7Rc^Vcd cVWfdV e` cV]V_e - Daily Pioneer

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T he agitating farmer unions have not withdrawn their Lucknow Mahapanchayat, the daily tractor march to Parliament during the upcom- ing Winter Session beginning from November 29 and other rallies and protests as planned. They said that the protests would continue till all demands of the growers were fulfilled. A day after Prime Minister Narendra Modi announced the repeal of the three controver- sial farm laws that triggered a year of protests by farmers, the Samyukt Kisan Morcha (SKM), an umbrella body of 40 farm unions, on Saturday held a core committee meeting to discuss the future course of action. During the meeting, the farmer unions have decided to con- tinue with their protests as planned and also urged farm- ers to gather in large numbers at all protest sites on the first anniversary of movement on November 26. After the core committee meeting, a farmer leader said: “We will celebrate the one year anniversary of our stir and the protests will continue to get all demands of the farmers fulfilled. The main body of the SKM will meet on Sunday to decide the final course of the agitation and the issue of the Minimum Support Price (MSP) will be taken in the meeting. The Mahapanchayat on November 22 in Lucknow, protest on November 26 on the Ghazipur- Singhu border and tractor rally on November 29 will take place as planned. The Prime Minister did a one side conversation.” In a statement, the SKM has welcomed the Prime Minister’s decision but said it will wait for the announcement to take effect through due par- liamentary procedures. “The SKM appeals to farmers in var- ious North Indian States to reach the different morcha sites on November 26, 2021, which marks the completion of a full one year of continuous peaceful protests at Delhi’s borders,” the statement said. The farmers’ body said the first anniversary of the agitation will be marked by parades by tractors and bullock carts in other States. “In various States that are far away from Delhi, the first anniversary on November 26 will be marked by tractor and bullock cart parades in capital cities, along with other protests,” the SKM said in the statement. Continued on Page 4 R ipping apart the claims made by the Narcotics Control Bureau (NCB) against three of the main accused, the Bombay High Court (HC) has rejected outright its allegation that Bollywood superstar Shah Rukh Khan’s son Aryan, two other accused Arbaaz Merchant and Munmun Dhamecha were part of the conspiracy in the case and dis- allowed its effort to use their “confessional statements as a tool” to infer that they had committed offences under the Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances (NDPS) Act. Giving his reasoning for granting bail to Aryan, Arbaaz and Munmun in the mid-sea drug bust case on October 28, a single-member HC Bench of Justice Nitin W Sambre noted in his detailed order released on Saturday: “... there is no mate- rial on record to infer that the applicants have hatched a con- spiracy to commit the offence. That being so, at this stage, it is difficult to infer that the applicants are involved in an offence of commercial quanti- ty. As such, parameters laid down under Section 37 of the NDPS Act will hardly be of any consequence while considering the prayer for grant of bail.” The Judge slammed the NCB for not subjecting the accused to medical examina- tion “so as to determine whether at the relevant time, they had consumed drugs” and made mince meat of the investigators’ claim that they had found incriminating WhatsApp chat from Aryan’s phone, by observing that “nothing objectionable could be noticed to suggest that he and two other accused had hatched a conspiracy.” At the beginning of his summarised order relating to all the accused, the Judge said that they had no criminal antecedents of similar nature or otherwise. While Aryan and Arbaaz were students, Munmun was working as model. Alluding to the claim to the contrary made by the NCB, the Judge said: “As far as the accused number 1 Aryan is concerned, but for irrelevant WhatsApp chats noticed in his mobile, there is no material evi- dence to connect all these applicants with other co- accused in the case.” Observing that Aryan was not found in possession of any objectionable substance, the Judge said that Arbaaz and Munmun were found to be in illegal possession of drugs which is covered under the provisions of the NDPS Act. Continued on Page 4 T he CBI has charged three accused persons, including Anand Giri, with Indian Penal Code (IPC) Sections relating to abetment to suicide and crim- inal conspiracy in connection with the alleged suicide of Mahant Narendra Giri, the head of the top body of saints, the Akhil Bharatiya Akhada Parishad (ABAP), who was found hanging in his ashram in Prayagraj district of Uttar Pradesh (UP) in September. Besides Anand, who was Narendra Giri’s disciple, the priest of the Bade Hanuman Temple Adya Prasad Tiwari and his son Sandeep Tiwari have also been named in the CBI’s chargesheet filed before a special court in Prayagraj. In his suicide note, Narendra Giri had named the trio, accusing them of mental- ly harassing him, following which the police filed an FIR for alleged abetment of suicide. The three accused are cur- rently undergoing judicial cus- tody. They were arrested bare- ly 24 hours after Narendra Giri’s death. Subsequently, the CBI took over the case on the recom- mendation of the UP Government, 48 hours after the death of the top seer. During the probe, the CBI had recovered tapes of conver- sations between the accused and sought a forensic exami- nation of the same. The agency has also moved the court to record voice samples from Anand Giri and the other accused for comparing them with the recovered tapes. However, the accused had refused to grant consent for recording of their voice. In September, the police said Narendra Giri had record- ed a video on his mobile phone, an hour before his alleged sui- cide, in which he said he feared Anand Giri wanted to make a morphed photo of him with a woman, and that his disciple wanted to shame him. Police said the video alle- gations match the 13-page sui- cide note found near his body. Police also said in the note that Narendra Giri accused all three accused of blackmailing him and mentioned that he was depressed. Anand Giri, was the num- ber two saint in the ashram hierarchy, had been expelled by Narendra Giri earlier this year over allegations of financial fraud and irregularities. However, Anand Giri was later forgiven by his mentor. Continued on Page 4 I ndore has once again bagged the award for being India’s cleanest city as President Ram Nath Kovind on Saturday announced the “Swachh Survekshan (SS) 2021” awards. Surat has been named the sec- ond-cleanest, while Vijayawada ranked third in the list. This is the fifth time in a row that the city in Madhya Pradesh has won the award in the sixth edi- tion of the event. Chhattisgarh has been adjudged as the clean- est State. Earlier this year, Indore was also declared as the country’s first “water plus” city. Varanasi, which is Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s con- stituency, has won the cleanest Ganga town while Bihar’s Munger and Patna have been ranked second and third in the category. Interestingly, two of three municipal bodies in Delhi have finished in the bottom 10 among 48 cities of the country. North corporation has ranked 45th, East 40th and South 31st in the SS survey. Continued on Page 4 H eavy rains under the influ- ence of a low-pressure area in the Bay of Bengal left 25 people, including a member of the State Disaster Response Force (SDRF), dead in differ- ent districts of Andhra Pradesh since Friday, while 17 people still remained missing, the State Government said on Saturday. The Indian Air Force (IAF), NDRF, SDRF, police and fire services personnel saved at least 64 people, includ- ing a police Inspector, from the massive flash floods in Anantapuramu, Kadapa and Chittoor districts, the Government said in a note. In all, 17 teams of the NDRF and SDRF were engaged in the rescue and relief opera- tions in the three flood-ravaged districts in Rayalaseema region, along with SPS Nellore in south coastal Andhra. Chief Minister YS Jagan Mohan Reddy conducted an aerial survey in Kadapa, Anantapuramu and Chittoor districts to assess the damage. He spoke to Collectors of Kadapa and Chittoor districts and obtained details about the devastation and asked the offi- cials to conduct enumeration of the crop losses as soon as the floodwater receded. The Government announced an ex gratia pay- ment of 5 lakh each to the kin of those killed. The intensity of the rainfall reduced on Saturday, but brought little respite to people as several habitations remained marooned because of the flash floods. While the situation in Tirupati town still remained grim, with many areas inun- dated, the scene on the holy Tirumala Hills was relatively better, though pouring rain did inconvenience pilgrims. The Tirumala Tirupati Devasthanams reopened the ghat roads for vehicular traffic, though the two stairways meant for pilgrims to trek the hills remained closed. Pilgrims who booked tickets online were being allowed for darshan of Lord Venkateswara. Continued on Page 4 P ost-Covid infection, don’t panic if you seem to have lost the sense of smell. You are not alone in facing such med- ical issues. More than a million people in the US may not have regained their sense of smell months after a Covid-19 infec- tion, a new study has said. The research published in journal JAMA Otolaryngology-Head and Neck Surgery, suggests that most individuals get back their sense of smell ultimately, how- ever some may by no means regain it. The study estimated that between 7,00,000 and 1.6 mil- lion people in the US who had Covid-19 have lost or had a change in their sense of smell that has lasted for more than six months. According to the researchers from Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis, this is likely an underestimate. The authors consider this a concern because, by com- parison, prior to the pandem- ic, only 13.3 million adults aged 40 and older had what sci- entists call olfactory dysfunc- tion (OD) or chronic olfacto- ry dysfunction (COD). “These data suggest an emerging public health concern of OD and the urgent need for research that focuses on treat- ing Covid-19 COD,” the study said. A study last year found that 72 per cent of people with Covid-19 recovered their sense of smell after a month, but for some, it is a much slower process. It is also feared that those who have lost their sense of smell will be now cate- gorised under the new set of disabilities. Yet another study found that about 95 per cent of peo- ple recovered from Covid- related anosmia within six months. However, the good news is that various studies have sug- gested that for people whose olfactory perception has been damaged after a viral infection, repeated short-term exposure to smells can help them recover. Smell loss charities rec- ommend picking four scents that you enjoy or have a con- nection with, and actively sniff- ing them twice a day, spending around 20 seconds on each scent. Ideally, you should try and pick scents which represent the four categories of flowery, fruity, spicy and resinous — and you could either use essen- tial oils or the actual substance they derive from. For instance, if you chose lemon as one of your scents, you could use some grated lemon peel. While sniffing the substance, focus your thoughts on lemon and try to recall what your experience of lemon was. It’s not an immediate fix, but over time this should help you to recover your lost sense of smell. Scientists have been intrigued by various outcomes on this medical condition. A team of scientists who tracked the health of 2,428 individuals who claimed to have lost their sense of smell and/or taste as a result of Covid-19, found that 40 per cent of them had com- pletely regained their sense of smell six months later, while only two per cent reported no improvement at all. Health experts say that some patients with lingering coronavirus symptoms for weeks or months, otherwise known as long Covid, are expe- riencing debilitating symptoms that are sometimes ignored in what doctors are calling a pub- lic health crisis. N eedling his party on the farm issue again, BJP MP Varun Gandhi on Saturday approached Prime Minister Narendra Modi with a request to accept the farmers’ long- pending demand for statutory MSP guarantee for their crops and also sought immediate action against Union Minister Ajay Mishra in connection with the deplorable violence that took place in Lakhimpur Kheri. In a letter to the Prime Minister, the MP from Pilibhit in poll-bound Uttar Pradesh (UP) said that the agitation won’t culminate until and unless the farmers’ demands are met. Gandhi’s remarks came on Saturday, a day after the Prime Minister in his address to the nation announced repeal of the three farm laws which triggered a year of protests by farmers. Gandhi thanked Modi for his “large heartedness” in announcing the decision to repeal the three farm laws, but added “more than 700 farmer brothers and sisters have been martyred in this movement, as they peacefully protested in extremely difficult and hostile conditions. If this decision had been taken earlier, innocent lives would not have been lost.” Continued on Page 4

Transcript of 7Rc^Vcd cVWfdV e` cV]V_e - Daily Pioneer

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The agitating farmer unionshave not withdrawn their

Lucknow Mahapanchayat, thedaily tractor march toParliament during the upcom-ing Winter Session beginningfrom November 29 and otherrallies and protests as planned.They said that the protestswould continue till all demandsof the growers were fulfilled.

A day after Prime MinisterNarendra Modi announced therepeal of the three controver-sial farm laws that triggered ayear of protests by farmers, theSamyukt Kisan Morcha (SKM),an umbrella body of 40 farmunions, on Saturday held a corecommittee meeting to discussthe future course of action.During the meeting, the farmerunions have decided to con-tinue with their protests asplanned and also urged farm-ers to gather in large numbersat all protest sites on the firstanniversary of movement onNovember 26.

After the core committeemeeting, a farmer leader said:“We will celebrate the one yearanniversary of our stir and theprotests will continue to get alldemands of the farmers fulfilled.The main body of the SKM willmeet on Sunday to decide thefinal course of the agitation andthe issue of the MinimumSupport Price (MSP) will betaken in the meeting. TheMahapanchayat on November22 in Lucknow, protest onNovember 26 on the Ghazipur-Singhu border and tractor rallyon November 29 will take placeas planned. The Prime Ministerdid a one side conversation.”

In a statement, the SKMhas welcomed the PrimeMinister’s decision but said itwill wait for the announcement

to take effect through due par-liamentary procedures. “TheSKM appeals to farmers in var-ious North Indian States toreach the different morchasites on November 26, 2021,which marks the completion ofa full one year of continuouspeaceful protests at Delhi’sborders,” the statement said.

The farmers’ body said thefirst anniversary of the agitationwill be marked by parades bytractors and bullock carts inother States. “In various Statesthat are far away from Delhi,the first anniversary onNovember 26 will be markedby tractor and bullock cartparades in capital cities, alongwith other protests,” the SKMsaid in the statement.

Continued on Page 4

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Ripping apart the claimsmade by the Narcotics

Control Bureau (NCB) againstthree of the main accused, theBombay High Court (HC) hasrejected outright its allegationthat Bollywood superstar ShahRukh Khan’s son Aryan, twoother accused ArbaazMerchant and MunmunDhamecha were part of theconspiracy in the case and dis-allowed its effort to use their“confessional statements as atool” to infer that they hadcommitted offences under theNarcotic Drugs andPsychotropic Substances(NDPS) Act.

Giving his reasoning forgranting bail to Aryan, Arbaazand Munmun in the mid-seadrug bust case on October 28,a single-member HC Bench ofJustice Nitin W Sambre notedin his detailed order released onSaturday: “... there is no mate-rial on record to infer that theapplicants have hatched a con-spiracy to commit the offence.That being so, at this stage, it

is difficult to infer that theapplicants are involved in anoffence of commercial quanti-ty. As such, parameters laiddown under Section 37 of theNDPS Act will hardly be of anyconsequence while consideringthe prayer for grant of bail.”

The Judge slammed theNCB for not subjecting theaccused to medical examina-tion “so as to determinewhether at the relevant time,they had consumed drugs”and made mince meat of theinvestigators’ claim that theyhad found incriminatingWhatsApp chat from Aryan’sphone, by observing that“nothing objectionable couldbe noticed to suggest that heand two other accused hadhatched a conspiracy.”

At the beginning of hissummarised order relating to

all the accused, the Judge saidthat they had no criminalantecedents of similar nature orotherwise. While Aryan andArbaaz were students,Munmun was working asmodel. Alluding to the claim tothe contrary made by the NCB,the Judge said: “As far as theaccused number 1 Aryan isconcerned, but for irrelevantWhatsApp chats noticed in hismobile, there is no material evi-dence to connect all theseapplicants with other co-accused in the case.”

Observing that Aryan wasnot found in possession of anyobjectionable substance, theJudge said that Arbaaz andMunmun were found to be inillegal possession of drugswhich is covered under theprovisions of the NDPS Act.

Continued on Page 4

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The CBI has charged threeaccused persons, including

Anand Giri, with Indian PenalCode (IPC) Sections relating toabetment to suicide and crim-inal conspiracy in connectionwith the alleged suicide ofMahant Narendra Giri, thehead of the top body of saints,the Akhil Bharatiya AkhadaParishad (ABAP), who wasfound hanging in his ashram inPrayagraj district of UttarPradesh (UP) in September.

Besides Anand, who wasNarendra Giri’s disciple, thepriest of the Bade HanumanTemple Adya Prasad Tiwariand his son Sandeep Tiwarihave also been named in theCBI’s chargesheet filed beforea special court in Prayagraj.

In his suicide note,Narendra Giri had named the

trio, accusing them of mental-ly harassing him, followingwhich the police filed an FIRfor alleged abetment of suicide.

The three accused are cur-rently undergoing judicial cus-tody. They were arrested bare-ly 24 hours after NarendraGiri’s death.

Subsequently, the CBI tookover the case on the recom-mendation of the UPGovernment, 48 hours after thedeath of the top seer.

During the probe, the CBIhad recovered tapes of conver-sations between the accusedand sought a forensic exami-

nation of the same. The agencyhas also moved the court torecord voice samples fromAnand Giri and the otheraccused for comparing themwith the recovered tapes.However, the accused hadrefused to grant consent forrecording of their voice.

In September, the policesaid Narendra Giri had record-ed a video on his mobile phone,an hour before his alleged sui-cide, in which he said he fearedAnand Giri wanted to make amorphed photo of him with awoman, and that his disciplewanted to shame him.

Police said the video alle-gations match the 13-page sui-cide note found near his body.Police also said in the note thatNarendra Giri accused all threeaccused of blackmailing himand mentioned that he was depressed.

Anand Giri, was the num-ber two saint in the ashramhierarchy, had been expelled byNarendra Giri earlier this yearover allegations of financialfraud and irregularities.However, Anand Giri was laterforgiven by his mentor.

Continued on Page 4

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Indore has once again baggedthe award for being India’s

cleanest city as President RamNath Kovind on Saturdayannounced the “SwachhSurvekshan (SS) 2021” awards.Surat has been named the sec-ond-cleanest, while Vijayawadaranked third in the list. This isthe fifth time in a row that thecity in Madhya Pradesh haswon the award in the sixth edi-tion of the event. Chhattisgarhhas been adjudged as the clean-est State. Earlier this year,Indore was also declared as the

country’s first “water plus” city.Varanasi, which is PrimeMinister Narendra Modi’s con-stituency, has won the cleanestGanga town while Bihar’sMunger and Patna have beenranked second and third in the category.

Interestingly, two of threemunicipal bodies in Delhi havefinished in the bottom 10among 48 cities of the country.North corporation has ranked45th, East 40th and South 31stin the SS survey.

Continued on Page 4

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Heavy rains under the influ-ence of a low-pressure

area in the Bay of Bengal left 25people, including a member ofthe State Disaster ResponseForce (SDRF), dead in differ-ent districts of Andhra Pradeshsince Friday, while 17 peoplestill remained missing, the State Government said on Saturday.

The Indian Air Force(IAF), NDRF, SDRF, policeand fire services personnelsaved at least 64 people, includ-ing a police Inspector, from themassive f lash f loods inAnantapuramu, Kadapa andChittoor districts, theGovernment said in a note.

In all, 17 teams of theNDRF and SDRF were engagedin the rescue and relief opera-tions in the three flood-ravageddistricts in Rayalaseema region,

along with SPS Nellore in southcoastal Andhra.

Chief Minister YS JaganMohan Reddy conducted anaerial survey in Kadapa,Anantapuramu and Chittoordistricts to assess the damage.

He spoke to Collectors ofKadapa and Chittoor districtsand obtained details about thedevastation and asked the offi-cials to conduct enumeration ofthe crop losses as soon as thefloodwater receded.

The Government

announced an ex gratia pay-ment of �5 lakh each to the kinof those killed.

The intensity of the rainfallreduced on Saturday, butbrought little respite to peopleas several habitations remainedmarooned because of the flash floods.

While the situation inTirupati town still remainedgrim, with many areas inun-dated, the scene on the holyTirumala Hills was relativelybetter, though pouring rain

did inconvenience pilgrims.The Tirumala Tirupati

Devasthanams reopened theghat roads for vehicular traffic,though the two stairwaysmeant for pilgrims to trek thehills remained closed. Pilgrimswho booked tickets onlinewere being allowed for darshanof Lord Venkateswara.

Continued on Page 4

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Post-Covid infection, don’tpanic if you seem to have

lost the sense of smell. You arenot alone in facing such med-ical issues.

More than a million peoplein the US may not haveregained their sense of smellmonths after a Covid-19 infec-tion, a new study has said. Theresearch published in journalJAMA Otolaryngology-Headand Neck Surgery, suggests thatmost individuals get back theirsense of smell ultimately, how-

ever some may by no meansregain it.

The study estimated thatbetween 7,00,000 and 1.6 mil-lion people in the US who hadCovid-19 have lost or had achange in their sense of smellthat has lasted for more than six months.

According to theresearchers from WashingtonUniversity School of Medicinein St. Louis, this is likely anunderestimate.

The authors consider thisa concern because, by com-parison, prior to the pandem-ic, only 13.3 million adultsaged 40 and older had what sci-entists call olfactory dysfunc-tion (OD) or chronic olfacto-ry dysfunction (COD).

“These data suggest anemerging public health concernof OD and the urgent need forresearch that focuses on treat-ing Covid-19 COD,” the

study said.A study last year found that

72 per cent of people withCovid-19 recovered their senseof smell after a month, but forsome, it is a much slowerprocess. It is also feared thatthose who have lost their sense

of smell will be now cate-gorised under the new set of disabilities.

Yet another study foundthat about 95 per cent of peo-ple recovered from Covid-related anosmia within six months.

However, the good news isthat various studies have sug-gested that for people whoseolfactory perception has beendamaged after a viral infection,repeated short-term exposureto smells can help them recover.

Smell loss charities rec-ommend picking four scentsthat you enjoy or have a con-nection with, and actively sniff-ing them twice a day, spendingaround 20 seconds on eachscent. Ideally, you should tryand pick scents which representthe four categories of flowery,fruity, spicy and resinous —and you could either use essen-tial oils or the actual substancethey derive from.

For instance, if you choselemon as one of your scents,you could use some gratedlemon peel. While sniffing thesubstance, focus your thoughtson lemon and try to recall what

your experience of lemon was.It’s not an immediate fix,

but over time this should helpyou to recover your lost senseof smell.

Scientists have beenintrigued by various outcomeson this medical condition. Ateam of scientists who trackedthe health of 2,428 individualswho claimed to have lost theirsense of smell and/or taste as aresult of Covid-19, found that40 per cent of them had com-pletely regained their sense ofsmell six months later, whileonly two per cent reported noimprovement at all.

Health experts say thatsome patients with lingeringcoronavirus symptoms forweeks or months, otherwiseknown as long Covid, are expe-riencing debilitating symptomsthat are sometimes ignored inwhat doctors are calling a pub-lic health crisis.

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Needling his party on thefarm issue again, BJP MP

Varun Gandhi on Saturdayapproached Prime MinisterNarendra Modi with a requestto accept the farmers’ long-pending demand for statutoryMSP guarantee for their cropsand also sought immediateaction against Union MinisterAjay Mishra in connectionwith the deplorable violence that took place in Lakhimpur Kheri.

In a letter to the PrimeMinister, the MP from Pilibhitin poll-bound Uttar Pradesh(UP) said that the agitationwon’t culminate until andunless the farmers’ demandsare met.

Gandhi’s remarks came onSaturday, a day after the PrimeMinister in his address to thenation announced repeal of thethree farm laws which triggereda year of protests by farmers.

Gandhi thanked Modi forhis “large heartedness” inannouncing the decision torepeal the three farm laws, butadded “more than 700 farmerbrothers and sisters have beenmartyred in this movement, asthey peacefully protested inextremely difficult and hostileconditions. If this decision hadbeen taken earlier, innocentlives would not have been lost.”

