7Rc^Vcd UZX Z_ YVV]d DYRY cVRTYVd `fe - Daily Pioneer

18
A day after inviting the agi- tating farmers for talks on December 3, the Centre on Saturday held out an olive branch to the farmers, who refused to budge from their stand, with the Union Home Minister Amit Shah saying that the Government is ready for dialogue any time and appealed to them to shift to the Burari ground in the national Capital to stage their protests against the farm laws. “The Government is ready to deliberate on every problem and demand of the farmers... Some farmers’ unions and farmers have demanded that talks be held immediately instead of December 3. So, I assure everyone that the Central Government is ready to hold discussions with you as soon as you shift to the ground (in Burari)...the Government has made proper arrangement for you in Burari in Delhi, where you can stage your demonstrations,” he said. Farmers after holding par- leys with their leaders and their speeches at Tikri and Singhu borders, announced that they will stay put and not proceed towards the Nirankari Ground and will sit on dharna at borders. “It is a plan to imprison us in one ground as earlier the Delhi Police has demanded nine grounds to be made as temporary prison in Delhi for the protesting farmers. So we have decided to protest at the border as most of the farmers are still coming from Punjab, Haryana, Rajasthan and Uttar Pradesh to join the move- ment,” said Sukhbir Panwar, a farmer from Fatehabad district in Haryana. Thousands of farmers marching from Punjab as part of their “Delhi Chalo” cam- paign against the farm laws, braved water cannons and tear gas shells in Haryana to reach Delhi on Friday. They were, however, not allowed into the national Capital. As the protests continued, the Centre, which looks after the national Capital’s law and order, relented and fixed a place for their agitation. Hundreds of the protesters, however, refused to go to the outer Delhi protest venue and have remained camped at sev- eral places on the outskirts of the national Capital. Thousands of farmers from Haryana, Punjab and Rajasthan on Saturday stayed put at the Delhi-Haryana Singhu and Tikri border points on the third consecutive day. The farmers on Saturday also refused to move towards the Nirankari ground to hold demonstration. Following the rise in number of farmers at Tikri and Singhu border, the Delhi Police re-installed barri- cades to maintain law & order. Turn to Page 6 A s several rounds of talks to defuse tension at the Line of Actual Control (LAC) have failed so far, India is preparing for a long haul and has bol- stered its readiness by deploy- ing crack commandos of the Navy at some stand-off points. While the Army has already positioned its Special Forces and para-commandos, the elite Marine commandos (MARCOS) of the Navy have also joined in by patrolling the Pangong Tso (lake). This lake in Eastern Ladakh is one of the four or five face-off sites where the Indian and Chinese troops are in eyeball to eyeball situa- tion for the past seven months. Having taken positions at the lake, these commandos may also be rotated at the other flash points, sources said here on Saturday. This will enable them to familiarise themselves with the weather, topography and how to survive in harsh winters. Incidentally, the temperature has already dipped to minus 10 degrees C in several parts of Ladakh and will plummet to minus 30 degrees in the coming weeks. The Army has already sup- plied more than adequate pre- fabricated huts for the troops now readying themselves for deployment in the winter months. More than one lakh troops from India and China are now positioned at the LAC in the 1, 700 km long LAC in Ladakh. China has also ramped up its logistical support for its troops for a long winter there. The MARCOS comman- does are one of the world’s best trained and were seen in action during the initial phase of Mumbai terror attack in 2008. Some teams of the MAR- COS are already working alongside the Indian Army commandoes in Jammu & Kashmir as part of the anti-ter- rorist operations. The Navy commandoes are guard some of the key water bodies in Kashmir. Turn to Page 6 C elebrating the festival of democracy at the grass- roots level, more than 51 per cent voters on Saturday stepped out of their homes ignoring poll boycott calls and chilly weather conditions to cast their vote in the maiden District Development Council and Panchayat bypolls being held for the first time after the reor- ganisation of the erstwhile State of Jammu & Kashmir into two Union Territories and the Abrogation of Article 370 and 35-A in August 2019. The other highlight of the polls was healthy participa- tion of the Pakistani refugees and women electorate in large numbers. The Pak refugees were deprived of their voting rights as long as J&K enjoyed the special status. Addressing a press confer- ence after the first phase of polling ended, State Election Commissioner KK Sharma said, “The first phase of DDC polls passed off peacefully across the Union Territory of J&K in which over 3.62 lakh voters participated”. He said barring one single incident of stone throwing by a youth no other major incident of poll related violence was reported from anywhere during the polling hours. Sharma added, “Around 46.6 per cent women and 54 per cent male electorate came out to vote during the day”. He said Kashmir region recorded little over 40.65 per cent polling while Jammu region recorded over 64 per cent voter turnout. Significantly, terror infested Pulwama district recorded the lowest voter turnout of 6.7 per cent. Turn to Page 6 A s part of his effort to review the progress of Covid-19 vaccine development, its launch and distribution, Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Saturday visited major vaccine manufacturing institutions — Zydus Biotech Park in Ahmedabad, Bharat Biotech facility in Hyderabad and Serum Institute of India (SII) in Pune — and interacted with the scientists there to get “a first- hand perspective of the prepa- rations, challenges and roadmap in India’s endeavour to vaccinate its citizens”. Modi began his day-long three-city tour in the morning by flying first to Ahmedabad and thereafter heading to Zydus Cadila’s Vaccine Technology Centre located at Changodar Park, where he went around the place and interacted with the team of sci- entists behind the ongoing vaccine development effort “to know more about the indige- nous DNA based vaccine being developed there”. Zydus Cadila is developing its Covid-19 vac- cine candidate ZyCoV-D. Turn to Page 6 New Delhi: Some groups of farmers from Uttar Pradesh gathered at the Ghazipur border with their vehicles on Saturday afternoon, lending support to the agitation by their counterparts from Punjab against the Centre’s new farm laws. A senior Delhi Police officer said 200 farmers arrived at UP Gate (Ghazipur border) as part of “Delhi Chalo” march call given by farmer organisations in Punjab and police officials were talking to them.

Transcript of 7Rc^Vcd UZX Z_ YVV]d DYRY cVRTYVd `fe - Daily Pioneer

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�)��)�������)�� .012034�

Aday after inviting the agi-tating farmers for talks on

December 3, the Centre onSaturday held out an olivebranch to the farmers, whorefused to budge from theirstand, with the Union HomeMinister Amit Shah sayingthat the Government is readyfor dialogue any time andappealed to them to shift to theBurari ground in the nationalCapital to stage their protestsagainst the farm laws.

“The Government is readyto deliberate on every problemand demand of the farmers...Some farmers’ unions andfarmers have demanded thattalks be held immediatelyinstead of December 3. So, Iassure everyone that theCentral Government is ready tohold discussions with you assoon as you shift to the ground(in Burari)...the Governmenthas made proper arrangementfor you in Burari in Delhi,where you can stage yourdemonstrations,” he said.

Farmers after holding par-leys with their leaders andtheir speeches at Tikri andSinghu borders, announcedthat they will stay put and notproceed towards the NirankariGround and will sit on dharnaat borders.

“It is a plan to imprison us

in one ground as earlier theDelhi Police has demandednine grounds to be made astemporary prison in Delhi forthe protesting farmers. So wehave decided to protest at theborder as most of the farmersare still coming from Punjab,

Haryana, Rajasthan and UttarPradesh to join the move-ment,” said Sukhbir Panwar, afarmer from Fatehabad districtin Haryana.

Thousands of farmersmarching from Punjab as partof their “Delhi Chalo” cam-

paign against the farm laws,braved water cannons and teargas shells in Haryana to reachDelhi on Friday. They were,however, not allowed into thenational Capital. As the protestscontinued, the Centre, whichlooks after the national Capital’s

law and order, relented andfixed a place for their agitation.

Hundreds of the protesters,however, refused to go to theouter Delhi protest venue andhave remained camped at sev-eral places on the outskirts ofthe national Capital.

Thousands of farmers fromHaryana, Punjab and Rajasthanon Saturday stayed put at theDelhi-Haryana Singhu andTikri border points on thethird consecutive day. Thefarmers on Saturday alsorefused to move towards theNirankari ground to holddemonstration. Following therise in number of farmers atTikri and Singhu border, theDelhi Police re-installed barri-cades to maintain law & order.

Turn to Page 6

����� .012034�

As several rounds of talks todefuse tension at the Line

of Actual Control (LAC) havefailed so far, India is preparingfor a long haul and has bol-stered its readiness by deploy-ing crack commandos of theNavy at some stand-off points.

While the Army hasalready positioned its SpecialForces and para-commandos,the elite Marine commandos(MARCOS) of the Navy havealso joined in by patrolling thePangong Tso (lake). This lakein Eastern Ladakh is one of thefour or five face-off sites wherethe Indian and Chinese troopsare in eyeball to eyeball situa-tion for the past seven months.

Having taken positions at

the lake, these commandosmay also be rotated at theother flash points, sources saidhere on Saturday. This willenable them to familiarisethemselves with the weather,topography and how to survivein harsh winters. Incidentally,the temperature has alreadydipped to minus 10 degrees Cin several parts of Ladakh andwill plummet to minus 30degrees in the coming weeks.

The Army has already sup-plied more than adequate pre-fabricated huts for the troopsnow readying themselves fordeployment in the wintermonths. More than one lakhtroops from India and China

are now positioned at the LACin the 1, 700 km long LAC inLadakh. China has also rampedup its logistical support for itstroops for a long winter there.

The MARCOS comman-does are one of the world’s besttrained and were seen in actionduring the initial phase ofMumbai terror attack in 2008.

Some teams of the MAR-COS are already workingalongside the Indian Armycommandoes in Jammu &Kashmir as part of the anti-ter-rorist operations. The Navy commandoes are guardsome of the key water bodies in Kashmir.

Turn to Page 6

�)�������)����� 5�66!

Celebrating the festival ofdemocracy at the grass-

roots level, more than 51 percent voters on Saturday steppedout of their homes ignoringpoll boycott calls and chillyweather conditions to cast theirvote in the maiden DistrictDevelopment Council andPanchayat bypolls being heldfor the first time after the reor-ganisation of the erstwhileState of Jammu & Kashmir intotwo Union Territories and theAbrogation of Article 370 and35-A in August 2019.

The other highlight of thepolls was healthy participa-tion of the Pakistani refugeesand women electorate in largenumbers. The Pak refugeeswere deprived of their votingrights as long as J&K enjoyedthe special status.

Addressing a press confer-ence after the first phase ofpolling ended, State ElectionCommissioner KK Sharmasaid, “The first phase of DDCpolls passed off peacefullyacross the Union Territory ofJ&K in which over 3.62 lakhvoters participated”. He saidbarring one single incident ofstone throwing by a youth noother major incident of pollrelated violence was reportedfrom anywhere during the

polling hours.Sharma added, “Around

46.6 per cent women and 54per cent male electorate cameout to vote during the day”. Hesaid Kashmir region recordedlittle over 40.65 per cent pollingwhile Jammu region recorded over 64 per cent voterturnout. Significantly, terrorinfested Pulwama districtrecorded the lowest voterturnout of 6.7 per cent.

Turn to Page 6

������)����)��� 6!6���

As part of his effort to reviewthe progress of Covid-19

vaccine development, its launchand distribution, PrimeMinister Narendra Modi onSaturday visited major vaccine

manufacturing institutions —Zydus Biotech Park inAhmedabad, Bharat Biotechfacility in Hyderabad andSerum Institute of India (SII) inPune — and interacted with thescientists there to get “a first-hand perspective of the prepa-

rations, challenges androadmap in India’s endeavourto vaccinate its citizens”.

Modi began his day-longthree-city tour in the morningby flying first to Ahmedabadand thereafter heading toZydus Cadila’s VaccineTechnology Centre located atChangodar Park, where he

went around the place andinteracted with the team of sci-entists behind the ongoingvaccine development effort “toknow more about the indige-nous DNA based vaccine beingdeveloped there”. Zydus Cadilais developing its Covid-19 vac-cine candidate ZyCoV-D.

Turn to Page 6

New Delhi: Some groups offarmers from Uttar Pradeshgathered at the Ghazipurborder with their vehicles onSaturday afternoon, lendingsupport to the agitation bytheir counterparts fromPunjab against the Centre’snew farm laws. A seniorDelhi Police officer said 200farmers arrived at UP Gate(Ghazipur border) as part of“Delhi Chalo” march callgiven by farmer organisationsin Punjab and police officialswere talking to them.

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I have changed my name fromDeepika Sawhney to Zoha RizviW/o Shri Tahzeebul Hasan RizviR/o 62/11, Savitr i Nagar,Sanigwan, Kanpur, Now I wouldbe known by this name only.

AUCTION NOTICE

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In a bizarre case in which the Jalaun policesent nine accused to jail for kidnapping and

murdering a minor girl and also charge-sheet-ed them, the victim has been found alive bythe sleuths of the Crime Branch CrimeInvestigation Department (CB CID).

The sleuths of the CB CID of UP Policetraced the girl in Aligarh after 12 years of herdisappearance but the mystery is still to beresolved as the victim’s mother refused to con-firm her as her daughter and is also not readyto go for a DNA test. The victim, who identi-fied herself as 27-year-old Gayatri, is now mar-ried and has three children.

The CB CID officials claimed that soon afterthey traced Gayatri, she was taken to her nativevillage in Jalaun and she recognised herparental home. Her neighbours and relatives alsoidentified her as Rajrani’s daughter, Gayatri.However, Rajrani denied that the 27-year-oldwoman was her daughter Gayatri, making it dif-ficult for the police to confirm her identity.“Rajrani’s relatives and neighbours identified thewoman as Rajrani’s daughter, Gayatri. Gayatrialso identified her parental house. Despite allthe evidence, Rajrani denied that the 27-year-old woman was her daughter,” DeputySuperintendent of Police (CB CID) QamarMajeed, who is the investigating officer in thecase, said.

What has added to the police’s woes is thatRajrani and her family members — husbandRam Prakash and three sons — have refusedto take DNA tests, which would help the inves-tigators to confirm her identity.

According to police, 27-year-old Gayatritold them that she had run away from her homein August 2008 after she was allegedly beatenup by her mother Rajrani for playing outsidefor long hours.

In a statement recorded before the magis-trate last week, the 27-year-old woman said thatshe was the daughter of Rajrani and RamPrakash. “In her statement to the magistrate, thewoman said that after running from her home,she went to Delhi where she met a government

official in a bus. The man took her to his housewhere she stayed with him. A few years ago, theman got her married with his nephew inAligarh,” said Majeed, adding that they wouldbe recording the statements of the people withwhom the woman stayed after running awayfrom her home.

The case dates back to August 1, 2008 whenRajrani lodged a kidnapping report about her16-year-old daughter at Kalpi police station inJalaun. She had named her nine neighbours inthe FIR. Around two months later, the Kalpipolice recovered the decomposed body of a girl.Rajrani identified the body as that of her daugh-ter. Police arrested all the accused named in theFIR but they were later released on bail. In 2009,police filed a charge-sheet. The same year, theJalaun district administration sent a recommen-dation to the state government for CB-CIDinvestigation in the matter. On the state govern-ment’s direction, the CB CID began investiga-tion into the case.

Recently, some of the residents in Jalauncame to know that Gayatri was alive and wasstaying with her in-laws in Aligarh. One of theresidents wrote about it to Jalaun’s district policechief who forwarded the letter to CB CID. “Theprevious investigating officer had decided to gofor DNA profiling, but Rajrani and her familyrejected the request. We would speak again toRajrani and her family members and try to con-vince them to take a DNA profiling test,” Majeedadded.

Lucknow (PNS): The promul-gation of the Uttar PradeshProhibition of UnlawfulConversion of ReligionOrdinance, 2020 did not godown well with the SamajwadiParty as it announced tooppose the new law terming itas anti-people.

The SP said it wouldoppose the state government’sbill on religious conversionswhen placed in the assemblyfor passage.

Samajwadi Party presidentAkhilesh Yadav said in a pressconference here on Saturdaythat the new ordinance wasagainst the people and it hadbeen brought just to harass thepeople.

”Our party workers andleaders will oppose this ordi-

nance and it will be opposed inthe state assembly and legisla-tive council too,” heannounced.

Terming that the BharatiyaJanata Party governments at theCentre and in UP were anti-people; Yadav said SP would gobefore the people to makethem aware about the ideolo-gy and policies of theSamajwadi Party.

”The farmers are beingtortured and the entire marketshave been ruined by the BJP.The SP is supporting the farm-ers and will stand with them intheir fight against the govern-ment,” he said.

The former chief ministerof UP maintained that the BJPhad always said that it woulddouble the income of the farm-

ers but now it was trying every-thing to crush them.

Talking about the YogiAdityanath government in UP,Yadav said it was targeting theopposition leader and theharassment of SP leaderMohammad Azam Khan andhis family was a glaring exam-ple of this.

“The only fault of AzamKhan is that he had made abeautiful and big university inRampur. He was implicated bythe government. Now the gov-ernment is demolishing thebuilding of the people as theirmaps are not approved. But canthe BJP leaders show whetherthe building plan of their build-ing was approved by the UrbanDevelopment Authority,” ques-tioned.

Lucknow (PNS): Chief Minister YogiAdityanath on Saturday reached Hyderabad toa rousing welcome amid slogans of RamLaxman Jaanki, Jai bolo Hanuman Ki and Yogi-Yogi, Jai Shri Ram, Bharat Mata Ki Jai and VandeMataram.

Storming the citadel of AIMIM chiefAsaduddin Owaisi, the UP chief minister tookout a massive road show with all roads andbuildings adorned with saffron colour bannersand posters. People in large numbers showeredflowers on Yogi who was aboard an open bus.

The Uttar Pradesh chief minister was tak-ing out the road show in Jeedimetla ofHyderabad in support of Bharatiya Janata Partycandidates in local bodies (Greater HyderabadMunicipal Corporation) elections.

The unprecedented welcome to Yogi was

significant as the area of road show was in theparliamentary constituency All India Majlis-e-Ittehadul Muslimeen president Owaisi.

The BJP workers and general public werecarrying placards that read “Change Hyderabad”as women and children waved hands from atopbuildings on the way. Yogi Adityanathembarked on his road show after payinghomage to Baba Saheb Bhimrao Ambedkar.

During his entire road show, Yogi recipro-cated the welcome by showing victory signs.

It is the first time that the BJP is contest-ing the GHMC polls with such optimism thatexperts believe that the Congress has slippedto the third position after TRS. It is believedthat the BJP will do well this time and theprospects of the party have been furtherenhanced with the presence of Yogi Adityanath.

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Two people, including a jour-nalist, were burnt to death

when the house they were livingin caught fire in suspicious cir-cumstances in the rural Kotwaliarea of Balrampur, police said onSaturday.

As per reports, journalistRakesh Singh Nirbhik (38), whowas working with a Hindi newsdaily, and his friend Pintu Sahu(35) succumbed to burn injuriesafter the house they were living incaught fire in suspicious circum-stances in Kalwari village lateFriday night.

The journalist used to livewith his family in the house thatcaught fire.

Pintu Sahu was charred todeath in the night itself while thecritically burnt journalist wasreferred to Lucknow where hedied while receiving treatment.

The father of the deceasedjournalist, Munna Singh, hasdemanded action apprehendingthat his son was murdered.

Upon receiving information,Balrampur’s District MagistrateKaruna Karunesh, Superintendentof Police Devranjan Verma andseveral senior officials reachedthere and inspected the spot.

The SP said that two suspectshad been taken into custody inconnection with the suspiciousfire. According to the police,Rakesh Singh’s wife and childrenhad gone to a relative’s house twodays ago following some disputebetween the couple.

On Friday night, there was anexplosion in the house after whichone of the walls collapsed and oneof the rooms caught fire, policesaid.

“The fire broke out only in theroom of the deceased. A team offorensic experts have also visitedthe spot and will reveal theirprima facie findings soon,” thelocal police officials said.

Sources said that while beingtreated at the hospital inBalrampur before being shifted toLucknow, Singh told the policethat his house had been set ablazeas the accused wanted to murderhim. According to Singh, theaccused entered his house ataround 11:30 pm and thrashedhim. During this time, Singh’s wifeand daughters had gone to his in-laws’ home.

Circle Officer (City) RadhaRaman Singh said the previouscomplaints made by the journal-ist would be taken into consider-ation during the investigation.

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Chief Minister YogiAdityanath on Saturday

asked the officials not to lowerthe guard in prevention andtreatment of COVID-19. Hesaid that even a little careless-ness could prove costly andtherefore it was necessary totake full caution and remainalert at every level.

The chief minister, whowas presiding over an unlockreview meeting at his officialresidence here, said that thesystem of prevention andtreatment of COVID-19should further be improved indistricts with higher infectionrates.

He also directed the offi-cials to further strengthen themedical facilities in Meerutand Lucknow and pay specialattention to these districts.

Directing the officials tofurther strengthen the medicalsystem in KGMU, Lucknow,

the chief minister said that itshould also be ensured thatsenior doctors took regularrounds and saw the patients.

He said the IntegratedCommand and ControlCentres (ICCC) should be

actively operated in all districtsand the district magistratesand chief medical officers of allthe districts should holdreview meetings in Covid hos-pitals in the morning andICCC in the evening every day

and the office of the chief sec-retary and CM Office shouldreview the status of the meet-ings.

Directing officials to makeadequate arrangements of ICUbeds in the entire state, the

chief minister emphasised onfocus on testing and said thatCovid testing should be carriedout with full capacity andefforts should also be made toincrease it.

“People should be motivat-

ed to use masks and publicaddress systems should beused extensively along withvarious publicity mediums tospread awareness aboutCOVID-19,” he said, addingthat people should be encour-aged to follow the Covid pro-tocol.

He said wedding cere-monies should not be dis-turbed.

Meanwhile, the chief min-ister said that his governmentwas always concerned aboutthe welfare of farmers and haddirected the officials to ensureimmediate procurement ofcrops and also to make pay-ment at minimum supportprice (MSP) within 72 hours.

The chief minister gavethese instructions while review-ing the working of variousdepartments at his official res-idence on Saturday.

He also highlighted hisgovernment’s efforts to extendvarious help to the farmers.

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Uttar Pradesh GovernorAnandiben Patel on

Saturday gave assent to anordinance against forcible orfraudulent religious conver-sions that provides for impris-onment up to 10 years and amaximum fine of Rs 50,000under different categories.

The promulgation of theUttar Pradesh Prohibition ofUnlawful Conversion ofReligion Ordinance, 2020,came four days after the YogiAdityanath government hadapproved the draft of the ordi-nance which also curbs reli-gious conversions only for thesake of marriage. According tothe ordinance, a marriage willbe declared “null and void” ifthe conversion of a woman issolely for that purpose andthose wishing to change theirreligion after marriage need toapply to the district magistrate.

It also has a provisionunder which if someonereturns to their original reli-gion, it shall not be deemed aconversion. The onus to provethat the conversion has notbeen done forcibly will lie onthe person accused of the actand the convert, it said.

In case of contravention ofthe law, the ordinance says thatthe court shall grant appropri-ate compensation payable bythe accused to the victim ofconversion which may extendto a maximum of Rs 5 lakh inaddition to the fine.

The ordinance says no per-son shall convert, either direct-ly or indirectly from one reli-gion to another by use or prac-tice of misrepresentation, force,undue influence, coercion,

allurement or by any fraudulentmeans or by marriage nor shallany person abet, convince orconspire such conversion.

An aggrieved person,his/her parents, brother, sister,or any other person who isrelated to him/her by blood,marriage or adoption maylodge an FIR about such con-version, according to the ordi-nance.

In cases of mass religiousconversions, the registration ofthe social organisations will becancelled and strong action willbe initiated against them.

If those previously convict-ed under the ordinance arecaught again for the sameoffence, they shall be subjectedto double punishment, it said.Notwithstanding anything con-tained in the Code of CriminalProcedure, 1973, all the offencesunder this ordinance shall becognisable and non-bailableand triable by the session’scourt, the ordinance says.

In recent weeks, BharatiyaJanata Party-run states likeHaryana and Madhya Pradeshhave also revealed plans toenact laws to counter allegedattempts to convert Hinduwomen to Islam in the guise ofmarriage, which Hinduactivists refer to as “love jihad”.

The Uttar Pradesh cabinet’sapproval of the ordinance fol-lowed the announcement byYogi Adityanath that his gov-ernment would come out witha law to deal with “love jihad”.

Addressing by poll ralliesin Jaunpur last month, YogiAdityanath had used the Hindufuneral chant of ‘Ram NaamSatya Hai’ to threaten thosewho do not respect daughtersand sisters.

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In compliance with the direction ofChief Minister Yogi Adityanath

regarding preparation of cold chain forthe proposed COVID-19 vaccine bymid December, the state governmenthas launched the process on a war foot-ing.

A total of 26 districts, includingLucknow, Lakhimpur Kheri, Basti,Kanpur Dehat, Hathras, andSiddharthnagar, have already initiatedthe process to meet the set deadlineas they have created sufficientfacilities to set up a cold chain for the vac-cine.

These districts have enough space forkeeping ice-lined refrigerators with thecapacity of 36,901 litres.

Arrangements in the other districtsare being made in a phased manner andthe entire exercise to build cold chainspace with holding capacity of 1,23,205litres will be completed by December 15as per the direction of the chief minister,according to a senior Health departmentofficial.

Cold chain spaces are designed tokeep the COVID-19 vaccine at the rec-ommended temperature from the time ofits manufacture until it reaches the targetbeneficiary.

It is assumed that the state may

receive about four crore doses of theCOVID-19 vaccine in the initial phasesat the state/district/division and block lev-els.

Earlier, the Union Health Ministryhad lauded Uttar Pradesh for its proac-tive role to combat the novel coronaviruspandemic.

“UP has led by example. Theassessment is complete and constructionhas begun. It has already cleared thefirst steps towards the implementation ofIndia’s biggest vaccination campaign.Other states on the other handare wondering where to begin from,said an official of the Union HealthMinistry.

0����� 2�������� �& ��������������� ��Lucknow (PNS): The UttarPradesh government, in view ofthe COVID-19 situation, hasextended the stringent provi-sions of the amended EpidemicDiseases Act for another fourmonths, till March 31, 2021.

The UP government hasissued the required notificationfor it as the present order waslapsing on November 30, saidAdditional Chief Secretary(Health) Amit Mohan Prasadhere on Saturday. He said thatrestrictions would continue tillMarch 31, 2021 and the viola-tors would be punished underthe various provisions of theamended Epidemic DiseasesAct. Meanwhile, there are25,243 COVID-19 patients inthe state on Saturday witharound 2,200 fresh coronaviruspositive cases being detectedduring the past 24 hours.

The recovery rate in UPstood at around 94 percent with5,06,938 COVID-19 patientsrecovering in the state so farwhile the death toll reached7,718 with case fatality rate at1.43 percent. On Friday,1,74,904 Covid samples weretested in the state. With this,the total number of Covidtests conducted in UP reachedthe 1,89,94,692-mark. Amongthe active cases in the state,12,293 are in home isolation,2,253 in private hospitals andthe rest in government-runCovid hospitals.

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Shishir Sankhyayan, whoalong with his team, is cred-

ited with the discovery ofSaraswati supercluster of galax-ies at a young age of 30 years,is an alumnus of LucknowUniversity’s Astronomy depart-ment. Sankhyayan’s interest inthe celestial space brought himto Lucknow University and heis currently a post-doctoralfellow at the National Centrefor Radio Astrophysics in Pune.He will be moving to theUniversity of Tartu in Estonia for next post-doctoralfellowship.

Sankhyayan said he com-pleted BSc from LU in 2008.“When I was in school, I wasalways interested in the starsand planets and nobody knewwhat should I do to make acareer in astronomy. And thenI found that it was being taughtat LU. Besides, the presence ofIndira Gandhi Planetarium inthe city helped a lot in under-standing the practical part ofastronomy. From LU, I got theguidance to move ahead andteachers such as Dr AlkaMishra and others helped mea lot,” he said.

Sankhyayan said the post-doctoral fellowship at Estoniain Europe was a prestigiousone. “It was a grant proposaland they took proposals fromevery field such as science , arts

and computer science. Only 12students were selected and Iwas one of them,” he said. Headded that he chose Estoniabecause the University of Tartuis a pioneer in the field of large-scale structures in which he hasdone PhD. He said he would beworking on finding moresuperclusters in the universe.“This is because we do notknow much about them, thesesuperclusters or river of galax-ies are large-scale clusters andthrough them we can study thetheory of evolution,” he said.

Talking about the Saraswati

supercluster, he said two per-sons who were credited for thediscovery was Joydeep Bagchiand himself. “Though we werethe second group of six Indiansto find the supercluster, how-ever, the first Indian to discov-er a supercluster was SomakRay Chaudhary, who is cur-rently the director of IUCCA.He discovered Shapley super-cluster when he was doingPhD in England, but since wewere all Indians with Indianaffiliations, we are credited asthe first Indians to discover asupercluster,” he said.

����� 3!��.@1

King George’s Medical University(KGMU) organised a webinar on

‘Changing paradigms in Covid-19 man-agement’ on Saturday and it was attend-ed by medical experts, including ICMRDG Dr Balram Bhargava and cardiol-ogist Dr Naresh Trehan.

KGMU Vice-Chancellor Dr BipinPuri said Covid-19 management withmedicine is both limited and constant-ly evolving. “Human intellect has alwaysevolved by rejecting older informationfor new information and each day newdata is being processed. Some studieshave also cast doubts on the protocol-ised treatment which is being carried outacross the hospitals for the coron-avirus. Leading from the front, KGMUhas been involved in the collectiveefforts to blunt the pandemic at large inUP, particularly in the state capital. Thefaculty has taken up this challenge head-on and have evolved protocolised ther-apies for a spectrum of the disease,” hesaid.

Additional Chief Secretary (MedicalEducation) Rajneesh Dubey said Covid-19 has brought its own challenges andit was like a bolt in the blue in the monthof March. “In hindsight, what can besaid is that the UP government, with thesupport of KGMU, SGPGI and otherinstitutions, has been able to tackle thesituation and come up with severalinnovations. Electronic Covid care sup-

port systems, virtual ICUs and a host ofsuch technologies have helped us reducethe fatality rate. WHO has also appre-ciated the efforts of the UP governmentin managing the situation,” he said.

He pointed out that the webinar wasbeing attended by a galaxy of eminentpersonalities and Georgians and theywould be able to chalk our some strate-gies and focus areas on which theywould be able to put their energies sothat Covid-19 could be tackled on along-term basis.

Dr Balram Bhargava spoke on‘Covid-19 lessons the world can learnfrom India’. He said with this crisis, theylearnt that they had underestimatedtheir strengths as scientists and that theywere able to deliver much more. He alsostressed on the role of ICMR. He saidthis century has witnessed several exot-ic viruses more frequently. “This couldbe because there is a change in the envi-ronment, change in ecology, rapidurbanisation and inadequate spendingon health across the globe,” he said. Hesaid the response of India has been goodwith the intervention measures being re-calibrated as per the course of the dis-ease. The ICMR DG said it was impor-tant that they resisted flirting with theidea of the herd immunity, as was doneby many countries such as Italy, UnitedKingdom, Sweden and others who hadto face the consequences. “The pandem-ic was late in India and we learnt ourlessons from the west, and so we did not

mess around with herd immunity,” hesaid. Nodal incharge for Covid atKGMU Dr D Himanshu shared hisexperience with the disease and saidthey have seen more than 3,500 patients,283 post-Covid patients and 93 whohave finished three months of follow-up. “I can say as of now that we are stilllearning and it keeps going on. Covidand post-Covid has been a huge learn-ing curve. KGMU has been makingactive scientific contributions. We havebeen a member of the plasma therapytrial, will be compiling all clinical pro-files of Covid-19 patients, BCG, AyushMinistry trials, etc,” he said.

