8`ge f_gVZ]d C'= Tc ^`_VeZdReZ`_ a]R_ - Daily Pioneer

12
F inance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman on Monday announced an ambitious 6 lakh crore National Monetisation Pipeline (NMP) aimed at unlocking value in infrastructure assets across sectors ranging from power to road and railways as well as Jawaharlal Nehru stadium in New Delhi. The Finance Minister had announced the monetisation plan in her annual Budget speech in February. Sitharaman said the asset monetisation did not involve selling of land and it is about monetising brownfield assets. Projects have been identified across sectors, with roads, rail- ways and power being the top segments. “NMP estimates aggregate monetisation potential of 6 lakh crore through core assets of Central Government over the four-year period from FY 2022 to FY 2025,” she said. “Ownership of assets will remain with the Government and there will be a mandatory hand-back.” Asset monetisation will unlock resources and lead to value unlocking, she said. Union Budget 2021-22 had identified monetisation of operating public infrastruc- ture assets as a key means for sustainable infrastructure financing. Towards this, the Budget provided for prepara- tion of a “National Monetisation Pipeline” of potential brownfield infra- structure assets. NITI Aayog in consultation with infra line ministries has prepared the report on NMP. The aggregate asset pipeline under NMP over the four-year period is indicative- ly valued at 6 lakh crore. The estimated value corresponds to 14 per cent of the proposed outlay for Centre under the National Infrastructure Pipeline (43 lakh crore). The end objective of this initiative is to enable “infra- structure creation through monetisation” wherein the public and private sector col- laborate, each excelling in their core areas of competence, so as to deliver socio-economic growth and quality of life to the country’s citizens, she added. In the railways sector, as many as 400 railway stations, 90 passenger trains, 741-km Konkan Railways and 15 rail- way stadiums and colonies are planned to be monetised for an estimated 1.2 lakh crore. Monetising 28,608 circuit kilometres of power transmis- sion lines is estimated to gen- erate 45,200 crore and anoth- er 39,832 crore will come from 6 GW of power genera- tion assets. The telecom sector will give 35,100 crore from mon- etising 2.86 lakh km of BharatNet fiber and 14,917 signal towers of BSNL and MTNL. Close to 29,000 crore each is estimated from monetising warehouses and coal mines. Continued on Page 2 A s India is engaged in a big rescue operation to bring out its citizens from strife- torn Afghanistan, External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar will brief Parliamentary leaders of various political parties on August 26 about the situation there. This forthcoming all-party interaction comes at the direc- tion of Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Parliamentary Affairs Minister Pralhad Joshi said here on Monday. He said the physical briefing will take place at 11 am on Thursday in Parliament House Annexe. “Floor leaders of political parties would be briefed by EAM @DrSJaishankar on the present situation in Afghanistan, on 26th August, 11am in Main Committee Room, PHA, New Delhi. Invites are being sent through email. All concerned are requested to attend,” Joshi tweeted. “In view of developments in Afghanistan, PM @naren- dramodi has instructed that the MEA brief Floor Leaders of political parties. Minister of Parliamentary Affairs @JoshiPralhad will be intimat- ing further details,” Jaishankar tweeted earlier. Sources said the first ever briefing of this sort is expect- ed to focus on India’s evacua- tion, and Afghanistan situation. Continued on Page 2 T he third wave of Covid-19 could hit the country any- time between September and October, an expert panel set up by an institute under the Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) has predicted. It has called for significantly ramping up the vaccination pace as well as health infrastructure facili- ties in the country. The committee of experts also said that children will have a similar risk as adults since pediatric facilities, doc- tors and equipment like venti- lators, ambulances, etc, are nowhere close to what may be required in case a large num- ber of children becoming infected. The report, which has been submitted to the Prime Minister’s Office, observed that only around 7.6 per cent (10.4 crore) people are fully vacci- nated in India. If the current vaccination rate is not increased, India can witness six lakh cases per day in the next wave, the report said. “Leading experts have repeatedly warned of an immi- nent third Covid-19 wave in India. Epidemiologists predict a series of surges till we achieve herd immunity through infec- tion or vaccination and the dis- ease becoming endemic,” the report said. The NIDM report quoted the prediction of experts from IIT Kanpur which suggested three likely scenarios for the third wave based on the level of unlocking. In scenario one, it said that the third wave could peak in October with 3.2 lakh positive cases per day. In scenario two, with the emergence of new and more virulent variants, the third wave could peak in September with likely five lakh positive cases per day. Continued on Page 2 P rivate weather forecaster Skymet on Monday down- graded its forecast for the southwest monsoon this year. Skymet said it believes that there is a 60 per cent chance of a below-normal monsoon, which is now forecast to be at 94 per cent of the long-period average of 880.6 mm rainfall. The forecast for the June- September period has an error margin of plus or minus four per cent. As per the India Meteorological Department (IMD) data, of the 36 sub-divi- sions in India, deficiency of rainfall recorded in 25 sub-divi- sions so far. India received 594.5 mm rainfall as against the normal of 652.2, a deficiency of almost 9 per cent so far. The Skymet Weather said in terms of geographical risk, Gujarat, Rajasthan, Odisha, Kerala, and North-East India are likely to be hit with deficient rain. The chance of drought over Gujarat and West Rajasthan appears imminent. However, the spatial distribu- tion of rainfall over the rainfed areas of Maharashtra, Madhya Pradesh and Uttar Pradesh has been adequate. Accordingly, food production in the agri bowl of the central parts may not be stressed and skewed. According to Jatin Singh, Managing Director, Skymet, “The weakness in the monsoon could possibly be attributed to a prolonged negative phase of Indian Ocean Dipole (IOD) in the Indian Ocean and extend- ed break conditions in July and August. There is still no clear signal about the emergence of IOD in September”. Continued on Page 2 A n 11-member delegation from Bihar led by Chief Minister Nitish Kumar on Monday called on Prime Minister Narendra Modi and demanded a caste-based census across the country. In a U-turn, the BJP too seemed to revisit its stated policy of not holding caste census. Senior BJP leader from Bihar and Rajya Sabha member Sushil Modi on Sunday said his party has always supported the caste-based census and has been part of the resolution passed in the Bihar Assembly in favour of a caste census. The leaders of all 10 main political parties having mem- bers in the Bihar Assembly were part of the delegation. Replying to a written query in the Lok Sabha on July 20, Union Minister of State for Home Nityanand Rai said the Central Government has decid- ed as a matter of policy not to enumerate caste-wise popula- tion other than SCs and STs in the census. Given the OBC pitch of the BJP and Assembly polls in UP early next year, Sushil Modi’s statement signifies the ruling party’s reversal of its policy on caste-based census. Asked about the Prime Minister’s stand on the issue, the Bihar Chief Minister said Modi did not “deny it” (caste census) and heard out every- one. He said the leaders of all political parties from Bihar put their views on the caste- based census before the Prime Minister. “During the meeting, we all urged the PM to reconsider the Union Government’s decision not to hold caste-based census except for SCs and STs. The Prime Minister assured us to think over our demand,” Kumar told newspersons. RJD leader Tejashwi Yadav, son of former Bihar CM Lalu Prasad, who represented the RJD in the delegation, said, “Now, we are waiting for the decision of the PM on our request.” BJP’s another ally Aapna Dal too had sought a caste- based census as Samajwadi Party leader Ramgopal Yadav during the debate over 127 Constitution (amendment) Bill on OBC in the Rajya Sabha last month called for the caste cen- sus. Maharashtra and Odisha too have requested the Centre to collect caste details in the forthcoming census. Continued on Page 2 D elhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal on Monday inau- gurated India’s first smog tower at Connaught Place. The smog tower will significantly reduce air pollution levels. Kejriwal said experts will study the performance of the tower so that similar towers can be set up in Delhi. The smog tower is powered by 40 huge fans and 5,000 fil- ters and cleans 1,000 cubic metres of air per second. Continued on Page 2 Chandigarh/New Delhi: Punjab Congress president Navjot Singh Sidhu’s two advis- ers came under severe attack from the Opposition and with- in the party on Monday for their recent controversial remarks on Kashmir and Pakistan, with Congress MP Manish Tewari asking if such people should be kept in the party. Amid mounting pressure, Sidhu met the two advisers at his Patiala residence on Monday, but it was not imme- diately known what was dis- cussed or decided there. Tewari’s open criticism came a day after Punjab Chief Minister Amarinder Singh asked Sidhu to “rein in” his advisers and described their remarks as atrocious and ill- conceived comments that were potentially dangerous to the peace and stability of the state and the country. In a tweet, Tewari said, “I urge Harish Rawat, AICC Gen Secy in-charge Punjab to seri- ously introspect that those who do not consider J&K to be a part of India and others who have ostensibly Pro-Pakistan leanings should be a part of Punjab Congress.” The CM has described the remarks by Sidhu’s advisers as atrocious and ill-conceived comments that were potential- ly dangerous to the peace and stability of the State and India. New Delhi: Amid deepening crisis in Afghanistan after the Taliban took over the war- torn nation, a large number of Afghan refugees in India vocif- erously protested in front of the UNHCR office here on Monday demanding release of “support letters” from the UN agency to migrate to other countries for better opportu- nities. New Delhi: Three copies of Sikh scripture Guru Granth Sahib and 75 people, including 46 Afghan Sikhs and Hindus, are being evacuated from war- ravaged Afghanistan on an IAF plane, people coordinating the evacuation efforts with the Indian Government said on Monday. Nearly 200 more Afghan Sikhs and Hindus are still stranded in Afghanistan. A head of an emergency G7 meeting on Afghanistan, the Taliban on Monday warned that there will be “conse- quences” if the US and the UK sought an extension to the August 31 deadline for the US-led troop withdrawal from the war-torn country. Speaking to Sky News in Doha, Qatar, Taliban spokesperson Dr Suhail Shaheen stated that the month- end deadline was a “red line”, as any extension would imply an extended occupation of the country. He said the timeline had been laid out by US President Joe Biden and threatened “con- sequences” if the US and the UK sought an extension to that deadline. “It’s a red line. President Biden announced that on August 31 they would with- draw all their military forces. So if they extend it that means they are extending occupation while there is no need for that,” Shaheen said. “If the US or the UK were to seek additional time to con- tinue evacuations — the answer is no. Or there would be con- sequences. It will create mis- trust between us. If they are intent on continuing the occu- pation it will provoke a reac- tion,” he said. The warning came as British Prime Minister Boris Johnson convened an emer- gency G7 meeting on Tuesday in his role as current Chair of the Group of Seven countries — Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, the United States and the UK. Continued on Page 2

Transcript of 8`ge f_gVZ]d C'= Tc ^`_VeZdReZ`_ a]R_ - Daily Pioneer

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Finance Minister NirmalaSitharaman on Monday

announced an ambitious �6lakh crore NationalMonetisation Pipeline (NMP)aimed at unlocking value ininfrastructure assets acrosssectors ranging from power toroad and railways as well asJawaharlal Nehru stadium inNew Delhi.

The Finance Minister hadannounced the monetisationplan in her annual Budgetspeech in February.

Sitharaman said the assetmonetisation did not involveselling of land and it is aboutmonetising brownfield assets.Projects have been identifiedacross sectors, with roads, rail-ways and power being the topsegments.

“NMP estimates aggregatemonetisation potential of �6lakh crore through core assets

of Central Government overthe four-year period from FY2022 to FY 2025,” she said.“Ownership of assets willremain with the Governmentand there will be a mandatoryhand-back.”

Asset monetisation willunlock resources and lead tovalue unlocking, she said.

Union Budget 2021-22 hadidentified monetisation ofoperating public infrastruc-ture assets as a key means for

sustainable infrastructurefinancing. Towards this, theBudget provided for prepara-tion of a “NationalMonetisation Pipeline” ofpotential brownfield infra-structure assets. NITI Aayog inconsultation with infra lineministries has prepared thereport on NMP.

The aggregate assetpipeline under NMP over thefour-year period is indicative-ly valued at �6 lakh crore. The

estimated value corresponds to14 per cent of the proposedoutlay for Centre under theNational InfrastructurePipeline (�43 lakh crore).

The end objective of thisinitiative is to enable “infra-structure creation throughmonetisation” wherein thepublic and private sector col-laborate, each excelling in theircore areas of competence, so asto deliver socio-economicgrowth and quality of life to thecountry’s citizens, she added.

In the railways sector, asmany as 400 railway stations,90 passenger trains, 741-kmKonkan Railways and 15 rail-way stadiums and colonies areplanned to be monetised for anestimated �1.2 lakh crore.

Monetising 28,608 circuitkilometres of power transmis-sion lines is estimated to gen-erate �45,200 crore and anoth-er �39,832 crore will comefrom 6 GW of power genera-tion assets.

The telecom sector willgive �35,100 crore from mon-etising 2.86 lakh km ofBharatNet fiber and 14,917signal towers of BSNL andMTNL.

Close to �29,000 crore eachis estimated from monetisingwarehouses and coal mines.

Continued on Page 2

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As India is engaged in a bigrescue operation to bring

out its citizens from strife-torn Afghanistan, ExternalAffairs Minister S Jaishankarwill brief Parliamentary leadersof various political parties onAugust 26 about the situationthere.

This forthcoming all-partyinteraction comes at the direc-tion of Prime MinisterNarendra Modi, ParliamentaryAffairs Minister Pralhad Joshisaid here on Monday. He saidthe physical briefing will takeplace at 11 am on Thursday inParliament House Annexe.

“Floor leaders of politicalparties would be briefed byEAM @DrSJaishankar on thepresent situation inAfghanistan, on 26th August,11am in Main CommitteeRoom, PHA, New Delhi.Invites are being sent throughemail. All concerned arerequested to attend,” Joshitweeted.

“In view of developmentsin Afghanistan, PM @naren-dramodi has instructed that theMEA brief Floor Leaders ofpolitical parties. Minister ofParliamentary Affairs

@JoshiPralhad will be intimat-ing further details,” Jaishankartweeted earlier.

Sources said the first ever

briefing of this sort is expect-ed to focus on India’s evacua-tion, and Afghanistan situation.

Continued on Page 2

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The third wave of Covid-19could hit the country any-

time between September andOctober, an expert panel set upby an institute under theMinistry of Home Affairs(MHA) has predicted. It hascalled for significantly ramping

up the vaccination pace as wellas health infrastructure facili-ties in the country.

The committee of expertsalso said that children willhave a similar risk as adultssince pediatric facilities, doc-tors and equipment like venti-lators, ambulances, etc, arenowhere close to what may berequired in case a large num-ber of children becominginfected.

The report, which has beensubmitted to the PrimeMinister’s Office, observed thatonly around 7.6 per cent (10.4crore) people are fully vacci-nated in India. If the current

vaccination rate is notincreased, India can witness sixlakh cases per day in the nextwave, the report said.

“Leading experts haverepeatedly warned of an immi-nent third Covid-19 wave inIndia. Epidemiologists predicta series of surges till we achieveherd immunity through infec-tion or vaccination and the dis-ease becoming endemic,” thereport said.

The NIDM report quotedthe prediction of experts fromIIT Kanpur which suggestedthree likely scenarios for thethird wave based on the level ofunlocking. In scenario one, it

said that the third wave couldpeak in October with 3.2 lakhpositive cases per day.

In scenario two, with theemergence of new and more

virulent variants, the thirdwave could peak in Septemberwith likely five lakh positivecases per day.

Continued on Page 2

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Private weather forecasterSkymet on Monday down-

graded its forecast for thesouthwest monsoon this year.Skymet said it believes thatthere is a 60 per cent chance ofa below-normal monsoon,which is now forecast to be at94 per cent of the long-periodaverage of 880.6 mm rainfall.

The forecast for the June-September period has an errormargin of plus or minus fourper cent. As per the IndiaMeteorological Department(IMD) data, of the 36 sub-divi-sions in India, deficiency ofrainfall recorded in 25 sub-divi-sions so far. India received

594.5 mm rainfall as against thenormal of 652.2, a deficiency ofalmost 9 per cent so far.

The Skymet Weather saidin terms of geographical risk,Gujarat, Rajasthan, Odisha,Kerala, and North-East Indiaare likely to be hit with deficientrain. The chance of droughtover Gujarat and WestRajasthan appears imminent.However, the spatial distribu-tion of rainfall over the rainfedareas of Maharashtra, MadhyaPradesh and Uttar Pradesh hasbeen adequate. Accordingly,food production in the agribowl of the central parts maynot be stressed and skewed.

According to Jatin Singh,Managing Director, Skymet,

“The weakness in the monsooncould possibly be attributed toa prolonged negative phase ofIndian Ocean Dipole (IOD) inthe Indian Ocean and extend-

ed break conditions in July andAugust. There is still no clearsignal about the emergence ofIOD in September”.