Continued on Page 4

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�What is Hari Mirch Lal Mirch (HMLM)about?

The show—Hari Mirch Lal Mirch-EkTeekhi Ek Karaari is a drama show that hasplenty of comedy. In other words,it is adramedy—drama with comedy. This is the firstof its kind genre on Azaad — a saas-bahu sagawith a tadka.

�How did you come on board for the show?It wasn't as easy as it may seem to be. I

auditioned for it in February this year duringCOVID lockdown. I practiced on my own andsigned the show in April end. My journey frommy self-tests to finally shooting for the show isin itself a story to tell.

�What attracted you to play Pushpi?I relate to this character fully. Pushpi is a

very loving mother; she is a dotting wife andan adarsh bahu. The kind of bahu that everyfamily would like to have. I personally resonatewith Pushpi. Just like for Pushpi, her family isher world, the same holds true to me as well. Iam a homebody. I love my family. Once theshoot is over, I love to go back to my family andspend time with them. It is always easy to playroles with whom you identify with even if itcomes with a few challenges to begin with.

�Were there many challenges?Yes, at the initial stage. Those who are

following the show will know that Pushpi livesa dual life. At home, she is an Adarsh bahu butthe truth is that she is a cop – ACP Jwala. Nobodyin her family knows this, just her husband. In fact,he is the one who encouraged her to follow herdream. Obviously, Jwala and Pushpi are totallyopposite to each other. Pushpi has to maintainthis façade at home. But at the workplace she isa tough cop. To essay two opposite personalitiesis fun but comes with riders.

�How similar/dissimilar are you to Pushpi? I am totally like Pushpi except for the

cultural background. Like I mentioned earlier,I relate to her since we are so similar. What is

totally alien to me is to play ACP Jwala. As acop she has to be tough. I am a softy.

�How did your acting journey begin? It all began when I was just 11 years old. It

was my destiny that I had to find myself in thisindustry. It has given me so much. I used to learndancing. I am told that even as a child I wasextremely creative and had an expressive face.

I had not planned to be anactor. But now that I am here,I feel that there is no other jobthat I could have done but toact. This industry has given meso much – name, fame andmoney. I am grateful for thelimelight that I have got.

� Is there a character thatyou loved playing?Definitely. In fact, there aretwo of them but bothfrom the same show —Vanshika Banerjee andKammo. It was a doublerole in Kissi Ki Nazar NaLage. It was a daily soap onDD that was produced anddirected by Raja Mukherjee. Iloved playing them both.

�What have been the changes in theTV industry you have seen?

Technology is changing everyday and so is our industry. There arepros and cons to every situation andchange. There's more scope towork for all with new opportunitieson OTT platforms and upcomingchannels like Azaad. It gives achance to more and more talent.One thing that really happenedfor the good during thepandemic was the self-testswhich did not require the actorsto doll up to the offices andwaste hours and hours intravelling and wasting moneyon fuel. On the other hand, thecasting now depends on thenumber of followers one hason social platforms, which isthe most disheartening. Themost deserving andexperienced people are left outon this basis.

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ADelhi court has grantedfive days custody parole to

wrestler Gaurav Loura, one ofthe accused in the ChhatrasalStadium murder case involvingOlympic medallist wrestlerSushil Kumar, to appear for theschool examination.

Additional Sessions JudgeShivaji Anand allowed him togive Class 12 exams at a schoolin Haryana’s Jhajjar districtand asked him to incur theexpenses of being escorted bythe police to another state.

“The accused is grantedcustody parole for November20, November 29, December 1,

December 6, and December 10from 12 noon to 6 pm forattending his exams on theabove mentioned dates,” thejudge said.The court, in anorder dated November 18,directed the accused to deposit�20,000 after the prosecutionstated that taking him to anoth-er State will cause an unneces-sary burden of expenses on theState. “Rest of the expensesshall be borne by the State,” thejudge added. The case in whichLoura is an accused relates tothe alleged murder of formerjunior national wrestling cham-pion Sagar Dhankar. SushilKumar is the main accused inthe case.

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The national Capital’s airquality was in the ‘very

poor’ category on Saturday butis predicted to improve signif-icantly from Sunday owing torelatively strong winds.

Delhi’s air quality index(AQI) at 9 am on Saturday was377. It was slightly better onFriday when the AQI was 370,according to Central PollutionControl Board (CPCB) data.

The city recorded a mini-mum temperature of 14.5degrees Celsius, two notchesabove the season’s average, theIndia MeteorologicalDepartment (IMD) said.

The AQI in neighbouringGhaziabad (342), Gurgaon(340) and Noida (363) was alsoin the ‘very poor’ category.

An AQI between zero and50 is considered ‘good’, 51 and100 ‘satisfactory’, 101 and 200‘moderate’, 201 and 300 ‘poor’,

301 and 400 ‘very poor’, and401 and 500 ‘severe’.

According to the authori-ties concerned, the air qualityis likely to improve “signifi-cantly” from Sunday owing torelatively strong winds.

To combat pollution, theDelhi government had onWednesday issued 10 direc-tions, including a ban on theentry of trucks carrying non-

essential items in the city andclosure of schools and col-leges till further orders.

The maximum tempera-ture in Delhi is likely to settleat 26 degrees Celsius onSaturday. The relative humid-ity recorded at 8.30 am was 85per cent. The weather depart-ment has predicted a general-ly cloudy sky for the day withthe possibility of very light rain.

New Delhi:With the arrest offour men, the Delhi Police onFriday claimed to have busteda gang involved in stealingluxury cars and selling those allover the country, including inManipur and Indore.

The kingpin of the racket,Sharik Hussain, was runningthe gang from Dubai. Twenty-one luxury cars worth around�5 crore have been recovered,police said.

The accused have beenidentified as Abid (30), a resi-dent of Amroha district inUttar Pradesh, SagolsemJohnson Singh (27), a residentof Imphal in Manipur,Mohammad Asif (33), a resi-dent of Meerut in UttarPradesh, and Salman (30), aresident of Indore in MadhyaPradesh, they added.

PTI

New Delhi:Three Delhi police-men have been arrested forallegedly abducting the man-ager of an NGO and demand-ing �5 lakh from his family torelease him, officials said onFriday.

According to police, thematter came to the fore onThursday when the accusedconducted a raid on thepremises of the non-govern-mental organisation (NGO),alleging that an illegal call cen-tre was being operated fromthere.On the pretext of inves-tigation, the police officialsthen illegally apprehended themanager and demanded �5lakh for releasing him,said asenior police officer. PTI

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Two days after a 33-year-oldwoman was stabbed 17

times in Delhi’s Malviya Nagar,her husband and two contractkillers hired by him were arrest-ed on Saturday in connectionwiththe murder, police said.

Naveen Kumar Gullaiya(36) decided to kill his wifewith thehelp of contract killersafter she found out about hisaffair withanother womanwhich led to constant quarrelsbetween them, accordingto thepolice.

The incident took place inSheikh Sarai area of MalviyaNagar in the police wereinformed from the hospitalthata woman with stab injuriesbrought there by her husbandwas declared dead.

The woman, identified asReena, was stabbed at least 17times,the police said, addingthe three accused, including herhusband Gullaiya and con-tract killers Rahul and Sonu,have been arrested in the case.

When her husband wasquestioned, he misled thepolice initiallysaying he alongwith his son had gone to see ahomeopathic doctorin Defencecolony and Reena was alone at

home on Thursday afternoon.After visiting the doctor

and doing some shopping forhis son,Gullaiya left him at abarber shop near Shiv MandirBandh road andwent to hisoffice at Kalkaji, DeputyCommissioner of Police(South)Benita Mary Jaiker said.

After some time, Gullaiyacalled one of his employees todrop hisson at his house afterhis haircut. At 4.45 pm, he gota call fromhis employeeinforming that his wife Reenawas lying in a pool ofbloodwith stab injuries. He quicklyrushed to his house and tookhiswife to a nearby hospital whereshe was declared dead, theofficer said.

According to the police, acase was registered in the mat-ter andduring investigation,the police said they foundCCTV footage inwhich two

men were seen entering the vic-tim’s house in daytime andthenthree persons were seen exitingafter some time.

The trail of those three per-sons from the scene of crimewas foundup to PamposhEnclave, Kalkaji.

The husband turned a sus-pect when his call records wereanalysedand it was found thathe frequently called a womanbased in Govindpuriwithwhom he was in relationshipfor the last one-and-a-halfyears,Jaiker said.

The call records alsorevealed that Gullaiya receiveda WhatsAppcall from Rahul.Also, another mobile phonerecovered fromGullaiya’svehicle showed thathe made several calls to Rahuland Rs 50,000 was to be paid tohim as part of payment aftercompletion of task, she said.

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Amid deteriorated air qual-ity in the city, the Delhi

Transport department hasintensified the enforcementdrive to penalise the vehicleowners without a valid PUCcertificate, issuing nearly 3,500challans worth over �3.5 crorefrom November 1-17.

In October, the enforce-ment wing teams of the depart-ment checked 8,25,681 vehiclesand issued 9,522 challans worthmore than �9.5 crore. Also,over 8 lakh Pollution UnderControl (PUC) certificates wereissued in the month, officialdata showed. In accordancewith the Motor Vehicle Act,1993, vehicle owners who failto get a valid PUCC are liableto be challaned under Section

190(2), leading to imprison-ment of up to six months orfine up to �10,000, or both. Thedriver could also lose their dri-ving licence for three months.

According to official fig-ures of the Transport depart-ment, there were nearly 17.71lakh vehicles running withoutvalid PUC in the city by mid

October. There are total 1.34crore registered vehicles inDelhi. Most of the vehicleswithout PUC certificate includ-ed two-wheelers(13 lakhapprox) while 4.20 lakh four-wheelers were without the validcertificate according to theTransport department data-base.

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New Delhi Municipal coun-cil (NDMC) has been

awarded 1st ranking for beingcleanest city in the country inthe category of 1-3 lakh popu-lation under SwachhSarvekshan 2021.

The North Corporation isranked 45 compared to 43rdposition in Swachh Survekshan2020, East Corporation rankedat 40th position, while theSouth Corporation remained in31st slot.

The North Corporationgot the first position in “India’sBest Mega City in Citizen’sFeedback” in the category of 40lakh population. NorthCommissioner Sanjay Goel onbehalf of North DMC receivedthe award from Union MinisterHardeep Singh Puri.

NDMC has also beenadjudged as 5 star garbage freecity and water plus certified cat-egory defined by Ministry ofHousing and Urban Affairs(MoHUA), a senior NDMCofficial said.

President of India RamNath Kovind distributedawards in the presence ofHardeep Singh Puri, UnionMinister, Ministry of Housingand Urban Affairs and ChiefMinisters, Mayors, dignitariesfrom various cities across thecountry.

The award was receivedfrom NDMC led by ChairmanDharmendra along withSecretary of NDMC IshaKhosla.

Swachh Survekshan is theworld’s largest cleanliness sur-vey carried out in India withthe vision of Prime MinisterNarender Modi to makeGarbage free India underSwachh Bharat Mission.

It started in 2016 whereonly 73 cities participated andnow the Ministry of Housingand Urban Affairs (MoHUA),Government of India hasdeclared the result of 6thSwachh Survekshan survey,conducted in the year 2021 inwhich 4320 cities have partic-ipated.

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The Aam Aadmi Party(AAP) Government will

introduce a highly progressivepolicy for street vendors in thecity to end all “extortion” and“corruption” after coming topower in municipal corpora-tions, senior AAP leader andChief Spokesperson SaurabhBhardwaj said on Saturday.

The AAP has decided tomark vending zones for streetvendors to eliminate anyinconvenience faced by ven-dors and customers both, hesaid.

Bhardwaj alleged that theMCDs and policemen takeextra advantage of the currentsituation and extort large sumsof �500 to 2000 from streetvendors. “The AAP will ensurethat street vendors do not pay

anything to MCD and policeand that every section of Delhiwill benefit from the new pol-icy. Town Vending Committeeswill survey and identify streetvendors by December 7, 2021.The remaining vendors canregister themselves by then,” headded.

With the implementationof the policy, street vendors inDelhi will get a place to effi-ciently conduct business with-out any disruption to move-ment in traffic or footpaths orto RWAs, he said.

Introducing the DelhiGovernment’s plans to tacklethis problem, he said “TheDelhi Government is workingon some highly progressivepolicies to address the situationand put a stop to this dailyextortion by the MCD and thepolice.

Gurugram: A day after theGurdwara Singh SabhaCommittee of Gurugramannounced that it was openingits doors to Muslims for themto offer Friday Namaz at itspremises, Friday prayers byMuslims were not offered atany Gurdwara in theMillennium City.

The gurdwara committeein a statement on Friday stat-ed that due to the Gurupurabcelebrations, Muslims them-

selves refused to offer FridayNamaz to avoid any conflict.

A final decision on thesame would be taken nextweek, said the Committee.

Speaking to news agencyANI over the matter, thespokesperson of the gurdwaramanagement committee, DayaSingh said, “Committee haddecided to offer space forNawaz if Muslims were facingproblems; will let them offerNamaz here. ANI

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The Delhi DisasterM a n a g e m e n t

Authority(DDMA) on Fridayallowed standing passengersin Metro trains andbuses toaugment the carrying capac-ity of the public transport sys-temsto let more people usethem instead of private vehi-cles in view ofthe prevailingair pollution.In an order, theDDMA said 30 standing pas-

sengers will be allowedin eachMetro train coach. In DelhiTransport Corporation(DTC) andCluster buses, themaximum number of pas-sengers allowed to travelinstanding position will be 50per cent of the seating capac-ity.So far, Metro trains andbuses in Delhi were allowed torun withhundred per centseating capacity only toreduce crowding to checkthespread of Covid-19.

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From Page 1It said that the Prime

Minister announced the repealof the three “black” farm lawsbut he chose to “remain silent”on the other pending demandsof the farmers. “More than 670farmers were martyred in thefarmers’ movement so far andthe Government of India did noteven acknowledge their sacrifice.These martyrs’ families have tobe supported with compensa-tion and employment opportu-nities. The martyrs also deservehomage to be paid to them inthe Parliament session, and amemorial should be erected intheir name,” the SKM’s statementsaid.

Hundreds of cases in whichthousands of farmers have beenimplicated in Haryana, UttarPradesh, Uttarakhand, Delhi,Chandigarh, Madhya Pradeshand elsewhere have to be with-drawn unconditionally, it said. Italso indicated that its movementfor a statutory guarantee of theMSP and demand for the with-drawal of the ElectricityAmendment Bill will continue.

From Page 1In his letter posted on Twitter, Gandhi

underscored the need to accept the farm-ers’ demand for legal guarantee of MSP.

“This movement will not end withoutthe resolution of this demand and therewill be widespread anger amongst them,which will continue to emerge in one formor the other. Therefore, it is very impor-tant for the farmers to get the statutoryguarantee of MSP for their crops,” hewrote.

The BJP leader said the legal bindingon MSP will give a sizeable economic secu-rity cover to the farmers and will empow-er small and marginal farmers.

“My humble request to you is that theGovernment must immediately accept thisdemand in the interest of our nation,”Gandhi said in his letter to the PrimeMinister.

He said MSP should also be based onthe C2+50 per cent formula of theCommission for Agricultural Costs andPrices.

Describing the October 3 LakhimpurKheri violence, in which four farmers were

among nine people killed, as heartbreak-ing and a “blemish on our democracy”,Gandhi said, “... It is my request to you thatappropriately strict action is taken againstthe Union Minister who has been con-nected to this incident, so that there is afair enquiry.” Varun Gandhi made therequest to the Prime Minister without tak-ing Mishra’s name.

He also claimed that the Lakhimpurincident was an outcome of the adversarialatmosphere created against the farmers’ movement by provocative state-ments of many leaders sitting in seniorpositions.

Gandhi also demanded that Rs 1 crorecompensation be given to farmers mar-tyred in this movement against the lawsand that all “politically motivated false”FIRs against the protesting farmers bequashed.

Concluding his letter, Gandhi said thatfarmers expect that their demands will beresolved in a timely and sensitive mannerand asserted that democracy runs on con-stitutionality, discourse and empathy.

From Page 1As per the Swachh

Survekshan Survey 2021report, the 10 top-rankedcleanest cities, having a popu-lation of more than one lakh,are Indore, Surat, Vijaywada,Navi Mumbai, New Delhi,Ambikapur, Tirupati, Pune,Noida and Ujjain. Lucknowhas been ranked the lowestamong 25 cities in the samecategory. The winners wereawarded by President RamNath Kovind in a ceremonyheld at Vigyan Bhawan inNew Delhi.

Taking to Twitter, UnionHousing and Urban AffairsMinister Hardeep Singh Puricongratulated Indore and its“people, political leadershipand municipal corporation,”among others. MadhyaPradesh Chief Minister ShivrajSingh Chouhan also congrat-ulated the people of Indore “fordoing wonders” and achievingthe feat of India’s cleanest forthe fifth time successively byposting messages on Twitter aswell as Koo.

Bharatiya Janata Party

(BJP) national general secre-tary Kailash Vijayvargiya alsotook to the micro-bloggingsites to congratulate the“Indoris and the cleaningworkers” of the city.

The New Delhi MunicipalCouncil’s area was ranked thecleanest in the category ofcities with 1-3 lakh population.Noida was named the cleanestamong medium-sized cities,that is with 3 lakh to 10 lakhpopulation. Among the bigcities with population of 10lakh to 40 lakh, Navi Mumbaiwas ranked the cleanest andalso bagged the first award inthe category of “SafaimitraSuraksha Challenge”.

Of States with over 100urban local bodies,Maharashtra and MadhyaPradesh were ranked secondand third respectively.

In the State awards,Chhattisgarh, for the thirdconsecutive year emerged asthe “Cleanest State” in the cat-egory of “more than 100 UrbanLocal Bodies” whileJharkhand, for the secondtime, won the Cleanest State

award in the “less than 100Urban Local Bodies category”.Karnataka and Mizorambecame the “Fastest MoverStates” in the big (more than100 ULBs) and small (lessthan 100 ULBs) state catego-ry respectively.

According to the Ministry,Vita city of Maharashtra hasbeen ranked the cleanest citywith less than one lakh popu-lation, followed by Lonavalaand Sasvad. Hoshangawad andTriputi emerged as the “FastestMover small city” and “BestSmall City in Citizens’Feedback” categories, respec-tively with a jump of 274ranks from 361st position inthe 2020 rankings to the 87thposition this year, thus secur-ing a place among the top 100cities. AhmedabadCantonment won the title of“India’s Cleanest Cantonment”,followed by MeerutCantonment and DelhiCantonment.

In the State awards,Chhattisgarh, for the thirdconsecutive year emerged asthe “Cleanest State” in the cat-egory of “more than 100 UrbanLocal Bodies” while

Jharkhand, for the secondtime, won the Cleanest Stateaward in the “less than 100Urban Local Bodies category”.

Karnataka and Mizorambecame the “Fastest MoverStates” in the big (more than100 ULBs) and small (lessthan 100 ULBs) state catego-ry respectively.

In all, 4,320 urban localbodies were assessed undervarious parameters. Theprocess was completely digi-talised with the data being col-lected from different plat-forms, including apps andportals.

The assessment was con-ducted between March 1-31,2021, with a maximum of6,000 marks. While citizensvoice carried 30 per centweightage (1,800 marks),garbage segregation, collec-tion, processing and disposalaccounted for 40 per cent or2,400 marks.

The remaining 1,800marks were awarded for certi-fication, if any, under whichgarbage-free rating yielded1,100 marks and the open-defecation-free parameterearned 700 marks.

From Page 1Following the incident, a

video that surfaced showedAnand Giri seeking forgivenessfrom his mentor. But soonaccusations of blackmail resur-faced.

Soon after ABAP chiefMahant Narendra Giri’s death,reports of his disciple’s flashylifestyle, including skydivingtrips to Australia and drivingLamborghini sports cars at arace track, surfaced in themedia.

Anand Giri had earlierdenied his role in the death ofhis mentor alleging a conspir-acy “by people who used toextort money from NarendraGiri”.

In a clear sign of thenational stature of the Mahant,Prime Minister NarendraModi, Uttar Pradesh ChiefMinister Yogi Adityanath,Samajwadi Party chief AkhileshYadav and a host of otherpolitical leaders were amongthose who tweeted their con-dolences for Narendra Giri’sdeath.

From Page 1The deluge in the Chief

Minister’s native Kadapa districtsaw the Annamayya project get-ting breached and left a trail ofdestruction in many villagesdownstream under the Rajampetconstituency.

More than 30 people werewashed away from three villagesalong the Cheyyeru river course,where water from the Annamayyamedium irrigation project gushedin. At one point on Friday, twolakh cusecs of floodwater flowedout of Annamayya project whileits normal capacity was just twotmc ft.

Kadapa, thus, reported thehighest toll of 13 so far. In Kadiritown in Anantapuramu district, abuilding under construction col-lapsed due to incessant rain andfell on an adjoining building,killing at least seven persons,including three children.

Police and revenueauthorities rescued seven morepersons from the mishap site.

Nehru Yuva KendraSanghatan Vice-ChairmanVishnuvardhan Reddy expressedgrief over the tragedy and blamedillegal constructions for the inci-

dent. He demanded action againstthe Kadiri municipal officialsresponsible for this and Rs 50 lakheach paid to the kin of thedeceased.

In Chittoor district, fourpersons were killed in rain-relat-ed incidents, according to theGovernment.

In SPS Nellore district, aconstable placed in the SDRF atVizianagaram drowned while car-rying out a rescue operation inDamaramadugu village in SPSNellore district.

Police said the SDRF wasengaged in the rescue operation tosave villagers stranded in theSomasila river flood when tragedystruck its own man.

SPS Nellore district borethe brunt as a record flood dis-charge of over 3.32 lakh cusecs inSomasila left many villagesmarooned on Saturday.

A total of 243 relief campswere opened in the four districtswhere 20,923 persons evacuatedfrom flood-hit areas were lodged.

South Central RailwayGeneral Manager Gajanan Mallyainspected the Nandaluru-Rajampet section where the rail-way track was washed away underthe impact of the flood inCheyyeru.

The SCR said in a releasethat track restoration works weregoing on in full swing.

The General Managerdirected the officials to completethe restoration work on a war-footing following all standardsafety norms.

Meanwhile, at least 10Express trains have been cancelledon Saturday and Sunday due toflooding of the railway track in theNellore-Padugupadu section inVijayawada division.

The State Governmentsaid 1,549 houses, valued at overRs five crore, were damaged whileanother 488 houses remainedmarooned.

Large damage to livestockwas also reported as 612 heads ofcattle were killed and 3,232 chick-ens perished. About 1,791 smallcattle like sheep and goat were alsokilled in the deluge, causing a totalloss of over Rs 2.31 crore.

Agricultural crops in over2.33 lakh hectares and horticul-tural crops in about 20,000hectares stood damaged, accord-ing to government data.

