8`ge cVRUj W`c deReVY``U Sfe WRTVd YVRe ` - Daily Pioneer

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P rime Minister Narendra Modi on Thursday assured the key political voices from Jammu & Kashmir that the Centre was committed to hold- ing elections “soon after the completion of the ongoing delimitation process” even as most of the leaders demanded restoration of the statehood and slammed scrapping of Article 370. Talking after the meeting, Union Home Minister Amit Shah said the Centre was com- mitted to granting statehood to the J&K. “We are committed to ensure all round development of J&K. The future of Jammu & Kashmir was discussed and the delimitation exercise and peaceful elections are impor- tant milestones in restoring statehood as promised in Parliament,” Shah tweeted soon after the meeting. Modi stressed in the meet- ing that holding Assembly elec- tions, just like the “successful conduct” of the District Development Council polls, is a “priority” and that the polls can happen soon after the delimitation exercise. According to sources, Modi assured statehood but sought cooperation from par- ties on the delimitation exer- cise. People Democratic Party president Mehbooba Mufti had reservations towards the delimitation process. The demand for the restoration of Article 370 was raised by the main leaders of Peoples Alliance for Gupkar Declaration (PAGD), but it was rejected by Modi saying the step has brought forth peace and reduced corruption in the erstwhile State. The PM stressed that an atmosphere of safety and secu- rity needs to be ensured for all sections of society in J&K. Modi said he wanted to remove “Dilli ki Duri” as well as “Dil Ki Duri” (distance from Delhi as well as distance of heart) and that wanted to call this meet last year itself but the Covid-19 pandemic did not allow it. National Conference (NC) leader Omar Abdullah said “it was a good beginning” though he said it was “point- less to expect the Modi Government to restore Article 370.” Abdullah said it took the BJP 70 years to take away Article 370 but “we will take it back in time.We are for a long haul”, the NC leader added. A fter summoning microblogging platform Twitter, the Parliamentary Standing Committee on Information and Technology led by Congress MP Shashi Tharoor has asked Facebook and Google to appear before them on June 29 on the subject of “safeguarding citizen rights” and misuse of social media/news platforms. These developments come against the backdrop of a long standoff between the Indian Government and social media platforms like Facebook’s WhatsApp regarding the implementation of the Information Technology (Intermediary Guidelines and Digital Media Ethics Code) Rules 2021. Officials said that the agenda of the meeting is to hear the views of representatives of Facebook India and Google India on the subject “safe- guarding citizen rights and prevention of misuse of social/online news media plat- forms, including special emphasis on women security in the digital space.” The meeting will be held in the Main Committee Room of the Parliament House Annexe at 4 pm. Further, representatives of the Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology will present evidence on the same subject on July 6. WhatsApp has challenged in the Delhi High Court the new IT rules for social media intermediaries requiring the messaging app to trace chats and make provisions to iden- tify the first originator of infor- mation, saying they violate the right to privacy and are uncon- stitutional. The Facebook owned com- pany further said the require- ment of intermediaries enabling the identification of the first originator of informa- tion in India upon Government or court order puts end-to-end encryption and its benefits “at risk”. The committee had previ- ously summoned Twitter to appear before them on the subject of “safeguarding citizen rights” on June 18. Twitter was at the receiving end of pro- longed questioning by mem- bers of the Standing Committee on Information and Technology on non-com- pliance of new IT rules, usage of manipulated media tag and fact checking. H ours after Supreme Court’s tongue-lashing, the Andhra Pradesh Government on Saturday cancelled the AP SSC (Class X) public examina- tions and promoted the stu- dents in view of the Covid-19 situation. S tate Education Minister A Suresh said the Government took the decision to safeguard the students’ health in view of the rapid spread of coron- avirus. The July 10 examinations were scheduled to be held in March but were first put off due to the impending elections to local bodies and subsequently due to the Covid-19 lockdown. As restrictions were relaxed, the Government announced the exams will be conducted from July 10, by curtailing the num- ber of papers from 11 to six. T he Delhi Police Special Cell has arrested four students from Ladakh’s Kargil area in connection with the Israel Embassy blast case in the nation- al Capital. The accused persons have been identified as Nazir Hussain (26), Zulfikar Ali Wazir (25), Aiaz Hussain (28) and Muzammil Hussain (25), all residents of village Thang in dis- trict Kargil. “In a joint operation with a Central intelligence agency and Kargil Police, the Special Cell of Delhi Police has detained four persons from Kargil in connec- tion with conspiracy to plan and execute terror activities in the national Capital,” said Chinmoy Biswal, the spokesperson of Delhi Police. New Delhi: A UAE-based Indian businessman who trav- elled from Amritsar to Dubai as the sole passenger on the Air India international flight said he felt like a “Maharaja”. The businessman and phil- anthropist SP Singh Oberoi who took the three-hour flight on Wednesday found that he was the only passenger in the aircraft. “I took my flight from Amritsar to Dubai by Air India (AI-929) on June 23 around 4 am. I was very lucky to be the only passenger on the entire flight. I feel like a Maharaja dur- ing my travel,” he told ANI. Oberoi who holds a ten-year golden visa and operates a busi- ness in Dubai said that when he bought the ticket for the Air India flight dirham 750, he never thought that he will have experience of flying in a char- tered plane. Hong Kong: The final edition of Hong Kong’s last remaining pro-democracy paper sold out in hours on Thursday, as read- ers scooped up all 1 million copies of the Apple Daily, whose closure was yet another sign of China’s tightening grip on the semi-autonomous city. Across the densely popu- lated metropolis, people lined up early in the morning to buy the paper, which in recent years has become an increas- ingly outspoken critic of Chinese and Hong Kong authorities’ efforts to limit the freedoms found here but not in mainland China. The paper was gone from newsstands by 8:30 am. The newspaper said it was forced to cease operations after police froze $2.3 million of its assets, searched its office and arrested five top editors. AP Detailed report on P8 E ven after the lifting of the Covid lockdown in Delhi, dhaba owners in areas around the north campus of the Delhi University are experiencing around 70 per cent less busi- ness due to the mass exodus of students from the areas. Areas such as Mukharjee Nagar, Vijay Nagar, Nehru Vihar, Gandhi Vihar, Indra Vihar, Outram Lane, etc, are home to thousands of students preparing for civil services and other competitive exams but their mass exodus ahead of Covid-19 related lockdown has had debilitating economic impact on eateries business, including home delivery. Kuldeep Bhatiya, who runs Aapki Apni Rasoi at Nehru Vihar for over 20 years, said he had never experienced such a low footfall. “When we reopened dhabas after lock- down relaxation was announced, only a few cus- tomers visited and ordered food for the week. It gathered pace with time but still only 30 per cent of students are com- ing to have food here compared to the time before lockdown,” he said. Many dhabas owners have reduced the number of staff and some are planning to close the business. Ajay Kumar, a res- ident of Indra Vihar, who has been running a dhabas at Nirankari colony for years, said 60 per cent of flats got vacant in the area after Covid- 19 hit Delhi. “The situation is still flus- tered as even after cases of coronavirus came down, the students are not returning at that pace. We have reduced staff strength to four com- pared to nine earlier. But, still paying the remaining staff is becoming difficult as I have lost 90 per cent of the revenue. I do not know if the situation is going to be restored soon. We are frustrated and economically shattered,” he said. Similarly, the life of Binod Gupta, who used to deliver tif- fin to more than 700 flats in these areas, has come to halt as his customer base has reduced to just 80 to 90. “The loss of customers due to the pandemic has not destroyed my income but my dream and family too. The long disturbance followed by lock- down has driven me to despair,” he said. Anahul Hasan, who start- ed Mother’s Rasoi at Wazirabad after borrowing money from friends and relatives three years back after students started shifting in the areas due to cheap rent, said he has no courage to start it afresh. “I have shut it down days after the lockdown was imposed. We had also started a tiffin service for students but that too failed completely dur- ing the period as many students vacated their flats without pay- ing the due. I cannot explain the suffering my family has gone through. I am selling eggs and vegetables now to feed my family,” he said. T witter India’s Head Manish Maheshwari, who was summoned by the Ghaziabad police in connection with a probe related to the assault of an elderly Muslim man there recently, did not appear before them as the Karnataka High Court restrained police from initiating coercive action against him. In his interim order, the single bench of Justice G Narender said, “If police desire to examine the peti- tioner (Manish Maheshwari), they may do so by virtual mode.” “If the matter requires consideration, we list it on June 29. In the meanwhile restraining the respondents from initiating any coercive action against the petitioner,” the court maintained. “It is case of petitioner that he has replied to notice under Section 160 of CrPC to join through virtual mode. The respondent (Ghaziabad police) taking objection to the request has turned around and issued notice under Section 41(A) virtually putting him in shoes of accused,” the high court observed. T he infamous ISRO spy case that created a sensation way back in 1994 is back in the limelight as the CBI filed an FIR in a Thiruvananthapuram court on Thursday about the conspiracy angle behind the episode. Kerala’s former director general of police Siby Mathews, then Deputy Director of Intelligence Bureau RB Sreekumar and a host of junior level police officers figure as accused in the FIR, according to sources in the CBI. The ISRO spy case centred round allegations made by a section of the media in Kerala that sensitive documents per- taining to the development of cryogenic engine used to power space launch vehicles meant for deploying heavy communica- tion and earth observation satellites were handed over to two Maldivian women, Mariam Rasheeda and Fauzia Hassan, by space scientists Nambi Narayanan and D Sasikumaran. Narayanan, Sasikumaran and the two Maldivian women (one of whom was employed in the Maldives Army) were arrested along with some per- sons in Karnataka and Andhra Pradesh with whom the women had some kind of liaisons. Though the local police probed the case initially, they could not make any break- through and hence the enquiry was handed over to the CBI. Nambi Narayanan and Sasikumaran were interrogat- ed and tortured by the Kerala Police and the IB. The CBI found that there was no spying and directed a thorough probe into the con- spiracy behind the case which saw both Narayanan and Sasikumaran, two engineers who pioneered the cryogenic technology, making an uncer- emonious exit from the ISRO. The case also saw then Chief Minister K Karunanakaran losing his job following allegations that an IPS officer Raman Srivastava, a close associate of the former, was also involved in the case. After the conclusion of the CBI probe, Cherian Philip, considered as an acolyte of then Chief Minister AK Antony, wrote articles that the spy case was a cock and bull story.

Transcript of 8`ge cVRUj W`c deReVY``U Sfe WRTVd YVRe ` - Daily Pioneer

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Prime Minister NarendraModi on Thursday assured

the key political voices fromJammu & Kashmir that theCentre was committed to hold-ing elections “soon after thecompletion of the ongoingdelimitation process” even asmost of the leaders demandedrestoration of the statehood andslammed scrapping of Article370.

Talking after the meeting,Union Home Minister AmitShah said the Centre was com-mitted to granting statehood tothe J&K.

“We are committed toensure all round developmentof J&K. The future of Jammu &Kashmir was discussed and thedelimitation exercise andpeaceful elections are impor-tant milestones in restoringstatehood as promised inParliament,” Shah tweeted soonafter the meeting.

Modi stressed in the meet-

ing that holding Assembly elec-tions, just like the “successfulconduct” of the DistrictDevelopment Council polls,is a “priority” and that the pollscan happen soon after thedelimitation exercise.

According to sources,Modi assured statehood butsought cooperation from par-ties on the delimitation exer-cise. People Democratic Partypresident Mehbooba Muftihad reservations towards thedelimitation process.

The demand for the

restoration of Article 370 wasraised by the main leaders ofPeoples Alliance for GupkarDeclaration (PAGD), but itwas rejected by Modi sayingthe step has brought forthpeace and reduced corruptionin the erstwhile State.

The PM stressed that anatmosphere of safety and secu-rity needs to be ensured for allsections of society in J&K.

Modi said he wanted toremove “Dilli ki Duri” as wellas “Dil Ki Duri” (distancefrom Delhi as well as distance

of heart) and that wanted tocall this meet last year itself butthe Covid-19 pandemic didnot allow it.

National Conference (NC)leader Omar Abdullah said“it was a good beginning”though he said it was “point-less to expect the ModiGovernment to restore Article370.”

Abdullah said it took theBJP 70 years to take awayArticle 370 but “we will take itback in time.We are for a longhaul”, the NC leader added.

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After summoningmicroblogging platform

Twitter, the ParliamentaryStanding Committee onInformation and Technologyled by Congress MP ShashiTharoor has asked Facebookand Google to appear beforethem on June 29 on the subjectof “safeguarding citizen rights”and misuse of socialmedia/news platforms.

These developments comeagainst the backdrop of a longstandoff between the IndianGovernment and social mediaplatforms like Facebook’sWhatsApp regarding theimplementation of theInformation Technology(Intermediary Guidelines andDigital Media Ethics Code)Rules 2021.

Officials said that theagenda of the meeting is to hearthe views of representatives ofFacebook India and GoogleIndia on the subject “safe-guarding citizen rights andprevention of misuse ofsocial/online news media plat-forms, including specialemphasis on women security inthe digital space.” The meeting

will be held in the MainCommittee Room of theParliament House Annexe at 4pm. Further, representativesof the Ministry of Electronicsand Information Technologywill present evidence on thesame subject on July 6.

WhatsApp has challengedin the Delhi High Court thenew IT rules for social mediaintermediaries requiring themessaging app to trace chatsand make provisions to iden-tify the first originator of infor-mation, saying they violate theright to privacy and are uncon-stitutional.

The Facebook owned com-pany further said the require-

ment of intermediariesenabling the identification ofthe first originator of informa-tion in India upon Governmentor court order puts end-to-endencryption and its benefits “atrisk”.

The committee had previ-ously summoned Twitter toappear before them on thesubject of “safeguarding citizenrights” on June 18. Twitter wasat the receiving end of pro-longed questioning by mem-bers of the StandingCommittee on Informationand Technology on non-com-pliance of new IT rules, usageof manipulated media tag andfact checking.

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Hours after Supreme Court’stongue-lashing, the

Andhra Pradesh Governmenton Saturday cancelled the APSSC (Class X) public examina-tions and promoted the stu-dents in view of the Covid-19situation.

State Education Minister ASuresh said the Government

took the decision to safeguardthe students’ health in view ofthe rapid spread of coron-avirus.

The July 10 examinationswere scheduled to be held inMarch but were first put off dueto the impending elections tolocal bodies and subsequentlydue to the Covid-19 lockdown.As restrictions were relaxed, theGovernment announced theexams will be conducted fromJuly 10, by curtailing the num-ber of papers from 11 to six.

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The Delhi Police Special Cellhas arrested four students

from Ladakh’s Kargil area inconnection with the IsraelEmbassy blast case in the nation-al Capital.

The accused persons havebeen identified as Nazir Hussain(26), Zulfikar Ali Wazir (25),Aiaz Hussain (28) andMuzammil Hussain (25), allresidents of village Thang in dis-trict Kargil.

“In a joint operation with aCentral intelligence agency andKargil Police, the Special Cell ofDelhi Police has detained fourpersons from Kargil in connec-tion with conspiracy to plan andexecute terror activities in thenational Capital,” said ChinmoyBiswal, the spokesperson ofDelhi Police.

New Delhi: A UAE-basedIndian businessman who trav-elled from Amritsar to Dubai asthe sole passenger on the AirIndia international flight said hefelt like a “Maharaja”.

The businessman and phil-anthropist SP Singh Oberoi whotook the three-hour flight onWednesday found that he wasthe only passenger in the aircraft.

“I took my flight fromAmritsar to Dubai by Air India(AI-929) on June 23 around 4am. I was very lucky to be theonly passenger on the entireflight. I feel like a Maharaja dur-ing my travel,” he told ANI.

Oberoi who holds a ten-yeargolden visa and operates a busi-ness in Dubai said that when hebought the ticket for the AirIndia flight dirham 750, henever thought that he will haveexperience of flying in a char-tered plane.

Hong Kong: The final editionof Hong Kong’s last remainingpro-democracy paper sold outin hours on Thursday, as read-ers scooped up all 1 millioncopies of the Apple Daily,whose closure was yet anothersign of China’s tightening gripon the semi-autonomous city.

Across the densely popu-lated metropolis, people linedup early in the morning to buythe paper, which in recentyears has become an increas-ingly outspoken critic ofChinese and Hong Kongauthorities’ efforts to limit thefreedoms found here but not inmainland China. The paperwas gone from newsstands by8:30 am.

The newspaper said it wasforced to cease operations afterpolice froze $2.3 million of itsassets, searched its office andarrested five top editors. AP

Detailed report on P8

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Even after the lifting of theCovid lockdown in Delhi,

dhaba owners in areas aroundthe north campus of the DelhiUniversity are experiencingaround 70 per cent less busi-ness due to the mass exodus ofstudents from the areas.

Areas such as MukharjeeNagar, Vijay Nagar, NehruVihar, Gandhi Vihar, IndraVihar, Outram Lane, etc, arehome to thousands of studentspreparing for civil services andother competitive exams buttheir mass exodus ahead ofCovid-19 related lockdown hashad debilitating economicimpact on eateries business,including home delivery.

Kuldeep Bhatiya, who runsAapki Apni Rasoi at NehruVihar for over 20 years, said hehad never experienced such alow footfall. “When wereopened dhabas after lock-down relaxation wasannounced, only a few cus-tomers visited and orderedfood for the week. It gathered

pace with time but still only 30per cent of students are com-ing to have food here comparedto the time before lockdown,”he said.

Many dhabas owners havereduced the number of staffand some are planning to closethe business. Ajay Kumar, a res-ident of Indra Vihar, who has

been running a dhabas atNirankari colony for years,said 60 per cent of flats gotvacant in the area after Covid-19 hit Delhi.

“The situation is still flus-tered as even after cases ofcoronavirus came down, thestudents are not returning atthat pace. We have reduced

staff strength to four com-pared to nine earlier. But, stillpaying the remaining staff isbecoming difficult as I have lost90 per cent of the revenue. I donot know if the situation isgoing to be restored soon. Weare frustrated and economicallyshattered,” he said.

Similarly, the life of Binod

Gupta, who used to deliver tif-fin to more than 700 flats inthese areas, has come to halt ashis customer base has reducedto just 80 to 90.

“The loss of customers dueto the pandemic has notdestroyed my income but mydream and family too. The longdisturbance followed by lock-down has driven me to despair,”he said.

Anahul Hasan, who start-ed Mother’s Rasoi at Wazirabadafter borrowing money fromfriends and relatives three yearsback after students startedshifting in the areas due tocheap rent, said he has nocourage to start it afresh.

“I have shut it down daysafter the lockdown wasimposed. We had also starteda tiffin service for students butthat too failed completely dur-ing the period as many studentsvacated their flats without pay-ing the due. I cannot explainthe suffering my family hasgone through. I am sellingeggs and vegetables now to feedmy family,” he said.

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Twitter India’s Head ManishMaheshwari, who was

summoned by the Ghaziabadpolice in connection with aprobe related to the assault ofan elderly Muslim man thererecently, did not appear beforethem as the Karnataka HighCourt restrained police frominitiating coercive actionagainst him.