Meanwhile in a webinar organisedby SGPGI, ‘Challenges in managingchildren in Covid-19 times’ on Saturday,Dr Anshul Gupta from the departmentof Paediatric Oncology said that chil-dren suffering from cancer are one ofthe most vulnerable falling in the cate-gory of high-risk infection. “Extensiveevaluation is necessary for detecting newcancers, which was not possible becauseof the lockdown situation and theinability of such cases to reach the OPDand their surgeries were delayed to alarge extent,” he added.

Dr Vijaya Laxmi Bhatia said one ofthe advantages despite the challengeswhich, the parents said, came up dur-ing Covid-19 was that the children werecut off from fast food. However, sheadded that the children lost out on out-door activities and attending schools.

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NBFGR organised a three-day training programme

for skilled support personnelon ‘Effective health manage-ment to enhance the efficien-cy of employees’, which wasinaugurated by directorKuldeep K Lal on Saturday.

The highlight was a lec-ture by medical officer AnjaliGupta who spoke on ‘Effectivehealth management in coro-

na-scenario’. She suggestedthat guidelines be followedwith emphasis on health safe-guards, and demonstrated var-ious measures at practicallevel to develop better under-standing towards it among thestaffers.

In another lecture, inter-national corporate and softskill trainer Aman Guptaencouraged employees toorganise themselves by takingsome practical actions on

‘Managing themselves duringemotional stress’, and gavesome tips for keeping them-selves in a better positionduring the stress.

Nodal officer, HRD unit,Achal Singh explained theimportance of indigenousmedical knowledge during theRamayana era on how to dealwith crisis and emergency.Scientists said the trainingwould help the institute’sskilled support personnel to

cope with the mental pressuregenerated during Covid-19times and also develop a bet-ter understanding about veryrelevant medicinal plants liketulsi, giloy, lemon, ginger, pep-per, cinnamon, cloves etc,whose products are consumedas immunity boosters and areproving to be an invaluableboon of nature in times of thecurrent global pandemic,which will pave the way forbetter utilisation by employees.

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In another case, a speeding truck mowed down a headconstable who was on nigh patrol on Friday night.

Police registered a case in this connection and impound-ed the truck. The deceased was identified as IqbalBahadur Singh (50) of Gonda.

He was posted at Ghurghuri police outpost underKakori police station and was on night patrol on Fridaynight. Around 10 pm, a speeding truck hit him fromthe opposite direction when he was on patrol in Shivrivillage on Mohan road. Singh suffered grievous injuriesand was rushed to a hospital where he died onSaturday morning. The truck driver fled the scene, aban-doning the vehicle on the spot.

In another incident, a man and his sister-in-law suf-fered injuries and burns after some speeding vehicle hittheir bike from behind and it caught fire at Polytechnicflyover in Ghazipur police station area on Saturday after-noon. The bike was completely burnt and Rs 50,000 keptin a box attached were also gutted. Both the injured wereadmitted to RMLIMS while police started efforts to iden-tify the errant driver.

The injured were identified as Vinod Singh of BKTand his sister-in-law Anshika of Sultanpur. Vinod isemployed in Nagar Panchayat in Mahoba. Anshika isscheduled to get married in December. He, along withAnshika, was going to Sultanpur after shopping. Whenhe reached the flyover around 1 pm, some speeding vehi-cle hit the bike from behind. Due to heavy impact, theyfell on the ground and the bike caught fire. Singh some-how saved himself and then rescued Anshika. A teamreached the place and both the injured were taken to ahospital. Singh said he had kept garments and moneyin the bike’s box and the same were gutted.

Meanwhile, a 55-year-old man working at anunder-construction house died after falling downfrom the second floor while dismantling a scaffold inIndiranagar on Saturday morning. The deceased wasidentified as Ram Avatar Tiwari of Kachauna inHardoi. He, along with his two sons Nitin and Nikhil,was presently staying at a house on rent in sector 12 ofIndiranagar. Reports said Ram Avatar was hired byKunwar Rajeev for the house construction work.Around 9:30 am, he fell down while working on the sec-ond floor and suffered injuries. He was rushed to a hos-pital where he succumbed to injuries.

+, ����������Lucknow (PNS): A BA studentwas shot at in Mohanlalganj onFriday. Shivam Pandey ofMohanlalganj suffered injuriesin his back and was admittedto KGMU Trauma Centre.While police said the victimwas shot at over a mobilephone-related dispute, sourcessaid he was attacked over a girl-related issue. The police arrest-ed the attacker, identified asRajveer of Mohanlalganj, andrecovered a country-made pis-tol and two cartridges.

The police said Shivamand Rajveer had a dispute overa mobile phone and Shivamwas searching for Rajveer to killhim. The news reached Rajveerand he laid a trap near a guesthouse where Rajveer shot atShivam. Contrary to policeclaim, sources said Shivam andRajveer fought over a girl-related issue some time backand both turned into swornenemies in due course of time.

They said Shubham initial-ly attempted to get himselfadmitted to a private hospitalbut did not succeed as he hada firearm injury. He was lateradmitted to KGMU TraumaCentre,” one source said.

Shubham refused to handover his mobile phone to policewhen a team reached the hos-pital. “Shubham gave themobile to his friend asking himto destroy it instead of handingit over to police. However, thepolice team impounded themobile,” the source said.

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As many as 290 persons test-ed positive for coronavirus

in Lucknow on Saturday while352 patients recovered, takingthe total strength of recoveriesto 66,437. Lucknow’s deathtoll at the moment is 984 andthere are 3,704 active cases inthe district.

The fresh cases included29 from Gomtinagar, 28 fromIndiranagar, 24 fromJankipuram, 18 from Chowk,17 from Vikasnagar, 16 eachfrom Ashiyana & Rae Bareliroad, and 10 each fromAlambagh, Mahanagar &Talkatora. Nine patients died inthe city and six of the deceasedbelonged to Lucknow while therest to Balrampur, Gorakhpurand Ballia.

Across the state, 2,170 per-sons tested positive for coron-avirus, including 156 fromGautambuddh Nagar, 195from Ghaziabad, 213 fromMeerut, 85 from Varanasi and109 from Kanpur, taking theUP tally to 5,39,899.

There were 21 deaths inthe state, including three eachin Meerut & Varanasi, two inBallia, and one each in

Pratapgarh, Ghazipur,Sonbhadra, Farrukhabad,Amroha, Fatehpur & Auraiyya,taking the toll to 7,718.Besides, 2,527 patients recov-ered, taking the total numberof recoveries to 5,06,938. Thereare still 25,243 active cases inthe state.

Senior citizens haveaccounted for 70 percent of thetotal Covid deaths taking placein Lucknow of late, accordingto a senior health official.However, the death toll hasreduced in the district. Therehave been 85 deaths duringthis month so far, which arevery less when compared tonearly 300 deaths per month inSeptember and October.

The official pointed outthat there was no death inLucknow on November 27while four patients died today(Saturday). On an average, weare having 2-3 deaths per dayand senior citizens account for70 percent of the deaths,” hestated. He said they are follow-ing surveillance activities inorder to separate senior citi-zens and hospitalise them.“However, they are not readyto go to hospitals out of fear,”he said.

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An eight-year-old girl was rapedand killed on the outskirts of

Vrindavan in Mathura districtwhile a woman was sprayed withbullets during morning walk inJhansi on Saturday.

In Mathura, the girl had gonemissing last Thursday and herbody was found near a multi-levelparking in Chhatikara on Fridaymorning, the cops revealed.

She had gone with a woman tocollect firewood from a forestedarea on Thursday and had beenmissing since then, police said.

The woman had unsuccessful-ly tried to trace the girl and then shehad informed her family memberswho approached the police in theevening, the police said.

Police started a search opera-tion with the help of the villagersbut the minor could not be tracedtill late in the night, SeniorSuperintendent of Police GauravGrover said. He said the body wasfound in Chhatikara on Fridaymorning. “According to the post-mortem report, she was raped andstrangled,” SP (City) Udai ShankerSingh said.

SSP Grover said police teamswere formed earlier to locate her.He said one person had been takeninto police custody in connectionwith the incident and further inves-tigation was on in the matter.

In Jhansi, a 25-year-old woman,

who was on a morning walk, wasallegedly shot dead by unidentifiedpersons on Friday morning.

The woman was found lying ina pool of blood on a roadside by apassing Police Response Vehicle(PRV). She was immediately rushedto a hospital where she was pro-nounced dead. Empty cartridgeshave been recovered by policefrom the crime spot. The policeofficers claimed to have formed ateam to trace the killers of thewoman but so far they have failedto get any clue.

“A 25-year-old woman wasshot dead yesterday (Friday) nearCircuit House, while she was out fora morning walk. The post-mortemwill reveal further details. We arequestioning people, the case will besolved soon,” SSP Dinesh Kumar Psaid. The victim was identified asPooja Jaiswal, who lived near Chitracrossing. She had left her home fora morning walk at around 5 am.She was gunned down by uniden-tified persons while she wasbetween Circuit House andCommissioner’s office.

The place where the womanwas shot dead is a VIP area wherethe divisional commissioner has hisoffice and residence. The districtmagistrate also resides nearby.According to reports, PradeepSingh, the husband of the deceased,said his wife went for a walk usu-ally in the evening but on Friday shethought of going in the morning.

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The personnel of SpecialProtection Group (SPG)

on Saturday conducted aninspection of security arrange-ments at Khajuri inMirzamurad in view of the pro-posed visit of the PrimeMinister Narendra Modi onNovember 30 and gave somedirectives to ensure full-proofsecurity arrangement. The heli-copters of Indian Air Force onSaturday also conducted thetouch & go rehearsal at the heli-pad near the Khajuri.

It may be said here that thePM is to address a public meet-ing at Khajuri in Mirzamuradin the afternoon on November30. He is also to see grandeurof Dev Deepawali in theevening at Rajghat besideswatching the light and lasershow at Sarnath.

The final touch is beinggiven to the preparations atKhajuri and three helipadsbeing made at a field near it onhighway. The helicopters ofthe air force conducted touchand go rehearsal at helipads onSaturday morning. The SPG IGAlok Sharma held a meetingwith the district administrativeand police officers and tookstock of information aboutpreparations regarding sitting

and security arrangement inthe German Hanger pandal.The Health department held acamp to take COVID-19 sam-ples of police personnel andother employees on duty nearthe stage of the PM. The bombdisposal squad also conductedan inspection near the stageand venue of the public meet-ing of the PM. The rural policewas directed to have closewatch on those purchasingbicycles and cookers from theshops near the venue of thepublic meeting of the PM inview of the security point ofview.

The SPG personnel alsoconducted an inspection of

security arrangements atSarnath and Rajghat where theprogramme of the PM is alsoproposed. Besides, the senioradministrative and police offi-cers including the DM KaushalRaj Sharma and the SSP AmitPathak also visited these placesand took stock of the prepara-tion works going on in war-footing to give a final touch.

Meanwhile, the districtadministration has divided the7 km long area across the riverGanga from Rajghat to AssiGhat in 20 sectors. The lengthof each sector is 350 m andwidth from 35 to 100 m. In this7 km long area, there is a tar-get of lighting 5 lakh diyas on

the auspicious occasion of DevDeepawali. The sector officerswere directed to get the diyaskept at the fixed places bySunday and the sub-sector andmicro sector officers will ensurethat the diyas be lightened onthe auspicious day at pre-scribed time.

From the security point ofview, there will be barricadingon the routes through whichthe PM will pass during his visitto the city. The roads of theseroutes are also being patchedon war-footing besides thepainting of dividers. The BJPworkers will launch a cleanli-ness drive in all 90 wards of thecity on Sunday. The Trafficdepartment has also imposedtraffic restrictions on variousroutes under which no vehiclewould be allowed plying onthese routes although theambulance and hearse cars willbe freed from traffic curbs.

In the meantime, the dis-trict administration decidedto make three tracks in thestream of Ganga in view of thePM’s proposed programme tohave a glance of the beauty ofghats from Raj Ghat to AssiGhat to be glittered with diyas.The boat on which the PM willride, will be in the middle whilethe security personnel will bein the other two tracks.

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Expressing his satisfactionover the good preparations,

Chief Minister Yogi Adityanathsaid that Dev Deepawaligrandeur should be done with‘zero error’ during the pro-posed visit of the PrimeMinister Narendra Modi hereon November 30. During hishectic visit, CM was reviewingthe preparations at a meeting atCircuit House on Fridayevening in which he wasinformed that the 84-odd ghatswill be glittered with 11 lakhdiyas (earthen lamps) and cul-tural programmes will be pre-sented at 15 main ghats.

‘As the PM is coming to hisparliamentary constituencyafter nine months and duringthe period the entire world hadpraised the nation in the man-ner India had managed totackle the biggest pandemic ofthe century. After the grandevent conducted on the occa-sion of Diwali in Ayodhya, nowthe importance of this DevDeepawali festival in Kashihas increased to send a messageamong the masses to followCOVID-19 guidelines andmaintain cleanliness right fromthe villages to the cities,’ he said,suggesting to add the pro-

gramme of paying tributes togreat Dalit saint of medievalperiod Sant Ravidas at his tem-ple near Rajghat.

He instructed the officersto ensure proper vigilance bemaintained at every level interms of security as it would bea very big event. ‘After the pas-sage of motorcades of VVIPs,smooth transportation for thecommon people should beensured to avoid any traffic jamlike situation,’ he added. He wasinformed that all the ghatsspreading about 7.5 kms will beglittered with lights along withdecorative lights at 3,000 poles

and both the sides of the riverwould be illuminated withlamps and attractive façadelighting arrangements at 16places on the sandy sides ofGanga.

Yogi said that as the entireprogramme of PM’s visit wouldbe telecast live, proper LEDlighting be made at all eventsites because the arrival ofthe PM is a privilege for all ofus.

Later, Yogi reached Sarnathto watch the Light & SoundShow, inaugurated by the PMon November 9 last. He wasmesmerised by seeing the show

amidst the background voice ofAmitabh Bachchan. It isexpected that during his visit,Modi will also watch the showat Dhammek Stupa in thearchaeological ruins site whichwas developed by the Tourismdepartment with a cost of �7.88crore. UP Ministers NeelkanthTiwari and Ravindra Jaiswal,ACS (Home) Awanish KumarAwasthi, ACS (Information)Navneet Sehgal, DivisionalCommissioner (DC) DeepakAgrawal, District Magistrate(DM) Kaushal Raj Sharma andother officials were also presenton the occasion.

������������������ �����33�4���2

The voice of ‘one countryand one law’ will be rever-

berating from the banks ofSangam during the month longannual Magh Mela. TheDharmacharyas will discussthe significance of ‘CommonCivil Code’. It will also includeKalpavasi. The saints will seekopinion from the Kalpavasisabout the usefulness of the‘Common Civil Code’. Then theproposal will be sent to thePresident and Prime Ministerafter passing a resolution oncollective opinion.

The saint-mahatma whocomes to meditate in the Maghmonth in Prayagraj, conductspublic awareness every year by

discussing national and reli-gious issues. For the last severalyears, the saints have beenraising their voice for the issueof the abolition of Article 370from Kashmir, construction oftemples in Shri Ram’s birth-place, the cleanliness of theGanga and stopping cowslaughter. It has now beendecided to churn on the‘Common Civil Code’.

Dandi will discuss thissubject on January 29 inSwaminagar. On February 2,the Vishwa Purohit Parishadasked, ‘When the country isone, why is the law on civilequality different?’ A meetingof religious leaders has beencalled on the same subject.President of Vishwa Purohit

Parishad, Dr Bipin Pandey saidthat it is necessary to imple-ment the Common Civil Codein order to unite the country inunity. Islamic nations likePakistan, Bangladesh, Turkeyconsider it. We will prepare ablueprint to implement it inIndia soon. Jagadguru SwamiMaheshashram, the chiefpatron of the Akhil BharatiyaDandi Saints Council, said thatthe Constitution does not haveany leeway to discriminate inthe name of caste and religion.However, political parties arediscriminating between greedfor votes. The saint will preparea proforma for Common CivilCode at the Magh Mela.

On the Civil Code, thesaints will prepare a blueprint

for nationwide public aware-ness. We will make the Kalpavisaware of every aspect. Throughthem, the issue will be broughtto their village and town. Afterthe Magh Mela, saints will goto the village of Kalpavasi andgive a discourse on this issue.

Saints will not seek the sup-port of any political party onthe Common Civil Code.Neither will they invite anyparty leader to his platform.They will unite the people toput pressure on the govern-ment and will convey theirmessages to people by visitingdifferent regions throughoutthe year. Discussion on the saidissue will be conducted inevery section of the societythrough the public.

������������������ �����33�4���2

North Central Railway hasbecome the leading zone

on Indian Railways in imple-menting innovations. Agradivision of North CentralRailway has bagged SilverAward for it’s innovative devel-opment of ‘DUET- Droid forUndergear Examination ofTrains’ in the 13th QCI-DLShah Quality Award evaluationprocess organised by QualityCouncil of India under theaegis of Ministry of Commerceand Industry.

The coveted QCI-DL ShahQuality Awards are given toparticipating organisations/individuals for specific projectsapplied by them. This award ispositioned PAN-India as therecognition for successful pro-

jects of an organisation/indi-vidual (Government, PSU,Private Sector covering all sec-tor— manufacturing, health,education, services) that haveresulted in continuousimprovement of processes,products and/or services. Theentire evaluation procedurefor this award consists of rig-orous screening spanning overfive stages before final award isgiven.

DUET- Droid forUndergear Examination, devel-oped by Mechanical(C&W)department of Agra division isequipped with high speedaction camera capable ofrecording and transmittinghigh resolution video footage toremote operator on real timebasis through secured Wi-Finetwork. 4-wheel drive and

remote maneuvering capabili-ties makes it suitable for safe-ty related examination ofundergear parts in a train onplatform lines, pit lines, yardlines etc. With limited space forundergear examination oftrains, this equipment devel-oped by Agra division willassist maintenance personal inthrough visual examination ofunder gear parts of coaches andwagons.

Agra division has alsoapplied for patent of this inno-vative development and its usein undergear examination oftrains shall be further prolifer-ated over North CentralRailway.

North Central Railway isthe leading zone on IndianRailways in implementinginnovative ideas in operation

and maintenance of Railways.In the month of July-2020,Railway Board had selected 20best innovations from thewhopping 2645 entries receivedfrom all zonal Railways, PUsetc. North Central Railway hadtopped this list of innovationsby bagging 8 of total 20 bestinnovations selected by RailwayBoard for wide circulation andimplementation across IndianRailways.

These major milestonescould be achieved with sincer-ity and devotion of Railwaymen and women under theleadership of General ManagerRajiv Chaudhry, technicalguidance of PHODs of NCRand active support of DivisionalRailway Managers and otherofficials from HQ andDivisions.

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The COVID-19 cases haveinched closer to the 19k-

mark as 63 new positivepatients have been detected inthe district on Saturday,increasing the total number ofcases to 18,971. The day sawone more death, increasingthe toll to 305. During the day,the follow-up negative reportsincluded 98 and out of them, 96have been recovered fromhome isolation, while two fromthe hospitals, increasing thenumber to 14,996 and 2,862respectively. The total numberof patients who have beenrecovered so far is 17,858, leav-ing 808 active cases. The recov-ery rate is 94.13 per cent, whilethe mortality rate is 1.60 percent

Chief Medical Officer(CMO) Dr VB Singh hasinformed that in the first reportof the day, 43 positive patientswere found out of 3,195 reportsreceived. Till then, the total testreports received were 4,15,888and the results of 2,426 areawaited. Out of them, 3,96,937were negative, while 18,951positive. The total number ofsamples collected was 4,36,767.Earlier, a male aged 76 and afemale (70) from Chhitupurand Shivala (Bhelupur) respec-tively succumbed to COVID-19 at Sir Sundarlal Hospital,Banaras Hindu University (SSHBHU). With the addition ofeight new red zones, the totalnumber of hotspots hasincreased to 2,485 including209 red zones. Two green zoneshave been converted into red

zones again. There are 2,272green zones with 14 new ones.

Meanwhile, several specialhealth camps were organised bythe Health department at thedifferent Health and WellnessCentres in Adarsh BlockSewapuri, selected by NITIAayog on Friday on the direc-tion of District Magistrate(DM) Kaushal Raj Sharma.These health camps were heldat Sikhdi, Thathra 2, Lalpur,Hathi, Domila, Tendui,Gaharpur, Kalikadham,Rameshwar 2 and GoraiWellness Centres. In thesecamps, medicines were dis-tributed free of cost along withscreening of patients of com-mon diseases. Along with this,necessary counselling was alsogiven along with checking ofblood pressure, sugar etc of all

persons above 30 years. Seriouspatients were referred to thePrimary Health Centres(PHCs). Pregnant and adoles-cent girls were informed aboutthe consumption of a regularand healthy diet. On an aver-age, around 80 to 90 patientswere examined in each suchhealth camp. The CMOinformed that as many as 34such health camps will be heldin Sewapuri block as per theinstructions of the govern-ment.

The Rashtriya BalSwasthya Karyakram (RBSK)team has been entrusted withthe task. ACMO and RBSKNodal Officer Dr AK Guptaand DEIC Manager DrAbhishek Tripathi inspectedvarious wellness centres duringthe camps.

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Farewell ceremony for sixofficers and employees, who

are getting their retirement inthe month of November, washeld at Hall of Fame here onFriday in Banaras LocomotiveWorks (BLW) through a virtu-al programme by RailwayMinister Piyush Goyal. In hisaddress, Goyal wished a healthylife and bright future for all theemployees going to be super-

annuated. Those who weregiven farewell includedPrincipal of BLW Inter CollegeLalji Singh, Deputy MarketingManager Ram Avatar, ChiefOffice Superintendent SantoshKumar and Senior StoresVerifier Narendra KumarMishra. During the pro-gramme, Chairman of RailwayBoard Vinod Kumar Yadavexpressed gratitude to all therailway personnel gettingretirement for their significantcontributions in the railway

service and wished them wellfor the life to come.

General Manager of BLWAnjali Goyal also participatedin this joint farewell ceremonyof the Indian Railways throughvideo conferencing. Duringthe event, all the COVID-19guidelines were followed.Principal Chief PersonnelOfficer Pradeep Kumar Singh,Deputy Chief Personnel OfficerShyam Babu and many officersand employees were also pre-sent.

Meanwhile, a trainingcamp was organised for theemployees to know how to usefire-fighting equipment. Theprogramme was held under thejoint auspices of the SafetyDepartment and RPF. Theemployees of various depart-ments including EngineDivision, Tool Room and RPFtook part. In all, a total of 163employees were trained andthey were given informationabout different types of fireextinguishers.

������������������ �����33�4���2

Corona has provided imme-diate relief even if people

are negligent in wearing masks.The number of infected forthree days is within 100. OnFriday, 6019 people were test-ed for Covid in the district but89 new people confirmed theinfection. The list of infectedincludes SP Intelligence. At thesame time, no one died ofCovid infection for the secondconsecutive day. A total of 114people beat corona.

According to Nodal Officerfor Corona Dr Rishi Sahai, thescope of testing campaign isbeing increased daily to preventcorona infection. It is a mat-ter of relief that the spread ofinfection is decreasing. OnFriday, more than 6,000 peoplewere tested for Covid in the dis-trict, but the infection wasfound in only 89 people.

According to the nodalofficer, 26,371 people havebeen infected in the district sofar. So far 18,755 people havecompleted home isolation.There were 95 people whobeat the infection at home onFriday.

Two NTPC officers, CBSE

section officers, along with SPIntelligence, are also includedin the list of infected persons onFriday, two manager level offi-cers of NTPC and one section

officer of CBSE also testedpostive.

According to Dr RishiSahai, in the wake of the tran-sition, the lekhpal of Sadar

Tehsil, an advocate, SeniorSection Officer of Railways, SiteManager of NTPC, SeniorManager HR have also comepositive for COVID-19.

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Unhealthy railway employ-ees will continue to be

treated in private hospitals.The Railway Board has with-drawn the order to treat itsemployees in the governmenthospital itself. The Union ofRailway employees expressedhappiness on the informationabout this. In fact, in the coro-na era, the Railway Board’shealth unit had ordered that thetreatment of railwaymen beconfined to government hos-pitals with the aim of reducingexpenditure. After this therewas a panic among the employ-ees. Dr M Raghavaiah, gener-al secretary of the NationalFederation of IndianRailwaymen had talked toRailway Board Chairman VKYadav for the rights of theemployees. Subsequently, onNovember 23 last, the orderbanning treatment in privatehospitals was withdrawn. Onknowing this, the railwayemployees breathed a sigh ofrelief. They thanked theRailway Board for withdrawingthis order.

Assistant DivisionalMinister Alok Sehgal said thatemployees or his family mem-bers are referred to the privatehospital for better treatmentfrom the railway hospital itself.Due to limited treatment atgovernment hospitals, theemployees could not get prop-er treatment. In order to with-draw the ban on treatment inprivate hospitals, he has statedin the interest of the employeesand the victory of the union.

Apart from this, there is anatmosphere of happinessamong railwaymen. The reasonis that there are many diseasesthat are not treated properlyand at the right time in gov-ernment hospitals.

P H D A D M I S S I O NPROCESS: The PhD admis-sion process in the depart-ment of Hindi of AllahabadUniversity (AU) for the acad-emic session 2020 will be heldas per the schedule alreadyannounced by the universityauthorities. However, PhDadmission for the year 2019 willbe completed as per the deci-sion of the Allahabad HighCourt.Earlier, a section of aspi-

rants had levelled allegations ondepartment authorities of irreg-ularity in the PhD admissionprocess for the 2019 session.

Meanwhile, to resolve thedispute, a five-member com-mittee was constituted by theofficiating Vice-ChancellorProf RR Tiwari.

The committee met and wehave resolved that the admis-sion for PhD in the Hindidepartment for the 2019 ses-sion would be done as per thedecision of Allahabad HighCourt, while the PhD admis-sion for the 2020 session wouldtake place as per the declaredschedule, said the dean of theArts faculty, Prof HerambChaturvedi.

CHAUHAN ARRIVES :Madhya Pradesh ChiefMinister Shivraj SinghChauhan arrived here with hiswife to immerse ashes of hisfather-in-law in the sacredwaters of the Sangam, the holyconfluence of the Ganga, theYamuna, and the mythicalSaraswati on Saturday. Asheswere immersed amidst chant-ing of mantras. Chauhan latermet the Akhara Parishad chair-

man Mahant Narendra Giri atBaghambari Ashram.

K H O L I ’ S D E A T HMOURNED : Indian Instituteof Information Technology,Allahabad condoled the demiseof its former Chairman ofBoard of Governors, PadmaBhushan awardee Dr FC Kohliwho died on Thursday after-noon. Prof P Nagabhushan,Director, IIIT-A said that theInstitute was very lucky tohave received the valuabledirections from him in its for-mative growth. ‘We offer oursalutations to this great doyenand pioneer of the earlier ITindustry in India’. Dr RaviKant, ex-Chairman of IIIT-ABoard of Governors in a mes-sage on Friday said that FCKohli was an extremely caringperson in spite of the positionand fame he had acquired dur-ing his illustrious life span. Itwas so sporting for him to haveaccepted our request to cometo Allahabad as chief guest atour convocation just a fewyears ago, in spite of a difficultjourney from and to Mumbai.The institute may considersomething to honour him.

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NER GM Vinay KumarTripathi on Friday inspect-

ed the Gorakhpur Cantt station.During it the layout of the ongo-ing work at Gorakhpur Cantt sta-tion was observed. It may bepointed out here that the work isbeing done to develop GorakhpurCantt Station as a satellite station, which has beenapproved at a cost of �24.6 crore. Under it a homeplatform, an additional island platform, the workof extending two new lines and the constructionof a new station building is in progress. Thework of making the current platform Nos 2 and3 a high- level platform and platform surfacingis being done at a rapid pace. On the completionof this project at Gorakhpur Cantt Station therewill be a total five passenger platforms and ninelines and the new station building, waiting roomfor women and men and better circulating area

which will provide high-level facil-ities to the passengers. During thisperiod, PCE Satish Kumar Pandey,Chief Project Director/Bridge andWorks VP Awasthi, Chief ProjectDirector/Station Development SKMishra, Chief Engineer/Construction AK Singh andKailash Singh and other officialswere present, CPRO PK Singh said.

During the inspection, the Chief Engineer/Construction said that after the construction of the newstation building, the panel room will be shifted fromthe old building to the new one after which the exist-ing station building will be dismantled, because newplatforms are being built at the same place. The con-struction of these platforms and new lines will pro-vide great relief to passengers. General Managerinstructed the officers to complete the work with with-in the stipulated time-frame by maintaining highquality. A plan has been made to complete thework by August 2021.

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To inquire about the quali-ty of disposal of complaints

lodged at IGRS portal DMSushil Kumar Patel and SP AjayKumar Singh visited thePipradaand village under Cityblock on Friday. They visited theresidence of Deepak Kumar whohad complained that he wasbeaten up by some persons andhe had threatened him of direconsequences too. His father saidthat the police had taken actionagainst the persons concernedand at present there was noproblem and expressed his satis-faction with the disposal. Theofficers met Chandrabali Nishadwho had complained that hisdaughter had been lured away bysomeone. About the disposal theDehat Kotwali police informedthat the said girl had married aresident of area under Padari

police station and both weremajors. On the ground of thegirl’s statement the case was dis-posed of following the provi-sions. The complainantexpressed satisfaction with thedisposal. Besides Swamisharanhad sought the facility of rationcard and as per the statement of theDSO it had been issued. The com-plainant expressed his satisfactionover the disposal. MeanwhileGenda Devi, had sought help formarriage of her daughter, and pro-bation officer Girish Dubeyinformed that only after fulfill-ing the norms the facility wouldbe provided without delay.

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Minister of Railways,Commerce, Industry and

Food Supplies and ConsumerAffairs Piyush Goyal on Fridaywhile giving an emotionalfarewell to 2,108 railway per-sonnel retiring from entireIndian Railways on November30 via video link from NewDelhi wished them a happyfuture. In his address PiyushGoyal said Indian Railways isan important organisation ofthe country which provideshigh-level transport facilities toall. He said railway personnelretiring this month are virtuallythe foundation of the railwayfamily and they have strength-ened it and taken it forwardwith their contribution. Duringthe Corona period, the entirerailway family has done aremarkable service to the coun-

try by running Shramik spe-cials and taking the strandedpersons to their destinations.Goyal said along with strength-ening the basic structure ofIndian Railways, there has beenan increase in the loading ofgoods for which all railway per-sonnel deserve congratulations.Appreciating the retiring rail-waymen, he said they hadworked with a spirit of dedica-tion and their contribution willalways be remembered. Goyalsuggested that everyone shouldremain active in their future life.In his address, Chairman andChief Executive Officer, RailwayBoard, New Delhi, Vinod KumarYadav, while extending his heart-felt greeting to the retiring rail-waymen said that they hadserved the people of the countrywell through rail. He appreciat-ed the remarkable contributionof retiring railwaymen for effec-

tively meeting the challenge aris-ing due to Corona. Yadav saidthat many projects were com-pleted on the Indian Railwaysduring the Corona period whichwas an achievement in itself andthey all deserved to be congrat-ulated for that. On North EasternRailway headquarters fourgazetted officers retiring onNovember 30 Srikant Singh,Principal Chief Signal andTelecommunication Engineer,Shailendra Kumar, PrincipalChief Personnel Officer, ManojVishwas, Chief Motive PowerEngineer, Atul Kumar Shukla,Assistant Materials Manager/Press and 22 non-gazettedemployees were honoured bybeing presented gold-platedmedal, settlement documents,service certificate, CPRO PKSingh said. Social distancing andsafety standards were followedduring the programme.