Roads now lay completelybattered in these districts. Manyculverts, causeways and bridgessuffered extensive damage due tothe flash floods.

From Page 1If independently consid-

ered, drugs seized from Arbaazand Munmun was a smallquantity “which is not a dis-puted fact.”

Tearing into the NCB’sallegation that Aryan and twoother accused were part of theconspiracy, the Judge said: “Forinferring act of hatching con-spiracy on the part of Aryanand two other accused, therehas to be positive evidenceabout an agreement to do aunlawful act or to do a lawfulact by unlawful means andsuch agreement must precedemeeting of minds... There ishardly any positive evidence toconvince this court that all theaccused persons with com-mon intention agreed to com-mit unlawful act.”

“So far as the case of con-spiracy against the applicantsalso, there is absence of mate-rial on record of them havingmeeting of minds with otheraccused who were named inthe offence in question,” thejudge noted.

Referring to theProsecution’s stand that theaccused had admitted to hav-ing committed an offenceunder NDPS Act, the maxi-mum punishment prescribed isnot more than one year forsuch offence. “The applicantshave already suffered incar-ceration for almost 25 days.The applicants were not evensubjected to medical examina-tion to determine whether atthe relevant time, they had con-sumed drugs,” the Judgeobserved. On the confessionalstatements of the three accusedrecorded by the NCB, the Judgesaid: “Once the confessionalstatements ofapplicants/accused cannot bindthem of the offence in view ofthe judgment of the SupremeCourt in the matter of ToofanSingh case, the claim put forthby the respondent that theaccused persons have acceptedtheir involvement in the crime

is liable to be rejected”.Alluding to the submis-

sions made by AdditionalSolicitor General (ASG) AnilSingh, who appeared for theNCB in the case, the Judgenoted: “It is worth to clarifyhere that such confessionalstatements can be consideredby the investigating agencyonly for the investigation pur-pose and cannot be used as atool for drawing an inferencethat applicants have committedan offence under the NDPS actas has been alleged againstthem.”

The Judge also noted thatSection 37 of the NDPS act“will not be attracted in the casein hand as this court hasalready observed that there isno material on record to inferthat applicants have hatchedconspiracy to commit theoffence.”

With Aryan and two otheraccused having already com-plied with first of the demandsi.e. execution of personal bondwith one or sureties for the likeamount, the other conditionsthat the Judge has stipulated inhis order include: They shallnot indulge in any activitysimilar to the activities on thebasis of which the said CRstands registered against themfor offences under the NDPSAct; they shall not try to estab-lish communication with co-accused or any other personinvolved directly or indirectlyin similar activities or make anycall to any person indulging insimilar activities as allegedagainst them, through anymode of communication.

In other conditions, thecourt has restrained Aryanand two others from makingany attempt to neither influ-ence the witnesses nor tamperwith the evidence, which isprejudicial to the proceedingsbefore the Special NDPS courtand mandated him to surren-der his passport before theSpecial Court immediately andnot leave the country withoutprior permission from theSpecial court.

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Aday after Prime MinisterNarendra Modi

announced the repeal of thefarm laws, Congress leaderPriyanka Gandhi Vadra onSaturday urged him not toshare the stage with UnionMinister of State for Home AjayMishra during the DGPs con-ference here keeping in mindfarmers' interest.

She also sought the removalof Mishra from his post over theLakhimpur Kheri violence inwhich his son is an accused.

Priyanka Gandhi made theappeal to the Prime Ministerthrough a letter that she readout in front of reporters hoursbefore the commencement ofthe DGPs conference.

"Yesterday, while address-ing the countrymen, you hadsaid that with true mind andpious heart and keeping inmind the interests of the farm-ers, an unprecedented deci-sion to repeal the farm laws wastaken. If this is true, then get-ting justice delivered to the fam-ilies affected by the LakhimpurKheri violence should be yourtop priority," the Congress gen-

eral secretary said."But, Union Minister of

State for Home Ajay Mishra'Teni' still remains a member ofyour council of ministers. If youshare the stage in the (DGPs)conference with the father ofthe accused (Ashish Mishra),then a clear message will go tothe aggrieved families that youare still with those persons, whoare giving patronage to themurderers".

She further said, "If today,your intention is really clearabout the farmers of the coun-try, then you should not sharethe stage with the UnionMinister of State for Home, andremove him."

The AICC general secretaryalso urged that cases registeredagainst the farmers in the coun-try for staging protests againstthe agri laws be withdrawn andfinancial assistance be given tothe families of all those whodied during the agitation.

"You are the prime minis-ter and you must be under-

standing well the responsibili-ty towards the farmers of thecountry. Ensuring justicetowards every citizen is not onlythe duty but also the moralresponsibility of the prime min-ister," she said in the letter writ-ten in Hindi.

Referring to Ashish Mishra,the son of Union minister AjayMishra, the Congress leadersaid, "The entire country hasbeen witness to the crueltythat has been meted out to the'annadatas' (food providers) inLakhimpur Kheri. You knowthat the son of the Union min-ister of state for Home is themain accused in running avehicle over the farmers.

"Owing to political pres-sure, the Uttar Pradesh gov-ernment has from the begin-ning tried to stifle the voice ofjustice. The Supreme Court hassaid that it seems the govern-ment is trying to save a specialaccused person," she said.

Violence had erupted inLakhimpur Kheri on October3 when farmers were protest-ing the visit of Uttar PradeshDeputy Chief Minister KeshavPrasad Maurya's visit toMishra's place. Four agitatingfarmers were run over by avehicle while four others,including a journalist, two BJPworkers were also killed in theviolence that ensued.

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Senior Congress leaderDigvijaya Singh on Saturday

said he would visit BJP MLARameshwar Sharma's houseand chant Lord Ram's nameafter the latter allegedly askedpeople to break the knees ofCongressmen.

“I am a Congressman, let'ssee who has the strength tobreak my knees," Singh, a for-mer chief minister, tweeted. Asa Gandhian, he will answer vio-

lence with non-violence, hesaid. "On November 24, I willgo to Rameshwar Sharma'shouse from the statue ofMahatma Gandhi and reciteRamdhun (Ram's name) for anhour, asking God to give himgood sense,” Singh added, whilesharing a video of Sharma'sspeech. In the video, Sharma isseen addressing a gathering.“Digvijaya Singh came here, hashe done anything?…Break theknees if any Congressmancomes here,” he is heard saying.

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The Union Health Ministryhas activated a service on

the CoWIN portal that allowsanyone to check an individ-ual's vaccination status withthe person's registered mobilenumber and name, followedby an OTP for consent.

The service could beutilised by a service provider -- private entities such as trav-el agencies, offices, employers,entertainment agencies or gov-ernment agencies such asIRCTC -- for whom verifyinga person's vaccination status iscritical for facilitating a servicerequested by the citizen, anofficial said.

The new feature, 'KnowYour Vaccination Status', willhelp to verify and retrieve a cit-izen's vaccination status anddetails by an authorised entity,the ministry said in a state-ment.

Vaccinated people alsocan share their vaccinationstatus on the social media andinspire other to take the jab.

Health Minister MansukhMandaviya tweeted, "Nowflaunt your vaccine badge!Share your vaccination status

with your friends & familythrough CoWIN portal with2 easy steps: Enter name &mobile no; Enter OTP. Inspirepeople to get vaccinated &defeat COVID-19."

National Health AuthorityCEO R S Sharma said in atweet, "Now download the fully/ partially vaccinated badgefrom CoWIN (cowin.Gov.In)& share it with your friends onall your social platforms!Encourage your family andfriends to follow you and#FightCovid."

The service is being builtto help citizens who may nothave the vaccine certificateavailable in digital or paperform for availing a requestedservice and can support theservice provider to verify thevaccination status/vaccina-tion digital record of the cit-izen as per the authorised per-mission of the requestingentity.

The service helps in veri-fying the vaccination status ofindividuals

The ser vice can beutilised by travel agenciesand help making travel safefor individuals by allowingtravel only for vaccinatedindividuals.

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An unidentified militant waskilled in an encounter with

security forces in Jammu andKashmir's Kulgam district onSaturday, police said.

Security forces launched acordon and search operation inthe Ashmuji area of the southKashmir district followinginformation about the presenceof militants there, a police offi-cial said.

During the operation, thehiding militants fired at theforces, leading to a gunfight, hesaid, adding one ultra waskilled.The identity and groupaffiliation of the slain militantis being ascertained, he said.

The operation is going onand further details are awaited,the official said.

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Adversaries with “hege-monic” designs try alter-

ing status quo under falsepretexts, but the Indian Armymust and will stand up to allexternal and internal threats,Vice Chief of the Army Staff,Lt General Chandi PrasadMohanty said on Saturday.

After reviewing a passingout parade at the OfficersTraining Academy (OTA)here, Lt Gen Mohanty alsohailed the "increasingly sig-nificant role" of women offi-cers in the Indian Army andsaid they have proved theirmettle despite the "tryingnature" of the profession.

In his address, Mohantysaid "India's comprehensivenational power increases andit gets called upon to play anincreasingly larger role inglobal geo-politics."

"Adversaries with hege-monic designs exploit oppor-tunities to try and alter statusquo on false pretexts," he saidwithout specifying anyone butthe remarks seemed to be anapparent reference to China.

These multi-domain secu-

rity challenges must be over-come in order to achievepeace, prosperity and growth.

"We must and will standup to all external and internalthreats. The Armed forces arethe strongest pillar of thecountry. We cannot afford tolet our guard down."

"The country looks uponus to deliver, each and everytime. Our responses would beintegrated adopting not onlya tri-service but a whole ofnation approach," Mohantyadded.

Referring to the passingout women cadets onSaturday, both from India andBhutan, he said they reflectthe "inclusive nature of ourArmed forces."

Noting that women offi-cers in the Indian Army haveplayed increasingly signifi-cant role over the last fewdecades and have proved theirmettle despite the tryingnature of the profession,Mohanty said, "as a conse-quence, women are now beingenrolled into other ranks aswell, to over whelmingresponse."

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Witnessing a rise in weekly Covidcases, testing and positivity rate, the

Union Health Ministry has written toPuducherry and Ladakh urging them totake pre-emptive action to gain controlover the situation.

Earlier, the Ministry had asked StateGovernments of Himachal Pradesh,Andhra Pradesh and Jammu and Kashmirto undertake a review and enhance test-ing in view of rising cases of Covid-19 andweekly positivity rates.

In a letter to the principal secretary

(Health) of Ladakh this week, AdditionalSecretary in the Union Health MinistryArti Ahuja said the Union Territory hasreported a 362 per cent increase in week-ly new cases from 34 cases in the week end-ing on October 27 to 157 cases in the weekending on November 17.

It is also worrying to note that theUnion Territory has exhibited an increaseof more than 156 per cent in weekly pos-itivity from 1.5 per cent in the week end-ing on October 26 to 3.9 per cent in theweek ending on November 16.

"Further, worrying trends with regardsto weekly cases, testing and positivity rate

have been observed in various districts.Increase in number of weekly new cases:Leh district has exhibited a significantincrease of more than 362 per cent inweekly new cases from 35 in the week end-ing on October 27 to 139 in the week end-ing on November 17.

This is especially concerning given thegeographical expanse of the district,"Ahuja said.

Leh has also recorded a 143 per centincrease in weekly positivity rate from 1.98per cent in the week ending on October26 to 4.81 per cent in the week ending onNovember 16.

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New Delhi: President RamNath Kovind on Saturdaystressed on the concept of“waste to wealth” and saidfocus should be on to reuse andrecycle resources. He alsohailed the role of safai mitrasand sanitation workers in thewake of the Covid-19 pan-

demic, saying they continu-ously rendered their services.

The Government is com-mitted to ensure that life of nosanitation worker is put at riskdue to unsafe cleaning prac-tices, Kovind said at an eventwhere he presented the 'SwachhSurvekshan Awards 2021'.

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There will be a complete rehaul of theAshok Gehlot-led Congress

Government in Rajasthan.All the Ministers in the

Government on Saturday tenderedtheir resignations from the Cabinet andCouncil during a meeting at the CM’sresidence in Jaipur. The move was achange from the earlier stance duringthe day with the probability of a limit-ed reshuffle being effected as onlythree Ministers had put in their papersto accommodate Sachin Pilot loyalists.

The new Ministers are likely to besworn in at 4 pm on Sunday. There isno confirmation yet though.

"All Ministers resigned in the meet-ing," Pratap Singh Khachariyawas, whoheld the charge of the transport min-ister, told the media.

"We have been asked to go to thePCC office at 2 pm on Sunday wherefurther instructions will be given byChief Minister Ashok Gehlot, AICCgeneral secretary Ajay Maken and PCCchief Govind Singh Dotasra,"Khachariyawas said. AICC general sec-retary Ajay Maken is already in Jaipurand has been coordinating between thevarious factions in the party as well thehigh command.

Earlier, Gehlot and Maken as wellas PCC chief Dotasra addressed aKisan Vijay Diwas gathering. Afterthat, Maken and Gehlot held a meetingat a hotel.

Rajasthan Government can have amaximum of 30 ministers, including thechief minister. The clamour for Cabinetreshuffle had been growing for the lastseveral months with the Pilot campdemanding to accommodate support-ers of the state's former Deputy ChiefMinister Sachin Pilot's supporters in thegovernment.

ICC sources said that a maximumnumber of Pilot camp is likely to beaccommodated as per the "agreement"

reached between warring factionsGehlot and Pilot in several rounds ofmeetings by then with party chiefSonia Gandhi, former Congress chiefRahul Gandhi and general secretaryPriyanka Gandhi.

State PCC chief Govind SinghDotasra, Harish Chaudhary and RaghuSharma had already offered resignationin writing to Congress president SoniaGandhi.

While Dotasra is the PCC chief,

Harish Chaudhary and Raghu Sharmaare in-charge of the party's affairs inPunjab and Guajrat respectively. Makenexpressed that the leaders desired towork for the party.

Apart from the Congress MLAs,independents who support the gov-ernment and MLAs who defected fromthe BSP to Congress also have expec-tations from the reshuffle.

The clamour for a reshuffle hadbeen growing for several months withformer Deputy Chief Minister SachinPilot’s camp demanding that his sup-porters be accommodated in the gov-ernment.

Apart from Congress MLAs, inde-pendents supporting the governmentand MLAs who defected from the BSPto Congress also have expectationsfrom the reshuffle.

Last year, Pilot had led a rebellionof 19 Congress MLAs, including him-self. While the party removed Pilot asdeputy CM and as the Panchayati Rajminister, his loyalist Vishvendra Singhwas removed as the Tourism ministerand Ramesh Meena was removed asFood and Civil Supplies Minister.

The crisis lasted beyond a monthand the party high command had tostep in to broker peace between the twofactions. After the two shook hands inAugust 2020 following truce, it wasexpected that Pilot’s loyalists would beadjusted in Gehlot’s cabinet. However,Gehlot has been resisting expanding hiscabinet till now.

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Soon after a video of Punjab Congress presi-dent Navjot Singh Sidhu calling Pakistan

Prime Minister Imran Khan his 'elder brother'during a trip to Kartarpur Sahib went viral onSaturday, the BJP hit out at the Congress alleg-ing the Opposition party sees terror groups likeIS and Boko Haram in Hindutva while it findsa 'bhai jaan' in Khan.

In the video Sidhu is being welcomed by aPakistani official on behalf of Khan and theCongress leader is heard saying Khan was likea 'bada bhai' to him and that he loved him a lot.

It is a serious matter of concern for India,BJP spokesperson Sambit Patra said as the rul-ing party seized on the issue to target theCongress.

He claimed that there was a larger designat work, and Sidhu's comments were linked toa number of Congress leaders, including RahulGandhi, criticising Hindutva.

Referring to Congress leader SalmanKhurshid's statement in his latest book, Patrasaid the opposition party sees terror groups suchas the ISIS and the Boko Haram in Hindutvawhile it finds a 'bhai jaan' in Khan.

It is being done for appeasement politics asthe Congress still believes that there is a sectionin India which will be happy with praise forPakistan. There are no such people in Indiathough, Patra added.

He noted that Sidhu had praised Khan andPakistan earlier too and had hugged its Armychief Qamar Javed Bajwa during an earlier tripto the neighbouring country.

Noting that Punjab is a border state wherePakistan tries to foment troubles, Patra said it

needs a mature and patriotic leadership.Sidhu is not right for India and Punjab

deserves better than him, he said.Pakistan's Foreign Minister had recently

described Hindutva as a threat to global secu-rity, and he had borrowed the term from RahulGandhi, the BJP leader alleged.

To a question about Congress leaderPriyanka Gandhi writing a letter to PrimeMinister Narendra Modi on the farmers' issue,Patra shot back and asked if she also considersKhan an elder brother like Sidhu as she had inthe past called the Punjab leader her brother.

Sharing the video, BJP IT department headAmit Malviya tweeted, 'Rahul Gandhi's favouriteNavjot Singh Sidhu calls Pakistan Prime MinisterImran Khan his “bada bhai”. Last time he hadhugged Gen Bajwa, Pakistan Army's Chief,heaped praises. Is it any surprise that the Gandhisiblings chose a Pakistan loving Sidhu over vet-eran Amarinder Singh?'

India had recently opened the KartarpurSahib corridor, and a number of pilgrims fromPunjab, including politicians, have visited theplace on the occasion of Sikhism founderGuru Nanak's birth anniversary.

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With kids as young as 10years becoming addicted

to tobacco, elected representa-tives in ensuing Parliamentshould ensure early passage ofthe amendments to theCigarettes and Other TobaccoProducts Act or COTPA Act tosave the youth and next gen-eration, said PriyankKanoongo, Chairman of theNational Commission ofProtection of Child’s Rights onthe Children’s Right Day(NCPCR) on Saturday.

“It is hoped that the pro-posed COTPA Amendmentswill not only be passed by theMPs in full majority at the ear-liest but also discussed thread-bare in Parliament so that amovement against tobacco iscreated across the country,”Kanoongo said.

He also advised theMember of Parliament (MPs)to hold interaction with thestakeholders in their con-stituencies on the issue. Also,State Governments should holdreview meetings with policefrom time to time to ensurethat the law is implementedearnestly, he said.

The amendments, propos-es Increase in legal age for saleof tobacco products to 21 years,comprehensive ban on tobac-co advertising and promotionand ban on sale of single sticksof cigarettes/bidis.

Kanoongo said that, oncethe COTPA Amendments arepassed, it will be at par with theJuvenile Justice (Care andProtection of Children) Actwhich has stringent provisions,ensuring basic rights of chil-dren. It is hoped that theGovernment might introducethe COTPA Amendments Bill

in this session of Parliament.”

BJP youth leader fromMaharashtra, Shweta Shaliniasserted that noose must betightened around tobacco com-panies to end the conspiraciestargeting these youth. Sheshared data of the Global YouthTobacco Survey (GYTS) at awebinar titled “How StrongerTobacco Law Can Save OurNext Generation” organised bythe Speakin, an advocacy plat-form, on the occasion of theChildren’s Right Day.

The survey says that 38percent of cigarettes, 47 percentof bidi and 52 percent of youngsmokeless tobacco users pickedup the habit before their 10thbirthday.

Shalini equated tobaccocompanies and their productsas demons and said, “We areconfronting a demon and wehave to unitedly fight against it.We have noted that peoplewho begin smoking at ayounger age are more likely tobecome addicted to nicotine

and have trouble quitting.These tobacco companiesknow this fact. And hence fortheir vested interest they do notthink twice before targetingthese innocent lives.”

Slamming the tobaccocompanies for indulging invarious nefarious tactics tohook the kids as young as tenyears old for their profits,Kanoongo too held responsiblethe celebrities engaged inendorsing the harmful prod-ucts as ‘cool’ that compromise the health of thekids.

“Once the COTPAAmendments get green signalfrom the Parliament, thoseendorsing surrogate advertise-ments will be behind the jail,”he warned.

The NCPCR Chief alsocalled for strict action againstadvertising companies engagedin high-blitz campaigns andexperimental marketing forthe tobacco firms to reach outto new customers and lureimpressionable minds.

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To commemorate the Golden Jubilee Year of BangladeshLiberation War, on November 18, 2021, the North Bengal

Frontier of BSF organised weapon exhibition programmesin the bordering areas as part of the Bangladesh’s LiberationWar celebrations being observed by the BSF and its Banglacounterpart Border Guards Bangladesh.

The exhibitions were organised by 195 Battalion at theBorder Out Post (BOP) of the BSF Chaulhati (Jalpaiguri, WestBengal) and 15 Battalion BOPs at Dangapara (Murshidabad)and Khalpara (Siliguri). Prominent local leaders, civil dig-nitaries, local villagers, school teachers and students witnessedthe weapon exhibition, the BSF said in a statement.

The program was organised to exhibit the latest defencetechnologies and equipment used by the BSF to thwart antinational elements. The children were offered to explore thelatest defence technologies and equipment through a seriesof interactive displays and live demonstrations. The childrenwere thrilled beyond their imagination, it said.

This year, Bangladesh is celebrating 50 years of itsIndependence. On March 26, 1971, Bangladesh was pro-claimed as an independent nation by Sheikh Mujibur Rahmanand this led to Bangladesh Liberation War and a full-fledgedwar ensued between Pakistan and Bangladesh liberationforces with Indian support.

Border Security Force (BSF) had played a key role inBangladesh liberation war in training of the “Mukti Vahini”and fighting with enemy forces. To commemorate the 50 yearsof Bangladesh liberation war, Border Security Force andBorder Guard Bangladesh have launched various pro-grammes across India and Bangladesh.

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Aday after Prime MinisterNarendra Modi announced

the decision to repeal the newfarm laws, former Congress pres-ident Rahul Gandhi on Saturdaytargeted the Government, sayingthe truth of "Chinese occupation"should also be admitted now.

The Congress has beenattacking the government over itshandling of the border tensionswith China, accusing it of com-promising India's territorialintegrity, a charge denied by theCentre.

The truth of "Chinese occu-pation" should also be admittednow, Rahul tweeted in Hindi inthe backdrop of the Modi gov-ernment agreeing to the demandof agitating farmers and opposi-tion parties to scrap the threecentral farm laws enacted lastyear.

The former Congress presi-dent has been questioning thegovernment over the situationalong the Line of Actual Control(LAC) with China, especially

after the standoff in easternLadakh.

India and China onThursday agreed to hold the14th round of military talks at anearly date to achieve the objectiveof complete disengagement inremaining friction points along

LAC in eastern Ladakh.The eastern Ladakh border

standoff between the Indian andChinese militaries erupted onMay 5 last year following a vio-lent clash in the Pangong lakeareas and both sides graduallyenhanced their deployment by

rushing in tens of thousands ofsoldiers as well as heavy weapon-ry.

The tension escalated fol-lowing a deadly clash in GalwanValley on June 15 last year.

As a result of a series of mil-itary and diplomatic talks, thetwo sides completed the disen-gagement process in the northand south banks of the PangongLake in February and in theGogra area in August.

Each side currently hasaround 50,000 to 60,000 troopsalong the Line of Actual Control(LAC) in the sensitive sector.