Continued on Page 2

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An 11-member delegationfrom Bihar led by Chief

Minister Nitish Kumar onMonday called on PrimeMinister Narendra Modi anddemanded a caste-based censusacross the country.

In a U-turn, the BJP tooseemed to revisit its statedpolicy of not holding castecensus. Senior BJP leader fromBihar and Rajya Sabha memberSushil Modi on Sunday said hisparty has always supportedthe caste-based census and hasbeen part of the resolutionpassed in the Bihar Assemblyin favour of a caste census.

The leaders of all 10 mainpolitical parties having mem-bers in the Bihar Assemblywere part of the delegation.

Replying to a written queryin the Lok Sabha on July 20,Union Minister of State forHome Nityanand Rai said theCentral Government has decid-ed as a matter of policy not toenumerate caste-wise popula-tion other than SCs and STs inthe census.

Given the OBC pitch of theBJP and Assembly polls in UP

early next year, Sushil Modi’sstatement signifies the rulingparty’s reversal of its policy oncaste-based census.

Asked about the PrimeMinister’s stand on the issue,the Bihar Chief Minister saidModi did not “deny it” (castecensus) and heard out every-one.

He said the leaders of allpolitical parties from Biharput their views on the caste-based census before the PrimeMinister.

“During the meeting, we allurged the PM to reconsider theUnion Government’s decisionnot to hold caste-based censusexcept for SCs and STs. ThePrime Minister assured us tothink over our demand,”

Kumar told newspersons.RJD leader Tejashwi Yadav,

son of former Bihar CM LaluPrasad, who represented theRJD in the delegation, said,“Now, we are waiting for thedecision of the PM on ourrequest.”

BJP’s another ally AapnaDal too had sought a caste-based census as SamajwadiParty leader Ramgopal Yadavduring the debate over 127Constitution (amendment) Billon OBC in the Rajya Sabha lastmonth called for the caste cen-sus.

Maharashtra and Odishatoo have requested the Centreto collect caste details in theforthcoming census.

Continued on Page 2

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Delhi Chief Minister ArvindKejriwal on Monday inau-

gurated India’s first smog towerat Connaught Place. The smogtower will significantly reduceair pollution levels.

Kejriwal said experts willstudy the performance of thetower so that similar towers canbe set up in Delhi.

The smog tower is poweredby 40 huge fans and 5,000 fil-ters and cleans 1,000 cubicmetres of air per second.

Continued on Page 2

Chandigarh/New Delhi:Punjab Congress presidentNavjot Singh Sidhu’s two advis-ers came under severe attackfrom the Opposition and with-in the party on Monday fortheir recent controversialremarks on Kashmir andPakistan, with Congress MPManish Tewari asking if suchpeople should be kept in theparty.

Amid mounting pressure,Sidhu met the two advisers athis Patiala residence onMonday, but it was not imme-diately known what was dis-cussed or decided there.

Tewari’s open criticismcame a day after Punjab ChiefMinister Amarinder Singhasked Sidhu to “rein in” hisadvisers and described theirremarks as atrocious and ill-conceived comments that werepotentially dangerous to thepeace and stability of the stateand the country.

In a tweet, Tewari said, “Iurge Harish Rawat, AICC GenSecy in-charge Punjab to seri-ously introspect that those whodo not consider J&K to be apart of India and others whohave ostensibly Pro-Pakistanleanings should be a part ofPunjab Congress.”

The CM has described theremarks by Sidhu’s advisers asatrocious and ill-conceivedcomments that were potential-ly dangerous to the peace andstability of the State and India.

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New Delhi: Amid deepeningcrisis in Afghanistan after theTaliban took over the war-torn nation, a large number ofAfghan refugees in India vocif-erously protested in front of theUNHCR office here onMonday demanding release of“support letters” from the UNagency to migrate to othercountries for better opportu-nities.

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New Delhi: Three copies ofSikh scripture Guru GranthSahib and 75 people, including46 Afghan Sikhs and Hindus,are being evacuated from war-ravaged Afghanistan on anIAF plane, people coordinatingthe evacuation efforts with theIndian Government said onMonday. Nearly 200 moreAfghan Sikhs and Hindus arestill stranded in Afghanistan.

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Ahead of an emergency G7meeting on Afghanistan,

the Taliban on Monday warnedthat there will be “conse-quences” if the US and the UKsought an extension to theAugust 31 deadline for theUS-led troop withdrawal fromthe war-torn country.

Speaking to Sky News inDoha, Qatar, Talibanspokesperson Dr SuhailShaheen stated that the month-end deadline was a “red line”,as any extension would implyan extended occupation of thecountry.

He said the timeline hadbeen laid out by US PresidentJoe Biden and threatened “con-sequences” if the US and theUK sought an extension to thatdeadline.

“It’s a red line. PresidentBiden announced that onAugust 31 they would with-draw all their military forces. Soif they extend it that means

they are extending occupationwhile there is no need forthat,” Shaheen said.

“If the US or the UK wereto seek additional time to con-tinue evacuations — the answeris no. Or there would be con-sequences. It will create mis-trust between us. If they areintent on continuing the occu-pation it will provoke a reac-tion,” he said.

The warning came asBritish Prime Minister BorisJohnson convened an emer-gency G7 meeting on Tuesdayin his role as current Chair ofthe Group of Seven countries— Canada, France, Germany,Italy, Japan, the United Statesand the UK.

Continued on Page 2

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Ahmedabad: The Gujarat High Courthas sought to know whether a womanis under any obligation to disclose thename of the father of her child that sheconceived out of wedlock.

Justice Paresh Upadhyay also askedwhether one should look for criminalangle into the case of a woman who doesnot want to disclose the identify of thefather of the child she has given birthto without marriage even when she hasnot complained of rape.

The court made the observations onAugust 19 while hearing an appeal bya convict against a lower court ordersentencing him to ten years of rigorousimprisonment for raping a minor undersection 376 of the IPC and provisionsof the Protection ofChildren from Sexual Offences Act

(POCSO). The victim, a resident ofJunagadh, had given birth to two chil-dren of the convict with whom she livedwithout marriage, and neither she northeir father had disowned them ordenied their paternity.

The victim had said she left herfamily on her own will and started liv-

ing with the convict after which she gavebirth to two children, first of whom wasborn when she was 16. “She is a poorrural daughter.

If some lady conceives a child andshe is not married, and if she goes tohospital, whether the doctor would askthat you have conceived from whom?I don't want to reply. Is it required?Whether a lady is under obligation todisclose to the hospital whose child thisis?” the court asked.

"If one goes to Ahmedabad, Delhior some other metro to give birth to achild, would the doctor ask the nameof her father? If she says, 'Sorry to say,I don't know.' If she says that, I don'twant to give that name. She is not com-plaining that she has been raped. Shallwe be able to read criminality?”Upadhyay observed while hearing theappeal. The judge wondered which legalprovisions would beviolated in such cases. “The pure ques-tion of law would be, if some lady con-ceives, and it is her call that 'I want tohave a child but I don't want to marry'. PTI

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In a disturbing development, the total numberof Delta Plus and other Covid-19 variants like

Alpha, Capa and other strains went up to 231 inMaharashtra on Monday, as 128 patients werefound diagnosed in Mumbai with such infectionsand 27 new Delta Plus cases were in various otherparts of the State.

According to the results of the first tests con-ducted at the Kasturba Hospital of theBrihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (MMC),128 out of the total 188 patients were found to beinfected with Delta type covid virus. Of theremaining samples, two patients were detectedwith alpha type, 24 were with capa type and theother patients were found to be infected with thecommon Covid-19 virus.

Elsewhere in Maharashtra, 27 more Delta pluscases were reported on Monday. The following arethe details of new Delta plus cases reported:Ahmednagar—4, Nagpur –5, Amravati—6,Nashik-2, Gadchiroli-6, Yavatmal-3 and Bhandara-1. After it came out with the details of new DeltaPlus and other Covid-19 variant cases, the BMCappealed to Mumbaikars to adhere strictly to theCovid-19 virus prevention guidelines. “A politeappeal is being made on behalf of BrihanmumbaiMunicipal Corporation that everyone should fol-low the measures like wearing mask, maintainingsafe distance, regular hand hygiene and avoidingcrowds,” a BMC statement said.

At the new Next Generation GenomeSequencing Lab set up Kasturba Hospital in south-central Mumbai which was inaugurated by chiefminister Uddhav Thackeray on August 4, samplessuspected to be that of Delta Plus and other vari-ants of Covid-19 cases are analysed.

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Mumbai: The daily Covid-19 infections droppedto 3,643 and deaths came down to 105 inMaharashtra on Monday, even as 6,795 patientswere discharged after full recovery from varioushospitals across the State.

A day after the state logged 145 deaths and4141 infections, the infections came down fur-ther to 3,643 and deaths dropped to 105.

With 105 fresh fatalities reported on Monday,the total number of deaths in the state increasedfrom 1,35,962 to 1,36,0 67, while the total infec-tions -- with 3,643 new cases – went up from64,2,4651 to 64,28,294.

As 6,795 patients were discharged from thehospitals across the state after full recovery, thetotal number of people discharged from the hos-pitals since the second week of March last yearincreased from 62,31,999 to 62,38,794. The recov-ery rate in the state rose from 97 per cent to 97.05per cent.

The total “active cases” in the state droppedfrom 53,182 to 49,924. The fatality rate in thestate stood static at 2.11 per cent.

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The famed Jagannath temple in Odisha'sPuri reopened for the public on Monday

morning after remaining off the bounds forfour months due to the second wave of theCOVID-19 pandemic, officials said.

People from different parts of the coun-try were seen queueing up to have 'darshan'of the sibling deities -- Lord Balabhadra, DeviSubhadra and Lord Jagannath at the 12th-cen-tury shrine, which was shut since April 24.

The devotees were allowed to enter thetemple from 7 am to 7 pm.

The temple will remain closed for the pub-lic on the weekends to sanitise the premises,as per a notification by the Shree JagannathTemple Administration (SJTA).

Devotees coming from outside Puri areneeded to produce complete vaccinationcertificates or COVID-negative reportsobtained through RT-PCR test conductedwithin 96 hours.

The shrine will remain closed on all majorfestivals, incuding Janmastami, to avoid gath-ering, officials said. The annual Ratha Jatrawas also held this year in absence of devotees.

The devotees are allowed entry into thetemple after thermal screening, and wearingmasks and maintaining social distance aremandatory, officials said.

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Simdega (Jharkhand): AJharkhand court on Mondaysentenced two persons to lifeimprisonment for raping a 10-year-old girl in Simdega districtin June 2019.

The court of District andSessions Judge also imposed afine of �50,000 each on the twoconvicts.

The incident took place inKasiarpaani village in Kurdegpolice station area when the girlwas sleeping in the courtyardof her relative's house whereshe had come to attend a mar-riage function. PTI

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From Page 1This high-level exchange comes after

the Taliban took control of Kabul andmany other provinces more than ten daysback leading to chaos and fear. Modi onAugust 17 chaired a meeting of theCabinet Committee on Security (CCS)and directed officials to ensure the safeevacuation of Indians stranded inAfghanistan.

Concerned over the safety and secu-rity of its citizens, India has, so far, evac-uated 730 people, including members ofthe Afghan Sikh and Hindu communi-ties. On Monday, 146 Indians werebrought to New Delhi in four differentflights from Qatar’s capital Doha, daysafter they were evacuated fromAfghanistan by NATO and American air-craft.

A special IAF transport aircraft isnow involved in an operation to bringthree copies of Sikh scripture GuruGranth Sahib and 75 people, including46 Afghan Sikhs and Hindus fromKabul. They are expected to land in New

Delhi later in the day.Announcing the evacuation flight,

Union Minister Hardeep Singh Puri tookto Twitter to say, “Three Sri Guru GranthSahib Ji are being escorted to the IAF air-craft at Kabul Airport. Forty-six AfghanHindus and Sikhs along with strandedIndian nationals are blessed to return onthe same flight.”

Nearly 200 more Afghan Sikhs andHindus are still stranded in Afghanistan,said Puneet Singh Chandhok, presidentof the Indian World Forum, an organi-sation coordinating the evacuation effortswith the Ministry of External Affairs.

Explaining the challenging nature ofthe rescue operation now underway,Chandhok said the Sikhs and Hindus arenow lodged at Gurudwara Karte Parwan.

He said the 10-kilometre-long driveto the international airport from theGurdwara Karte Parwan through variouscheckpoints is one of the biggest chal-lenges in the rescue efforts. Around 100more Afghan Sikhs and Hindus are like-ly to be evacuated in a couple of hours,Chandhok added.

The evacuation of these 46 Afghan

Sikhs and Hindus at such a challengingtime is a big relief for us, said ManjinderSingh Sirsa, president of the Delhi SikhGurdwara Management Committee,which is also coordinating with theIndian Government in the evacuationmission.

On Sunday, 392 people, includingtwo Afghan MPs, were evacuated in threedifferent flights under the evacuation mis-sion. The Taliban took control of Kabulon August 15 and within two days afterthat 200 Indians, including the IndianAmbassador to Kabul, were brought outsafely from there.

The first evacuation flight broughtback over 40 people, mostly staffers at theIndian embassy, on August 16. The sec-ond aircraft evacuated around 150 peo-ple, including Indian diplomats, officials,security personnel and some strandedIndians from Kabul on August 17.

Since the Kabul international airportis now under the control of the US armedforces, a special team of Indian officialsis in Kabul to coordinate with the US toensure safe passage for the Indian evac-uees.

From Page 1The southwest monsoon had a time-

ly onset and made a good start with Juneending above normal at 110 per cent ofthe long period average (LPA). But it raninto a “break phase” towards June-end,resulting in July starting on a weaknote.Rainfall that month was marred tillJuly 11. Rainfall in July was 93 per centof LPA. The monsoon encountered itssecond “break” phase during the first fort-night of this month. Extended weakmonsoon conditions resulted in pan-India seasonal rainfall being nine per centdeficient till date. The below normal sta-tus of the monsoon has not improved tillnow.Meanwhile, the Ministry ofAgriculture in its sowing of kharif cropsdata said that overall, farmers have beenable to plant 104 million hectares thanthe normal area of 101 million hectaresas on August 20, higher by 3.2%.However, this is about 1% less than thetotal area of 104 million hectares sownin 2020.

From Page 1On the agenda for the

world leaders is expected to bea push for the US to seek anextension of the August 31deadline, as time is running outfor the evacuation of foreignnationals from the Talibancontrolled region.

On the issue of desperatescenes at Kabul airport as peo-ple risk their lives to flee thecountry for fear of Talibanreprisals, the spokespersontermed it as economic migra-tion.

“I assure you it is not aboutbeing worried or scared. Theywant to reside in Westerncountries and that is a kind ofeconomic migration becauseAfghanistan is a poor countryand 70 per cent of the peopleof Afghanistan live under theline of poverty so everyonewants to resettle in Westerncountries to have a prosperouslife. It is not about (being)scared,” claimed Shaheen.

And, on reports of door todoor knocks to seek out formerGovernment workers, headded: “All fake news. I canassure you there are manyreports by our opponentsclaiming what is not based onrealities.”

From Page 1“The tower is 24 metre-

high and will take in air froma radius of one kilometre,which it will clean and thengive back fresh, clean air to thearea. It has a capacity of clean-ing 1,000 cubic metres of airper second. It is estimated thatthe area will see a rapid changein the quality of air because ofthe establishment of this tower,”the CM said.

According to DelhiGovernment officials, IIT Delhiand IIT Bombay will analyse allthe data and submit a report onthe effectiveness of the SmogTower. “Tata Projects executedthe Smog Tower’s establish-ment while NBCC providedproject consultancy and IITDelhi and IIT Bombay super-vised its technicalities,”

“The Delhi governmentgot this Smog Tower made forthe people of Delhi and I wantto congratulate them on theprogress we all have made inthe fight against pollution,” hesaid.

“The average of PM 10 hascome down consistently from324 ppm in 2014 to 187 ppm in2021, while PM 2.5 has comedown from 149 ppm in 2014 to101 ppm in 2021,” Kejriwalsaid.

“Delhi Government andthe people of Delhi havetogether made incessant efforts

in this fight. I am certain thatthis Smog Tower will be apath-breaking milestone in thefight against pollution. We areall very excited to see theresults of the performance ofthis project. The data analysiswill begin immediately andwe’ll get a detailed perfor-mance report within 2 yearsafter the performance is stud-ied very closely by experts. Inthe meanwhile, we’ll getmonthly trends to analyse howsuccessful the tower is turningout to be,” he added.