In his interim order, thesingle bench of Justice GNarender said, “If policedesire to examine the peti-tioner (Manish Maheshwari),they may do so by virtual

mode.”“If the matter requires

consideration, we list it onJune 29. In the meanwhilerestraining the respondentsfrom initiating any coerciveaction against the petitioner,”the court maintained.

“It is case of petitionerthat he has replied to noticeunder Section 160 of CrPC tojoin through virtual mode.The respondent (Ghaziabadpolice) taking objection tothe request has turned aroundand issued notice underSection 41(A) virtually puttinghim in shoes of accused,” thehigh court observed.

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The infamous ISRO spy casethat created a sensation

way back in 1994 is back in thelimelight as the CBI filed anFIR in a Thiruvananthapuramcourt on Thursday about theconspiracy angle behind theepisode.

Kerala’s former directorgeneral of police Siby Mathews,then Deputy Director ofIntelligence Bureau RBSreekumar and a host of juniorlevel police officers figure asaccused in the FIR, accordingto sources in the CBI.

The ISRO spy case centredround allegations made by asection of the media in Keralathat sensitive documents per-taining to the development ofcryogenic engine used to power

space launch vehicles meant fordeploying heavy communica-tion and earth observationsatellites were handed over totwo Maldivian women,Mariam Rasheeda and FauziaHassan, by space scientistsNambi Narayanan and DSasikumaran.

Narayanan, Sasikumaranand the two Maldivian women(one of whom was employed inthe Maldives Army) werearrested along with some per-sons in Karnataka and AndhraPradesh with whom thewomen had some kind of

liaisons.Though the local police

probed the case initially, theycould not make any break-through and hence the enquirywas handed over to the CBI.Nambi Narayanan andSasikumaran were interrogat-ed and tortured by the KeralaPolice and the IB.

The CBI found that therewas no spying and directed athorough probe into the con-spiracy behind the case whichsaw both Narayanan andSasikumaran, two engineerswho pioneered the cryogenictechnology, making an uncer-emonious exit from the ISRO.

The case also saw thenChief Minister KKarunanakaran losing his jobfollowing allegations that anIPS officer Raman Srivastava,a close associate of the former,was also involved in the case.

After the conclusion of theCBI probe, Cherian Philip,considered as an acolyte of thenChief Minister AK Antony,wrote articles that the spy casewas a cock and bull story.

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The enrolment in Ph.D,M.Phil, Post-Graduate and

Under-Graduate courses isdominated by women inHaryana, which is known for itsrigid patriarchal order.

The gender parity index i.e.female enrolment in highereducation (18-23 years) stoodat 122 females per 100 males forall categories and 124 per 100males in scheduled caste (SCs)in 2019-20 in Haryana, accord-ing to the All India Survey ofHigher Education (AISHE)report 2020, released by Union

Ministry of Human ResourceDevelopment (HRD) recently.

According to the AISHEreport, over a decade, thewomen in Haryana have notonly caught up with men inhigher education but have goneon to outpace them.

The gross enrolment ratioor GER for women across allcategories stood at 32.5 percentin 2019-20 marginally up from32.4 percent in 2018-19. TheGER for women has witnessedan increase over the years with26.4 percent recorded in 2015-

16 which increased to 29.7percent in 2016-17 and 30.7percent in 2017-18.

GER is the ratio of studentsbetween 18 and 23 years of ageenrolled in higher educationinstitutions against the totalpopulation in that age group inthe state.

The overall GER inHaryana was registered at 29.3percent in 2019-20 against thenational average of 27.1 percent.The GER for male students wasregistered at 26.6 percent in thestate.

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Union Minister for Road,Transport and Highways

Nitin Gadkari on Thursdayinaugurated and laid foun-dation stones of road pro-jects worth Rs 6155 crore forHimachal Pradesh.

The Chief Minister JaiRam Thakur also accompa-nied him during the occa-sion through video confer-encing from Manali in Kulludistrict.

Speaking on the occa-sion, the Union Ministersaid that within the nexttwo years, the travelling dis-tance between Delhi to Kulluwould be reduced to sevenhours. This would give a bigboost to tourism develop-ment in the State.

He assured that all theroads, foundation stones ofwhich were laid by himtoday would be completedwithin a stipulated time peri-od.

Gadkari said that roadprojects worth Rs. 15000crore would be awarded toHimachal Pradesh this year.DPR for construction of a 40kilometers left bank roadproject at Manali would beprepared at the earliest.

He said that the UnionGovernment would provideall possible assistance to theState Government for con-struct ion of a lternat ive

modes of transportationsuch as cable car etc. and forstrengthening the road net-works in the state.

Union Minister of Statefor Road, Transport andHighways VK Singh saidthat road projects worth Rs2000 crore have been com-pleted in the state and workis in progress on projectsworth Rs 7000 crore.

The Chief Minister JaiRam Thakur urged NitinGadkari for construction ofBhuboo Jot tunnel and fordouble laning of Left BankRoad for Manali town.

Thakur said that being ahilly state, roads are the onlymode of transportation inHimachal. The state hasabout 40 ,000 kms roadlength, but being a hillystate, a lot more needs to bedone.

He said that roads andthat too better roads were theforemost requirement forinviting and attracting thetourists to the state.

The Chief Minis terthanked the Union Ministerfor dedicating and layingfoundation stones of roadprojects worth Rs 6155 crorefor the state.

He said that the presentState Government has suc-ceeded in getting sanction997 projects for Himachalfrom the Centre during thelast three and a half years.

During this period, theBJP Government connected305 villages by roads as com-pared to 261 roads connect-ed during the tenure of theCongress Government. 216bridges and 2951 kms roadswere connected during thelast three years as comparedto 145 bridges and 1585 kmsroads during the tenure ofthe prev ious C ongressGovernment, he added

E ar l ier, the UnionMinister Nitin Gadkari ded-icated a four lane Parwanoo-Solan section of NH-22 (newNH-05) having length of39.14 kilometers construct-ed at a cost of Rs 1303 crore.

He la id foundat ionstones of four lane of KangraBypass to Bhangbar sectionof NH-88 (new NH-303,503) having length of 18.13kilometers to be constructedat a cost of Rs 1323 crore,four lane of Kiratpur toNerchowk (Greenfield align-ment) section NH-21 (newNH-205,154) having lengthof 47.75 kilometers to beconstructed by spending Rs2098 crore, four lane/twolane of Paonta Sahib toHewna section of NH-707(Green National HighwayCorridor Project) of 25 kilo-meters length to be con-structed at a cost of Rs 273crore among other projects.

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Chief Minister Tirath SinghRawat inaugurated Srijan, a

social internship programme atUPES here on Wednesday.Speaking on the occasion theCM said that it is importantthat the young minds are sen-sitised towards developing anequitable and sustainable soci-ety to achieve lasting progress,as envisaged by Prime MinisterNarendra Modi.

The VC of UPEC, Sunil Raisaid, “Young people have thepotential to shape a betterworld. They have the energyand the will to deep dive intoproblems and look for solu-tions. Introducing them to thesocial sector right in the begin-ning of their higher educationthrough social internships willcreate future change makers,social entrepreneurs and prob-lem solvers that our countryneeds.”

Srijan is an initiative underUPES School for Life to providestudents with essential lifeskills, human skills and socialskills and the university haspartnered with 350 NGOs forthe same.

Under it more than 3,000under-graduate (UG) studentsof first year will go through amandatory six week long socialinternship programme and vol-unteer their time with the part-ner NGOs.

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Punjab Chief Minister CaptAmarinder Singh on

Thursday announced a BhagatKabir Chair in Guru NanakDev University, Amritsar, andRs 10 crore for the develop-ment of Bhagat Kabir Bhawanin Jalandhar.

The Chief Minister, on theoccasion of Bhagat KabirJayanti, also announced that theState Government will soondisburse Rs 560 crore to land-less farm labourers under theDebt Waiver Scheme.

Virtually joining the peo-ple of Punjab in paying respectsto the 15th-century mysticpoet and saint Bhagat Kabir, theChief Minister said that theChair to commemorate SantKabir will undertake researchon the life and philosophy ofthe great mystic poet.

“The Bhagat Kabir Bhawanwill be built over a 0.77 acrearea, of which 13,000 squarefeet covered area would housea community hall with seatingcapacity of 500. Of the Rs 10

crore, Rs three crore would bespent on construction and Rsseven crore towards the landcost,” he added.

The Chief Minister, par-ticipating in the state-level cel-ebrations at Jalandhar fromhere through video conferenc-ing, exhorted them to follow histeachings in right earnest so asto carve out an egalitariansociety rising above theparochial considerations ofcaste, colour, creed and reli-gion.

The Chief Minister alsolisted various welfare schemesfor the underprivileged beingcarried out by the StateGovernment in line withBhagat Kabir Ji’s philosophyincluding Smart Ration CardScheme, Ashirwaad Scheme,Shagun Scheme and old ageand widow pension.

On the debt relief scheme,the Chief Minister said that allloans up to Rs 50,000 of the SCand BC Corporation had beenwaived. Besides, free powerfacility was also being given upto 200 units to SC households.

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Iam sorry,” said PunjabChiefMinister Capt Amarinder

Singh to the para athletes ofvarious disciplines, who weremanhandled by the Punjabpolice during their protestdharna near his official resi-dence demanding jobs fromthe State Government.

Talking to the protestingpara athletes after the inci-dent over a video call, theChief Minister assured themof bringing the policy in thenext Cabinet meeting toresolve their grievances.

Capt Amarinder told thepara athletes that he has

asked the Sports Departmentto bring a policy before theCouncil of Ministers for pro-viding employment to parasportspersons who havebrought laurels to the Stateand the country, and SportsMinister Rana GurmeetSingh Sodhi has proposed tobring this agenda.

Having won accolades inthe national and internation-al events, the protestingsports persons declared thatthey wanted to return theawards given by the state asa mark of protest.

To stop them, the policehad put up barricades on theroad leading to the ChiefMinister's house.

T h ep r o t e s t i n gpara-athleteswere joinedby AamAadmi Party(AAP) lead-ers andworkers, andslogans werer a i s e dagainst theCongress-ledS t a t eGovernment.

T h epolice evict-ed themfrom theprotest site,m a n h a n -dling, evend r a g g i n gsome, andl a t e rd e t a i n e dthem briefly.

Ta l k i n gto the media,para-athleteS a n j e e vKumar saidthat theywere notgiven jobs bythe state gov-e r n m e n td e s p i t e

assurances.

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Aday af ter theEnforcement Directorate

(ED) summoned India’s topthree fashion designers —Manish Malhotra, Sabyasachi,and Ritu Kumar in connec-tion with an alleged moneylaundering case againstBholath MLA Sukhpal SinghKhaira, the Congress leaderon Thursday debunked,trashed, and rejected thecharges while maintainingthat the payments were madein 2015-16 at the time of hisdaughter’s wedding.

Khaira urged the ED notto indulge in character assas-sination and malicious cam-paign to damage his publicimage, by releasing “selectiveinformation” to media about

payments made to fash-

ion designers. “It is nothingbut an attempt to malign mypublic image and aimed at mycharacter assassination,” saidKhaira.

Khaira , the formerLeader of Opposition, saidthat these payments, whichare very nominal in terms ofmoney, were made in theyear 2015-16 at the time ofthe wedding of his daughter.“It is a normal practice ofevery family, particularly the

Punjabis, to try and give theirbest to their children, partic-ularly daughters at the time oftheir weddings. My familyhad purchased three wed-ding dresses in 2015-16 formy daughter and my family,”he added.

He said that the weddingdresses were in the range ofabout Rs seven to eight lakhin total, and the source ofmoney paid to these fashiondesigners came from his agri-culture limit or overdraftaccount in a bank atJalandhar.

“I am amused by thecharges flashed to the mediaas if I had paid crores ofrupees to the said fashiondesigners, whereas the threedresses that my family pur-chased were of negligiblecost…It is common knowl-edge that people buy veryexpensive wedding dressessometimes to the tune of Rs25-30 lakh or even more formay be one wedding dress,while I and my family hadpurchased only routine nec-essary wedding dresses,” hesaid.Khaira said that he wassaddened to note, thatattempts were being made byED to malign him and aimedat his character assassina-tion by repeating the sameold charges of fake passportsand the NDPS case related toFazilka.

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Haryana Deputy ChiefMinister Dushyant

Chautala on Thursday saidthat by the year 2023-24, 1,225km long 475 kutcha roadsspread in rural areas will bemade fully paved roads at a costof Rs. 490 crore in the state

The Deputy Chief Minister,who also holds the portfolio ofRural Development andPanchayat Department, gavethis information when somevillagers visited his office herewith a request for paving thekutcha roads in their area.

Chautala said that the StateGovernment has decided thatall the five karam kutcha roadsconnecting one village toanother would be paved so thatfarmers do not face any incon-venience in commuting andtransporting their crops to

their fields. Haryana is an agricultural

state where rural developmentis essential and national devel-opment is also not possiblewithout the development ofrural areas, he said.

The Deputy CM furthersaid that Mahatma Gandhihad observed 'Gram-Swaraj'as the focal-point of the eco-nomic development of inde-pendent India. Despite pacedurbanization, a large part of ourpopulation is still living in vil-lages.

The State Government alsowants to connect every villageof the state with the internet sothat the villagers can be digi-tally connected to the globalworld. At present, optical fibercables have been laid in 6,188villages, out of which cableshave been made operational in4,334 villages, he added.

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The regional transport office(RTO) of Dehradun has

decided to approve the newapplications of driving licenseonly after clearing the backlogof about 10,000 applications.The RTO is all set to open onFriday for the general publicafter being closed for about twomonths.

As informed by the region-al transport officer (adminis-tration) Dinesh Pathoi, only 25slots will be approved for eachsection of work like the renew-al of vehicle permits, vehicle fit-ness and driving license.However, no new slots will beapproved for new learner'slicense (LL) and permanentdriving license (DL) as accord-ing to officials, there are already

about 10,000 pending applica-tions for driving license. Those,who had applied earlier for LLand DL but could not give thedriving test due to Covid-cur-few will have to book their slotsagain online. Officials informedthat people can visit the websitehttp://appointment.rtodoon.into book the slots and reserve thetiming to visit the RTO.

According to the assistantregional transport officer,Dwarika Prasad, RTO launchedthis website specifically to limitthe number of visitors in theRTO premises as a precaution-ary measure against Covid-19.

He also informed that thiswebsite will not approve morethan 25 slots in a day for eachkind of work in RTO. Peoplewill also have to book a timingslot for the work associated with

vehicle permits and taxes on thesame website which is limited toonly 25 slots per day for eachwork. Also, the RTO will notapprove any slots for Saturdayand Sunday every week till fur-ther orders. On being askedabout when the new applicantscan apply for LL and DL, Prasadsaid that there is already abacklog of 10,000 applicationswhich may take about threemonths to clear so it wouldprobably be after this period orwhen the load will start decreas-ing.

Meanwhile, it will bemandatory for everyone to wearmasks properly and maintainsocial distancing in the RTOpremises and only those whohave booked slots will beallowed in the premises, statedofficials.

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The state health departmentreported only 118 new

cases of Covid 19 inUttarakhand on Thursdaywhich is the least number ofcases in the last three months.The cumulative count ofpatients in the state has nowincreased to 3,39,245. Thedepartment also reporteddeaths of three patients fromthe disease on the day afterwhich the Covid death tollclimbed to 7074. With therecovery of 250 patientsonThursday the total numberof recovered patients in thestate has increased to 3,23,627.The recovery percentage fromthe disease is now at 95.40 andthe sample positivity rate is at6.30 percent in the state.

Out of the three deathsfrom the disease reported onThursday, two occurred at AllIndia Institute of MedicalSciences (AIIMS) Rishikesh.The department also reportedthree such deaths on the daywhich had occurred in thepast were not reported earlier.

Dehradun district report-ed 49, Pauri 11, Nainital ten,

Almora and Tehri seven eachand Rudraprayag six new casesof the disease on the day. Theremaining seven districtsreported five and fewer caseson Thursday. The state now has2,739 active patients of thedisease.

Dehradun district is at topof the table in the list of activecases with 644 cases whileHaridwar is in second positionwith 328 active cases.Pithoragarh has 317, Nainital224, Bageshwar 205, Pauri 193,Almora 192, Rudraprayag 122,Chamoli 119, Champawat 109,Udham Singh Nagar 108, Tehri106 and Uttarkashi 62 active

cases of the disease. The state reported six new

cases of Mucormycosis (Blackfungus) on Thursday afterwhich it now has 478 patientsof the disease. Death of fivepatients from Black Fungus wasreported on the day. A total of88 patients have so far diedfrom this disease while 68 haverecovered.

In the vaccination drive1,04,350 people were vacci-nated in 876 sessions held onthe day. A total of 7,50,754 peo-ple have been fully vaccinatedwhile 32,66,998 people havebeen partially vaccinated in thestate.

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Chief minister Tirath SinghRawat announced that he

is preparing the chief minister’sresidence also to deal with theCovid-19 situation. Rawattweeted that the state govern-ment has made all necessary

preparations to tackle the thirdwave of Covid-19 which wouldbe brought under control with-out any problem. He said, “I ampreparing the chief minister’sresidence also forCovid.Whatever sacrifice ispossible for serving the public,I will definitely do it.”

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The issue of whether chiefminister Tirath Singh

Rawat can contest theAssembly by-election or nothas continued to elicit state-ments from senior leaders ofboth the Congress and theBharatiya Janata Party. OnThursday, former chief minis-ter Trivendra Singh Rawat andthe Pradesh CongressCommittee president PritamSingh reached Haldwani topay homage to IndiraHridayesh on her Tehrvi. Theleaders paid tributes toHridayesh and appreciated hercontributions but later focusedon the issue of the CM’s by-election.

Former chief minister andDoiwala MLA Trivendra SinghRawat recalled his experienceof working with a senior leader

like Hridayesh, stating thateven during differences in theVidhan Sabha she used toexhibit a positive attitude.Referring to senior Congressleader and former CM HarishRawat’s statement about CMTirath Singh Rawat having lostthe opportunity to contest theAssembly by-poll, TrivendraSingh Rawat said that the elec-tion commission has to decideabout holding the by-electionand not Harish Rawat.

Meanwhile, the PCC pres-ident and Chakrata MLAPritam Singh said that consid-ering the uncertainty onwhether the CM will contestthe by-election to the Assemblyor not, the government hasonly three options. The gov-ernment can go for mid-termpolls, demand President’s ruleor bring in a third chief min-ister. Otherwise, whatever deci-

sion the election commissiontakes, the Congress is ready forany challenge. The electioncommission has to take a deci-sion now but the Congress isprepared for any election, hesaid. On being asked if SumitHridayesh will carry forwardthe electoral legacy of his moth-er in Haldwani constituency,Singh said that consideringthe work he had done in theconstituency, there is no otheroption to Sumit Hridayesh.However, when the time forelection comes, the party officebearers and high command willdecide whom to field.Regarding possible changes inthe Congress organisation andthe new leader of opposition,Singh said that the party highcommand will soon form anopinion on this with the partyoffice bearers and leaders of thestate.