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The railway administrationfor the convenience of pas-

sengers will run the 05023Gorakhpur-Yesvantpur weeklyspecial train from December 1to 29 and the 05024 Yesvantpur-Gorakhpur weekly special fromDecember 3 to 31. All coacheswill be of reserved category andpassengers will have to followthe Covid-19 prevention guide-lines, CPRO PK Singh said.

GKP-YESVANTPUR SPL:The 05023 Gorakhpur-Yesvantpur weekly special willfrom December 1 to 29 everyTuesday leave Gorakhpur at08.55 hrs, Mankapur at 10.55 hrs,Ayodhya at 11.45 hrs, Faizbabadat 12:15 hrs, Lucknow (NR) at16.10 hrs, Kanpur Central at18.00 hrs, Orai at 19.35 hrs,Jhansi at 21.40 hrs, Lalitpur at23.10 hrs, Bina from 01.05 hrs,Bhopal at 03.05 hrs, Itarsi at04.45 hrs, Betul at 06.24 hrs,Nagpur at 10.05 hrs, Chandrapurat 12:20 hrs, Balharshah at 13.55hrs, Sirpur Kagaznagar at 14.35hrs, Kazipet at 17.10 hrs,Kacheguda at 20.25 hrs, KurnoolCity at 00.35 hrs, Anantapur at04.25 hrs, Dharmavaram at 05.45hrs and reach Yesvantpur at11.30 hrs. Besides the 05024Yashwantpur-Gorakhpur week-ly special will from December 3to 31 every Thursday, leaveYesvantpur at 23.40 hrs,Dharmavaram at 03.05 hrs,Anantapur at 03.35 hrs, KurnoolCity at 06.35 hrs, Mehboobnagarat 08.30 hrs, Kanchigudda at 11.00hrs, Kazipet at 13.20 hrs, SirpurKagajnagar at 15.20 hrs,Balharshah at 17.25 hrs,Chandrapur at 17.40 hrs, Nagpurat 21.00 hrs, Betul at 23.42 hrs,Itarsi at 02.00 hrs, Bhopal at03.40 hrs, Bina at 05.35 hrs,Lalitpur at 06.40 hrs, Jhansi at08.05 hrs, Orai at 09.20 hrs,Kanpur Central at 11.42 hrs,Lucknow (NR) at 13.15 hrs,Faizabad at 15.45 hrs, Ayodhyaat 16.28 hrs, Mankapur at 17.12hrs and reach Gorakhpur at

19.35 hrs. A total of 21 coaches,including two of generator-cum-luggage van, four of gen-eral second, seven of sleeper, sixof AC third and two of AC sec-ond will be attached in it.

HOWRAH-KATHGODAMSPL: The 03019 Howrah-Kathgodam daily special beingrun by the railway administra-tion for the convenience of pas-sengers is being extended fromDecember 1 to 31 and 03020Kathgodam-Howrah daily spe-cial train from December 3 toJanuary 2. However, their tim-ings and rake composition isbeing changed. All coaches inthese trains will be of reservedcategory. The 03019 Howrah-Kathgodam special as per therevised timing from December1 to 31 leave Howrah daily at21.45 hrs, Shrirampur at 22.15hrs, Bandel at 22.39 hrs,Barddhaman at 23.37 hrs, thesecond day Durgapur at 00.29hrs, Raniganj at 00.56 hrs,Asansol at 01.23 hrs, Chittaranjanat 01.46 hrs, Madhupur at 02.32hrs, Jasidih at 03.02 hrs, Jhajha at04.30 hrs, Jamui at 04.49 hrs, Kiulat 05.20 hrs, Luckeesarai at 05.24hrs, Badhiya at 05.43 hrs, DinkarGram Simaria at 06.56 hrs,Barauni Jn at 07.30 hrs, Bachhwaraat 07.51 hrs, Dalsingh Sarai at08.05 hrs, Nazirganj at 08.23 hrs,Ujiarpur at 08.33 hrs,Samastipur at 08.55 hrs,Khudiram Bose Pusa at 09.13hrs, Dholi at 09.28 hrs,Muzaffarpur at 10.08 hrs, Goraulat 10.33 hrs, Bhagwanpur at10.44 hrs, Hajipur at 11.10 hrs,Dighwara at 11.52 hrs, Chhapraat 13.20 hrs, Daudpur at 13.40 hrs,Ekma at 13.54 hrs, Chainwa at14.06 hrs, Duraudha at 14.18 hrs,Siwan at 15.00 hrs, Jiradei at15.13 hrs, Mairwa at 15.27 hrs,Bankata at 15.38 hrs, Bhatpar Raniat 15.50 hrs, Bhatni at 16.10 hrs,Deoria Sadar at 16.33 hrs, ChauriChaura at 17.01 hrs, Gorakhpurat 18.00 hrs, Khalilabad at 18.48hrs, Basti at 19.23 hrs, Gonda at21.15 hrs, Jarwal Road at 21.52hrs, Barabanki at 23.00 hrs, on

third day Lucknow at 00.45 hrs,Hardoi at 02.17 hrs, Roja at03.35 hrs, Shahjahanpur at03.55 hrs, Bareilly at 05.10 hrs,Rampur at 06.35 hrs, BilaspurRoad at 06.59 hrs, RudrapurCity at 07.23 hrs, Lalkuan at07.55 hrs, Haldwani at 08.27 hrsand reach Kathgodam at 09.00hrs. In the return journey, the03020 Kathgodam-Howrah spe-cial from December 3 to January2 will leave Kathgodam daily at21.50 hrs, Haldwani at 22.10 hrs,Lalkuan at 22.52 hrs, RudrapurCity at 23.25 hrs, Bilaspur Roadat 23.44 hrs, on the second dayRampur at 00.45 hrs, Bareilly at01.47 hrs, Shahjahanpur at 02.52hrs, Roja at 03.12 hrs, Hardoi at04.02 hrs, Lucknow at 06.15hrs, Barabanki at 07.50 hrs,Jarwal Road at 08.27 hrs, Gondaat 09.02 hrs, Basti at 10.19 hrs,Khalilabad at 10.54 hrs,Gorakhpur at 12.45 hrs, ChauriChara at 13.19 hrs, Deoria Sadarat 13.45 pm, Bhatni at 14.20 pm,Bhatpar Rani at 14.38 hrs,Bankata at 14.50 hrs, Mairwa at15.01 hrs, Jiradei at 15.13 hrs,Siwan at 15.35 hrs, Duraundhaat 15.52 hrs, Chainwa at 16.04hrs, Ekma at 16.16 hrs, Daudpurat 16.28 hrs, Chhapra at 17.20hrs, Dighwara at 18.05 hrs,Hajipur at 18.55 hrs,Bhagwanpur at 19.12 hrs, Goraulat 19.22 hrs, Muzaffarpur at20.05 hrs, Dholi at 20.28 hrs,Khudiram Bose Pusa at 20.41 hrs,Samastipur at 21.40 hrs, DalsinghSarai at 22.00 hrs, Bachwara22.14 hrs, Barauni Jn at 23.30 hrs,the third day Kiul at 01.20 hrs,Jhajha at 03.05 hrs, Jasidih at 03.51hrs, Madhupur Jn at 04.39 hrs,Vidyasagar at 05.03 hrs, Jamtara at05.22 hrs, Chittaranjan at 06.13 hrs,Rupnarayanpur at 06.24 hrs,Sitarampur at 07.48 hrs, AsansolMain at 08.40 hrs, Raniganj at 08.57hrs, Andal at 09.08 hrs, Durgapurat 09.29 hrs, Panagarh at 09.44 hrs,Barddhaman at 10.36 hrs, Bandelat 11.49 pm and reach Howrahat 12.40 hrs. According to therevised composition, 18 coach-es will be attached in it.

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Ayouth who was going on amotorcycle died in a road

accident on Friday on the high-way near Saraiya intersectionunder Sahajanwa police station.Reports said that in Aadhaarcard recovered from the pos-session of the youth the nameRavi Pratap Singh, son of RanjitSingh, a resident of RamgarhNagar in Gaushala Road area ofMaharashtra was mentioned.Besides on the wedding cardrecovered from him the May 8,2020, was written as the marriagedate. According to the local peo-ple, the youth was talking to some-one on his mobile phone afterputting it inside his helmet whenhe came in front of a trailer. Ongetting information the policetook the body of the deceased intotheir custody and sent it for thepost-mortem examination.

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Kanpur Nagar reported 114more coronavirus positive

cases on Saturday evening.Chief Medical Officer Dr AnilK Mishra said that 114 morepeople had tested positive forcoronavirus infection betweenFriday evening and Saturdayevening taking the tally ofconfirmed cases to 30,461cases. He said that 29 caseswere discharged from hospi-tal. He said one COVID-19death in the city was report-ed till Saturday eveningkeeping the death toll to 777.The CMO said at present1225 active cases were under-going treatment. Dr Mishrasaid 4852 samples were sentfor testing in the city.

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Aseminar on New EducationPolicy 2020 was organised

by the internal quality assur-ance cell of Chhatrapati ShahuJi Maharaj University (CSJMU)Kanpur on Friday.

On this occasion, an MoUwas signed between threemajor educational and researchinstitutes of the country.

A state-of-the-art biotechlab in the field of biotechnolo-gy was first inaugurated byCSJMU Vice Chancellor ProfNeelima Gupta, ChitrakootUniversity Vice ChancellorProf NC Gautam.

Prof Gautam, who was thechief guest, appreciated theefforts of the CSJMU and saidthat this laboratory was a bigeffort in the global develop-ment of students and wouldilluminate the name of KanpurNagar and the country all overthe world.

The programme startedwith lighting of the ceremoni-al lamp in front of the portraitof Maa Saraswati and ProfGupta welcomed all the visi-

tors. Additional Chief Secretary

(Higher Education) Monika SGarg, who was the chief guestat the seminar, while talkingabout the new education poli-cy, said that it was a major goalof the Government of India toimplement it in a short time sothat a better platform could beprovided for the future stu-dents.

Praising UP, she said thatabout 68,000 e-content hadbeen uploaded by UP teachersin digital library, promotingonline education during theCOVID-19 pandemic period,which was an importantachievement for the students ofthe state.

Prof Gautam said that thenew education policy had to beimplemented for developmentof skill and innovation.

He said the present timewas of change and the new edu-cation policy would be veryimportant, because the currenteducation was lacking in skilldevelopment without whichthe development of the nationwas not possible.

He said the new educationpolicy would give new skills tothe students through researchand innovation.

Speaking on Vocal forLocal, he said that by pickingup new ideas from rural areas,these could be spread amongthe people countrywide. Healso discussed the concept ofthe best be shared with theWest.

He encouraged institutesfrom all over the country toraise the standard of educationthrough research and innova-tion.

He said that educationalinstitutions could play a veryimportant role in the progressof the country with mutualsupport.

He also spoke about thenew single window system forfunding in the new educationpolicy. On this occasion, ProfGupta said that the CSJMUalways followed the path ofeducational progress. “Ourpractice is to provide new plat-forms to our students on time.Students will get better educa-tion by the new education pol-

icy,” she said.The MoU was signed

between CSJMURegistrar Dr Anil Yadav

and the directors of ZoologicalSurvey of India Kolkata, ICMR,National Institute of Researchin Environmental Health,Bhopal and Dr Hari SinghGaur University, Sagar.

ZSI Director Dr KailashChandra said that this was animportant effort of Kanpuruniversity and its studentswould be able to do researchwith the ZSI in the field of biol-ogy, environment and biotech-nology.

Director of NationalInstitute of Research inEnvironmental Health Bhopal,Prof RR Tiwari said the stu-dents of Kanpur universitycould take training in envi-ronmental research in his insti-tute so that they could dogood work in the field ofresearch and innovation infuture.

Dr Hari Singh CentralUniversity Vice ChancellorProf Janak Dulari Aahi andRegistrar Santosh Sohgour said

that by signing an MoU withtwo big universities of thecountry, they would encourageCSJMU students to doresearch, which would improvetheir future.

Senior scientist Prof. DDOjha encouraged the studentsto increase the use of Hindi inresearch. He said that theknowledge through research inHindi would make peopleaware of the whole country.He was awarded theVigyan Bhushan by his institutefor lifetime scientific achieve-ment.

CSJMU Registrar Dr AnilYadav, while thanking every-one, said that the Kanpur uni-versity was continuously mak-ing efforts to provide bettereducation and research oppor-tunities to its students.

Those present includedProf Anshu Yadav, DrSiddhanth Mishra, Dr SandeshGupta, Prof Sanjay Swarnakar,Prof Nand Lal, Prof VarshaGupta, Prof Munesh Kumar,Prof Mukesh Ranga, Dr SarojDwivedi and all faculty mem-bers.

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Head of administrativeoffice of Baroda UP Bank,

RL Bunker, while addressing aloan distribution camp onSaturday, said the bank wascommitted to the uplift of theweaker sections of society byproviding easy loans with min-imal interest rate.

He appealed to the peopleto avail themselves of theloans and improve their pre-sent lifestyle and enjoy eco-nomic progress.

He said financial helpfrom the bank had benefitedseveral people and the bankwas holding loan distribu-tion camps mostly in ruraland semi-urban areas.

The loan distributioncamp was organised jointly byBaroda UP Bank brancheslike Bhitargaon, Ramaipurand Bidhnoo.

RL Bunker said the bankwas making every effort

to reach to the masses, espe-cially the underprivileged peo-ple. He said the bank focusedon the residents of the ruralareas, especially those whowere into animal husbandry.

He said the easy mode ofpayment was one importantand lucrative factor and thatwas why more people wereapproaching the bank forloans.

Addressing the gathering,

Baroda UP Bank RegionalManager SB Saxena informedthe gathering about the vari-ous schemes of the bank. Hesaid people taking loan fromthe bank could repay it in easyinstalments in 12 months andalso avail the facility of 5 percent interest. He then threwlight on various other schemesof the bank like the socialsecurity plan, Atal PensionPlan, Pradhan Mantri Bima

Yojana, Pradhan MantriJeevan Jyoti Bima Yojana andadded that it was on zero pre-mium. He appealed to thepeople to come forward andbe benefited with the variousloan schemes for their finan-cial uplift. Prominent amongthose who took part in theloan camp included PKTripathi, PK Shah, SN Verma,Saket Bihari, Singh besidesmany customers of the bank.

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Chief Development OfficerMahendra Kumar made a

surprise inspection ofKanshiram MemorialCombined Hospital andTrauma Centre on Saturday.

He said it was shockingthat only one CT scan wasbeing done per day at the hos-pital, adding that this was awaste of resource.

He said as the CT scan

machine recently installed inthe hospital was rarely beingused, all government hospitalsand community healthcentres should refer theirpatients to this hospital for CTscan so that people of theweaker sections could benefitfrom it.

He said as per the direc-tives of the government strictmonitoring was being kept onhospitals so that the poorcould be benefited.

The chief developmentofficer expressed concern overthe failure of payment of oxy-gen cylinders by the hospital.He directed the officials con-cerned to make the paymentsat the earliest.

He also said that a liquidoxygen plant should be set upat the hospital.

He directed the hospitalstaff, both doctors and para-medics, to act humanely withthe patients who came to the

hospital. He said the purpose of the

government would be defeat-ed if the doctors and hospitalstaff behaved rudely with thepatients who were alreadysuffering mentally and phys-ically.

He warned the officialsthat there should be no com-plaints from the patients oraction would be taken againstthe official and paramedicconcerned.

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Industrial DevelopmentMinister Satish Mahana per-

formed Ganga aarti at the AtalGhat here on Friday

He was accompanied byKanpur divisional commis-sioner, Kanpur Nagar districtmagistrate, Kanpur mayor andmunicipal commissioner.

They all offered ‘chunri’ tothe river Ganga.

As many as 11,000 diyaswere lit and the aarti was per-formed like the one in Kashi.

Addressing the gathering,Mahana said it was an honourfor him to inaugurate theaarti at the Atal Ghat whichwas constructed during histenure.

He said very soon regularmaha aarti would be per-formed at this ghat.

Mahana said to keep theriver Ganga clean and sacred,it was essential that allthe people made collectiveefforts.

He said Ganga had reli-gious sentiments attached toit and thus each person wasresponsible to ensure itremained clean and pollu-tion-free.

Thousands of people who

had assembled at the ghattook part in lighting the diyasand wrote Har Har Gange.

The mayor said that once

aarti started regularly at theghat, it would bring peace andprogress to this city.

The aarti continued for

nearly an hour and thousandsof people, who had assembledfor the grand occasion, par-ticipated in it.

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1���� ��������$�������������� ��������KANPUR (PNS): MunicipalCommissioner AkshayTripathi, while addressing thepress persons recently, saidthat the Kanpur Nagar Nigamhad decided to set up a carcassemission plant and a biodi-gester at Panki very soon.

He said parleys were onwith the representatives of thecompanies and very soon theconstruction work wouldbegin. He said this was beingdone to ensure that the disposalof carcass was done at the ear-liest. He said the biodigesterwould also be set up simulta-neously.

The municipal commis-sioner said Kanpur had a majorproblem of disposal of carcass.He said feral dogs, pigs, cats,calves were a big menace in thecity.

He said the physical dis-posal of the carcass took a lotof time, especially from thetime it was physically picked upby a KNN representative andlater its disposal.

He said the same was theproblem with carcass of calveswhich was left to the feasting offlesh eating canines and birdsbut led to a nauseating stenchin the surrounding areas.

He said as part of theSmart City Project, things hadto be mechanised and thus thesteps had been taken andwould soon materialise.

Speaking about the CEP,the municipal commissionersaid animal mortality was anintegral part and proper dis-posal of the carcasses was nec-essary for effective disease con-trol measures.

He said various disposalmethods were being used,depending upon the legisla-tions and in developing coun-tries like India, and the mostwidely used disposal methodswas the traditional methodslike burying, burning, inciner-ation, rendering and compost-ing but there were some envi-ronmental, biosecurity, socialand economic issues associat-ed with these methods and thismethod led to contaminationof air, soil and water.

Tripathi said once thebiodigester plant was set up, itwould utilise organic waste,particularly carcass and humanexcreta, to produce fertiliserand biogas.

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From Page 1Around 400 to 500 farmers

who had came to Nirankariground on Friday were seenshouting slogans, singing songsand carrying flags in reds,greens and blues. Slogans suchas ‘Narendra Modi KisanVirodhi’ and “InquilabZindabad” could be heard whilefarmers were also seen dancingto drumbeats and the strains of“Hum Honge Kaamyab” atNirankari ground.

Meanwhile, on Saturdayevening a few groups of farm-ers from Uttar Pradesh gatheredat the Ghazipur border to jointhe call against the Centre’snew farm laws.

The Traffic movement wasalso closed on both carriage-ways at both the borders. TillSaturday evening farmers fromUttar Pradesh also started togather at Ghaziabad-Delhi bor-der. “Tikri border is closed fortraffic movement. Availableopen borders to Haryana are -- Jharoda, Dhansa, DauralaJhatikara, Badusari, Kapashera,Rajokri NH 8,Bijwasan/Bajghera, Palam viharand Dundahera border,” said theDelhi Traffic Police on itsTwitter.

The traffic police said theSinghu border was still closedfrom both the sides. “Please takean alternate route. Traffic has

From Page 1Elaborating upon the objec-

tive of positioning the MAR-COS at the Pangong lake withthe Army commandoes andGarud commandoes of theIndian Air Force, sources said itwill further infuse synergy andboost integration of the threeforces.

The Chinese army haspushed in additional high-pow-ered boats to patrol the PangongLake besides building a jetty.While India has asked China toremove the jetty as it is theIndian territory, the securityestablishment has also flown insophisticated boats for the com-mandos for effective function-ing, they said.

Focussing on seamlessoperations by the Army, IAFand Navy, the security establish-ment has in the past few monthsbrought in Garud comman-does of the IAF and SpecialFrontier Force (SFF). Both theseunits are already manning someof the critical heights on thesouth and north banks of thePangong lake.

This has forced China to goon defensive and asking timeand again in the CorpsCommander level talks thatthese commandoes vacate thestrategic heights. However, Indiahas all along refuse and insist-ed that China has to first with-draw from all the stand-offpoints.

From Page 1In Jammu, a large number

of first time voters belonging tothe west Pakistani refugee com-munity were upbeat as theywere lined up outside the pollingbooths to elect their public rep-resentative in the DistrictDevelopment Council polls.

“It is a big day for us and ourcommunity. We are feelingempowered for the first time. Wehad never elected our local rep-resentative in the past, said ayoung female voter Sujata Bhartiin Akhnoor.

President of the westPakistani refugee action com-mittee Labha Ram Gandhi said,“We have also fielded our can-didates in the different phases.We are going to elect them andsend them to the elected bodies

to take decisions for the welfareof the poor people”. Votersbelonging to all the age groupsparticipated in the maiden pollsand came out in large numbersto vote. Among the senior citi-zens several centurions kepttheir date with the polling boothand walked on foot to cast theirvote. A 103-year-old ZaitonaBibi, assisted by her son’s grand-daughter, visited a polling boothon foot in Gandoh tehsil ofDoda to cast her ballot. Sheclaimed since 1957 she hasnever missed any opportunity tovote. She said, every time I stepout to vote I pin all my hopes onthe winning candidate. “We arewaiting for the basic amenitieslike safe drinking water, betterhealth care and road network tilldate”. A total number of 1427candidates were in the fraywhich included 296 DDC can-

didates while over 7 lakh voterswere expected to cast their vote.Voting took place on 43 DDCseats, 25 from Kashmir and 18from Jammu region. The stateelection commission had madeelaborate security arrangementsacross 2146 polling stations toensure incident free polling.

In Kashmir valley, theCentral kashmir district ofBudgam recorded the highestvoter turnout of 56.96 per centfollowed by North Kashmir’sKupwara district where 50.74per cent voters stepped out tovote. Ganderbal district record-ed 48.62 percent polling.Srinagardistrict witnessed 33.76 per-cent polling. Out of four SouthKashmir districts, consideredhotbed of militancy, the threedistricts of Shopian, Anantnagand Kulgam recorded a relative-ly better voter out of 42.58, 43.32

and 34.35 per cent respectivelywhile Pulwama, the fourth dis-trict recorded lowest voterturnout of 6.7 percent. TheShopian and Pulwama districtshad earlier recorded less than 3per cent polling in 2019 LokSabha polls. Even Anantnagdistrict had recorded a little over8 per cent polling during threephases in May 2019. Comparedto previous polls held inKashmir valley, the voter turnoutrecorded an upward trend.

In the recent 2019 LokSabha polls, only 19 per centvoter turnout was recordedacross Kashmir valley.Significantly, it was 12 per centless than the 31 percent voterturnout recorded in the 2014Lok Sabha polls.

In contrast to this 2014,Assembly polls in J&k had wit-nessed voter turnout of 65 per

cent during five phases whilePanchayat polls in 2018 had wit-nessed over 74 percent voterturnout in Jammu and Kashmir.

In Jammu region the borderdistricts of Rajouri and Poonchscored a march over other dis-tricts as they recorded 70.52 and68.69 per cent voter turnoutrespectively. The highest voterturnout was reported from Reasidistrict as 74.6 per cent electoratestepped out to vote during theDDC polls. Jammu districtrecorded 61. 49 per cent pollingwhile Udhampur recorded 57.13per cent, Samba district record-ed 68.6 percent and Kathuarecorded 62.8 percent polling.

Doda, Kishtwar andRamban recorded 64.49 percent,55.16 and 64.21 percent pollingrespectively. The second phaseof DDC polls is scheduled totake place on December 1.

From Page 1In a tweet that he put after

his visit to Zydus Cadila’sVaccine Technology Centre,Modi said: “Visited the ZydusBiotech Park in Ahmedabad toknow more about the indige-nous DNA based vaccine beingdeveloped by Zydus Cadila. Icompliment the team behindthis effort for their work. TheGovernment of India is active-ly working with them to sup-port them in this journey”.

Having spent nearly anhour at Zydus Biotech Park,Modi flew to Hyderabad BharatBiotech facility at Hyderabad,where the indigenous vaccineCovaxin is being developed.

“At the Bharat Biotech facil-ity in Hyderabad, was briefedabout their indigenousCOVID-19 vaccine.Congratulated the scientistsfor their progress in the trialsso far. Their team is closelyworking with ICMR to facili-tate speedy progress,” Moditweeted after his visit to theBharat Biotech facility.

During the last leg of histhree-city tour -seen as a cru-cial stock-taking exerciseundertaken by the PrimeMinister in the run-up to thelaunch of vaccine and distrib-ution of vaccine sometime inthe early next year, Modi flewfrom Ahmedabad to Punewhere he landed at around 4.30

pm. From the Pune airport, thePrime Minister proceeded tothe Serum Institute of India(SII) by helicopter.

At the SII, Modi interact-ed with the team membersbehind the vaccine develop-ment, who shared details abouttheir progress about the workdone by them so far and plansto further ramp up vaccinemanufacturing.

“Had a good interactionwith the team at SerumInstitute of India. They shareddetails about their progress sofar on how they plan to furtherramp up vaccine manufactur-ing. Also took a look at theirmanufacturing facility,” thePrime Minister said in a tweet,after winding up his visit to SII.

Ahead of the PrimeMinister’s visit to three vaccinemanufacturing units, the PMOhad said in a statement onFriday: “As India enters a deci-sive phase of the fight againstCovid-19, PM Modi’s visit tothese facilities and discussionswith the scientists will help himget a first hand perspective ofthe preparations, challengesand roadmap in India’s endeavour to vaccinate its cit-izens”.

Meanwhile, talking tomedia persons after the PrimeMinister’s visit to his Institute,SII Chief Executive OfficerAdar Poonawalla disclosed latein the evening that the Centrehad indicated that it wouldneed 300 -400 million

Covidshield doses by July, 2021from his organisation as part ofthe Government’s combatstrategy against the Covid-19spread across the country.

“As of now, we don’t haveanything in writing from theGovernment of India as tohow many doses they will pur-chase. But, the Union HealthMinistry has told us that itwould need 300 to 400 milliondoses by July, 2021,”Poonawalla said. Earlier, at theSII, the Prime Minister wasreceived by founder-ChairmanCyrus Poonawalla, Adar andhis wife Natasha, who isExecutive Director of SII andChairperson of the VillooPoonawalla Foundation.

Maintaining that SII’s pri-ority for SII is India, AdarPoonawala said: “Covidshieldvaccines will be distributedinitially in India, then we willlook at the COVAX countrieswhich are mainly in Africa. TheUK and European markets arebeing taken care of byAstraZeneca and Oxford. Ourpriority is India and COVAXcountries”. Replying to a ques-tion, Poonawalla said: “We arein the process of applying foremergency use authorization ofCovishield in the next twoweeks. The SII is sending theresults of trials to the DrugController of India and everyprotocol would be followedand there would not be anyshort-cuts”.On the Covidshieldbeing manufactured from at SII

with a masterseed from OxfordUniversity and AstraZeneca,Poonawalla said: “It is a verygood vaccine…There has beenzero hospitalisation (duringthe trials). The virus in the sys-tem gets reduced to 60 per cent.There are vaccines that protectyou but you can transmit, butin Covidshield global trials, wehave seen that infected personswere not infecting others.Hence the sterilising immuni-ty is good”.

Asked whether the produc-tion and implementation planwas discussed with the PrimeMinister, Poonawalla said. “ThePrime Minister has very goodknowledge on vaccines andvaccine production. There wasvery little needed to beexplained to him. We wereamazed at what he knew,” hesaid. Alluding to the issue oframping up vaccine produc-tion, Poonawala: “We havebuilt the largest pandemic levelfacility in Pune and our newcampus in Mandri. We alsoshowed that to the PrimeMinister with a tour around thefacility and a lot of detailed dis-cussions of the plans ahead.”

On the results arrived dur-ing the trials, Poonawalla said:”At the moment the trials areenough for the efficacy….Therewas a bit of confusion in thecommunication which we willexplain in the coming days. Weare looking to conduct trials forthe under-18 age group after afew months”.

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A34 year-old director of acompany has been arrest-

ed by the Economic OffencesWing (EOW) of Delhi Policefor allegedly duping a man tothe tune of Rs 3 crores.

The accused has beenidentified as Pankaj KumarAgar wal, a resident ofKrishna Nagar and also thedirector of AmenityPromoters Private Limited(APPL).

According to Dr OPMishra, the JointCommissioner of Police,EOW, the accused PankajKumar Agarwal in conspira-cy with co-accused PankajDayal and Sandeep Kumarmisrepresented that theircompany APPL was inprocess of purchasing 5.06acre agricultural land in vil-lage Jhatikara for which thecompany had already paid Rs.3 Crore (advance money) tothe land owner.

“They misrepresentedthat they will conclude thepurchase of the land and finda suitable thirty-party buyerto further purchase land onor before July 28, 2014. Theaccused Pankaj Dayal, PankajAgarwal were shareholdersand authorized signatory tothe Bank account of accusedcompany,” said the Joint CP.

“Sandeep Kumar andPankaj Agarwal are the direc-tors of the company whilePankaj Dayal executed anMOU on behalf of companyand received Rs. three Croreand utilized the amount forpersonal use,” said the JointCP. “The accused PankajAgarwal was arrested whilehis associate Pankaj Dayal,who is also the main conspir-ator is already in judicialcustody. The accused hasbeen found involved in twocases of cheating registeredagainst them in Delhi. Theaccused used to lure innocentbuyers to invest in the prop-erty and duped them,” saidthe Joint CP.

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In a major boost to the sportsinfrastructure of the city,

Delhi Deputy Chief MinisterManish Sisodia inauguratedDelhi’s newly built world-classHockey Astro Turf atSarvodaya Bal Vidyalaya inAshok Nagar on Saturday.

On the occasion, Sisodiasaid, “We have ensured world-class facilities to the playersfrom a young age. It is now theresponsibility of the coachesand players to make the coun-try proud by bringing inmedals and showcasing theirtalent at international events.”

Sisodia said that ChiefMinister Arvind Kejriwal isproviding all the support to thepromising players so that notalent is left behind because ofbasic lack of facilities andfinances.

Renowned two-timeOlympic medalist, wrestlerSushil Kumar was also presentat the inauguration.

“The project cost Rs 5.78crore to build this world-classhockey Astro Turf. We are alsobuilding four such world-classhockey astro turfs in Delhi gov-ernment schools. This is thethird ground and two otherturfs in Ghumanhera andJhilmil. Additionally, four 400meter racing tracks and world-class swimming pools havebeen built. Due to such facili-ties, the performance of gov-ernment schools in Delhi hassignificantly improved insports, and so has the medaltally,” he said.