Kejriwal tweeted,“Congratulations Delhi. In thewar against pollution, the coun-try’s first smog tower has beenestablished in Delhi. This smogtower has been made withAmerican technology and willreduce the amount of pollutionin the air. The project hasbeen started on a pilot basisand will be replicated once theperformance is found to be effi-cient.”

Environment MinisterGopal Rai said, “Once themonsoon season is over thetower will function on fullcapacity and then IIT Delhiand IIT Bombay’s experts willstart their research on its per-formance. The DelhiGovernment is committed inits fight against pollution andthis tower will deeply aid thisfight and act as a technologicalfoundation for our future pro-jects.”

From Page 1In scenario three, the

experts predicted that the thirdwave could peak in late Octoberwith two lakh positive cases perday.According to the report,earlier, it was proposed that if 67per cent of the populationbecame immune (a few by infec-tion and rest through vaccina-tion), herd immunity could beachieved.But this has now beencomplicated by the new andmore virulent mutated variantsof SARS Cov-2 that have theability to escape immunity fromearlier infections and in somecases even the prevalent vac-cines, it said.

This has pushed the targetimmune population for achiev-ing herd immunity to 80-90 percent.Hence, our health systemand vaccines are caught in a raceagainst the virus and are tryingto catch up with risks that areevolving every day creatinguncertainty all over the world, itsaid.The NIDM is now taking aclue from several warnings indi-cating an imminent third wave,trying to understand them andprepare for the third wave. Withthis backdrop, it engaged withmultiple stakeholders fromdiverse backgrounds in anattempt to formulate consoli-dated recommendations foractions that can prevent or mit-

igate an impending surge.The report said there isn’t

sufficient data to back wide-spread fears that children will behit more severely in the antici-pated third wave of the pan-demic. However, as the viruscontinues to evolve, this is goingto be a major challenge forchildren as there is no approvedvaccine for children in India yet(first week of August).

Children with corona infec-tion have largely been seen to beasymptomatic or develop mildsymptoms. But this becomesworrisome in case children haveany comorbidity or other specialneeds.Children have also beenseen to develop MIS-C (multi-system inflammatory syn-drome) which is a rare butextremely serious conditiondeveloped post-Covid recov-ery, it said.The working groupcommittee experts suggested aholistic home care model,immediate increase in paediatricmedical capacities and priori-tising mental health issuesamong children, the report said.

According to a recent studydone by professors and alumnifrom Pandit Deendayal EnergyUniversity (PDEU) in collabo-ration with Nirma University,the vaccination rate of India iscurrently 3.2 per cent and if itdoes not improve, India can wit-ness six lakh cases per day in thethird wave.

From Page 1Leaders from Bihar have

argued that data from Caste-based census would help andfacilitate better administration.

The Bihar Assembly hadunanimously passed a resolutionon February 18, 2019, and againon February 27, 2020, demand-ing a caste-based census and sentto Union Home Ministry.

Besides the Chief Minister,RJD leader Tejashwi Yadav,State’s Parliamentary AffairsMinister and JD(U) leader VijayKumar Choudhary, Mines andGeology Minister and BJP leaderJanak Ram, Ajeet Sharma(Congress), Mehboob Alam(CPI-ML), Akhtarul Iman(AIMIM), former CM JitanRam Manjhi (HAM-S), MukeshSahni (VIP), Suryakant Paswan

(CPI) and Ajay Kumar (CPM)were part of the 11-member del-egation.

The reversal in BJP’s standon caste-based-census was firstreflected in July 11 when debat-ing 127th Constitution (amend-ment) Bill to allow States tomake their own OBC list, BJP’sBadaun MP Sanghmitra Mauryademanded (as against theCentre’s stated policy of notholding caste census) that caste-based census must be enumer-ated.

“Even cattle have beencounted State-wiseâ�¦ how manycattle are in each district andwhich animals are more inwhich district. But backwardclasses have never been count-ed,” the BJP MP said whileaccusing previous CongressGovernments of not doing jus-tice to OBC communities.

From Page 1Monetising 8,154 kms of natural gas pipelines

is estimated to give �24,462 crore and 3,930-kmproduct pipelines another �22,504 crore. Airportmonetisation will fetch �20,782 crore and portsanother �12,828 crore. Monetising two nationalstadiums, including the Jawaharlal Nehru Stadiumin New Delhi, and an equal number of regionalcentres (at Bengaluru and Zirakpur) is estimat-ed to yield �11,450 crore. Redevelopment of sevenresidential colonies in Delhi, including ones atSarojini Nagar and Nauroji Nagaras well as devel-opment of residential/ commercial units on 240acres of land in Ghitorni in Delhi has also beenidentified to garner �15,000 crore. The Ministersaid shipping assets worth �12,828 crore will bemonetised over the next four years. The shippingassets monetisation pipeline projects will be imple-mented by Ministry of Ports, Shipping andWaterways and potential models would be pub-lic private partnership (PPP).

Similarly, road assets worth �1.60 lakh crorewill be monetised over four years till FY25. Theroad assets monetisation will be implemented bythe Road Transport and Highways Ministry and

the National Highways Authority of India (NHAI). Niti Aayog CEO Amitabh Kant said the

potential models of road assets monetisationwould be Toll Operate Transfer (ToT) and InvIT.

ToT is one of the key models for monetisa-tion successfully employed in the roads sector bothby Central and state entities.

The Ministry of Road Transport andHighways (MoRTH) introduced the TOT con-cession framework in 2016 for monetisation ofroad assets portfolio by NHAI to long-terminvestors. The TOT model primarily entails secu-ritisation of the toll receivables by collecting anupfront concession fee from the selected bidderand determined through a transparent compet-itive bidding mechanism.

Infrastructure Investment Trust (InvIT) is aninnovative trust-based financial instrument,which enables participation in infrastructurefinancing through a stable and liquid instrument.

InvITs provide an opportunity to invest ininfrastructure assets with predictable cash flowsand dividends. InvITs have been introduced inIndia in 2014 and are employed by infrastructureasset owners to pool in money from a diverse setof investors against pay-out of cash flow gener-ated by the assets on a periodic basis.

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The Aam Aadmi Party(AAP) took out a ‘padyatra

(foot march)’ in all 272 wardsof Delhi against the alleged saleof land worth � 200 crore forjust �34 crore by the BJP-ruledmunicipal corporation.

Leader of Opposition ofNorth Municipal Corporation(NMC) Vikas Goyal said thatBJP leaders sold the land atthrowaway prices.

He demanded that the BJP-ruled MCD withdraw the deci-sion to sell Novelty Cinema andsaid that the party will contin-ue to protest and make the peo-ple of Delhi aware of this grafttill the demand is fulfilled.

“The North MunicipalCorporation sold the land ofNovelty Cinema worth �200crore to their loved ones for just

�34 crore. This is the same BJP that

does not have money to paysalaries to their employees.They do not have money totake up new projects but stillthey are stealing money fromthe people,” he said.

Goyal further said that theBJP has been ruling theMunicipal Corporation for thelast 15 years but has not ful-filled a single promise made to

the citizens of Delhi, be itcleanliness and maintaininghygiene in the city or anythingelse.

However, the BJP-ledNMC has rejected as “baseless”allegations of corruption lev-elled by the AAP which hadclaimed that the land ofNovelty Cinema in the WalledCity area was sold at a ratemuch below its actual worth inthe market.

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Within a span of 48 hours,a Delhi-based NGO res-

cued ten Cobras from variousparts of the national Capital. Asper Wildlife SOS, all rescuedsnakes are currently underobservation at the NGO’s tran-sit facility.

A four-foot-long Cobrawas found at the Atal AdarshBal Vidyalaya located inMandir Marg. The venomoussnake was comfortably coiledup below a desk in the mainoffice when a school employ-ee spotted him.

“The snake had becomealert and transitioned from itsrelaxed stance to flaring itshood at the rescuer in a defen-sive display. Understanding theprecariousness of the situa-tion, he proceeded with cau-tion, using a snake hook to res-cue the agitated reptile,” amember of the rescue team

said.In another incident, a

Cobra was found at a residencein Ambedkar Colony, a resi-dent spotted the snake slither-ing along the floor of herkitchen. Other Cobras werefound in the most unusualplaces — from generators toinside temples A three-foot-long Cobra was found in asmall temple built inside ahome in Bagdola Village,Dwarka. The residents werepetrified and refused to entertheir home until the WildlifeSOS respondent arrived.

The NGO also rescued a

Cobra that was trapped in anunused bird cage from a housein Faridabad.

Kartick Satyanarayan, Co-Founder and CEO, WildlifeSOS, said, “Reptile rescue callshave become a common occur-rence for Wildlife SOS duringthe monsoon season. However,a Cobra rescue call needs to behandled with extreme precau-tion since they are one of thefour venomous snakes found inIndia. Our Rapid Responseunit is equipped to handlesuch emergencies with care.”

Wasim Akram, DeputyDirector-Special Projects for

Wildlife SOS, said, “Cobrasespouse a lot of fear fromhumans due to their reputationas a lethal snake. However, itis important to remember thata Cobra never strikes unlessprovoked. We are glad to seemore people prioritising notonly theirs but also the snake’ssafety.” The Indian Cobra is avenomous snake commonlyfound in India, Pakistan,Bangladesh, Sri Lanka, Nepal,and Bhutan. The Cobras havenumerous myths attached tothem, leading to conflict withhumans and abuse at the handof snake charmers.

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Some shanties were damaged after a portionof Delhi’s Bhalswa landfill in northwest

Delhi collapsed on Monday morning, nearly ayear after a similar incident took place in Augustlast year. Police said no one was feared trappedinside the debris.

According to Delhi Fire Service (DFS) offi-cials, they received information regarding theincident at 7.30 AM, following which three firetenders were rushed to the spot and the fireengines returned from the spot at around 2.30PM.

A senior police official said that the incidenttook place around 7.30 AM. “A portion of thelandfill collapsed and fell on the road near theshanties. The shanties near the base of the land-fill were damaged during the incident. However,no major incident has taken place,” he said.

JCB machines have been called to clear theroad and the work is underway, they said, addingfurther details are awaited.

On Saturday, Delhi recorded 139 mm rain-fall, the highest one-day rain for August in at

least 13 years.This is not the first time that the landfill has

collapsed. In August 2020, three people wereinjured and over 10 jhuggis damaged after a por-tion of the Bhalswa landfill collapsed followingheavy rain. Three ragpickers who were buriedunder the debris were rescued and taken to hos-pital with minor injuries at that time.

The landfill, which is 53 metres high,receives 2,100 metric tonnes of waste every dayfrom North and Outer Delhi areas. Despitereaching its capacity in 2006, it continues to bein use due to lack of alternate sites.

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The Delhi Police has arrest-ed three men in the nation-

al Capital and recovered over93 kilograms of ganja worthmore than �5.5 crore in theinternational market. Theaccused have been identified asSanjay Kumar (38) andMohammad Israel (52), bothresidents of New Usmanpur,and Ram Prasad (49), a resi-dent of Okhla Industrial Area.

According to Atul KumarThakur, the DeputyCommissioner of Police(DCP), South district, onSunday, police received infor-mation that one auto-rickshaw,carrying huge quantity of ganja,would be coming in the area ofMalviya Nagar for delivery.

“Thereafter, a trap was laidat MMTC Road near SDMCPratibha Vidhyalya, MalviyaNagar and around 8:45 PM, theaccused were apprehended withcontraband,” said the DCP.“Police searched the auto-rick-shaw and 45 packets containinga total of 93.582 kilogramsganja was recovered. Duringinterrogation, it was revealedthat the accused persons hadprocured the contraband fromOdisha. It was transported fromremote forest area of Odisha toDelhi,” said the DCP.

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Water Minister and DelhiJal Board Chairman

Satyendar Jain directed theofficials to work tirelessly toensure that clean water reach-es the people of Delhi. He askedthem to develop a robust com-plaint resolution mechanism sothat any complaint is resolvedwithin 48 hours.

The direction came in themeeting chaired by theMinister on Monday. He metsenior DJB officials to resolvepersisting water-related prob-lems in the capital.

Jain told the officials that itis their prime responsibility tobe alert and responsive to thepeople’s issues and complaints.He also instructed the officialsto work tirelessly in ensuringthat complaints do not remainpending and focus should beon resolving complaints in theshortest time span.

“The DJB should worktirelessly in ensuring cleanwater to the people. It is ourprime responsibility to beresponsive and alert to anycomplaints. A robust com-

plaint resolution mechanismmust be put in place and anycomplaint should be resolvedwithin 48 hours,” he added.

Jain asked the officials toensure that no complaintsremain pending beyond the 48hours mark and said, “Anycomplaints related to watersupply, contaminated supply orotherwise must be resolvedwithin 48 hours and com-plaints taking time beyondthat should be flagged imme-diately so that a resolution canbe reached as soon as possible.Data collection of complaintsshould be undertaken to knowwhich areas face which kind ofproblems frequently so thatthose problems can be resolvedonce and for all for the benefitof the people”.

He further said, “Effectivesupervision of complaintsshould be done at ward levelsso that a quick resolution canbe done.”

Jain took progress reportsof other ongoing projects andemphasised upon the qualitiesof alertness and responsivenessto be the prerequisite for a goodadministration.

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The Delhi InternationalAirport (DIAL) signed a

Memorandum ofUnderstanding (MoU) withMedanta Hospital to set up adedicated Covid Care Centre atDelhi Airport’s Terminal 2.

The Covid Care Centre isexpected to be operational earlySeptember 2021.

Anticipating the third waveof Covid pandemic, the facili-ty is being set up with variousnecessary healthcare facilitiesfor its employees and theirfamily members, including chil-dren, who are feared to beimpacted by the third wave ofthe pandemic. According to aDIAL official this healthcarecentre will help isolate, clinicallytreat, clinically support asymp-tomatic, mild and mild to mod-erate Covid positive employeesof GMR or their family mem-bers, till they are transferred toa hospital or discharged totheir homes.

This medical support facil-ity will be managed by DIALunder the medical supervisionof Medanta Hospital.

Under this arrangement

DIAL will handle day-to-dayoperational issues, whileMedanta will provide all med-ical support to this centre,including supervision of medical personnel, treatmentprotocols, patient care, sup-port for pathology, microbiol-ogy and radiology, emergencyevacuation and admission ofcritically ill patients at theirfacility, etc.

A total of 15 PaediatricHigh Dependency Unit (HDU)beds, 18 Adult HDU beds and52 Isolation beds have beenallotted at this centre. Besides,85 oxygen concentrators havebeen arranged here.

AI based cameras havebeen installed for monitoring allthe activities inside the centre, along with all othermedical equipments for HDUand Isolation beds as per state-of-the-art best industry prac-tices.

Videh Kumar Jaipuriar,CEO-DIAL, said: “GMR isobligated to keep the airportoperational and functional at alltimes. Since the onset of theCOVID pandemic, many of ouremployees had to suffer to availhealthcare facilities.

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Ensuring gender parity in thearmed forces, a selection

board of the Indian Army onMonday cleared the way for thepromotion of five women offi-cers to colonel (Time Scale)rank.

This is the first time thatwomen officers serving withthe Corps of Signals, Corps ofElectronic and MechanicalEngineers (EME) and theCorps of Engineers have beenapproved to the rank of colonel,officials said here on Monday.

Previously, promotion tothe rank of colonel was onlyapplicable for women officersin the Army Medical Corps(AMC), Judge AdvocateGeneral (JAG) and the ArmyEducation Corps (AEC).

The widening of promo-tion avenues to more branch-es of the Indian Army is a signof increasing career opportu-nities for women officers, offi-cials said here while announc-ing the latest decision.

Combined with the deci-sion to grant permanent com-mission to women officersfrom a majority of branches ofthe Indian Army, this stepdefines the Indian Army’sapproach towards a gender-

neutral Army.The five women officers

selected for Colonel Time Scalerank are Lt Col SangeetaSardana from the Corps ofSignals, Lt Col Sonia Anandand Lt Col Navneet Duggalfrom the Corps of EME and LtCol Reenu Khanna and Lt ColRitcha Sagar from the Corps ofEngineers. These officers havecompleted 26 years of “reck-onable service.”

This comes days five afterthe Supreme Court allowed eli-gible women to take the exam-ination for admission toNational Defence Academy(NDA). The top court, how-ever, said that the result of theexamination would be subjectto final adjudication of the

petition. It is the first time everthat women candidates willappear for the NDA entranceexamination since it wasfounded in 1954.

The three Services chiefslast week visited the NDA totake stock of the creation ofinfrastructure catering to thepossible entry of womencadets.

Incidentally, the threechiefs including Army chief MM Naravane, AdmiralKarambir Singh and IAF chiefR K S Bhadauria are from thesame batch of the NDA. Plansare already afoot since lastfew months to create infra-structure for women cadets,sources said.