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ASARS-CoV-2 variant withtraits similar to that of the

Delta variant might cause amore severe pandemic withmore infections and break-through infections/reinfectionsthan variants with either traitalone, according to a studypublished in the journal Cell.In other words, it indicated thata variant with enhanced trans-missibility alone would likelybe more dangerous than avariant that could partiallyevade the immune system.

Yet a variant with bothtraits could cause more infec-tions, reinfections, and break-through infections than a vari-ant with either trait alone.

"Thus far, evidence ofimmune escape -- the ability ofa variant to evade the immunesystem and cause reinfectionsor breakthrough infections --has been a red flag," saidresearcher Mary Bushmanfrom Harvard University.

"Our findings say it'smaybe more of a yellow flag -- this is not such a big deal on

its own. But when it's combinedwith enhanced transmissibili-ty, then it can be a really bigdeal," Bushman added.

The traits of the Delta vari-ant include enhanced trans-missibility and an ability toinfect people who had previousinfections/vaccination.

The analysis simulated aSARS-CoV-2 pandemic withseveral different hypotheticalvariants including combina-tions of the two traits --enhanced transmissibility, sim-ilar to the Alpha variant; par-tial immune escape, similar tothe Beta variant; enhancedtransmissibility with partialimmune escape, similar to theDelta variant; and a variantwith neither trait.

The analysis also factoredin how certain variables, suchas masking/physical distancingor vaccinations, would affectthe pandemic's trajectory.

For each of the scenarios,the team analysed the totalnumber of infections as well asthe number/percentage ofinfections averted by vaccina-tion.

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Latehar/Medininagar/Chaibasa: Suspected members ofbanned CPI (Maoist) blew upportions of railway tracks inJharkhand's Latehar and WestSinghbhum districts in the earlyhours of Saturday, disruptingtrain services on Barkakana-Garhwa and Howrah-Mumbairoutes, police said.

A rail track between Sonuaand Lotapahar stations in WestSinghbhum, underChakradharpur Division ofSouth Eastern Railway (SER),was damaged past Friday nightin a blast that was allegedly trig-gered by the Maoists.

The banned outfit has calledfor a nationwide bandh onSaturday to protest against thearrest of its top leader PrashantBose alias Kishan Da, who wascarrying a bounty of Rs 1 croreon his head, by the JharkhandPolice. Bose was the mastermindbehind more than 100 inci-dents of attack and arson inJharkhand, Bihar, West Bengal,Odisha, Chhattisgarh, AndhraPradesh and Maharashtra.

Ajay Linda, the districtsuperintendent of police, toldPTI that suspected ultras havetriggered a low-intensity blastbetween Sonua and Lotapaharand damaged some sleeperslaid underneath the tracks.

Services on main Howrah-Mumbai line were restored viaan alternative track from 8 amon Saturday and servicesreturned to normal two hourslater, he said. In Latehar, too, ablast took place on the railwaytracks between Richughuta andDemu stations around 12.30am, Deputy Inspector General ofPolice, Palamu Range, RajKumar Lakra, told PTI.

Maoist cadres squad blewup the tracks, bringing trains toa halt on the Barkakana-Garhwaroute, under the Dhanbad divi-sion of Eastern Central Railway(ECR), Lakra said. PTI

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In a disturbing incident, awoman Forest Guard was

mauled to death by a tigress inthe Tadoba-Andhari TigerReserve (TATR) inChandrapur district of easternMaharashtra.

The incident took placewhen woman forest guardSwati Dumane (31) was con-ducting tiger count along withthree other beat colleaguesfrom Kolara Forest Range ofTATR, was conducting a tigercount in the vicinity.

Confirming the “unfortu-nate” death of Swati Dumane,Dr. Jitendra Ramgaonkar, ChiefConservator of Forests, TATRsaid that the incident tookplace when they were carrying

out a sign surveyas part of theongoing All IndiaTiger Estimation-2022 exercise.

“ A f t e rtrekking nearly 4kilometers fromthe Kolara gate tillcompartment No97 inside the TATR core area,Dumane and her team saw atigress sitting on the path aheadof them.

Having waited for almosthalf an hour for the tigress tomove, they took a detourthrough a thick patch of theforest.

Upon noticing the humanmovements, the tigress fol-lowed them and attackedDumane from the rear side.

Dumane was mov-ing behind thethree beat helpers,”Dr Ramgaonkarsaid.

“Even beforethe three helperscould realise as towhat was happen-ing, the tigress

fatally mauled Dumane anddragged her body deep insidethe jungle,” Dr Ramgaonkarsaid

Shortly afterwards, the beathelpers reported the matter tothe seniors outside the forestwho rushed to the spot andmanaged to trace outDumane’s body from a thicklywooded area where it wasabandoned by the tigress.

Meanwhile, Dumane’s

body has been sent for autop-sy at the Government Hospitalat Chimur.

Following the incident, theTATR suspended the AITE-2022 exercise of sign surveyand transect walk on foot tillfurther orders ̀ `We are takingprecautions to ensure againstrecurrence of such incidents,”Dr Ramgaonkar said.

Dumane, who hailed fromthe neighbouring Gadchirolidistrict, is survived by her hus-band and a 4-year-old daugh-ter. She joined the ForestDepartment service in 2011.The TATR foundation hasreleased an ex-gratia of Rs.5-lakh for her family.

Dumane’s final rites wereperformed with full honourson Saturday evening.

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Bangladesh Foreign MinisterAK Abdul Momen on

Saturday described the killingson the Indo-Bangla border as“unfortunate” as India's borderforces continue to use lethalarms despite assurance fromthe top level that they woulduse non-lethal weapons infrontier management.

Momen's comments camedays after two Bangladeshiswere shot dead at the Indo-Bangla border in West Bengal'sCoochbehar district in theearly hours of Friday last afterthey attacked a BSF patrolparty that stopped them fromsmuggling cattle.

According to reports fromKolkata and New Delhi, thedistrict police claimed thatthree persons had died in theincident, including an Indian.A Border Security Force (BSF)personnel was also injured.

“It is a shame for India andunfortunate for Bangladesh,”Momen told reporters whileresponding to a question dur-ing his visit to the mausoleum

of the country's founder SheikhMujibur Rahman at Tungiparain southwestern Bangladesh.

Claiming that the civil soci-ety and ordinary people inWest Bengal have alsoexpressed their concern on theissue, he said, "The generalpublic, intellectuals, journalistsand artists of the state haverecently raised a demand to stop any killing atthe border."

"We don't want to see thekilling of anyone on the fron-tier, be it Bangladeshi orIndian," the minister said,adding that Dhaka expects thatthe Indian authorities willensure “zero killing” at theborder.

Momen said he wonderedwhy the decision to not uselethal weapons was notenforced, despite the commit-ment of India on the issue atthe highest level.

He recalled that duringPrime Minister NarendraModi's visit to Bangladesh inMarch, the two sides agreedthat any death along the borderis a matter of concern and

directed the border guardingforces concerned to enhancepeople-oriented measures forensuring border security andbringing down such death ofcivilians to a zero level.

Following the November12 incident, BSF AdditionalDirector General Y B Khuraniain New Delhi had said that "agroup of 60 miscreants assem-bled on both sides of the bor-der to smuggle cattle. The mis-creants tried to smuggle cattleby throwing improvised bam-boo cantilevers on the barbedwires. When a BSF patrol partytried to stop them, they start-ed pelting stones at the partyand attacked them with ironrods and sticks".

The BSF troops on dutyahead of the India-Bangladeshborder fence asked the mis-creants to return, but they didnot pay heed. Subsequently, theBSF officials used non-lethalmunitions, but that too did notdeter them.

"Two BSF constables gotsurrounded and were badlyhurt (by the miscreants). It wasthen that they opened fire in

self-defence. They fired a fewrounds in the air. Later it wasfound that two persons onthat side of the border had diedin the firing," Khurania said.

Earlier this week, IndianHigh Commissioner to DhakaVikram Kumar Doraiswamisaid India is always vigilant tostop the killings on borderswith Bangladesh, and suchcasualty is unexpected for theboth countries.

"We do not want borderkillings in any country," he toldjournalists during his visit toRangpur.

Joint steps should be takenby the two countries to resolvesuch tragic incidents, he said.

The Indian border guardshave been specifically told notto open fire on the borders ifthere is no threat of attack onthem, Doraiswami said.

"(But) illegal activities havebeen increasing at the borders.Different countries are usingthe land of Bangladesh as aroute for their illegal activities.If we want to stop borderkillings, we have to stop smug-gling," the envoy said.

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Pakistan's judiciary and theSupreme Court Bar

Association on Saturday lockedhorns over allegations of inter-ference in judicial matters bythe country's security institu-tions, with the Chief Justice ofLahore High Court vehement-ly saying that the judiciary inthe country never takes dicta-tion from other institutions.

Addressing a gathering atthe Asma Jahangir Conferencein Lahore held on the title Roleof Judiciary in ProtectingHuman Rights andStrengthening Democracy,Justice Gulzar Ahmed said thatjudiciary was functioning inde-pendently and there was nokind of interference.

"I have not taken pressurefrom any institution or lis-tened to any institution. No onetells me or guides me on howto write my verdict. I havenever made any decision that

I did so on someone else's say-ing, nor has anyone had thecourage to say anything tome,” he said.

He vehemently denied thatthe judiciary was being influ-enced by or taking dictationfrom other institutions.

His statements came aspart of his speech during theprogramme where Pakistan'sSupreme Court BarAssociation President AliAhmad Kurd without mincingwords alleged that securityinstitutions were influencingthe top judiciary.

"One general is dominatinga country of 220 million peo-ple. This same general has sentthe judiciary down to number126 [in rankings]," he saidreferring to World JusticeProject's Rule of Law Index2021, on which Pakistan ranks126th in the category of fun-damental rights.

Justice Ahmed said no oneinterfered with his work and hedecided cases on merit.

“I have never listened, seen,understood or felt anyone'sdictation to me," he said.

"My court gives justice tothe people. Come to the courtAli Ahmad Kurd and see what

is happening. Read the court'sdecision and see what is hap-pening.

My judges write judge-ments every day [...] see howour court is working with free-dom and following the law andimplementing theConstitution,” he said.

Interestingly, speakingahead of the Chief JusticeAhmed at the same forum, theIslamabad High Court (IHC)Chief Justice Athar Minallahacknowledged that some ofKurd's criticism was valid, say-ing that the judgments in casessuch as the Nusrat Bhutto caseand the Zafar Ali Shah casewere part of history.

"These judgments wereresponsible for the making andenabling of those that havebeen referred to by Mr AliAhmad Kurd," Justice Minallahnoted. Justice Minallah went onto add that the judiciary shouldnot "bury its head in the sandand ignore its mistakes".

The Supreme Court at dif-ferent occasions had justifiedthe military takeover of ZiaulHaq of 1977 in the NusratBhutto case and that of PervezMusharraf of 1999 in the ZafarAli Shah case.

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Pakistan on Saturday said thecontainers seized by Indian

authorities at Gujarat's MundraPort on a Shanghai-boundcargo ship were "empty" butwere earlier used for the trans-portation of fuel from China toKarachi for K-2 and K-3nuclear power plants.

The Pakistan ForeignOffice issued a statement inresponse to questions from thepress about reports in the mediaon the "seizure of possibleradioactive material" by Indianauthorities at Mundra Port ona cargo ship from Karachi Portto Shanghai in China.

The Foreign Office said theKarachi Nuclear Power Plantauthorities have informed thatthese were "empty containers”being returned to China, whichwere earlier used for the trans-portation of fuel from China toKarachi for K-2 and K-3nuclear power plants.

“The Containers were‘EMPTY' and the cargo wascorrectly declared as Non-Hazardous in the shipping doc-uments,” the Foreign Office said.

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If anyone has a good idea onhow to put a nuclear fission

power plant on the moon, theU.S. government wants to hearabout it.

NASA and the nation's topfederal nuclear research labon Friday put out a request forproposals for a fission surfacepower system.

NASA is collaborating withthe U.S. Department ofEnergy's Idaho NationalLaboratory to establish a sun-independent power source formissions to the moon by theend of the decade.

"Providing a reliable, high-power system on the moon isa vital next step in human spaceexploration, and achieving it iswithin our grasp," SebastianCorbisiero, the Fission SurfacePower Project lead at the lab,said in a statement.

If successful in supportinga sustained human presence onthe moon, the next objectivewould be Mars. NASA says fis-sion surface power could pro-vide sustained, abundant powerno matter the environmentalconditions on the moon orMars.

"I expect fission surfacepower systems to greatly ben-

efit our plans for power archi-tectures for the moon andMars and even drive innova-tion for uses here on Earth,"Jim Reuter, associate adminis-trator for NASA's SpaceTechnology MissionDirectorate, said in a statement.

The reactor would be builton Earth and then sent to themoon.

Submitted plans for thefission surface power systemshould include a uranium-fueled reactor core, a system toconvert the nuclear power intousable energy, a thermal man-agement system to keep thereactor cool.

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The global environment forbuilding projects under

China's BRI is becomingincreasingly complex, PresidentXi Jinping has said, encourag-ing officials to seize the strate-gic opportunities and activelyrespond to challenges facing hismulti-billion-dollar pet initia-tive, which is set to face com-petition from the US' B3Wplan.

Xi on Friday called forefforts to continue promotingthe high-quality developmentof the Belt and Road Initiative(BRI) through joint efforts andthe initiative should aim forhigh-standard, sustainable andpeople-centered progress.

Noting that the interna-tional environment for build-ing the BRI is becoming

increasingly complex, Xi, whileaddressing a high-level sym-posium on the initiative, askedthe Chinese officials to main-tain determination, seize strate-gic opportunities, activelyrespond to challenges andmove forward.

Without any direct refer-ence, Xi called for promotingpolitical consensus into con-crete action, and transformingidea recognition into practicalresults, the official mediareported.

He also suggested expand-ing new areas of cooperation,such as pandemic control, low-carbon development, and e-commerce.

This is the first time Xispoke about the BRI after USPresident Joe Biden launchedthe Build Back Better World(B3W) initiative.

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Nepal will not allownationals from a third

country to travel to India by railvia the recently launchedKurtha-Jayanagar railroad afterIndian officials raised a red flag,citing security concerns, amedia report said here onSaturday.

“This was agreed whilefinalising the StandardOperating Procedure (SPA) forcross-border railway opera-tion,” Deepak Kumar Bhattarai,Director General of theDepartment of Railways, was

quoted as saying by TheKathmandu Post newspaper.

Nepal and India share aporous border, which has beena hotbed for criminals andterrorist activities.

On October 22, Indiahanded over the 34.9km-longcross-border rail link connect-ing Jaynagar in Bihar to Kurthain Nepal to the Nepal govern-ment. The SPA is a documentoutlining the procedures to beadopted while operating therailway service between the twocountries.

India's security concernwas one of the reasons why it

took so long to finalise the SPA,Bhattarai said. According to thereport, Nepal will notify Indiaabout passengers boarding thetrain to ensure seamless secu-rity clearance at the border.

“Based on the ticketsissued, we will have to senddetails of the passengers whoare travelling to India,”Bhattarai added.

India has been wary aboutthe possibility of a surge incross-border crimes if thirdcountry nationals are allowedto travel via the Kurtha-Jayanagar railroad, the reportsaid.

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Aprominent doctor was kid-napped and killed in

northern Afghanistan, his fam-ily said on Saturday.

Mohamed Nader Alemiwas abducted two months agoin the city of Mazar-i-Sharif,and his kidnappers demandeda ransom for his release, his sonRoheen Alemi said. The fami-ly eventually paid them$350,000, after negotiatingdown their initial demand ofmore than twice that, he said.

Despite the payment, thekidnappers then killed Alemi,leaving his body in the street,

his son said. They called thefamily and told them where tofind it on Friday, he said.

"My father was badly tor-tured, there are signs of harmon his body," Roheen Alemisaid.

Alemi, a psychiatrist,worked for the government'sprovincial hospital in Mazar-i-Sharif. He also owned a privateclinic, said to be the city's firstprivate psychiatric clinic.

Under the previous, U.S.-backed government, crimeswelled, including frequentkidnappings for ransom, whichprompted several businessmento flee Afghanistan.

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Tens of thousands of pro-testers, many from far-right

groups, marched throughVienna on Saturday after theAustrian governmentannounced a nationwide lock-down beginning Monday tocontain the country's skyrock-eting coronavirus infections.

Among those protestingwere members of far-right andextreme-right parties and

groups, including the far-rightFreedom Party, the anti-vaccineMFG party and the extreme-right Identitarians.

Demonstrations againstvirus restrictions were alsotaking place Saturday inSwitzerland, Croatia and Italy.On Friday night, Dutch policeopened fire on protesters andseven people were injured inrioting that erupted inRotterdam against COVID-19restrictions.

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The Government has listedfor sale real estate assets of

state-run telecom firms MTNLand BSNL at a reserve price ofaround �970 crore, accordingto documents uploaded on theDIPAM website.

BSNL properties located inHyderabad, Chandigarh,Bhavnagar and Kolkata havebeen posted for sale at a reserveprice of around �660 crore.

The Department ofInvestment and Public AssetManagement (DIPAM) websitehas listed MTNL assets locat-ed in Vasari Hill, Goregaon in

Mumbai for sale at a reserveprice of around �310 crore.

“This is the first stage ofasset monetisation at MTNLand BSNL. Bids have beeninvited for BSNL assets worth�660 crore and MTNL assetsworth �310 crore. We plan tocomplete the entire processwithin one-and-half months,”BSNL Chairman andManaging Director P K Purwartold PTI.

MTNL’s 20 flats located inOshiwara have also been put upfor sale as part of the assetmonetisation plan of the com-pany.

The flats include two units

of 1-room set, 17 units of 1bedroom hall and kitchen(BHK) and one unit of 2 BHK.Their reserve prices range from�52.26 lakh to �1.59 crore.

The e-auction for MTNLassets will take place onDecember 14.

The asset monetisation ispart of the �69,000 crore revivalscheme for MTNL and BSNLwhich was approved by thegovernment in October2019.Both the public sectorfirms were to identify andmonetise assetsworth �37,500crore by 2022. “We will proceedas per market demand for assetmonetisation,” Purwar added.

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IRB Infrastructure Developerson Saturday said that its

shareholders have passed aresolution which will enablecapital inflow of �5,347 croreinto the company .IRBInfrastructure Developers con-vened an extra ordinary generalmeeting of its shareholdersonline on November 20, 2021,the company said in a state-ment.

“...This will now enable thecompany to issue shares to thetune of �5,347 crore to theCintra Global S.E. (a whollyowned subsidiary of FerrovialS.A) and the BricklayersInvestments Pt. Ltd. (an affili-ate of GIC, Singapore Sovereignwealth fund),” it said. Thestatement said overall 95 percent of the votes casted havebeen in favour of the resolu-tion. All the large institutionalshareholders of the companyvoted in favour of the resolu-tion, it added.

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Retirement fund managerEPFO on Saturday decided

to empower its advisory bodyFinance Investment and AuditCommittee (FIAC) to take acall on investing in new assetclasses like InvITs.

At present, the NationalHighways Authority of India(NHAI) and Power GridCorporation (PGCIL) havelaunched public sector infra-structure investment trusts(InvITs).

The EPFO would also gofor public sector bonds.

The decision was taken atthe 229th meeting of theEmployees’ Provident FundOrganisation’s apex decisionmaking body - Central Boardof Trustees (CBT), headed byUnion Labour MinisterBhupender Yadav.

Asked whether the EPFOwill invest in private sectorInvITs, Yadav told reportersafter the meeting here, “At pre-sent we have decided to investin only newly addedGovernment instruments(bonds and InvITs).

There is no percentage forthat. It will be decided on caseto case basis by FIAC.”

The board decided toempower FIAC to decide uponthe investment options, on acase-to-case basis, for invest-ment in all such asset classeswhich are included in thePattern of Investment as noti-fied by the Ministry of Financefor provident and pensionfunds in India, an official state-ment said.

Explaining the rationale

behind the decision, LabourSecretary Sunil Barthwal toldreporters,”If we want to providehigh rate of interest then wehave to follow guidelines offinance ministry. There arecertain instruments (prescribedin norms) where we were notable to invest due to variousreasons. Now we would be ina position to investment inthose instruments.”

The Government recent-ly added new instruments likeInvITs in the Pattern ofInvestment for pension funds.

“It has been decided inprincipal that on case-to-casebasis, the FIAC will take a deci-sion in this regard. The CBThas authorised the FIAC to doso. FIAC will take a decisionlike in case of NHAI and PowerGrid (InvITs),” he said.

However, he added that atpresent only public sectorbonds and InvITs will be con-sidered.

“We will invest in thoseInvITs or bonds where wewould get security of funds aswe are trustees of the employ-ees’ provident fund. We willfocus on return maximisationbut also keep in mind thesecurity of funds,” he noted.

During the meeting, it wasalso decided to constitute foursub-committees, comprisingmembers of the board fromemployees’ and employers’ sideas well as representatives of thegovernment.

Two committees on estab-lishment related matters andfuturistic implementation ofSocial Security Code will beheaded by the Minister of StateLabour and Employment.

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Ola Electric on Saturdaysaid it has expanded the

customer test rides for its elec-tric scooters across the coun-try.

With this expansion, cus-tomers in over 1,000 cities andtowns will be able to test rideand experience the Ola S1electric scooter, a statementsaid.

The test rides will be ini-tially open only for those whohave purchased or reservedthe Ola S1 and S1 Pro scooters,it added.

Ola had kicked off testrides in Bengaluru, Delhi,Ahmedabad, and Kolkata onNovember 10, and then openedup five more cities - Chennai,Hyderabad, Kochi, Mumbai,and Pune on November 19.

The company will nowrapidly add more locations toensure all customers haveaccess to test rides byDecember 15, the statementsaid.

“Customer response toour test rides has been phe-nomenally positive and we are

really thrilled to see theirexcitement for the revolution-ary Ola S1 scooter. Thousandsof customers are taking testrides every day and absolutelyloving the best in class design,performance, technology andride quality the Ola S1 delivers,”Ola Electric Chief BusinessOfficer Arun Sirdeshmukhsaid.

The company will be scal-ing test rides up rapidly in thecoming weeks and will be cov-ering over 1,000 cities andtowns across India to ensureevery customer has access totest rides by mid-December, headded.

“This is the fastest nation-al scale-up of test rides ever anda revolution in automotiveretail made possible by ourdirect-to-consumer model,” hesaid. Customer test rides will berolling out in the next set ofcities starting November 27 incities including Surat,T h i r u v a n a n t h a p u r a m ,Kozhikode, Visakhapatnam,Vijayawada, Coimbatore,Vadodara, Bhubaneswar,Tiruppur, Jaipur, and Nagpur,the statement said.

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Chinese tech giants includ-ing Alibaba Group and

Tencent Holdings were finedSaturday for failing to reportcorporate acquisitions, addingto an anti-monopoly crack-down by the ruling CommunistParty.