Sisodia said that the Delhigovernment has taken up theresponsibility in providingevery single promising playeressential facilities for theirsports training and preparation.“This includes building aninternational-style residentialfacility for sports people and asports university. Even playerswho bring in gold medalsworry about their admissionbut we will give these playersadmission in Delhi’s SportsUniversity,” he added.

“Every state governmentoffers financial support tosports persons who bring inlaurels and medals. Five years

ago, Chief Minister ArvindKejriwal had said that it isequally important to investand support the promisingplayers when they are sweatingout in the grounds preparingfor their sports journey,” headded.

“Keeping this in mind, wehave started a scheme to helpsuch promising players, inwhich annual amounts rangingfrom Rs 3.5 lakh to 16 lakh willbe given,” said Sisodia. He alsoadded that the DelhiGovernment rewards medal-winning players more thanany other state.

Sisodia said that the worldfamous field hockey players likeDhyan Chand and DhanrajPillai have also come up fromsimilar grounds. “Now we hopeto see more sports talent comeout of these grounds, and makeour dreams come true,” headded.

The sports branch of theDirectorate of Education iscommitted to promote grassroots sports and to provideholistic development to schoolstudents. With this objective inmind, various new schemeshave also been introduced forintensive training of sportspeople, he said.

This includes upgradingthe sports infrastructure of theschools, scaling them up tointernational standards, andproviding facilities like synthet-ic athletics tracks, syntheticbadminton flooring, Astro turfhockey ground and more.

���==����������� .012034�

Following the ongoing farm-ers' agitation against the

Centre's new farm laws, trafficwas affected on key roads inDelhi on Saturday as policekept the Singhu and Tikri bor-ders closed. While, traffic wasalso seen moving in snarl speedat Ghazipur (UP Gate) borderafter farmers from UttarPradesh (UP) gathered at theborder to mark their protest.

“Tikri border is closed fortraffic movement. Availableopen borders to Haryana are -- Jharoda, Dhansa, DauralaJhatikara, Badusari, Kapashera,Rajokri NH 8,Bijwasan/Bajghera, Palam viharand Dundahera border,” saidthe Delhi Traffic Police on itsTwitter.

The traffic police said theSinghu border was still closedfrom both the sides. “Pleasetake an alternate route. Traffichas been diverted fromMukarba Chowk & GTK road.Traffic is very very heavy.Please avoid outer ring roadfrom Signature Bridge toRohini and vice versa, GTKroad, NH 44 & Singhu border,”it tweeted.

“Traffic movement isclosed on Bhairon Road due toagitation of farmers. Motoristswho wants to go from Bhairon

Road towards New Delhi areadvised to use Barapullah,”Delhi Traffic Police tweeted.

“We appeal to commutersto avoid travelling towards theSinghu and Tikri borders,Mukarba Chowk, NH-44, GT-Karnal Road and Outer RingRoad,” said Meenu Chaudhary,the Joint Commissioner of

Police, Traffic adding that fol-lowing Saturday being a holi-day for most office goers, thetraffic situation in other partsis better than Friday.

On Friday, the Delhi Policecurtailed movement at severalplaces, including Dhansa,Jharoda Kalan, Tikri, Gurgaon,Singhu and Chilla, to prevent

the protesting farmers fromentering Delhi. Sections ofOuter Ring Road, MukarbaChowk, GT Karnal Road, NH-44 were also closed. The restric-tions led to chaos and confu-sion among commuters whoremained on roads stuck forhours. But some of the chaoseased out later in the day after

police allowed the farmers toenter the national capital.Farmers, representing over 30farm bodies, had called a 'DelhiChalo' March through severalroutes -- Lalru, Shambhu,Patiala-Pehowa, Patran-Khanauri, Moonak-Tohana,Ratia-Fatehabad and Talwandi-Sirsa.

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been diverted from MukarbaChowk & GTK road. Traffic isvery very heavy. Please avoidouter ring road from SignatureBridge to Rohini and vice versa,GTK road, NH 44 & Singhuborder,” it tweeted.

Following the borderssealed by police due to protest,several trucks carrying basicamenities including vegetableswere also seen lined up in thetraffic queue which was up to 10kilometers long at Tikri andSinghu borders.

On Friday, thousands offarmers, who had gathered atvarious entry points of thenational Capital, were grantedpermission to hold their peace-ful protest at Nirankari groundin North Delhi’s Burari area.

However, just before thepermission was granted, theclashes broke out between DelhiPolice and farmers at Singhuand Tikri borders resortingpolice to use tear gas shells,water cannon and mild lathicharge to disperse the farmerswho were part of the ‘DelhiChalo’ march.

In the 40 minutes clash atSinghu border, the Delhi Policehas erected barb wires as barri-cades were broken and stoneswere pelted from upon themand there was retaliation fromthe force. Senior police officialssaid that no injury was report-ed on both sides. Police alsoused tear gas shells and watercannons at Tikri border to dis-perse farmers who were tryingto pull away a truck placed as abarricade to prevent them fromentering the city.

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The Old StudentsAssociation (OSA) of

Hindu College will provideannual study grant to needymeritorious students, alumnimembers said.

The move comes againstthe backdrop of financialhardships being faced by stu-dents due to the COVID-19pandemic.

"The pandemic has creat-ed major problems for stu-dents from economicallyweaker sections and they arefacing a huge challenge in pay-ing their college fee," presi-dent, OSA, Ravi Burman said.

"The association hasdecided to help such students,whose family annual incomeis below Rs 5 lakh, with a one-

time study grant to covertheir annual college fees up toRs 20,000," he said.

The students who wouldlike to apply for this assistancecan submit their applicationalong with family income cer-tif icate to the college'saccounts department.

"We also appeal to distin-guished alumni of the collegethat we seek your support inthis endeavour of ours to pro-vide much needed relief toneedy students in this hour,"Burman said.

Several colleges are settingup funds to support studentsduring the pandemic, espe-cially after a student of LSRCollege died by suicideallegedly over financial con-straints in continuing her edu-cation.

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Vice President M VenkaiahNaidu on Saturday called

for promoting cycling cultureand creating exclusive cyclingtracks in cities and for that amass movement to encouragecycling is required.

He urged the Governmentto integrate cycling into urbantransport system and that thecities must plan city wide bicy-cle-sharing schemes, imple-ment carbon credit to benefitcyclists and also promote E-Bicycles.

Naidu said cycling benefitsinclude low-cost, zero pollutionand improved health.

Virtually delivering thekey-note address at anInternational Webinar on‘Cycling in the post-Covidworld’, Naidu said there is aneed to create a mass move-ment to encourage cyclingthrough rigorous awarenesscampaigns and regular pro-motional events. Terming thewebinar theme as timely andimportant, he called for col-lective global efforts to makethe planet greener and safer.

Observing that the pan-demic has changed the way welive, buy, utilise our time andcommute, the Vice Presidentpointed out that restrictions inmany cities across the worldhave resulted in a reduction ofmotorized traffic and anincrease in people choosing towalk or ride bicycles.

Pointing out that cyclingwas one of the best ways toreduce the risk associated witha sedentary lifestyle, he saidthat cycling provides severalbenefits in the form of zerodependence on energy sources,zero pollution, and improvedhealth.

“Additionally, bicycles can

provide critical support to theurban and rural poor who donot have access to the basicmobility”, Naidu added.

Stating that the pandemichas provided a rare opportunityto promote and integratecycling into the urban transportsystem, he advised urban plan-ners and policymakers to havea re-look at their plans andpolicies and earmark exclusivecycling tracks.

Observing that manyurban cycling networks inEurope, China and USA haveseen a surge in traffic, Naidusaid that there was a hugepotential for promotingcycling in India and called forproviding the necessary infra-structure.

Stating that traffic sur-veys revealed cycle tripsaccount for more than 15% oftrips in most towns, he saidthis was the right time to pro-

mote cycling as it reducesnoise pollution, improves roadsafety and also helps inaddressing the increasingenergy import bill.

Quoting a recent study, hesaid it was estimated that theuse of bicycles in place of two-and four-wheelers for short-distance trips in India couldresult in an annual benefit ofUSD 24.3 billion.

“However, the absence ofa cycling ecosystem is pre-venting it from becoming thepreferred mobility solutionfor all sections of society”, theVice President added.

Stressing the need toensure that the post-COVIDworld is greener and moreresilient, Naidu urged cities toplan city-wide bicycle-sharingschemes, implement PublicBike Sharing systems, create amechanism for the carboncredit system to benefit cyclistsand promote E Bicycles.

Ms. Raluca Fiser,President, World CyclingAlliance, ChristopheNajdovski, Deputy Mayor,Paris and President, EuropeanCyclists Federation,Dharmendra, Chairman,NDMC, Kunal Kumar,Mission Director, Smart CitiesMission, Kamal Kishore Yadav,CEO and Commissioner,Chandigarh Smart City andother dignitaries were pre-sent on the occasion.

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The EnforcementDirectorate on Saturday

attached properties worth�27.86 crore of former IAS offi-cer Babulal Agrawal under thePrevention of MoneyLaundering Act in cases relat-ed to criminal misconduct andcheating by a public servant.

The attached assets includeplant and machinery, balancesin bank accounts and immov-able properties of Agarwal andhis family members.

The ED initiated investi-gation under PMLA on thebasis of FIR registered by Anti-Corruption Bureau (ACB),Chhattisgarh under Preventionof Corruption Act, leading todisclosure of the dispropor-tionate assets amassed byAgrawal and his family mem-bers following searches con-ducted by the Income TaxDepartment in February 2010.

The IT Department hadthen conducted searches at thepremises of Agrawal, his CASunil Agrawal and his familymembers.

Further, three more FIRswere registered followed bychargesheets filed by the CBIagainst Agrawal and others.These FIRs were registeredunder various Sections of theIndian Penal Code andPrevention of Corruption Act.

“Investigation underPMLA revealed that Babu LalAgrawal in connivance with hisCA Sunil Agrawal and hisbrother Ashok Agrawal andPawan Agrawal opened morethan 400 bank accounts in thename of gullible villagers ofKharora and its nearby villages.Cash was deposited in these

accounts and several otheraccounts, 13 shell companiesowned and operated by CASunil Agrawal, 26 Delhi andKolkata-based other shell com-panies as well as the sister con-cerns of Prime Ispat Limited (acompany owned and managedby family members of Babu LalAgrawal) were used in place-ment and layering of this cashgenerated from corrupt meanswhich was finally integrated inthe form of share capitalincluding share premium inPrime Ispat Limited (PIL),”the ED said in a statement.

Out of the above, the EDhad already attached propertiesof PIL to the tune of �35.49crore in the year 2017, it said.

Now, remaining plant andmachinery to the tune of�26.16 crore has been attached.Besides this, bank balance of Rs20.43 lacs lying in 291 bankaccounts, a residential plotworth �39.52 lacs in the nameof Xpress Mining Pvt. Ltd. (anentity owned and operated byfamily members of Agrawal),Rs 15 lacs recovered during theIncome Tax search, balance of�4.75 lacs in the bank accountof one firm Capstone, a resi-dential plot worth �10.25 lacsin the name of another com-pany Shri Ram Vihar (bothpartnership firms owned andoperated by family members ofAgrawal), cash of �39.81 lacsand two Kg gold recovered byCBI have been attached underPMLA.

Agrawal was arrested byED on November 9 this yearand he is in judicial custody tillDecember 5. FurtherInvestigation in the case isunder progress, the agencyadded.

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Union Minister PiyushGoyal on Saturday

expressed confidence that thefew “misguided” farmers, whoare protesting against theCentre’s three farm laws, willunderstand the well-meaningintentions behind thesechanges while UnionAgriculture Minister NarendraSingh Tomar on Saturday saidthat the Government is await-ing a proposal from the protest-ing farmers and then will makea decision based on that.

The Minister has beenevery day asking the farmers tocall off the protests. He said thatthe Government is ready tohold talks with the farmers and

has invited them for anotherround of talks on December 3.

“I appeal to them to leaveagitation in view of COVID-19and winter. I am hopeful thefarmers will agree to task,” hesaid.

Thousands of farmers start-ed entering the national capitalon Friday as part of their ‘DelhiChalo’ march against theCentre’s new farm laws.

“It is little unfortunate thatsome political vested interestsare misguiding our farmers.But I am very confident thatjust like almost across thecountry, farmers have wel-comed our new initiatives onthe farm side, the few mis-guided farmers will also under-stand the well meaning inten-

tions behind these changesfor the benefit of the farmers,and for a better future for ourfarmers,” Goyal said.

He said that if pen or ther-mos manufacturers do nothave any restriction on whereand to whom to market theirgoods, farmers too deservethe same independence.

The Government, he said,is working at strengtheningthe hands of farmers byunshackling them from theconstraints of the past. “Weare preparing the country andour farmers to becomestronger, to get the ability tomarket their own productsanywhere in the country,” thecommerce and industry min-ister added.

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Naval pilot CommanderNishant Singh is yet to be

traced 48 hours after his MIG-29K fighter jet crashed into theArabian Sea off Goa onThursday evening.

However, the rescue teamsmanaged to rescue the otherpilot who along with Singhejected from the jet before itwent down.

Scores of warships, heli-copters and aircraft of theNavy and other agencies werecarrying out an extensivesearch and rescue mission onthe spot where the planecrashed into the sea, officialssaid here on Saturday.

The twin-seater MIG-29Kfighter jet crashed during rou-tine sortie. These aircraft oper-ate from the INS Vikramadityaaircraft carrier.

This is the third mishapinvolving the MIG-29K in thelast one and half years. At least45 jets manufactured by Russiawere inducted into the Navysome years back for flyingfrom the aircraft carrier.

Giving details of themishap, the navy had said onFriday a board of inquiry wasordered to ascertain the causeof the incident. “A MiG-29Ktrainer aircraft operating at seamet with an accident at about1700 hrs on 26 November.One pilot has been recoveredand search by air and surfaceunits in progress for the secondpilot. An inquiry has beenordered to investigate the inci-dent,” the Navy said.

The MIG-29Ks hadrecently participated in theprestigious Malabar series ofmaritime exercises with thenavies of the US, Australia andJapan. The Indian aircraft car-rier along with the US Navy’saircraft carrier Nimitz tookpart in the second phase of thefour nation drill in the NorthArabian Sea off Goa earlier thismonth.

The exercises focusedaround the VikramadityaCarrier Battle Group of theIndian Navy and NimitzCarrier Strike Group of the USNavy. The two carriers, alongwith other ships, submarine

and aircraft of the participat-ing navies carried out highintensity naval operations overfour days from November 17onwards. These exercises alsoincluded cross-deck flyingoperations and advanced airdefence exercises by MIG 29Kfighters of INS Vikramadityaand F-18 fighters and E2CHawkeye from Nimitz.

This is the third mishap ofMiG-29K aircraft in the lastone year. In February this year,a MiG 29K crashed after beinghit by birds over Goa. Bothpilots had steered the jet awayfrom habitation before eject-ing.

In November last year, aMiG-29K trainer aircraftcrashed outside a village inGoa. Both the pilots had thenejected safely. In January 2018,a fighter jet crashed as it veeredoff the runaway at the INSHansa base in Goa.

The pilot escapedunharmed. The MIG-29Ks ofthe Navy are based at its basein Goa and operate from thelone aircraft carrier INSVikramaditya.

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After Nivar, another cycloneis forming over Bay of

Bengal. According to the IndiaMeteorological Department, itis”very likely” to concentrateinto a depression in the next 48hours and intensify furtherbefore moving towards theTamil Nadu coast. Under itsinfluence, various parts insouthern States were likely toreceive rainfall startingDecember 1, the IMD said ina series of tweets.

“A Low Pressure Area liesover South Andaman Sea SE(south east) Bay of Bengal andEquatorial Indian Ocean. It is

very likely to concentrate intoa depression during next 48hours and likely to intensifyfurther thereafter,” it said.

It is likely to move near-ly westwards and reach southTamil Nadu coast around

December 2, it said.Under its influence, scat-

tered to widespread rainfallactivity was “very likely” overTamil Nadu, Puducherry,Karaikal, Kerala, Mahe,Lakshadweep, south coastal

Andhra Pradesh and southRayalaseema on Tuesday andWednesday, the IMD said.

IMD has issued ‘Orange’alert for Pathanamthitta andIdukki districts onDecember1 and forThiruvananthapuram andKollam districts on December2.

IMD also forecasts isolat-ed heavy to very heavy rain-fall with moderate thunder-storm and lightning overTamil Nadu, Puducherry andKaraikal during this period.

Isolated heavy falls withmoderate thunderstorm andlightning was also very like-ly over south coastal AndhraPradesh during December 1and 2 and over Rayalseemaand Lakshadweep area onWednesday, it added.

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The CBI on Saturday carriedout multi-city search oper-

ation at 45 locations in fourStates after registering a caseagainst alleged coal pilfererAnup Manjhi who was sus-pected to be colluding with twogeneral managers and threesecurity personnel of EasternCoalfields Ltd (ECL) for thetheft.

The searches were spreadacross West Bengal, Bihar,Jharkhand and Uttar Pradesh,officials said.

The CBI registered the caseon Friday against Manjhi, ECLGeneral Managers Amit KumarDhar (of then Kunustoria areanow Pandaveswar area) andJayesh Chandra Rai (Kajor area)besides ECL Chief of SecurityTanmay Das, Area SecurityInspector, Kunustoria,Dhananjay Rai and SSI andsecurity in-charge Kajor areaDebashish Mukherjee, they said.

It is alleged that accusedAnup Manjhi alias Lala isinvolved in the illegal miningand theft of coal from leaseholdmines of ECL in Kunustoria andKajora areas, they further said.

The CBI case followedinputs from “reliable sources”indicating illegal excavation andtheft of coal in the leasehold areaof ECL in “connivance” with theofficials of ECL, CISF andRailways, they said.

The vigilance department ofthe ECL and its Task Force hadalso noticed illegal mining fromMay 2020 and onwards with the

help of large excavationmachines and vehicles for trans-portation that were seized by theteam.

“Several instances of instal-lation of illegal weighbridges inconcrete form were also detect-ed which confirms illegal coalmining and transportation fromECL areas in an organised man-ner at a very large scale,” readsthe FIR.

It is further revealed by thesource that illegal mining isgoing on at the leasehold area ofECL behind Topsi village underKunustoria Area and atLachhipur Village under KajoraArea by the coal mafias inactive connivance with offi-cials of ECL and those of CISF,the FIR alleged.

The departmental raids onAugust 7, 2020 led to the recov-ery of over nine MT of stolencoal from the Railway siding ofthe Pandaveswar area. Similarrecoveries were also made fromother locations.

“It is learnt that this illegalactivity is being run at Railwaysidings by the criminals with

the active connivance ofunknown Railway officials,”the agency alleged in the FIR.

The CBI has alleged thatManjhi is the kingpin of mostof the coal pilferage in the areaarising out of illegal mining.

It appears that illegal coalmining in the ECL leaseholdarea is going on along withtheft of coal from Railwaysidings in an organised man-ner, the CBI said.

It alleged that the accusedofficials and security officersof ECL and CISF, in con-nivance with unidentifiedRailways officials, allowedAnup Manjhi alias Lala tomisappropriate the nationalproperty entrusted to them,committing criminal breach oftrust.

Dhananjay Roy, the secu-rity inspector of the state-runfirm in the Kunustoria area inWest Bengal’’s PashchimBardhaman district was takenill when the search operationwas underway, they said.

He was rushed to a hospi-tal where he died, they added.

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Congress on Saturdayappointed former Rajya

Sabha MP Pawan KumarBansal as the interim treasur-er of the All India CongressCommittee (AICC). The postfell vacant after the suddendemise of veteranCongressman and sitting RajyaSabha MP from Gujarat,Ahmed Patel earlier thismonth.

Pawan Kumar Bansal’s pre-decessor Ahmed Patel served asthe AICC treasurer fromAugust 2018 till his untimelydemise earlier this week due tocorona.

A four-time Lok SabhaMP from Chandigarh, PawanKumar Bansal also served oneterm as a Rajya Sabha MP forPunjab. In addition, PawanKumar Bansal has also servedas a national spokesperson ofthe AICC and chairman of theparty’s research & reference cellin the past.

The 72-year old Congressleader handled the Minister of

State (MoS) portfolio inParliamentary Affairs, Financeand Water resources ministriesduring Prime MinisterManmohan Singh’s tenure. Hewas made the RailwaysMinister in UPA-2. PawanKumar Bansal resigned fromthe post in 2013 after hisnephew was accused in abribery case.

Towards the beginning ofhis political career, Bansalentered the limelight when hewas appointed president of thePunjab unit of the Indian YouthCongress (IYC).

His appointment to thetop job comes at a time whenCongress is looking to chal-lenge not just the BJP butother Opposition parties inthe upcoming Assembly elec-tions.

Responding to his appoint-ment as AICC treasurer, Bansalsaid, “I thank CongressPresident Sonia Gandhi ji andRahul ji for posing faith in meand discharging the duty withfull responsibility shall be myendeavour.”

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Alleged hawala dealerNaresh Jain, arrested in

connection with a case ofmoney laundering related tointernational hawala transac-tions worth around �20,000crore, has moved a Delhi courtseeking bail.

The bail application islikely to be heard on

December 2.The application claimed

that the probe regarding theaccused was complete and hisfurther custody was notrequired. It also said the courtmay impose any condition onthe accused while grantinghim the relief.

Advocate Naveen KumarMatta, the special public pros-ecutor, had appeared for theEnforcement Directorate.

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Apetition has been filedbefore the Supreme Court

seeking to quash the Centre’sdecision to “retrospectively”amend the tenure of SanjayKumar Mishra as the directorof the Enforcement Directorate(ED).

The petition, filed by advo-cate Prashant Bhushan forNGO Common Cause, alsosought a direction to the cen-tral government to appoint adirector for the agency “in atransparent manner and strict-ly in accordance with the law”.

It has contended that theorder issued by the Centreextending Mishra’s tenure forone more year, was in violationof the provisions of the CentralVigilance Commission (CVC)Act, 2003.

The petition, which is like-ly to come up for hearing in thecoming days, has alleged thatthe government employed acircuitous route to ensureKumar got one more year asdirector of ED by way of ret-rospectively modifying theappointment order itself.

Mishra, an IRS officer, wasappointed ED director for twoyears by an order datedNovember 19, 2018, the pleasaid.

However, the CentralGovernment on November 13,2020, issued an office order inwhich it was stated that thePresident has modified the2018 order to the effect that aperiod of “two years” written inthe 2018 order was modified toa period of “three years”, it said.

“The Centre has done indi-

rectly what could not havebeen done directly under thestatute,” the plea said.

The petition contendedthat the ED handles a largenumber of cases involving hugecorruption, many of which arepolitically sensitive in nature,and the agency’s director haspowers akin to that of thedirector of the Central Bureauof Investigation (CBI).

It added that “such illegal-ities in the appointment of theDirector of Enforcement willshake the confidence of citizensin the institution ofEnforcement Directorate.”

“Such an action will betotally against the laudableprinciples highlighting theneed of impeccable integrity ofpersons holding high publicoffices and the consequentneed for insulating the saidoffices from extraneous influ-ences, as enshrined by theSupreme Court...,” it said.

ED director’s appointmentis governed by the CVC Actwhich provides that no personbelow the rank of additionalsecretary to the government ofIndia shall be eligible forappointment for the post andthe director so appointed willcontinue to hold office for aperiod of not less than twoyears from the date on whichhe assumes office, the pleasaid.

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Members of the armedforces, who take the oath

of laying down their lives forthe country, deserve specialtreatment and are not to beharassed unnecessarily and“made ping pong of ” by beingsent from one forum of adju-dication to another, the DelhiHigh Court has said.

The high court observedthat the oath required to betaken by the President, VicePresident, Governors of theStates or by the Judges of theSupreme Court and the HighCourts does not require themto lay down their lives in theservice of the country.

It is only the members ofthe armed forces who arerequired under the Constitutionand other laws to take an oathof abiding by the commandissued to them by the Presidentor any officer set over them,even to the peril of their lives,a bench of Justices Rajiv SahaiEndlaw and Asha Menon said.

The court’s observationcame on a batch of 40 petitionschallenging an order issued bythe Ministry of Defence (MoD)granting the benefit of pro-ratapension only to CommissionedOfficers of the Defence Servicesand not to the Non-Commissioned Officers(NCOs)/ Persons Below OfficerRank (PBORs).

The petitioners — NCOs/PBORs who joined the IndianAir Force (IAF) as Airmen/Corporals — said the MoD’sorder is discriminatory andclaimed pro rata pension.

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Jaipur: The Rajasthan govern-ment on Saturday fixed the ratefor Covid-19 RT-PCR tests byprivate labs in the state to Rs800, slashing it by Rs 400.Chief Minister Ashok Gehlotsaid the government orderedthe lowering of the Covid testrates from Rs 1,200 to Rs 800following a drop in test kits'prices.

The state governmentissued the order slashing theCovid-19 test rate by privatelabs soon after the chief min-ister digitally inaugurated a70-bed Covid-19 IntensiveCare Unit in RUHS Hospitalhee and disease testing labs insix towns.

Speaking during the pro-gramme, Gehlot said his gov-ernment is making all efforts tostrengthen the Covid-19 man-agement infrastructure.

“People should not be wor-ried by the rise in positive casesas they will do due to theincreasing number of tests,” hesaid.

He sought to assure peo-ple of “encouraging” recoveryrate in the state, sayingRajasthan has a Covid deathrate below one per cent -- oneof the lowest in the country.

Gehlot said the coronainfection must not be hidden atany stage because delayingtreatment makes the diseasefatal.

He said those who did notget themselves screened time-ly had to undergo treatment inhospital.

The chief minister said thehealth infrastructure has beenstrengthened throughoutRajasthan for maximum

screening and proper treat-ment of corona-infected per-sons and now RT-PCR testingfacility is available in every dis-trict.

Defending a Covid-infect-ed Health Minister RaghuSharma's visit to newly set upICU in RUHS Hospital, a ded-icated Covid hospital, in Jaipur,the chief minister asked whoelse will conduct a visit if notthe health minister.

Gehlot said after testingpositive, the minister wasadmitted in the RUHS Hospitaland he inspected the newly setup ICU there.

BJP had raised objectionsafter the Covid-positive min-ister visited the hospital. TheBJP leaders had accused him ofputting the lives of othersincluding the hospital staff atrisk. PTI

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Jammu: Cold weather condi-tions prevailed in most parts ofJammu and Kashmir onSaturday with Gulmarg touristresort in the Valley being thecoldest place at minus 5.6degrees Celsius, the meteoro-logical department said.

It has predicted dry weath-er in the union territory tillDecember 4.

While the minimum tem-perature settled several degreesbelow the normal at mostplaces, the day temperaturewas almost near to normal, aMeT department officialsaid.

Srinagar recorded a mini-mum of minus 2.2 degreesCelsius, while Qazigund(Anantnag) and Kupwara expe-rienced a low of minus 1.8degrees Celsius and minus 1.0degrees Celsius respectively,

he said.The famous health resort

of Pahalgam in south Kashmir'sAnantnag district recorded alow of minus 5.2 degreesCelsius.

In the Jammu region,Bhaderwah belt in Doda dis-trict recorded the minimumtemperature at 0.8 degreesCelsius, followed by Banihal inRamban district which record-ed a low of at 5.2 degreesCelsius, he said.

Jammu, the winter capital,recorded the minimum tem-perature of 8.6 degrees Celsius,1.7 degrees below normal, theofficial said.

“There will be mainly dry weather tillDecember 4. As of now, a spellof light snow or rainfall isexpected between 5-6December,” he said. PTI

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Thane: Two persons have beenarrested for allegedly molestinga woman and attempting tothrow her off a moving localtrain in Maharashtra's Thanedistrict, police said on Saturday.

The incident took place lateon Wednesday night, whenthe accused got into the ladiescompartment of the local trainand one of them molested the21-year-old victim who wastravelling to Kasara, inspectorV D Shardul of Kalyan railwaypolice station said.

When the victim resistedtheir advances, the accusedtried to throw her off the mov-ing train between Khardi andUmbarmali stations, the officialsaid.

The victim managed toescape from the accused andshe later lodged a complaint, hesaid. PTI

Gujarat: Even as India cele-brated the 71st ConstitutionDay with enthusiasm withnationwide reading of thePreamble led by the PresidentShri Ram Nath Kovind, aSpecial Exhibition on theConstitution Day at Kevadia inGujarat, drew appreciation ofParliamentarians andLegislators.

This Exhibition, organizedby the Bureau of OutreachCommunication of Ministry ofInformation & Broadcasting incollaboration with theParliamentary Museum andArchives, as part of the 80th AllIndia Conference of PresidingOfficers at the Statue of Unitysite in Gujarat, was inaugurat-ed by the Speaker of the LokSabha, Shri Om Birla onWednesday.

The Exhibition traced thejourney of democratic traditionin the country, right fromVedic Times, through theLichchavi republic to the mak-ing of Modern India.

The 1,600 sqft multi mediaexhibition had 5o panels ofstill exhibits besides Plasma dis-play, interactive Digital FlipBook, RFID Card Reader,Interactive screen, DigitalTouch Wall etc.

The Speaker appreciatedthe use of multi-media and saidinteractive exhibitions makeinformation disseminationinteresting. He said, the exhi-bition effectively captures thechronology of the framing ofthe Constitution and such exhi-

bition should be taken to dif-ferent parts of the country tocreate awareness about ourdemocratic tradition.

The framing of theConstitution of India has beendealt in detail making use ofarchival material. Rare filmfootage showing events associ-ated with the framing of the Constitution, speeches made byimportant members of theConstituent Assembly like Dr.B R Ambedkar, Dr. RajendraPrasad, Pt. Jawaharlal Nehru,Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel,Shyamaprasad Mukherjeeamong others, were so

urced from the archives ofFilms Division of India,Mumbai.

On one of the PlasmaDisplays, a visitor could chooseto read the Preamble of theConstitution in different Indianlanguages. A Digital Flip Bookgave glimpses of illustrationsfrom the Constitution. ADigital Touch Wall gave infor-

mation about our variousnational symbols, while anoth-er digital screen displayed thechronology of framing of theConstitution. Another dis-play wall described the influ-ence of other Constitutions ofthe world in drafting theConstitution of India.

RFID Card Reader - aninteractive display, where byplacing the card bearing thename of the Member of theConstituent Assembly, his/herprofile and contribution couldbe read on the screen was a spe-cial attraction.

Three category of cardswere on display - Members ofthe Drafting Committee,Women Members of theConstituent Assembly and theMembers of the ConstituentAssembly from Gujarat withHansa Mehta and KanhaiyalalMunshi being the prominentfigures.

Gujarat Governor AharyaDevvrut wrote in the visitors'

book that “ the gallery providesan insight into the tremendousefforts put in by hundreds ofvisionary leaders. The collec-tion has beautifully shown theartifacts of the past and utilizedevery possible digital effort toproject the same”.

Union Minister forParliamentary Affairs, Coal &Mines, Shri Pralhad Joshi andMinister of State forParliamentary Affairs ShriArjun Ram Meghwal andSpeakers of various StateAssemblies were prominentamong the dignitaries who vis-ited the exhibition.

The archival display of sig-natures of Members of theDrafting Committee, key func-tionaries of the Governmentand Parliament, portraits ofpast and present Speakers etcwere other prominent panels.Another highlight of the exhi-bition was the section on StateAssemblies, where a visitorcould see and appreciate thearchitectural beauty and diver-sity of different State Assemblybuildings.