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After Zydus Cadila, the phar-ma firm from Gujarat that

was authorised by the DCGI forits needle-free ZyCoV-D Covid-19 vaccine for children aged 12years and above, it is learnt thatthe top drug regulator is likelyto give approval to the Covaxinvaccine of Hyderabad-basedBharat Biotech soon for kids foremergency use.

The administration of twodoses of Covaxin vaccinationhas been completed amongchildren and blood sampleshave been sent for the third timeto check the effectiveness interms of producing antibodiesamong children, according to anews agency which has quoteda source in the Union Health

Ministry.A total of 90 children were

subjected to Covaxin trials inKarnataka. However, the trialwill take 210 days to complete.As it will take another 5 to 6months from now, they can’twait till then in the current cir-cumstances to release the vac-cination for children, sourcesadded.

“Final report will come onthe 210th day. The Governmentand DGCI can take calls any dayafter the 56th day of the trialEmergency use. However, thestudy period will be there for210 days. Before also, whilereleasing Covid vaccines foradults the government of Indiaand DCGI did not wait till thecompletion of 210 days.Vaccines were released earlier,”

they said.Cheluvamba Hospital in

Mysuru attached to MysoreMedical College and ResearchInstitute (MMCRI) entrustedwith the conducting ofCovaxin’s Clinical trials on chil-dren has sent third blood sam-ples of children to designatedlaboratories.

It is one among the fivemedical institutes identified inthe country, which had got theinstitutional ethics committeeapprovals for Covaxin’s clinicaltrials on children. The trials arebeing done in the monitoring ofprincipal investigator andAssociate Professor, departmentof Paediatrics Dr. Pradeep N.

The Covid vaccination trailfor children comprises admin-istration of two vaccinationsbetween 0 and 28th day alongwith blood sampling. On the56th day, there will not be vac-cination but blood samples willbe collected. There will beanother blood sampling on the118th and also on 210th day ofthe trail.

DGCI will give approvals ina phased manner first startingwith children aged 12 years andabove in the first phase. Theapprovals will be given forrelease of vaccines for 6 to 12years of children and later forchildren aged between 2 to 6years.

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The United States hasapproved a record number

of Indian student visa applica-tions in 2021. This comesdespite the many challengesthat people are facing in trav-elling abroad. As per the USembassy, more than 55,000 stu-dents and exchange visitorshave or will board planes tostudy in the United States thisyear. The statement by the USembassy in India comes amidreports of students in severalother countries struggling to gettheir visas although the classeshave begun. “This year, morethan 55K students are boardingplanes to study in the UnitedStates, an all-time record inIndia,”the US embassy Indiatweeted.

The second wave of Covid-19 forced the Mission to delaythe commencement of its stu-dent visa season by two months.“More students are beingapproved every day. The USMission looks forward toanother great student season as

it facilitates study for springsemester students over thecoming few months,” the USmission in India said in a state-ment. In July, the resumption ofvisa services allowed afterdeclining in COVID-19 cases.

“The U.S. Embassy andConsulates opened additionalhours for visa appointmentsand made every possible effortto ensure timely arrival foracademic programs for as manystudents as possible. Ultimately,these efforts paid off, as morestudents than ever beforereceived visas to study in theUnited States,” the US embassyadded.

The Covid-19 pandemiccreated tremendous logisticalchallenges for the U.S. Mission’sconsular teams. Embassies and

Consulates typically begininterviewing fall semester stu-dents for a given year in May,but the second wave of Covid-19 forced the Mission to delaythe commencement of its stu-dent visa season by two months.In July, as soon as conditionsallowed for the resumption ofvisa services without endan-gering applicants’ health andsafety, consular teams workednot only to match, but surpass,their pre-Covid workload

New international studentenrollment in the United Statesdropped 43% in fall 2020 fromthe year prior, months afterCovid sent the world into lock-down. Similarly, the number ofnew students who actuallymade it onto campus in persondeclined by 72 per cent.

����� �9�7�:8�

The Supreme Court onMonday directed the

Centre, Uttar Pradesh andHaryana Governments to finda solution to the nine-month-long road blocks caused by theprotests by farmers.

A Bench headed by JusticeSanjay Kishan Kaul said thatwhile farmers have the right toprotest, roads cannot beblocked indefinitely. “Theymight have right to a place toagitate but roads cannot beblocked like this,” said JusticeKaul, adding that Central gov-ernment and concerned Statesto devise a solution.

“You have to find a solu-tion. The solution lies in thehands of Union of India andconcerned States,” the Courtsaid. The apex court was hear-ing a plea by a resident of Noidaseeking relief against roadblockade by protesting farmersagainst the controversial farmlaws for the past nine months.

The petitioner, MoniccaAgarwal contended despitevarious directions passed by theapex court to keep public roadsclear, they have not been fol-lowed. The petitioner said thatbeing a single mother with

medical issues, it has become anightmare for her to travelfrom Noida to Delhi. The UPGovernment, in its response,informed the Court that it is inthe process of requesting farm-ers to clear the area forsmoother traffic.

In an affidavit filed beforethe top court, the Uttar PradeshP Government said that it istrying to convince farmersabout how protests by blockingroads is not permitted as perthe Supreme Court’s earlierjudgments. Efforts are under-way to “make farmers under-stand the grossly illegal act ofblocking roads”, the affidavitsaid. “At present, there areabout 800-1000 protestors inthe area, however, a crowd ofup to 15,000 protestors collecton their call within hours fromadjoining towns and villages,”said the UP Government.

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Multi-storied buildingsconstructed with

Thermocol or ExpandedPolystyrene (EPS) could bethe future earthquake-resis-tant buildings, researchers atIIT Roorkee have found.

EPS, which is used as acomposite material in core ofreinforced concrete sandwich,could resist earthquake forceson up to four-storey buildings,they found after testing a full-scale building and a number ofwall elements constructed withthermocol sandwichedbetween two layers of concreteat the National Seismic TestFacility (NSTF) of theDepartment of EarthquakeEngineering, IIT Roorkee. Theproject was developed underthe Fund for Improvement ofS&T Infrastructure (FIST) pro-gramme of the Department ofScience & Technology (DST).

Research scholar, AdilAhmad who conducted thetests, evaluated the behaviourof the constructions under lat-eral forces, as earthquakescause a force predominantly inlateral direction. The investi-gation was supplemented withdetailed computer simulationof a realistic 4-storey building.Prof. Yogendra Singh, super-vising the research, shared thatthe analysis shows that a four-storey building constructedwith this technique is capableof resisting earthquake forces,even in the most seismic zone(V) of the country, without anyadditional structural support.

They attributed this earth-quake resistance capability tothe fact that the EPS layer is

sandwiched between two lay-ers of concrete having rein-forcement in the form of weld-ed wire mesh. The researcherssaid that the force being appliedon a building during an earth-quake arises due to the inertiaeffect and hence depends onthe mass of the building.Thermocol resists earthquakes

by reducing the mass of thebuilding.

Besides resisting earth-quakes, the use of expandedpolystyrene core in concretewalls of a building can result inthermal comfort. The core pro-vides the necessary insulationagainst the heat transferbetween building interior andexterior environment. This canhelp in keeping the buildinginteriors cool in hot environ-ments and warm during coldconditions. India suffers a largevariation of temperature indifferent parts of the countryand during different seasons ofthe year. Therefore, thermalcomfort is a crucial consider-ation along with structuralsafety.

The technology also hasthe potential of saving con-struction material and energy,with an overall reduction incarbon footprint of buildings,said the researchers.

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The All India Gem JewelleryDomestic Council (GJC)

on Monday claimed that barringbig corporates, most jewelleryshops remained shut inresponse to a nationwide strikecall given by 350-odd jewelleryassociations to protest the newgold hallmarking rules. TheGovernment, however, claimedthat there was no impact as avery small section of jewellersclosed their shops.

The Ministry of ConsumerAffairs released photos of bigcorporate jewellery showroomslike Tanishq, Kalyan Jewellers,Malabar Gold and Diamonds,PC Jewellers, PP Jewellers,Heera Panna Jewellers, AnandJewellers, Kunal Jewellers,Caratlane, Shree GaneshJewellers, Talwarsons Jewellers,Lalchand, Epari SadashivJewellers, Caratlane — whichremained open in differentparts of the country.

The jewellery bodies areagainst the Government’sHallmarking Unique ID(HUID) system which they saidhas nothing to do with the puri-ty of gold but is just a trackingmechanism. GIC has claimedthat there has been a very

strong response to a nationwidestrike against the HUID system.Shops are closed for a day.

“Big corporates in the jew-ellery sector never participate insuch strikes. Mostly individualand family-run jewellery shopsin all four zones are shut for aday,” GIC said. However, inTamil Nadu and Kerala, shopswere shut till 12.30 pm due tothe Onam festival, the jewelersbody said.

The Ministry said the saidcall of strike was itself based onuntenable grounds and anattempt was made to misinformfellow jewellers about the vari-ous provisions of hallmarkingscheme. The ministry alsoreleased letters of jewellers’bodies — All India Jewellers andGoldsmith Federation (AJGF),Swanakaar Sabha, Gems andJewellery ManufacturerAssociation Organisation(GJMA), Sarva SwarnkaarSamaj Netrutva Vikas Sansthawhich opposed the strike andsupported the HallmarkingUnique ID (HUID) system.

“As expected, the misguid-ed attempt by these limited setof persons to disrupt the normalfunctioning of jewellery busi-ness today, has failed miserably,”the ministry said.

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The Supreme CourtMonday said that demo-

lition of all unauthorisedstructures standing on Aravaliforest land in Faridabad’sKhori village has to continue,even as the municipal corpo-ration informed it that somefarmhouses have already beenrazed there.

The apex court, whilehearing an application filed byowners of some marriagehalls which have receivednotices from the civic body,said that Faridabad MunicipalCorporation has to proceedand demolish the unautho-rised structures as per law.

A bench comprisingJustices A M Khanwilkar andDinesh Maheshwari said thatas per previous order of theapex court, the intervenorsare supposed to make repre-sentation to the concernedauthority which will consid-er them.

“Let the corporationdecide on your representationand after that is decided, wewill consider what course ofaction can be adopted.

Today, all unauthorisedstructures are being demol-ished and that has to contin-ue,” the bench told the coun-sel appearing for the ownersof some marriage halls.

The counsel appearing for the municipalcorporation told the benchthat they have filed a compli-ance report in the matter onMonday and as far as repre-sentat ion is concerned, there is already adirection by the court and theauthority will consider it inaccordance with law.

“We have already demol-ished few farm houses,” thelawyer appearing for the civicbody said.

When the bench said itwould hear the matter aftertwo weeks, the counselappearing for marriage hallowners submitted that in themeantime, the authorityshould not demolish their structureswhile they consider their rep-resentation.

The bench told the coun-sel that they can make repre-sentations and the authoritywill consider it.

“If it is unauthorised, ithas to be demolished as per the presentlaw and legal position. Thecorporation has to proceed.Let them proceed,” the benchobserved and posted the mat-ter for hearing on September6.

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The Supreme Court onMonday said it would con-

sider listing pleas related toconferring of senior designa-tion to lawyers by the somehigh courts by using "arbi-trary and discriminatory"secret voting as a norm andmentioned that “some devel-opment” might take place in aweek to two.

A bench headed by ChiefJustice N V Ramana took noteof the submissions of senioradvocate Indira Jaising, onwhose PIL the apex court hadcome out with a slew of guide-lines for designating lawyers asseniors in 2017.

Jaising has sought urgentlisting of her fresh miscella-neous application alleging thatsome high courts have beenusing secret voting process asthe norm for conferring seniordesignation which is “arbitraryand discriminatory” andshould be declared so.

The designation of lawyersshould be on the basis ofmarks given by the designatedcommittee and the votingshould be resorted to "only"when it is "unavoidable", shesaid, adding that some highcourts use the voting method

as a norm and not an excep-tion.

"There are some problemsabout senior designation invarious courts.

The SCBA (the Supreme

Court Bar Association) hasalso requested for senior des-ignation. I want to take thisup," said the CJI.

The bench, also compris-ing Justices Surya Kant andAniruddha Bose, referred tothe demise of senior advocate Soli Sorabjee, whowas one of the members of theapex court's panel for takinginitial decisions on applicationsof lawyers for grant of seniordesignation and said that a newappointment has to be made.

"You know one of ourseniors Soli has passed away.We have to replace", the benchsaid, adding that a three-judgebench would hear the case.

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Talibs as they call them there arepretty honest people … I

thought they would be ferociousraw-flesh eaters like … but what Isaw … they were pretty humble …sweet-tongued and most impor-tantly hospitable.

That is how TamalBhattacharya one of the evacueesfrom war-torn Afghanistan wholate on Sunday evening returned toKolkata depicted the “goodTalibans” so to say. Tamal who hailsfrom Nimta area of North 24Parganas was among the 150 peo-ple who were allegedly abducted bythe Taliban militia before beingreleased later.

“It was not abduction as such… we were detained and taken toa location where our identity proofand other documents were checkedby the Talibs, said this teacher froman international school in Kabul.

“The only offensive thing aboutthem was perhaps their automaticrifles … otherwise they looked pret-ty calm, friendly and behaved welland respectfully with the women inthe group,” he said.

On the dread of being shot hesaid “we had initial apprehensionsbut things turned out to be quiteopposite … in fact we told that theTaliban people apprehendingattacks on us and so they had decid-ed to shift us to safer places … a

school in this case … as Talibanapprehended that many splintergroups could attack the us they tookour charge to protect us … theyhosted us in a school and evenplayed cricket with us … one ofthem even asked me to teach himEnglish … then they treated us toKabuli Pulao before seeing us off.”

On the general atmosphere inKabul, Bhattacharya the only son ofhis aged parents said “there is ten-sion … roads are empty, shops areclosed but nothing like the way wethought earlier happened … therewas no mass killing etc.”

On the most remarkablechange he witnessed in Taliban 2.0he said jeans and western attiresvanished overnight from the shopsand women went behind the burqaas immediately as the prices of gen-eral products including eatablescame down with their quantityincreasing by almost 50 percent.

“We loved taking Nan andmutton in the food corners whichcame for about Rs 160/- per plate.Now with the coming of Talibansthe price had not only come downbut also the quantity had increasedby half … this is because thetraders are not allowed to makeextra profit or cheat people,” he said.

Abhijit Ghosh from Behalasaid he and the entire lot of for-eigners with him passed dreadfulnights. “I was working at a NATObase as a cook … my employers

immediately shifted us on prioritybasis after the Talibans entered …we heard that some people werebeing searched for … the peoplewho had backed the western forces.”

On whether he would return toAfghanistan again he said he wouldprefer not to “but for that ourGovernment has to make somearrangement for us … I am the onlybread-earner in my house … I willexpect that the government doessomething for us or else I will haveto go out.”

But the family of SanghamitraDafadar from Behala is not as luckyas the Bhattacharyas or Ghoshs.

Sanghamitra a mother of twochildren has been working as anurse in Kabul. “We are in touchwith my daughter through face-book. She is in trouble and we areworried … her job has gone andbeing a woman she cannot go outof her house … her elder son is 19-year-old and he has to be sent outto bring daily ration … one day hewas caught by t he Talibans andthey were asking him to join hisranks … they told him that ‘you arehandsome and well built … whydon’t you join us … he ran backhome saying he would first takepermission from his family …since then he has not come out ofhis house … I heard that they willbe evacuated soon … but how soonwe do not know,” Ruby Dafadar hermother said.

����� +5@�

In a swift operation jawans ofthe special operations group

of Jammu & Kashmir police onMonday evening gunned downtwo terrorists in Khad Millground at Aloochi Bagh inSrinagar.

Inspector General ofPolice, Kashmir range VijayKumar told reporters, "the twoterrorists killed in the operationhave been identified as AbbasSheikh and Saqib Manzoor".

Names of both these ter-rorists had figured in the list ofmost wanted terrorists issuedby the Jammu & Kashmirpolice in the first week ofAugust 2021.

IGP said, Abbas Sheikhused to claim he was chief ofTRF (The Resistance Front) butin reality both the slain terror-ists were associated with LeT.

Claiming it to be a big suc-cess for the security forces,Kumar said, "after confirmingthe information about theirpresence in the area 10 plainclothes policemen fromSrinagar police launched theoperation".

"As they zeroed in on thelocation of the terrorists theychallenged them, warned them.In response the terrorists firedback on the policemen andduring retaliatory firing boththe terrorists were killed in theoperation".