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The General OfficerCommanding (GoC) in

Chief of Central Command,Lieutenant General YogendraDimri started his two-dayDehradun visit on Thursday.He visited the headquarters ofUttarakhand Sub Area andwas briefed on the operationaland administrative prepared-ness by GoC Uttarakhand Subarea, Major General SanjeevKhatri.

In the visit Lt Gen Dimriwas informed about the mea-sures put in place for Covid-19

management, procurement ofessential medical supplies andthe support given to the civiladministration during the pan-demic. Lt Gen Dimiri alsotook a windshield tour ofDehradun Cantonment andvisited the Military Hospital(MH) of Dehradun. Later inthe day he also met ChiefMinister Tirath Singh Rawat athis residence. In the meeting hetook up various issues per-taining to the Army and ex-ser-vicemen with the CM. Theduo also discussed availabilityof telecommunication facilitiesand development of roads inthe border areas.

The GOC-in-C alsostressed on the need for focus-ing on strengthening localintelligence in border areas,road widening to Joshimath-Auli and construction andimprovement of the road fromBadkot-Purola-Mori and

Minas-Aral-Tyuni to HimachalPradesh.

The CM said that the stategovernment is laying specialfocus on development of bor-der areas. Stress is being laid onroad connectivity and devel-oping telecommunication facil-ities in such areas. He informedabout the assurances he hadrecently received from Unionministers regarding develop-ment of communication facil-ities in the forward areas ofLipulekh, Gunji, Niti andMalari along with the improve-ment of road connectivity toborder areas. The CM’s chiefadvisor Shatrughna Singh andsenior army officers were alsopresent on the occasion.

This was the GOC-in-C’sfirst visit after taking over thecommand as General OfficerC o m m a n d i n g - i n - C h i e f ,Central Command on April 1this year.

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With the purpose ofexpanding the market

reach of various types of gheeprepared in Uttarakhand allacross the country, the State’sDairy Development depart-ment has launched its productsin the online market. Earlier, onApril 10 chief minister TirathSingh Rawat had launchedthree variants of Ghee- BadriGhee, Pahadi Ghee andOrganic Ghee besides cheddarcheese prepared by the stateowned Aanchal Dairy.

Informing about the dif-ferent variants of these prod-ucts, officials informed thatOrganic Ghee is procured atorganic dairy farms that use nochemicals in the process ofmaking ghee for which theyalso possess organic certifica-tion. Pahadi Ghee is preparedfrom the milk of the cowsfound at the high altitudes ofChampawat whereas BadriGhee is prepared from themilk of Badri cows which isprovided by the dairy growthcentres in the Dehradun dis-trict.

As informed by the offi-cials, the prices of these threevariants are Rs 1,500, Rs 1,000and Rs 2,500 for 1,000 millil-itres of Organic Ghee, PahadiGhee and Badri Ghee respec-tively. On being asked about the

reason for the high price ofBadri Ghee as compared to theother two variants, the officialssaid, Badri cows give onlyabout one to two litres of milkevery day due to which milk ofmore Badri cows is required tomake ghee.

Also, the ghee producedfrom its milk has a high med-icinal and nutritional valuewhich is also a reason for itshigh price.

The officials also informedthat due to less production ofmilk in Badri cows, people do

not consider them profitablefor commercial production ofdairy products. Due to this, thedepartment has encouragedvarious locals to domesticateBadri cows through dairygrowth centres in theDehradun district.

Informing about theseproducts, the joint director ofthe department, Jaydeep Arorasaid that these products werelaunched under Rajya SamekitSahkari Vikas Pariyojana sup-ported by National CooperativeDevelopment Corporation(NCDC) programme. In orderto promote and extend thereach of these products allover the country, the depart-ment launched an e-commercewebsite www.aanchalddn.comthis month through which any-one can place an order fromacross the country, informedArora. He said that these prod-ucts will soon be available one-commerce sites like Flipkartand Amazon too.

Arora also said that thepackaging of these ghee vari-ants also shows Uttarakhand'sfolk art, Aipan, which is aneffort to present and establishAanchal as a brand ofUttarakhand across the coun-try.

Meanwhile, the officialssaid that most people do notknow the difference betweenthese variants consideringwhich, they are also raisingawareness locally through milkATM vans. Besides this, thosewho are interested in knowingmore about these variants ofthe ghee can visit the AanchalDairy's website, added the offi-cials.

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Chief minister Tirath SinghRawat inaugurated the seniorcitizens national helpline ElderLine 14567 for Uttarakhand ata programme held here onThursday. This helpline hasbeen launched by the Ministryof Social Justice andEmpowerment along withUttarakhand government forthe welfare of senior citizens.Speaking on the occasion, thechief minister said that inline with Prime MinisterNarendra Modi’s vision ofSabka Saath, Sabka Vikas,Sabha Vishwas, this helplinewill prove effective in resolv-ing the problems faced by theelderly.

Stating that all shouldcome forward to help theaged people, the chief minis-ter said that public awarenessis very important for this pur-pose. “A large number ofsenior citizens are leadinglonely lives in the distant andmountainous regions of thestate.

We have to reach all ofthem and solve their prob-lems. It is also vital to raisepublic awareness at the villagelevel. The information aboutvarious schemes and pro-

grammes being implementedfor the welfare of senior citi-zens should also reach the vil-lage level. I am hopeful thatthe 14567 helpline will proveuseful in resolving the prob-lems of the elderly and alsoprovide emotional support tothem,” said Rawat.

Social Welfare ministerYashpal Arya said that thishelpline will enable the elder-ly to get their problems solvedwhile sitting at home. This isnot just a call centre but

rather a connect centre in thereal sense, he said. The min-ister also directed the depart-mental officials to regularlymonitor this service.

Social welfare additionalsecretary Ramvilas Yadavinformed that this helplinewill be accessible from 8 AMto 8 PM and provide neces-sary assistance and services tothe aged citizens. Principalsecretary L Fanai and otherofficials were also present onthe occasion.

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The Municipal Corporationof Rishikesh (MCR) is all

set to start the treatment oflegacy waste which has beenmounting up at the dumpingsite for 40 years through bio-mining technique.

This legacy waste is spreadacross the four-hectare area atthe dumping site in the GovindNagar area and filled withabout 2.71 lakh cubic metres ofgarbage that mainly includeglass, rubber, fibre, plastic andleachate. The corporation hashired a private company underthe public-private partnership(PPP) mode for the proper dis-posal of the legacy wastethrough biomining technique.

The company had startedthe installation of differenttypes of machinery at thedumping site to treat the wasteabout three months ago andMCR had planned to start the

process of legacy waste treat-ment by the end of April but itwas postponed due to theCovid-19 curfew in the State.

According to the tax andrevenue superintendent of thecorporation, Ramesh Rawat,the installation of types ofmachinery has been finished atthe site and the work of legacywaste treatment will be inau-

gurated next week. He alsoinformed that it will take atleast four to six months for theproper treatment of 2.71 lakhcubic metres of garbage.

It is pertinent to mentionhere that Rishikesh is the firstcity in Uttarakhand that willuse the biomining techniquefor the treatment of legacywaste.

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The Housing and UrbanDevelopment Corporation

Limited (HUDCO) will con-tinue assisting the state in var-ious developmental works. Thecorporation’s regional chiefSanjay Bhargava met the State’sHousing and UrbanDevelopment secretary ShaileshBagauli and informed him thatthe corporation proposes toassist the state in developmentworks worth Rs 750 crore in thefinancial year 2021-22.

Bhargava informed Bagaulithat so far HUDCO had pro-vided financial assistance forproject works worth Rs 775crore in the state. The corpo-ration has provided help worthRs 11 crore under CSR in thedisaster affected parts of thestate. He further said that theworks in which the corporation

proposes to provide financialand technical assistance in thestate include housing schemesof development authorities,land acquisition, metro project,multi-level parking and com-mercial centre, health infra-structure, police housing, con-sultancy for master planning,feasibility studies and otheraspects. Information aboutassistance provided byHUDCO in other states wasalso provided to the state offi-cials during the meeting. Thecorporation’s joint general man-ager (finance) Ashok Lalwaniwas also present in the meeting.

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Noting that India's share isonly about 1.5 billion dol-

lars (over � 11,000 crore) in theglobal toy market of approxi-mately 100 billion dollars (�� 7.5 lakh crore), PrimeMinister Narendra Modi onThursday pitched for improv-ing the country's standing inwhat he called 'Toyconomy' orthe economic aspects of the toys and gaming industry.

He regretted the fact thatabout 80 per cent of the toyswere being imported by Indiawith crores of rupees goingabroad and called for changingthe situation as part of thenation’s "vocal for local toys"call.

Modi made the remarksafter interacting with partici-pants of Toycathon-2021 viavideo conferencing duringwhich Union Ministers PiyushGoyal and Sanjay Dhotre werealso present.

He said the participation ofover 1,500 teams in the firstToycathon signals the strength-ening of the 'AtmarnibharBharat' programme. Around1.2 lakh participants fromacross India registered andsubmitted more than 17,000ideas for the Toycathon 2021,out of which 1,567 ideas wereshortlisted for the three-dayonline Toycathon Grand Finale,

being held from June 22 to June24.

Toycathon-2021 was joint-ly launched by the Ministry ofEducation, Ministry of Womenand Child Development,Ministry of Micro, Small &Medium Enterprises,Department for Promotion ofIndustry and Internal Trade(DPIIT), Textile Ministry,Information and BroadcastingMinistry and All India Councilfor Technical Education(AICTE) on January 5, 2021 tocrowd-source innovative toysand games ideas.

He underlined that beyondnumbers, the toy sector has thecapacity to bring progress andgrowth to the neediest seg-ments of society.

Toy sector has its ownsmall-scale industry, artisanscomprising rural population,Dalits, poor people and tribalpopulation, he noted and alsotalked about the contributionof women in the sector. "Inorder to take the benefits tothese segments, we need to bevocal for local toys," Modiasserted.

The PM emphasized theneed to create interesting andinteractive games that "engage,entertain and educate". He alsocalled for new models of inno-vation and financing to makeIndian toys competitive at theglobal level. There is a need for

new ideas to be incubated,new start-ups promoted, takingnew technology to traditionaltoy makers and creating newmarket demand, Modi said,adding that this is the inspira-tion behind events likeToycathon.

He referred to the cheapdata and growth of Internet-ledrural connectivity and calledfor exploration of possibilitiesin virtual, digital and onlinegaming in India. He also ruedthe fact that most of the onlineand digital games available inthe market are not based onIndian concepts and manysuch games promote violenceand cause mental stress.

"Our focus should be ondeveloping toys, games thatpresent every aspect ofIndianness in interesting, inter-active ways," Modi said.

Emphasising the impor-tance of toys, he said if thechild's first school is his or herfamily, then the first book andthe first friends are toys. Theprime minister also said thatthe 75th anniversary of India'sIndependence is a hugeopportunity for the innova-tors and creators of the toyindustry. "Many incidents,stories of our freedom fight-ers and their valour and lead-ership can be created intogaming concepts," he stressed.

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Union Education MinisterRamesh Pokhiryal “Nishank”

will interact with students throughsocial media on Friday and answerqueries related to Class 10 and 12board exams, which were cancelledin view of the Covid-19 pandemic.Nishank, who is in the All IndiaInstitute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS)undergoing treatment for post-Covidcomplications, said students havebeen sending him messages withtheir queries and apprehensions.

"Dear students, I am constant-ly receiving a lot of your messagesand information. Also, you haveexpressed concern about my health.For this, I would like to express mythanks to all of you and say that Iam feeling healthy now. Some ofyour apprehensions have also beenexpressed in your messages. Butwas unable to communicate withyou due to this ongoing treatmentin the hospital. If you have anyother query related to the CentralBoard of Secondary Education(CBSE) exams then you can sendme on Twitter, Facebook, or also bymail," he said in a series of tweets.

The Union minister informedthat he will answer the queries ofstudents on June 25 at 4 pm

through social media. The examsfor both class 10 and 12 were can-celled by the CBSE in view of theCOVID-19 pandemic. The boardhas announced its alternativeassessment policy for both theclasses. While schools have beenasked to submit class 10 marks tillJune 30, the deadline for schools tocompile class 12 marks is July 15.

According to the policy forclass 12 results, decided by a 13-member panel set up by the board,the theory paper evaluation for-mula of 30 per cent weightage willbe given to class 10 marks, 30 percent to class 11 marks and 40 percent weightage to class 12 marksobtained in unit test/mid-term/pre-board examinations.

The CBSE scheme furtherelaborated that for class 10, the 30per cent marks based on averagetheory component of best threeperforming subjects out of mainfive subjects will be taken.According to the evaluation cri-teria announced for class 10 stu-dents, while 20 marks for eachsubject will be for internal assess-ment as every year, 80 marks willbe calculated on basis of the stu-dents' performance in varioustests or exams throughout theyear.

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To examine the potency ofthe “Delta Plus” variant of

Covid-19 in patients and theefficacy of vaccines on it, theIndian Council of MedicalResearch (ICMR) and theNational Institute of Virology(NIV) will soon conduct astudy in this regard.

This comes after the UnionGovernment found Delta Pluscases in Maharashtra (Ratnagiriand Jalgaon) Kerala (Palakkadand Pathanamthitta), MadhyaPradesh (Bhopal and Shivpuri)and also in Karnataka.

“The newly emerged DeltaPlus variant has possibleincreased transmissibility, high-er binding capacity to the lungcells and resistance to mono-clonal antibody treatment.

"Looking at this scenario,Delta Plus variant could be aconcern, and a high watchshould be undertaken and con-tainment of affected zoneshould be done reduce thetransmission," Dr PragyaYadav, head of the NIV’sMaximum ContainmentFacility, said.

“As per earlier data con-cerning Delta variant, neutral-ization was happening with theexisting vaccines in India.Though neutralization hasdropped, it’s enough to protectagainst Delta variant. Delta

Plus should also behave (in asimilar manner). We are work-ing in this direction. We haveisolated this variant and we aregoing to conduct a study soon,”according to a report.

Meanwhile, Dr SamiranPanda, an ICMR scientist, saidthe research body is also close-ly monitoring neutralisationcapabilities of antibodies drawnfrom vaccine recipients. Hesaid results of the investigationsshould be out in the next fewweeks.

“We are examining (virus)samples drawn from variouslocations to see if they get neu-tralised by serum from Covid-19 vaccine recipients,” he said.

The scientist added thatstates should implement strictcontainment around infectionclusters involving Delta-plus,continue to quarantine contactsand improve the pace of vac-cination in regions reporting

the variant.Twenty-one cases of the

‘Delta plus’ variant of Covid-19,considered highly infectious,have been reported inMaharashtra threatening tomassively dent the state’s fightagainst the virus as expertswarn that this variant maytrigger a third wave of the pan-demic in the state.

Kerala, Karnataka, andMadhya Pradesh, too, havereported cases of this deadliervariety. And even though, onlyabout 200 confirmed infec-tions have been detected acrossthe globe, of which 44 are inIndia, fears remain that thevirus mutant may wreak havocin the near future.

Union Health Ministry onTuesday advised Maharashtra,Kerala and Madhya Pradesh onDelta plus variant of Covid-19after a significant number ofcases were reported fromthese states.

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Congress president SoniaGandhi on Thursday said

the party must play an activerole in ensuring full Covid-19vaccination coverage andaddress vaccine hesitancywherever evident. She also saidthat the country needs to pre-pare for the possible thirdwave and take proactive mea-sures so that children arespared this calamity. Her com-ments come in the wake of theBJP accusing the Congress ofaiding vaccine hesitancy.

Addressing a meeting ofparty general secretaries andin-charges of AICC in variousStates, Sonia called upon partyleaders and workers to contin-ue to put pressure on theUnion Government to ensurethat the daily rate of vaccina-tion trebles so that 75 per centof the population gets fully vac-cinated by end of this year.

"On the pandemic, let mesay that it is absolutely essen-tial that our party plays anactive role in ensuring fullvaccination coverage. At thenational level, the daily rate ofvaccination has to treble so that75 per cent of our populationgets fully vaccinated by end ofthis year," she said.

"No doubt, this is depen-dent entirely on the adequacy

of vaccine supply. We mustcontinue to put pressure on theUnion government which has,at our party's insistence, final-ly taken on the responsibilityfor this. At the same time, wehave to ensure that registrationtakes place, that vaccine hesi-tancy wherever evident is over-come and vaccine wastage isminimised," she said address-ing the party leaders virtually.

Quoting experts, she saidthey are talking of a possiblethird wave in a few monthsfrom now and some havepointed to the vulnerability ofchildren in the coming months."This too requires our urgentattention,” she said.

Talking about the whitepaper on Covid managementbrought out by the Congress, shesaid it is being translated in otherlanguages. It is very detailed andneeds to be disseminated wide-ly. I hope this gets done urgent-ly, she told the leaders.

Referring to the rise in fuel

prices, the Congress chief saidit is causing an intolerable bur-den on people and agitationshave been organised to high-light how it is hurting farmersand millions of families. Apartfrom fuel, the prices of manyother essential commoditieslike pulses and edible oils toohave skyrocketed causing wide-spread distress, she noted.

"This price rise is takingplace at a time when livelihoodsare lost in unprecedented num-bers, when there is mountingunemployment and when eco-nomic recovery is not a reali-ty," she said.

She also appreciating therelief work carried out by partyworkers across the countryduring the pandemic. "Wemust continue our effort. Thecontrol rooms will continue tofunction. The helplines too.Emergency services like ambu-lances and essential medicinesshould continue to be provid-ed," Sonia said.

����� !./�-.012

The CBI has registered a caseagainst a branch manager

of State Bank of India, her hus-band who is a private personand others on the allegationsthat the accused public servantperpetrated a fraud on thebank by illegally sanctioningand disbursing funds to thetune of �11,84,71,217 throughoverdraft accounts in the nameof fictitious persons.

The agency registered thecase on a complaint from theSBI against the then BranchManager, Khajrana SquareBranch, Indore (MadhyaPradesh) and others includinga private person and conduct-ed searches at their premises.

The alleged fraud wascommitted through overdraftfacilities in 18 Overdraft (OD)Accounts in the name of ficti-tious persons and fraudulent-ly marking a Lien on FixedDeposits of bank customersduring the period 2018 to2021, the agency said.

It was further alleged thatthe accused branch managerrouted the misappropriatedbank funds through differentbank accounts which werereceived in the various bankaccounts of her husband andher family members. Such bank

funds were allegedly invested inthe security/stock market andelsewhere.

“It was also alleged that oneof the bank customers request-ed for renewal of the FD, whothereupon found the said FDwas marked as lien/collateralsecurity against one such ODaccount, but the customerdenied any consent/ informa-tion towards the lien/collater-al security or having connec-tion/knowledge of the ODaccount holder,” it said in astatement.

Searches were conducted atthe premises of the accused onThursday at four places inIndore at the premises of theaccused which led to recoveryof incriminating documents, itadded.

The accused personsnamed in the case are the thenBranch Manager, SBI, KhajranaSquare Branch, Indore, SweetySuneria and her husbandAshish Saluja.