Covid appropriate behav-iour protocols were incorpo-rated and special care taken toensure sanitation, especiallywith respect to touch screendisplays. The two-day AllIndia Conference of PresidingOfficers at Kevadia ended withresolve to strengthen institu-tions of democracy and spreadawareness among public aboutthe Constitution and democ-ratic tradition of India.

Amaravati: The number offresh Coronavirus came downto 625 in Andhra Pradesh evenas the cumulative count rose to8,67,063 on Saturday.

The latest bulletin said1,186 patients got cured andfive more succumbed in 24hours ending 9 am today.

The number of active casesfell to 11,571 after a sum of8,48,511 recoveries and 6,981deaths, the bulletin added.

Only Krishna districtreported 103 fresh Covid-19cases in a day while all otherdistricts added less than 100cases each to their tally.

Krishna, along with WestGodavari, reported two freshfatalities while Visakhapatnamadded one.

As per government data,the overall infection positivityrate in AP now stood at 8.70per cent after a total of 99.62lakh sample tests.

The recovery rateimproved to 97.86 per centwhile the mortality rateremained stable at 0.81 percent. PTI

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Kolkata: The TrinamoolCongress on Saturday claimedthat the Mamata Banerjeeadministration has so far spentRs 4,000 crore on COVID-19management in West Bengaland has not received any assis-tance from the BJP-led NDAgovernment at the Centre todeal with the pandemic situa-tion.

State Women and ChildDevelopment and SocialWelfare Minister Shashi Panjasaid that starting from scratch,the West Bengal governmenthas expeditiously built the nec-essary infrastructure to tacklethe pandemic.

“With no assistance from

the Centre, the MamataBanerjee government has spentRs 4,000 crore to tackle theCOVID-19 pandemic in thestate.

“It has spent Rs 1,200 crorebefore June and the remainingRs 2,800 crore after that,” shetold reporters at the TMCheadquarters here.

The state had faced thedouble disaster of COVID-19and super cyclone Amphan, inwhich losses amounted to Rs1.02 lakh crore, Panja said.

“The West Bengal govern-ment has spent Rs 6,500 crorein providing relief and rebuild-ing infrastructure affected bythe super cyclone,” she said.

Alleging that the Centrehas not provided any relief tothe state, Panja said that theBJP-led NDA government hasdenied West Bengal of its legit-imate dues.

She claimed that the Uniongovernment has not yet paid Rs50,000 crore dues to WestBengal, of which Rs 36,000crore is for co-funded schemesof the state and the Centre,while holding that the TMCgovernment has ensured thatno project suffered because ofthis.

“The state is also yet toreceive Rs 11,000 crore underdevolution of funds as its sharefrom various taxes raised from

the state,” she said, adding thatanother Rs 3,000 crore is duefrom the central governmenton food subsidy and someother heads.

The minister claimed thatapart from the Rs 50,000 crore,the West Bengal government isyet to receive Rs 7,750 crore onaccount of GST compensationdues. She claimed that thestate is also yet to receive Rs6,787 crore through theCentre's borrowing scheme.

The minister said that theBJP is losing its political alliesand is getting itself “new allies”in the central investigationagencies to browbeat politicalopponents. PTI

Aizawl: At least 18 people,including four security per-sonnel, have tested positivefor COVID-19 in the last 24hours, taking the state's tally to3,806, an official said onSaturday.

Ten cases were reportedfrom Aizawl district and fourcases each were reported fromSerchhip and Lawngtlai dis-tricts, he said.

Three Border SecurityForce (BSF) jawans and anAssam Rifles jawan wereamong the newly infected peo-ple, the official said.

He said that five patientshave developed symptoms ofCOVID-19 while the remain-ing 13 patients were asympto-matic. PTI

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Delhi recorded 4,998 freshCovid-19 cases on

Saturday and a positivity rate of7.24 per cent while 89 morefatalities pushed the death toll to 8998.

According to the latest bul-letin issued by the Delhi HealthDepartment, these relativelyhigh numbers of fresh casescame out of the 69051 tests con-ducted on Saturday including33147 RT-PCR tests.

The national capital hadrecorded its highest single-dayspike of 8,593 cases onNovember 11 when 85 fatalitieslinked to the pandemic were alsoregistered.

The active cases tally onSaturday stood at 36,578 and thetotal number of cases hasclimbed to 561742 of which516166 have recovered.

The number of COVID-19containment zones in Delhirose to 5331. The bulletin said

that of the total number of18389 beds in COVID-19 hos-pitals, 9793 are vacant.

As the national capital grap-pled with a surge in the infec-tion, the Delhi governmentdirected private hospitals toreserve ICU and normal beds forCOVID-19 patients once theseare vacated after the discharge ofnon-coronavirus patients.

The government hasordered 90 private hospitals toreserve 60 per cent of their totalbed capacity for COVID-19

patients, while 42 private hos-pitals have been directed toreserve 80 per cent of their totalICU bed capacity for suchpatients. The National Centre forDisease Control in a reportdrafted recently had warnedthat Delhi needs to be preparedfor about 15,000 fresh cases ofCOVID-19 per day taking intoaccount the upcoming winterseason-related respiratory prob-lems, large influx of patientsfrom outside and festive gath-erings.

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Delhi Health MinisterSatyendar Jain said that

the Government has enoughresources to apply coronavaccine to the entire Delhi inthree to four weeks.

Addressing the media,Jain said that DelhiGovernment has the facilitieslike mohalla clinics, poly-clinics, dispensaries and hos-pitals to provide vaccines tothe people. There will be no

issue of storage of vaccines aswell, he said.

Jain said that the positiv-ity rate in Delhi has decreasedto 8.51per cent as opposed to15.26 per cent on November7. Overall more than 9500beds are available out ofwhich 1200 ICU beds arevacant, he added.

“We are waiting for thevaccine to be made available.Delhi has the infrastructure toroll it out and make it acces-sible to all the citizens with-

in 3-4 weeks. Delhi isequipped with the latest infra-structure to facilitate the roll-out of the vaccine to Delhi’spopulation. For application,there are Mohalla Clinics,hospitals etc. It depends onhow soon we get it fromCentral Government. As faras Storage is concerned, allamenities have been takencare of.” said Jain.

Citing the data, he saidthat there were 5482 newcases in Delhi on Friday. “The

positivity rate was down to8.51from 15.26 per cent. It hasbecome less than half sinceNovember 7, 2020. At present,more than 50 per cent bedsare available in hospitals.Total beds available are morethan 9500. The occupancyrate is therefore steadilydecreasing. In terms of ICUbeds, more than 1200 areavailable,” he said.

Commenting on theongoing farmer agitation, theminister said, “The farmers

have legitimate concerns.They should at least be heard.The bill has been passed bythe Central Government. It istheir responsibility to delib-erate with the farmers."

Talking about the issue,he said that the peacefulmovement of farmers shouldnot be stopped. “The centralgovernment should listen tothe voice of their legitimatedemands. The Delhi govern-ment is welcoming farmersbut the central government is

preventing farmers fromcoming to Delhi,” he added.

"A fair chance should begiven to farmers to put acrosstheir points . DelhiGovernment refused DelhiPolice’s proposal to convertstadiums into jails. There isno need to carry out arrests.Delhi Government is merelyfacilitating their visit. Forthem, all necessary amenitieswill be taken care of," headded.

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Bengaluru: Karnataka ChiefMinister B S Yediyurappa'spolitical secretary and relativeN R Santosh, who was hospi-talised following an allegedsuicide attempt, is 'stable andcheerful' and may be dis-charged in a day or two, doc-tors treating him said onSaturday. Responding to theincident,the state Congressdemanded an investigation intothe matter to enable the truthto come out and claimed thatsome confidential matters arelinked to it.

An FIR has been registeredagainst Santosh for allegedlyattempting to kill himself,police sources said.

According to sources,Santosh is said to have attempt-ed suicide by consuming sleep-ing pills on Friday night.

On finding him uncon-

scious at his Dollars Colonyresidence here, family membersrushed him to the RamaiahMemorial Hospital.

Santosh (31) was broughtat about 8.30 pm with analleged history of consumptionof sleeping tablets at around 7pm, the Hospital President DrNaresh Shetty said in a state-ment. Noting that on admis-sion he was drowsy, the doctorsaid appropriate treatment wasadministered immediately andall investigations were carriedout. “He has been taking sleep-ing tablets occasionally for hissleep disturbance as per pasthistory. This morning, thepatient is stable. He had hisbreakfast and is cheerful. Theplan is to shift the patient to theward post noon today.

He may be discharged ina day or two, based on his

health status and recovery,”the statement added.

Addressing the media,ICU specialist at the hospitalDr Deepak said Santosh wasstable without any drowsinessand all his parameters BP, pulseand heart rate was good.

To a query, the doctor saidSanthosh had taken sleepingpills alprazolam. Yediyurappahad rushed to the hospital latelast night to inquire aboutSantosh's health.

“This morning, we walkedtogether for 45 minutes. Evenyesterday I saw him, he washappy. I don't know why thishappened. I will find out andtalk to his family,” he said.Meanwhile, the Sadashivanagarpolice have registered an FIRagainst Santosh, police sourcessaid. The case has been regis-tered under Section 309 of the

IPC (Attempt to commit sui-cide), they said, adding thatpolice will question Santoshafter taking doctor's adviceonce he recovers. They haverecorded his wife Jahnavi'sstatement.

Speaking to reporters,Jahnavi rejected reports aboutany marital issues and saidthere was some “political imbal-ance,” which he had taken to hisheart. “He was upset sincemorning (yesterday), he hadgone out in the evening andcame back around 7 pm. He wason the top floor. When I hadgone to call him for dinner hewas not in a position to speakand was losing consciousness,”she said. Santosh, who isYediyurappa's grand nephew,was appointed as the ChiefMinister's political secretary inMay this year. PTI

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In a fresh setback to USPresident Donald Trump’s

efforts to reverse the November3 presidential election result inthe battleground state ofPennsylvania, a court has dis-missed a lawsuit filed by histeam, observing that “voters,not lawyers choose the presi-dent.”

The judgement came fourdays after Pennsylvania certi-fied Trump’s Democratic rivalJoe Biden as the winner in thestate which has 20 electoral col-lege votes.

Trump, a Republican, hasrefused to accept defeat in theNovember 3 presidential elec-tion, and told reporters onThursday that it would be“hard” to concede to Biden, aDemocrat.

The President has said thathe would leave the WhiteHouse if the Electoral Collegedeclares Biden as the winner,but made clear he is not pre-pared to “concede” the election.

He has launched a slew oflawsuits in key states, but hasnot provided any evidence toback his claims of electoralfraud. Many of the lawsuitshave been dismissed by courts.

The three-judge panel ofthe 3rd US Circuit Court ofAppeals on Friday upheld aprevious ruling that dismissedthe Trump campaign’s requestfor an injunction in the case inPennsylvania to challenge theelection results and slammedthe lawsuit.

“Free, fair elections are thelifeblood of our democracy.Charges of unfairness are seri-ous, but calling an electionunfair does not make it so.Charges require specific alle-gations and then proof. Wehave neither here,” JudgeStephanos Bibas said in hisorder. “The campaign cannotwin this lawsuit,” said Bibas,who was appointed by Trump.

He authored the orderalong with two other judges onthe bench, Chief Circuit JudgeBrooks Smith and JudgeMichael Chagares, who wereappointed by formerRepublican president GeorgeW Bush.

Trump has refused to con-cede the November 3 electionto Biden and has filed multiplelawsuits challenging the pollresults in several states.

Former vice presidentBiden was declared the winnerof the US presidential election

on November 7 after flippingPennsylvania, Michigan andWisconsin to the Democrats’column.

Biden has 306 electoralvotes to Trump’s 232 votes. Towin the race to the WhiteHouse, the successful candidateshould have at least 270 elec-toral votes out of the 538-member Electoral College.

Biden’s tally is far morethan the 270 needed to win therace for the White House, andhe also leads the popular voteby more than six million.

In his Thanksgiving Dayremarks, Trump, however, saidit will be a mistake if theElectoral College were to electBiden.

The president-elect leadsby more than 80,000 votes inthe battleground state ofPennsylvania.

Trump’s lawyers RudyGiuliani and Jenna Ellis saidthey will now appeal to theSupreme Court.

“The activist judicialmachinery in Pennsylvaniacontinues to cover up the alle-gations of massive fraud. Weare very thankful to have hadthe opportunity to presentproof and the facts to the PAstate legislature. On to SCO-

TUS!” they said.According to the local

Philadelphia Inquirer, “Bibaspointed out that despite thecampaign’s speculative claimsand fiery rhetoric, it neveralleged - let alone offered anyevidence to suggest - that anyvote had been improperlycounted or cast.”

“Voters, not lawyers, choosethe president. Ballots, not briefs,decide elections… alchemycannot transmute lead intogold,” Bibas wrote in his order.

The New York Times saidmany courts have used scathinglanguage in tossing out a relent-less barrage of lawsuits filed bythe Trump campaign and itssupporters, but even so, theThird Circuit’s ruling was par-ticularly blunt.

The court accused theTrump campaign of engaging in“repetitive litigation” and point-ed out that the public intereststrongly favoured “countingevery lawful voter’s vote, and notdisenfranchising millions ofPennsylvania voters who votedby mail,” the daily said.

Earlier in the day, Trumpreiterated that he won the elec-tion and unsubstantiatedclaims of voter fraud.

“Biden can only enter the

White House as President if hecan prove that his ridiculous“80,000,000 votes” were notfraudulently or illegallyobtained. When you see whathappened in Detroit, Atlanta,Philadelphia & Milwaukee,massive voter fraud, he’s got abig unsolvable problem!”Trump tweeted.

“Big Tech and the FakeNews Media have partnered toSuppress. Freedom of the Pressis gone, a thing of the past.That’s why they refuse to reportthe real facts and figures of the2020 Election or even, where’sHunter!” he said in anothertweet.

The Electoral College isscheduled to meet onDecember 14 and is expectedto formally declare the 78-year-old Biden as the 46th USPresident.

Under the US electoralsystem, voters do not directlychoose the president. Instead,they vote for 538 officials, whoare allocated to American statesbased on their population size.

Earlier this week, Trumpallowed the official start ofBiden’s transition to powerwithout conceding defeat.Biden is due to be sworn in aspresident on January 20.

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US President-elect Joe Bidenwill let health experts

decide who will get a Covid-19vaccine in the country first,according to Dr CelineGounder, a member of hiscoronavirus advisory board.

Since the risk for Covid-19can vary among different groupsof people, prioritisation for avaccine will be tricky, and Bidenwill leave those decisions tohealth experts, the Indian-American infectious diseasephysician said. It is expected thatthere will likely be a limited sup-ply of coronavirus vaccine dosesavailable immediately after avaccine is authorised by the USfood and drug administration.

“Other than health careworkers, others who will befirst in line to get it will be peo-ple who do have chronicunderlying medical conditionswho are older, as well as com-munities of colour who havebeen disproportionatelyimpacted by this pandemic,”Gounder told CNN on Friday.

The country’s death tollsince the pandemic’s start isnow more than 264,000. Andnearly another 60,000 peoplecould lose their lives over thenext three weeks, according toan ensemble forecast publishedby the US centers for diseasecontrol and prevention (CDC)this week. “Now among thosegroups is where it starts to geta little bit more contentious,”she added. “How do you pri-oritise between the 85-year-oldwoman in a nursing home, ver-sus the 65-year-old AfricanAmerican — especially whenthat 65-year-old may be asjust as high-risk of significantdisease?” The CDC’s advisorycommittee for immunization

practices (ACIP) will recom-mend groups to receive the vac-cine first. “That’s where it getsa bit more political and frankly,this is where the President-electis leaving it to the public healthexperts and scientists to figureout how best to allocate thelimited supply first,” saidGounder, who was named byBiden earlier this month to hiscoronavirus advisory board.

The ACIP called an emer-gency meeting for December 1,where they will vote on the veryfirst group to get a vaccine.

“Because we know that thevaccine will be available invery limited doses, even if theyprioritise health care workersand older people in their pop-ulation, it’s going to be reallyimportant to be a little moregranular,” said Rick Bright,another member of Biden’scoronavirus advisory board.

“They’re going to discussthat granularity in health careworkers. If I only have so manydoses available, how do I pri-oritise those health care work-ers first and make those rec-ommendations to the states?” hesaid. Typically, the ACIP meetsafter a vaccine is authorised bythe FDA to make recommen-

dations, but they are workingproactively in anticipation of aquick decision by the FDA, thereport said. “We foresee immi-nent authorisation if this vaccineis shown to be effective and safein the near future and we wantto be at the point where we areproviding appropriate guidanceto the states and jurisdictions forthe use of these vaccines,” ACIPchair Dr Jose Romero toldCNN.

US pharmaceutical majorPfizer has applied to the FDAfor emergency use authorisa-tion for its vaccine. An inde-pendent panel of experts, theFDA’s vaccines and related bio-logical products advisory com-mittee, is slated to meet onDecember 10 to discuss theapplication, the report said.

FDA officials say a decisionshould be made within a fewweeks of the meeting and pos-sibly much sooner. The US onFriday marked the 25th day ina row with more than 100,000new cases. Hospitalisations hita new high on Thursday — forthe 17th consecutive day —with more than 90,400 Covid-19 patients nationwide, accord-ing to the Covid TrackingProject.

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Washington: Joe Biden will be a president who represents thebest of America, his deputy and Vice President-elect KamalaHarris has said, asserting that he is a leader the world will respect.Lavishing praise on the 78-year-old US President-elect, Harrison Friday said that Biden will be a president for all Americans.

“Know that” Biden “will be a president who represents thebest in us. A leader the world will respect and our children canlook up to,” Harris said in a tweet. Harris, 56, the daughter ofan Indian immigrant from Chennai, has created history bybecoming the first Black American woman to be elected as thecountry’s Vice President. PTI

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The US has imposed sanc-tions on four companies

from China and Russia forsupporting Iran’s missile pro-gramme that remains a “sig-nificant proliferation concern,”Secretary of State MikePompeo has said.

The announcement wasmade on Friday as the UScontinues to take tough mea-sures against Iran for continu-ing their activities related tonuclear arms.

“The US has sanctionedfour entities in China andRussia for their support ofIran’s missile programme,which remains a significantproliferation concern. We willcontinue to use all our sanc-tions tools to prevent Iranfrom advancing its missilecapabilities,” Pompeo said.

The companies are ChengduBest New Materials Co Ltd andZibo Elim Trade Co, Ltd. in

China and Nilco Group, whichis also known as Nil Fam KhazarCompany and Santers Holdingand Joint Stock Company Eleconin Russia for transferring sensi-tive technology and items toIran’s missile programme.

President Donald Trumpwithdrew the US from thelandmark Iran nuclear deal in2018. After withdrawing fromthe Iranian nuclear deal, Trumphas asked all countries toreduce their purchase of oilfrom Iran to zero or face sec-ondary sanctions.

Iran insists its nuclear pro-gramme is for peaceful pur-poses. Pompeo said all countriesneed to be vigilant to efforts byIran to advance its missile pro-gramme. “These measures arepart of our response to Iran’smalign activities. These deter-minations underscore the con-tinuing need for all countries toremain vigilant to efforts by Iranto advance its missile pro-gramme,” Pompeo said.

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The British Governmentappointed a vaccines min-

ister on Saturday as it prepares to inoculate millionsof people against the coron-avirus, potentially startingwithin days.

Prime Minister BorisJohnson said Conservativelawmaker Nadhim Zahawiwill oversee the country’sbiggest vaccine programme in decades.

The UK medicines regu-lator is currently assessingtwo vaccines — one devel-oped by Pfizer and BioNTech,the other by OxfordUniversity and AstraZeneca— to see if they are safe andeffective.

The Guardian newspaperreported that hospitals havebeen told they could receivethe first doses of the Pfizershot the week of December 7,if it receives approval.

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Iran’s supreme leader onSaturday demanded the

“definitive punishment” ofthose behind the killing of a sci-entist who led Tehran’s dis-banded military nuclear pro-gram, as the Islamic Republicblamed Israel for a slaying thathas raised fears of reignited ten-sions across the Middle East.

After years of being in theshadows, the image of MohsenFakhrizadeh suddenly was to beseen everywhere in Iranianmedia, as his widow spoke onstate television and officialspublicly demanded revenge onIsrael for the scientist’s slaying.

Israel, long suspected ofkilling Iranian scientists a decadeago amid earlier tensions overTehran’s nuclear program, has yetto comment on Fakhrizadeh’skilling Friday. However, theattack bore the hallmarks of a

carefully planned, military-styleambush, the likes of which Israelhas been accused of conductingbefore. The attack has renewedfears of Iran striking back againstthe US, Israel’s closest ally in theregion, as it did earlier this yearwhen a U.S. drone strike killeda top Iranian general. The USmilitary acknowledged movingan aircraft carrier back into theregion, while an Iranian law-maker suggested throwing outUN nuclear inspectors inresponse to the killing.

Iran’s Supreme LeaderAyatollah Ali Khamenei calledFakhrizadeh “the country’sprominent and distinguishednuclear and defensive scientist.”Khamenei, who has the final sayon all matters of state, said Iran’sfirst priority after the killing wasthe “definitive punishment ofthe perpetrators and those whoordered it.”

He did not elaborate.

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Retail inflation for industrial workersrose marginally to 5.91 per cent in

October from 5.62 per cent in Septemberthis year mainly due to higher prices of cer-tain food items.

“Year-on-year (retail) inflation basedon all-items stood at 5.91 per cent forOctober, 2020 as compared to 5.62 per centfor the previous month and 7.62 per centduring the corresponding month of theprevious year,” a labour ministry statementsaid.

Similarly, it stated that food inflationstood at 8.21 per cent in October against7.51 per cent of the previous month(September 2020) and 8.60 per cent dur-ing the corresponding month (October2019) a year ago.

The all-India Consumer Price Indexfor Industrial Workers (CPI-IW) forOctober 2020 increased by 1.4 points andstood at 119.5 points.

On one-month percentage change, itincreased by (+) 1.19 per cent betweenSeptember and October, 2020 compared

to (+) 0.93 per cent increase between cor-responding months of the previousyear.The maximum upward pressure in thecurrent index came from the food & bev-erages group contributing (+) 1.29 per-centage points to the total change.

At item level, arhar dal, poultry (chick-en), eggs (hen), goat meat, mustard oil,sunflower oil, brinjal, cabbage, carrot, cau-liflower, chillies green, gourd, lady finger,onion, peas, potato, electricity domestic,

doctor’s fee, bus fare, etc. Are responsiblefor the increase in index. However, it saidthat this increase was checked by wheat,fish fresh, tomato, apple, etc., puttingdownward pressure on the index. At cen-tre level, Doom-Dooma Tinsukia, Patnaand Ramgarh recorded the maximumincrease of 4 points each. Among others,3 points increase was observed in 9 cen-tres, 2 points in 24 centres and 1 point in33 centres. Rest of 19 centres’ indicesremained stationary. Commenting on theindex, Labour Minister Santosh Gangwarsaid, “The increase in CPI-IW will have apositive effect on wages/salaries of indus-trial workers engaged in the organized sec-tor besides government employees andpensioners.”The CPI-IW is the single-mostimportant price statistics which has finan-cial implications. It is primarily used toregulate the dearness allowance of gov-ernment employees and workers in indus-trial sectors.

It is also used in fixation and revisionof minimum wages in scheduled employ-ments besides measuring the inflation inretail prices.

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The surprise resilienceshown by the manufactur-

ing sector that restricted GDPcontraction to only 7.5 per centin September quarter could bea result of massive purge incosts such as employee cost bycorporates and businesses,which could turn a potentialheadwind in future, econo-mists at SBI wrote on Saturday.

India’s July-September (Q2of 2020-21 fiscal) GDP growthshowed surprising resiliencewith contraction of only 7.5 percent in real terms, while themarket consensus was higher,wrote Soumya Kanti Ghosh,Group Chief EconomicAdviser, State Bank of India, inEcowrap.

With improvement inmanufacturing, due to lifting oflockdown measures GDP con-traction has slowed down sig-

nificantly. Agriculture sectorcontinued to perform well withgrowth at 3.4 per cent. Servicesremained in the negative terri-tory, although the decline wascontained as trade, hotels,transport, communication andservices related to broadcastingshowed recovery.

“The most astonishingnumber is the positive growthin manufacturing Q2. Despitebeing the worst affected sectorin Q1(due to lockdown), it isquite puzzling how manufac-turing turned itself around,” hewrote in the Ecowrap issue.

The IIP manufacturing andmanufacturing GVA growthare highly correlated (almostmore than 0.90) and this cor-relation collapsed in Q2 whenIIP manufacturing declined by6.7 per cent (average of July-September) while manufac-turing GVA grew by 0.6 percent.”We believe one possible

reason for this could be stellarcorporate GVA numbers inQ2 on the back of massivepurge in costs. Further, weobserved small companies,with turnover of up to Rs 500crore, are more aggressive incutting cost, displaying reduc-tion in employee cost by 10-12per cent,” Ecowrap said.

This, it said, could turn apotential headwind in future interms of a drag on consump-tion. “Additionally, there is evi-dence of inventory buildupthat could act as a drag onfuture manufacturing growth.”

Interestingly, governmentconsumption expenditure hasalso nosedived in Q2, that isdifficult to explain, as suchexpenditures are typically procyclical, Ecowrap said.

SBI economist said theabsolute numbers of servicessector in Q2FY21 is Rs 17.19lakh crore, while in Q3FY20 it

was Rs 17.35 lakh crore, only Rs15,000 crore less. This indicatesthat the services sector hasreached the pre-COVID-19level.

“Is it because of behav-ioural changes during pan-demic like massive transport ofgoods once the economyopened up and a massive boostto communication and broad-casting with people mostlyworking from home?” it asked.

One good thing is that theinvestment demand hasimproved with resumption inCOVID-19- induced stalledprojects. However, the patchygrowth across sectors reflects indomestic demand figures,which are showing modestrecovery sequentially.

The falling imports andcontinued contraction ininvestment suggest a poordomestic absorption and inter-mediate demand.

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The bull run in the equitymarket is likely to con-

tinue in days ahead, but theonly concern at this point isthe “too strong” derivativesdata, which may lead to arapid sell-off in case of acourse reversal, according to

a report by Motilal OswalRetail Research.

The report said that atcurrent juncture, market is inbulls grip and dips are gettingbought into quickly. Nifty’sderivatives data is also posi-tive and it indicates continu-ation in ongoing momentum.

It however said FIIs index

futures data signifies they areoverbought in Indian marketand any unwinding of longsor fresh shorting may lead toa correction in the market.

Thus, some cautiousapproach should be adoptedat these levels it said.

“As far as levels are con-cern, index is moving in

uncharted territor y and13,500 would a hurdle as peroptions data. On the flipside,major support exists at 12,700then 12,350 zones.

The only concern at cur-rent juncture is too strongderivatives data and in case ofany reversal, the sell-off canbe fast,” said the report.

It was a historic month forthe market as Nifty postedhighest ever series on seriesgains (in absolute term).

Bulls were aggressivefrom the start of theNovember series and keptthe bal l in their courtthroughout the series, said thereport.

#�&��������������������*�A� ���� �������$��$�������� ����� New Delhi:As the pandemic has significantlyimpacted operations of businesses and people’sworking model, housing preferences also havechanged and the demand for holiday homes orsecond homes has increased in the past fewmonths.According to Aditya Kushwaha, CEO &Director Axis Ecorp, the need for a perfect bal-ance between work and personal life has fuelledthe concept of a weekend retreat in a holidayhome.”Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the con-cept of a holiday home or a second home hasgained widespread acceptance. With most of the

corporate professionals working from home, geog-raphy is no longer a constraint,” he said.He alsonoted that from the investment perspective, sec-ond homes in non-metro cities are a relatively safeinvestment option with higher capital apprecia-tion compared to homes in metros, especially dur-ing COVID-19, when alternative options such asmutual funds, shares have seen diminishingreturns.These properties can be rented out tohome-stays and tourism businesses, a boomingmarket promising an assured and stable sourceof income to investors, Kushwaha said. IANS

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� What made you say yes to playYasmine??

The character of course. Initially, I wasapprehensive about taking up the rolebecause it is a replacement, but when I gotknow about the storyline and the characterbrief, I liked it very much. It was somethingthat I wanted to do. It is something thatone doesn’t get to do in daily life. I amfortunate to have got a chance to play thisrole. � Was it hard to get into the skin ofthe character? More so becauseyou have replaced Avneet, and thecharacter was already well-established?

Yes. It was extremely difficultto get into the skin of thecharacter because if theaudience has seen an actorplay a character for two years,it becomes hard for them toaccept another actor play thesame role. Also, I didn’t havethe scope to play it purely myway, because Avneetportrayed it in her way andcomparisons will be drawn. Initially,it took a lot of thoughts to play itdifferently from the previous actorand still maintain the essence.That was a double pressure.Also, it was out of my comfortzone, it required action that Ihaven’t done earlier. There wasso much to do. � Some memories from thesets.

It’s been only a whilesince I am a part of thisshow, but having said thatI have some greatmemories already. Fromeating lunch togetherwith the cast to sharingour life experiences witheach other, we alreadyhave created thatrapport. Sometime,even I wonder hamarepaas itni baatein aatikaha se hain. I share avery good bond withGinu (played byRaashul Tandon),Sheefan (played byAmit Raghuvanshi),Koyal (played byShivani Badoni)and Aladdin(played bySiddharth Nigam).We never shyaway frompulling eachother’s leg. Thereis a very darklocation at thesets where weshoot all thehaunted scenes, soin our free time all five ofus sit there and share ghoststories. It is fun.

� Your character Naina from Yeh UnnDino Ki Baat Hai earned much love fromthe audience. How has life changed afterthe show?

A lot. When I started shooting theshow, it was hard for me to accept that Ihave got the show and that I am living mydream of acting. During the show only, mylife changed for the better. My personalitywas improved and I got to learn a lot. I wentout of my bubble and experienced theworld out there. There were instances whenI was troubled with certain things but nowthey serve as a learning experience andhelp me tackle situations with much ease.It is hard for me to mention all the waysin which my life has changed after it,there’s so much.� Is there a role that you would sayno to?

Not really. I want to play a lotof varied roles in my life. I don’twant to keep playing the samekind of roles for five-six years. Iam always on a look out for

different characters. With thatbeing said, I don’t think there

will be a role which I willever turn down.�A reality show that

you would like to be apart of?

Yes. I wouldreally want to be a

part of JhalakDikhhlaa Jaa. Ilike the show

since mychildhood andwould love to be a part of it.

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If an adult is watching this, it will bedifficult to get past the strangelanguage the elves speak or the near

bizarreness of the entire storyline. Butfirst, they are Santa’s elves; they can speakwhatever they want as long as SantaClaus understands the same. Second, itis a Christmas movie. What else is onegoing to expect but a good Santa Clausand Mrs Claus. An evil elf who is hellbent on destroying Christmas forever.Imagine the catastrophe in the child’s lifeif there was no Christmas, no gifts, nostocking to hang, no gingerbread houseor cookies; it is akin to a Diwali with nocrackers.

Having said that, the kids are goingto love this movie. The elves are cute andyou want to cuddle them even if one ofthem is evil. The entire Santa’s village isa sight to behold – a giant Christmas tree

in the middle of the square with lightstwinkling, guns firing snow at regularintervals (it is a secret village in the NorthPole that no one is supposed to knowabout so it has a shield cover), hotchocolate you revive you instantly andmost importantly the idea of a Christmaswith healthy food – broccoli cake!