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After eliminating 100 ter-rorists including several

top commanders of Lashkar-e-Taiba, Jaish-e-Mohammad andHizbul Mujahideen sinceJanuary this year the IndianArmy has once again appealedto the local youth on the pathof terrorism to surrender andjoin the mainstream.

The passionate appeal wasmade by Lt-Gen YK Joshi,Goc-in-C Northern Commandheadquarters in Udhampur onthe occasion of 23rd anniver-sary of homecoming of 23boys who “were forced to pickup arms'', but were rescued bythe Army in the Gurez sectorand handed over to their fam-ilies later in 1998.

"The youth on the path ofterrorism will be given a secondchance to come back and inte-grate with their families andjoin the mainstream and leada normal life, like these indi-viduals had done, two decadesback", Army Commander said.

Lt-Gen Joshi along with

other senior officers interactedwith these youth and theirfamilies after felicitating themat a simple ceremony atMansabal Lake park in CentralKashmir's Ganderbal district.

Highlighting the role of theparents the Army commandersaid, "parents have an impor-tant role to play, in ensuringthat their children do not fol-low the path of violence, whichonly brings pain and misery,not only for the ones who jointerrorism, but also their imme-diate and extended families".He said, the Army is steadfastin its resolve of ethical conductand ensuring full support tothose who want to leave thepath of violence.

Defence PRO in SrinagarCol Emron Musavi said, therescued boys are now leadingnormal, happy lives and aremarried and have families oftheir own, with children, whothemselves nurture dreams ofhaving successful careers, andbeing responsible citizens of thecountry.

Sharing background of the

event, Defence PRO ColMusavi said,"On 23 Aug 1998,a group of 23 young Kashmiriboys was apprehended, whileattempting to cross the LC.These young boys were beingcompelled into a path of mili-tancy through false promises bya fellow Kashmiri by the nameof Abdul Hamid @ BambarKhan, a resident of Ganderbal,into joining terrorist tanzeemsand were being taken to POK".

"Over a period of 10 daysfrom 04 Aug to 14 Aug 1998,Bambar Khan, with the help of

local OGWs, had collectedthese 23 young boys, all with-in 18 years of age, either byforce or through radicalizationand had kept them in thedense jungles of Ajas.Thereafter the group movedacross the Shamsha Bari rangeinto Gurez Tulail Valley, withthe aim of going across the LC,into POK. They were then to betrained there in terrorist activ-ities and thereafter reinfiltrateback into Kashmir and indulgein terror acts, at the behest ofthe masterminds in Pakistan",

the Defence PRO said. "On 23August 1998, information wasreceived by the BrigadeHeadquarters, that a largenumber of youths were seen inthe jungles near theKishenganga River.

"An operation waslaunched. It was led by (thenCaptain) and now BrigadierBudhwar. This group of youthswas sighted in the lower reach-es of the forest. The soldiersheld fire, as the terroristsaccompanying these youths,had run away taking cover ofthe thick foliage and vegetation.These young boys on seeing theIndian Army soldiers, shoutedfor help and immediately sur-rendered. The troops quicklytook control of the situationand helped them to cross theriver, which was in spate andescorted them to Gurez, wherethey were medically examinedand were given food, water andwarm beds to sleep. Thereafterthey were brought to HQ 15Corps in BB Cantt and werereunited with their parents",Col Emron Musavi said.

����� :@�A �9

Central public sector under-taking (PSU), National

Thermal Power Corporation(NTPC), has snapped 275megawatt power from UttarPradesh from midnight ofAugust 20 for not clearingdues that were outstanding formore than 45 days.

In a communication to theUP Power CorporationLimited, the Central PSUinformed it that it would reg-ulate 275.60 MW from August20 to 29. The action is a follow-up on NTPC’s warning toUPPCL on August 12 that it

would regulate the supply of5,512 MW power from its gen-erating stations from August 20as it had not cleared outstand-ing dues for more than 45 days.

The Uttar Pradesh PowerCorporation has sought andreceived state governmentguarantees for PFC-REC loans

of nearly �4,900 crore for pay-ment of outstanding dues ofcentral generating stations,independent power producersand renewable energy genera-tors.

As of July 31, the UPPCL’spending dues to power gener-ation companies have risen to�24,461 crore, out of whichdues of Central generating sta-tions amount to �4,270 crore,while that of independentpower producers are of �4,675crore. Dues payable to renew-able energy generators are �388crore, while those of state gen-erating stations are �15,128crore.

��������7���� 5:�C5B8

Chief Minister YogiAdityanath said that for-

mer Chief Minister KalyanSingh was a developing man aswell as a patriot and a devoteeof Ram. He strengthened theorganization of the BJP andtook the party forward. ChiefMinister Yogi came to Aligarhon Sunday. Here he paidhomage to the mortal remainsof former Chief MinisterKalyan Singh at AhilyabaiHolkar Stadium and told indetail about Kalyan Singh'sstruggle and achievements byholding a press conference.

The Chief Minister saidthat today every Ram devoteeis a staunch national devoteeand is mourning the physicaldeath of a Ram devotee.Former Uttar Pradesh ChiefMinister Kalyan Singh is no

more with us. His mortalremains were brought to thedistrict Aligarh, which was his'Karmabhoomi' and'Janmabhoomi'. The attach-ment that his supporters fol-lowers have for their late leaderfor six decades! All of us aregetting to see a vision of himhere. Kalyan Singh has a rela-tionship of about nine decadesin the district. In public life, hespent about seven decades inthe district Aligarh. Drawinginspiration from PanditDeendayal Upadhyay, he madeprograms, made plans andrealized the fear-free riot-freevision. The work done by himwill always be unforgettable forthe administration. Even inthe present times, all of us arelearning from his work andefforts.

Aligarh is fortunate, todaythe people of Aligarh are feel-

ing proud that among them forthe son of Mother India, whotook the state forward withcomplete transparency, andpurity. Hundreds and thou-sands of people present heretoday have had the opportuni-ty to live and interact with himin close time.

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There is a cure for the prob-lem of suicidal tendencies,

a disturbing trend which hasclaimed many young lives inIndia. say Dr Jayant Athavale,a hypno-therapist and SeanClarke, a researcher based atMaharshi Adhyatma VishwaVidyalay, Ramnadhi, Goa.

The National CrimeRecords Bureau states that 1.39lakh Indians committed suicidein the year 2019, out of which67 per cent was in the 18-45 agegroup.

The treatment is based ona system of knowledge datingback to thousands of yearsand was culled out of the price-less Vedic and Sasthras. “All

these years, we did not have sci-entific monitoring equipmentto study changes that tookplace in the mind and body tomake a foolproof observation.With modern gadgets whichcould measure changes in ener-gy levels in body and mind, itis time for us to tell the worldthat, yes, we can completelycure the tendency to commitsuicide,” Sean Clarke, a formerIndian Navy officer who left hisjob to pursue his passion inresearch.

According to Dr Athawaleand Clarke, practicing spiritu-ality and the ‘personalitydefects removal process’ canhelp prevent suicide. The sci-entists make it clear that this isnot a new finding but a scien-tific truth explained in Vedas

and Sasthras. Chanting thename of God is an easy yetpotent spiritual practice thatcan generate tremendousamount of positive energy toovercome defects in a person’smind, Clarke told The Pioneer.

This finding was substan-tiated with Universal AuraScanner, developed by DrMannem Murthy, a formerscientist with the Departmentof Atomic Energy.

The Aura Scanner is capa-ble of detecting variations inenergy generated during anyphase of one’s life. “We foundthat persons chanting OmNamo Bhagawate Vasudevayaor Shri Gurudev Datta gener-ate positive energy and act aspowerful protection againstdistress. Daily chanting of these

slokas or the one which iscomfortable to the chanterhelps to increase the positiveenergy within oneself and thisnullifies the possibility of neg-ative energies,” said Clarke.

A person’s capacity to facestress depends on how muchenergy he has available to faceit, said Dr Athawale. “Whenthere are more personalitydefects and unfinished busi-ness, the mental energy at hisdisposal is less. Unfinishedbusiness refers to unpleasantincidents in the past like a failedrelationship or childhood trau-ma which causes anxiety. Manyproblems have a spiritual rootcause, destiny or karma beingone of them,” said Dr Athawale.

Dr Murthy and his daugh-ter Geetha , working on Aura

Scanner with which they mea-sure the amount of positiveenergy generated/released dur-ing recitation of vedic hymnssay that the chanting couldresult in exciting results.

“Hymns or mantras arehaving high positive energyand by chanting them repeti-tively one can increase theenergy field or their vibration.Mantras refuel the enrgy,” saidGeetha.

According to Clarke, per-sons belonging to Christianityand Islam could recite hymnslike Hail Mary or Allah basedon their beliefs and the resultwould be the same. “The factis that chanting make a differ-ence and we have been observ-ing this for the last fourdecades,” he said.

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Lucknow:: Amid chants of ‘JaiShri Ram’ and recitation of‘shlokas’, the mortal remains offormer Chief Minister andBharatiya Janata Party’s Hindumascot Kalyan Singh (89) wereconsigned to flames on thebanks of the river Ganga nearNarora in Bulandshahr in thepresence of several Union min-isters and numerous VVIPs onMonday.

The cremation of the RamJanmabhoomi movementchampion was carried out withfull state honours at BansiGhat and Kalyan Singh's sonand Etah MP Rajveer Singh litthe pyre. Rajveer was assistedby his son and UP ministerSandeep Singh. The familymembers and supporters of thedeparted leader participatedin the cremation and bid adieuto Babuji -- as Kalyan Singhwas fondly known. Around 20priests performed the ritualswhich went on for about 30minutes and the pyre was lit ataround 4 pm.

Earlier, Singh’s mortalremains were brought fromMaharani Ahilyabai HolkarStadium in Aligarh to his nativevillage in Atrauli. Kalyan Singhbreathed his last due to sepsisand multi-organ failure atSanjay Gandhi Post-GraduateInstitute of Medical Sciences inLucknow on Saturday, wherehe had been admitted for 48

days. The UP Government hadannounced three days’ statemourning and declaredMonday as a public holiday.

On Sunday, Prime MinisterNarendra Modi rushed toLucknow to pay his tributes toKalyan Singh where he wasjoined by Defence Minister

and Lucknow MP, RajnathSingh. The mortal remainswere taken to the VidhanBhawan and BJP State officefrom the residence of KalyanSingh before being airlifted toAligarh and kept at AhilyabaiHolkar Stadium for people tohave darshan.

Union Ministers RajnathSingh, Smriti Irani, AshwaniChoubey, Ajay Bhatt,Mahendra Nath Pandey, ChiefMinister Yogi Adityanath,Uttarakhand Chief MinisterPushkar Singh Dhami, UPDeputy Chief Minister KeshavMaurya, UP BJP chiefSwatantra Dev Singh alongwith others gave ‘ahuti’ on themortal remains. Earlier theseleaders along with formerUnion Minister Uma Bhartiand several UP Ministers andsenior BJP leaders paid floraltributes at the cremationground.

Security forces also pre-sented a guard of honourbefore the body was taken forcremation.Earlier, the funeralprocession from Atrauli toNarora, covering around 29km, took over two hours aspeople thronged the roads atseveral places to pay theirrespect to the great leader of theregion. PNS

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In a new revelation in the draftcharges filed before a special court

in Mumbai, the NIA has said that theaccused in the Elgaar Parishad-cum-Bhima-Koregaon riots casehad recruited students from variousuniversities, including the JawaharlalNehru University (JNU) and TataInstitute for Social Sciences (TISS)for terror activities.

“...you accused no 1 to 10 alongwith the wanted accused no 17 to 22being the active members of thebanned terrorist organisation CPI(Maoists) and its frontal organisa-tions recruited students from vari-ous universities, includingJawaharlal Nehru University (JNU)and Tata Institute for Social Sciences(TISS) for commission of terroristactivity,” the NIA stated in the draftcharges filed before the court ofSpecial Judge D E Kothalikar lastweek.

The alleged recruitment of thestudents of JNU, TISS and other uni-versities is one of three fresh reve-lations that have been made by theNIA in its draft charges which willbe formalised and formally framedagainst the 22 accused in the much-discussed sensational case.

The other two new revelationsare: the NIA – which had earlier saidthat the accused in the case had con-spired to wage a war against theGovernment of India – has for thefirst time said that the accused had

also conspired against theMaharashtra government.

“The accused no 1 to 10 alongwith the deceased accused number 16(Father Stan Lourduswamy of TamilNadu who died in Mumbai while incustody on July 5, 2021) and abscond-ing accused 17 to 22 being the activemembers of the banned terroristorganisation CPI (Maoists) and itsfrontal organisations had conspiredwage a war against the Governmentof India and the State Government..,”one of the draft charges said, addingthat they conspired to overthrow thegovernments at the centre and in thestate (both BJP).

One of the draft charges throwsup the connection of Nepal andManipur. “For the purpose ( ofwaging the war against theGovernment of India and the stategovernment) conspired to demandand organise Rs 8 crore for annualsupply of M-4 (sophisticatedweapon) with 4,00,000 rounds andother arms and ammunition througha designated supplier from Nepaland Manipur and conspired to over-awe the Government of India andstate government by means of crim-inal force, show of criminal force,thereby committed the offence pun-ishable under section 121 A of theIndian Penal Code,” another chargein the draft charges said.

Interestingly, the much-dis-cussed sensational allegation – thatthe Pune police had made in the ini-tial weeks of investigations in the

case— that the weapons and ammu-nition required to be procured by theaccused were linked to a conspira-cy aimed at “assassinating” PrimeMinister Narendra Modi.

At that the Pune police hadtalked about an allegedly incrimi-nating letter recovered from the lap-top of Human Rights activists RonaWilson Jacob on April 17, 2018which the investigators suspectedmight be Rona himself. Addressedto one comrade Prakash, the pur-ported letter States: “We are think-ing along the lines of another RajivGandhi-type incident. It soundssuicidal and there is a good chancewe might fail but we feel the partymust deliberate over our proposal.Targeting his road shows could be aneffective strategy. We collectivelybelieve that survival of the party issupreme to all sacrifices”.

Among other things, the pur-ported letter had stated: “Modi-ledHindu fascist regime is bulldozing itsway into the lives of indigenous adi-vasis, in spite of big defeats like Biharand West Bengal. Modi has suc-cessfully established BJP govt inmore than 15 states. If this pace con-tinues then it would mean immensetrouble for the party on all fronts.Greater suppression of dissent anda more brutal form of Mission 2016(OGH). Com. Kisan and few othercomrades have proposed concretesteps to end Modi-raj”.

“Defeating Hindu fascism hasbeen our core agenda and a major

concern for the party.... We are try-ing to consolidate ties with like-minded organisations, pol. parties,representatives of minorities acrossthe country,” the letter had stated.

The arrested accused in thecases are: Sudhir P. Dhawale, VernonS. Gonsalves (both of Mumbai),Arun T. Fereira of Thane, SagarGorkhe of Ahmednagar, RameshGaichor of Pune, Surendra P.Gadling, Shoma K. Sen, Mahesh S.Raut (all of Nagpur), Anand B.Teltumbde of Yavatmal, all inMaharashtra.

Two are from New Delhi - RonaJ. Wilson and Gautam Navlakha, P.Varavara Rao of Hyderabad, SudhaBharadwaj of Faridabad, Hany BabuM. Tharayil of Trichur, and the lateFr. Stan Lourduswamy of TamilNadu, who died on July 5 in Mumbaiwhile in custody. The absconding-accused are: Milind Teltumbde alias-es Dipak and Sahyadri of Yavatmal,Prakash Goswami aliases Navin andRitupan Goswami of Assam, KishanBose aliases Prashanto of Kolkata,Mupalla Laxman Rao, alias Ganpati,Chandrashekhar, Manglu, andDeepu.

It may be recalled that thescanned copies of 10 “incriminating”letters were among the virtual andphysical documents recovered by theinvestigators during their simulta-neous raids conducted by the inves-tigators on April 17 2018 ahead ofthe arrest of Wilson and otheraccused in the case.

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your service”, parades and yel-low-ribbon symbolism hadbecome the societal norm, andthe shift was palpable as theVietnam Veterans earlier hadnot been showered with thesame fervour, dignity and fan-fare coming home from a warthat they had clearly lost. The billfor the Vietnam war (like forAfghanistan now) had beenprohibitive and the economicconsequences of the same werefelt by the entire citizenry — theinevitability of the same with therecent Afghan war, with anestimated payout of $6.5 trillionby 2050 in terms of just the costof interest towards borrowedmoney for Afghanistan opera-tions will haunt and pinch forlong. What the US got for itsmilitary operations in 20 yearsis the shameful return of the“enemy” even before the lastAmerican troop had flownaway. Special permissions arebelieved to have been soughtfrom the Taliban to ensure thesafe passage of the retreatingAmerican soldiers!Unquestionably, the AmericanMilitary is defeated once again,this time by the disorderlyassemblage of the incongruous-ly armed and trained Talibanmilitia.