The companies failed toreport 43 acquisitions thatoccurred up to eight years agounder rules on “operating con-centration,” according to theState Administration forMarket Regulation. Each vio-lation carried a penalty of500,000 yuan ($80,000), it said.

Beijing has launched anti-

monopoly, data security andother crackdowns on tech com-panies since late 2020. The rul-ing party worries the compa-nies have too much controlover their industries and haswarned them not to use theirdominance to gouge con-sumers or block entry to newcompetitors.

Other companies fined inthe latest round of penaltiesinclude online retailers JD.ComInc. And Suning Ltd. Andsearch engine operator BaiduInc. The acquisitions datingback to 2013 included networktechnology, mapping and med-ical technology assets.

The companies “failed todeclare illegal implementationof operating concentration,”the regulator said on its web-site. Alibaba, the world’s biggeste-commerce company by salesvolume, was fined $2.8 billionin April for practices that reg-ulators said suppressed com-petition. Meituan, a food deliv-ery platform, was fined $534million on Oct. 8.

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The Automotive ResearchAssociation of India

(ARAI) should develop tech-nology to reduce the chargingtime for electric vehicles, UnionMinister of Heavy IndustriesMahendra Nath Pandey said onSaturday.

He was speaking at a pressconference here after an indus-try interaction meet organisedby the Ministry of HeavyIndustries in association withARAI, SIAM and ACMA toshare information about theproduction linked incentive(PLI) scheme for the automo-tive sector.

“The auto field contributesto about 14-15 per cent of GDP,which can go up to 25-30 per

cent and can support the PM’svision for making India a USD5 trillion economy.

“The sale of electric vehi-cles has increased drastically inthe last few months due to thevarious schemes and subsidiesprovided by the Government...”Pandey said.

However, he also spokeabout the challenges in EVadoption, including the timetaken for charging vehicles.

“To overcome one ofthese problems related tocharging, I am going to urgeAutomotive ResearchAssociation of India (ARAI)to develop the technologythat reduces the chargingtime,” the minister said.

Since charging is the mainconcern when it comes to the

use of EVs, the government haschosen 9 expressways where6,000 charging stations havebeen sanctioned and about3,000 shall be installed soon, headded.

“The Advanced ChemicalCell (ACC), which is the maincomponent of the EV battery,is currently imported. About 30per cent of the cost of the EVis the cost of battery itself. Thiscan reduce if it is locally pro-duced.

“This is possible becauseabout 70 per cent of the mate-rial used in the manufacturingof lithium-ion batteries isalready available in India. Withthese newly introduced PLIschemes, the government isproviding support up to �362crore per gigawatt in this sec-

tor of EVs,” Pandey said.He also highlighted the

government’s FAME I and II(Faster Adoption andManufacturing of Hybrid andElectric Vehicles) scheme,which has now been extendedby another two years to March31, 2024.

“With the production-linked incentive (PLI) scheme,it will lead to an investment of�42,500 crore and will furtheraccelerate manufacturing ofcomponents and batteries inIndia.

“The government is pro-viding financial support up to8-13 per cent for auto compo-nent manufacturers and up to13-18 per cent for EV manu-facturers through the scheme.

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Joint bank account is notmandatory for spouse pen-

sion, the Government said onSaturday.Union Minister ofState for Personnel, PublicGrievances and PensionsJitendra Singh said theNarendra Modi Governmenthas always sought “ease of liv-ing” for all sections of societyincluding retirees and pen-sioners who are the nation’sassets with all their experienceand long years of service ren-dered by them.

He said in case the head ofoffice is satisfied that it is notpossible for the retiring gov-ernment servant to open ajoint account with his or herspouse for reasons beyond hisor her control, this requirementmay be relaxed, an officialstatement said.

All banks disbursing cen-tral Government pension havebeen advised that in case thespouse (family pensioner) optsfor the existing joint bankaccount for credit of familypension, banks should notinsist on opening a newaccount, it said.

A joint bank account withspouse is however desirableand it is to be opened with theirspouse in whose favor anauthorisation for family pen-sion exists in the PensionPayment Order (PPO), said thestatement issued by thePersonnel Ministry. Operationin these accounts would be on“former or survivor” or “eitheror survivor” basis as desired bythe pensioner, Singh said.

The reason for opening ofjoint bank account is to ensurethat family pension may becommenced without any delayand the family pensioner is notsubjected to any hardships foropening of a new pension bankaccount, the statement said.

This also ensures mini-mum documentation for thefamily pensioner while sub-mitting request for com-mencement of family pension,it said.

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Economic recovery is expect-ed to gain further traction

during the second half of FY22,said India Ratings andResearch (Ind-Ra).

Accordingly, the ratingagency expects the economicrecovery to gain momentumon the back of fading impact ofthe Covid-19 pandemic alongwith favourable financing andexternal demand conditions.

Consequently, it has main-tained an “improving outlook”on domestic corporates for thesecond half of FY22.

“Entities with a strong mar-ket share and healthy balancesheet will continue to showstrong earnings, although mar-gin may moderate. However,sectors which consume com-modities will face challenges inthe complete pass-through ofinput prices,” the agency said.

Besides, it said that mostsectors would continue to wit-ness a surge in demand post thesecond Covid wave as theywere better prepared than dur-ing the first wave.

“The fiscal and monetarymeasures have backed eco-nomic activities by maintainingadequate liquidity. The entitieshave learnt to make quickstructural changes after thefirst Covid wave and are nowbetter poised to face challengesif subsequent Covid wavesappear.” Furthermore, the rat-ing agency expects the‘Production-linked Incentive’(PLI) scheme in specially steelto lead to large capexannouncements by both largeand small steel companies.

On volatility in commod-ity prices, it observed thatsince the second wave, espe-cially during Q2FY22, the riskappetite in the system has rea-sonably improved.

“This has largely been dri-ven by the strong corporateperformance, buoyant externalcondition and sustained ultra-loose monetary policy condi-tions. Ind-Ra expects that thefinancing condition to remainconducive in H2FY22, backedby the easy money conditions,”it said.

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The deal between RelianceIndustries (RIL) and Saudi

Aramco for a 20 per cent stakeacquisition by the Saudi firm inthe oil to chemicals (O2C)business of RIL is now on theback burner.

“Due to evolving nature ofReliance’s business portfolio,Reliance and Saudi Aramcohave mutually determined thatit would be beneficial for bothparties to re-evaluate the pro-posed investment in O2C busi-ness in light of the changedcontext. Consequently, the cur-rent application with NationalCompany Law Tribunal(NCLT) for segregating the

O2C business from RIL isbeing withdrawn,” RIL said ina statement on Friday night.

The two had signed a non-binding Letter of Intent inAugust 2019 for the potentialdeal. On Friday, RIL said thatJamnagar, which accounts fora major part of the O2C assets,is envisaged to be the centre forReliance’s new businesses ofRenewable Energy and NewMaterials, supporting the Net-Zero commitment.

RIL said that it has recent-ly unveiled its plans for theNew Energy & Materials busi-nesses by announcing thedevelopment of DhirubhaiAmbani Green Energy GigaComplex at Jamnagar.

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Warrior Moms is a Mothers ForClean Air initiative. An ideationand action group that tran-

scends language, demography, and loca-tion. They fight against the commonenemy— toxic air. A collective of moth-ers from all over India fighting for chil-dren’s right to breathe clean air joinedhands in September 2020 on the first UNinternational day of clean air & blue skies.“If one suffers, everyone does. Therefore,It was time to band together and not onlybe the change, but demand change as well,”says Kandhari.

By creating awareness on sources ofair pollution and climate change, educat-ing and empowering citizens to takeaction and engaging with decision-mak-ers to enforce regulations, warrior momspromise to fight the battle for clean air forall children.

With their rallying cry, ‘Enough isEnough’, the Warrior Moms raise the col-lective voices to bring back clean air forchildren. “As mothers, the common pledgethat most of us took when our childentered this world was to protect them andprovide the best of everything we couldafford. The best schools, the best food, thebest facilities, and the best healthcare.When the very air we breathe starts chok-ing us and causing various health ail-ments- it is time to step up, raise our voic-es for the future of our country and thewell-being of our families,” she tells us.

Warrior moms empower other moth-ers to know the laws and complain if theysee violations. “It’s called ‘Know YourRights!” Kandhari exclaims. The group isaction-based but sure enough, doesn’t shyaway from advocacy at any point when it’sneeded.

“We stress on strict enforcement oflaws that exist to support clean air. Couldbe on tree felling, waste burning, crack-ers, vehicular emissions, constructiondust, waste management or thermalpower plants,” she explains.

Every person above the ordinary hasa certain mission that they are called tofulfil. Warrior moms’ mission is to ensureimplementation of World HealthOrganisation (WHO) air quality standardsall over India by demanding accountabil-ity from public and private authorities onair quality abatement plans, engaging with

relevant stakeholders on proven cost-effec-tive solutions and growing and buildingthe capacity of more mothers to join themovement and effect change.

According to WHO, 98 per cent ofchildren in India breathe unsafe air. Asthey grow, they start developing lung-relat-ed diseases, suffer acute damage as pol-lutants accumulate in the lungs—asthma,allergies, bronchitis, pneumonia, lungdamage, reduced lung capacity.

“As more studies keep coming in fromaround the world, we are realising thesheer scale of the damage done to thecountry,” she says.

Alongside this, the tiny particles

(PM2.5) enter the bloodstream and crossinto all major organs of the body causingdamage that is long-term and irreversible.

“As mothers learning of these healthimpacts and seeing that India has higherrates than the world in almost all of them,it motivates us not only when and if ourchildren are sick, but also to worry abouttheir future health,” Kndhari tells us,adding that the analogy of air pollution tocigarettes is particularly poignant when insome cities it is estimated that childrenbreathe in the equivalent of smoking apack of cigarettes a day when the smog setsin.

The movement is growing and war-rior moms work in four steps:

�Build and nurture inclusive women-led networks across India that are co mit-ted to clean air

�Build capacity and commitment ofstakeholders to engage with social, eco-nomic and environmental impacts of airpollution and climate change

�Create and disseminate simple cre-ative communication to improve aware-ness and knowledge and empower change-makers

�Hyper-local, regional, narrativesand collaborative campaigns on the healthimpacts of air pollution

Delhi NCR, Jharkhand, Karnataka,Kerala, Madhya Pradesh, Maharashtra,Punjab, Tamil Nadu and West Bengal arethe states where they are currently active.

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During the lockdown months,Subramani has experienced whatclean air every day can feel like and

wants to see that as a permanent change.She is a documentary filmmaker andteacher, whose films have always focusedon our intrinsic links with our environmentand as a teacher, she speaks with her stu-dents about environmental issues.

“Environment violations in my opin-ion equal human rights violations,” saysSubramani.

Air pollution has always been anissue for her as she has grown up beingconcerned about the environment.Developing asthma as an adult got herthinking about air pollution more andmore apart from chlorofluorocarbons(CFCs), which were the discussion pointsback then.

It was during Anil Agarwal’s campaignthat Subramani got to know more aboutthe effects of leaded fuel and vehicular pol-lution. “I moved to Delhi to study and itreally hit me and since my student days Ihave been passionate about fighting it,” sheshares.

When the pandemic first hit India andthe country went under lockdown onMarch 24, 2020, the pleasant chirpingsound of birds replaced the loud unpleas-ant honking of vehicles, air qualityimproved and sewage and industrial efflu-ents in rivers decreased.

“During the lockdown, the differencein air quality was evident. There was noneed to see AQI or read a report. Youcould see it, smell it and breathe it. It wasclear that the environment was doing waybetter without congested road traffic,among other reasons,” says Subramani.

She adds, “It was during this time Ibecame a part of Warrior Moms as I feltit was more important than ever to joinforces and talk about air pollution and howit affects us.”

With easy access to social media plat-forms nowadays, information spreadslike a rumour. People consume all kindsof news and also fall prey to false knowl-edge. About the climate crisis, Subramanithinks that the awareness is very low andfake information persists and spreads. Shetells us that with the Warrior Moms, everyday is a learning experience and she haslearnt to be less judgemental of people's

choices. She feels empowered to be part ofa group that actually believes in changingchildren’s future.

Being a year old, Warrior Moms is tak-ing a step forward each day with an aimto generate awareness and work towardspolicy change. “We have already put outa list of complaint numbers and evenamong our small group, we have startedmaking some inroads in this area,” she says.

Subramani is quite determined andnow that the warrior moms have cometogether, she is stern with keeping herpromise for fighting climate change. “We'llkeep raising our voices, questioning ourleader. Whatever happens or not, none ofour children will grow up thinking thattheir mothers did nothing,” she tells us.

How do we pick the right fight for chil-dren's future?

Subramani says that there’s no onefight, there are many. “Climate changeencompasses every battle against deforesta-tion, fossil fuels, badly planned urbaninfrastructure and non-compliance withlaws,” she explains, adding that so far as asociety we have been guilted into think-ing that individual action was missing butnow we realise that the tide of inaction andcomplete apathy from Government andcorporates must be addressed, must befought against.

She thinks that there is still a falseequivalence that a growing economy can-not care about the environment and theold trope about development versus envi-ronment must be demolished.

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Batting mainstay SteveSmith on Saturday

emerged as one of the candi-dates for Australian Test cap-taincy after the selectors hadreportedly approached thecountry's cricket board with aproposal to hand over thereins to the former skipper.

Though vice-captain PatCummins remains the fron-trunner for the top job, Smithis also in the reckoning, thecountry's cricket board saidfollowing the resignation ofTim Paine from the top job.

Paine stepped down fromthe post on Friday after beinginvestigated by CricketAustralia (CA) for sendingexplicit messages to a femaleco-worker in 2017.

Paine succeeded Smith ascaptain in 2018 after the bat-ter was banned from interna-tional cricket for 12 monthsand suspended from leader-ship roles for two years for hisrole in the Cape Town ball-tampering scandal.

"There are a range of can-didates who are available forthat role, Steve Smith is one ofthe candidates that is availablefor the role," said CA chairmanRichard Freudenstein during avirtual press conference fol-lowing Paine's resignation.

Meanwhile, there are alsospeculations that the seniornational team selectors are infavour of appointing Smith asskipper.

"It's understood the selec-

tors were interested in theidea of Smith being able tocaptain should an injury orsimilar occur to Tim Paine,with the proposal given theboard's approval,"sen.Com.Au ran a story quot-ing Herald Sun.

The top contender though,remains pace spearheadCummins.

"However, Smith could beappointed as vice-captain tosupport Cummins, who would

be the first fast bowler to cap-tain Australia since 1956,when Ray Lindwall held therole for a solitary Test.

"Smith was barred fromholding a leadership positionwithin the team for two yearsafter the events of Cape Town,with that ban elapsing over ayear ago," sen.Com.Au addedon Saturday, a day after theAustralian cricket was rockedby the Tim Paine "sexting"scandal.

The messages date back to2017, months before Painewas recalled to the Test teamafter a seven-year absence anda joint Cricket Australia andCricket Tasmania investigationcleared him at the time.

The development cameweeks ahead of the five-TestAshes series against tradition-al rivals England. The first Testbegins in Brisbane onDecember 8.

Australia's former chair-man of selectors Trevor Hohnshad said in November thatSmith would probably be acontender to succeed Paine.

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Captain Rohit Sharma willnot waver from his ruthlessapproach but might try

out a few of his reserveplayers as India aim

for a clean sweepagainst NewZealand in thethird and finalT 2 0International,here on Sunday.

Bi latera lT20I series invarious partsof the globe isfast losing itscontext due totoo many pri-vate leaguesbut for Indian

team, after theirWorld Cup disaster,

a series win might helpin partially healing thewounds.

For New Zealand,it's more about com-pleting the assign-ment after a punish-ing schedule thatwill see them playfive games (sinceT20 WC semi-

final) in lessthan twoweeks.

The inhu-

man scheduling means that a 0-3defeat without services of skipperKane Williamson will bruise egosbut not deflate them as results ofbilaterals count very little in the longrun.

Having already pocketed theseries with a couple of near perfectchases on Jaipur and Ranchi belters,there couldn't have been a bettervenue than Eden Gardens for skip-per Rohit to end the series on per-fect note and also try out some of hisreserve bench players.

The first series as full-time T20captain has gone well for Rohit as hewon two tosses, his bowlers put astranglehold on Black Caps battersduring end overs and then as a bat-ter he provided great starts to set theplatform.

The script has been flawless so

far and before Rohit goes into thebreak, a 3-0 annihilation of NewZealand in 'City of Joy', where heonce scored an epic 264 in an ODI,will be like an icing on the cake.

For coach Rahul Dravid, adominant performance like this willalso help him settle the nerves intothe new role before the marquee Testseries against the same rivals start-ing in less than a week's time.

Having already won the series,Rohit and Dravid will now like tomaintain a fine balance betweenwinning and also trying out all theiravailable resources to see how eachand every individual is placed.

Giving Venkatesh Iyer a gowith the ball with the eveningbreeze from River Hooghly aidinga bit of movement won't be a badidea but it depends whether Rohit

wants a sixth bowler.Hence the likes of Ruturaj

Gaikwad, Avesh Khan and IshanKishan will expect that their skipperconsider them for a game in thisseries.

Gaikwad, who came into theseries with an Orange Cap in the IPLmight get a look-in in the top-threewhere he is the most comfortablebatting. But for that to happen, eitherskipper himself or his deputy KLRahul might have to take rest for thegame, which is more of an academ-ic interest and gives an ideal premiseto check the bench strength.

Resting Rahul looks more log-ical as he is supposed to play a rig-orous Test series in four days timeand one T20 International won'tmake much of a difference for thestylish right hander.

Similarly, the exciting AveshKhan could be tried in place of eitherDeepak Chahar or BhuvneshwarKumar while Yuzvendra Chahalwouldn't mind getting a game inplace of Axar Patel or RavichandranAshwin.

Similarly, Rishabh Pant, who hasbeen playing non-stop since start ofthe World Test Championship, maybe rested and Ishan Kishan can begiven a go in the last game. If onelooks at the series, the biggest gainhas been Ravichandran Ashwin'sform in white ball cricket after theprevious regime kept him in the coldfor four years as they never believedin him.

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Double Olympic medallistPV Sindhu and Kidambi

Srikanth crashed out of theIndonesia Masters Super 750badminton tournament aftersuffering straight gamedefeats in the women's andmen's singles semifinalsrespectively to bring the cur-tains down on Indian cam-paign here on Saturday.

Sindhu lost to Japanesetop seed Akane Yamaguchiwhile Srikanth was outplayedby third seed AndersAntonsen of Denmark.

Even though Sindhu hada superior 12-7 head-to-headrecord against the Japaneseshuttler going into the tie,having won both the meet-

ings between the two thisyear, the Indian was no matchfor her rival, losing 13-21 9-21 in a one-sided duel thatlasted just 32 minutes.Sindhu, seeded third, was notat her usual best and trailedher Japanese opponent fromthe start in both the games.

In the second game,

Sindhu had a brief lead beforeYamaguchi dominated herrival throughout to seal theissue in her favour. TheJapanese will now play thewinner of the other semifinalbetween fourth seed AnSeyoung and Thailand'sPhittayaporn Chaiwan.

Srikanth, who had beat-

en compatriot HS Prannoy inthe quarterfinals, lost 14-219-21 to Antonsen in 41 min-utes in the men's singlessemifinals. The former worldnumber one Indian was ableto hold on Antonsen initial-ly, levelling the scores at 3-3,4-4, 5-5 before falling behind.

Srikanth made anotherfine recovery in the firstgame, narrowing down thegap to 12-11 but eventuallylost steam.

In the second game also,both were tied at 4-4 but theDane took eight straightpoints to zoom to 12-4. TheIndian could not recoverfrom there while Antonsennever let his guard down towin the second game and thematch.

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Chennai Super Kings' skipper MahendraSingh Dhoni on Saturday reiterated that

his last T20 game would be played inChennai but said he does not know "whetherit is next year or in five years' time".

Dhoni, who led CSK to their fourthIndian Premier League (IPL) title last monthin the UAE, had earlier said made it clear thathe would be wearing his favourite yellow jer-sey for at least one more season and the fanswill certainly see him playing a "farewellgame" at their beloved Chepauk.

"I have always planned my cricket. Thelast game I played was in Ranchi. The lasthome game in ODI was at my hometown inRanchi. So, hopefully, my last T20 will be inChennai. Whether it's next year or in 5 years'time, we don't really know," Dhoni said atCSK's IPL victory celebration here onSaturday.

Speaking in the presence of Tamil NaduChief Minister M K Stalin, India Cementsvice-chairman and Manging Director NSrinivasan, legendary all-rounder Kapil Dev,BCCI secretary Jay Shah and IPL chairmanBrijesh Patel, Dhoni said CSK's fan follow-ing even during the two years when theymissed the IPL had kept the team going.

"Overall, it is the fan following whichCSK has got, it goes much beyond TamilNadu, it goes beyond the borders of India.Wherever we play -- be it in Bengaluru,Johannesburg or Dubai, we have got the sup-port. Even during the lean patch, we missedtwo years of IPL and that was the period CSKwas most talked about on social media," headded.

Srinivasan was all praise for Dhoni andhis leadership.

" P e o p l etalk about Dhoni's legacy andwhere he is going. He has not goneanywhere, he is still with us," saidthe former BCCI chief.

The iconic former India cap-tain has not played in Chennaisince 2019 as the 2020 edition ofIPL was held in the UAE and CSKplayed matches in the first phaseof the tournament earlier thisyear in Mumbai before it wassuspended due to a breach inthe bio-bubble.

If sources are to bebelieved then CSK will beretaining three players ---skipper Dhoni, all-rounder Ravindra Jadejaand prolific openerRuturaj Gaikwad for thenext auctions.

The 40-year-old for-mer India captain retiredfrom international crick-et in August last year.

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Karnataka defeated Vidarbha by four runsin a thrilling semifinal to enter the sum-

mit clash of the Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophynational T20 tournament here on Saturday.

Asked to bat at the Arun Jaitley stadi-um, Karnataka rode on Rohan Kadam's blis-tering 87 off 56 balls to post a competitive176 for seven and then restricted the oppo-sition to 172 for six with right-arm pacerVidyadhar Patil (1/29) holding his nerve inthe final over.

Patil had to defend 14 runs and thespeedster ensured that his side would facedefending champions Tamil Nadu in thesummit clash.

Karnataka openers Kadam and skipperManish Pandey (54 off 42 balls) gave the sidean aggressive start as they toyed with theVidarbha attack.

The duo took on pacers DarshanNalkande (4/28), Yash Thakur (1/35) andLalit Yadav (2/36) to stitch 132 runs for the

first wicket. Kadam was the more aggres-sive one, while Pandey played the second fid-dle as they brought up the team's fifty in just5.1 overs.

Left-arm-orthodox spinner AkshayKarnewar, who has been economical, con-ceded five runs in his first over even asKarnataka raced to 53/0 after the power play.

While Kadam hammered seven foursand four maximums, Pandey struck twofours and three sixes as they took theVidarbha attack to cleansers.