Santa’s sleigh is another high point.It is like a high-speed sledge withreindeers managing to dodge the evil elf ’shyenas or so they look like. Totallysomething out of a sci-fi film.

Then there is Kurt Russell andGoldie Hawn, one of Hollywood’s mostenduring duos who have been togetherfor 37 years. Goldie here has a muchbigger part to play than the cameo shedid in the original one. She maintains theholiday spirit and does magic at the spanof her fingers. The film rests on theirshoulders and while one can see thefamiliarity and ease, they have with eachother, the plot doesn’t really help themsteer it to safety.

Over all it is a movie that thechildren will love; the adults can give thisone a miss

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Those who don’t know who Dolly Patron is, here is a bitabout her. She is one of the most honoured femalecountry performers of all time, achieving 25 RIAA

certified Gold, Platinum, and Multi-Platinum awards. She hashad 25 songs reach No 1 on the Billboard country musiccharts — a record for a female artist.

Not only this, she has nine Grammy Awards, two AcademyAward nominations, ten Country Music Association Awards,seven Academy of Country Music Awards, three AmericanMusic Awards and hit films like Steel Magnolias and 9 to 5 toher credit.

This one, a musical, was bound to create a stir given it isthe whole Scrooge thing. This time it is a rich woman who hasinherited her father’s property and is all set to evict everyoneon Christmas Day! But it is a Christmas movie and hence thewhole idea of giving rather than receiving. No surprises herehow it ends.

The surprise is how beautifully this musical has beencurated. The dancers are amazing, the set is beautifully doneand how the dialogues have been woven into songs.

While there is nothing much in terms of the story, the funis in watching the great choreography, a few toe-tapping tunes,creating a fantasy and that miracles happen.

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On Thursday, the Delhi Governmentinformed the High Court that it is con-sidering lockdown, night curfew in orderto curb the virus. The fact that Delhi is

one of the worst-hit States obviously leave theGovernment with no second choice.

But, what has led Delhi to this troublesomezone? Is it irresponsible public behaviour, festoon-ing of throats with masks to escape penalty? Or isit the decision to relax the lockdown in the face ofcrashing economy, joblessness and societal depres-sion?

Whatever the reason, fatalities have rocketed.Alarmingly, experts fear this is just the tip of theiceberg.

With 5,000 fresh cases daily and deaths peak-ing to over a 100, in the Capital a whopping 6 lakhhave been impacted by coronavirus infection.

“The increasing death toll is a matter of worryfor everyone. No one specific reason can be attrib-uted for this surge. The causes are diverse and needto be dealt with accordingly. The toll is proportion-ate to the infected cases. Due to the rising numberof cases, the hospitals are overburdened, hence pro-viding timely treatment to all the patients is a bigchallenge. This can be one of the reasons for thedeaths,” Dr Shiba Kalyan Biswal, Consultant,Pulmonary and Sleep Medicine, Narayana Hospital,Gurugram, tells you.

Another reason can be that although COVIDis a respiratory disease, it affects the immune sys-tem and the blood vessels as well. Such conditionsaggravate co-morbidities that a person may have.Hence, if a person is suffering from some under-lying disease, he is more prone to suffer from a seri-ous condition after he contracts COVID infection.Such patients are also unfortunately adding to thetoll,” he said.

The ongoing festive and wedding season hasadded to the danger.

“Many people attended gatherings and socialmeetings. This also added to the problem. Also thefall in temperature can propagate any flu or infec-tion. Dense population is also another factor in bigcities and often people fail to follow social distanc-ing norms. The lockdown was lifted because of eco-nomic constraints but as a result, the careless atti-tude of people in public places is reflected. It is timepeople avoid stepping out if unnecessary,” he said.

Hans Raj Hans, Member of Parliament, North-West Delhi, said that Government laxity along withseveral other factors has led to high number of casesin the Capital.

“Poor mask discipline, the decision to open allthe markets, more than 50 people at weddings andother related functions, social gatherings during fes-tivities, the deteriorating air quality index and ris-ing respiratory disorders are reasons for the rise ofCOVID-19 in the National Capital. Besides, thecasual approach of Delhiites is also one of the rea-sons for this rise. The Central Government is work-ing with the State Government to control the sit-uation in Delhi, but the residents should cooper-ate by taking all possible care. Without this coop-eration, the situation will not abate anytime soon,”Hans said.

It’s been only nine days since the DelhiGovernment implemented a fine of �2,000 for notwearing a mask in public and within four days ofthe rule, the Delhi Police collected nearly �1.5 croreas challans. According to the data shared by theDelhi Police, a total 7,655 challans have been issuedfrom November 20 to November 24. The figure,which then started to see a dip, is sufficient toexplain how masks is not at all an option worth con-sidering for Delhiites, who seemingly don’t fear thedeadly virus.

Varun Gupta, a social activist and environmen-talist, agrees with Hans and says that Delhiites areextensively responsible for the current situation.

“To a great extent, Delhiites are responsible forthe increase of COVID in the Capital. People shouldconsider their mask as the only vaccine at present.During the festival time, what I analysed was thatpeople almost forgot that the world is fighting a pan-demic. The markets and some of the public placeswere crowded just like it used to be in the pre-COVID time. Adding to that, maximum peoplewere not wearing masks or the same was and isbelow their nostrils. Such cases were seen in themetro too. Not only this, even vegetable sellers,shopkeepers, food stall owners, rickshaw man wereseen without masks. Government, doctors, acad-emics, social organisations, police, media and oth-ers keep telling peoples to take precautions, but peo-ple are living in oblivion. I would just say to every-one that there is still time to protect yourself,” Guptasaid.

Dr Shuchin Bajaj, Founder Director, UjalaCygnus Group of Hospitals, tells you that the inten-sity of the second and third wave of a disease isalways much widespread and it is the time whenpeople need to take more precautions.

“Historically, the intensity of second and thirdwaves are always much widespread in case of anypandemic. People are now tired of the guidelinesand are coming out in large numbers this leads toa much extensive viral load and more chances ofgetting exposed to the virus. If you remember, inthe beginning of the pandemic the deaths of doc-tors were much higher because they had the high-er viral load and they didn’t know much about thevirus. They didn’t know the exact way of donningand doffing the PPE kits. But doctors have learntrapidly and are following all the precautions. Butthe general public doesn’t know the etiquette ofwearing a mask. They keep taking it off just to speakand never shy away from touching the outer sur-face of the mask. So doing all these things provesto be very dangerous especially in crowded settingslike markets and offices,” he said.

He tells you that Delhi is now open to peopleaccessing healthcare from the nearby cities whichwas not the case earlier. “People were not allowedto cross State boundaries during the first wave.Usually people come to Delhi when their case is crit-ical and that’s why the mortality in Delhi is high-er,” Bajaj added.

Bajaj feels that the guidelines of marriagesshould have been made permanent instead. “I feelthat the limited crowd in weddings help us as a com-munity also. It prevents poor people from gettingexploited and also curtails the unnecessary expen-diture. Undoubtedly, during COVID it preventsmarriages from acting as super spreaders of infec-tion,” he said.

He points out that aggressive testing is neces-sary in any pandemic. “We can’t keep chasing thevirus all the time. We have to test and identify thepeople upfront those who are symptomatic. That’sthe reason South Korea got a handle on the pan-demic very quickly because of the massive aggres-sive testing policy that they implemented,” Bajaj said.

Even when Maharashtra and other States ofIndia saw a surge in cases, Delhi managed to keepthe case count as low as 2,000. Dr Sandeep Nayar,Senior Director, Centre of Chest and RespiratoryDisease, BLK Super Speciality Hospital, tells youwhy things have gotten worse now.

“There are many factors, one of which is over-crowding. Now that all the markets are opened, peo-ple are out there and not following any social dis-tancing norms or proper hygiene. If you see the sce-nario outside, people are climbing on each other.Not even 10 per cent of the people are wearing theirmask properly. It is something that has trou-bled us. It goes without saying that thishas contributed in the rising cases,”Nayar explains.

The second reason is thatbecause of the pollution thesymptoms are getting worse.Earlier patients with mild symp-toms were opting for homequarantine, but now COVIDalong with pollution is result-ing in worsening of the symp-toms and patients are rushingtowards the hospital.

He believes that the high casesare not only a result of aggressive testing in theState. “States like UP have also increased the test-ing rate. Our positivity rate has gone up to 13 percent. Aggressive testing is happening but then about25 days back, the occupancy had come down to 70-80 per cent. Now things have gone from bad toworse and we had to add more beds. It is not onlybecause people have tested positive, but because theyare in a bad shape and have to be rushed to the hos-pital,” Nayar tells you.

He adds the increasing mortality rate in Delhican be attributed to the severity of the COVID-19symptoms. “We are witnessing about 100 deaths

everyday. This is not acceptable by any means. Theseverity of symptoms have increased and people arenot getting beds easily. The patient is moving fromone hospital to another in search of a bed, this tooand fro will surely make their symptoms worse. Weare worried about this situation,” he said.

The new rules implemented by the DelhiGovernment should help in curbing the cases.“These regulations should help. Initially, there werea limit of only 50 people in marriages. But then theyremoved it and now they have come back to it again.They have realised their mistake,” he said.

Our society, Nayar says, is divided in twogroups of people. One, who wears masks

and the others who don’t. “The oneswho wear masks think that the later

ones are fools and vice versa.They think that just because ofone disease they will not wear amask. It is only when they suf-

fer from it they realise itsseverity. It is just that they learn

the hard way,” he said.When can Delhi expect a

decrease in the cases, Nayar says,that we can only hope for it.

“Many European countries went for asecond lockdown. Who knows we too

have to take some stern steps. I am not sayingwe should go for a lockdown, it is purely the

Government’s call. But some strict steps should betaken to tackle this situation. Though, theGovernment has recently revised some rules, theyhave to be very strict and make sure that they arealso implementing it. Just announcing won’t makea difference,” he said.

Lastly, he has a request to make to the gener-al public. “Masks are a must. Take care of yourselves.Keep your body hydrated. Eat fresh fruits and veg-etables. Avoid junk food,” he said.

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India’s battered bowling unitwill have little time toregroup and limited

resources at its disposal in a des-perate bid to perform a redemp-tion act and save the ODI seriesagainst a turbo-chargedAustralia in the second gamehere on Sunday.

It wasn’t just about the mar-gin of defeat — by 66 runs — butthe manner in which the hometeam exposed India’s vacantcupboard of all-rounders thatwill give Virat Kohli and RaviShastri numerous points to pon-der.

Hardik Pandya’s 76-ball-90was at best a good innings butjust like the Champions Trophyfinal in 2017, the sparklingknock was never going to helpIndia win the contest.

Adding insult to injury thewas Pandya’s frank admissionthat he is not bowling anytimesoon and even if he rolls his armover, it is likely to be in 20-overWorld Cups

So with no back-up all-rounders or a plan B in place,India will have to execute theirplan A perfectly.

That leaves Kohli withbowlers who can’t bat and a top-order where none can bowl.Kohli did bowl an over or twobut that is history as far as theskipper is concerned.

With Australia’s top three —captain Aaron Finch, David

Warner and Steve Smith — hit-ting the straps right away, JaspritBumrah and company will haveno option but to pick up thepieces and give a better accountof themselves on a strip thatpromises to be a belter.

It is highly unlikely thatIndia’s combination will changeunless both Yuzvendra Chahaland Navdeep Saini are declaredunfit.

The duo collectively con-ceded 172 runs in 20 oversbetween them and the wirywrist-spinner did leave the fieldafter sustaining an on-fieldinjury just after the completionof his spell.

Saini, on the other hand, has

back spasms and ThangarasuNatarajan has been inducted inthe 50-over squad as a cover.

In case they are ruled out,Shardul Thakur, with decent bat-ting abilities could replace Sainiand Kuldeep Yadav’s inclusionwill be a forced change.

For Australia, it is possiblethat highly-rated all-rounderCameron Green will be reward-ed with an ODI cap as MarcusStoinis picked up a side strainduring the first game.

While a five-bowler theoryis certainly hurting India, someof the shot selections at the topof the order left a lot to bedesired.

Especially Shreyas Iyer,whose dismissal was an embar-rassing sight as he fended awk-wardly to a well-directed bounc-er from Josh Hazlewood.

For Mayank Agarwal too,extra bounce became his undo-ing but he is too good a playerto fail consistently.

Skipper Kohli, the man whois revered by the Australianteam, media and public at large,would love to play a signatureODI knock, glimpses of whichwere on display during his 21 inthe first ODI.

The lack of a sixth bowlingoption will put tremendouspressure on Bumrah, whoseerstwhile ODI form has desert-ed him since he came back fromhis stress injury.

While he was brilliant in theIPL, just like the New Zealandseries in February, the Gujaratslinger looked pedestrian at bestat the SCG.

An equaliser on Sundaywill be easier said than done.

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The Indian cricket team wasfined 20 per cent of its

match fee for maintaining aslow over-rate againstAustralia in the series openingfirst ODI in Sydney.

India took an unprece-dented four hours and sixminutes to complete their 50overs during their 66-run lossin the first ODI.

ICC match referee DavidBoon imposed the sanctionafter India was ruled to be oneover short of the target aftertime allowances were takeninto consideration.

Even Steve Smith after thematch conceded that it was thelongest 50-over game he hadbeen part of.

“It was the longest 50overs in the field I’ve ever had,that’s for sure.

“I don’t know what to putthat down to. Obviously a fewpeople came on the field in thefirst innings which took a bitof time and I think they(India) went 45 minutes overthe scheduled time and wewere something similar,” Smithsaid.

����� .012034�

Former India opener GautamGambhir feels Virat Kohli’s

team will keep facing the prob-lem of imbalance till it finds asuitable replacement for a half-fit Hardik Pandya as his nearestcompetitor Vijay Shankar is notof same level.

Pandya is playing currentlyas a specialist batsman and is notsure when he would be fully fitto bowl in ODI cricket.

Asked if there is a problemof balance, the hero of twoWorld Cup triumphs couldn’tagree more.

“Big time and this hasbeen happening what —since the last World Cup. IfHardik is not fit (tobowl), where is yoursixth bowlingoption,” Gambhirwas quoted assaying byESPNCricinfo.

“It’s onlyVijay Shankar thatI can think of butdoes he have the sameimpact batting at No5 or 6. Can he giveyou seven or 8overs, I have mydoubts,” the straight-talking Gambhir said.

According to

Gambhir, this is the kind ofproblem which can’t be sortedeven if a opener of RohitSharma’s calibre comes back.

“You can talk (about)putting in Manish Pandey, evenif and when Rohit Sharmacomes back in the XI, the prob-lem you are facing now you willbe facing then. There is no onein the top six who can actuallygive you a coupe of overs,” hesaid.

While Marcus Stoinis andGlenn Maxwell are already inthe playing XI as pace and spin

bowling all-roundersrespectively, Australia havea number of back-upmen with multiple skill-sets, including rookieCameron Green, who is

set to make his interna-tional debut.

“And if you see theAustralian side, there isMoises Henrqiues, whocan give you couple ofovers, there is SeanAbbott who is bowlingall-rounder. Theyhave Daniel Samswho can both bowl

and bat.“From Indian

point of view, ifHardik is unfit

where is the replace-ment?”

����� .012034�

West Indies fast bowlinggreat Michael Holding

feels that despite a star-studdedbatting line-up, the Indian teamis missing the “skill and char-acter” that the peerlessMahendra Singh Dhoni used todisplay during big run chases.

The Indian team lookedcompletely out of sorts as a unitin the opening ODI againstAustralia.

After a listless bowling dis-play that helped the home sidereach 374 for 6, the Men in Bluecrumbled under pressure,slumping to a 66-run defeat.

“It was always going to bedifficult for India to chase thatdown. One thing India willstruggle with is the loss ofMahendra Singh Dhoni,”Holding said in a YouTubechat show Holding NothingBack.

The 66-year-old furthersaid that India missed the com-posure and control of Dhoni,who retired from internation-al cricket in August this year.

“Dhoni comes in to thisIndian batting order halfwaydown and he usually takescontrol while chasing. Indiahave chased so well in the pastwith MS Dhoni in the team.

“This batting line-up thatthey have got is still very talent-ed — we saw some talentedplayers and fantastic strokeplay.Hardik played a beautiful knockbut they still need a player likeDhoni. Not just his skills but hisstrength of character,” he added.

Holding said the Indianteam felt more confident goingabout run chases with Dhoni inthe side.

“They have never beenafraid to win the toss and insertthe opposition because theyknow what MS Dhoni is capa-ble of and their batting is capa-ble of.” Dhoni’s calmness was abig factor in run-chases.

“We never see Dhoni pan-icking at any stage while Indiaare chasing. He usually pacesthat chase so well because heknows his ability and he knowshow to go about the chase.”

The former pacer addedthat Dhoni not only assessedthe situation well but also pro-vided support and insights tothe person batting alongsidehim.

“Whoever is batting withhim, he is always talking withthem and helping them.Fantastic batting line-up, butMS Dhoni was a special man inthe run-chase,” Holding said.

The former cricketer

turned commentator alsoslammed India’s sloppy displayon the field.

“India didn’t help them-selves with their fielding. TheSCG is a big ground but theboundary rope was still in fromthe extremes of the boundary.”

Kohli and companydropped at least four catches,missed a run out opportunityapart from several sloppy field-ing efforts.

“India slipped up on quitea few occasions, with ballsgoing over the fielders’ headsand not going for sixes. There’sno way you should be that farwithin the boundary.

“In any ground, it’s a basicprinciple that you should not bethat far in that the ball can goover your head and land with-in the boundary. If it goes overyour head, it should be six andthat is just basic,” he added.

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Jonny Bairstow poweredEngland to a five-wicket win

over South Africa in the firstT20I at Newlands in Cape Townon Friday.

Bairstow smashed 86 notout off 48 balls as Englandchased down a victory target of180 with four balls to spare.

England were struggling at34/3 before Bairstow and BenStokes (37) changed themomentum of the match with afourth wicket stand of 85.

Even so, South Africa stillhad a realistic chance of winningas England went into the lastfour overs needing 51 runs.

But left-arm fast bowlerBeuran Hendricks conceded 28runs in the 17th over, includingthree wides which cost eightruns, as Bairstow and Englandcaptain Eoin Morgan went onthe attack.

Morgan said the win was“extremely pleasing, given thatwe were pretty average apartfrom two or three players.”

Morgan said England’sbowlers “missed areas”, althoughleft-armer Sam Curran claimeda career-best three for 28 inSouth Africa’s innings of 179/6.

And he was disappointedwith the batting start, althoughhe praised Bairstow and Stokes.

“Jonny and Ben rebuilding

the way they did set up the winnicely,” he told SuperSport tele-vision.

Bairstow batted at numberfour instead of opening as heoften does in white-ball cricket.

“It’s something you’ve got toenjoy,” he said. “You learn to craftyour innings in different ways.”

Bairstow hit nine foursand four sixes, finishing thematch in style with his fourthsix which sailed into a build-ing sight on the northern endof the ground.

Former captain Faf duPlessis top-scored for South

Africa with 58 off 40 balls afterhis side were sent in on a coolevening.

South Africa’s first interna-tional match since March wasstaged without spectatorsbecause of Covid restrictions.

South African captainQuinton de Kock refused toblame the Hendricks over.

“I don’t think it was justthe one over. It was the wayJonny and Ben played. Wedidn’t play badly. They playedreally well.”

The teams meet again in aday game in Paarl on Sunday.

����� 24���

Atwo-member Cricket WestIndies (CWI) team arrived in

Dhaka on Saturday to take stock ofthe Covid-19 management plans putin place by the Bangladesh CricketBoard ahead of their series inJanuary.

CWI director Dr AkshaiMansingh and the board’s securitymanager Paul Slowewill, whoarrived here to inspect the BCB’sbio-security plans and health proto-cols, are also expected to travel toChattogram. The duo will stay in thecountry till December 3.

“They arrived to come and seeour Covid-19 management planand the security plan ahead of theirscheduled tour in January,” BCBcricket operations chairman AkramKhan told Cricbuzz.

The two officials are likely toundergo a Covid-19 test on Saturdayand begin their inspection, subjectto clearance.

During the tour, West Indies arescheduled to play a full series com-prising three Tests, as many ODIsand two T20Is.

The development comes closeon the heels of CWI presidentRicky Skerritt’s recent statementthat West Indies are keen to tourBangladesh as scheduled, in Januarynext year.

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Aseventh Pakistan cricketertested positive for Covid-19

as the team remained confinedto their hotel in Christchurch onSaturday, unable to train andwith a question mark over theirNew Zealand tour.

The Pakistanis, who onlyarrived four days ago, are alreadyon a “final warning” for breach-ing New Zealand’s tight quaran-tine restrictions, with the grow-ing number of coronavirus casesadding pressure to preparationsfor their opening match onDecember 18.

Despite all members of thesquad returning negative testsbefore flying to New Zealand, sixcame up positive after testing onday one in the country.

“One additional memberof the Pakistan cricket squad hastoday tested positive,” theMinistry of Health said in astatement on Saturday, con-firming the seventh patient.

“The remainder of theresults from the squad’s day-three swab testing, apart fromthe six who have alreadyreturned a positive result, arenegative.”

All overseas arrivals to NewZealand must spend two weeksin quarantine.

The 53-man squad willundergo further tests onMonday and in the meantimethey remain confined to theirrooms after permission to trainwhile in isolation was revoked byNew Zealand authorities.

The ministry said exemp-tions allowing teams to trainwhile in managed isolation “arevery difficult to obtain” andPakistan’s exemption was put onhold after several players werecaught flouting social distancingprotocols inside the quarantinehotel.

������������� �)������� One of T20 cricket’swell-known journeymen,Sandeep Lamichhane has testedpositive for Covid-19, theNepalese leg-spinner said onSaturday, less than two weeksbefore the start of Big BashLeague in which he’d signed toplay for Hobart Hurricanes.

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Indian badminton star Saina Nehwalon Saturday said she’s definitely in

the race for the Tokyo Olympics butbefore that she has to get back to herrhythm and win tournaments.

The 2012 London OlympicsBronze medallist, who has slipped to22nd in Badminton WorldFederation’s Tokyo Olympics qualifi-cation rankings, has recently struggledwith niggles and is likely to return toaction in next year’s Asian Tour.

“I know Olympics is in everyone’shead. It’s something very big butbefore that you have to think aboutso many tournaments. I’ve to get backto my rhythm and win against theplayers who are in top-20,” Nehwalsaid on Saturday.

“There’s some two-three months’of training before that. You have to beperfectly fine and play seven-eighttournaments, after that only I willthink about the Olympics. But yes, I’mdefinitely in the race. I want to do welland I’m working hard for that.”

A big fan of tennis superstarRoger Federer, the 30-year-old Sainasaid if the Swiss ace along with thelikes of Novak Djokovic, Rafael Nadaland Serena Williams can go strong atnot so a young age, she too can.

“I can see great examples inDjokovic, Federer, Nadal, Serenadoing so well. Why not you have tosee how it goes? I’m a fighter and I willget back. When he can do it, why can’tI?” she said.

“Yes, there were times when I felt

I have to ‘stop playing’ and ‘I can’t winanymore’. But then I thought I couldpush it.

“I love to fight. What will I do sit-ting at home. This is my life, this ismy job,” she added.

The former world number one,who recently pulled out of theDenmark Open that restarted theinternational calendar post Covid-19pandemic halt, further said she canbecome the best in the world again.

“I’m doing well. Injuries play a bigrole and that happened to me. As ofnow, I feel good. I can do it, I can bethe best in the world. It’s always beenthere in my head. I’ve to correct myniggles. Improvement is definitelyhappening.

“That’s how I play. I don’t want totake that action suddenly. I want to seehow badly I lose, if I’m not capable ofplaying anymore,” she signed off.

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�%���%� Fine bowling helpedpropel Sydney Thunder to anupset seven-wicket win overMeg Lanning’s Melbourne Starsand claim the women’s BigBash League title on Saturday.

Rachael Haynes’ teamrestricted the Stars to just 86/9off their 20 overs after losing thebat flip at North Sydney Ovaland chased down the total eas-ily with more than six overs tospare.

England star Heather

Knight (26 not out) and captainHaynes (21 not out) steeredthem home after fast bowlersShabnim Ismail (2-12) andSammy-Jo Johnson (2-11) leftthe Stars’ top-order in tatters.

It was the Thunder’s secondtitle in the tournament’s sixthseason, having won the inau-gural championship in 2016.

“It’s an incredible feeling.It’s an amazing effort fromeveryone at the club,” saidskipper Haynes. AFP

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Seven-time Formula One worldchampion Lewis Hamilton took his

98th career pole position in qualifyingfor the Bahrain Grand Prix on Saturday,with Mercedes team mate ValtteriBottas alongside on the front row.

The Mercedes pair delivered their11th front row lockout of the season andHamilton’s fastest lap of 1 min 27.264sec was a track record time, endorsinghis status as the outstanding man to beatat Sakhir’s Bahrain International Circuit.

With two races to go, the Britoncould reach a remarkable total of 100pole positions at the final race whilehe is also seeking to increase his sea-son total of wins from 10 to a record-equalling 13 triumphs.

It was his 10th pole this seasonand third inBahrain,which putshim levelw i t hSebastianVettel asthe mostsuccessfulqualifier at theSakhir track.

Max Verstappen was thirdahead of his Red Bull teammateAlex Albon, who made aremarkable recovery in a carbuilt with a new chassisovernight following his heavycrash in second practice onFriday.

Sergio Perez was fifth for RacingPoint ahead of the Renault pair of DanielRicciardo and Esteban Ocon withPierre Gasly eighth for Alpha Tauri.Lando Norris was ninth for McLarenand Daniil Kvyat 10th in the secondAlpha Tauri.

Ferrari, dominant in Bahrain lastyear when they locked out the top two

spots in every session of practice andqualifying, failed to make it intothe top 10 this time around.

They will start with Vettel in11th and Charles Leclerc 12th.

Racing Point’s Lance Stroll, onpole in Turkey, was only 13th.

“I think with thepressure a little bit off,it was a release to goand drive like that,”said Hamilton. “I amon the ragged edge,naturally, and it isabout trying to findthat perfect balanceand chipping away.

“The lap startedwell, but a little bit oftime was lost in Turn

1 — and Turn 6. Icould have been a lit-

tle bit better. Otherwise,it was a very clean lap so

I was really happy withit.”

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Robert Lewandowski claimedhis 15th goal this season in

all competitions as Bundesligaleaders Bayern Munich camefrom behind to claim a 3-1 winat Stuttgart on Saturday.

Stuttgart striker TanguyCoulibaly, 19, fired the hosts intoa shock early lead after a crosscaught Bayern centre-backsDavid Alaba and Jerome Boatengnapping.

However, Kingsley Comanequalised with a superb low fin-ish before Lewandowski drilledhome from 20 metres to putBayern 2-1 up at the break.

Brazil winger Douglas Costa,a second-half replacement forComan, grabbed Bayern’s thirdgoal late on to seal a win whichleaves the holders two pointsclear of RB Leipzig.

Dortmund are third, fourpoints behind Bayern, aftercrashing to a shock 2-1 defeat at

home to Cologne.Tunisia midfielder Ellyes

Skhiri tapped in both Colognegoals from corners by ex-Dortmund winger Marius Wolfafter being left unmarked at thefar post on both occasions.

With Dortmund 2-0 downon 60 minutes, coach LucienFavre brought on three forwards— 16-year-old sensationYoussoufa Moukoko, GiovanniReyna and Thorgan Hazard.

Reyna, 18, set up Hazard topull a goal back, but it was toolittle, too late.

After scoring six goals in hisprevious two games, Dortmundstriker Erling Braut Haalandwas held in check, squanderinga golden chance to equalise just

before the whistle.Cologne avoided a club

record 19th match without a winwith their first victory inDortmund since 1991.

Leipzig climbed aboveDortmund to second, two pointsbehind Bayern, thanks to a2-1 home win over pluckystrugglers ArminiaBielefeld.

Manchester City loa-nee Angelino gave Leipziga first-half lead after a superbpass by 18-year-old LazarSamardzic split the Bielefelddefence.

Just 60 seconds after comingoff the bench, forwardChristopher Nkunku nettedLeipzig’s second goal early in the

second half.However, Bielefeld, who are

second from bottom, finished thestronger.

Their captain Fabian Klospulled a goal back, just afterLeipzig striker Alexander Sorlothhad his penalty attempt saved on73 minutes.

The Norway international,bought to replace Timo Wernerwho joined Chelsea, is yet toscore in 10 games for Leipzigafter netting 24 goals in 34

games for Trabzonspor lastseason.

Union Berlin are sixthafter their action-packed 3-3 draw at home to EintrachtFrankfurt.Max Kruse converted a

penalty as Union raced into anearly 2-0 lead, only for Portugalforward Andre Silva to net twiceas Frankfurt led 3-2 late on.

Freiburg are winless in theirlast eight games after a 1-1 drawat Augsburg.

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Hyderabad FC and BengaluruFC played out a drab draw in

their Hero Indian Super Leagueencounter at the Fatorda Stadium,on Saturday.

The Nizams recorded theirsecond successive clean sheet,grabbing four points in two out-ings — their best start in theleague. However, it was a frustrat-ing evening for Bengaluru FC,who are yet to taste a win this sea-son.

While Carles Cuadrat fieldedan unchanged eleven from their 2-2 draw against FC Goa,Hyderabad coach ManuelMarquez made two changes to hisline-up from the win againstOdisha. Chinglensana Singh andJoel Chianese came in for HiteshSharma and Mohammed Yasir.

The sides showed attackingintent from the word go and BFChad their first attempt as early asthe fifth minute. Ashique

Kuruniyan tried his luck from adistance but his effort took adeflection before being collect-ed by Subrata Paul. Thisturned out to be the onlyattempt at goal in the firstsession.

The Nizams’ adamantdefending frustratedBengaluru, who struggled to takethe ball up to their attacking trioof Sunil Chhetri, Kristian Opsethand Udanta Singh. Trying to findan alternative, Bengaluru engaged

in long-range shots, which provedfutile.

Going forward,Hyderabad were the bet-ter side in the first half.The men in yellownearly took the lead in

the 25th minute from aLluis Sastre set-piece.

Bengaluru keeper GurpreetSingh Sandhu denied AridaneSantana’s header with a full-stretchsave to keep the scores level.

Hyderabad pushed Bengaluru

deep in their territory withHalicharan Narzary, Joel Chianeseand Santana making regularinroads.

However, the visitors suffereda blow before the break as theirforeigners — Chianese and Sastrelimped off the pitch with Yasir andSharma replacing the duo.

Despite making a half-timechange, replacing Kristian Opsethwith Dimas Delgado, Bengaluruhad nothing different to offer astheir opponents continued todominate the play.

Santana’s struggle continuedas he missed a great opportunityto put his side ahead in the 55thminute. After dribbling past theBengaluru defence, the Spaniard’sshot was way off target.

With some fine defendingfrom either side, frustration wasclearly visible on the pitch. Bothsides repeatedly tried to find thenet from distance with theattempts being either blocked orgoing way off target.

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Atletico Madrid warmed upfor their Champions League

clash with Bayern Munich inmidweek by picking up theirsixth straight win in La Liga witha 1-0 victory at Valencia.

