�'#����#�������'#�������������#��#�����-�@#��������������������"�&&�#"������'�����������#�!��'#���%�����%���#�����������#������������!#����)�&'-����)�'#����� !&����'�%�������%��� ��������&���&��������&���-�>�����!���#��&�"�#����'#�����&���#����!���&&� #)�����#��&�������������������� #���%�&������!����������'#����������#"�'#����&"-

�%96@�5%>)&4 38�%96@�9!"!%4 ����%96@�,(@ �������'

0!��������,<>=% )��/0

����������������# ���� ��#���"#��'#����&"-�@#������#������������������#������!��#���������'#�������#���-������ #����%#��������&��"�# �����!���-����'���&&����!��'#����!������&�������������������!��������������&!�'#���#%�����%�&����-�>�������������"�#����&#���#"�����)��'�������������������# !&���������#�����������-�@#�� �'� ����'#��!�����&##��%��-�@#���#�H��"��&������P�%������#����#&�����'#���!����#�-�=��!�'#���%���)�#������������������������������#"��������������#�������������������#���&��������#����#����'#�-�*��������'#����##&������2��&�%��� �����)��������������#��������2��&��'���&&�������"���������'#���������-�>��������&���#����!�"�#�����"�'#�������������&'�# ���������� �'���&&�������#���������%��������������##�-

�%96@�5%>)&4 37�%96@�9!"!%4 �����%96@�,(@ ������'

��0�!������)�//>"%(�,<

@#��������)��'�!#����)���������)���������!!'��#�&���'!���#�-�����������"&���������'#���!���#��&��'-���������(��&&������ ���#�"&�����'#������� �������+#'�����!����#"!���#��&���)�&#! ���-������# !&���������������#"�)���&��'����!�������� ������&&� ����'#��)��'��""����������������->�������������"�#����'#�������#�"��������������'��#�"�����'����&&������������# ��'#�����'-�@#�� �'����������������#&�����"#��'#���!��"#� ��������������-�@#����&&%�����'#�������#�H���##��%##�-��#��#��&����������������������#�'#�������-�>��������&���#����!�"�#����%������"�&���������������������#"��#�����"����&#)�-��)���������%�"#��'#���������'�"���&�������#�-��(���������&���#�����#�&���&��������#�%��������#�"���#�����"���'���#��)#�� �������������������"�����-

�%96@�5%>)&4 39�%96@�9!"!%4 ������%96@�,(@ 1����'

��� "��&�/?>��4�//�@#������&���&'��#��������'#��� �����%#����# �����������'#�������������#��������'#��!�'����&&'-��#��#�����#�������'#����#��#�������#&��'#�-���#�����""������"�# ����#�����& �����������#�%�������������#������#%���)���#��#"��#��#��-�>�������&�#������!��)����#��"�# ����#��&���& ������������ ����������)�����"��� �&'�������#������#�������-�>�������#���"�#�����#�"���#���%#�����������#�&��)������!�������+#%����������%���������#��# ����������%&������� �����������&���&'��#�#���!'�'#�� ���-�,��������'#���"��&���#�&�������'#���#�����-�1���#���'#����������������!#������&�-��������������� ���#�%�"�� ����'#���������#����������!�'#�������������'���#!��->������!���#��&�"�#�����������(�����#!��������!!������#������ #��#��&�&�)�&���&#����������������#"��������'-

�%96@�5%>)&4 33�%96@�9!"!%4 $�#���%96@�,(@ *#���'

��(!����!�����7�//>�)�/,

,)�+F;;1� ;��

*�����=>�@�

������������

������G��@���>�����@>���>��,����@�����@>�� �@����@��,�>��@>��>����$��� �@>��� �������

T���,����������� ���������������

Acouple of years back, a very dearfriend sought appointment for hisestranged wife. Though they had

separated, they remained good friends.The lady offered her birth particulars,based on which her astrological chartwas drawn. I, then, drew the chart at themoment of consultation. The rulingplanets emerging at that that momentdid not match with those of the chartdrawn against birth particulars providedby her. It implied that the birth particu-lars were not right. In the Krishnamurtysystem, there is a proven method tocheck whether the birth chart is right. Ithen asked the lady: “Are your birth par-ticulars correct?” “Yes”, she affirmed.There was no fun in arguing with her. So,I made all my observations based onwhat the chart drawn at the moment ofconsultation reflected. After havinganswer to her questions, she satisfactorilywent home. She then called up andthanked ex-husband for leading her to agood astrologer.