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India on Thursday said itdesires normal relations with

Pakistan and it was for thatcountry to create a conduciveatmosphere through measuresincluding taking "credible, ver-ifiable and irreversible" actionto not allow any territory underits control to be used for cross-border terrorism.

"We desire normal rela-tions with all our neighboursincluding Pakistan," Ministry of

External Affairs (MEA)spokesperson Arindam Bagchisaid at a media briefing.

He was responding to aquestion.

"Pakistan must worktowards creating a conduciveatmosphere including by tak-ing credible, verifiable andirreversible action to not allowany territory under its controlto be used for cross-border ter-rorism against India in anymanner," he said.

To a question on Pakistan

Foreign Minister ShahMahmood Qureshi''s com-ments on New Delhi's role inAfghanistan, Bagchi said Indiabrought electricity and builtdams, schools and healthcareinfrastructure in that country.

"The world knows whatPakistan has brought toAfghanistan," he said.

Bagchi said India supportsthe Afghan peace process andis in touch with various stake-holders including regionalcountries.

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The Government onThursday dismissed reports

alleging non-transparent dis-tribution of the jabs and clari-fied that allocation of Covid-19vaccines to a State is donebased on its population, case-load, utilisation efficiency andwastage factors.

It termed the allegations bya certain media of non-trans-parent distribution of vaccinesamong states "completely with-out any basis, and not fullyinformed".

It said that more than 1.89crore balance and unutilisedCovid-19 vaccine doses arestill available with the Statesand Union territories. "Overtwo crore vaccine doses havebeen administered in the first72 hours of the implementationof the new revised guidelines ofthe National COVID-19Vaccination Programme," theministry said in a statementhere.

“Distribution of Covid-19vaccine is done on the para-meters- population of a state,Caseload or disease burden,and State’s utilisation efficien-cy. The allocation is negative-

ly affected by the vaccinewastage,” said the statementhere.

So far, more than 30 crore(30,33,27,440) vaccine doseshave been administered by theCentre to states/UTs since themassive vaccination drivebegan on January 16. Morethan 58.34 lakh vaccine doseswere given to the eligible ben-eficiaries on Wednesday,according to the Ministry.

In the new phase of theuniversalisation of the Covid-19 vaccination drive, the Centrewill procure and supply (free ofcost) 75 per cent of the vaccinesbeing produced by vaccinemanufacturers in the countryto states/UTs, it added..

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4%!,4�5< �� �������&����������� �� ����� �5�New Delhi: External AffairsMinister S Jaishankar onThursday lauded allGovernment staff involved intimely issuance of passportsto citizens notwithstandingthe coronavirus pandemic. Inan address at an event tomark 'Passport Seva Divas',Jaishankar said the Ministryhas integrated 174 Indianembassies and consulatesabroad with the passport ser-vice programme.

�� � �� ���= ���� �������������� ����New Delhi: After fugitivediamond merchant NiravModi lost the first stage of hisextradition appeal in the UKHigh Court, the Ministry ofExternal Affairs on Thursdaysaid it has noted the decisionand will continue its efforts topursue his early extradition to India to face justice.

�%�� �������� ����� (��� ��&� �����5�&��� ���New Delhi: A PIL filed byadvocate and BJP leaderAshwini Kumar Upadhyayin the Supreme Court onThursday sought directionto the Centre and States toimplement a citizens'' charterin every public servicedepartment to ensure timebound delivery of goods andservices.

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The Supreme Court onThursday directed the State

boards to declare internalassessment results of Class 12examination by July 31, mak-ing it clear that there can't bea "fit-all" scheme and eachboard was autonomous andfree to formulate its own eval-uation method for students.Stating that it will not pass anydirection for having a uni-form scheme for assessmentacross the country, the courtdirected the state boards toensure that scheme be formu-lated at the earliest and not laterthan 10 days from Thursday.

A bench of Justices AMKhanwilkar and DineshMaheshwari observed that eachboard will have to evolve theirown scheme. “We direct theboards to ensure that the schemebe formulated at the earliest andnot later than 10 days fromtoday and also declare the inter-nal assessment results by July 31,2021, like the time line specifiedfor CBSE and CISCE,” the benchsaid in its order.

The top court was hearinga plea which has sought direc-tions to states to not holdboard examinations in view of

the Covid-19 pandemic.“Wemake it clear that each boardmay formulate their ownscheme. However, we furthermake it clear that we are notendorsing the correctness andvalidity of scheme that will beformulated by the concernedboard..,” the bench said.

During the hearing con-ducted through video-confer-encing, the bench was told by anadvocate appearing in the mat-ter that state boards which havecancelled the class 12 examina-tions amid the pandemic maybe asked to have a uniformscheme for assessing students.

“That may not be accept-able because every state boardhas their own scheme. It cannotbe uniform. We are not goingto direct for uniform scheme.Each board will have to evolvetheir own scheme,” the benchsaid, adding that each board isdifferent and autonomous. Itsaid each state boards haveexperts to advise them andthere cannot be a uniform allIndia scheme for this.

“There cannot be a fit-allscheme,” the bench observed,adding, “We have made it clearthat each board is autonomousand they will have their ownscheme”. The counsel appear-

ing for Haryana school educa-tion board told the bench thatthe petitioner is seeking a uni-form formula for assessment.

“That we have alreadymade it clear that each board canhave their own scheme,” thebench said. The court noted inits order that state of Assam hasfiled an affidavit stating thatexaminations for class 10 and 12have been cancelled and schemeis being formulated by the boardfor internal assessment of marks.

“That be done expedi-tiously. In addition, the schememust provide for a mecha-nism for redressal of grievanceof students after declaration ofresults as done by the CBSEand CISCE,” the bench said.

The top court also notedthat National Institute of OpenSchooling (NIOS) has cancelledthe board examinations and isin the process of formulating thescheme for assessment. Thecourt was earlier informed bythe Assam and Tripura govern-ments that they have cancelledtheir state boards of Class 12exam due to the pandemic.

On June 17, the top courtwas informed that out of 28States, six States have alreadyconducted the board exams, 18states have cancelled them.

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"������ ����'���%�-./0���������!� ����$��' �1��������2./�������� #NEW DELHI : Indian Army on Thursday issued theRequest for Information (RFI) to finalise the specifica-tions for acquiring 1,750 Futuristic Infantry CombatVehicles (FICVs) under the Make in India initiative todestroy enemy tanks and carry troops.

The Indian Army says it wants to deploy the vehiclesin places like Eastern Ladakh along with desert andamphibious terrain.

The FICV projecthas been in plans for along time and the needfor a modern troops car-rier equipped with tank-busting capabilities wasfelt during the recentLadakh conflict.

Due to the experi-ences in the Ladakh the-atre, the Indian Army isalso looking at theprospect of acquiring350 light tanks in aphased manner, along with performance-based logistics,niche technologies, engineering support package, andother maintenance and training requirements.

The Light Tank is planned to be procured under the'Make-in-India' ethos and spirit of the Defence AcquisitionProcedure (DAP) - 2020, the Indian Army has stated.

The Indian Army specified that it wants its less than25 tonnes tanks to be used for operations in High AltitudeArea (HAA), marginal terrain (Rann), amphibious oper-ations, etc.

"The advancement in technology also facilitates thatthe 'Light Tank' is having weapon systems and protectionof adequate capacity and is equipped suitably to operatein current/future threat spectrum, to support combat oper-ations as a weapon system," the RFI issued on April 23said. Agencies

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In a gruesome incident, activistsbelonging to the ruling CPI(M) in

Kerala slaughtered more than 30ornamental pigeons which werebeing reared by 11-year-old ChristiDevassia of Kanjikkuzhi village inAlappuzha district.

“Neighbours came to knowabout the incident only on Tuesdayas the family members were underquarantine. Covid-19 had claimedthe life of Joseph, father of Devassia,”said Asha Mukesh, ward member ofthe Panchayat, the first person toreach out to the family. She said theincident happened during the inter-vening night of June 2 and 3 rightunder the nose of V SAchuthanandan, former ChiefMinister, whose ancestral home is inthe vicinity.

The slaughtered pigeons con-sisted of rare varieties like Boccaro,American Fantail, Indian Fantail,Hungarian Mix and Modena whichwere painstakingly collected by thesixth standard student from friendsand well-wishers.

“All the pigeons were my petsand used to play with me as if theywere my own brethren,” a weepingChristie told The Pioneer. His sisterSanjana said the birds never leftChristie alone and were with himthroughout the day.

“It was on the morning of June3 we saw the caraccas of the birdswhen our mother went to feedthem,” said Sanjana. Since the entirefamily was under quarantine andisolation, they could not commu-nicate to the outside world anythingabout the incident, she said.

The six-member family was

under isolation following thedeath of Christie’s grandfatherJoseph and there was no oneto help them to get food andessential materials. The needsof the family were taken careof by Seva Bharathi, a SanghParivar outfit. Seva Bharativolunteers are the frontline

warriors against the pandemic inKerala and ensure that help reach-es those in distress.

Devassia’s family members arefellow travellers of the CPI(M). Butduring the Covid-19 pandemic, theparty activists kept off the housewhich put the former in crisis. “Weattended to their call for help and

offered them all assistance despitethe fact that all family memberswere in quarantine,” saidJayakrishnan, Seva Bharati, districtsecretary, Alappuzha.

The slaughtering of the birds isseen as a stern warning issued byparty leadership to its cadres and fel-low travellers not to have anythingto do with Sangh Parivar as part ofits efforts to eradicate Hindu com-munalism, said Mukesh. They hadordered Devassia and family not tohave any kind of association withthem. Since Devassia did not payany attention to the party diktat, theCPI(M) commissars struck back byslaughtering the ornamental dovesbeing reared by Christie.

“My son is in a state of shockbecause of the demise of my fatherwith whom he had close relations.The two were attached to each

other and it was the grandfatherwho initiated Christie to the worldof birds,” said Devassia.

Though organisations likeDeena Dayal Seva Kendra andSwadeshi Jagran Manch have pro-cured some pigeons and handedthem over to the family, the boyremains in a sombre mood.

The CPI(M) activists are knownas tough task masters, especiallywith cadres who do not obey theparty diktats. The PappinisserySnake Venom Centre owned by for-mer CPI(M) leader M V Raghavanwas set to fire by the party activistsin 1987 following his expulsionfrom the party. The comradesburnt to death hundreds of cobrasand King Cobras maintained by theCentre for harvesting venom tomanufacture anti-dotes for snakebites.

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On a day when Prime MinisterNarendra Modi was meeting the

Kashmir leaders Bengal Chief MinisterMamata Banerjee on Thursday ques-tioned the BJP Government’s decisionto downgrade Jammu and Kashmirinto to a Union Territory saying the acthad brought bad name for Indiaworldwide.

Banerjee said, “What was the needto strip Jammu and Kashmir of state-hood? People need freedom. If free-dom is taken away, then everything islost. It is not beneficial for the coun-try,” adding how the situation that fol-lowed after it lost its statehood hit itstourism industry.”

She said (as a result of the situa-tion) “no tourist was able to visitKashmir for the last two years” andattacked the BJP for running an “auto-cratic” regime. “Just like the vaccinecrisis, this autocracy has also defamedthe country,” she said.

Curiously Banerjee would notraise the question of Article 370 or35A, which ensured special status for

the Himalayan region.In a separate development the

Chief Minister also announced thelaunching of �10 lakh credit card forthe students of the State that wouldenable them to pursue their higherstudies.

“The students are our pride… inorder to help them in their higher stud-ies and researches the Government hasdecided to afford them a credit cardfacility of �10 lakh … the Governmentwill stand a guarantor for them and thescheme will start from June 30onwards,” the Chief Minister said onThursday adding the scheme wouldcontinue for the students till the age of40 where after they would be requiredto return the loan after getting jobs.”

Meanwhile the Chief Minister hasalso written to the Prime Ministerseeking urgent steps to ensure thatCovaxin got the approval of the WorldHealth Organisation. Covaxin is stillnot accepted in several countries.

“I have written to the Hon'ble PMtoday seeking his intervention for anearly approval for COVAXIN fromWHO,” the Chief Minister tweeted

adding how “A large number of stu-dents travel abroad for pursuing high-er studies and amid an already criticalsituation, we must take every possiblestep to ease their lives.”

In her letter to the Prime Ministerwritten on Thursday the Chief Minister

wrote, “I request for your kind inter-vention so that an early approval isreceived for Covaxin from WHO andstudents do not face any problem. Thiswill also benefit people travellingabroad for job, business, education andany other purpose.”

Kolkata: With Chief Minister MamataBanerjee virtually appearing in the pro-ceedings —as directed earlier by theBench of Justice Kaushik Chanda—Nandigram elections case, hearing forwhich, began in Calcutta High Courton Thursday. This, even as the con-tention of the petitioner’s lawyerAbhishek Manu Singhvi that the casebe transferred to a different court onthe grounds of Judge’s saffronantecedents was strongly refuted byJustice Chanda who asked as to why theissue was not raised on the very firstday of hearing.

The Judge also wondered whethera Judges’ past political connections

should be a valid ground to questionone’s judicial integrity. “I am askingAbhishek Manu Singhvi that if you feltthat the Judge cannot deliver you jus-tice, then why didn’t you raise it on thefirst day,” the Judge who had been a for-mer Additional Solicitor General ofIndia said.

He also asked whether Singhvi’sconnection with a particular politicalparty (Congress) could impact his pro-fessional approach. Banerjee and theTrinamool Congress have challengedthe results of Nandigram elections anddemanded its recounting which washowever refused by the ElectionCommission. PNS

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Following a Calcutta High Court order a seven-member teamof the National Human Rights Commission resumed its visit

of violence-hit areas of Bengal from Thursday.The team visited a number of places including Cooch Behar

in North Bengal and North 24 Parganas taking account of thealleged post-poll violence being perpetrated on the supportersof the BJP, sources adding the team was collecting reports andevidences of violence including reports of police inaction.

The team would submit its reports to the High Court. A 5-member Bench of the High Court had on Monday dis-

missed the government’s plea for recalling its order directingNHRC to examine all alleged cases of post-poll0 human rightsviolations in the State.

Both the BJP and State Governor Jagdeep Dhankhar hadbeen alleging rampant violence being perpetrated by theTrinamool Congress backed goons throughout the length andbreadth of the State that had left thousands of people home-less, properties worth crores destroyed and many people eitherkilled or maimed.

The Governor himself rushed to New Delhi last week wherehe met President Ram Nath Kovind, Home Minister Amit Shahand NHRC Chairman Justice Arun Mishra relating to them whathe called ‘the most pathetic violence that has taken place in anyregion after the Independence.”

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The Chief Executive Officer, ShriAmarnathji Shrine Board,

Nitishwar Kumar on Thursday per-formed Pratham Pooja on the auspi-cious occasion of — JyeshthaPurnima at Holy Cave, amidst chant-ing of Vedic Mantras to invoke theblessings of Shri Amarnathji. Hawanwas also performed seeking blessingsof Baba Amarnathji.

Shri Amarnathji Shrine Boardhas been organising Pratham Poojaon the auspicious occasion of JyeshthaPurnima every year to seek the bless-ings of Lord Shiva for the peacefulconduct of the Annual Yatra.

Due to the current Covid-19pandemic situation, Shri AmarnathjiYatra 2021 has been cancelled, but theShrine Board is committed to carryout all religious rituals a per past prac-tice, the CEO, SASB said.

The CEO prayed for the goodhealth and well-being of the people.

The CEO further said in orderto respect the religious sentiments ofmillions of devotees worldwide, SASBhas made all the arrangements forcarrying out traditional religious rit-uals at the Holy Cave.

The SASB would perform morn-ing and evening Arti of the Holy IceLingam at the Holy Cave Shrine from28th June, 2021 to Shravan Purnimafalling on 22nd August, 2021.

The timing of the Arti would be6.00 a.m to 6.30 a.m in the morningand 5.00 p.m to 5.30 p.m in theevening.

Jammu: Jammu & Kashmir Government has ini-tiated first enumeration and survey of migrato-ry tribal population in higher reaches with an aimto formulate a plan for extending benefits to migra-tory population for their socio-economic uplift-ment. The survey will serve as baseline for allo-cation of funds for different schemes planned tocover the migratory population.

The survey is likely to be completed by 31stJuly 2021. Tribal Affairs Department has ear-marked a budget of �3 Cr for the first enumera-tion/ survey of nomadic migratory population forproviding targeted benefits and assistance to com-munity in a phased manner. These initiativesinclude healthcare facilities, livestock health,Rights awareness, education, skill development,tribal products marketing and a number of othersupport initiatives.

Department is also coordinating with districtsin Ladakh UT, Punjab and Himachal for infor-mation on inter-State/UT migration

Secretary, Tribal Affairs, Shahid IqbalChoudhary held a detailed interaction withDistrict Nodal Officers (ADCs), Chief Planning

Officers, District Statistics & Planning Officer andother officers from all the districts.

The Tribal Affairs Department in collabora-tion with District Administration and DistrictPlanning & Statistics organisation has initiated thesurvey with set deadlines for completion of var-ious stages. A common format developed for thesurvey includes details related to migration route, family particulars, educational status, health andanimal husbandry facilities, Livelihood andskilling requirement among other parameters.

On completion of family the process of digi-tisation and smart card with complete familydetails will be initiated. The smart cards will servemultiple purposes for a range to facilities to beextended to the tribal migratory population.

A list of 14 major migratory routes was dis-cussed in the meeting and district teams wereasked to minutely work on the migratory routesand suggest facilities required for the population.He also asked for active association of PRIs , stake-holders and community representatives for ensur-ing fool-proof planning and development as anoutcome of the survey. PNS

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Thousands of farmers on Thursday tookout a morcha to the City and Industrial

Development Corporation (CIDCO) inNavi Mumbai, demanding the naming ofNavi Mumbai International Airport(NMIA) after their leader and late MP DB Patil and threatened to stall the work atairport construction from August 16, if theirdemand was not met.

A day after the Maharashtra govern-ment approved a proposal to allow M/sAdani Airport Holdings Ltd (AAHL) tooperate the upcoming Navi MumbaiInternational Airport (NMIA), the sup-porters of late Patil staged a protest in frontof the CIDCO headquarters against its deci-sion to name NMIA after late Shiv Senachief Bal Thackeray.

The supporters of later D B Patil, work-ing under the aegis of Navi MumbaiInternational Airport Namakaran KrutiSamiti, demanded the annulment of thedecision to name the NMIA after lateThackeray taken by the CIDCO at its Board

meeting.Acting on a directive by the Shiv Sena-

led MVA government, the CIDCO haddecided to name the NMIA after Thackeray.Subsequently, the State Government hadearlier this month formally announced thatthe new airport would be named after thelate Shiv Sena chief.

However, there have been protests bythe supporters of late D B Patil against nam-ing the NMIA after Thackeray. In the firstweek of June, Maharashtra chief ministerUddhav Thackeray had called a meeting ofa delegation of the protesting farmers.However, the meeting failed, with thefarmer-representatives refusing to budgefrom their stand. The farmers, who took outa morcha to the CIDCO, had earlierplanned to gherao the CIDCO Bhavan atCBD Belapur. However, the police stoppedthe protesters one kilometre away from theCIDCO building.