Saturday’s victory at theMestalla, earned with a lateown goal from the unfortunateToni Lato, moved them level onpoints with leaders RealSociedad, who have played agame more and will be in actionon Sunday against Villarreal.

Diego Simeone’s team weremissing Luis Suarez, still waitingto return from a positive test forcoronavirus, and Diego Costa,who has been diagnosed withdeep vein thrombosis.

They also had Joao Felixresting on the bench but withThomas Lemar in inspired form

they peppered JaumeDomenech’s goal.

The Valencia keeper made

several fine saves from theFrenchman and also blocked aneffort from Angel Correa to frus-

trate Atletico.But the home side were ulti-

mately beaten by an own goal on79 minutes.

Substitute Yannick Carrascogot to the byline and crossedfrom the left where Valencia full-back Lato, running onto the ball,turned it into his own net.

“Luck plays a part,” saidCarrasco of the breakthrough.“We are just happy to havecome here and won.

“The game against Bayern

Munich will be another difficultone but we have a big squad andwe are ready for Tuesday.”

Domenech added: “We arereally disappointed because weput so much into the game andI think we deserved apoint from it.”

MESSI RETURNSLionel Messi, Sergio

Busquets and Frenkie deJong are all back in theBarca squad for Sunday’sLaLiga clash with Osasuna.

Messi and De Jong wereafforded rests in midweek,meaning they missed the 4-0

Champions League win away toDynamo Kiev.

But both are likely to comestraight back into the starting XIat Camp Nou on Sunday, whenMessi will be hoping to contin-ue his fine run against Osasuna,having scored 22 goals in 18LaLiga meetings with thePamplona side.

Busquets has not played forBarca since the 5-2 win over RealBetis on November 7 as he sus-

tained a knee injury oninternational duty withSpain.

It is unclear if Busquetsis to start, but he has seem-ingly been deemed fitenough to at least be on thebench.

Sergino Dest has also beenincluded in the selection afterreportedly suffering with a mus-cular problem.

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Liverpool were frustrated byVAR as Pascal Gross’s contro-versial late penalty rescued a

dramatic 1-1 draw for Brighton atthe Amex Stadium on Saturday.

Jurgen Klopp’s side took thelead through Diogo Jota’s secondhalf strike after Brighton’s NealMaupay had missed a penalty inthe first half.

But Liverpool were stunned instoppage-time when Andrew

Robertson’s challenge on DannyWelbeck was ruled a penalty afterStuart Attwell overturned his ini-tial decision.

Gross converted from the spot,leaving Klopp sarcasticallyapplauding the officials at the endof a disappointing week forLiverpool after their shockChampions League defeat at hometo Atalanta.

Liverpool went back to the topof the table as a result of their draw,but the champions are just one

point ahead of previous leadersTottenham.

Tottenham would regain poleposition if they avoid defeat atChelsea on Sunday, while theBlues will go top if they win.

It was one of those days forLiverpool, who also saw goalscorrectly disallowed by VAR foroffside against Mohamed Salah andSadio Mane.

There was more bad news forinjury-ravaged Liverpool as JamesMilner was forced off in the sec-

ond half.Klopp had claimed it was

almost a “crime” that Liverpool hadto feature in the early Saturdaymatch after playing in theChampions League just three daysearlier.

He made six changes from theAtalanta game as Jota, Fabinho,Roberto Firmino, AndrewRobertson, Takumi Minaminoand Nathaniel Phillips came intothe starting line-up.

Liverpool should have taken

the lead in the opening momentswhen Fabinho unfurled a perfect-ly-weighted long pass that pickedout Salah’s run, but the Egyptianfired wastefully wide from just

inside the Brighton area.

PENALTY DRAMAWith Virgil van Dijk and

Joe Gomez injured and JoelMatip rested, Klopp’smakeshift defence were

exposed when Maupay’s pass sentthe unmarked Aaron Connollyracing through on goal.

But with just Liverpool ‘keep-er Alisson Becker to beat,Connolly lost his nerve andtimidly guided his shot wellwide.

Connolly’s runs werecausing Liverpool prob-lems and whenthe Brightonf o r w a r dmade anoth-er well-t i m e dincursion inthe 20thminute, hewas tripped in thepenalty area by thepanicked NecoWilliams after he wascaught out of position.

Maupay steppedup to take the spot-kick, but his side-footeffort went wide despite

Alisson diving the wrong way.It was a lucky escape for

Liverpool and Maupay’s miserywas compounded when he limpedoff injured moments later.

Liverpool thought they had hitback with a sucker punch whenSalah sprinted onto Firmino’s passand scuffed his shot past Brightonkeeper Mat Ryan.

But VAR curtailed Salah’s cel-ebrations as he was ruled offside bythe tightest of margins.

After a spluttering first half,Klopp’s men finally found somerhythm following JordanHenderson's introduction at thebreak.

In a warning that Brightonfailed to heed, Jota turned to flasha shot narrowly wide and in the60th minute the Portugal forward

put Liverpool.Robertson found Salah and

his pass teed up Jota on the edgeof the Brighton area.

Skipping past two Brightondefenders, Jota cleverly

drilled low shot back intothe bottom corner.

Jota has enjoyed asuperb start to life withthe Premier League

champions, scoringnine times in 14

games sincesigning fromWolves in

September.Salah was substituted just

after the goal, but he didn’tseem happy with Klopp’smove, gesticulating with hishands and ignoring theGerman when he walked past

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�=��� .01���)30

Diego Maradona’s death has saddened theworld and rugby players feel no different.It was evident after New Zealand captain Sam

Cane laid an All Blacks No 10 jersey emblazonedwith Diego Maradona’s name in the centre circleahead of their match against Argentina in memo-ry of the football legend on Saturday.

The 1986 World Cup winner, a rugby fan, diedin his sleep on Wednesday aged just 60, plunginghis South American homeland and football glob-ally into mourning.

Both teams gathered in the middle atMcDonald Jones Stadium in Newcastle, north ofSydney, ahead of their Tri-Nations clash for the trib-ute.

It saw Cane symbolically place the shirt on theground as a mark of respect ahead of their tradi-tional haka.

There were suggestions that the 10 shirt of thePumas’ Nicolas Sanchez could be retired for thegame in honour of Maradona, who wore that num-ber when playing for Argentina.

But he donned it as normal.“I think he’s a legend for everybody, but in

Argentina, he was almost a god,” Pumas coachMario Ledesma, who played 84 times for his coun-try, said shortly before kick-off.

“He had the capacity of getting everybodytogether so we will miss him.”

Maradona was a huge fan of anyArgentine sporting team, andLedesma met him several times.

“He came to many games, and hecame once to our changing room aftera game against the All Blacks in LaPlata; we’d lost on the last ball,”he said on Thursday.

“I crossed paths a couple oftimes, but not many. He had anattraction, the world stoppedwhen he was there.

“He would watch tennis,hockey, rugby, football, whenev-er there was an Argentina jerseyhe was there and he was anexample of how to representthat jersey.”

The All Blacks receivedpraise for their touchinggesture on social media.

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Inter Milan powered back fromtheir midweek Champions

League defeat by Real Madrid tosweep aside Sassuolo 3-0 andmove second in Serie A onSaturday.

Antonio Conte’s sideare on the brink of elimina-tion from the elite Europeancompetition, but inflicted afirst defeat this season onhigh-flying Sassuolo at theMapei Stadium.

“We always play greatgames, but we still lack some-thing in the finishing,” saidChilean Alexis Sanchez, whoscored after just four minutes.

“Against Real Madrid wemade a lot of mistakes and wewere timid coming onto thepitch.

“But I have faith in myteammates and we have to dowell against both the big and thesmall teams.”

Top Inter scorer RomeluLukaku started on the benchalong with Ashley Young, withSassuolo without their No 1scorer Francesco Caputo.

Sanchez scored the firstminutes into the game following

good work from LautaroMartinez and poor defendingfrom Sassuolo’s Vlad Chiriches.

It was a nightmare match forChiriches, who then accidentlyturned a powerful Arturo Vidalcentre into his own net, with the

Romanian later limping offwith a muscular problem.

Filip Djuricic missed achance to pull the hostsback into the game, rattlingthe woodwork after 21 min-

utes.Roberto Gagliardini added

a third after an hour, sealing awin to boost Inter before nextweek’s European trip to BorussiaMoenchengladbach.

Lukaku and Young came onin place of Lautaro and Sanchezfor the final 10 minutes, with theBelgian forward having a goalruled offside.

Conte also brought onChristian Eriksen, who looks setto leave Inter in January after justone year. The Danish midfield-er came on for Ivan Perisic forthe final five minutes.

Inter move second ahead ofSassuolo, with both teams on 18points after nine games, twopoints behind AC Milan, whohost Fiorentina on Sunday.

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him to the bench.Liverpool were seconds away from three points

when Robertson went to clear in his own area asWelbeck closed in.

Robertson’s foot made contact with Welbeck, butthere were few appeals from Brighton before Attwellawarded a contentious penalty after consulting thepitchside monitor.

With Maupay off the pitch, Gross took this oneand fired down the middle to salvage an unexpect-ed point.

In the second game of the day, Riyad Mahrezscores hat-trick as Manchester City beat Burnley 5-0 at Etihad Stadium to reach eighth spot.

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FIGURATIVELY

It is very rare that one gets to hear aboutan international children’s film festival andthat too an online one. Even if we had, theexposure that these events get is only knee-

high, if we exclude the big players in the mar-ket. However, the pandemic has definitelychanged our lives by and large. But that does-n’t mean, one has to succumb to the adversi-ties or compromise.

Meet Praveen Nagda, Festival Director ofKidzCinema, an online international kids filmfestival, who decided to take a step ahead andintroduce the festival, that too on an interna-tional scale.

“It’s a no-brainer that the pandemic and thelockdown that followed has impacted us inevery manner. It left all of us cooped in ourhomes, let alone the children. While theadults were able to somewhat handle the situ-ation, things were worse for toddlers and youngchildren. It was like living in a jail for them.Hence, they ended up being glued to theirmobile phones day-long. That’s when I thoughtwhy not come up with something that willinvolve children across the world. So that theycan explore and learn something new,” Nagdasays and tells you that it was only by the endof the September that the idea hit him.

Though time-constraint was there, butNagda feels that this is one of the pros of onlineevent that things can be managed even at ashort notice. “There was no pressure of final-ising the location or managing the logistics. Wejust had to reach out to the jury members andthat was easy. I got a positive response fromthem and none of them was apprehensive aboutthis festival. Having said that, we had to dothings at a faster pace to meet the deadline, butrest assured it was fun,” he tells you. The three-day long festival flagged off on UniversalChildren’s Day, November 20.

The festival was opened by Subhash Ghaiand was concluded with an announcement ofGolden Gaja Awards, which had some of theeminent jury members including SatishKaushik, Dr Madhu Chopra, Meghna GhaiPuri, Vinod Ganatra, Bobby Sarma Baruah, andinternational child cinema authorities likeMarion Creely, Sean Cisterna, Pierre Assoulineand Josep Arbiol.

Besides, children also enjoyed a masterclass by Amole Gupte, masterclass on smart-phone filmmaking by Ritesh Taksande, theatreworkshop by Gulshan Walia, storytelling work-shop by Deepa Kiran, animation workshop byMunjal Shroff, acting workshop by SuvahhdanAngre, scriptwriting workshop by VarunGautam, becoming a character by NiveditaBhargava, filmmaking workshop by Ashok Kaulamong other activities.

Nagda says that he is overwhelmed with theresponse that the first edition of the festival hasreceived. “The festival was live streamed on ourFacebook page and also on our YouTubechannel. To my surprise, the viewershipincreased every day. I am glad people all overthe world liked it,” he tells you.

He tells you that the festival received 1101film entries from 87 countries, there were 88films, which made into official selection, outof which 44 films were screened at the festival.“We had 262 entries from India, 191 from Iran,63 each from Brazil and Spain, 47 from the UK.We had entries from the smallers countries also,there were three entries from Luxembourg andSingapore too,” he tells you.

Nagda insists that the need is to focus onchildren’s cinema and tap this market even

more. “If you see theScandenavian countries, chil-dren cinema is much moreevolved there then normal cine-ma. And it makes more moneythan commercial cinema. Butyes, cultural and regional differ-ences are there and it mightnot be the right comparisonto make, but we need tofocus on it. There aresome people who havedone some great work,take for exampleAmole Gupte whohave made memo-rable films like TaareZameen Par and StanleyKa Dabba. But more film-makers should come ahead

and dedicate a part of their time and resourcesto make something for kids,” Nagda says.

Ashish SK, Founder — PunnaryugArtvision Pvt Ltd and Screenyug Creations PvtLtd, Chairman, AVGC, FICCI says that thevery idea of KidzCinema provides kids an

exposure to over 1100 films from 87 coun-tries. “This will allow them to under-stand the cultures, ambiance, and sto-rytelling from all over the globe. Also,that the films are in live-action & ani-mation makes for an interesting mix.A large number of films which aremade by the kids for the kids are shown

as well. This is a great beginning forIndia, and I am sure that the concept will

continue for generations to come,”Kulkarni tells you.

With the amount of love and appreci-ation that the first edition of the festival has

received, it goes without saying that Nagda willbring the festival back next year round. “Thefestival is like a mission for me now. We willkeep organising it year after year, until ourgrandchildren grows up to watch them. We willkeep improving the curatorial quality, we willinvolve more people and instead of keeping itas a yearly affair, we will try to add smaller edi-tions of it year-round, mostly in the rural areas.Also we will try and add discussion sessions forchildren with noted filmmakers. Since this is anonline event, there is a scope for hundreds ofthousands of things,” he explains.

As to if Nagda plans to keep it online for-ever, he tells you that only time will decide it.“One thing is for sure that we will keep it onlineuntil things get back to normal. We don’t wantto put anyone at risk. May be when there is avaccine or social distancing norms are elemi-nated, we will plan to take it offline,” he asserts.

� Were there surprises that Chhalaangdid so well?

I was pretty sure that it would do well.It is an inspirational film; it has a sportsbackground; the repertoire of actors wasbrilliant. There is Rajkummar (Rao) and

Nushrat (Bharucha). LuvRanjan is a great produc-

er, Hansal (Mehta) is agreat too. Sometimes

while shooting youcome to know that

t h e

film will do well. For me, this movie wasimportant since I had to adapt to the newstyle of acting which is more life-like. Forme, this is a new beginning in some waysbecause now I am getting to play more seri-ous characters rather than do comedy. Now,good roles are coming to me that are meatyand powerful. I am grateful that peoplehave loved it.� How did you come on board the pro-ject?

I was contacted. I had met Hansal(Mehta) at the Melbourne Film Festival twoyears back. I am a great fan of his style of

work; it is fantastic. I had out in a wordwith him back then and it is always

good to do this when there are cer-tain directors one wants to work

with. One should not shy awayfrom telling a director you wantto work with them. Much later,I got a call from Luv Ranjan’soffice. I had a great time shoot-ing.� How was it to work withHansal Mehta, RajkummarRao and Nushrat Bharucha?

It was great. They are all coolpeople. We were shooting in

Haryana in a village that was quaintand quiet and the weather was good.

Actors like Rajkummar and Nushrat aretoday’s actors. You learn from them.

There is a terrace scene in the movie whereRajkummar says that he has not been ableto do anything in life and ‘I have left every-thing’. The shot was so brilliantly done. Iknew the next was my shot and knew thatI had to give it more than my best. Hansaldirects you softly and directs you in theright direction. The actor must do his linesproperly and deliver them with utmost con-viction. I used to record my lines and LuvRanjan told me that I was so child-like inmy approach to acting — reworking on mylines. I told him that Raj has delivered hislines so well I need to just as well.� What next — acting or directing?

My directorial venture Kagaaz stalledmid-way due to the pandemic but it isready now. The movie stars Pankaj Tripathiin the lead. It is releasing in December-January. It is based on a true story and isbeing presented by Salman Khan. In fact,I was inspired to make this film after I readan article in The Pioneer back in 2003. So,The Pioneer was the inspiration for it. Thetitle of the article was — Yes, I am Alive.I took the rights for it. I took time to makea movie because back then nobody hadheard of biopics. I waited for the right time.I am excited about this movie. As an actor,there are many projects. Anupam (Kher)and I have just finished shooting for amovie in Bhopal titled The Last Show byVivek Ranjan Agnihotri. The film is

about two friends. I am a producer of thisfilm as well.� What is your take on big moviesreleasing on OTT platform?

In terms of reaching masses, OTT isthe best option. At one go you reach ahuge audience. The number is viewersincreases exponentially for a product thatyou have made with heart. But cinema(going to the theatre) has its charms. It isunfortunate that the present pandemic hasdisrupted that. Here the OTT becomesimportant and this medium has to theforefront. This is also a positive. One canhave a wider audience and experimentwith wider subjects. Theatres and cinemawill take time to attract people.� You are a director and producer aswell. How tough is it to follow another?

My training has been that of an actor.I became a director much later. When Igo on the sets, I let the director take overmy personality. I don’t let my own direc-tor in me come to the fore. I am an obe-dient actor and always looking to graspthings that the director wants and followhis instructions. I can’t bring in mydirectorial experience into the equation.But when I am acting, the director in mehelps to give the shot my best.� What makes roles like Calendar,Pappu Pager and Sharafat Ali so popu-lar even today?

It is because the common man on thestreet identifies with the characters I haveplayed over the years. Kunj Biharilal inHaseena Maan Jayegi to German in HumAapke Dil Mein Rehte Hain to Sharafat Aliin Bade Miya Chote Miyan to Calendar inMr India, all these characters — it is heactor’s duty to make them come alive andconnect with the people. I am from Delhi,Karol Bagh. I roamed the streets and metpeople from the lower strata. All thesecharacters that I have played, I know themand it becomes a tipping point for theaudience making them popular.� You have directed some of the bestmovies in Bollywood. Did you thinkthey would become so big that peoplestill love to see them?

I belong to the 80s era. At that time,multiplexes were not there nor was 24X7TV. The fairytale subjects would workeven though we didn’t have very muchspace to deviate from the love story orrevenge dramas that were so popular backthen. Today, people can see all the moviesthat have been made across the globe. Thehorizon has widened, the subjects of the80s-90s won’t work. Back then, severalmovies on the same subjects were madeand did so well. I worked with DavidDhawan in 16 films. These films wereloved due to music, dialogues and fami-ly content.

� How did you get interested in music?I’ve loved music ever since I was a child. I think the first song

I was ever obsessed with is Lakdi ki kaathi from the movie Masoom.My parents and brother had a collection of cassette tapes and LPrecords in the house that ranged from Michael Jackson, Jackson 5and The Beatles. I used to listen to them all the time. I learnt howto play the piano and guitar. After discovering songwriting, I foundan outlet where I could express my thoughts and feelings. One dayin school, my house was on duty and the kid who was supposedto perform the talent segment fell ill. I got up on stage and per-formed and got a standing ovation. I knew from that day onwardsthat music is more than just a hobby to me. It’s my passion, it’s mylife.� How old were you when you wrote your first song?

It was actually just a few days after my 13th birthday. I wroteit for a girl in my class that I had a crush on at the time. It’s actu-ally a good song and can hold its own even if I played it today.Lyrically it’s definitely very teen pop, but musically, it can be appre-ciated by adults even today. It’s the song that started my songwritingjourney and I’m definitely very proud of it. I don’t think I’ll everperform it live on stage, but I play it every now and then when I’malone even now. In fact, I played it on a live stream on social mediaone time.� A lot of artists are singers, song-writers and composers. Is therea reason for donning so many hats?

It’s usually developed along the way for many musicians. It’salso a smart business model to be able to have multiple skills inthis industry. I can’t really speak for anyone else, but in my jour-ney, I never saw singing and songwriting as two different things.Perhaps because I started doing both around the same time. At theend of the day, having multiple skills is never a bad thing. If youenjoy the process, then it honestly doesn’t even feel like work.� How did you get associated with The Big Beat?

Well, I’ve known Malvika Nanda (founder of The Big Beat) formany years. When I moved back to India, Malvika gave me a lotof guidance and just helped me out so much as a friend. We gotsuch an amazing response from the three singles that we did, thatI just told her that I’m writing some new songs as a solo artist aswell, let’s keep the ball moving.� This is your third single this year. Has it been tough to workunder the restrictions imposed due to the pandemic?

At first, it seemed tough because it limited my access to bet-ter studios with better equipment and acoustics. But I realised thatmy home studio actually sounds pretty great and I already had thetools I needed to make a great sounding record. Thanks to tech-nology and amazing audio plugins that are being made today, pro-ducing music from home has become a breeze.

The only situation where it became a problem is when I’m pro-ducing for other artists. Obviously, they can’t come over to the stu-dio any more. So, we’ve been doing everything online through videochat and screen sharing. It’s been an adjustment but we’ve foundour rhythm.� How is the western music scene in Delhi?

Before we got hit with the pandemic, I was regularly judgingcollege music competitions and was introduced to so many amaz-ing young artists that are writing their own songs and very west-

ern influenced. There are probably only one or twoplaces that I can think of where you could go watch

a live western music band perform. Everythingelse was basically all DJs and electronic music.That’s something that I wasn’t too happy about

to be honest. I hope that more venues open theirminds and their hearts and start promoting livebands a bit more. There is enough room formultiple genres of artists to co-exist.� What kind of music inspires you?

My musical taste has changed over theyears. I’ve been in a rock and metal

zone, funk zone and Broadway musi-cals. These days I'm more intosinger-songwriter pop kind of stuff.Some of the artists that I'm vibingon these days are Sara Bareilles,Charlie Puth and Keith Urban. I

also love the new Taylor Swift folkalbum. I’m also loving stuff that has

a symphony orchestra in it. That’s myvibe these days. It’s inspiring me to

write new music.� What next?

You can definitely expect moremusic from me soon. I am in a stateof writing constantly. I’d say even moreso at the moment, since I’m in the hillsand fresh mountain air and sunshinemake the perfect combination to getyour creative juices flowing. I’menjoying the process of writing newsongs. I’m also loving pullingsongs out of the vault.

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The Covid-19 pandemic has led tolockdowns across the world andmade working from home aninevitable necessity. While thisallows businesses to remain

operational, it has exposed organisations toseveral new risks, particularly for those whofail to take the proper precautions. Even as theworld got busy battling the effects and impactof the virus, hackers saw this as anopportunity to exploit new vulnerabilities thatemerged from a large work force workingfrom home.

Various reports around the world indicatea sharp increase in cybercrime even as Covid-19 has caused major disruptions and forcedchanges in the way we work. During this crisis,there has been a sudden surge in cybercrime inmany countries with cybercriminals preying onnew factors and vulnerabilities related toinformation systems that have come into play.

Scams, phishing websites, maps loadedwith malware, and spam messages linked to theCoronavirus have been reported the worldover. Dominic Raab, the British ForeignSecretary observed in early May that ‘Therewill always be some who seek to exploit a crisisfor their own criminal and hostile ends. Weknow that cyber criminals, and other maliciousgroups are targeting individuals, businesses,and other organisations by deploying Covid-19related scams and phishing emails.’ Since thencyber threats and attacks have only increased.

The lockdowns have not only made uswork from home, but also shop-from-home,study-from-home, bank-from-home, attendmeetings from home and so on. Studies havealso shown a dramatic increase in the amountof time people are spending on-line.Fortunately, technologies like videoconferencing, BYOD (Bring Your OwnDevice), VPN (Virtual Private Network), andcollaborative platforms exist today that enableworking from home. However, the exposure tocyber risk has grown exponentially and rathersuddenly and existing security standards havebeen compromised. Cybercriminals have beenquick to discover that employees working fromhome have weaker cybersecurity than whenthey operate from their offices. They haveexploited new weaknesses in the varioustechnologies used and have incessantlylaunched attacks.

Given that we are spending (and willcontinue to spend) a major part of our liveson-line, a comprehensive assessment of thecyber risks that we are exposed to asindividuals, families, and businesses, is key tosurvive and thrive.

A large number of organisations havealready announced that some office-basedemployees will be working from home in someform for the foreseeable future and perhapseven permanently. This shift to a work fromhome environment which initially was

considered as a temporary solution maybecome a regular practice. This necessitates acomplete rethink on cyber risks and involvesmoving away from traditional cybersecurityapproaches. Any policies and protocols relatedto cybersecurity which were introduced whencompanies switched to work-from-home mayhave served them in the short-term, but whenit comes to long-term measures, a thorough re-evaluation needs to be conducted. With theeasing of lockdown restrictions, whenemployees will no longer be confined toworking from home, the larger questions ofdealing with cyber risks of working-from-anywhere will become more relevant. The topof the cybersecurity agenda for individuals,businesses, and governments in the aftermathof coronavirus should therefore be to mitigatecyber risks and build a safer and more resilientcyber environment.

��������������� �����We have all been a target of cyber-attacks

in some form or the other, for instancephishing attacks, phone calls or SMSs fromcybercriminals, among others. They are afteryour personal data, passwords, social ids, bankinformation and social contacts… basicallyanything that can either fetch them a price foryour data or can help them launch biggerattacks. Escaping a cyber-attack means that youhave been vigilant, prepared or simply luckyenough to avoid one.

There are fortunately many things we cando as individuals to make our online existencesafer while working from home or for thatmatter working from anywhere. Before lookingat what we can do, consider the findings of thelatest Norton Cyber Security Insights Reportwhich suggests that:● 30% of people cannot detect a phishing

attack and another 13 percent cannot tellthe difference between a real message and aphishing email. This implies that four in 10are vulnerable.

● Eighty-six percent of people said they mayhave been a target of a phishing incident.

● 70% of consumers wish that their homeWi-Fi network could be made more secure.However, a mere 27% consider it likely thattheir home Wi-Fi network could besusceptible to attack.This goes to show that cyber threats are

greatly enhanced by the fact people are largelyunaware of the cyber risks that they have tocontend with and the counter measures theymust adopt to mitigate the risks. Some of thebasic things that contribute to maintain bettercyber hygiene while working from home are:● Instead of using personal devices, company-

provided computers and laptops should beused

● A VPN software can be utilised to connectthe organisation network

● Using different devices for work and leisure

● Stopping remote access unless it is anecessity

● Default passwords should be changed● Devices and online accounts should have

strong passwords. For both personal andbusiness accounts multi-factorauthentication wherever available, shouldbe utilised

● Meeting links should strictly not be sharedpublicly or through social media platforms

● Trusted apps or those recommended byone’s employer should be used for workinvolving collaboration

● Regularly updating operating systems,antiviruses and other applications oncomputers and other devices

● Home Wi-Fi and admin passwords shouldbe changed regularly, while avoidingopen/free Wi-Fi networks

● Cyber-hygiene guidelines as laid out byone’s employer should be strictly followed

���������������� �����Today, almost all businesses regardless of

the industry they are in and their size arevulnerable to cyber-attacks which can happenat any time, without warning. This is trueacross sectors and geographies. The pandemichas only accelerated the need to implementcomprehensive cybersecurity programs after athorough assessment of existing, new, andemerging cyber risks. The concept of a cyber‘perimeter’ which was once confined to thewalls of an organisation or a data centre hascompletely eroded. Security professionals havebeen forced to abandon the traditional castle-and-moat strategy used so effectively in thepast due to the arrival of cloud computing andthe use of portable devices by organisationscoupled with the integration of personaldevices into organisational systems. The cyberperimeter has interminably moved from thewalls of the enterprise to what is today aflexible and extended virtual perimeter. Thiscalls for a reassessment of cyber risks andrequirements across the following fourdimensions:● Technology dimension: securing IT

systems, applications, networks, data, anddevices

● People: employees and others who are usersand have access an organisation’s system

● Policies, Procedures and Processes that areused to run business operations

● Laws, regulations, and compliance

In the near future as the pandemiccontinues, there are a few types of cyber-threats companies must specifically beprepared for and safeguard against:

Ransomware: Ransomware is a type ofmalware that is used to deny access to acomputer system or data by encrypting theinformation and keeping it hostage until theransom is paid. There has been an alarming rise

in Ransomware attacks in recent months. Thedeployment methods include sociallyengineered emails packed with malware, or aweblink that triggers a drive-by download.Some of the ways to protect your systems fromRansomware attacks include changing defaultpasswords at all access points, trainingemployees in identifying suspicious email links,keeping air-gapped up-to-date data back-ups,prohibiting the use of USB drives, and updatingall operating systems and software in time.

Phishing: This is a type of socialengineering attack where hackers attempt tosteal login credentials such as passwords ordeceive people in multiple ways into installingmalware. Employee training to recognisephishing emails and the use of multi-factorauthentication can help to prevent or mitigatedamage from a cyber-attack which may resultfrom a phishing exploit.

Business email compromise: During thispandemic, a large number of cases of businessemail compromise instances have beenreported. Here, cybercriminals spoof emails(usually making them look like they are fromlegitimate sources) to redirect a paymentintended for one of the company’s suppliers totheir own bank accounts. In a work from homescenario, where employees are not in front ofeach other to seek clarifications, these kinds ofcyber-attacks are on the rise. Preventing suchattacks calls for a high degree of vigilance andsituational awareness among employees(especially those processing payments).Employees must be advised to be careful andalert to such attempts and double check beforethey initiate action. Organisations must alsoimplement additional controls to prevent anymistakes in this regard.

Bring Your Own Device (BYOD): Theuse of personal devices like phones, laptopsand tablets for office work has becomecommon nowadays. As employees switchedto working from home, there are many whoalso started to use their home devices for dayto day work. While companies may havepolicies for onboarding these devices into thecorporate network, there is often laxity andcarelessness in observing the protocols. Moreso, during the pandemic. The absence ofspecific organisational cybersecurityprotocols makes them a cyber risk. If any ofthese devices are compromised, they canprovide hackers with an opening into acorporate’s network and data which can beaccessed and exploited. If employees continueto work from home and rely on personaldevices for the foreseeable future, then amore robust protocol must be establishedwhich mandates the installation and updatingof security software on personal devices thatare used for office work.

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Nestled between the WesternGhats and Sahayadri Hills,and watered by two beautifulrivers named Mandovi andZuari, this land was long

isolated from the Indians. It was isolatednot because of any physical feature or inac-cessibility, but for its distinctive historyand heritage that was seemingly “foreign”for British-ruled Indians. Goa, the coastalterritory of Konkan heartland, was alwaysa hidden pearl and a priced colonial nestfor Portugal, a country that traded andruled at many parts of the globe for sev-eral centuries.

Goa and Portuguese colonisation ofIndia are almost synonymous. Few knowGoa has a past that dates back to the sagaof Parshuram in Hindu mythology andIndia’s pre-Islamic era.

Hindu mythology says that this landwas created from sea by Parashuram the6th incarnation of Vishnu. Parashuram,according to mythology, excavated thissurface from sea with his arrow and gift-ed it to the Brahmins. In the ancient times,it was known as Govapuri and laterGomantak.

In 3rd century BC, it was a part ofMaurya Empire and after that till the endof 750 AD almost all Hindu dynasties ofWestern India like Satavahanas, Chalukyaand Rashtrakuta ruled this land. It fell intothe hands of Muslims in 1312 and againin 1370, Hindu king of Vijaynagar con-quered it. Hindu rule ended in 1470 whenAdil Shah of Bijapur gained Goa.