However, Lalit Yadav broke the standafter removing Kadam in the 16th over, butby then the damage had already been done.

Lalit struck again, this time removingPandey, who was caught by AkshayWakhare.

Karun Nair (5) also fell cheaply but aquick-fire 13-ball-27 by Abhinav Manoharpropelled Karnataka past the 170-run mark.

Darshan Nalkande wreaked havoc inthe middle-order by taking four wickets infours balls in the final over, but it was too

little and too lateChasing a formidable 177, Vidarbha

openers Atharva Taide (32) and GaneshSatish (31) added 43 for the first wicket.

But Karnataka pegged back the oppo-sition by dismissing the top four batters toleave Vidarbha tottering at 103 for four.

Medium pacer Darshan MB then sentback Jitesh Sharma (12) as Vidarbha lost halfits side for 122.

But some late hitting by ApoorvWankhede (27 not out off 22 balls) andKarnewar (22 off 12 balls) meant Vidarbhaneeded 14 off the final over as they took thegame deep.

But pacer Patil dashed Vidarbha'shopes, dismissing Karnewar in the first ballof the final over and then held his nerve tosee his side home.

TN THRASH HYDERABAD BY 8 WICKETSRookie medium pacer P Saravana

Kumar starred with a fifer as defendingchampions Tamil Nadu outplayedHyderabad by eight wickets to sail into thefinal of the Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy T20cricket tournament here on Saturday.

The TN bowlers backed skipper VijayShankar's decision to field first as they bun-dled out the hitherto unbeaten Hyderabadfor 90 in 18.3 overs with only TanayThyagarajan (25 off 24 balls) reached dou-ble figures.

Saravana did most of the damageupfront as he accounted for the top order,including rival captain Tanmay Agarwal (1)and the in-form Tilak Varma (8). He fin-ished with the sensational figure of 5 for 21,the second best ever bowling figures for TNbehind Rahil Shah's 5 for 12.

Hyderabad was tottering at 30 for 5 in6.2 overs and it soon became 39 for 6 whenRavi Teja was dismissed by M Mohammedfor 9.

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Fakhar Zaman hit 57 not outto guide Pakistan to an eight-

wicket victory over Bangladeshthat clinched the three-matchTwenty20 series 2-0 on Saturday.

Zaman and openerMohammad Rizwan put on an85-run stand that was instru-mental in overhaulingBangladesh's paltry 108-7 with11 balls to spare.

Rizwan scored a patient 39off 45 with four boundaries.

Zaman was watchful aftercaptain Babar Azam (5) draggedfast bowler MustafizurRahman's (1-12) delivery on tohis stump in the third over, sim-ilar to his dismissal in the firstmatch.

"Wasn't easy to play shotsearly on, wanted to build part-nerships and succeeded," Zamansaid. "Thankfully we finished itoff well."

He paced the innings, espe-cially after being reprieved on 26when Saif Hassan dropped hiscatch in deep midwicket off

legspinner Aminul Islam (1-30).Zaman brought up his sev-

enth half-century off 40 balls andthen finished the game off on hisown, as Pakistan got to 109-2.

Shaheen Shah Afridi (2-15) and Shadab Khan (2-22)caused the damage toBangladesh amid NajmulHossain's resistance after captainMahmudullah opted to bat first.

Najmul struck 40 off 34, hit-ting five fours. Afridi, replacingHasan Ali, continued his habitto strike in the first over as hetrapped Saif Hassan leg-beforefor duck in the fifth ball.

Naim Sheikh edgedMohammad Wasim's delivery tofirst slip for 2 in the second over,leaving Bangladesh at 5-2.

Afif Hossain flicked Afridito six over backward square legin the first ball he faced. He alsocut Wasim past point for aboundary as Bangladeshappeared to be in control.

Najmul Hossain Shanto atthe other end recovered from hisvulnerable start to dominatebowlers. But Shadab Khan sti-fled the innings and brought anend to the 46-run partnershipwhen Afif 's premedi-tated reverse paddle cost hiswicket for 20.

Najmul chipped in the air togive Shadab, who dived to his leftto take an excellent catch, hissecond wicket. Haris Rauf inbetween took the wicket ofMahmudullah, edging to wick-et-keeper for 12, as the hometeam was 82-5 in 14th over.

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The ball is back in NovakDjokovic's court.

Australian Open chief CraigTiley confirmed on Saturday thateveryone who attends the firstGrand Slam tennis tournament of2022 will need to be fully vaccinat-ed for COVID-19, including all theplayers. That continues to leave thestatus of defending and nine-timechampion Djokovic in question.Djokovic, who has refused to say ifhe's vaccinated, would be attempt-ing to win a record 21st Grand Slamsingles title.

The tournament is scheduledfor Jan. 17-30. The Victorian stategovernment had earlier said onlyvaccinated persons would beallowed into the site for the tour-

nament, and Tiley reiterated that onSaturday. “Everyone on site, thefans, all the staff, the players, willneed to be vaccinated,” Tiley said atthe tournament's officiallaunch.

“There's been a lot ofspeculation about Novak'sposition, he's said it's a pri-vate matter. “We would loveto see Novak here, but heknows he needs to be vac-cinated in order to play. He'salways said that theAustralian Open is theevent that puts the wind inhis sails."

The no-vaccine, no-play edictwas made by the Victorian stategovernment in late October. Itmeans the Australian Open willbecome the first Grand Slam tour-

nament to require mandatoryCOVID-19 vaccines for the players.

Victoria has been the hardest-hit state in Australia, with 1,268pandemic deaths out of the coun-try's total of 1,922 and 109,000 of194,000 overall cases as of Saturday.

Melbourneand manyother areas ofVictoria havebeen subject tolengthy lock-downs and

overnight cur-fews over the

past 18 months.“It's been

made very clear,when the premier(Daniel Andrews)announced several

weeks ago that in order to partici-pate at the Australian Open, tocome into Victoria, you'll need tobe fully vaccinated,” Tiley said ear-lier on a morning television pro-gram. “Immediately we communi-cated that to the playing group, itis the one direction that you takethat is going to ensure everyone'ssafety."

Among the top male players,Tiley, who is the tournament direc-tor, said Rafael Nadal and DaniilMedvedev, who beat Djokovic inthe final of the U.S. Open, prevent-ing the Serbian player from com-pleting a calendar-year Grand Slam,plan to be in Melbourne in January.

Roger Federer, who continuesto recover from right knee surgery,has already said he won't be com-ing.

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Pakistan pacer Hasan Aliwas on Saturday repri-

manded for breaching Level 1of the ICC Code of Conduct,while Bangladesh were fined20 per cent of their match feesfor maintaining slow over-rate during the first T20I inDhaka.

The incident occurred inthe 17th over of Bangladesh'sinnings, when Hasan gave aninappropriate sendoff to bat-ter Nurul Hasan after dis-missing him caught behind thewicket.

Hasan was found to havebreached Article 2.5 of the ICCCode of Conduct for Playersand Player Support Personnel,

which relates to "using lan-guage, actions or gestureswhich disparage or whichcould provoke an aggressivereaction from a batter uponhis/her dismissal during anInternational Match."

"In addition to this, onedemerit point has been addedto the disciplinary record of

Hasan, for whom itwas the first offencein a 24-month peri-od," the ICC said in a

statement.Bangladesh players

have been fined 20 per cent oftheir match fees for maintain-ing slow over-rate in the matchas they were ruled to be oneover short of the target aftertime allowances were takeninto consideration.

"In accordance withArticle 2.22 of the ICC Codeof Conduct for Players andPlayer Support Personnel,which relates to minimumover-rate offences, players arefined 20 per cent of theirmatch fees for every over theirside fails to bowl in the allot-ted time," the ICC said.

Hasan and Bangladeshcaptain Mahmudullah admit-ted the offences and acceptedthe sanctions proposed byNeeyamur Rashid of theEmirates ICC InternationalPanel of Match Referees andratified by the ICC CricketOperations department as perthe COVID-19 interim playingregulations. There was noneed for formal hearing.

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Coming off a disappointinglast season, SC East Bengal

and Jamshedpur FC bothstressed on the importance ofwinning the first match as theykick off their campaign in theIndian Super League here onSunday.

East Bengal will be deter-mined to put the demons of lastseason behind them, havingfinished in the ninth positionafter winning only three out ofthe 20 matches. Jamshedpur FCsettled for the sixth positionafter seven wins and as manylosses in the previous season.The Red Miners though missedout on a semi-final spot by amargin of only four points.

East Bengal have lookedexciting in pre-season undercoach Jose Manuel Diaz and will

be keen to replicate that againstJamshedpur when their seasonbegins at the Tilak Maidan.

He said SC East Bengal willleave no stone unturned intheir effort to bag three pointsfrom their opener.

"For us, the most importantis the first match for gainingconfidence," Diaz said on theeve of the game.

Asked about the KolkataDerby against ATK MohunBagan being the next match,the former Real MadridCastilla boss said: "We are notthinking about the derby justyet. After the pre-season, we arehopeful of doing well in thefirst official match."

Diaz, with assistant coachAngel Puebla Garcia translat-ing for him, added that theteam is prepared to adapt toany situation.

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This time, another goal from RobertLewandowski wasn't enough for

Bayern Munich.Augsburg held on to stun the

Bundesliga leader with a 2-1 win intheir Bavarian derby Friday to climbout of the relegation zone.

It was only Augsburg's third winin 21 league games against its power-ful southeastern neighbor, which fellto its second defeat of the season.Bayern had won 16 of their previous20 meetings.

“For us, this is of course a bittersetback in how we see ourselves, howwe actually want to play the games,"

Thomas Müller said after his 600thcompetitive game for Bayern.

"We need that every match, thisconfirmation that we're the ones whodictate and dominate the games. Andthat doesn't mean ball possession, butthe way and manner in which you playon an opponent.”

It was clear that Bayern missedJoshua Kimmich's presence in mid-field.

The unvaccinated 26-year-old isin quarantine for the second time inas many weeks after coming into con-tact with someone with COVID-19.

Bayern was also without NiklasSüle and Josip Stanišic, who testedpositive for COVID-19. Augsburg was

without winger Rubén Vargas for thesame reason.

It was the first time since the coro-navirus pandemic started thatAugsburg was allowed play in a fullstadium. It was also the last time forat least a few weeks as new restrictions

are coming into place in Bavaria onTuesday limiting capacity to 25%until Dec. 15. Bavaria is being hit hardby Germany's fourth wave of infec-tions.

Augsburg started with intent,playing at pace and not allowing thevisitors any time to settle. The hometeam challenged for every ball andforced Bayern's stars into mistakes.

Mads Pedersen got the deservedopener in the 23rd minute when helet fly inside the far corner after LucasHernandez could only deflect a crossinto his path.

The home fans were celebratingagain in the 35th, when André Hahnmet Iago Amaral Borduchi's cross

with a thumping header past ManuelNeuer after Marcel Sabitzer lost theball in midfield.

But Lewandowski pulled oneback almost immediately afterward,set up by Müller. It was the Polandstar's 14th goal in 12 league games thisseason.

“The first half was bad, really bad,”Müller said.

“And in the second, you could seethat we really wanted to turn itaround. But perhaps we didn't deservethis bit of luck in front of goal due tothe first half.” A u g s b u r g ' sintensity dropped somewhat in thesecond half, when Lewandowski fireda good chance over.

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Lille striker Jonathan Davidconsolidated his position

as the top scorer in the Frenchleague by netting twice in a 2-2 draw with Monaco as defend-ing champion Lille stayed inthe bottom half of the table.

Monaco rallied from a two-goal deficit to salvage a pointdespite having a player sent offand provisionally moved intoseventh place, four points out-side the top four spots.

“We dropped two points,”Lille coach Jocelyn Gourvennec

said. “We miss that grit to finish

off the game.”David converted a penalty

in the fifth minute afterStrahinja Pavlovic stomped onXeka's foot while blocking ashot from the Lille midfielder.

He then doubled the leadin the ninth minute by notch-ing his 10th league goal. Davidchased a ball over the top fromTiago Djalo and held off RubenAguilar before beatingAlexander Nübel from closerange.

The Canada striker could

have completed a hat trickafter collecting a through ballfrom Jonathan Ikone in the39th but was denied by Nübel.

Senegal winger KrepinDiatta pulled one back for thehosts by firing a powerfulstrike into the bottom corner in

the 41st. Monaco nearly equalized

in the 49th after a mix-upbetween Domagoj Bradaricand Lille goalkeeper Ivo Grbic,but Djalo cleared KevinVolland's flick off the line.

Grbic protected Lille's leadby stopping Volland's header inthe 74th and AurelienTchouameni's low drive in the76th.

Monaco was down to 10men in the 78th after Pavlovicreceived a second yellow cardfor a stamp on Ikone, but sub-stitute Wissam Ben Yedder

still netted the equalizer with anangled shot in the 83rd.

“Our first 20 minutes werenot really good, they were evencatastrophic,” Monaco mid-fielder Sofiane Diop said.

“But we managed to turnaround the match in the last 25minutes and we got a mentaledge over them.”

On Saturday, French leagueleader Paris Saint-Germainlooks to keep its perfect homerecord intact against Nanteswhile fifth-place Rennes hostsMontpellier in the battle forEuropean spots.

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�����Xavi Hernández makes his

coaching debut at Barcelonawhen it hosts Espanyol in aderby at Camp Nou.

Xavi has had little time towork with his full squad sincetaking over from RonaldKoeman two weeks ago withmany players having been awaywith their national teams. Healso has several players injured,including striker Ansu Fati.

Espanyol aims to get itsfirst win over its crosstown rivalsince 2009. The city's moremodest club is level on pointswith Xavi's side entering theround, and Espanyol strikerRaúl de Tomás is one of thehottest scorers in the Spanishleague.

Sevilla also hosts Alavésseeking a win that would makeit the overnight league leader.Atlético Madrid hosts Osasunatrying to keep pace with the topthree teams, while Villarreal is atCelta Vigo.������

Three teams will be undernew managers when thePremier League resumes afterthe international break. ButEddie Howe will be unable tolead Newcastle in person afterbeing forced into isolation onFriday after testing positive forthe coronavirus ahead of his firstgame in charge of the Saudi-owned club at home toBrentford.

Former Liverpool midfield-er Steven Gerrard should beback on the touchline on his

return to England with AstonVilla and takes on Brighton onhis debut. Fired by Villa, DeanSmith made an immediatereturn to management atNorwich and the last-placedteam hosts Southampton.

Liverpool hosts Arsenal inthe headline match of the 12thround while leader Chelsea isaway to Leicester andManchester United visitsWatford.� ��'

AC Milan looks to extend itsperfect start at a Fiorentina sidefeaturing one of the league's topyoung strikers in DusanVlahovic, who has scored eightgoals.

A victory for Milan would

put pressure on Serie A leaderNapoli, which visits defendingchampion Inter Milan onSunday.

Napoli and Milan are levelon points but Napoli leads ongoal difference. Also, first-yearLazio coach Maurizio Sarri faceshis former club when strugglingJuventus visits the StadioOlimpico. Atalanta, which is ona five-match unbeaten run, hostsSpezia.�����'

Borussia Dortmund is stillwithout injured striker ErlingHaaland as it hosts Stuttgart inthe Bundesliga. Haaland has ahip muscle injury and it's notclear if he'll return to actionbefore the league's winter break

next month. Stuttgart is 15th and winless

in its last four league games.Union Berlin takes on HerthaBerlin in a local rivalry. It's thefirst game with a full crowd atUnion's stadium since early lastyear but comes as infectionrates in the German capital rise.

Bayer Leverkusen hostsBochum as it seeks its first winsince a crushing 5-1 loss toBayern Munich last month.Leipzig visits Hoffenheim andBorussia Mönchengladbachplays Greuther Fürth.%�����

Runaway leader Paris Saint-Germain takes on Nantes look-ing to get ready for next week'sChampions League clash with

Manchester City. Mauricio Pochettino's play-

ers have a comfortable 10-pointlead at the top of the Frenchleague standings ahead ofSaturday's game at the Parc desPrinces.

Lionel Messi, still chasinghis first league goal for PSG,could make his return aftermissing the 3-2 win in Bordeauxwith a knee injury before theinternational break.

In the battle for Europeanspots, fifth-place Rennes looksto extend its unbeaten run to 11games in all competitions againstMontpellier. Gaetan Laborde,the top scorer in the league, willlead the attack for Rennesagainst his former club.

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Lewis Hamilton and MaxVetstappen qualified 1-2

for the inaugural Qatar GrandPrix, setting up a showdownbetween the Formula Onechampionship contenders atthe very start of Sunday's race.

Hamilton won the 102ndpole of his career, fourth of theseason and first since theHungarian Grand Prix inAugust. Hamilton trailsVerstappen by 14 points in thechampionship fight with threeraces remaining.

He beat Verstappen by0.455 seconds Saturday to winthe pole at Losail InternationalCircuit. The seven-time cham-pion said his stomach hadbeen bothering him since hearrived in Qatar, but a goodnight's sleep helped his recov-ery.

Hamilton said his stom-achache made opening day atthe new circuit difficult, and hewas fourth in both of Friday'spractice sessions.

“I really struggledthroughout first practice andI was just really off,” Hamiltonsaid.

“I was here 'til midnightworking with the engineers,who also always work so late,and found I lot of areas inwhich I can improve.”

Mercedes made changes inSaturday's final practice andHamilton said in qualifying hewas aided by smart strategythat sent him on track with lit-tle traffic and a strong lap bythe driver.

“That last lap was beauti-ful, it was a really sweet lap,”

Hamilton said. “This track isamazing to drive, it is incred-ibly fast. It felt good.”

Verstappen said Red Bullwas lacking pace and notedthat teammate Sergio Perezfailed to advance to the finalqualifying group. Perez willstart 11th.

“It's been just a bit moretricky for us in qualifying,”Verstappen said.

“We are struggling a bitmore than normal. We'venever done a race here, sothere's a lot of unknowns.”

The race is the first in a 10-year deal between F1 andQatar. Valtteri Bottas, team-mate to Hamilton at Mercedes,qualified third and was fol-lowed by Pierre Gasly ofAlphaTauri. Gasly has beenfast all weekend but a tirepuncture near the end of qual-ifying slowed him.

Fernando Alonso qualifiedfifth and was followed byLando Norris and CarlosSainz.

The weekend opened withthe Brazil GP still the maintopic of discussion as Mercedescontested the FIA decisionnot to penalize Verstappenfor running Hamilton wide offcourse last week in Sao Paulo.Mercedes requested a review ofthe decision, which the FIAdenied in the middle of aFriday press briefing betweenthe principals of the two war-ring teams.

It was a tense 30-minutesession between Mercedeshead Toto Wolff and ChristianHorner, team principal forRed Bull, and both agreedthey have no relationship. ButHorner also publicly ques-tioned the legality of theMercedes.

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For a team whostood number No.

1 Test team in theworld after beatingSri Lanka 2-0 inDecember 2016,India is sufferingdebilitate loses.India has slippeddown its place inICC ranking tonumber 4 in 2021.

After 2021World Cup many

important deci-sions weretaken, whichchanged the

gaming strategy ofIndian cricketfrom resigning ofIndia's head coachRavi Shastri to

Virat Kohli steppingdown as India's T20captain following theT20 World Cup.

Under RaviShastri, India won twoback-to-back Testseries Down Under

and is currentlyleading afive-matchTest series 2-

1 against England in their ownbackyard. Shastri's tenure wasa highly fruitful one for theIndian team, and it was underhis guidance that India notjust won the Test series over-seas but also remained the No.1 Test side for almost fiveyears.

He, along with skipperVirat Kohli, has worked exten-sively on the team and tookIndian cricket to new heights,but one thing that eludedhim was the ICC trophy.India started as favourites inthe 2019 World Cup, the 2021World Championship finaland the 2021 T20 World Cupas well, but choked on the bigoccasions repeatedly for sim-ilar reasons, i.e., team selec-tion.

And now that RahulDravid is the boss, everyoneassociated with Indian crick-et in any way will hope thatIndia wins the ICC tourna-ments and ends the duck ofeight years.

Rahul Dravid is a legendof the game, and his appoint-ment as Indian coach could-n't have come at a better timethan this. At present, with theIPL giving the platform for somany young cricketers toshowcase their talents and

make a name for themselves,Dravid, who has worked withthem since their U19 days,can grill them to get the bestof the budding talents.

There are so many thingsone can expect to change inthe Indian team after Dravid'sappointment to the top job.The Pioneer lists a few:

More chances for youngstersDravid has worked exten-

sively with Indian playerseven before he took the Indiahead coach job. He was the

Indian U19 coach for fouryears before he took up theNCA head role in July 2019.He was in charge of "oversee-ing all cricket-related activitiesat the NCA and was involvedin mentoring, coaching, train-ing, and motivating players,coaches, and support staff atthe NCA." He was widelypraised as NCA's head fordeveloping a steady supply oftalent for the senior teamand overhauling player fitnessand rehabilitation regimens.

He has worked with play-

ers like Rishabh Pant, ShreyasIyer, Sanju Samson,Washington Sundar, PrithviShaw, and Shubman Gill dur-ing his time with India U19,Delhi Daredevils, andRajasthan Royals and hasplayed a big role in whatthese youngsters are today.

With the Indian teamexpected to go through atransition phase in the com-ing years, Dravid is expect-ed to invest in these young-sters to make them ready forthe future.

Longer run time for playersIn the last few years, a lot

of players made their Indiandebut after getting selected onthe back of strong IPL shows,and in fact, did well with thenational side as well, butcouldn't prolong their inter-national career because theyweren't given a longer run.Players like Khaleel Ahmed,Vijay Shankar, Navdeep Saini,and Shivam Dube are exam-ples of that.

It is understood that thereis cut-throat competition inIndia, but the players deserveenough chances to expressthemselves. And underDravid's time, players areexpected to get many oppor-tunities to deliver and it willbe a good learning experi-ence.

Strong bench strengthIndia won the historic

Test series against Australiaearlier this year by beating thehosts Down Under. The high-light of that win was India'sbench strength and how,despite suffering from contin-uous player injuries, theIndian team beat all odds todo the unthinkable. Eventhough Dravid was not therein Australia at that time, it was

his plan that helped Indiaachieve the milestone.

It was Dravid's masterplan to allow "A" teams to goon exposure tours overseasand get familiar with theconditions there in order toget match-ready so that whenthe situation arrives, theydon't feel alien to those con-ditions. India lost as many asten main team players duringthe Test series, but thereplacement players never letanyone feel that way anddelivered in India's historictriumph.

Better communication withplayers

Dravid has been associat-ed with Indian cricket formore than two decades nowand has seen Indian cricket inand out. As a player, captain,senior player, mentor, U19coach, and now head coach ofthe Indian team, he has beenthrough a process and under-stands every aspect of thegame. And good communi-cation is the key to gettingresults.

The players should feelfree to talk and discuss withthe senior pros about thegame, and that's what Dravidcan do the best. He is easily

approachable and there's noone better than him to guideplayers through their game.