Not wanting to take any chances, thelocal police had deployed more than 5,000police personnel, 500 officers and ReservePolice Force units on roads leading to the

CIDCO headquarters. As a fallout of themorcha taken out by the protesting farm-ers, vehicular traffic on various arterialroads, including the Palm Beach Road, hadbeen diverted.

A delegation of the protesting farmersmet the CIDCO’s Managing Director andsubmitted a memorandum, demanding thenaming of the NMIA after late D B Patil.

Addressing the protesting farmers,farmer leader and former MP MPRamsheth Thakur gave an ultimatum to the

Maharashtra government and the CIDCOif the new airport was not named after lateD B Patil by August 15, the protesting farm-ers would stall the ongoing constructionof the airport.

Meanwhile, it remains to be seen as towhat bearing the Maharashtra govern-ment’s decision to allow M/s Adani AirportHoldings Ltd (AAHL) to operate the upcom-ing Navi Mumbai International Airport(NMIA) will have on the raging airortrenaming controversy.

At its weekly meeting presided over bychief minister Uddhav Thackeray, the StateCabinet on Wednesday approved a changein ownership of the company from M/s GVKAirport Developers Developers Limited toM/s Adani Airport Holdings Ltd (AAHL)to develop and operate the upcoming NaviMumbai International Airport (NMIA) inthe adjoining Thane-Raigad region.

At the meetin, the MVA Cabinet a goahead to AAHL to be the new conces-sionaire for the prestigious greenfield air-port being developed as a public-privatepartnership (PPP) project.

Earlier, the airport was to be developedby GVK which was running the MumbaiInternational Airport Ltd (MIAL).However, the MIAL was taken over last yearby AAHL and the same was approved bythe Directorate of Civil Aviation, AirportsAuthority of India, SEBI, CCI and finallythe CIDCO, which is overseeing the mega-project. With the State Government'sapproval, the Gautam Adani-headed AAHLbecomes the biggest private airport oper-ator running several major airports likeMumbai, Navi Mumbai (proposed),Bengaluru, Ahmedabad and Lucknow,besides three more likely in the nearfuture. A wholly-owned subsidiary ofAdani Enterprises Ltd. (AEHL), the AAHLnow has a majority stake in the new airport,with 26 percent belonging to the AAI.

Being developed on 1,160 hectares ofland, Mumbai International Airport isexpected to become operational in 2023-2024. When opened, it will become thecountry’s leading airport over the nextdecade for both domestic and internationalflights.

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The Covid-19 infections in Maharashtra droppedto 9,844 and the deaths went up to 556 on

Thursday, even as 9,371 patients were discharged afterfull recovery from various hospitals across the State.

A day after the state logged 10,066 fresh infectionsand 508 deaths, the infections came down marginal-ly, while the deaths climbed by 48.

Of the 556 deaths reported, 197 were current fatal-ities, while the remaining 359 were “old and unac-counted deaths” which have been added to the statetotal Covid-19 toll as part of the ongoing reconcilia-tion process.

With 556 deaths, the Covid-19 toll in the statejumped from 1,19,303 to 1,19,859.. Similarly, with9,371 fresh infections, the total infections in the statecrossed the 60 lakh mark as the cases climbed from59,97,587 to 60,0,74,31.

As 9371 patients were discharged from the hos-pitals across the state after full recovery, the total num-ber of people discharged from the hospitals since thesecond week of March last year increased from57,53,290 to 57,62,661. The recovery rate in the Statestood static at 95.93 per cent.

The total “active cases” in the State dropped from1,21,859 to 1,21,767. The fatality rate in the state rosefrom 1.99 per cent to 2 per cent.

Mumbai recorded 20 deaths and 773 infections.As a result, the Covid-19 toll in the metropolisincreased from 15,338 to 15,348, while the infectedcases in Mumbai went up from 7,21,963 to 7,22,736.

Mumbai with 18,687 cases emerged as the first inthe state in terms of maximum number of “active cases”in the state, while Pune with 17,363 stood second, fol-lowed by Thane (12,999), Sangli (9753), Kolhapur(9704), Satara (7099), Ratnagiri (5961), Raigad (4912)and Sindhudurg (4640). Of the 4.03.60,931 samplessent to various laboratories across the State so far,60,07,431 have tested positive (15.01 per cent) forCovid-19 until Thursday.

Currently, 6,32,453 people are in home quaran-tine while 4166 people are in institutional quarantine.

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Establishing direct commu-nication to ensure local par-

ticipation, Chief Minister YogiAdityanath has written to allnewly-elected gram pradhans(village heads) urging them toinitiate preventive measures inview of a probable third Covidwave in the coming months.Yogi made a four-point appealto the new rural officials, say-ing: “We have to save people’slives as well as their liveli-hood.” The letters were hand-delivered to the pradhansthrough respective districtauthorities.

Stating that Uttar Pradeshhas been able to control the sec-ond corona wave, the CM askedgram pradhans to ensure prop-er surveillance through ‘sur-veillance committees’ thatplayed a pivotal role in timelyidentification and isolation of

Corona patients, thwarting fur-ther spread in rural areas. Healso advised the pradhans toengage in mass plantation dri-ves in respective villages.

Concerned about furthercorona spread in rural areas,Yogi in his letter appealed tonewly elected pradhans to gen-erate awareness about the viralinfection, prepare to save vil-lagers from communicable dis-eases during the monsoonsand ensure that everyoneadopted Covid appropriatebehaviour to prevent trans-mission of the virus.

Written in Hindi, the chiefminister said in his letter, “Dearpradhanji, I would like toextend my greetings on yourvictory. I urge you to help pre-vent a third Covid wave in yourrespective village with an aim torealise the Honourable PrimeMinister’s dream of ‘Mera GaonCorona Mukt Gaon.’”

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Facilitating the registration of an ambu-lance used by don-turned-politician

Mukhtar Ansari and his henchmen dur-ing his transit from Ropar jail to a MohaliCourt House in Punjab in March thisyear, finally took its toll when then assis-tant regional transport officer (ARTO) ofBarabanki was suspended by the StateGovernment on Thursday. A depart-mental probe has also been orderedagainst the official.

The Government action came afterit surfaced that the vehicle registrationwas done on the basis of fake documentsof the ambulance. Additional DistrictMagistrate (ADM) of Barabanki, RamAsrey confirmed the development.

Former ARTO, Rajeshwar Yadavwas suspended in connection with thefake ambulance papers case.

Yadav is currently posted at RegionalTransport Office (RTO), in Ballia. ASpecial Investigation Team (SIT) was setup by the UP Police to probe the case.

On April 2, a case was registered inBarabanki after the documents of theambulance bearing UP registration num-ber were found to be fake. On March 31,BSP MLA from Mau, Mukhtar Ansariwas taken from Ropar jail and producedbefore a Mohali court in connection withan alleged extortion case in Punjab of2019. After an initial probe, the name andaddress given for the registration of theambulance were found to be false.

The Barabanki police so far arrestedhalf a dozen persons including Dr AlkaRai, whose nursing home’s papers wereused to get the vehicle registered as anambulance in the RTO office atBarabanki.

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Congressmen and the CPIunder the garb of pseudointellectuals. Having livedthrough that period, one caneasily say that Indira, who hada landslide win in the 1971election, had squandered thepublic goodwill through actsof corruption and favouritism.

Discontentment wasbrewing among people. Theyhad understood their follybehind slogans like “GaribiHatao”. The voters across thecountry wanted quality rice,wheat, pulses and employ-ment that would help themrealise their dreams. Ourpoliticians propagated thewrong brand of socialism,wrote eminent jurist NaniPalkhivala in an article(Socialism: Its kernel and itsshell) way back in 1972.“Socialism means differentthings to different people,and to some people it meansno more and no less thanCabinet rank,” wrotePalkhivala.

Public resentment was atits peak against Indira and hercartel of select politicianswho never had any mooringamong the electorate. Sloganslike “Indira is India and Indiais Indira” coined by the thenAICC president Dev KantBarooah reverberated across

the country, thanks to servilesin Akaashwani and the oblig-ing media. Civil rights weresuspended and the judiciarywas turned into a scarecrow.The worst kind of press cen-sorship was introduced. TheAll India Radio (Akaashvaani)became Indirawani or AllIndira Radio.

The CPI, which bemoansthat democracy is in danger inIndia, was hand in glove withIndira to suppress and oppressdissidence of any kind. CAchutha Menon, party leader,was the Kerala Chief Ministerwith Congress support. Whatwe witness now is a replay ofthe days of Emergency. Courtjesters and sycophants wouldnever take India to the posi-tion of a developed country.International honours accord-ed to top political leadershipare nothing other than a ployto retard the country’sprogress. The same “well-wishers” finance all disruptiveforces to foment riots andchaos across the country.

The problem with Indirawas her fear for peoplearound her whom she fearedof toppling her from power.Leaders like K Kamaraj,Morarji Desai,Chandrashekhar, SidharthShankar Ray, Jagjivan Ram,

Lalit Narayan Misra and BijuPatnaik were all competent.

We had JayaprakashNarayan, whom peopleaddressed as Lok Nayak at thetime, to rekindle the passionfor democracy and honesty inour hearts. But as we approachthe golden jubilee of InternalEmergency, what we see in thenational political arena is areplay of what was witnessedin the early 1970s. There is nota single leader who can inspirethe youth. Politics has becomea big-time business with Statechieftains of national partiesgetting caught with theirveshtis down! Not merit orcompetence, but the ability tosing paeans in honour of thesupremo matters.

When Indira was defeat-ed in 1977, a widely respect-ed politician (we had a few ofthem then) was heard telling“Indira is not even Rae Bareli”.The lady failed to learn herlesson even after the bitterexperiences of Emergency. Aleader starts fearing her/hiscolleagues when s/he losesself-confidence. Need anyproof?

(The writer is a seniorjournalist working as a SpecialCorrespondent with ThePioneer. The views expressedare personal.)

����������������������� ���Sir — This is in reference to COVID afterthe third wave has been discovered inMadhya Pradesh. At least three cases werefound in Bhopal and two in Ujjain. Thatitself is bad news for all. One lady died dueto the third wave of COVID in Ujjain; that'sreally horrifying. We must be on guardagainst the third wave because we saw inthe second wave of COVID how many peo-ple lost their lives, now the third wave isabout upon us, so we have to be aware butwe must keep in mind that only vaccina-tion can save our lives.

The lady who died in Ujjain was notvaccinated and her husband is vaccinat-ed; that’s why he was not infected. If wefollow the COVID protocols and otherrelated guidelines, then we are safe. Ourlives depend on all ourfamily members,and vice versa.

Aman Raghuvanshi | Ujjain

���������������������������Sir — Two years after their heartbreak inthe World Cup final at the Lord’s, NewZealand returned to the English soil andemerged triumphant, (when Indian’s ViratKohli could only look on and applaud asRoss Taylor flicked the winning runsthrough the leg-side and hundreds of top-less New Zealand supporters erupted), aneight-wicket victory over India meaningKane Williamson’s men were crowned theinaugural World Test Champions (WTC)at the end of a dramatic sixth day that stirredthe senses.

Anyway, the Kiwis have beaten India…a couple of weeks after beating England ina series for the first time since 1999. It’scalled quality by the Black Caps, first bossedEngland and then bulldozed India. In thefirst ever World Test Championship final,if the 6ft 8in right-armer Jamieson who senta match seemingly destined for a draw anda shared title hurtling towards its memo-rable victory won the Man-of-the-final, thenit also a fitting farewell to Kiwis wicket keep-er BJ Watling, who retires from all formsof cricket, dislocated his finger early in theday, but continued keeping.

But for Virat Kohli, this is the third fail-ure in big ICC events after the 2017Champions Trophy and the 2019 WorldCup. He comes across as a jinx for India andmight just have one more shot, which is theT20 World Cup this year, and failing to winthat could warrant some changes in theteam hierarchy.

This is the result for those who havebeen involved with New Zealand cricket,it’s the culmination of hard toil for over twodecades. Virat Kohli & Co. got the prizemoney of 5.94 crore Indian rupees.

Well done! Kudos, New Zealand!Bidyut Kumar Chatterjee | Faridabad

����������� Sir — The Tamil Nadu Chief Minister’s reit-eration that the DMK Government will con-tinue to use the term “Ondriya Arasu” (UnionGovernment) to refer to the Governmentformed with a majority in the Lok Sabha jibeswith his party’s long-held views on Centre-

State relations. Maanila Suyatchi, MathiyilKoottactchi which means ‘autonomy to theState and federalism at the Centre’ has beenan article of faith with the DMK since itsinception. It is in sync with the causes ofdemocracy and decentralised power.

The terms ‘Centre’ and ‘CentralGovernment’ denote concentration of powerin the hands of one political authority or cen-tre and imply ‘control’ and ‘subservience’. Incontrast, the terms ‘Union’ and ‘UnionGovernment’ denote devolution of power toStates, which serves the cause of grassrootsor participatory democracy better and actsas an antidote to secessionism too. India isa vast and diverse country with people dis-parate in region, race and religion, as so kalei-doscopically displayed during IndependenceDay and Republic Day parades.

G David Milton | Tamil Nadu

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Certain maxims like“Those who cannotremember the past arecondemned to repeat

it” (Spanish philosopher GeorgeSantayana) or “Those who fail tolearn from history are doomedto repeat it” (British statesmanWinston Churchill) get moreand more powerful and relevantas the years go by.

The notes of caution issuedby Santayana and Churchillcome to mind on every June 25,the day in 1975, when IndiraGandhi, the then PrimeMinister, declared internalEmergency and arrested all thosewho questioned her authority tocontinue in office despite theAllahabad High Court declaringher 1971 election to the LokSabha from Rae Bareli null andvoid for using fraudulent means.

According to ShantiBhushan, the lawyer whoappeared for Raj Narain Singh,the challenger to Indira Gandhiin the 1971 election, the chargesagainst her included usingIndian Air Force planes duringthe campaign, employing theservices of Yashpal Kapur, herprivate secretary, as her electionagent even as he was in theGovernment of India serviceand using the symbol of cow andcalf, which was deeply associat-ed with the religious sentimentsof Hindus.

Bhushan has given a vividaccount of the election suit andits trial in his memoirs,“Courting Destiny”. JusticeJagmohan Lal Sinha, who deliv-ered the verdict on June 12,1975, set aside Indira’s electionand disqualified her for six yearsfrom contesting elections. Butthe stay granted to her by Sinhaturned out to be the spoilsport,says Bhushan. “If I had been inAllahabad, I would haveopposed the prayer for a stay andperhaps it would have beendeclined and the political histo-ry of India might have been dif-ferent,” Bhushan writes in hismemoir.

It was to facilitate her con-tinuation in office that Indiradeclared the Internal Emergency.She was persuaded to do so bythe members of her “kitchencabinet” that included

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In South Asia, India has a huge role to playin the field of climate change, given the enor-mity of its industrialisation levels. In the1970s and 80s, we had little clue about how

climate change would impact India but one thingwas amply clear that unequal development pat-terns between developed and developing coun-tries and greed were the biggest polluters — elo-quently voiced by then Prime Minister of India,Indira Gandhi.

As years passed, the Indian position at theUnited Nations Framework Convention onClimate Change (UNFCCC) revealed its domes-tic interests: Developing countries should not bebound by emission reduction requirementsunless they were provided with the necessaryfinancial and technological assistance to lowertheir GHG emissions and, such provisions tocurb GHGs would not come at the expense oftheir development trajectories.

Gradually, sound economic growth of thecountry catapulted India into taking the leader-ship role, when in the COP-21 Summit, PrimeMinister Narendra Modi announced the estab-lishment of the International Solar Alliance (ISA).Visionary actions such as these can help bendthe rising curve of global warming, provided theyare implemented both nationally and globally.The overall objective of ISA, with its current 121member countries located in the sunbelt — thosebetween the Tropics of Cancer and Capricorn —is to work tirelessly in making solar energy avail-able at affordable costs to all. This wouldrequire scaling up solar energy projects to meetgrowing energy demands and combat climatechange.

The World Bank has released a report, 'TurnDown The Heat', on the likely impact of risingtemperatures on agricultural production, waterresources, coastal ecosystems, and cities. Thereport projected future scenarios in a worldwarmer by 2-degree and 4-degree Celsius.

According to their findings for India, extremeheat events will occur more frequently and coverlarger areas than before. Western and SouthernIndia are likely to shift to high climatic regimes,with cities reeling from the 'urban heat island'effect. The Global Climate Risk Indices for thepast few years has ranked India as the worst-affected country due to heatwaves.

Secondly, dry years will become drier and wetyears will become wetter, making the summermonsoon extremely unpredictable. It will trig-ger massive losses in agricultural production.Environmental extremes and meteorologicalevents like tropical storms, cyclones, tornadoes,river floods, landslides, wildfires, and droughtsare becoming common. Recently, the estimatedloss due to damages from cyclones Tauktae (westcoast) and Yaas (east coast) is to the tune of $5billion, including infrastructure, electricity grids,agricultural lands, houses, and losses of precioushuman lives. Previous years have had other dev-astating cyclones like Amphan, Titli, andGija.Drought years have led to massive declinesin agriculture production. There are estimatesthat agricultural yields will start falling by the2040s.

Thirdly, glaciers in the Himalayan rangeshave been retreating. Alterations in glacial capswill affect the downstream population of theIndus, Ganges and the Brahmaputra plains.

These direct implications of global warming-

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The need for thermal com-fort will be inevitable inthe coming weeks ahead,

as the mercury is expected toscorch the past 40 degreesCelsius in the major cities andtowns across the country. Therising global average tempera-tures have affected the climatearound the world and particu-larly India being a tropicalcountry is experiencing increas-ing cases of heat-stressedregions.

With the unprecedentedglobal rise in temperatures,the decade 2010-2020 has beenrecorded as the hottest decade,according to the NationalOceanic and AtmosphericAdministration. These certain-ties are portents of globalwarming and its associated cli-mate change threats affecting

the livelihood of 7.9 billion peo-ple across the world. In India,a recent study conducted byThe Energy and ResourcesInstitute (TERI) revealed thatthe urban heat island effects dueto industrial agglomeration inIb Valley in Jharsuguda, Odishahave led to a steady build-up ofheat in the region over the yearsresulting in higher nighttimetemperatures.

Cooling has now become adevelopmental need and is nolonger a luxury anymore.Thermal comfort providingoptimum human comfort con-ditions plays a crucial role in theproductivity and quality of life.A strategic document titled'India Cooling Action Plan(ICAP)' was released in March2019. The action plan strate-gizes the country's cooling-

related challenges, opportuni-ties, and social benefits over thenext 20-year horizon.

With the increasing urban-ization and economic growth,the demand for cooling isanticipated to increase multi-fold in the coming decades. Thegrowing demand puts massivestress on the energy demand,consumption, and its associat-ed greenhouse gas (GHG)emissions. A Rocky MountainInstitute (RMI) report hasrevealed that India will share a

fourth (1.12 billion units) ofglobal room air conditioners by2050. These findings plainlyindicate that there is a massiveneed for raw materials, energy,and resources to cater to thecountry's unprecedented cool-ing demand.