Authoritarian countries likeChina or Pakistan have theirown suppressive and repressiveformulas to hide their failuresand myth-make their Military’sprowess by simply denying thetruth. While the 1962 Indo-China war is a reality, but so wasinglorious fate of the ChineseMilitary in 1967 (Nathu La andCho La clashes) just as it did notown up to its losses in GalwanValley recently, till almost a yearlater! The Sino-Vietnamese War(1979) that led to a spectacularperformance from the numer-ically and materially inferiorVietnamese forces is brushedaside in the Chinese narrative.In Pakistan, despite the repeat-ed disgrace of the 1965 Indo-Pak war, even worse fate in 1971and the more recent Kargilwar, the bloated and over-enti-tled Pakistani Military remainsbeyond questioning. Murmursof sub-optimal performanceaside, no one can openly doubtthe Pakistani Military as it con-trols all the essential levers ofgovernance and perceptionmanagement.

In 2021, the post-Afghanistan optics and per-ceptions of the AmericanSoldier will require a lot morethan just Hollywood produc-

tions, Congressional bravado orflag-waving ceremonies — hardquestions will follow and dailyimages of the turbaned Talibanmocking its might will impactthe institution of the USMilitary, psychologically andpermanently. America’s longestwar (Afghanistan) and its sec-ond longest war (Vietnam), asalso its unsettled status in theMiddle Eastern theatre, will bein sharp contrast to the gloriesof the “Greatest Generation” ofWorld War II, or the soonthereafter Korean War. Thehollowness of George Bush’sTexan drawl at the joint sessionof the US Congress 20 years ago,before sending the Americantroops to Afghanistan, “Thecourse of this conflict is notknown, yet its outcome is cer-tain”, will haunt and traumatisethe American soldier andnational conscience immeasur-ably. The entire edifice of the USMilitary from its intelligenceassessment, firepower, plan-ning, cutting-edge technology tothe ‘GI Joe’ imagery will be shat-tered beyond immediate repair.

(The writer, a military vet-eran, is a former Lt Governor ofAndaman & Nicobar Islands andPuducherry. The views expressedare personal.)

������������������� ���������� �Sir — As it becomes increasingly evidentthat it would be impossible to dislodgethe saffron party from power if theOpposition parties continue to tread thelone path, the mounting efforts by a fewleaders to resurrect a united Oppositionappear fully justified. Just as the Britishextended their unwelcome stay in thecountry to have an uninterrupted reignof nearly 200 years over it, a dividedOpposition is only strengthening thehands of the Modi Government. Ofcourse the general elections are yet a fewyears away, but to have envisaged a unit-ed front to challenge the might of the BJPin the country at this stage speaks for theseriousness of the venture.

In Goa too, there are sufficient hintsof a combined Opposition being envi-sioned to topple the BJP in the ensuingAssembly polls. But these have beenmore of plans than anything concretebeing attempted. Somehow in Goa, aselsewhere in the country, an ‘Opposition-combine’ is only thought of at the lastmoment after all available options havebeen exhausted for parties that consti-tute the Opposition. But, as a stop-gaparrangement, nothing much can beexpected to come of these endeavours.Such ‘provisions’ need to be made muchearlier which also gives the electorate suf-ficient time to adjudge the new alliance.

Pachu Menon | Goa

������������������������������Sir — The Northeast is tired of askingfor a separate time zone. Many politiciansfrom the Northeast have tabled therequest for a separate time zone over theyears but to no avail. The Centre is underthe impression that setting up an inde-pendent time zone in the Northeastwould brew separatist tendencies in thepeople. However, it’s worth noting thatRussia has nine different time zoneswhile the US has six and barely do theyhave any such tendencies. On the otherhand, China’s policy to adhere to onlyone time zone for enhanced nationalunity has backfired on them quite often.

In winters when the sun sets by 4pm in the Northeast, offices and indus-tries have to remain open till 6 pmwhich means unnecessary consumptionof electricity. In summers when the sunrises by 4:30 am, nearly five hours ofnatural daylight is wasted by the timepeople go to their offices. The tea gar-dens in Assam follow a schedule whichis one hour ahead of the IndianStandard Time (IST) to put the daylighthours to better use. It is a humblerequest to the Government to facilitatea separate time zone to the Northeastfor the greater good of the region as wellas the country.

Noopur Baruah | Tejpur

������������������������������Sir — Peoples Democratic Party (PDP)president Mehbooba Mufti has asked theCentre to take a lesson fromAfghanistan. This is a highly derogato-ry statement coming from the formerChief Minister of Jammu and Kashmir.This is also a veiled instigation from herto the terrorists to follow the footsteps

of the Taliban in Kashmir. Of course,nothing better can be expected from aperson who called terrorists the ‘sons ofsoil’. The statements and remarks ofMehbooba have taken her to a new low.On one hand she asks the youth not topick up arms while on the other she citesexamples of Taliban who took overAfghanistan at gunpoint. She cannot eatthe cake and have it too.

The Indian army is capable of deal-ing with worst case scenarios and hasproved its mettle by making Kashmir asafer place to live in. Mehbooba wantsthe Centre to return what it snatchedfrom them. She must realise that whatwas given was only a temporary arrange-ment. One can’t go on saying ‘temporary’permanently. Mehbooba has drawn ref-erence to the talk of India and Pakistanfor ceasefire to happen. She cannot feignignorance to the fact that Pakistan hasviolated ceasefire pact several times.

KV Seetharamaiah | Hassan

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Numbers of 300,000 trainedand well-equipped Afghansoldiers, up against a ragtag

militia of 75,000-odd Talibanis, arebandied with the additional ele-ment of considerable airpower atthe Afghan Military’s disposal. Torub in the humiliation, even theessentially clueless Joe Biden com-mented: “The Afghan militarygave up, sometimes without tryingto fight.” While the bleak commen-tary on Afghan troops is true, how-ever, the spin doctors inWashington DC have successful-ly managed to deflect the much-needed criticism of the perfor-mance of the world’s most power-ful military against a motley mili-tia — despite the $2 trillion bill,nearly 2500 American soldiersreturning in body bags, and theunprecedented access to all formsof military wherewithal, air coverand unanswerable military con-duct. When the din and dust onAfghanistan under the Talibandoes settle, serious questions on theperformance and psyche of theAmerican soldier will be awkward-ly unavoidable and embarrassing,just as it has been so for the AfghanArmy soldier.

Never mind the actual realityof Vietnam earlier or Afghanistantoday (as, indeed, many failures inbetween), the creatively positedvirility, ‘heart’ and moral purposeof the quintessential AmericanRambos dominate the popularimagination. This manufacturedreel-life stories tell the tale that theignorant public wants to believe,not necessarily accept. The pioneer“American spirit” that tamed thewilderness of tropical rainforestsand soggy rice fields in Vietnam,to the dustbowl swirls around thesun-baked Afghan swathes, isdeceptively charming, but oftenincomplete. Real images of the flee-ing Americans escaping clumsily ina helicopter from rooftops inSaigon or that of American troopsflying out without informing any-body from Bagram AirforceStation, are not exactly in themould of Captain America!

This sophistry of perceptioncreation owes a lot to Reganism-erawhich rescued, resuscitated andreconstructed the image for the bat-tered American soldier, after thedefeat in Vietnam. By the 1990s,during the Gulf Wars, gestures likeflag pins, saying “Thank you for

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While writing the chapter onBabri Masjid titled, ‘When ItAll Came Crashing Down’ inmy book, ‘Not Just A Civil

Servant’, I did face a dilemma. KalyanSingh was understood to be the ‘real cul-prit’ behind this demolition but I hadsome first-hand knowledge about whathad happened on the day of demolition.I wondered whether that should beshared with the readers. There was noth-ing illegal about what I wrote but thedilemma was on account of being privyto some private conversations andwhether I should release such private con-versations into the public domain with aview to placing certain facts before thepublic.

Babri Masjid was a bone of contentionbetween the Hindu and the Muslimcommunities since the 19th century.Although the disputed structure wasapparently built during 1520-29 CE byMir Baqi on the orders of the MughalEmperor, Babar. The mosque was locat-ed on a hill known as ‘Ramkot’. TheHindus believed that Baqi had destroyeda pre-existing temple of Rama at the site.They also believed that Rama was bornhere. This belief emanates from the doc-uments of Sawai Jai Singh.

In fact, in the Kapad-Dwar collectionin the City Palace Museum of Jaipur, thereis a sketch map of the Babri Masjid site.The map portrays an open courtyard anda built structure resembling Babri Masjidwith three domes. The courtyard is men-tioned as ‘Janmsthan’ and shows a ‘RamaChabutara’.

In 1853, a group of Hindu asceticsoccupied the site and claimed ownershipover the structure. In 1855, after aHindu-Muslim clash, a boundary wallwas constructed to avoid further disputes.Accordingly, the Muslims offered prayersin the inner courtyard and the Hindus onthe raised platform.

The dispute acquired a legal dimen-sion when in 1877, Syed MohammadAsghar, the guardian of the structure, fileda petition with the Commissioner ofFaizabad requesting for restraint onHindus who had raised a Chabutara onthe spot regarded as the birthplace ofRam.

In December 1949, Akhil BhartiyaRamayan Mahasabha organized a 9-days recital of the ‘Ramcharitmanas’ justoutside the mosque. On the morning of23rd December, 1949, the event’s organ-isers announced that the idols of Ramaand Sita had appeared miraculously andexhorted Hindus to come for ‘darshan’.Given the sensitivity of the issue, theGovernment declared the mosque a dis-puted area and locked the gates. Theunlocking of the gates took place in theyear 1986 when all Hindus were givenaccess to the site.

A massive campaign was subsequent-ly launched to build a Rama temple on thesite. It was against this background that

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In the year 2000, five yearsafter the Taliban came topower in Afghanistan,

nobody elsewhere cared whathappened in that land-locked,benighted country. It was ruledby angry rural fanatics whotormented the local peoplewith their demented rules forproper ‘Islamic’ behaviour, butit was not a military or diplo-matic priority for anybody.

It is about to return to thatisolated and isolationist exis-tence. Neither then nor nowdo the Taliban even have a for-eign policy. They are more likea franchise operation whosevarious elements share certainbasic principles - e.g. foreign-ers, women and democracy arebad - but whose members areprimarily focused on localissues and personal ambitions.

This is not the first time

that the country has been insuch a mess, and about theonly useful thing that the cur-rent lot of foreign invaders cando on their way out is offerrefuge abroad to as many aspossible of the Afghans whotrusted their promises. Thatwill certainly not be morethan ten or twenty percent ofthose who earned their protec-tion.

The Russians and theAmericans share the blame forthis catastrophe. It’s hard tobelieve that an uninvadedAfghanistan could have peace-fully evolved into a prosperousdemocratic society with equalrights for all, but ‘uninvaded’is the only condition in whichit could conceivably haveapproached that goal.

There was the germ ofsuch a locally-led modernisa-

tion process in the overthrowof the king in 1973 and theproclamation of an Afghanrepublic. Other Muslim-majority states have made thattransition successfully - Turkeydid, for example, despite itscurrent government - but theAfghan attempt did not pros-per.

Violent resistance by tra-ditional social and religiousgroups started at once, and thetottering new republicanregime was overthrown in1978 by a bloody military

coup. The young officers whoseized power were Marxistswho imposed a radical reformprogramme.

They gave women the voteand equal access to education,carried out land reforms, andeven attacked the role of reli-gion. By 1979, the Marxistregime was facing a massiverevolt in conservative ruralareas, and one faction asked forSoviet military help.

The moribundCommunist leadership inMoscow agreed, and 100,000Soviet troops entered thecountry. The subsequent wardevastated the country for adecade - with much help fromthe United States.

“The day that the Sovietsofficially crossed the (Afghan)border, I wrote to PresidentCarter: We now have the

opportunity of giving to theUSSR its Vietnam War,” saidformer US National SecurityAdviser Zbigniew Brzezinski .He immediately started send-ing money and weapons to therural rebels who later becamethe Taliban.

It took ten years, $40 bil-lion of clandestine US militaryaid, and around a millionAfghan dead, but by 1989 theTaliban and their variousIslamist rivals forced theRussians to pull out. Shortlyafterwards the Soviet Unioncollapsed, and Brzezinski arro-gantly but implausibly claimedcredit for it.

“What is most importantto the history of the world?” heasked. “The Taliban or the col-lapse of the Soviet empire?Some stirred-up Moslems orthe liberation of Central

Europe and the end of the coldwar?” In reality, the SovietUnion was heading for col-lapse anyway, but the ‘stirred-up Moslems’ turned out to bea fairly large problem.

The Taliban took power inKabul in 1996 after a long all-against-all war between thevarious Islamist groups, andruled most of the countrybadly and brutally for fiveyears. Then an Arab Islamistcalled Osama bin Ladenabused the hospitality of theTaliban leader Mullah Omarby launching the 9/11 attacksagainst the United States in2001.

That led to another twen-ty years of war: the Talibanagainst another set of foreign-ers who understood little aboutthe country’ recent historyand why it made local people

profoundly mistrustful of‘helpful’ foreigners.

Even now Americans don’trealise how closely they haverecapitulated the Soviet expe-rience in the country. The end-ing that is now unfolding wasforeordained from the start,although it has taken twice aslong to arrive because theUnited States is much richerthan Russia. Nevertheless, theaftermath will also be thesame.

The various factions ofthe Taliban will split, mostly onethnic lines, and another civilwar of uncertain length willfollow. The rule of the winnerswill be as cruel and arbitraryas it was last time. And the restof the world will rapidly loseinterest, because Afghanistanwon’t pose a serious threat toanywhere else.

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POINTCOUNTERPOINT

The writer is a retiredIAS officer and worked

as Secretary to lateKalyan Singh when he

was Chief Minister. Thisis a chapter from his

book., “EthicalDilemmas of a CivilServant”. The views

expressed are personal.)

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(Gwynne Dyer’s new bookis ‘The Shortest History ofWar’. The views expressed

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the Bhartiya Janata Party (BJP),under the leadership of KalyanSingh, came to power in UttarPradesh and I was appointed asDirector, Information and PublicRelations.

Kalyan Singh had taken on hisjob in the right earnest. He wascertainly concerned about theRama Mandir issue but on assum-ing office, he made his intentionsclear to provide honest and pur-poseful governance. He was keenon conveying a message that hemeant business. His vision wentmuch beyond the Mandir.

His objective was to build anew and vibrant Uttar Pradesh. Alist of such officers who had hon-est credentials for manning criti-cal posts like District Magistratesand Secretaries of Departmentswas drawn up at his behest.Certain social evils, like masscopying in school examinations,were sought to be reined in. TheCabinet Meetings would go on forhours, discussing policies on var-ious issues before taking a final call.He got a set of extremely brightofficers like Sanjay Aggarwal andAnant Kumar Singh (both ofwhom rose to become Secretariesto the Government of India sub-sequently) to his Secretariat.

He was leaving no stoneunturned to achieve his objective.Improvements were clearly in evi-dence in the form of delivery ofservices at the field level and in thepostings of competent officers.These officers were provided secu-rity of tenure (the State was oth-

erwise notorious for its flourishing‘transfer industry’) and necessarybacking to carry out the task ofimplementing policies.

He did want a grand temple atAyodhya and was diligently work-ing towards a peaceful and amica-ble consensus. There were indeeda few options emerging. One suchoption was the construction of anew masjid close to the site. Heeven gave an example of the shift-ing of mosques when Aswan Damwas being constructed in Egypt.This idea was gradually gainingcurrency. He was engaging inten-sively with all the stakeholders.However, he was totally against theaggressive posturing that was thehallmark of right-wing religiousorganisations.

Ironically, what emerged in thejudgement of the Supreme Courtin 2019 was the solution thatKalyan Singh had been working onand attempting to convince vari-ous parties to come around to!

However, what happened onthe 6th of December, 1992, shockedhim as well. Those who believethat Kalyan Singh was the manbehind this demolition overlookthe fact that he had an absolutemajority in the assembly. Whywould he want to bring his owngovernment down in case theMasjid gets demolished? He wouldhave surely known the conse-quences of the demolition. In hisrepeated interactions with thecentral leadership, he was arguingagainst the congregation of karse-vaks at the site.