Rohit an asset for IndiaRohit Sharma has proved

his abilities as a captain in theIndian Premier League,where he has won five IPLtitles for the Mumbai Indiansin nine years. What makeshim special is his ability toremain calm and get the bestout of his players. His leader-ship style is very similar tothat of former Indian captainMS Dhoni, as both of themremain cool on the field nomatter how complex the sit-uation is.

One of the highlights ofRohit's captaincy is that helikes to make minimalchanges and trusts his playersto win matches. In the IPL,one of the big reasons forMumbai Indians' success wasthe consistency in team selec-tion and how they used togive proper run to trustedplayers to express themselves.With the next T20 World Cupset to kick off in less than 11months, one would expectRohit Sharma to have thesame success with the Indianteam as well as he had withthe Mumbai Indians.

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�What is Tanha Dil about?It is about a first person's experience and jour-ney through depression. How he has to fight itand how he has to overcome it. It's in a beautifulsong format. �When and why did you start working onthis track? The thought of creating a song on mental healthhas been on my mind for 2-3 years. With theoriginal Tanha Dil completing 20 years, some-where I felt like maybe we can connect thesetwo dots and create something beautiful thatwill have a strong message as well as a strongmelody.�How important do you think it is to spreadMental Health Awareness? I think in this age and time the message of men-tal health awareness is extremely important.While all of us are putting a lot of time andeffort to keep ourselves physically strong, we

don't tend to be doing the same to keep ourmental wellbeing. Because of which the

stress, anxiety levels, pollution around inour minds is definitely deteriorating

our mental health. We have to beaware of it and take care of our men-

tal health. To add to it, there is astigma where people don't talkabout this and it's very importantfor us to talk about it and bemore patient with people who are

going through mental health issue.To be able to understand them,

accept them and help them getbetter.�Why has this version

come after 20 years? The fact that I made this

song after 20 years isprobably because you

have to live your lifethat much to

understand what

these issues are. I have gone through a personalsituation with mental health, which is in the lastcouple years now. Which is why it was just coin-cidental that I thought I should make a song onmental health. I have called it Tanha Dil TanhaSafar only because the phrase goes very wellwith my song.�Tell us about your journey as a singer. My journey as a singer has been very enjoyableand a lot of fun. I have been able to explore dif-ferent kinds of music as a singer, composer, lyri-cist. I probably have done the most music videosany Indian artist has and lot of collaborationswith Bollywood, non-Bollywood, different gen-res. It's been a lot of fun and I believe that theparty has just begun. �You have also hosted shows. How do youfind hosting? Yes, I started as a television host many yearsago. Since 1996 I have been hosting a lot ofshows almost till 2010. It used to be a lot of funbut very strenuous. It would take a toll on mythroat too so I had to ease off from hosting.Sometimes I do hosting as Its something I real-ly enjoy doing.

�How tough is to judge and decide a winner? It's very tough to judge, and to decide a winnerbecause music is such a subject. It's not likeeveryone runs and reaches the finish line earli-est. It's subjective like someone likes somebody'ssinging. Someone else might like somebodyelse's singing. To come to a unanimous decisionis always difficult. As along as you do it with alot of integrity and do it with all your heart,patience and Passion, you will more or lessreach the right decision. And you have to trustyour instincts.�You have acted and sung for movies in dif-ferent languages. How many languages do youknow? And how do you overcome the lan-guage barrier if any?

Honestly, I know Bengali, Hindi, English,Marathi and I can understand Gujarati to someextent. But beyond that no other language. Yes Ihave sung in 20 odd languages. It's easy thesedays because you can prepare plans, there aresupervisors and you don't have to sing the entirething in a go. You can do it line by line as longas you get the pronunciation right.�What is your favourite genre and why?

I don't have a favourite genre of music but Ithink song and lyrics that merge beautifully andthere is something original and fresh about thesong, I love it. It could be a dance track, lovesong, ghazal, it doesn't matter but it's got tomake a good marriage of music, lyric andmood.�Any song which is very close to your heart?

That's a difficult question to answer. Toomany songs to mention any one that's close tomy heart.�What are your upcoming projects?

Among upcoming projects, there will bemore songs coming up in my Shaan music label.I'm in talks to be part of more television shows.Looking to explore new avenues like acting andcomposing more for film projects. It's good andI'm happy to be excited about it.

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What if you found theperfect dress towear at a party butit is not in yoursize? What if you

liked a design of a blouse but thereis nobody you know who can tailorit for you? What if you are on a tightschedule and need a blouse butdon’t have the time to go to the mar-ket and buy the material and give itfor stitching?

All this and much more willsoon be available at a touch on thescreen of your smartphone. Yes, youread that correct. Within the nexttwo-three weeks an app — Louoj —will transform the way you giveclothes for stitching.

The app is the brainchild ofBibhuti Dash founder-CEO, Louoj.It took him seven years to perfect it.The end result? A B2B2C market-place that will take care of all yourtailoring needs from the comfort ofyour home.

“Think of it like your personaltailor with a slight difference. Thisone is on your smartphone. Our appis already catering to people in theB2B segment and now that we haveperfected this aspect of the businesswe are all set to introduce B2C,”Dash says.

The idea to create this appcame because Dash wanted tocater to people who want a certaindesign on a particular material.

“Usually when you go to e-com-merce sites to buy ready-madeclothing, if you like the pattern youbuy it even if you are not enam-oured with the neckline or thesleeve design or even the back

design. This is where we step in.Our app has over 500 materials thatthe app user can choose from.There are hundreds of neck, sleeveand back designs that he can choosefrom. The person has access to tensof designers who can help youmake your mind if you are confusedabout what you want or what willsuit you,” Dash explains.

MD Wakil Rahman, owner andtailor master of Tailor Made FashionStudio from Ernakulam, Keralatells you that most people who cometo him know what they want.Others are confused. We are here tohelp them. To begin with, I wasapprehensive how the app will workbut I have been using it for four-fivemonths and it is simple and user-friendly. All that we need from thecustomer is the normal size that shewears. For example it is a mediumsize of a particular brand. We thenask them to send a full-length pho-tograph. This gives us the bodyshape of the person. Sometimes wemay ask them to send us measure-ments as well. Once they have cho-sen the design and the material, theclothing can be delivered within 72hours. But if the design is compli-cated and the person has chosen amaterial of another designer, thiswill take time,” Wakil tells you.

Dash says that there are thou-sands of permutation combinationsthat are available to the customer.He can choose the design from theapp; he can give his own design; hecan choose the material of a par-ticular designer and a neckline byanother designer; he can even givehis own material.

“This is the best part of the app.The customer is king here. He isspoilt for choice. He can pick andchoose what he wants. But to givethis kind of choice took time; sevenyears to be precise. I had worked indifferent industries and therefore Icould design the 3D design cus-tomisation for the app. I have doneso much R&D. I have even joinedthe material manufacturer withdesigners. Now, the designer does-n’t have to hold 500 rolls of differ-ent material. He just needs to placehis demand with the manufacturer.As soon as there is a demand themanufacturer ships the material.This benefits both — the designerwho doesn’t have to invest lakhs in

buying material, the manufacturerwho is quickly able to sell theentire roll,” Dash tells you.

Bijoy Munda, a designer andowner of Fabric House inBhubaneswar, Odisha opines thatthis app is a game-changer. “Wehave ben in this business for years.But what this app offers is going tomake it possible for the customersitting anywhere, be it India orabroad, to get whatever article ofclothing he wants by just coming onthe app. The rates are competitiveas well. But this go up if the designis complicated and if the materielthat the client wants takes time ofarrive because it is of anotherdesigner,” Binoy says.

Wakil tells you that while peo-ple are used to going to a tailor, thisapp will change the way how theywill be getting their tailoring needsfulfilled in the future.

“The app is for people who arealready shopping for clothes from e-commerce sites. We are just goinga step ahead and providing themwith an experience that they willlove. Now, they can pick and choosewhat they want instead of buyingwhat is being offered on such sites,”Dash says.

Munda tells you that there aremany people who don’t have thetime to run around buying mater-ial and then go to a tailor and givehim a design. The app makes it easyfor him. Within a few minutes he isconnected to a designer. He hashundreds of material to choosefrom as well as any design that hewants. This makes things easy forall,” Munda says.

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�How does it feel to receivethe National Award? Whatdoes it represent for you?

I am truly honoured afterreceiving this prestigious award.This is an inspiration and moti-vation to me to work more nmore hard and always give mybest. I want to dedicate thisaward to my fans and followersand friends who has been alwayssupporting me from the verybeginning.� You have come a long waysince Sa Re Ga Ma Pa (SRGMP)days. How has the journeybeen?

The journey was not at allsmooth. As I came from a verysmall town in West Bengalwhere people hardly get thiskind of platform and exposure.So coming from such a back-ground and to become a runnersup in the Competition is alwaysvery special to me. I have learneda lot from all my mentors andthe judges like Vishal ji, Sajid-Wajid ji and it was a wonderfullearning experience to me..

�How did you get interestedin music?

From childhood I had aninclination towards musicbecause of my father. He is nomore, but his love for music hasmade me a true music lover andfrom there my love and affectiontowards music started.� You did many digital con-certs. Was it very challenging?

They are always challengingin the beginning but let me tellyou this is one of the most beau-tiful way to connect with yourfans and audiences who enjoysyour performance sitting back athome. Digital concerts has beena solution to entertainment dur-ing the tough pandemic time.�What made you say yes to bepart of the great grand jury onSRGMP?

If you see that in a platformfrom where you started yourmusical journey and have gotrecognised and at the same stageafter 10 years you got an oppor-tunity to become a great grandjury I think very few people will

deny to this. Also, sharing theplatform with my idol Shankarji and Vishal ji means a lot to me.�What/who inspires you?

Music inspires me a lot. MdRafi Sahab, Kishore Kumar,Mukesh Ji inspires me a lot. Ihave learnt a lot of things frommany great music composerslike SD Burma and RD Burma.

There is Shankar Mahadevanand AR Rahman; they have beengreat inspiration to me as well.�How did you end up work-ing for Bengali and Odiyaindustry?

Both the industries arealmost same. Only difference isthe language. One great thingabout Odiya industry is the lovefor independent music and inde-pendent musicians. WhereasBengali industry is mostly basedon filmy music.�How critical is music for afilm in India?

Music is an integral part ofevery film in India. Because thestory line which Indian storiescarries in the cinema music isrequired to depict that in abeautiful way. Other than songsbackground score plays the mostimportant role in any film.�What next?

Many projects like LucknowTimes an Aasma will be gettingreleased soon. Other than thesethere are few other films as wellon which I am working on.

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The pandemic has changed the waywe travel and changed our percep-tion of priorities. Throughout thelockdown, people have travelled theworld virtually and built on their

bucket lists. Lockdown fatigue had resulted instrong pent-up demand which is fuellingunique trends in travel. Upon easing of restric-tions, travellers have started to rekindle theirtravel plans through weekend getaways, stayca-tions and drivecations, and similar convenientgetaways from the challenging life of work-from-home schedules.

The extended lockdown urged travellers tomove out of the confines of their homes andpursue workations from scenic destinations —right from hills to beaches — which enabledthem to strike a healthy work-life balance. Thenew normal has drastically impacted travellerbehaviour; people have started appreciating theimportance of spending quality time withloved ones.

������(��������)���� �'With the easing restrictions on domestic

travel and highly limited option for interna-tional trips, domestic has come under the spot-light like never before.

Festive travel is of great importance inIndia especially during Diwali and Christmas,clubbing weekends and extended weekendphenomenon are driving domestic travel.Travellers book domestic trips for various rea-sons like family bonding, celebrate specialoccasions and milestones/weddings in India.Millennials as well as elders enjoy these vaca-tions and look forward to these drivable breaksand air-inclusive travel plans.

Besides the all-time favourite — Goa, thepandemic has inspired Indians to explore theircountry which has created strong demand fordestinations like Leh-Ladakh, Kashmir and theNorth East. People want to explore India indepth and visit the unique destinations ourcountry has to offer.

���'����$����(��!�*�''�)�$��$#�����&�����+�+������!

According to the survey primordialHygiene & Safety, 77% of Indians need thereassurance of travelling/staying with brandsthat provide clear cut health and safety poli-cies. Hotels, airports, airlines are investing incomprehensive safety protocols as travellers are

putting health and safety first. Some of the firstmovers in the space were top brands like SGClean, Vistara Clean, Marriott CleanlinessCouncil etc.

�,+����$)�&�������� �'Travel is now all about special and unique

experiences — based on each travellers inter-ests/passions or to help them to reconnect withtheir loved ones. Travel experiences whichoffer true discovery/exploration of local cul-tures, heritage and communities and creatememories that money cannot buy.

Indians are hungry for hidden gems suchas the living root bridges or canoeing on theDawki Lake — a clear lake in Meghalaya. Theyare also interested in outdoor adventure —such as biking trips, hiking, camping, junglesafaris and extra-ordinary experiences like pic-nic lunch in the middle of an apple orchard,swimming with the sharks, living in a glassigloo, stay in tree house in the middle of a jun-gle, experience as well as curate different kindsof cuisines with the help of local chefs. Peoplewant to dare to dream and tick off optionsfrom their bucket list such as bungee jumpingand other adrenaline rushing experiences.These experiences are for a lifetime and cannotbe bought with money.

�'�*���� �'People want to live in the moment and

enjoy an unhurried life which is why they wishto explore slow and immersive travel options.Mono-destinations are in demand as peoplewant to exclusively experience a particularplace and learn of its culture, heritage and peo-ple. Travellers are attracted towards fuller andricher experiences that allow them to connect,explore and unwind through self-driven andplanned trips. They prefer travel at a languidpace affording them the time to explore morewithout rushing into covering places within alimited span of time. They want to travel to theinteriors and places which is closer to nature torefresh themselves from a prolonged indoorlifestyle during the lockdown.

'#,#���#�� �)����$�Travellers are ready to tick off their travel

bucket list instead of spending on materialisticcommodities. They are opting for higher cate-gory hotels, premium home stays, independentvillas and properties which promise the com-

fort of a vacation while meeting additionalrequirements of hygiene and safety. They pre-fer staying in unique accommodations whenthey travel and explore extra-ordinary optionssuch as heritage homes, havelis and villas.Heritage homes include colonial stays in placeslike Goa, Bengal and Rajasthan with the provi-sion of timelessness that allows people to havea relaxing stay with anytime dining options.Travellers now prefer villas over hotels andrestaurants with more spaces including privatevillas with personal chef and concierge ser-vices, villas with a backyard, pool with a deckand more for relaxation.

Resorts and Vacation Rentals have wit-nessed a strong demand as travellers emergedfrom the pandemic with the intension toexplore options for staycations or a change ofscenery in a safe and sanitised manner, seekinglarger spaces that are better equipped forlonger leisure stays and social isolation, subur-ban destinations, resorts and vacation rentalshave continued to witness strong demand, out-pacing hotels on the pandemic recovery front.

Safety and hygiene are also important fac-tors which are driving people for luxury travelas travellers are looking for more safety precau-tions during their journeys.

The number of people opting for premiumstays has been increasing as safety and hygienehave emerged as the new comfort in travel.The traditional checklist has now made way foradequate social distancing, demand for a pri-vate kitchen, additional room for help or sup-port staff, etc. Travellers are now looking atmeaningful experiences to foster meaningfulconnections with the local people along withtheir own families and friends and may priori-tise this over mass tourism formats focused oncities.

�#����$�&'����� �'The new generation travellers are environ-

ment conscious and seem to be interested inenvironment friendly tourism which in turnpromoted sustainable travel options in 2021.Sustainable travel choices are mostly closer toremote villages and they not only provide aboost to these communities, but are accessibleand affordable and are a transformative choicecontributing to unique and individual travelexperiences. They also help in raising funds forconserving nature in these areas. This trendhas definitely accelerated over the past year

and it is expected to grow further in 2022.

��%���'��� �'#���$��$��)�$��)�'������� �'During the pandemic, the travel and hos-

pitality industry has made significant efforts toboost confidence among travellers by makingservices contactless for their convenience asfar as possible. These include contactlesscheck-ins at airports and hotels to order foodand beverages, concierge services at hotelsonline. Basically, contactless offerings arebecoming the much needed norm for this cur-rent situation more than an exception.Travellers are warming up and getting com-fortable with the idea of using contactless ser-vices and building appreciation for tech-richexperiences that promise travel safety, upfront.

Digital experience has definitely emergedas a key game-changer for the travel and hos-pitality segment. Before the pandemic, trav-ellers or guests interacted with a hotel brandprimarily through the physical experience andthe service experience but in the present situ-ation, there is the digital experience andhotels have equipped themselves in this shortspan of time to capitalise on the digital expe-rience which ensures that all guest needs aremet virtually — before, during as well as aftertheir stay. Across the country’s travel and hos-pitality segment, the digital shift has beencompletely transformational and a boom forleisure and business travellers and the indus-try as a whole.

*����'����������(��������$�#���!Even though Covid numbers have

declined in the past few months in the coun-try, but the travel and hospitality industryneeds to take responsibility to follow Covid-related protocols till the time the situationcompletely gets back to normalcy as our safe-ty is in our hands.

These new travel trends will spark a newbeginning in 2022. With these new offerings,travellers can prioritise and opt for what suitsthem best while adhering to the safety proto-cols and social distancing norms. The traveland hospitality industry has come a long waysince being harshly impacted by the pandem-ic. The industry has developed and evolvedfor a better tomorrow and will hopefullycover up the losses sooner than expected.

The writer is President & Country Head —Holidays, MICE, Visa, Thomas Cook

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With the confidence of humanity shaken, recoveryin the post-Covid world will not be easy. The coro-na scare in these two years was a nightmare most

of us will find difficult to forget. Only way out is faith. Faithin God. Faith in humanity. Faith in ourselves. But under-standing faith is difficult. Practicing it more so. To the entirehumanity driven by pathophobia, an episode from a 1960sBollywood movie Guide may provide some clues. This filmnot just offered entertainment, but also provided enrich-ment to the soul for those who could see and hear. RajuGuide, the protagonist played by Dev Anand, is forced bycircumstances to become a Sanyasi ostensibly for the com-mon good. As the news of his sitting on fast to bring rainsto the parched land spreads, crowds throng from all over,turning the place into a pilgrimage. With the news spread-ing far, a foreign journalist is there to cover the event. Thedialogue between the lady and the protagonist is interest-ing. “Swami, do you believe that your fasting will bring rainsto the place,” asks the lady. The Swami replies rather philo-sophically that if 40 crore people (India’s population then)skip food one day, it can feed the same number for a day.The question is not whether it will rain or not; it is also notwhether he lives or dies. The question is if there is some-one behind this beautifully designed and orderly world; andif so, does He listen to his people. This piece of teleologi-cal argument is a popular theistic assertion offering proofto the existence of God. But more important is what sub-sequently happens in the film. The swami dies but it rains,nevertheless, proving his point. There is God, and He lis-tens. This is the crux of the matter. Faith that there is Godand belief that he stands with his people in times of crisis.In this world full of uncertainties only faith works. Faith isGod. Faith is power. Faith is religion. The story of creationin any religious order should never be regarded as a pieceof scientific description. It should be seen as the classicmythological expression of the belief that the whole natur-al order is a divine creation. God is the sole ruler and gov-ernor of this world and there is a divine design behind every-thing. Thus, the Christian dictum, “don’t believe so that youmay have faith, have faith so that you may believe”. Faithmakes things happen. In medical science, the power of faithin healing has been tested time and again. The curative powerof faith has been proved in psychology laboratories throughthe placebo effect. Faith is the basis of many a miracles. Yousee what you believe. Sometimes you create what you believe.But the underlying condition is — one hundred percent faith.That is why in medical colleges pupils are told that the eyescannot see what the mind does not know. In ancient Greekmythology, Pygmalion, the sculptor king of Cyprus, carveda statue of the ideal woman, fell in love with his creation,and through the strength of his own will and the assistanceof the Goddess Venus, brought it to life. Centuries later,George Bernard Shaw wrote world famous play Pygmalionusing a similar theme. In modern management literature,a phenomenon called Pygmalion Effect has been identified.It suggests that if things are believed, they become self-ful-filling prophecies. Wishes, then, can be horses.

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The karmaphala principle, asset out by God, is implement-ed by divine authorities exact-

ly as per the guidelines given by Godto them. They enforce them strictlyand without getting emotional aboutthe effect. Continuing about the ben-efits of soul consciousness, it alsomakes us develop firm faith in theexistence of God, who can help in allcircumstances, because there are twotypes of karmas: material and spiri-tual. These spiritual acts come underthe purview of God; He is the one,who can reward us in many ways.These are superior to material kar-mas. Therefore, one is motivated todo spiritual practices, and there aremany of them. One can choose,which suit one’s nature. For example,I have chosen chanting, writing spir-itual texts and having ‘darshan’ ofGod in His photo forms.

God consciousness, whichbecomes strong due to soul con-sciousness, brings many benefits. Ibecame serious about doing spiritu-al practices once I became aware oftheir usefulness to me. What did Ineed the most? Peace of mind ofcourse. This could come only fromGod (Bhagavad Gita 2.66), becauseHe only can solve any problem,which we are faced with. There aremany personal matters, about whichonly we and God can be aware of. Ifwe are unable to solve any problemthen, the answer has to come fromGod, who is privy to everythingabout us. I have been pleasantly sur-prised when a solution came fromGod, which only He could providedue to His being omniscient. Suchoccurrences have helped me tobecome serious in doing spiritual

practices, which in turn have broughtmany bounties from God, because inspiritual domain also the samekarmaphala principle operates, excepthere the acts are spiritual.

Progressively, my faith in God hasincreased. Other benefits have also sur-faced inevitably. With less attachmentwith the body, fear of death began toreduce a little, because I understandthat God is the ultimate arbiter of mylife. As I am linked to Him, I ambecoming reasonably sure that Godwill take care of me. More than death,my fear about ending up badly beganto reduce appreciably.

Some more benefits will progres-

sively accrue to us due to becomingsoul conscious. We will prepare betterfor the next birth, which will come forsure. We all have many desires. Thereis nothing wrong in having desires aslong as they according to ‘dharma’(7.11) We can hope to see them ful-filled in the next life, if for some rea-sons we are unable to get success in thislife. All we need to do is to go on withprescribed behaviour (6.17). God isvery kind; He will surely help. However,God appreciates acts done in themood of service more, because they arecontribute to the general well being.

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Throughout the year, there aremany occasions when wegive and receive gifts. Thesecould be on birthdays,anniversaries or various hol-

iday seasons that are associated withgift-giving. When we look at the pile ofwrapped gifts in our house, we discov-er most of them are material objects. Wemay have received clothing, jewellery,toys, games, gadgets or gift cards to buymore things. Yet, every one of these pre-sents are subject to decay with time.Nothing made of matter lasts and nei-ther will these gifts that we cherish. Isthere any gift we can receive that ismore valuable and will last forever?

It is the gift of kindness. Kindnessattracts the heart and fills the heart withlove for another. If we cultivated kind-ness in our hearts, we would see peo-ple flock to us. This would bring a trans-formation in them.