The rising peak powerdemands are putting a strain onthe DISCOMs. In July2019,Delhi clocked an all-time highdemand of 7,409 MW. Of this,almost 50 percent was due tocooling loads of air-condition-ers, coolers, and fans.

These environmentalchallenges can be addressedthrough super energyeffi-ciency as a resource, passivedesign techniques to reducecooling load, promoting envi-ronment-friendly refriger-ants, and the introduction of

renewable-based coolingtechnology options.Embracing circular economyin cooling is echoed as astrategic option towards thetransition for a sustainablecooling scenario. The WorldEconomic Forum (WEF)defines a circular economy as"an industrial system that isrestorative or regenerative byintention and design". Itreplaces the end-of-life con-cept with restoration, shiftstowards the use of renewableenergy, eliminates the use oftoxic chemicals, which impairreuse and return to the bios-phere, and aims for the elim-ination of waste through thesuperior design of materials,products, systems, and busi-ness models, the definitionsays.

Only nine percent of 92.8billion tonnes of minerals,metals, and fossil fuels enter-ing the economy are re-usedannually. The rest 91 percentfalls in the spectrum of circu-lar gaps and its closing wouldbe a fundamental step inalleviating the climate risks.The circular economy-relat-ed studies reveal that aroundtwo-thirds of global emissionsare released during theextraction, processing, andmanufacturing of goods andservices and the remainingone-third pertains to its trans-portation and logistics.

Anticipating the country'sthriving, cross-sectorial coolinginfrastructure developmentsand its associated energy andemission impacts, it is essentialto transit towards the circular

economy opportunities withthe practice of three 'R's —reuse, reduce, recycle.

Raising the AC tempera-ture by one degree Centigradecan lead to an average saving ofsix percent of electricity con-sumption. Additionally, effortsare on reducing the coolingload in buildings through pas-sive design without compro-mising on thermal comfort.Super energy-efficient five-starappliances which consume 40percent less electricity are beingpopularised.

The reduced electricityconsumption scenario direct-ly complements minimalconsumption of resources,primarily the burning of coalat power generating unitsand its associated greenhouseemissions.

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(The writer is a Simi Mehta is CEO and

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Institute (IMPRI) andRia Mohal is a researcheratthe Institute.The viewsexpressed are personal.

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induced meteorological and hydro-logical changes will have theirbearing on the society and eco-nomic growth of India. Climatechange and poverty are part of avicious cycle as each entity rein-forces the effects of the other.Climate change threatens to disruptnatural resource systems, therebyadversely impacting populations(farmers, fisherfolks, and Adivasicommunities) dependent on theseecosystems. The inability of the vul-nerable sections to effectively mit-igate climate-change-inducedimpacts makes them worse off.

The prime impact is on agricul-tural production and food securi-ty. The yield of the wheat crop hasalready peaked in India. Risingwater scarcity, sea-water intru-sions and rising temperatures willthreaten crop yields, jeopardizefood security, and make Indiadependent on food imports. Cropfailures and increased infestation ofpests and insects are commonplace.It would not be an extrapolation tolink farmers' suicides to climatechange.

is also reeling under malnutri-tion and child-stunting. Increasingtemperatures will enhance vector-borne diseases such as malaria anddiarrheal infections- the prominentcauses of child mortality — declin-ing worker productivity, risingcardiovascular diseases, and deaths.

Changes in rainfall patternsand glacial melt will impact watersecurity. Irrigation facilities forcrop production along with risingdemand from population growthwill lead to water shortages. Citieslike Chennai have already wit-nessed this form of insecurity,suffering extreme flooding in 2015,while the year after the city sufferedfrom acute water shortages. Also,water shortages will impact sanita-

tion facilities- an essential prereq-uisite for the health of a country.

Hydel power plants mayundergo an erratic supply of elec-tricity generation due to thereduced flow of rivers. Thermalplants of India that guzzle upfreshwater supplies may also faceelectricity generation issues.

Water-sharing is already acontentious issue in South Asianpolitics. Water scarcity may fur-ther add to the pressure. Decliningagricultural productivity andreduced farm incomes may resultin heavy migration, either rural-urban or even transboundary.Such large-scale migration of peo-ple referred to as climate refugeesmay generate conflicts.

With the loss of forests andecosystems such as mangroves andcoral reefs, several ecosystemproduct provisioning will decline.These include medicinal plantsand herbs. Ecosystem servicesprovided by forests and man-groves such as climate modera-tion, water filtration, and clean airmay reduce due to global warm-ing-induced climate change.

The vulnerability of the peo-ple in India and South Asiancountries is because of lower cop-ing capacities that become furtherembossed because of low percapita incomes, social inequality,and poverty. A study by theInternational Labour Organisation(ILO) pointed out that South Asiais expected to lose five per cent ofits working hours due to heatstress by 2030, corresponding to43 million full-time jobs.

Non-economic losses refer tothose losses which are not com-monly traded in the markets butbear high relevance to those affect-ed. These include loss of life andsea-level rise leading to losses in

biodiversity and cultural heritage.Thus, there is a need to integratethese non-economic losses intodecision-making processes toreduce the losses ex-ante. Forthese, historical analogs, remem-brance and recognition, and oralhistories provide valuable insightsfor UNFCCC's science-policyinterface.

The way forward is to firstprovide the rural population ofIndia with access to fossil-fuel-freeclean energy to meet the basicenergy demands of cooking, heat-ing, and lighting. Two, eliminatethe burning of agricultural wasteand instead use the crop residuesto produce renewable biomassfuels for energy and compostfeedstock for healthy soils. Three,phasing out of diesel fuels by 2030would prove to be effective indeclining carbon dioxide emis-sions.

Four, need to accelerate soil'snatural ability to absorb atmos-pheric carbon dioxide from the airthrough better land management.It would not only remove carbondioxide from the air but alsoenhance soil quality and increasethe yields of crops like rice andwheat. Five, a massive climate edu-cation program to educate highschool and college students andfoster indigenous knowledge onclimate change. Six, a genderaudit is needed of both micro- andmacro-planning and programimplementation, providing a plat-form for women farmers, commu-nity workers, students, and youthworking on environmental issues.There is an equal need to strength-en climate and gender equalityagendas by encouraging the par-ticipation of Adivasi and Dalitwomen and feminist experts in cli-mate change.

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Hong Kong: The final editionof Hong Kong’s last remainingpro-democracy paper sold outin hours Thursday, as readersscooped up all 1 million copies

of the Apple Daily, whose clo-sure was yet another sign ofChina’s tightening grip on thesemi-autonomous city.

Across the densely popu-lated metropolis, people linedup early in the morning to buythe paper, which in recentyears has become an increas-

ingly outspoken critic ofChinese and Hong Kongauthorities’ efforts to limit thefreedoms found here but not inmainland China. The paperwas gone from newsstands by8:30 am.

The newspaper said it wasforced to cease operations afterpolice froze $2.3 million of itsassets, searched its office andarrested five top editors andexecutives last week, accusingthem of foreign collusion toendanger national security.

“This is our last day, andlast edition, does this reflect thereality that Hong Kong hasstarted to lose its press freedomand freedom of speech?” an

Apple Daily graphic designer,Dickson Ng, asked in com-ments to The Associated Press.“Why does it have to end uplike this?”

The paper printed 1 mil-lion copies for its last edition —up from the usual 80,000. Onthe front page was splashed animage of an employee in theoffice waving at supporterssurrounding the building, withthe headline “Hong Kongersbid a painful farewell in therain, We support Apple Daily.”

While pro-democracymedia outlets still exist online,it was the only print newspaperof its kind left in the city.

The pressure on the paper

reflects a broader crackdownon Hong Kong’s civil liberties,ramped up after massive anti-government protests in 2019unsettled authorities. Inresponse, they imposed asweeping national security law— used in the arrests of thenewspaper employees — andrevamped Hong Kong’s elec-tion laws to keep oppositionvoices out of the legislature.

The result is that dissentingvoices have been almost com-pletely silenced in the city longknown as an oasis of freedomson mainland China’s doorstep.The increasing restrictions havecome despite China’s promiseto protect Hong Kong’s civil lib-

erties for 50 years after the city’s1997 handover from Britain.

The closure of Apple Dailyraises the spectre that othermedia outlets — though noneas outspoken — will becomeeven more cautious, such as themore than 100-year-oldEnglish-language South ChinaMorning Post.

The paper, while identifiedwith the political and businessmainstream, has thus far con-tinued to report on controver-sial issues in Hong Kong andon mainland China, even afterits owner, internet businesstitan Jack Ma, dropped fromsight last year after publicly crit-icising Chinese Governmentpolicies. Apple Daily’s closuremarks a “dark day for pressfreedom in Hong Kong,” saidThomas Kellogg, executivedirector of the GeorgetownCentre for Asian Law.

“Without Apple Daily,Hong Kong is less free than it

was a week ago. Apple Dailywas an important voice, and itseems unlikely that any othermedia outlet will be able to fillits shoes, given growing restric-tions on free speech and free-dom of the press,” he said.

Taiwan’s Cabinet agencyresponsible for China issuesalso lamented the paper’s clo-sure as a heavy blow to mediafreedom in Hong Kong. Theisland is a self-governingdemocracy that split frommainland China in 1949 butthat Beijing continues to claimas its territory.

“This shows the interna-tional community that theChinese Communist Party, inits exercise of totalitarian polit-ical power, will stop at nothingto use extreme means to wipeout dissenting opinions,”Taiwan’s Mainland AffairsCouncil said in an emailedstatement.

AP

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Moscow: Russia will be readyto fire to hit intruding warships,a senior diplomat warnedThursday in the wake of a BlackSea incident in which a Britishdestroyer sailed near Crimea inan area that Russia claims as itsterritorial waters.

said one of its warshipsfired warning shots and a war-plane dropped bombs in thepath of British destroyerDefender on Wednesday todrive it away from the area nearSevastopol, but Britain deniedthat account and insisted itsship wasn’t fired upon.

The incident marked thefirst time since the Cold Warthat Moscow acknowledgedusing live ammunition to detera NATO warship, underliningthe rising threat of military col-lisions amid Russia-West ten-sions.

Russia’s Deputy ForeignMinister Sergei Ryabkov saidThursday that “the inviolabil-ity of the Russian borders is anabsolute imperative,” addingthat it will be protected “by allmeans, diplomatic, politicaland military if needed.”

He gibed that the Britishnavy should rename itsdestroyer from Defender toAggressor and warned that“those who try to test ourstrength are taking high risks.”

Asked what Russia woulddo to prevent such intrusionsin the future, Ryabkov toldreporters it would stand readyto fire on targets if warningsdon’t work.

“We may appeal to reasonand demand to respect inter-national law,” Ryabkov said inremarks carried by Russiannews agencies. AP

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United Nations: The Deltavariant, the significantly moretransmissible strain of Covid-19, is expected to become a“dominant lineage” if currenttrends continue, the WHO haswarned after it was reported in85 countries and continues tobe detected in more placesaround the world.

The Covid-19 WeeklyEpidemiological Updatereleased on June 22 by theWorld Health Organisation(WHO) said that globally, thevariant Alpha has been report-ed in 170 countries, territoriesor areas, Beta in 119 countries,Gamma in 71 countries andDelta in 85 countries.

“Delta, now reported in 85countries globally, continues tobe reported in new countriesacross all WHO Regions, 11 ofwhich were newly reported inthe past two weeks,” the updatesaid. WHO said the four cur-rent “Variants of Concern’’being monitored closely –Alpha, Beta, Gamma and Delta- are widespread and havebeen detected in all WHOregions. PTI

Kathmandu: Questioning theimpartiality of President BidyaDevi Bhandari in the May 22dissolution of the House ofRepresentatives, lawyers rep-resenting petitioners againstthe move have argued that heractions make it clear that shedidn’t want anybody except KP Sharma Oli as PM.

A five-memberConstitutional Bench of theSupreme Court led by ChiefJustice Cholendra ShumsherRana on Wednesday began thehearing process, starting withthe writ jointly filed by 146 law-makers backing NepaliCongress President SherBahadur Deuba’s claim toPrime Ministership.

At the recommendation ofPM Oli, President Bhandaridissolved the lower house forthe second time in five monthson May 22 and announcedsnap elections on November 12and November 19. PTI

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John McAfee, the creator ofMcAfee antivirus software,

was found dead in his jail cellnear Barcelona in an apparentsuicide Wednesday, hours aftera Spanish court approved hisextradition to the United Statesto face tax charges punishableby decades in prison, authori-ties said.

The eccentric cryptocur-rency promoter and tax oppo-nent whose history of legaltroubles spanned fromTennessee to Central Americato the Caribbean was discov-ered at the Brians 2 peniten-tiary in northeastern Spain.

Security personnel triedto revive him, but the jail’’smedical team finally certifiedhis death, a statement from theregional Catalan governmentsaid.

Brussels: The European Unionslapped economic sanctionson Belarus on Thursday inresponse to what the bloccalled the “escalation of serioushuman rights violations”,including the detention of jour-nalist Raman Pratasevich.

The sanctions target theeconomy but are also aimed athitting President AlexanderLukashenko and his allies.

Pratasevich, a dissidentjournalist, was arrested May 23after Belarusian flight con-trollers ordered a Ryanair jettravelling from Greece toLithuania to land in Minsk.

The sanctions agreed uponThursday target industriesincluding potash — a commonfertiliser ingredient — tobaccoindustry exports and petrole-um products. “Trade in petro-leum products, potassium chlo-ride (potash), and goods usedfor the production or manu-facturing of tobacco productsis restricted,” the EU said. AP

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Not with standing incre-mental credit growth plunging to a 59-year low

at 5.56 per cent in FY21, thebank credit-to-GDP ratio roseto a five-year high of a littleover 56 per cent in 2020, butway behind its peers and justhalf of the G20 average, accord-ing to the latest data from theBank for InternationalSettlements (BIS).

At 56.075 per cent credit-to-GDP ratio, total outstandingbank credit stood at USD 1.52trillion in the country in 2020,according to the BIS data forthe year, but this is still the sec-ond lowest among all its Asianpeers.

And when it comes to theemerging market peers, it is135.5 per cent and at 88.7 percent in advanced economies.

It can be noted that in spiteof the massive credit-drivenstimulus that the governmenttried to push to help tide over

the impact of the pandemic in2020, incremental creditgrowth inched up only 5.56 percent (at �109.51 lakh crore),which was the lowest recordedgrowth in 59 years when inFY1962 it was at 5.38 per cent.Even in FY20, credit growthwas at a 58-year-low at 6.14 percent, an analysis by SBIResearch showed recently.

According to analysts,bank credit growth is a keyindicator of economic growthand a credit-GDP ratio of 100per cent is the ideal, whichindicates robust demand forcredit without the fear of a bub-ble in the making.

A higher credit-to-GDPratio indicates aggressive andactive participation of thebanking sector in the real econ-omy, while a lower numbershows the need for more formalcredit. This is also a key reasonfor economists and analystscalling for privatisation of state-run banks to increase creditgrowth.

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The initial public offer ofIndia Pesticides Limited

was subscribed 3.79 times onthe second day of subscriptionon Thursday. The � 800-croreIPO received bids for7,32,14,550 shares against1,93,10,345 shares on offer, asper NSE data.The quota forQualified Institutional Buyers(QIBs) was subscribed 2.31times while the category fornon-institutional investors wassubscribed 91 per cent. The cat-egory for Retail IndividualInvestors (RIIs) was subscribed5.87 times.The initial publicoffer comprises a fresh issue of�100 crore and an offer for saleof � 700 crore.

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Reliance Jio, together withpartners, has tested its 5G

solutions in India, successful-ly demonstrating speeds ofover 1 GBPS, and its 'Made inIndia' solution is "globally com-petitive", RIL ChairmanMukesh Ambani said onThursday.

Ambani also exuded con-fidence that the company willbe the first to launch full-fledged 5G services in thecountry.

Jio is not just working tomake India '2G-mukt' (freefrom 2G) but also '5G-yukt'(5G empowered), he added.

Jio's engineers have devel-oped a 100 per cent home-grown and comprehensive 5Gsolution that is fully cloudnative, software defined, anddigitally managed. Jio's 'Madein India' solution is completeand globally competitive,Ambani said while speaking atReliance Industries Ltd's 44thAGM. With its partners, thecompany has tested the Jio 5Gsolutions in India and success-fully demonstrated speeds wellin excess of 1 GBPS.

Once proven at India-scale,the company will keenly lookat prospect of exporting Jio 5Gsolutions to other telecomoperators globally.

The company recentlyreceived the necessary regula-tory approvals as well as trialspectrum for initiating 5Gfield-trials. "As I speak to you,the entire 5G standalone net-work has been installed in ourdata centres across the nationand also at our trial sites inNavi Mumbai," Ambani said.

Mumbai:Equity indicesregained footing on Thursdayafter a day's pause as robustbuying in IT counters morethan made up for a fall in mar-ket major Reliance Industries.

A rebounding rupee andpositive global cues furtherbolstered sentiment, traderssaid.

The 30-share BSE Sensexended 392.92 points or 0.75 percent higher at 52,699. Similarly,the broader NSE Nifty surged103.50 points or 0.66 per centto 15,790.45.

Technology shares led therally, a day after the govern-ment liberalised guidelines forvoice-based BPOs to cementIndia's position as a preferredglobal outsourcing hub.

PTI

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Ratings agency S&P GlobalRatings on Thursday low-

ered India's economic growthforecast to 9.5 per cent for thisfiscal from an earlier predictionof 11 per cent.

According to the ratingsagency, India's growth in fiscal2023 (ending March 31, 2023)will likely come in at 7.8 percent.

"A gradual revival is under-

way after a severe secondCovid-19 outbreak in Apriland May led to lockdownsacross much of the country andto a sharp contraction in eco-nomic activity," S&P GlobalRatings said in a report.

"The lockdowns were moretargeted compared with theblanket national lockdown seenlast year but were still enoughto lower discretionary mobili-ty to more than 60 per centbelow normal."

However, it cited that man-ufacturing and exports wereless severely affected comparedwith 2020, but services wereacutely disrupted.

"Consumption indicatorssuch as vehicle sales fell sharplyin May 2021 and consumerconfidence remains downbeat."

"The economy has turneda corner now. New Covid-19cases have been falling consis-tently and mobility is recover-ing. We expect this recovery tobe less steep compared with thebounce in late 2020 and early2021." Besides, the agencypointed out that households arerunning down saving buffers tosupport consumption and adesire to rebuild saving couldhold back spending even as theeconomy reopens.

Furthermore, it said thatmonetary and fiscal policieswill remain accommodativebut new stimulus "will not beforthcoming".

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As the second wave ofCovid-19 and lockdowns

across states impacted eco-nomic activities, housinglaunches decline 42 per cent ona quarter-on-quarter (QoQ)basis in the April-June quarter,according to a report byAnarock Property Consultants.