This was the time when the fragranceof Goa’s exotic spices began to attract thePortuguese, who had already arrived inKerala in 1498, like a magnet. In 1510, 12years after Vasco Da Gama arrived inKerala as a trader, another Portuguesenamed Alfonso De Albuquerque showedhis military might and became the rulerof Goa.

Soon after, they took over Diu in 1534and Daman in 1559. A large part of Bengalwas already under the Portuguese andwith the new territory, they cemented afoundation of India’s Portuguese coloni-sation. This prevailed till 1961, followingwhich India reclaimed it after a soft mil-itary operation.

The conquest of Goa was perhaps thebeginning of Portuguese dream to imprinttheir colonial stamp upon India. As atyrannical race they soon got into conflictwith local Indians, resulting in demolitionof temples and forceful religious conver-sions. This was also the time when theytried to stop the practice of sati cult butfailed. Soon the need was felt to protectGoa from other European powers, likeBritish and Dutch East India Company,and even from the Maratha warrior,Shivaji, who attacked the Portugueseof Goa.

The need for mil-itary competencepushed thePortuguese togo for mas-sive forti-fication.They gotd i r e c t

support from Lisbon to expand their activ-ities in India, such as expansion ofChristianity, through the missionarieslanding from Europe. Soon there was avisible change in the entire demographyof Goa and tangible changes in architec-ture, language, food, dress, music andsports Goa came about. Goa graduallybecame a unique place within India.

This little Portugal of India gradual-ly boomed in its own style and pace.Majestic churches, forts, printing press andabove all a legend named “St FrancisXavier” turned Goa into an unparalleledplace to which no other Portuguesecolonies of India (be it those in Bengal orGujarat) came a close match.

Towering among the past relic of thatfascinating time is Fort Aguada that wasbuilt from 1609 to 1612 and still standsa living testimony at north Goa. This isone of the few forts of India, that wasnever conquered by enemies.

Built in sturdy brown laterite stone forthe sake of combating the British, Dutchand Marathas, this is perhaps the bestsample of Portuguese military architecturein India. Aguada means water, and thisfort once had several sweet water streamsflowing inside it, offering a great provi-sion of drinking water both for its habi-tants and sailing ships that used to anchornear it. The fort strategically facesCandolim beach near river Mandovi.The upper part of the fort was used aswater station and fort where as the lowerpart was used to berth Portuguese warships. The huge water reservoir is assumedto store not less than 23,76,000 gallons ofwater.

The 1.3 metre thick fortificationwall skirts the seashore and ascendsthe edge of bare rocky island. Themassive grand stand of FortAguada once had 79 canons inplace. A 13 mt highlight house built in1864 is the mosticonic land-mark of thefort. Itoften

appears in many movies. St Lawrencechurch built in 1630 is situated inside thefort.

Though a large part of the fort is nowdilapidated and submerged in water, itsremains give enough idea of typicalPortuguese style of fortification. Its wellplanned moats, gunpower room, bastions,light house and escape passage all are stillvisible and very clearly mirror mystictimeline of the history.

Goa witnessed a silent revolutionwhen India’s first printing press was set upthere, though accidentally. It is interest-ing to note that the first book printed inIndia was not in Bombay or BengalPresidency, where historically almost allmodern wonders landed from Europe.

It was in September 1556 when aprinting press machine, which was orig-inally meant to be delivered at Abyssiniaor Ethiopia, arrived in Goa and placed inSt Paul’s college. From that machine, forthe first time, a Spanish technologistnamed Juan De Bustamante printed abook of Theology named ConclusionsPhilosophic.

This machine was actually shippedfrom Portugal to Abyssinia of Africa.When the ship anchored at Goa on its wayto Abyssinia, the relations between the twocountries had declined as the king ofAbyssinia detested the fact that Christianmissionary had come to his country. Sothe machine was abandoned at Goa andit was sheer luck that India, as the firstcountry of Asia, got to see the magic ofprinting machine. Unfortunately, after1660, the machine went traceless. Today,a printing museum in Goa tells the storywithout showing any tangible relics.

Portuguese touch is palpable in everycorner of old Goa, especially in its mas-sive churches and cathedrals. Two mostsignificant of those are Se Cathedral deSanta Catarina and Basilica de BomJesus. Both are UNESCO world heritagemonuments and both are filled with sto-ries of exciting history of Portuguese con-quest of Goa and its religious history.

Se Cathedral is perhaps the most cel-ebrated religious building of Goa. This isthe largest church of India and even big-ger than any in Portugal.

A classical example of GothicPortuguese Manueline style of architec-

ture, this massive church of 250 ft in lengthand 187 ft wide was built between 1562to 1619 during the golden era ofPortuguese.

Dedicated to the feast of St Catherineof Alexandria, it was built to commemo-rate the victory of Portuguese overMuslims in 1510. The church exteriorbears a Tuscan touch while the interiorsare much of Corinthian. Its extraordinaryIberian façade, colourful mosaic floors,typical European ceiling and exotic woodcarvings, all put together, create an out-standing piece of European architecturewhich is matchless on many counts. Thelaterite plinth and lime plaster of thechurch have survived the test of time.

Earlier, the church had two towers.One of which was grounded in 1776. Thechurch has a bell called the Golden belland a chapel known as Cross of Miracles.It is believed that in 1619, the vision ofChrist had fallen there. This legendattracts a huge crowd all across the globe.It is the Cathedral of Arch Bishop of Goa.A convent adjacent to it houses a small yetgood archaeological museum.

If Se Cathedral is famous for Cross ofMiracle then Basilica de Bom Jesus (asmaller monument) is a bigger crowdpuller as it holds the legend of St FrancisXavier, the man who is considered the“greatest figure in Asia after St Thomas theApostle”.

Goa’s emergence as one of the holiestplace in the Christian world is largelybecause of its association with a holy relic

of a man who died in 1552 in China. Born in Spain and sent to India in

1542 by both the King of Portugal andPope the third, Francis Xavier, spent 10years in Goa serving leprosy cursed peo-ple and spreading the message of Christ.From 1510 to 1540, when Portuguese bru-tality over Indian masses was at its apex,he landed there as an apostle of peace andfirst gained confidence of local people byserving them. It was he who attracted ahuge mass to Christianity that finallychanged Goa to a very different demo-graphic marquee in India.

After his death in China, his bodywhich was still intact after many monthsof his demise, was brought back to Goaon March 14, 1554 and kept in a casketgifted by Queen of Portugal Maria Sophiain 1560 at Basilica de Bom Jesus. The relicis placed on the right wall of the churchand can be seen from a distance.

This attracts thousands of pilgrimsacross the world. Every 10 years the cas-ket is taken down and people are allowedto get a closer look of the relic.

Over a period of time, however, sev-eral distortions have taken place. One fin-ger of its feet was vandalised by a lady in1554 and the right hand of the body wassent to Vatican in 1914, as demanded byPope himself. This was a year after Xavierwas crowned as Saint.

Basilica De Bom Jesus is a gem ofarchitecture and perhaps, the most famousPortuguese footprint in Goa. Its bare exte-rior, made of brown laterite, offers an irre-sistible charm to mingle with history. Builtbetween 1594 and 1605 in late Rene struc-ture, it blends Doric, Ionic, Roman andCorinthian style of architecture. Thefaçade contains Jesuit motif embalm“HIS” an abbreviation of Latin “IesusHominum Salvator” meaning “Jesus.Saviour of Men”. The monument enshrinesstatue of St Ignatius Loyala and infantJesus.

Cathedral, fort, lighthouse and oldcolonial buildings are now open to pub-lic and Government alike. The generalpanorama of old Goa runs like a motionpicture visualising a saga much differentfrom India’s general history. Even thoughPortuguese are long gone the profoundfootprints are alive in every edifice ofParashuram’s land.

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Focussing on the softeraspects of cybersecurity:Thus far, discussions around

cyber security have largelyfocused on IT infrastructure, andthe risks that software andhardware can pose to businesses.However, the pervasiveness ofcyber threats like Ransomware,stealing of passwords, socialengineering attacks like phishing

and Business Email, Compromiseamong others are forcingbusinesses to consider the softerand less tangible aspects of cybersecurity such as awareness,training and a security firstculture. A heightened level ofsituational awareness in thecontext of responsible onlinebehaviour, maintaining basiccybersecurity standards and

training is also necessary toensure both new and existingemployees are well versed incyber risks.

��������������� �����Governments around the

world have taken note of thealarming rise in cybercrime inrecent months which coincidewith the spread of the pandemic.

Indian citizens, commercial andlegal entities faced nearly sevenlakh cyber-attacks till August inthe current year according toGovernment data. Recognisingthe rapidly increasing cyber risks,the Government of India issuedguidelines for Chief InformationSecurity Officers (CISOs) relatingto their key roles andresponsibilities for securing

applications/infrastructure andcompliance. All Ministries/Departments of the CentralGovernment, State Governments(and their organisations) and allcritical sectors are implementing a‘Cyber Crisis Management Planfor countering cyber-attacks andcyber terrorism’. Mumbai suffereda major power outage on October12 which lasted several hours.

Today, authorities areinvestigating whether this was acyber-attack.

Cyber risk is real, and it ispotent. For all digital citizensand entities, it is a reality thatwill outlast the pandemic. Thespecific cybersecurity securitychallenges across industrysectors, governmental systems,public utilities are wide ranging.As cybersecurity experts say, youare never done as far ascybersecurity is concerned.

Cyber risks and threats keepevolving and so shouldcybersecurity measures andsystems. This is one game youhave to keep winning to surviveand thrive in the digital world.

The writer is a CorporateAdvisor and mentor. He has

recently authored a book titledCyberStrong: A Primer on Cyber

Risk Management for BusinessManagers, published by SAGE

Publications India

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The Uttarakhand Government’s decision to give away243 acres of Shivalik Elephant Reserve forest land for

the expansion of Jolly Grant Airport in Dehradun is a mat-ter of serious concern which once again opens the debateon development and environment.

The State Government, considering the developmentmotives in terms of economic and technological growth,has taken the decision of using the forest land. Theencroachment is predicted to harm a cluster of things, yetcertain immediate observable damage can be cited like theloss of 10,000 trees which can’t be compensated, limitingthe free movement of wild animals due to shrinkage of for-est area. Moreover, the proposed, expanded airport will beunder the 10 kilometres eco-sensitive zone of the RajajiNational Park.

Protesting against this decision, different polemics havebeen made, such as: Forest and wildlife are sources of rev-enue generation in the form of tourism and thus employ-ment generation and this infringement will dismay the frag-ile ecosystem of Doon.

Nonetheless, all these arguments seem to be repetitivelyordinary and thus anthropocentric, on the account ofhuman benefit. There is a need for deeper analysis, basedon ethical concerns.

Concerning the issue, the fundamental questionneeds to be raised at two different levels: How essential isto expand the airport and should environmentalists fightagainst this proposal for the well-being of humans or thewell-being of the wilds or trees or for the entire environ-ment itself?

On the first question, the necessity of the expansionof the airport in the name of development seems to beobscure. The Government’s developmental plans shouldencompass the views of native indigenous of the area wherethe plan is supposed to be executed. However, here this hasbeen flouted.

This leads to a further question on development forwhom and at what cost? From a purely human-centric cal-culation cutting down of 10,000 trees doesn’t necessarilyenhance the economic status of the local people. Moreover,one can imagine the level of pollution that would harmthem in future because of the deforestation and so-calledmodernity. Often major invisible harm is disguised in minorvisible benefit. A developmental plan of the rule of poweris imposed following solely technocratic conditions thatin turn lead to the agony of humans as well as animals. Thus,morality is brought to fight against the unjust planning.Humans, animals and plants become the victims of thedevelopment project and it is essential to ethically exam-ine the means (plans) and ends (consequences) before pro-cessing to execute it. In doing so, the Government can geta path to develop a new way of governing through whichuniversal welfare can be achieved.

The second-level question is underpinned on the pro-tection of the environment. Defending the protest of localpeople let’s begin with invoking a stance of social ecolo-gist in terms of “regional turn in environmental thinking”because as social ecologist L Mumford says a strong region-al centre of culture can be “the basis of active and secure-ly grounded local life”.

The local life is a broader concept that includes humans,animals and plants, all of them create a niche to accom-modate each other for their wellbeing. Thus, protesting atan individualistic level grounding on the ethical concerndirecting towards individuals only would not be benefi-cial because it precludes either one of them — humans oranimals or trees. Further, if we fight against theGovernment’s decision to protect the forest for the well-being of humans, then the instrumental value is creditedto the forest and thus the day is not far it to be used for adifferent purpose.

Rejection of anthropocentric option paves a path toascribe intrinsic value to the forest through which absoluteprotection of forest can be demanded. However, the ascrip-tion of intrinsic value is in question to whom it should beascribed — to individual animals or species/particular ani-mal species or the entire ecosystem.

Supposed attribution of inherent value to individualanimals precluding environment or to forest, excluding ani-mals, leads to unpleasant consequences since both com-plement each other for their sustainability. Thus, there isa requirement for a holistic approach towards Doon’s val-ley to protect native indigenous and the forest.

Implementation of an unexamined developmental pro-ject in the process of deforestation fails to satisfy all typesof moral standards. Chopping thousands of trees and leav-ing innumerable animals homeless shows a lack of senseof “goodwill” and thus serves no adequate duties of humanstowards the environment.

It also fails to bring an overall balance of good overevil — human suffering due to pollution and the scarybehaviour of wild animals, as well as animals suffering dueto the lack of food and dwelling place. Thus, thisencroachment leads, in turn, to dire consequences.Furthermore, it prevents to show the virtuous charactertrait of the human.

The conditions of flourishing human life are not nec-essarily limited within the intra-human species, it needsthe ethical capability as well to consider the entire ecosys-tem as an end in itself.

Arguing in favour of destroying natural “wild”, whichis not humanised, based on creating new forests throughplanting trees ignores the intrinsic value of natural wildwhich is unacceptable.

Instead of being driven by the instrumental reason toachieve instant non-sacrosanct ends, we humans, includ-ing the Government, ought to do actions involving rules,rights, compassion, etc, to protect the environment,including ourselves.

(The writer is an Assistant Professor, Philosophy,Bengaluru Central University)

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��������������=������J����������What does the Joe Biden

Administration’s occupa-tion of the Oval Office mean forIndia? This is pertinent espe-cially after Trump’s tightembrace of India. ThoughTrump-Modi friendship mightnot have translated into a tradepact — in all areas, particular-ly on the foreign policy and geo-strategic fronts in dealing withChina or Pakistan, it support-ed India in becoming the alter-native supply chain supplanting China, strength-ening military relations, whilerefraining to interfere in India’sinternal matters.

Any change in the US pol-icy towards India is unlikely,save some prodding on theWestern understanding ofhuman rights issues in theregion, something which NewDelhi should be prepared todeal with.

A little uncertainty exists onBiden’s approach towardsPakistan, while he is strong onanti-terrorism front, the need ofIslamabad for peace negotia-tions with Taliban will bring ina working relationship betweenthe two nations, though a re-appearance of bonhomie isunlikely.

On the trade front, Arun KSingh, former IndianAmbassador to the US, hassummed up the position, “era ofpost 1990s globalisation effec-tively ended with Trump’s elec-tion in 2016”. On climatechange, New Delhi will beasked to do more from theBiden Administration, anapproach he has indicatedtowards other nations.

Besides, there is strongprobability of Republicans hold-ing the Senate should also notbe lost on us.

India’s significance for the US

It is insignificant to think ifthe Democrats or theRepublicans will be more sup-portive to the Indian cause. It’sthe US national interest which

made Presidents from Clintonto Trump to deepen ties withIndia. With 17.7 per cent of theworld’s population, fifth largesteconomy, India is important forthe US economy.

As the world’s largest liber-al democracy — among the fewin the non-Western world evenrare so in Asia — a responsibleplayer in global politics, largesttroop contributor to the UNpeacekeeping missions, a nationwhich is looked at with trustand respect in comity ofnations, all the more so by thedeveloping world, India todaystands at a formidable positionwith which every global playerwishes to partner.

So, in the Asian centurywhen the focus of the world hasshifted to the Indo-Pacific eco-nomically, politically as well ason the geo-strategic front, whilethe US power wanes and isincreasingly challenged by therising China in all possibledomains: trade and economy,technology, intelligence, mili-tary modernisation and ininternational institutions, whodoes the US look to?

If a decade or two backIndia could not be ignored,today, the US can simply not dowithout India; and WashingtonDC is well aware of that.Nobody knows this better thanthe 46th President of the US, aseasoned diplomat. In 2006, heargued India-US relationship isthe single most important rela-tionship that the US has to get right for its own safety’ssake, declaring his dream ofhaving India and the US as twoclosest nations in the world in 2020.

In 2008, he led the chargein the US Congress on approvalof India-US NuclearAgreement. As the VicePresident in the ObamaAdministration, he furtherdeepened ties with India.

In a policy paper duringcampaigning, Biden calledIndia and the US as naturalpartners, while declaring the

strengthening of India-US rela-tionship as high priority for hisadministration; mentioning thatno common global challengecan be resolved without Indiaand the US.

It pledged support to Indiain fight against terrorism, cross-border or otherwise, con-fronting “new threats” Indiafaces in its own region andalong its own borders, notallowing China to threatenIndia with impunity, while sup-porting a larger role for India ininternational institutions,including pushing India tobecome a permanent memberof the UNSC.

Chinese threat to the USIn the 2020 US report on

China’s military, which out-lines the fast-paced militarymodernisation and capacityenhancement of PLA as itmoves towards its goal tobecome a “world class military”by 2049 — understood to meanequal or superior to the US mil-itary — it’s pointed out that thePLA is not intended to be“merely a showpiece of China’smodernity. The report pointedout that China is not onlygoing to keep the PLA focusedsolely on regional threats” butto have “an active role inadvancing” China’s foreign pol-icy, particularly with respect toits “increasingly global interestsand its aims to revise aspects ofthe international order”.

In the World EconomicOutput report 2020, the IMFdeclared China has overtakenthe US to become the world’slargest economy in PPP terms.In China’s recently concludedfifth plenary session, it seemedassured about reaching “high income level” in the nextfive years and doubling eco-nomic output by 2035, which isalso the deadline for China to emerge as a global leader ininnovation, becoming technological independent ofthe West by mobilising all of thenation’s resources to make

breakthrough in key technolo-gies from AI to quantum com-puting and semiconductor man-ufacturing.

To contain China is the top-most priority for the US, andthe Biden Administration isgoing to achieve this by makinga multilateral coalition of itsallies and partners in Europeand Asia. And of them India isthe most important peg in it.Indeed, the US ought to bethankful for the present situa-tion brewing at the Indian bor-der with the dragon, because ascenario where Indian interestswith China converge can still beimagined, the same for the USis now impossible.

India might be China’simmediate irritant, its realadversary is the US. So, toworry about the US support onChina is in vain.

Human rights, Kashmir and CAA

In his campaign, Biden hadmentioned his disappointmentwith the Assam’s NRC, CAAand need for full liberties to bereturned in Kashmir. The pro-gressive faction has been all themore critical on the front, Vice President Kamala Harrisherself being vocal, so, ques-tions will be raised.

In 1993, US political scien-tist late Samuel Huntingtonwrote that there is a wide-spread anti-western sentimentrising all over the world becauseof West’s universal enforce-ment of its values.

The East Asian nations hadcreated a united front againstthis, with the Japanese PrimeMinister of the time Hosokawasaying western human rightsconcepts can’t be “blindlyapplied to Asia”.

The West’s hypocrisy on thehuman rights front has alsobeen time and again raised bythe developing world. Why theUS is not questioned overarrests of Muslims withoutcharge after 9/11, GuantanamoBay prisoners that are still rot-

ting in prisons of the US alliesin West Asia, most horribleabuses of human rights in AbuGhraib prison, Iraq, or over thepolice brutalities on the blacks,or how the UK suppressed theIrish and Scottish nationalmovements?

While India embraced theWestern liberal democracy andhuman right regime, it contin-ues to suffer the destabilisingand violent after-effects andgrave unresolved issues of theexternally created borders andgory partition, unlike the peaceful territories of the West.

It is difficult, therefore, toenforce the same level of liber-ties to the region bearing thescourge of externally fundedand supported terrorism fordecades, which threatens thesecurity of the whole nation,with even the temple of Indiandemocracy not been spared. A discouragementtowards democratic process isstill being made in Kashmir by terrorists targetingpolitical members. Similarly, aresolution of the post-partitionrefugee situation had to beundertaken.

India is a free and fairdemocracy with an indepen-dent judiciary, and it must con-fidently, firmly and calmly drawits red lines over non-interfer-ence in internal matters, some-thing that rest of the Asia hasbeen doing for long.

Our External AffairsMinister demonstrated it by notmeeting a panel, includingCongresswomen PramilaJayapal. Were it done by even amiddle level power, nobodywould bat an eyelash. It’s timeIndia takes its rightful positionin the world, with respect, itdeserves, and as Huntingtonputs it: the US well knowswhen to concede to maintain“good relations” with friendlycountries.

(The author is a public pol-icy analyst and lawyer)

Ethiopia, located in the Horn ofAfrica, is popularly known as the

“Mecca of Coffee”. Today it has seen oneof the bloodiest conflicts in its northernregion of Tigray wherein the federalforces are fighting with the local Tigrayregional forces. The fierce fight thatbroke out in early November is simplya war between Addis Ababa, the centralcapital city, and the regional capital townof Mekele. It’s a show of strength ofPrime Minister Abiy Ahmed Ali againstcombative Tigray People’s LiberationFront (TPLF) based in the restive region.

Further, it is straight fight betweenthe majority Oromo community(around 34.6 per cent) represented bythe PM Abiy and the minority Tigryans,barely 6 per cent of the total populationof the country. Initially, the war in theNorthern Province was planned for alimited scale, directly to target theTPLF, a militia cum political party, butnow more than two weeks of militarycampaign has hinted a severe fight, showing no signs of talk, with-drawal and negotiation between the twowarring groups.

The current crisis in Ethiopia has itsroots in the recent past of the country.The TPLF was established in February1975, more than 45 years ago in theTigray Province. A year before i.e. 1974witnessed a tumultuous political situa-tion in the country as Emperor HaileSelassie was overthrown by the military.

Afterwards, a new military junta,popularly known as “The Derg”, cameinto power in the country. The subse-quent years brought home a devastatingconflict, leading to the killing of thou-sands of young man and woman acrossthe country. However, the Tigrayanregion had to largely bear the brunt ofthe so-called “Red Terror”, unleashed bythe Leftist Derg junta. Sadly, Derg con-tinued in power in Ethiopia till 1991,when it was finally ousted by the armedrebels. And incidentally, the TPLF wasan integral part of a coalition of resis-tance forces that finally moved out thejunta from the power corridors ofEthiopia.

Then TPLF leader Meles Zenawibecame the interim President later and

also holds the historic record of beingthe first elected Prime Minister of thecountry in 1995. What it demonstratesis the consolidation of power by theminority Tigryans over the majority ofthe public institutions of Ethiopia.

And the rest is a new history for thisemerging African nation. The Tigryansruled the country for almost threedecades from 1991 to 2018 by becom-ing an alliance partner of the rulingcoalition known as the EthiopianPeople’s Revolutionary DemocraticFront (EPRDF).

This coalition was the brainchild ofthe veteran Meles to bring together like-minded groups to capture power inAddis Ababa. The EPRDF earned bothreputation and severe criticism from theEthiopians in its entire period in powerand even after. Many say that during itstime, child mortality rate fell, and thefamine was prevented. But others arguethat the Tigrayan-led EPRDF was noother than an absolute authoritarianregime that ruled the country with aniron hand.

Unfortunately, the other coalitionpartners had hardly any voice in regardto making critical policy decisions anddeciding future course of actions.

A new era has begun with the com-ing of Abiy to power in 2018 who is thefirst Oromo leader to come to occupythe seat of the head of the EthiopianGovernment. He was a former militaryintelligence officer of the Government.In fact, years of protest that started afterthe departure of Tigray’s powerful leaderand former PM Meles in 2012, forced hissuccessor Hailemariam Desalegn tofinally resign after six years of misruleand anarchy across the country. He wasthe chairman of the Southern EthiopianPeople’s Democratic Movement. Fromthe very beginning of his tenure, his rolewas ambivalent as he could hardly keepthe powerful alliance partners under hiscontrol.

And most importantly, since he didnot belong to the powerful Tigray com-munity, it was absolutely difficult for himto exercise administrative control overthem. Over the years, the Tigray ethnicgroup has massively expanded its sway

over the army, secret services and thebureaucracy. These circumstancesoffered an opportune moment for Abiyto get elected as the leader of theEPRDF. For years, the Ormos have beenmarginalised by the EPRDF, led by theTigray community and its powerfulleaders in Addis Ababa.

From the very beginning, he spokethe language of unity and promised hiscountrymen peace, development andprogress. And this earned him praiseeven from his arch rivals in theOpposition political parties.

After assuming power, he releasedthousands of prisoners, unblocked alarge number of media channels and pri-vatised many Government owned enter-prises. He reached out to Eritrea,Ethiopia’s old rival on the northern bor-der, and made peace with that country.And as a result, he was awarded the 2019Nobel Peace Prize which had brought home a chance of reclaimingEthiopia’s position in the African con-tinent once again.

However, gradually his reform pack-age has altered the long-drawn powerrelations of the country. And in the lasttwo years, the Tigrayans have registeredtheir displeasure with Addis Ababa.They say that they are being targeted forthe wrongs committed in the past andthe current Government is fast trying tomarginalise the community and itsleadership. Last year, Abiy dissolved theEPRDF, and formed the ProsperityParty, but the TPLF refused to join thenew coalition. Thus, formally, the dom-inance of the TPLF has come to an endand it was made possible by the shrewdleadership of Prime Minister Abiy.

What has finally triggered the cur-rent crisis in Tigray is no other than theregional election that took place in theprovince in September. Actually, becauseof the Covid-19 pandemic, the AbiyGovernment postponed the much antic-ipated general election on August 21across the country. But the TPLF lead-ership accused Abiy of unconstitution-ally extending the term of hisGovernment. In defiance of the federalGovernment’s order, the TPLF con-ducted the election in its province. This

incident has raised tension between theCentral Government and the regionalGovernment of Tigray.

And on November 4, the forces loyalto the TPLF suddenly attacked theNorthern Command of the EthiopianNational Defence Force based inMekelle. After two days, the AbiyGovernment launched a massive mili-tary strike, saying the TPLF has crossedthe “Red Line”. And since then the waris on the restive region.

Meanwhile, as a precautionary mea-sure, Sudan has closed down the borderwith Ethiopia to avoid immediate clashand refugee movement. Around thesame time, Addis Ababa has declared theregional Government of Tigray as ille-gal and proposed to form an interimGovernment out there as per the coun-try’s Constitution.

The UN is urging for a peaceful andswift resolution of the conflict inEthiopia. It seems impossible for now asTPLF leader Debretsion Gebremichaelhas remained defiant. By now more than25,000 refugees have crossed over toneighbouring Sudan. On November14, the TPLF forces launched multiplerocket attacks on Asmara, the capital cityof neighboring Eritrea. And interestingly,Gebremicahel has stated that Asmarawas a “legitimate target” as its airbasesare being used by the Ethiopian forcesto carry out attacks on the TPLF fighters. This indicates that there is little chance of the warring parties tocome down to the negotiation tableunless there is a powerful mediatingforce.

This landlocked East African coun-try is surely careening for a bloody civilwar. And this might escalate to a broad-er regional conflict involving Eritrea andSudan. The best course of action for Abiycould be an early dialogue and engage-ment of the regional leadership ofTigray province. Else, the new warcould involve much more people, forcesand the old militias of the region andacross. It’s better to avoid a chaos and set-tle for immediate peace.

(The writer is an expert on international affairs)

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Someone concerned about not beingable to contain his wavering mindand habit tendencies, despite seri-

ous efforts towards that end, connectedwith me for necessary guidance. “Sir, foralmost a decade now, I have been reli-giously pursuing Yoga-asana and medi-tation as guided by two acclaimed teach-ers in the field. So far, I have been ableto just identify my fault lines. I havebeen trying to address them, with nosign of tangible success in immediatefuture. My monkey like mind keeps ran-domly flirting with varying thoughtsand ideas, and so I fail to do justice tomy priority preferences. I don’t knowhow to go about further. Kindly guide.”

“Well, the purpose of spirituality isto understand the living realities of life,which when absorbed in the deeprealms of mind help in making reasonedchoices in life and conduct with ease andcomfort. What is the fun in pursuingspiritual process, if it has not helpedreform your thought process?” I asked.“Remember, all actions on your part, beit pursuing spiritual process or targetingmaterial desires are conducted by mind.Better, give me an account of how youare pursuing the process so that the

missing link in the process could be fig-ured out,” I said. Looking at the accounthe shared, it appears that he keepschanting mantra with focus on his ener-gy centres. So, he has been mechanicallyworking on energy plane. He, however,has cared the least to work upon histhought process. He has been readingmany books written by realised peoplefor necessary guidance, which makeshim academically aware. But his mind,intensely engaged in wanton thoughtsthat don’t allow him the mind-space andtime necessary to absorb the educativeinputs, but for which it will not findreflection in his conduct.

Here I recall the saying of a realisedspiritual master: “You may enjoy thegrace of the God, the holy men andteachers. But if you lack the grace ofmind, you may go to rack and ruins”.That makes it incumbent upon us towork upon our mind-state before pursu-ing spiritual process, otherwise it willnot offer desired result. It may not beout of place to mention that there arefive states of mind — Darkening,Scattering, Gathering up, One pointedand Concentrated. Ignorant minds arethe darkening type. Minds flirting with

random thoughts are the scattering type.Those who realise that only a focusedmind can lead to success, try to containtheir wavering mind, which comesunder gathering up type. As you gradu-ate in the process further, you maybecome one pointed. They still remainsubject to pushes and pulls. But relative-ly they are able to remain focused totheir priority preferences for long. Thosewho are able to effortlessly remainfocused for long is the call of a concen-trated mind.

Those who wish to evolve spiritually,and even grow materially, preparatory tothat, at least they should try to graduateto the stage of one pointedness, if notconcentrated. I then suggested him tofollow the three stage meditation processas suggested in my book titled: “God orNo God; Awareness enriches life.”

The man then asked: “Sir, I will pur-chase your book and follow the methodyou have suggested. But tell me, is mypresent mental predicament reflected inmy chart? Do I have the potential toevolve spiritually?”

Look at the astrological pointers.You are born in an airy sign Libra withfiery planet Mars conjunct headless Ketuthere in the lagna. Mars is also adversely

placed with respect to the two luminar-ies — the Sun and Moon. Moon is ill-disposed to Venus, which makes you tootouchy and sensitive. You may getoverexercised even on trivial issues andblow it out of proportion as would fieryMars flaring up the air element mean.Read together with the implications ofthe ill-disposed luminaries, it speaks of atemperamental, moody, irritable, impul-sive, and rash character, having a disori-ented mind.

Now coming to spiritual potential,benevolent Jupiter over the head in thebirth chart speaks high of your spiritualquotient. Seen at subtle level, lagna sub-lord Rahu, happens to be the lord of 5thcusp identified with merits accrued fromthe past. 9th sub-lord identified transla-tion of acquired merits into fruits hap-pens to be Moon, which occupies thesub-lordship of Rahu. All put togetherindicates seed of spiritually deeplyingrained in your mind. Positioning ofMoon, however, calls for concertedefforts to organise your mind beforeexpecting the desired results.

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