Think about people in your lifewho were kind to you. We may have felta special attraction or affection forthem. The first people who are kind tous in our lives are our parents. Wedevelop a lifelong loving bond with thefirst people who take care of us whenwe are young and helpless.

As we grow up, certain people whoare kind to us end up becoming ourfriends. When we meet the personwhom we are to marry, we find a spe-cial loving kindness in them toward usborne out of deep love.

First impressions are often lasting.If people find that their first impressionof someone is aloof, rude, uncaring andaggressive, they may reject whateverthat person represents in their life. Onthe other hand, if they meet someonewho is loving, kind and caring, they willbe drawn to what that person repre-sents. People are attracted by the kind-ness one exhibits.

There are many opportunities forus to show loving kindness, which hasthe power to transform others. One iskindness in deed. It may be a large actof kindness such as serving the sick,feeding the hungry or providing a homefor the homeless. It may be a small actbut it is remembered for a lifetime. Youmay open the door for someone whosehands are full. You may buy groceriesfor someone or give someone a ridesomewhere when their car breaksdown. It may even just be a smile thatmakes someone feel loved and cared for.We do not realise what a loving lookand smile means for someone’s day oreven life.

-�$�$��������#%��*����There are opportunities to show

loving kindness through our words. Akind word and a word of encourage-ment, acknowledgement or praise goesa long way in making someone feelclose to us. Telling people that we lovethem endears them to us for life. A fewloving, kind words can make people feel

regard and respect for us.

-�$�$�����$��#�����#%���Loving kindness is important even

in our thoughts. We think our thoughtsare private but others can read them asthey emit a vibration. Thoughts showon our face. They show through oureyes and are expressed in the way westand and walk. People can tell whetherwe care for them or not through ourbody language and nonverbal commu-nication.

-�$�$�����$��#�������Part of our spiritual development

is to grow a kind spirit. To do this, weneed to put ourselves into the shoes ofothers. It means feeling the joys andpains of others. This requires us askingourselves if the words we speak are thewords we want others to say to us. Itmeans that the deeds we do to othersare those we want others to do to us.This means acting in a manner inwhich God would want us to act like.

By cultivating loving kindness,people will feel happy to be around us.

We would make them feel safe. Theywould feel we are loving and helpful.We would be the kind of people thatothers would want to be with. Then,they would ask how we became sokind. They would wonder about thelife we are leading. If we are leadinga good life with positive values, thiswould be the greatest influencetowards showing the benefits of a pos-itive life and would transform them.

Therefore, let us develop lovingkindness. If we do a service project,let us also develop loving kindness, forthat will be the impression on whichpeople judge the value of a life of ser-vice.

Saints attract souls by reflectingGod’s loving kindness. They are theabode of loving kindness. When theyare loving, caring and affectionate tous, our soul is drawn on the journeyback to God. Through loving kindnesswe can reflect God’s love and affect thelives of all who meet us. We can devel-op loving kindness by following thespiritual life.

One way to cultivate kindness is

through meditation. Meditating,doing introspection of our thoughts,words and deeds, and performing self-less service can grow kindness with-in us.

In meditation, we are becomingone with God, the source of all kind-ness and love. When we go withinthrough meditation, we embark onthe inner journey back to God. Thatis a journey of love and kindness. Weare enveloped ina protective embraceof love. In that state, there is no placefor anything but kindness.

Meditation uplifts us to realmswhere we see ourselves as soul andknow that we are drops of the Creator.We become all-conscious. It is at thatstage that we become more loving andcaring human beings.

The gift of transformation we getfrom meditation is one that is not keptto ourselves. It is like a divine fra-grance that spreads into the atmos-phere. When we are open to receivethis gift for ourselves, it would not belong before we transform the world.

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Mental and emotionalhealth is vital to ahealthy life, as they

play a role in how you think,act, and feel. Working, study-ing, or caring for others can bemore productive when you areemotionally healthy. Your men-tal health plays an importantrole in a healthy relationshipand in adapting to adversity.

It is crucial to take care ofyourself and enjoy life to thefullest. Here are a few tips fortaking care of your mentalhealth:● Put yourself first: Avoid self-criticism, and treat yourselfwith kindness and respect.Consider your hobbies andfavorite projects, and considerbroadening your horizons.Take dance classes, play aninstrument, do crossword puz-zles every day, plant a garden,or learn another language.

● Embrace good people:Those with strong social orfamily ties are generally health-ier than those without suchties. You can also join a club,class, or support group whereyou can meet new people.Make plans with supportivefamily members and friends.

● Calm your mind: Meditate,practice mindfulness, or pray.A relaxing exercise and aprayer can enhance your men-tal and emotional well-being.Meditation can calm you andenhance your therapeuticeffects.

● Converse: There is no weak-ness in talking about your feel-ings. It’s part of staying healthyand taking control of yourhealth.It’s okay to talk aboutsomething you have beenmulling over for a long time.By doing so, you will releasetension and calm your mind.

● Don’t consume alcohol or

other drugs: Avoid using otherdrugs and drinking alcohol asmuch as possible. The use ofalcohol and other drugs cansometimes be used as a meansof “self-medicating,” but theyworsen problems.

If you need help, ask for it:The act of seeking help demon-strates strength, not weakness.Also, treatment works, so don’t

give up. With the right care,people can recover from men-tal illness and addiction andlead happy, fulfilling lives.

We live in a fast-pacedworld, where often we overlookour mental health. We shouldlook after our mental health inorder to be happy and healthy.

The writer is a life coachand motivational healer

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Europe is once again facingthe heat of a new migration

crisis. This time two EastEuropean (EU) nations —Belarus and Poland — are onthe verge of fighting on theirborders. The reason is thatover thousands of migrantsthat are camping on theBelarus-Poland frontier are try-ing to cross over to Poland. Andthe Polish border guards aresimply not allowing them to getinto their country. These hap-less migrants are also trying tocross over to other Europeannations such as Estonia, Latviaand Lithuania. It seems to be ahybrid attack by Minsk, espe-cially over Warsaw, Tallinn,Riga and Vilnius. For poorand helpless migrants frommost of the conflict zones of theworld, including Africa, thisarduous journey could be apassport to the greener pastureof Europe. But what seems to beemerging from the ground isthat it is soon sliding into amajor humanitarian crisis, withthe death of more than 10migrants by now.

It is worth exploring theorigin of the current imbroglioon the Belarus-Poland border.Belarus was rocked by massiveopposition protests followingthe presidential election in themonth of August 2020. Thatelection gave AlexanderLukashenko more opportuni-ty to tighten his grip overByelorussia (historically called),the Republic of Belarus.However, the Opposition, theEuropean Union (EU) and theWest openly declared the elec-tion and its result as sham. TheBelarusian authorities respond-ed to the demonstrations withfierce force followed by jailingof prominent activists andopposition leaders. The USand the EU subsequentlyimposed sanctions overBelarus. These restrictions overthe Government ofLukashenko were toughenedwhen after an incident in Maywhen a passenger jet flyingfrom Greece to Lithuania wasdiverted by Belarus to Minsksimply to detain dissident jour-nalist Roman Pratasevich. TheEU later termed this incidentas ‘Air Piracy’ and barredBelarussian State airlines fromits sky. Besides, the group alsodrastically cut the import of topcommodities from the country

like petroleum products andpotash. The authorities inMinsk hit back at Brussels andrefused to abide by an agree-ment to prevent illegal migra-tion to the EU. It also opinedthat the severe EU sanctionsdeprived the Government ofmuch needed funds to stem theflow of migration across itsborders. Thus, gradually themassive flow of migrants hail-ing from Syria and other con-flict zones around the worldstarted arriving in Belarus andthey all moved towards theborders of Latvia and Lithuaniain the North-West and Polandin the West. Today the oppo-sition in Belarus is accusingLukashenko of using theGovernment tourist agencies tooffer free visa facilities to allthese migrants so that theycould go to the borderingnations like Poland, Latvia andLithuania. And finally, theycould easily enter differentparts of the EU.

The centre point of themigration crisis is PresidentLukashenko. Leaders in the EUthink that he is creating the ille-gal passage of migrants frommost of the war-torn andpoverty-ridden countries toneighbouring Poland and otherrich nations of the EU. Thesemigrants are mostly from war-ravaged nations such as Syria,Iraq, Libya, Yemen,Afghanistan, and even fromCommunist land of Cuba.Most of the EU leaders say thatLukashenko’s trouble-making isfundamentally connected tothe strict sanctions imposed bythe bloc over Belarus. Thesesanctions have been in placesince late 2020 because of thecontroversial presidential elec-tion in this landlocked EastEuropean country that sawthe return of Lukashenko forthe consecutive sixth term topower. And most importantly,massive human rights viola-tions and his brutal treatment

of all his opponents, includingthe main contestant for presi-dency, 37-year-old SvetlanaTikhanovskaya who is cur-rently in exile in Lithuania.

Today, Lukashenko isprobably the last surviving dic-tator of Europe. He took overpower in the year 1994 imme-diately after the breakdown ofthe mighty Soviet Union. Manysay that he has been maintain-ing the glory and elements ofbygone era Soviet style of com-munism. Almost each sector ofthe economy of this formerSoviet Republic is under theabsolute control of the State.The secret police that maintainstrict surveillance over all pow-erful and anti-Governmentforces in the country is stillknown as the KGB.

Lukashenko, the mercurialleader, is known for his West-battering. He has a long histo-ry of defying the West. Hisimmediate relief directly flowsfrom no other than the Russian

strongman Vladimir Putin,who makes no secret of hissheer disavowal of colour rev-olutions in his neighbourhood,especially one that has beentroubling Belarus since lastyear. And now comes themigration crisis, wherein theEU leaders are all up in armsagainst his longstanding allyLukashenko. Putin blames theWest for the migration crisis atthe Belarus-Poland border. Tohim, the root of the currentmigration problem lies in thechaos created by the West inIraq and in Afghanistan; andBelarus can nowhere beblamed for the same. Referringto conflicts in Iraq andAfghanistan, Putin highlightedthat Iraqi Kurds and Afghanswere among the migrants at theBelarussian border. His com-ments came as the Polish policerecovered the body of a youngSyrian man near the bordertown of Wolka Terechowska inthe north-eastern Poland close

to Poland-Belarus border. More than Belarus and

Lukashenko, now Putin hasbecome more anxious about themigration crisis. Meanwhile,Russia and Belarus have con-ducted snap paratrooper drillsjust 20 miles away from theborder where migrants are gath-ered. It was intended to test thereadiness of their troops.Around the same time,Washington has also warnedthat Putin could be preparingfor an attack on EasternUkraine. It is learnt that Russiais massing thousands of troops,artillery and tanks on the bor-der posts. This all showsMoscow’s full preparation tosupport Minsk in case a crisisoccurs from the other side of theborder in Warsaw.

The EU has threatenedthat it will slap new sanctionson Belarus targeting everyoneinvolved (people, airlines, trav-el agencies, etc.) in facilitatingthe migration crisis. Amid theescalating crisis, EUCommission President Ursulavon der Leyen warned the EUwill expand sanctions onBelarus and will target airlineswhich support “human traf-ficking”. Meanwhile, some car-riers have already declaredthey won’t be undertaking ser-vices to Belarus, including theTurkish Airlines. JensStoltenberg, the Secretary-General of the North AtlanticTreaty Organization (NATO),warned Moscow against poten-tial aggressive actions amid alarge concentration of Russiantroops on Ukraine’s borders.Kamala Harris, the US VicePresident, has commented thatLukashenko is engaged in verytroubling activity and world iswatching what is happeningthere. In fact, Putin’s suddenmovement of armed forcesmay indicate the potential fora wider geopolitical crisis in theregion. Currently, Ukraine isnot a member of the EU or theNATO, but both the organisa-tions are deeply concernedabout Russia’s quick militarybuild-up on its border. TheBaltic nations like Latvia,Estonia and Lithuania accusedthe Lukashenko regime ofinstrumentalising migrationfor political purposes. Again,Poland, Lithuania and Latviaare thinking of invoking Article4 of the NATO. This Article

calls for consultation when“the territorial integrity, polit-ical independence or securityof any of the parties is threat-ened”. Polish Prime MinisterMateusz Morawiecki is alreadytalking to his counterparts inLatvia and Lithuania for allpossible assistance from theNATO. Now it needs to be seenwhether such an emergencyhas occurred or not. WithLukashenko dialling up AngelaMerkel, known popularly as thede facto leader of the EU, asolution to the migration cri-sis is expected.

Finally, without speculatingone can say that Russia hasalways demonstrated its fire-power either to showcase itsstrength or simply to warn theWest and the EU not to stepinto its traditional areas ofinfluence like Belarus.Lukashenko, a man who hasalready survived many set-backs and crises in recent years,knows his limits and is wellaware about of the impact ofsevere sanctions. Unless a bigcolour revolution comes withthe full support of the elite ofBelarus, Lukashenko will everremain strong in Minsk. At themoment, the EU and the otherWestern powers are mountingpressures on Lukashenko,including further sanctions. Atthe same time, together they aretargeting Russia whereas thecentre of the problem lies inBelarus-Poland border. Brusselsand other major western pow-ers must see to it that themigrant crisis does not turninto a broader regional conflict.Instead of raising concernsabout Russia’s hidden inten-tions, the international com-munity must clinch a deal withLukashenko for an immediatesolution to settle thousands ofmigrants stranded on the no-man’s-land on Belarus-Polandborder before the cold wavessweep them away.

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

The last leader of the notoriousapartheid era of South Africa,

FW de Klerk, died on November 11at 85 at his home in Fresnaye (a large-ly affluent white dominated localityof Cape Town situated betweenSignal Hill and Sea Point) after suf-fering from Mesothelioma, a type ofcancer that is associated especiallywith the exposure to asbestos.

He won the Nobel Peace Prizealong with Nelson Mandela for end-ing apartheid in 1993. He presidedover a brutal regime that killedmen, women and children to safe-guard one of the most anti-humanpolitical systems that ever existed inworld history. Its centrality lied indehumanising people of colour anddestroying the very spirit of human-ity. It simply exemplified segregationof the white minority from theAfricans and the rest of the coloredpeople of the country, backed by aninstitutionalised system purelypresided over by the Whites.

The Doctrine of Apartheid wasmade law in South Africa in 1948when the Afrikaner Nationalist Partycame to power. The word “apartheid”is originated from the Afrikaans lan-guage meaning “apartness”, or “sep-arateness”. This apartheid called forseparate development of differentracial groups in South Africa.

The infamous apartheid regimein South Africa came to an end witha series of discussions and dialoguesbetween 1990 and 1993. This was theresult of unilateral steps initiated bythe de Klerk Government. Thesenegotiations took place between thegoverning national party, the AfricanNational Congress (ANC) and a host

of other civil rights groups belong-ing to different parts of South Africa.

In retrospect, it seems that var-ious punitive measures invoked fromdifferent quarters of the globe,accompanied by the efforts made bythe ANC, forced de KlerkGovernment to abandon theapartheid system.

Many of these international ini-tiatives were not to pressurise theleading parties in South Africa toengage in a process of negotiationsbut simply to end the apartheid era.Subsequently the proponents of con-structive engagement and mostnotably the Conservative BritishPrime Minister Margaret Thatcherwere able to convince de Klerk to talkto the ANC.

Besides, by late 1980s, the SovietUnion and many other AfricanGovernments encouraged the ANCto negotiate a political solution to theapartheid.

He left a troubled legacy behind.He was a key political figure in thelong journey of South Africa’s tran-sition from deadly apartheid regimeto a modern democracy. He came topower in 1989 and continued till1994 as the head of the SouthAfrican State. And the iconic figureof the anti-apartheid era, NelsonMandela came to power after himand scripted a new history by being the first ever black Presidentof the country.

Interestingly, following his death,the FW de Klerk Foundationreleased a unique video worldwide-dubbed “final message”, in which hefrankly spoke about the horrors ofapartheid system of the yesteryear. In

the message, he said, “Let me today,in the last message repeat: I withoutqualification, apologise for the painand the hurt, and the indignity, andthe damage, to black, brown andIndians in South Africa.” On hisdeath, the fifth black president of thecountry Cyril Ramaphosa said deKlerk’s death should inspire all of usto reflect on the birth of our democ-racy. Indeed, it is the moment ofreckoning for all the coloured peo-ple of South Africa who had toundergo all sorts of harassment andinsult under the successive whiteGovernments in the country.

And the one presided over by de

Klerk brought the brutality to aninconceivable level. Apartheid prac-tised in his country was widelyrecognised as a crime againsthumanity. Probably, de Klerk musthave realised the sins committed bythe white regimes in South Africaand read the writing on the wall verycautiously. He described himself asa “convert” in an interview in 2012.He said, “We should have gonemuch earlier with the flow when thewinds of change blew across Africa.”

It simply indicates his sincererealisation of the evil effects of theracial discrimination prevailed dur-ing his presidency.

On record, de Klerk had been afirm believer in the system of racialsegregation of people in South Africa.Therefore, even after his retirementfrom active politics, he remained adivided figure in public square. Hewas very much reluctant to condemnthe apartheid system unequivocally.Though he was a staunch conserva-tive politician, within his five-yearrule from 1989-94, he graduallyrealised the futility and the deepdivide in the system of apartheid.Thus, he became an unlikely agent ofchange in his conservative clan andheralded the new light of multi-racialdemocracy in that country.

Although the relationshipbetween de Klerk and Mandela wasquite often characterised by sharpdisagreements, the new presidentalways described the last whitePresident as someone of greatintegrity. That indeed showed howMandela wanted to bridge the gapbetween the powerful white minor-ity and the rest of the coloured peo-ple of his country, by recognising theuphill task of rebuilding a multi-racial nation.

On February 1992, he came toParliament of South Africa with ahistoric declaration — NelsonMandela would be released fromprison after a 27 years sentence, legal-isation of anti-apartheid groups,end of a national state of emergencyand finally, the beginning of nego-tiation to end racial inequality inSouth Africa. The announcementelectrified the whole nation that fordecades had been scorned and sanc-tioned by many nations and inter-national organisations. Apart from

these, South Africa witnessed severeisolation from the internationalcommunity. With South Africa’s iso-lation deepening and its once robusteconomy deteriorating, the de KlerkGovernment was forced to lift thelongstanding ban on the ANC andother anti-apartheid groups.

He remained truthful and strongtill the end of his life. His was an eraof divisive politics. But he oversawthe transition of South Africa froma pariah state to one of a multi-racialdemocracy. Of course, his was a trou-bled time. Even after his announce-ment of the end of apartheid, manyconservative lawmakers in his coun-try brand him as a traitor, as racialtensions and the possibility of a civilwar were looming large.

However, he survived all andcame ready to serve as the deputy ofMandela, once his bete noire.Though many would still love to hatehim, millions would see in him a har-binger of a new age, with deep real-isation of the atrocities of racial seg-regation. Surely, he was not sole fac-tor in bringing an end to theapartheid. Therefore, once he spoke,“When I talk about the end ofapartheid, I prefer not to claim thehonour that I have ended it.” Todayall of us must be grateful to him ashe recognised the moment of changeand had tenacity to take the SouthAfricans to a new dawn. Nonetheless,he left a complicated legacy, while inpower, after retirement and in hisfinal journey.

(Dr Anjana Hazarika teachesSociology at Jindal Global University,Sonepat, Haryana)

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Astrology is believed to be a destinydefining discipline. Going byAncient Indian Philosophical per-

ception, human life cycle, driven bycause-effect chain, runs in succession.What we acquire during one life, sets thepremise on which the next life cycle takesoff. We, thus, are all born pre-pro-grammed to carry on the journey of life aparticular way. This way, every being isborn unique, each manifesting individu-alistic desire trends and mind traits,which lead a being all through the jour-ney of life. Guided by this perception, oneis tempted to visit an astrologer to explorefuture prospects.

Astrologers, based on the reading ofone’s horoscope, make future predictions,offering time line of good and badprospects. The astrologers propagate thebelief that what is in store of destiny, can’tbe changed. But at the same time, theysuggest gem stones and belief driven pujaas means of appeasing the planetary Godsas remedial measure to secure successand ward off evil. Do the two proposi-tions not sound contraindicative? If thecourse of destiny can’t be changed, howcomes remedial measures they suggestwould modify them? Are the planets, dis-

passionately available to all in equal pro-portion, enjoy the discriminatory abilityneeded to acknowledge and respond toindividual prayers? These questionsdeserve answer.

It will be interesting to note here thatthe world we live in, is always in motion.In fact, going by scientific perception,even the universe keeps expanding. Thefield players of the cosmos — the planetsand stars, the energy providers playingfrom the front — are continuously ontheir run at their own respective speeds.That includes the earth, which itself ismoving at a great speed. So, when seenrelative to earth, the energy dynamics ofnature, keeps varying every moment,having no parallel in the past, which evi-dently would influence our life cycle.Accordingly, the dynamics of everyemerging moment, and thereby its call-ings, keep varying, many of them can’t beforeseen. So, future is full of uncertainties,often confronting us with unforeseenchallenges, besides offering fresh oppor-tunities. We have already seen, how withpassage of time, fresh opportunities keeparising. Subjects like Computers,Information technology, and ArtificialIntelligence were nowhere in sight in ear-

lier days, offering us with enough ofemployment opportunities. Also, overallenvironmental condition and societaldynamics keep changing, which influenceour life cycle, individually and collective-ly. What complicates future course of lifeis our unique character, which createsground for conflict of interest.

We are all an inseparable part of aunified organism, where no individualhas a reality independent of the entirety.In such a framework, any happening atone end, it’s echoes will resonate far andwide. We, thus remain vulnerable to beconfronted with unforeseen challengesposed by the overall environmental con-ditions. If the domestic atmosphere orsocietal condition is not congenial, wecan’t go unaffected. The most glaringexample is that of the ongoing pandemic.It supposedly arose somewhere in China,but it engulfed the whole of world.

Another aspect that commonastrologers often tend to ignore is anindividual’s personality traits. They forgetthat having potential by itself is notenough. It needs to be realised. That callsfor putting into your whole into the act.Often our inherent limitations of mind,do not let us pursue the tasks in hand in

the right earnest, and evidently with obvi-ous consequences. Accordingly, astrologi-cal reading calls for a look into three fac-tors — Desha (environmental condition),Kala (probable destiny projection) andPatra (personality traits). Purposely sobecause destiny indications are subject tothe limitations exercised by environmen-tal conditions and personality traits.Unfortunately, most of the practisingastrologers ignore these two importantfactors while reading an astrologicalchart. And when their predictions do notcome through, people get disillusioned,which offer ground for the critiques ofastrology to cast aspersion on its efficacy.

With so many unforeseen variablesplaying their part, adding to the uncer-tainty of future, it is difficult to digest thatone’s destiny can be defined in finiteterms. The obvious question, therefore, is:What purpose would astrology as a disci-pline serve in real terms? For answer, letus have a look into the premise on whichastrology stands.

To be continued...'���������������������������$$������������������� ����������������������������������������������

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