The top seven cities sawaround 36,260 new unitslaunched in Q2 2021, as com-pared to 62,130 units in Q1.

Hyderabad is the fron-trunner in overall housinglaunches with around 8,850

units launched in Q2 2021 - fol-lowed by MMR with 6,880and Bengaluru with 6,690units. Hyderabad, Bengaluruand Chennai accounted for 51per cent of the total newlaunches during Q2, 2021.

Further, sales also plum-meted during the quarter.Around 24,570 units were soldin Q2 2021 across the topseven cities, against 58,290units in Q1 2021 marking adecline of 58 per cent Q-o-Q.NCR, MMR, Bengaluru, andPune together accounted for 74per cent of the sales in thisquarter.

New Delhi:Agri coopertiveNafed on Thursday opened itsfirst grocery store 'NafedBazaar' in Gurugram and saidit plans to open 200 morestores under franchise modelby the end of this fiscal.

The store, in collaborationwith Tirupati Cooperative, wasinaugurated by NafedChairman Bijender Singh alongwith Chander Pal Singh,Chairman, Krishak BhartiLimited (Kribhco). MrinaliniShrivastava, CommissionerInvestment, SikkimGovernment, was also presenton the occasion. Nafed has anetwork of more than 20 gro-cery stores and this is the firststore in collaboration withTirupati Cooperative inGurugram, Haryana. PTI

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Amajor Chinese producer ofmaterial used to make

solar panels will be barredfrom the US market as part ofa broader effort to halt com-merce tied to China's repressivecampaign against Uyghurs andother minorities, the Bidenadministration said Thursday.

US Customs and BorderProtection will immediatelyhalt shipments from theHoshine Silicon Industry Co.Ltd. And its subsidiaries undera law that bans the import ofgoods produced with forcedlabour.

In addition, the CommerceDepartment will add sixChinese organisations linked tothe industry that produces rawmaterials and components ofthe solar industry in theXinjiang region to a list of enti-ties from any access to the USmarket, the administration saidin a fact sheet announcing the

new restrictions.These latest US moves

could make it harder for theadministration to meet renew-able energy goals because about45% of the global supply of thepolysilicon used to make pho-tovoltaic cells for solar panelscomes from Xinjiang.

“These actions demon-strate our commitment toimposing additional costs onthe People's Republic of Chinafor engaging in cruel and inhu-mane forced labor practicesand ensuring that Beijing playsby the rules of fair trade as partof the rules-based internation-al order,” the White Housesaid in announcing the tradeactions.

It's part of a campaignthat has gained global momen-tum to apply economic pres-sure on the Chinese govern-ment over its forced assimila-tion of largely Muslim minori-ties in the far western Xinjiangregion.

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Reliance IndustriesChairman Mukesh Ambani

on Thursday said Jio andGoogle have jointly developeda power-packed and affordablesmartphone 'JioPhone Next',which will be available in themarket from September 10.

Ambani promised thatJioPhone Next will be the mostaffordable smartphone not justin India but globally.

Speaking at RelianceIndustries Limited's annualgeneral meeting, Ambaniasserted that an ultra-affordable4G smartphone is essential tomake India '2G-mukt' (free of2G).

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Columbia Asia Hospitals (aunit of Manipal Hospitals)

have now extended their ser-vices to offer medical special-ities in their OPD services atGurgaon, Ghaziabad andPatiala units. This comes amonth after Manipal Hospitalsbecame the second largesthealthcare chain in India after100% acquisition of ColumbiaAsia Hospitals. A highly expe-rienced team of doctors acrossoncology, vascular surgery,haematology, CTVS, GIsurgery and cardiology fromHCMCT Manipal Hospitalsare now available for OPDs ona regular basis at the Gurgaon,Ghaziabad and Patiala centresof Columbia Asia. These OPDsare an add on to the existingcapabilities of the ColumbiaAsia centres.

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The pandemic has triggeredrepeated lockdowns globally,confining children and fam-

ilies indoors. This is affecting themental health of many youngstersas well as their parents. At morethan 2.2 billion worldwide, childrencomprise 28 per cent of the globalpopulace.

Empirical evidence indicatesthat being cloistered within fourwalls for long periods can impactmental health and therapists havebeen reporting that more people arereaching out for help after the out-break last year. The COVID-19 pre-vention strategies have led to thesuspension of classes across acade-mic institutions. Consequently, mil-lions of students have not physical-ly met teachers and classmates forprolonged periods. More than 168million schoolchildren across theglobe are currently missing physi-cal classes. Additionally, uncertain-ty due to postponement/cancella-tions of Board Exams is generatingintense worry among affected stu-dents and their parents.

�The need for interactiveentertainment

According to a recent UNICEF

report, the present pandemic haspushed children’s development backby several years globally. Meanwhile,as vaccine drives prioritise those 18years and above only, children maybe forced to remain indoors muchlonger. Yet, as social beings, chil-dren, in their formative years,require greater opportunities forextracurricular activities and inter-actions. Lack of this can hurt theircognitive and emotional develop-ment. And this is putting immensepressure on parents to keep theirchildren engaged through activitieswhile juggling extended work hoursand household chores. It was thusno surprise that for some children,the screen time shot up as much as500 per cent as they looked at waysto keep themselves entertained.

It is important to acknowledgehow parents have had to adjust tosuch changes and constantly seeknew opportunities for interactiveengagement with children.Engaging with their children inrecreational activities such as sports,travelling, and gaming et al essen-tially serves as a bonding exercisefor guardians, among other things.

As the lockdown measures andthe lack of vaccination in the under-

18 segment are forcing children tostay inside at all times, online gam-ing is coming up as an interestingalternative to outdoor sports andactivities. We aren’t talking aboutplaying video games in isolation forhours anymore. Online, multiplay-er games provide opportunities forinteraction, engagement and faircompetition. We're in the GoldenAge of social gaming and parents,especially younger parents, are cer-tainly making the most of it. Asonline gaming is a de-stressor forolder age groups too, a parent canengage with their children througha well-chosen skill-based game.

There is a popular trend in thewest, where parents have been play-ing online games with their childrenand other than sharing commandsand strategies in-game, they havebeen talking to their children aboutschool, their friendships and every-thing else that is going on in theirlives.

�Potential benefits of onlinegaming

Engagement and interactiveentertainment are no more a mat-ter of choice but rather a circum-stantial compulsion for the emo-

tional and mental well-being ofpeople dealing with isolation.Parents have to be involved in thelives of their children to ensurethat they get adequate attentionand support during these uncer-tain times. While outdoor activi-ties are not possible or feasible,online gaming can be an apt alter-native for such activities. Suchgames provide a platform for fam-ilies to connect, compete and con-verse in an interactive setup. Asonline gaming also transcendsgeographical boundaries, it couldbe a good way for parents separat-ed from their children during thelockdown to catch up with them.

For instance, games acrossgenres such as strategy, sports, skilland arcade require requisite skills,strategic thinking, knowledge,attention, logic, practise and nim-bleness to win. Playing these gamesregularly can boost these attribut-es in people. If online games’engagement is deployed in educa-tion via gamification, it will act asa catalyst in changing the modesof learning and improvement inchildren.

By offering fair competitionand instant recognition for success,

online gaming platforms are find-ing favour among the youth andolder generation alike. Such gamesassist gamers in boosting theirhand-eye coordination and motorneural ability — all within the safeconfines and comfort of theirhomes. Online games can also helpin reviving happy childhood mem-ories of children playing indoorgames with parents, testing theirmental and intuitive faculties.Time-tested games such as Ludo,Carrom and Chidiya Udd are beingrecreated for digital devices andthe multiplayer gameplay featureis ensuring people around theworld can play these games witheach other.

�Growth in IndiaA 2020 report by FICCI and

EY on the country’s media andentertainment sector notes thatonline gaming recorded 40 percent growth in 2019-2020 whilegenerating revenues of �65 billion(2019). As per a KPMG report,online gamers in India grew by 20per cent between July 2020 andJanuary 2021, crossing 500 million,with smartphones or tablets usedby 90 per cent of them. A BARC-Nielsen report reveals gamers inIndia now spend 218 minutes ononline games — up from 151minutes before the lockdown in2020.

Not surprisingly, the growinginterest in gaming saw a parallelrise in interest from investors andstart-ups. While approximately$173 million was invested in thedomain in CY2020, there are 400-plus gaming start-ups in the coun-try currently. As a sunrise sector,online gaming holds immensegrowth potential. According toKPMG, the online gaming indus-try is expected to gross �290 bil-lion with 650 million users.

As the ongoing pandemic con-tinues impacting the mental healthof children along with their acad-emic prospects, online gamingcan transform such scenarios viawinning propositions for bothsociety and the economy at large.All it requires is foresight, anopen mind and institutional sup-port from policymakers to makethis a reality.

(The author is a distinguishedpublic policy professional and a for-mer member of the United Nations,Internet Governance Forum, Multi-stakeholder Advisory Group.)

In Zee Theatre’s latest offering, The Big FatCity, film and theatre actor, Shilpa Shukla

plays one of the key characters who depict thehollowness of urban lives. The theme showshow the obsession with technology andwealth renders life, and even relationships,meaningless. The play showcases acclaimedplaywright Mahesh Dattani’s astute observa-tions about life in a metropolis where peo-ple are stuck in the endless cycle of dis-satisfaction while grappling withtheir own realities. Mahesh is thefirst Indian playwright in Englishto be awarded the SahityaAkademi honour and Shilpafound it immensely rewarding towork with him.

“This was my first teleplay andI loved the journey. To workwith Mahesh sir was adream come true for meas I have acted in many ofhis plays when I was incollege. His scripts areremarkable and so is hisprocess and I justshowed up for therehearsals without evenreading the play! TheBig Fat City also has awonderful cast and wewould meet everymorning andrehearse till eveningbefore we got into thefilming process. Itwas a very fulfillingexperience as there’salways so much tolearn and unlearn,so much to decon-struct beforeattempting to con-struct, so much togive and receive,”

said a beaming Shilpa.Sharing her views on the teleplay format,

she expressed, “Theatre in its essence is verymuch a live medium. Words cannot describethe magic of ‘right here, right now’ that is col-lectively felt by the artiste and the audience.Having said that, I also feel that theatre is sorich in literature and emotions, that it must

be adapted for a generation that is not awareof its magic. If they don’t come to the the-

atre, we can take it to them and hopethat they do not let the art form dis-appear after having tasted its magic.”

Shilpa believes that teleplays havedifferent grammar and adds, “As anactor, it is an intriguing space toexplore. How we bring to life the vastcanvas of literature, characters, and

conflicts in a teleplay without los-ing the essence of theatre is

always going to be an inter-esting challenge.”

The Big Fat Cityalso stars Bhavna Pani,

Mansi Multani,Nissar Khan, Sid

Makkar, AnujGuruwara, andDeepal Doshi.

The storybegins when a

supposedly happilymarried couple,

Niharika and Murliinvite guests to their new

flat. Tension mounts as asurprise visitor arrives tostir things up and a fatal cli-

max seems imminent. The audi-ence is left asking the question,‘How many will survive the night?’

(The Big Fat City will bescreened on Dish TV D2H

Rangmanch Active throughoutthis week.)

Cinematographer Jay Pinak Ozahas had a fascinating journey so

far, from being a production assis-tant to Rakesh Om Prakash Mehrain Rang De Basanti, to director ofphotography (DOP) in Rakesh’supcoming film Toofan. He looksback at Gully Boy as the film thatchanged his career, on the occasionof being among the 10 selected par-ticipants for the talent initiativeBAFTA (British Academy of Filmand Television Arts) BreakthroughIndia.

BAFTA Breakthrough Indiashowcases and supports the nextgeneration of creative talent work-ing in Indian film, games and tele-vision by providing a year-longmentoring and guidance pro-gramme.

“Coming from a middle-classfamily with no background in films,I started my career in the industryfrom zero, just after college. In 2005,I was one of the production assis-tants on the set of Rang De Basanti.I would watch Rakesh sir and in myhead, I was like, ‘one day Jay, one fineday you will be the DOP of one ofhis films’. It is 2021 now, yes, almost15 years after I made that promiseto myself but Toofan is coming. Imade it! It took time but I achievedmy dream,” expressed a jubilant Jay.

When quizzed about how theyear-long BAFTA programme willhelp him to take his career to thenext level, he says at this stage of hiscareer getting a chance to be guid-

ed by international experts throughBAFTA will be a win-win not onlyfor him but everyone who takes partin the programme.

A major reason he was pickedfor the BAFTA programme was forhis work in Gully Boy. Jay feels theZoya Akhtar directorial addedweight to his profile.

“To be honest, how I baggedGully Boy is a story in itself and Ithink that is my breakthrough film.I think the BAFTA BreakthroughIndia jury members also consideredme because of my work in that film.That will remain a special film forme because of Zoya, who is a fan-tastic captain of the ship. She knowshow to bring the right people onboard to create the world that we didwith a story like Gully Boy. Youknow, she would say that with eachframe, I want our audience not onlyto get a visual feel of the place, of theslum where we shot a major part ofthe film but also people should beable to smell the place — the strug-gle and suffocation through myvisuals. Zoya is accurate with whatshe wants!” he said.

Jay concluded with a messagefor budding cinematographers,“Dreams do come true, look at me.When we go through struggle andhardship, we must not forget why westarted our journey and if we arefocused on our work, even thoughit takes time, it happens. I never gaveup, why would you?”

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While driving the lifecycle updateon the BMW 5-series, I noted that

BMW designers had made some sub-tle modifications to the car’s kidneygrille, but unlike when BMW updatedthe 7-series, they had not gone over-board. The updated G30 5-series main-tained its relatively sleek kidney grillesand stands out against many of BMW’sother new vehicles where these are get-ting larger and larger and larger. Andthis has resulted in divided opinionsamong many automotive journalists,enthusiasts and buyers. I, for one, amnot a huge fan of the larger grilles.

Truth be told, at a level this is goodfor BMW, because this keeps their carsin conversation. We all talk about this,unlike say design updates on BMW’srivals, thus keeping the brand at the topof mind. But why is this becoming sucha major talking point? Well, BMW carshad three key design elements foryears that made them recognisable toeven casual car drivers, other than ofcourse the signature blue-and-whitelogo, which is not a spinning propeller,as many believe, but borrowed from theflag of Bavaria, the southern Germanprovince of which Munich is the cap-ital and where BMW is based and

indeed takes its name from. The othertwo design elements are the‘Hoffmeister Kink’, which is the slightreversal the window line takes at thevery end of the car, giving an illusionof speed, and the signature ‘CoronaLights’. The kink is not unique toBMW and you can notice that on thenew Skoda Octavia as well, for exam-ple. And Corona headlights are a thingof the past, not just because of the cur-rent pandemic, but were phased outwell before that. Why? Well, LED tech-nology has given designers the ability

to play around with design and makethe headlights three-dimensional. Theinner light on the cars has a slight ‘wall’,making the Corona impossible. You canclearly see that on the updated head-lights on this refreshed 5-series as well.New BMW cars still retain twin LEDlights, but the round Corona lights area thing of the past.

So BMW designers needed to dosomething with the one signature fea-ture they had left, the grilles, and as hasbeen explained to me over variousBMW drive events all across the world,

the Chinese consumer played a majorrole. Today, China accounts for almosta third of BMW sales and the average

well-to-do Chinese car buyerwants his or her car to be noticedfrom afar, and well, the BMW

kidney grilles are noticeable froma distance. So when you take alook at the new 4-series, or theupdated 7-series and the newX7, you see massive grilles.True, when you see these hugegrilles, on the 7-series and X7,these might not look so largegiven the gargantuan propor-tions of those vehicles, but onthe new 4-series and M4, thatsnout looks strange. I’m verysure the new M4 will be a beastto drive, but it really does look

odd on an otherwise excellent-lookingvehicle.

As for the updated 5-series, itremains an excellent car although it isnow a lot more pricey. I drove the 530iM Sport that is priced at �62.9 lakh ex-showroom all-India, which is by far thebest driving car in its class. The 520dLuxury Line costs a lakh more and theexcellent 530d M Sport is quite priceyat �71.9 lakh. If you are looking for abit more space and a different look, theBMW 6-series is also an attractive bet,but if you drive your executive sedanyourself, the 530i remains the best vehi-cle you can buy. If you’re sitting at theback though, BMW’s long-wheelbase3-series, the ‘Gran Limousine’ is quitea bit cheaper with all the same featuresand other than the 30d engine option,all the other toys there can save someof the driving assistance features.Honestly, I didn’t play around withthose during this short drive but docheck in this column soon.

You can watch my views on thisissue, on my channel on YouTube andif you reading this online, by clickingthis l ink -https://youtu.be/8b5MqJsPlFw thereis a lot of other cool automotive, avi-ation and history content all across thatchannel.

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The concept of pairing winewith meals in the culinaryworld has been slowly pick-

ing up pace over the years. Thisprocess not only enhances thedining experience but also upscalesthe flavours of the meals and pro-vides the diners with a heightenedsensory experience.

This modern art of food-winepairing is a recent phenomenon buthas been increasingly occupying aplace in the recipes, books, culinaryshows and restaurant menus. Theidea behind pairing them bothtogether is that certain components— primarily texture and flavour —in both food and wine, interact andblend well and thus, extend anenjoyable and luxurious diningexperience. A glass of wine canbring solace and joy, and matchingit with feasts can prove to be a bliss-ful experience. It can heighten oursenses to an unimaginable level.

�����This trend is becoming increas-

ingly prominent to the extent thateven restaurants and fine-diningplaces have a dedicated team ofsommeliers on board, who areexperts in pairing wine with therestaurant's feasts and offer a delec-table and memorable dining expe-rience to the visitors. The eaterieshave a distinct food and winepairing menu or have dedicated aspace to the modern culinary art intheir existing menu to offer anenriched and luxuriant diningexperience.

�&���J��Matching meals and wines are

purely based on observations andknowledge as to how do flavoursand aromas of meals interact andblend with those of a particularwine and gel well.

This concept of matching winewith meals could involve pairing aspecific variety of wine with a spe-cific dish. For instance, Sangiovesewith a steak tartare appetiser, orsuggesting multiple wine pairingswith a particular dish. For exam-ple, Sangiovese and a Napa Merlotboth could be paired with the sameappetizer or dish.

Indeed, it is undeniable that thecookbooks, magazines, and web-sites are flooded with recipes andguidelines on pairing food andwine perfectly but culinary expertsbelieve that the basic step of com-bining them both is understandingthe right balance between theweight of the food and the weightof the wine. The amount of alco-hol in the wine along with tanninlevels determines the wine’s body.The idea behind this technique isthat food and wine weights shouldbalance each other. This is one ofthe most basic rules of wine-foodpairing; combining a heavy dishwith a light wine or vice versa.

However, if we go beyondweight, flavours and textures canalso be complimented or matchedcontrastingly. In such scenarios,sugar, acid, alcohol, and tannins ofthe wine and how can these beamplified or minimised whenpaired with certain types of foodalso fall under the category of the

art of matching wines to the meals.However, both these strategieswork equally well.