My friend then called me informingthat the lady was quite happy with you.He then asked me: “Please tell me thebirth particulars she furnished.” He wasleft aghast when I shared the birth par-

ticulars she had furnished. “Sir, she gaveyou wrong birth particulars. It was theone given to me at time of marriage tohide her actual date of birth. Later, Ifound her true horoscope. How come,your observations were so apt, eventhough she did not furnish her true birthparticulars?” “Well, I ignored the birthchart, and instead counted on what theastrological chart at the moment of con-sultation reflected”. I replied.

“How can the chart drawn at themoment of consultation reveal her stateof affairs so correctly?” He countered.“Remember, there is continuum in time.What one is faced at a particularmoment is culmination of doing andundoing in the past. Seeded in the pre-sent moment is how future is expected tounfold. The chart at the moment of con-sultation, reveals what prevails in yourmind, and the way it is going to progressin the emerging times. If you know thatyou are planting a mango seed, beingaware of its chemistry, you may be ableto figure out the timeline of its progres-sive growth. The astrological chart at themoment makes aware of the potentialseeded in mind, which makes it possibleto foresee the impending future events.”

We are often faced with such chal-lenging encounters in our professionallife, particularly in marriage matching. Ithas been observed that many parents ofgirls in marriageable age, fudge theirbirth particulars so that it matches withthe groom’s chart, to seal the marriage.They though hasten their girl’s marriage,but with what end? In their rush to shedtheir responsibility, they don’t care fortheir own daughter’s marital happiness.When problems arise, the groom sidecomes with the question: “Sir, we haddone matching before the marriage. Yet,why is it not working?” When crosschecked, it comes out that the girl’s chartwas incorrect.

Recently, I came across such a situa-tion when hassled parents of a newlymarried son came the other day withtheir charts. They asked me to suggestsome puja that may help restore his mar-ital happiness. Well, marital discord isalways because of attitudinal differencesof the partners. So, problem is seeded intheir minds. How can any pundit invadetheir mind space through puja to makenecessary attitudinal correction? Theyhave to self-correct themselves to ensuremarital happiness.

A look into the boy’s chart revealed

that he had an inflated ego — bound byhis own self-defined do’s and don’ts —coming as it may with Mars conjunctUranus, opposite Jupiter. He can’t digestanything happening at variance with hisown beliefs and perceptions. Being tact-less and undiplomatic, his ill-timed andill-framed reactions often unnerves oth-ers. When I looked at the girl’s chart, itwas found fudged. After making neces-sary correction, the chart revealed hertrue nature.

She was born in Gemini lagna. Thesign lord Mercury conjunct Sun andJupiter were in the lagna, opposite erraticUranus, mischievous Neptune andSaturn in the marriage signifying 7thhouse. Debilitated Moon was oppositeVenus. It implied that the girl lived in herown delusionary perceptions, distancedfrom ground realities. She wished to liveexclusively on her own terms, least both-ered about other’s sensibilities and con-cerns. Her sense of reasoning and judg-ment would be impaired. If things don’tmove her way, she may go wild. Theresult is there to see.

#����������� �� �����%�&��� �� ������ �� ��� ��������� ����� ������5������������������� �

#��)�����������H�H-89@98I�H9�-89@9@;� ��)���� ��� �� �� �� ���D%� ��5���

��2+)���$������$�� ������*���>

( �� �3���� ���� �� ���� ��� ��&������ ���� ��&� ���=� ���&�(!��, ���$����� ������# ��� ���0���� ����5����� ������ ���)�� �� D���� � ��5���&�5���� � ��5���&�()��H98@H888�

; ���"������� �F��������

�� ��1��� ����X���G���� *����������,>� ���������>��Y★ ��.�����������1� X �� ��,�������0�=�*>���� ��>�����>��O,����G�Q

�������������������������������� ���������������������