This became evident on the 6th

of December in his telephonic con-versation with Bhairon SinghShekhawat, the then ChiefMinister of Rajasthan. I was pre-sent when this conversation tookplace. Kalyan Singh was livid. Hereiterated that he was against sucha congregation, but he was over-ruled and no one listened to him.His reservation about such a con-gregation was not based on anyapprehension of a mishap (he wassome how convinced that thestructure will never come down inthe manner it finally did) but withregard to the unnecessary distrac-tions that such events created. Hewas opposed to the congregationin July as well but, fortunately, nountoward incident happened then.

The other argument oftenraised is, why didn’t he allow thecentral forces that were stationednearby to handle the situation? Itis a fact that Kalyan Singh didn’tpermit the central forces to takeover or seek their assistance, but itdoes not automatically imply thathe did not allow the central forcesto come in because he wanted thedemolition to take place.Moreover, a similar event hadtaken place in July and then thedust had settled down peacefully.

Kalyan Singh believed that, asin July, the karsevaks would goback after performing pooja andthat no harm would come to theMasjid. However, on this occasionhe was wrong. The structure camedown and, with it, brought downhis government.

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Afirefight just outsideKabul’s international air-

port killed at least one Afghansoldier early on Monday,German officials said, the lat-est chaos to engulf Westernefforts to evacuate those flee-ing the Taliban takeover of thecountry.

The airport shooting cameas the Taliban sent fightersnorth of the capital to eliminatepockets of armed resistance totheir lightning takeover earli-er this month.

The Taliban said theyretook three districts seized byopponents the day before andhad surrounded Panjshir, thelast province that remains outof their control.

Afghanistan’s securityforces collapsed in the face ofthe Taliban advance, despite 20years of Western aid, trainingand assistance. Tens of thou-sands of Afghans have soughtto flee the country since, fear-ing a return to the brutal rule

the Taliban imposed the lasttime they ran Afghanistan.That has led to chaos at the air-port in Kabul, the main routeout of the country.

Gunfire broke out near an

entrance to the airport, whereat least seven Afghans died aday earlier in a panicked stam-pede of thousands of people.The circumstances of theshooting, which occurred

around dawn, remainedunclear.

The German militarytweeted that one member of theAfghan army was killed andthree others were wounded by

“unknown attackers.” AnItalian humanitarian organi-zation that operates hospitals inAfghanistan said it had treatedsix patients with bullet woundsfrom the airport. The USMilitary and NATO did notimmediately acknowledge theshooting. There was no com-ment from the Taliban.

The tragic scenes aroundthe airport have transfixed theworld. Afghans poured ontothe tarmac last week and someclung to a US Military trans-port plane as it took off, laterplunging to their deaths. Atleast seven people died that day,in addition to the seven killedon Sunday.

The Taliban blame thechaotic evacuation on the U.S.Military and say there’s noneed for any Afghans to flee.They have pledged to bringpeace and security afterdecades of war and say theywon’t seek revenge on thosewho worked with the U.S.,NATO and the toppled AfghanGovernment.

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The Taliban’s longtimespokesman has urged

imams in Afghanistan to giveassurances to Afghans abouttheir security and safety.

Zabihullah Mujahid saidon Monday at a gathering ofclerics in the capital Kabulthat they are responsible forkeeping their constituents calm.

He also urged them to“clear the baseless propaganda”he says is being disseminatedby the US about the Taliban.

He says: “Imams, keep yourpeople calm, we should indoc-trinate people to support theIslamic government andIslamic Emirates ofAfghanistan.”

Moscow: Russia says it will notinterfere in the stand-offbetween the Taliban and theiropponents in Afghanistan.

Kremlin spokesman DmitryPeskov said on Monday thatleaders of the Collective SecurityTreaty Organisation memberstates discussed the standoffand its implications of “anothercivil war in Afghanistan”.

He says, “Of course, no oneis going to intervene in theseevents.”

Taliban spokesman saidMonday the group’s forces havesurrounded Panjshir, the onlyone of Afghanistan’s 34provinces that has not yet fall-en to the Taliban. SeveralTaliban opponents have gath-ered in Panjshir. AP

-����������%�������,���������!������������Kabul: Afghanistan’s biggestfemale pop star Aryana Sayeedon Thursday confirmed herescape after the Talibantakeover of Kabul city.

“I am well and alive andafter a couple of unforgettablenights, I have reached Doha,Qatar and am awaiting myeventual flight back home toIstanbul,” Aryana Sayeed toldher 1.3 million Instagram fol-lowers.

As women and girls pleadfor their livelihoods understrict Taliban rule, Sayeed, 36,who had recently starred as ajudge on a singing competitionshow on Afghan television,told reporters she left via UScargo jet, reported New YorkPost.

The singer is among thelucky few as expats fromaround the world struggle tofind flights out of the country.

Agencies

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Facing criticism over his pol-icy on Afghanistan, US

President Joe Biden hasdefended his move to withdrawAmerican troops from the war-torn country, saying history willrecord this as a “logical, ratio-nal and right decision”.

The Taliban seized powerin Afghanistan on August 15,two weeks before the US wasset to complete its troop with-drawal after a costly two-decade war.

The insurgents stormedacross the country, capturing allmajor cities in a matter ofdays, as Afghan security forcestrained and equipped by the USand its allies melted away.

Thousands of Afghannationals and foreigners arefleeing the country to escapethe new Taliban regime and toseek asylum in different

nations, including the US andmany European nations, result-ing in total chaos at Kabul air-port and deaths.

The Biden administrationhas come under criticism, espe-cially the OppositionRepublican Party, for the with-drawal of the US forces fromAfghanistan as the Talibancaptured power, resulting inchaos and deaths.

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The UK Government said onMonday that it has rein-

forced its staff presence inKabul to assist with the evac-uation of British nationals fromthe Afghan capital.

Five staff from the Foreign,Commonwealth andDevelopment Office (FCDO)have joined 14 already workingon the evacuation operation inKabul, four of them arriving onMonday morning and one onSunday night.

“This brings the total FCDOstaff currently in Kabul to 19.This includes AmbassadorLaurie Bristow, staff from BritishEmbassy Kabul and FCDOrapid deployment team mem-bers,” an FCDO statement said.

“Alongside UK military,these staff are working roundthe clock to support evacua-tions on the ground in Kabul,”it said.

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Pakistan and its intelligenceservice have played a key

role in fostering the Talibanand allowing it to eventuallytake over Afghanistan, a topRepublican lawmaker hasalleged, stating that it is dis-gusting to watch Islamabadcelebrate the group’s victorythat will bring “untold brutal-ity” to Afghans.

Congressman SteveChabot, Co-Chair of the IndiaCaucus, said in his address tothe virtual gala of HinduPolitical Action Committee onSunday that he applauds theIndian government for wel-coming the Afghan religiousminorities who have a goodreason to fear persecution atthe hands of the Taliban andtheir evil rule.

“In contrast, we all know

that Pakistan and particularlyits intelligence services playeda key role fostering the Talibanand allowing them to eventu-ally take over. It’s just disgust-ing to watch Pakistani officialscelebrate the victory of thisgroup that will bring untoldbrutality to the Afghan people,”Mr Chabot said.

“Pakistan’s own persecu-tion of religious minorities,however, gets a lot less attentionhere in America than itdeserves. We would do well toeducate our fellow citizensabout these abuses.

Persecution is particularlymanifests in the heinous prac-tice of the kidnapping, forceconversion to Islam and forcedmarriage of underage Hindugirls to older Muslim men,” hesaid. Such allegations are not mere hearsay, he noted.

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China is once again criticis-ing the United States over

Afghanistan, saying Americacannot simply abandon thewar-torn country.

“The United States is theroot cause and the biggest exter-nal factor in the Afghan issue,”

Foreign Ministry spokespersonWang Wenbin said on Monday.“It cannot just run away like this.”

He called on the US to helpmaintain stability, avoid chaosand rebuild Afghanistan.

“I hope the US side canmatch its acts with words, takeon its responsibilities inAfghanistan and put into prac-

tice its commitments toAfghanistan in terms of devel-opment and reconstruction,and humanitarian assistance,”he told a daily briefing.

China has expressed readi-ness to work with all parties inAfghanistan, including theTaliban, to rebuild the war-tornnation.

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At least 22 people were killedand rescue crews searched

desperately on Sunday amidshattered homes and tangleddebris for dozens of people stillmissing after record-breakingrain sent floodwaters surgingthrough Middle Tennessee.

Saturday’s flooding in ruralareas took out roads, cellphonetowers and telephone lines, leav-ing families uncertain aboutwhether their loved ones sur-vived the unprecedented deluge.Emergency workers were search-ing door to door, said KristiBrown, a coordinator for healthand safety supervisor withHumphreys County Schools.

Many of the missing live inthe neighborhoods where thewater rose the fastest, saidHumphreys County SheriffChris Davis, who confirmedthe 22 fatalities in his county.The names of the missing wereon a board in the county’semergency center and listed ona city department’s Facebookpage.

Washington: The US gave fullapproval to Pfizer’s Covid-19vaccine on Monday, a mile-stone that could lift publicconfidence in the shots andspur more companies, univer-sities and local Governments tomake vaccinations mandatory.

The formula made byPfizer and its German partnerBioNTech now carries thestrongest endorsement fromthe Food and DrugAdministration, which hasnever before had so much evi-dence to judge a shot’s safety.

More than 200 millionPfizer doses have been admin-istered in the US — and hun-dreds of millions more world-wide — since December. But upto now, they were dispensed inthis country under what isknown as emergency useauthorisation from the FDA.

“The public can be veryconfident that this vaccinemeets the high standards forsafety, effectiveness and man-ufacturing quality the FDArequires of an approved prod-uct,” acting FDACommissioner JanetWoodcock said. AP

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Threats against the Indian-origin community in South

Africa do exist after the recentviolence, but the Governmentis doing everything in its powerto counter it, MahatmaGandhi’s granddaughter ElaGandhi said on Monday.

Protests against the incar-ceration of former presidentJacob Zuma on July 7 rapidlydevolved into orgies of lootingand arson in the two provincesof KwaZulu-Natal and Gauteng.

Zuma has been sentencedfor contempt of court after herepeatedly refused to testify atthe Commission of Inquiryinto State Capture, where sev-eral witnesses have implicatedhim in corruption.

Some media reports onthe violence which wracked theprovinces of KwaZulu-Nataland Gauteng last month saidthat Indian-origin South

Africans bore the brunt ofthe attack, some even statingthat ‘many’ of the 330 peoplekilled as looters went on therampage were of Indian origin.

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Competition Commissionof India (CCI) on Monday

imposed a penalty of Rs 200crore on Maruti Suzuki forrestricting discounts offeredby its dealers and directed thecountry’s largest car maker tocease and desist from indulgingin unfair business practices.

Passing an order, the fairtrade regulator also flaggedpractices like appointing‘Mystery Shopping Agencies’and preparing ‘Mystery AuditReports’ as part of enforcing thecompany’s discount controlpolicy.

The watchdog slapped thefine of Rs 200 crore as it foundthat Maruti Suzuki India Ltd(MSIL) indulged in anti-com-petitive conduct of Resale PriceMaintenance (RPM) in thepassenger vehicle segment by

way of implementing discountcontrol policy vis-a-vis dealers,an official release said onMonday.

MSIL had an agreementwith its dealers whereby thedealers were restrained fromoffering discounts to the cus-tomers beyond those pre-scribed by it. In other words,the company had a discountcontrol policy and dealers whowanted to offer additional dis-counts were required to com-pulsorily seek the company’sprior approval, as per the reg-ulator.

According to the CCI, anydealer found violating the pol-icy was threatened with impo-sition of penalty, not only uponthe dealership but also upon itsindividual persons, includingdirect sales executive, region-al manager and showroommanager.

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The Centre on Monday saidthere was “no impact” of a

nationwide strike called by a“very small section of jew-ellers” against gold hallmarkingrules.

However, 350 associationsand federations including AllIndia Gems and JewelleryDomestic Council (GJC) whichsupported the strike said theyreceived a “strong response” asmost shops barring big corpo-rates remained shut for the day.

“The strike called by a very

small section of jewellers hashad no impact,” the ConsumerAffairs Ministry said in a state-ment.

The said call of strike wasitself based on “untenablegrounds” and “an attempt wasmade to misinform fellow jew-ellers” about the various pro-visions of the hallmarkingscheme, it said.

“As expected, the mis-guided attempt by these limit-ed set of persons to disrupt thenormal functioning of jew-ellery business today has failedmiserably,” it added.

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HDFC Bank on Mondaysaid it aims to regain the

two per cent market share inthe credit card market it cededto rivals during a recent ban,within a year by aggressivelytapping into its existing depos-itor base. The bank will alsofocus on forging new partner-ships to sell more cards and willnot deviate from its conserva-tive approach on taking creditrisks as it goes aggressive in themarket, its group head for pay-ments and consumer finance,digital banking and IT, ParagRao, told reporters.

On August 17, RBI liftedthe ban on HDFC Bank whichhad prevented it from issuingnew credit cards fromDecember 2020. However, therestrictions on launching newdigital initiatives are yet to belifted. Its smaller rivals, includ-ing ICICI Bank and SBI Card,have utilised the opportunitycreated by HDFC Bank’sabsence to narrow the gapwith the market leader in thelast eight months.

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To provide continued riskcover to its policyholders,

state-run insurer Life InsuranceCorporation of India (LIC) onMonday launched a specialcampaign for the revival oflapsed individual policies.

Under the ‘Special RevivalCampaign’, policies of specificeligible plans can be revivedwithin five years from the dateof the first unpaid premium,subject to certain terms andconditions, the insurer said ina release.

The campaign has beenlaunched from August 23, 2021

to October 22, 2021, the releasesaid. Policies which are in alapsed condition during thepremium paying term and notcompleted policy term are eli-gible to be revived in this cam-paign, it said.

“The campaign islaunched for the benefit ofthose policyholders whosepolicies lapsed as they were notable to pay premiums on timedue to unavoidable circum-stances,” the release said.

The insurer is offeringconcessions in late fee for plansother than term assurance andhigh risk plans, depending onthe total premiums paid.

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The RBl on Monday said ithas imposed a penalty of Rs

20 lakh on the NE & ECRailway Employees’ Multi-StatePrimary Co-operative Bank,Gorakhpur for contraventionof certain norms.

In a statement, the RBIsaid the inspection report of thebank based on its financialposition as on March 31, 2019revealed non-adherence/vio-lation of specific directionsissued to it under theSupervisory Action Framework(SAF).

Based on the report, ashow cause notice was issued.

“After considering thebank’s reply and oral submis-sions made during the personalhearing.

RBI came to the conclusionthat the aforesaid charge ofnon-adherence/violation ofRBI directions was substanti-ated and warranted impositionof monetary penalty,” the cen-tral bank said.

It, however, added that thepenalty is based on deficienciesin regulatory compliance and isnot intended to pronounceupon the validity of any trans-action or agreement enteredinto by the bank with its cus-tomers.

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The Sensex and Nifty madea positive start to the week

on Monday as IT, banking andfinance counters saw robustbuying amid a supportive trendin global equities.

A strengthening rupee,which climbed 17 paise againstthe US dollar, added to themomentum.

Recovering from a two-session slide, the 30-share BSESensex darted up 226.47 pointsor 0.41 per cent to close at55,555.79. Similarly, the broad-er NSE Nifty advanced 45.95points or 0.28 per cent to16,496.45.

HCL Tech was the topgainer in the Sensex pack,spurting 4.10 per cent, fol-lowed by TCS, Bajaj Finserv,Nestle India, Bharti Airtel,Bajaj Finance, Tech Mahindraand Kotak Bank.

On the other hand, M&M,Bajaj Auto, UltraTech Cement,PowerGrid, ITC, Asian Paintsand Tata Steel were among thelaggards, shedding up to 2.50per cent.

“Heavy selling continuedin small and mid-cap stocks,while headline indices tradedpositive due to strong supportfrom IT stock and positiveglobal peers. The key factor forthe correction is the good per-

formance during 2020-21, lead-ing to peak valuations whileliquidity is expected to nor-malise in the future.

“The ongoing correctionwill provide an opportunity forlong-term investors to re-enterquality stocks,” said VinodNair, Head of Research atGeojit Financial Services.

Mumbai:A Reserve Bank-appointed committee has sug-gested a four-tier structure forthe urban cooperative banks(UCBs) depending upon thedeposits and prescribed differ-ent capital adequacy and reg-

ulatory norms for them basedon their sizes. The RBI com-mittee said that UCBs can besplit into four categories - Tier-1 with deposits up to �100crore; Tier-2 with depositsbetween �100-�1,000 crore.

Kattankulathur:SRM Instituteof Science and Technology(SRMIST), Kattankulathur hassigned a Memorandum ofUnderstanding (MoU) in thefield of Intellectual PropertyCooperation andCommercialisation with theMSME - TechnologyDevelopment Centre (PPDC),Govt of India, Ministry ofMSME, and IntellectualProperty Facilitation CentreEC - Chennai.