There is no right or wrong wayof pairing wine with food. In thecase of complementary pairing,similar flavours enhance eachother. While the alike burst offlavours adds to each other, theminute differences are interestingand quirky for the taste palette. Onthe other hand, in the case of con-trasting flavours, the extreme endsof the taste fill each other’s gaps andprovide an appetising experience tothe taste buds.

����� ������������There are three flavouring

components in wine that con-tribute to their pairing with thegourmet feasts — tannins, sugar,and acid. Tannins interact well withhard cheese variety, red meats, oilyfoods along with meals preparedwith grilling and blackening meth-ods that have a charred taste.Sugary wines go well with spicyfoods, meals rich in salt and pep-per, along slightly sweet desserts sothat the sugar from the wine over-powers that of the sweet course.Furthermore, acidic wines gel wellwith acidic dishes like oysters andwith greasy and fatty foods.

The rule of thumb usuallystates that white wine pairs wellwith fish along with dishes rich ingarlic and chives whereas red winegoes with earthy herbs and redmeat. However, certain specificwines couple well with a certainspecific type of food. For instance,

heavy wines like CarbernetSauvignon can elevate a delicatedish like a quiche, whereas lightwines like Pinot Grigio can matchwell with a sumptuous stew.

The renowned Chardonnaymatches with salmon or fish pre-pared in buttery and herby saucesalong with seafood, especiallyprawns. The celebratoryChampagne is much more than adrink suitable for popping open onspecial occasions and it pairs wellwith salty foods and appetisers. The

beloved Dry Rosé matches perfect-ly with diverse variants of cheese.Malbec, on the other hand, tastesextremely tantalising with power-ful flavours of a mixture of sweetand spicy. It also combines wellwith herb-based dishes and feastsprepared with barbecue sauces.

��H��It is highly advisable that you

first try out different food itemswith wine. Once you have an ideaof the elements that gel well with the

wine, you can go ahead by samplingthe combination with the complete-ly prepared dishes. However, wineand food pairings are not justrestricted to combining them bothindividually. Cooking with wine isanother way of coupling both theelements together and is also arecent phenomenon in the culinaryworld that is gradually gainingprominence. It is contributingmajorly to extending a scrumptiousand luxurious dining experience.

Food and wine pairing have,indeed, emerged as an upselling toolfor the culinary industry. It upscalesthe dining experience and rendersit a high-end, elegant, sophisticat-ed, premium, and top-notch touch.

The food-wine coupling can goextremely well and hit the charts orgo down the drain. This fad isextremely subjective with no rightor wrong way of doing it but it is allabout being excited about the pair-ing and being experimental to trysomething new. Matching feastswith wine is certainly an art andrequires creativity and thoughtful-ness. But its acceptance or rejectionis solely based on an individual’spalate and preferences. Hence, oneshould be open to experimentingand should have an innovativeapproach. The idea behind theconcept of pairing wine with mealsis to try and try until you succeedand find the right combination asper your taste palette.

(The chef is the founder of agroup of professional culinary &

pastry schools with pan-Asia presence.)

The past year has seen health andwellness rise to the top of our pri-

orities. Even then, with most of usleading a sedentary lifestyle workingfrom home, these tend to take a backseat. While working out to ensurephysical wellness has almost becomeessential these days, diet also plays avital role when it comes to ensuringgood health.

While there are different kinds ofbreakfast and mid-meal snackingoptions available today, we still findourselves in a fix looking for easy,guilt-free and versatile options. Somekey aspects, for a few people, alsoinclude taste and preparation time.One product that has stood out overthe years is granola. Baked with thegoodness of nuts, seeds, and grains,this fibre-rich food is as versatile asit is convenient to prepare. Its versa-tility ensures that we are never out ofnew and exciting snacking options,while its health benefits greatly reas-sure us.

Still not convinced? Read on forreasons to make granola a part ofyour diet.

�A protein-packed snack that’salso ideal for post-workout intake

The high quantity of dried fruits,seeds, and nuts present in granolamakes it a protein-packed snackideal for you to munch on post yourworkout. Not only does it help buildyour muscles, but also leaves you feel-ing energised. Further, micronutrientssuch as magnesium, zinc, and ironfound in granola help build a strongerimmunity and produce greater ener-gy.

�Guilt-free binge for a health-ier gut

Prebiotic fibre plays an active rolein retaining the healthy bacteria inyour gut. Whole grain, a primaryingredient that makes up granola, isrich in fibres that aids digestion andhelps maintain healthy bacteria lev-els. The presence of prebiotic fibresexplains why granola is perfect tomunch on all day.

�A chai-time snack that keepsyour cholesterol in check

Primarily made up of oats, gra-nola is a great source of beta-glucan— a fibre that lowers the risk of heartdisease by maintaining the total andbad cholesterol present in your body.

�Fulfill your antioxidant intakeChia seeds, coconut, and nuts in

granola are a rich source of antioxi-dants, which are proven to improve

overall health by providing the bodywith sufficient quercetin, selenium,vitamin E, and gallic acid.

� Leaves you feeling full andsatisfied

Largely made up of oats andwhole grains, granola is a high-fibrefood that leaves you feeling full forlonger. Fibre has also proven togreatly reduce the rate at whichsugar and carbohydrates are digest-ed in your body, reducing the risk ofa spike in blood sugar levels.

(The writer is the co-founder ofa granola company.)

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Brazil continued their win-ning romp through the

Copa America on Wednesday,eking out a controversial 2-1victory against Colombia afterstruggling most of the match toanswer a magnificent bicycle-kick goal by Luis Diaz.

The 11th-hour win gavethe Selecao a perfect nine pointsfrom three matches in theSouth American champi-onships, and extended theircurrent winning streak to 11matches.

However, the victory wassteeped in controversy: Brazil’ssecond-half equalizer, aRoberto Firmino header, waspreceded by a Neymar pass thatglanced off Argentine refereeNestor Pitana.

Colombia heatedly arguedafterward that play should havebeen stopped, but Pitana, whorefereed the 2018 World Cupfinal, ruled the goal valid afterchecking the video.

“It’s sad that with all theeffort we made against one ofthe best teams in the world, welost the match on a call like

that,” said Juventus’ Cuadrado.“A referee with that much

international experience, who’srefereed at the World Cup,

makes a mistake and hurts thematch. We never got past thatplay.” Disgruntled Colombiafans on social media turned thereferee’s name into a viral hash-tag, joking he had played as‘Brazil’s 12th man.’

Insult was added to injury10 minutes into stoppage time,when Casemiro headed aNeymar corner past a distract-ed Colombia defense to giveBrazil the win.

However, Colombia, whoare second in Group B withfour points from four matches,still secured a spot in the quar-ter-finals.

In the early match,Ecuador and Peru failed to set-tle who advances to the quar-ter-finals, drawing 2-2 inGoiania.

Cardiff: Jos Buttler saw Englandto a comfortable eight-wicketwin in the first T20 Internationalagainst Sri Lanka at SophiaGardens on Wednesday as thehosts went 1-0 up in a three-match series.

Sri Lanka were restricted toa modest 129/7 after winningthe toss, with leg-spinner AdilRashid taking 2-17 fromhis four overs and SamCurran 2/25 from threeovers.

Only Dasun Shanakawith 50 off 44 balls reallythreatened England’sattack.

But a target of 130proved well within the rangeof England, the world’s top-ranked T20 side, as they wonwith 17 balls to spare.

Buttler thrashed eightfours and one six in hisinnings and shared an open-ing stand of 80 with Jason Roy.

“The thing about battingin partnerships is it allows youto try and sit in and keep Royback on strike,” said play-er of the match Buttler,

whose innings was labelled a‘masterclass’ by England captainEoin Morgan.

“I think it was a fantasticperformance from the boys,early wickets in the power playalways keep you in the game,”added Buttler after his ninthhalf-century in just 20 T20innings opening for England.

Morgan, speak-ing to BBC Radio,was pleased by an

all-round displaythat augurs wellfor England’s

prospects inOctober’s T20 WorldCup.

“It’s a great way tostart a series that’s socondensed,” he said.“The bowlers really did

set the tone, so full cred-it to them.

“In the chase, Roy andButtler at the top of the

order are a quite formi-dable pair, and whenthey play in the fashion

that they can be quiteintimidating.” AFP

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Cristiano Ronaldo scoredtwo penalties to equalthe all-time International

goalscoring record and helpholders Portugal edge into thelast 16 of Euro 2020 with a 2-2draw against France in Budapeston Wednesday.

Portugal will face the world’stop-ranked side Belgium inthe first knockout round inSeville on Sunday.

Fernando Santos’men moved through asone of the four bestthird-placed sides,for the secondstraight Euro,from Group Fbehind Franceand Germany.

R o n a l d ogave his side thelead just after thehalf-hour mark withhis first spot-kick, beforeFrance hit back throughKarim Benzema’s two goalseither side of half-time.

But, with Portugalheading out as it stood withHungary leading Germany,Ronaldo helped win andthen scored their secondpenalty with half an hourremaining.

The 36-year-old’s fifthgoal of the group stageextended his record tallyof Euro goals to 14 anddrew him level with for-mer Iran striker Ali Daei,in his 178thInternational match.

World champions

France will next take onSwitzerland in Bucharest onMonday.

The first real chance of thegame fell to France forwardKylian Mbappe after quarter ofan hour, but the 22-year-old’swait for a Euro goal was extend-ed by Rui Patricio’s parried save.

But it was Portugal whomade the breakthrough, as they

were awarded a 31st-minutepenalty as France goalkeeperHugo Lloris tried to punch theball away, but instead caughtDanilo Pereira in the face, leav-ing the Portugal midfielderneeding treatment on the pitch.

Ronaldo stepped up to scorehis fourth goal of the tourna-ment, sending Lloris the wrongway.

VAR CONTROVERSYFrance drew themselves

level in controversial circum-

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Leon Goretzka came off thebench to rescue Germany’s

Euro 2020 campaign with a lateequaliser as a nerve-shredding2-2 draw against Hungary inMunich on Wednesday sentthem through to the last 16.

Captain Adam Szalai gaveHungary a shock early lead andalthough Germany drew levelthrough Kai Havertz in the sec-ond half, the Hungarians wentback in front almost immediate-ly through Andras Schaefer.

With six minutes left,Goretzka fired home a crucialequaliser to set up a blockbustertie against England at Wembleyon Tuesday, eliminatingHungary who finished bottomof Group F.

The match build-up hadbeen dominated by UEFA’srefusal to allow the city ofMunich to light the AllianzArena in rainbow colours in sol-idarity with Hungary’s LGBTIQcommunity.

UEFA and the Governmentof Hungary came under a hail ofcriticism after Budapest’s newanti-LGBTIQ law and the foot-ball body’s refusal to light theMunich stadium.

Germany got off to theworst possible start when Szalaighosted in between centre-backsMats Hummels and MatthiasGinter to head Roland Sallai’ssuperb cross past Manuel Neuer.

Delighted travellingHungarian fans celebrated wild-ly as their German counterparts

looked on in silence.Hungary taking the lead

with just 11 minutes gonesparked Germany into action asHummels hit the crossbar, thenGinter fired straight at visitinggoalkeeper Peter Gulacsi.

A cloudburst over northMunich soaked the AllianzArena pitch as Germany pouredforward in a desperate search foran equaliser.

The euphoria felt across thecountry after Germany’s spec-tacular 4-2 win over Portugaljust four days previously hadsuddenly evaporated.

But the hosts drew level on66 minutes when Gulacsi failedto catch a Joshua Kimmichfree-kick, Hummels headed theball on and Havertz nodded intoan empty net.

The joy in the Germanranks was short-lived asHungary regained the leadstraight from the restart.

A long ball found Szalai,who lofted a pass over thedefence where Schaefer gotbetween the scrambling Germandefenders to head past anonrushing Neuer.

The crucial second Germanequaliser was down to two sub-stitutes.

Teenager Jamal Musiala’scutback found his BayernMunich team-mate Goretzka,who set up Timo Werner for ablocked shot.

But the rebound dropped toGoretzka who smashed the ballinto the back of the net to avoida humiliating group-stage exit.

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Karim Benzema said he was delight-ed to score his first goals for

France since 2015 against Portugal onWednesday, as there was ‘a little pres-sure’ on him across the country.

The Real Madrid striker wasbrought back for Euro 2020 by coachDidier Deschamps after a five-and-a-half year exile from Internationalfootball over his alleged role in ablackmail plot.

Benzema failed to score in hisfirst four matches since returning forFrance, who won the 2018 WorldCup without him.

But he netted a first-half penal-ty in the final Group F gameagainst Portugal before slotting ina second to end his long wait. “A lot

of joy, a lot of pride,” he said to BeINSports. “I think everyone was waiting

for it. There was a little pressure on mefrom all over the country but I’m a foot-baller, a professional — I need that pres-

sure.” A 2-2 draw on Wednesday sent France

through as group winners.Deschamps’ men will face Switzerland

in the last 16 on Monday in Bucharest.

“He (Benzema) was looking for that.He hasn’t lost his confidence, or mine,”Deschamps told TF1. “We will recover welland then we’ll prepare for that (Switzerlandgame) as well as possible.”

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India skipper Virat Kohli hasindicated an overhaul of his

Test team after the stunningloss to New Zealand in theWorld Test Championship finalhere, saying that “right peoplewho have the right mindset toperform” will be brought in fol-lowing a reassessment.

After his side lost the WTCFinal by eight wickets inSouthampton on Wednesdaywith batting being a major let-down, the Indian captain did-n’t take any names butexpressed his displeasure atsome players for not showingenough ‘intent’ to score runs.

Senior batsmanCheteshwar Pujara managed 8off 54 balls in the first inningsand consumed 35 balls for hisfirst run. He then scored just 15runs off 80 balls in the secondessay.

“We will continue toreassess and continue to haveconversations around what arethe things required to strength-en our side and not followor fall prey to certainpatterns,” Kohli said atthe post match confer-ence.

It can be safelyassumed that some ofthe seniors will be onborrowed timeand only a stel-lar perfor-mance in thef i v e - Te s ts e r i e sa g a i n s tEngland inAugust cansecure theirfutures.

“We willnot wait for ayear or so andhave to planahead. If yousee our whiteball team now,we have greatdepth and guysare ready andconfident. Samething needs tobe done withTest cricket.

“You have to reassess andreplan and understand whatdynamics work for the teamand how we can be fearless.Bring in right people who haveright mindset to perform,” theskipper added.

For the current manage-ment, a 50 off 80 balls is ofmore value than a 15 off 80which can put unnecessarypressure on batsmen comingafter someone with an ultra-defensive mindset.

Kane Williamson scoredseven runs in a session duringthe first innings but when itmattered, he scored a half-cen-tury of 80 odd balls during finalsession of the Test match.

“I think evolving with thegame and improving yourselfwith the game is very impor-tant and when you have beena top side for few years in a row,you don’t want to suddenlydrop your standards...

“We will certainly takethose decisions and have thoseconversations and in nearfuture,” the skipper looked vis-

ibly hurt and in a mood totake some tough calls in

near future.He also spoke

about finding ways toscore runs againstquality attacks like that

of New Zealand. Indiascored only 217 in the

first innings andwere all out for170 in the secondeffort.

“We definite-ly need to workout better planson understand-ing how to scoreruns. We haveto stay in syncwith themomentum ofthe game andnot let the

game driftaway toomuch. Idon’t thinkthere areany techni-cal difficul-ties as such,”he asserted.

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Southampton: Echoing theviews of head coach RaviShastri, India skipper ViratKohli has said that the bestTest team in the world shouldbe decided by a best-of-threefinal and not a one-off gamelike it was in the inaugural edi-tion.

India were able to bounceback to win the series againstAustralia and England butcouldn’t do so with the WorldTest Championship final, aone off game against NewZealand which ended withKohli’s men losing by eightwickets.

“Well, look, firstly, I’mnot in absolute agreement of

deciding the best Test side inthe world over the course ofone game, to be very honest,”Kohli said in the post-matchpress conference.

“If it is a Test series, it hasto be a test of character overthree Tests, which team hasthe ability to come back intothe series or totally blow awaythe other team.

“It can’t just be a pressureapplied over two days of goodcricket and then you sudden-ly are not a good Test side any-more. I don’t believe in that.”

Shastri had advocated athree-match finale before theteam departed for Englandearlier this month. PTI

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New Zealand captain KaneWilliamson saluted the

commitment of his star-shornside as he savoured the ‘spe-cial feeling’ of winning theinaugural World TestChampionship mace by beat-ing India, relying on “bitsand pieces to stay in gamesand be competitive”.

With the World TestChampionships triumph, the‘nice guys’ of world cricketshowed that they don’t alwaysfinish last. The win overmighty India has also made upfor the heartbreak of succes-sive ODI World Cup finallosses in 2015 and 2019.

Wiliamson termed theirfinal win over India as the‘pinnacle’ but stopped short ofcalling it the country’s biggestachievement in the game.

“I’ve been part of (NewZealand cricket) for a shortwhile, it’s a very special feel-

ing, the first time in our his-tory we’ve come away with aworld title,” Williamson saidin post-match press confer-ence.

“We’ve had 22 players overthe last two years, and they’veall played their part and thesupport staff and the guys who

played this match, it’s a specialachievement to be savoured.

“I think for us, we knowwe don’t always have the stars,and we use our bits and piecesto stay in games and be com-petitive,” added the likeablecaptain in the post-matchpresentation.

He said it is nice to befinally end up on the right sideof the result.

“Well, obviously it’s thepinnacle, isn’t it, really, beinginvolved in the final. Like Isaid, a formidable side inIndia. 2019 was a great occa-sion and a brilliant game ofcricket, as well.

“But obviously a slightlydifferent feeling being on theright side of the result for us,”he said minutes later in themedia interaction.

It was just the secondmajor international trophywon by New Zealand in theirhistory, following their ICCKnock Out triumph back in2000, leaving the skipperecstatic.

“For us a very proudmoment in our history and aproud moment just as a teamreally, to stick to what we dowell and come away with thewin, which is a really greatfeeling.”

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stances in first-half stoppagetime.

Referee Antonio MateuLahoz gave a penalty afterMbappe collided with NelsonSemedo while trying to get onthe end of a pass into the box.

Benzema, who had missedhis last three penalties, made nomistake from the spot this time,scoring his first goal for Francesince October 2015, havingbeen recalled for the tournamentafter a five-and-a-half year exile.

It was also the Real Madrid

striker’s first goal at a EuropeanChampionship in his ninthmatch.

France moved ahead for thefirst time shortly after the restart,though, as Paul Pogba’s excellentpass released Benzema to slot inoff the post.

The linesman flagged theFrenchman offside, but a VARcheck overturned the decision.

France were left without arecognised left-back whenLucas Digne hobbled off sixminutes after coming on at the

interval for Lucas Hernandez.But it was right-back JulesKounde who conceded the sec-ond spot-kick for a handballfrom Ronaldo’s cross, and theJuventus star stepped up tolevel the all-time record, withLloris guessing incorrectlyagain.

Portugal knew a defeatwould send them out ifHungary beat Germany, andthey needed Patricio to make awonderful double save midwaythrough the second half.