The MoU aims at increas-ing IP co-operation and com-mercialisation between the twoinstitutions by way of:Sensitization on IPR among theMSME and public majorly in 4districts - Chennai,

Chengalpattu, Kancheepuramand Tiruvallur; Facilitating theservice for IPR Filing forMSMEs, SRMIST Facultymembers, students and outsideresearchers; Facilitating StartupMentorship; Conduction ofWorkshops/ Seminars.

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The rupee rose by 17 paiseto close at a nearly two-

month high of 74.22 againstthe US dollar on Monday,supported by a firm trend indomestic equities and weakAmerican currency over-seas.

However, surging crudeprices in the internationalmarket restricted the rupee’sgain, forex traders said.

At the interbank forexmarket, the local unitopened strong at 74.27against the greenback andmoved in a range of 74.22 to74.30 in the day trade.

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The Centre on Monday setSeptember 15 as the dead-

line for IT major Infosys toresolve all issues related to theincome tax filing e-portal sothat taxpayers and profession-als can work seamlessly on thewebsite. This after Infosysmanaging director and chiefexecutive officer Salil Parekh,who was summoned by theCentre, met Union FinanceMinister Nirmala Sitharamanto explain his company’s effortsto sort out the glitches.

According to the ministryof finance, Parekh explainedthat he and his team are doingeverything to ensure thesmooth functioning of the por-tal. “Further, Parekh said thatover 750 team members areworking on this project andPravin Rao, COO of Infosys, ispersonally overseeing this pro-ject. Parekh also assured thatInfosys is working expedi-tiously to ensure a glitch-freeexperience to the taxpayers onthe portal,” the ministry said ina statement.

With the new I-T portalremaining unavailable foralmost two consecutive days,the Finance Ministry had“summoned” Parekh onMonday to explain to FinanceMinister Nirmala Sitharamanthe reasons for continued

glitches even after over twomonths of launch.The IncomeTax department said that theportal itself has becomeunavailable since August 21.

At the meeting, Sitharamanhas expressed annoyance andconcerns of the governmentand the taxpayers about thecontinuing glitches in the e-fil-ing portal of the Income TaxDepartment even after twoand half months since itslaunch, which was also delayed.Sitharaman sought an expla-nation from Infosys for therepeated issues faced by tax-payers.

The ministry emphasisedthat there is a need for puttingin more resources and effortson the part of Infosys so thatthe much delayed delivery ofagreed services is ensured. Mr.Parekh was also sensitised onthe difficulties that the tax-payers were facing and the

problems that are arising onaccount of the delays in thefunctioning of the portal.

The Finance Minister alsomade it clear that the issuesfaced by taxpayers on currentfunctionalities of the portalshould be resolved by the teamby 15th September, 2021 so thattaxpayers and professionalscan work seamlessly on theportal.

Meanwhile, the companyin a late-evening tweet saidemergency maintenance of theportal has concluded and thesite is live.

The new income tax e-fil-ing portal “www.incometax.gov.in’, developed by Infosys,had a bumpy start from the dayof its launch on June 7, as itcontinued to face tech glitcheswith users complaining thatcertain functionalities wereeither unavailable or workingslow.

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Thinking is one of the prima-ry functions of conscious

brain and the process itself iscontinuous unless we focus onstopping the thoughts fromforming. Overthinking on theother hand is complained whenan individual is continuouslyanalysing and building scenariosover something.

Most people feel they areexhausted because of thinking allthe time, analysing and categoris-ing experiences, interpretingand projecting them and re run-ning the same or alternate pro-jections.

This is called obsessive rumi-nation and is particularly promi-nent in anxious people. Theconsequences can be from lackof concentration to inability toenjoy the present and is oftenassociated with anxiety andmood disorders.

The performance at workthus declines, interpersonal rela-

tionships suffer and productiv-ity is reduced.

Therefore, relaxation andmediation practices are recom-mended to still the mind. But it’seasier said than done. Peoplewith this problem are so habit-uated to it, that in any given sce-nario, the processes of analysis,interpretation and projectionbecome automatic and often-times people don’t know if thereis any other way. Seeking profes-sional help us thus advisablebecause changing a patternstakes time and an exhaustedmind is also impatient andimpulsive.

One needs to first acknowl-edge the problem and need toconsciously decide to change. It’slike promising yourself to changea habit like smoking or drinking.

Next step is to draw a plan,like as soon as one realised thatone is stuck on a thought or ascenario, one needs to tell one-

self to stop. It will take more thanone attempt to do that, sopatience and consistency are thekey.

One may take help of afriend or family member also,asking them to distract them orindulge in a creative activitythat one enjoys. Physical exercise,dance, music and art help too. Atwork also, if one feels one isrepeatedly thinking of the whatand how instead of doing it, writedown the thoughts once andthen keep them aside, tellingoneself to get back to the processif a new scenario turns up.

Detaching oneself from theoutcomes of a process is age oldwisdom of The Bhagwat Geetawhich serves the essence of thisexercise. Focus on the works andnot the rewards, and if one is ableto do that, reward will automat-ically come.

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��������This beverage — hotor cold — is drunk bymajority of the people acrossthe globe. But very few knowthat it has high levels of anti-oxidant and has manynutrients.

There is a reason whypeople drink coffee whenthey feel tired. It contains astimulant called caffeine —the most commonlyconsumed psychoactivesubstance in the world.After you drink coffee, thecaffeine is absorbed intoyour bloodstream. Fromthere, it travels to your brain.In the brain, caffeine blocksthe inhibitoryneurotransmitter adenosine.

Looking to burn fat?Caffeine is found in almostevery commercial fat-burning

supplement. It’s one of the fewnatural substances proven toaid fat burning.

Studies have shown thatcoffee drinker’s overall risk ofpremature death is 25% lower

than of those who don’t drinkcoffee and prostate cancer inmen by 20 %, andendometrial cancer in womenby 25 %.

It has been over a year now sincethe pandemic hit worldwide.And during this time, people

who have tested positive and recov-ered have complained of manycomplications that they are now suf-fering. Dr Chetan Rao Vaddepally,consultant pulmonologist at theYashoda Hospitals, Hyderabad tellsyou that besides the organs compli-cations like acute liver failure, gas-trointestinal complications likeacute bowel ischaemia and gan-grenes and skin complications likehemorrhagic bullae with intra-bul-lae blood clots and dissectinghematomas, Isolated herpetiformlesions, petechial rash, there are sev-eral complications that have comeup. Some of these complicationsthat have risen post recoveryinclude:

Poor exercise tolerance: This ismainly a complication caused dueto the corona virus infection andreduced physical movement. Thiscan be due to the affect or the dam-age done by the virus on lungs,heart, blood vessels or musclechanges.

Cardiac complications: Recentstudies reported an increased riskof heart failure in COVID-19patients. Post-COVID cardiac com-plications like acute coronary syn-drome (ACS), Acute MI (stroke),dysrhythmias, persistent hypoten-sion, infective myocarditis havebeen reported.

Heart damage or cardiac mus-cle injury complication is seenafter several days or weeks of recov-

ery. The infection from COVID-19can lead to inflammation in variousparts of the body resulting in theweakening of the heart muscle,abnormal heart rhythm and couldeven cause blood clots in blood ves-sels. Complications like Myocarditisor an inflammation of the heartleads to it not pumping bloodproperly, causing the narrowing ofthe arteries, triggering high BP, andthus leaving one susceptible to aheart attack.

Renal injury or failure compli-cations: Elevated levels of proteinin the urine and abnormal bloodwork confirm kidney problems inpatients, even in those who did nothave renal issues before Covid.Hypertensive and diabetic COVID-19 patients are at a higher risk ofkidney complication post COVID-19. Some complications may evenrequire dialysis. This organ acts likea filter for the body by flushing outthe extra water, toxins and waste

products from the body. Thus, itsproper functioning plays a vital role.Blood clots can stifle the tiny bloodvessels in the kidneys leading to itsdamage.

Central nervous system com-plications: Reported complicationsinclude; acute strokes, encephalopa-thy, Guillain-Barre syndrome, tasteimpairment, smell impairment,vision impairment and neuropathy.

Acute necrotizingencephalopathy: Acute necrotizingencephalopathy(ANE) is animmune mediated disease which isusually seen after infection withmycoplasma,influenza A and her-pes simplex virus. However it wasrecently reported in post-COVIDpatients and seen in children rarely.

Multiple cases of MIS-C arebeing reported in the pediatricpopulation. As COVID is a pro-inflammatory condition we tend tosee these complications with directinjury to the central nervous system.

Direct invasion of virus is alsoanother possibility. ANE is a lifethreatening condition. It needsimmediate ICU admission, MRI tolook for abnormalities in the brain,EEG to look for subclinical seizuresand CSF analysis to rule out CNSinfection.

Vascular complications:COVID-19 is an infectious diseasethat leads to a proinflammatory andprothrombotic state, resulting inboth micro- and macrovascularthrombosis, and both arterial andvenous thrombotic events.One-third of patients hospitalized due tosevere COVID-19 developsmacrovascular thrombotic com-plications, including venous throm-boembolism, myocardialinjury/infarction and stroke.Complications like acute pul-monary thromboembolism, deepvein thrombosis, acute limbischemia/ gangrene, mesentericischaemia are seen.

Insomnia: This is a sleep dis-order which affects the central ner-vous system where the sleep cycleof the person gets affected, leadingto slower recovery. Various factorscan trigger this state which includesanxiety, stress and loneliness. Thisis more so for patients who stayalone for weeks in hospitalisation orisolation, thus making insomnia apost COVID complication.

The list of complications keepsincreasing. In order to avoid suchcomplications, it is wise to avoidexposure to the infection by ensur-ing precautions.

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Millennial women are focused on their careers, and they wantto build a life for themselves before they decide to tie the

knot or start a family. Women are independent to make theirown choices like get married or have babies.

Once a woman has reached a certain point in her career,she might start thinking about having a child. However, it sohappens sometimes that women are ready to have a child (withor without a husband/wife) they go for a regular check-up andrealize that they have either a low chance of getting pregnantor are infertile. It is ideal for women to plan for a pregnancyat the right time but if they are not able to plan then there arealternatives for that.

Now what we do know is that women have a limited num-ber of eggs, and they are born with those. However, over timethese eggs might either get damaged or depleted due to vari-ous medical conditions and factors in one’s life. That is why doc-tors are now advising young women to, get a check-up aroundtheir late teens and early 20s so that they are aware of their repro-ductive health and to figure out if they have any health con-

dition that might impact theiregg quality or problems withthe eggs.

Technology has upgradedso much so that women cannow freeze their eggs. Eggfreezing can be a great way topreserve good-quality eggs.Women who might have fewereggs or are undergoing radia-tion for cancer treatment gen-erally get their eggs frozen asradiation can harm the eggs ina way where they will not berecoverable. In this processwomen not only invest in eggfreezing, but they invest intheir emotions as well. Weknow the fertility of a womandeclines with age (the number

and quality of eggs in the ovary declines after a certain age, andthese days women are delaying getting married to pursue theirdreams. One does not have to be too worried about the pro-cedure of egg freezing as it is simple.

�It involves a series of hormonal injections which are givenover a period of 10 days.

�Once the eggs are mature, the woman is then given a shotof general anaesthesia and the eggs are then retrieved.

�The retrieved eggs are then frozen at an extremely lowtemperature, somewhere about minus 190 degrees Celsius.

�The frozen eggs are then safe with the lab till she decidesto use her eggs and conceive a child.

�Cryo-preservation (egg freezing) is potentially helpingyoung female professionals to control their reproductive des-tiny.

Information about yourself and being aware of your bodycan be one of the greatest things to happen to a woman. Earlier,people tried to convince women that they could not have it all.A husband, a child, and a career at the same time. However,the latest technology has helped women is changing their lifeforever. Women can decide when to have a child without anypressure from society because her body clock is not the thingthat decides her career or family plan. She, herself decides whenshe wants to start a family without being worried whether shewill conceive or not. It is rightly stated that knowledge is power,and we should encourage more young women to become awareof their bodies from a younger age so that they can take theright step towards having a family and a career.

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Now that a majority ofus are working fromhome, it means that

we are spending far moretime in sitting in front of ourlaptops and working. Thereare many people out therewho are working 12-14hours a day. This haslead to many eyeproblems likestrain, itchinessand even pain.Here are a fewthings that onecan do tosoothe them.

Drink plen-ty of water to stayhydrated.

Ensure that youget seven-eight hours ofsleep.

Take a break every 20minutes, take your eyes offthe computer screen andfocus on another object for

at least 20 seconds. Drink at least two cups

of green tea. It helps todefend against damage tothe retina and lens.

Eat red berries, kiwi, redand green bell peppers,

tomatoes, broccoli,spinach, and

juices madefrom guava,

grapefruit,a n do r a n g e .These haveVitamin Cand keep

eyes healthy. If you are

a non-vegetari-an, eat fish. Fish

are rich sources of omega-3 fatty acids.

The fish that containsthe most beneficial levels ofomega-3s include: Tuna,salmon and sardine.

The COVID-19 has made uswork from home which

means spending hours onend in front of the laptops

leading to eye strain. ROSHANI DEVI shares tips

that can help

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Honey has been an intrinsic part ofour dietary history. From being anessential in Ayurveda to a specially

sourced superfood staple sitting on theshelves of our grandparents' homes, it wasthe sweet treat that cured many an ailmentin our homes. The true potential of honeyis still to be realised as there are some manyunfounded misconceptions and mythsabout honey. Here is an attempt to debunksome of the most prevalent ones.

This nectar harvested by bees is loadedwith essentials that our body needs —Oligosaccharides (plant sugars linked inchains, mostly used in treatment for stom-ach ailments and high cholesterol levels ),B and C vitamins, minerals like calcium,zinc, iron, magnesium and antioxidants. Avariety of studies conducted over the yearshave proven what our ancestors knew -

Oral health: According to some stud-ies , honey reduces the amount of acid pro-duced in the mouth, which stops the bac-teria from producing dextran — a compo-nent of dental plaque, thus helps to stop thegrowth of the bacteria as well. Studies pit-ting Manuka honey against two leadingmedical oral treatments for dental plaqueshowed that honey was equal to one and sig-nificantly better than the other. Its effectswere studied on gingivitis and ulceration aswell, showing significant improvement inpatients during trial .

Heart health: Honey is laden withantioxidants like phenolic compounds,flavonoids and pinocembrin. Antioxidants,especially phenolic compounds andflavonoid have shown reduced risk ofheart diseases and stroke in various epi-demiological studies. Some studies showthat buckwheat (Kuttu) honey can increasethe capacity of antioxidants in the blood byhelping the arteries to dilate, which enablesadequate blood flow to the heart. Theantioxidants also inhibit platelets fromforming blood clots as well as prevent LDLcholesterol.

Respiratory health: Sore throats andcoughs can benefit from a soothing effectof honey along with conventional medicineto cure the ailment.

Gut health: Honey could have a twofoldbenefit in bettering the gut microbiotawhich is the core of our health and immu-nity. On the one hand it encourages the ben-eficial bacteria in the way of potential pre-biotics and while the studies on this areearly, it definitely has antibacterial proper-ties as well which synergistically enhancethe probiotic efficacy against pathogens.

Wound healing: The viscosity and thehygroscopic qualities of honey makes for aneven spread on the wound bed, creating afavourable environment for healing. Giventhat honey has antioxidant, antibacterial andanti-inflammatory properties, studies haveshown that it can be used as a wound dress-ing to promote rapid and improved heal-ing. This is effective due to honey’s anti-bac-terial action, secondary to its high acidity,osmotic effect, anti-oxidant and hydrogenperoxide content. The use of honeyimproves wound healing in acute cases, painrelief in burn patients and decreasedinflammatory response in such patients.

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If the BAFTA-nominated young Bollywood actorAdarsh Gaurav gets an opportunity to change anything

about India, it is the persistence of pay disparities basedon gender.

“If we wish to build a better society, we need to stopgender-based pay disparities,” Gaurav commented. “We’reconstantly talking about gender equality and there are manyareas that need to be worked on, including changing ourmindset, but I would like to stress the issue of pay dispar-ities. It exists even in the film industry.”

Gaurav started acting at a young age and has appearedin films such as My Name Is Khan, Mom and the short filmRukh alongside Manoj Bajpayee, but he was internation-ally acclaimed for his character, Balram Halwai, in theOscar-nominated film, The White Tiger. It was this rolethat brought him a BAFTA nomination for Leading Actor.

Continuing on the subject of gender-based pay dispar-ities, he said, “If I only talk about the principal actors of afilm, whether male or female, both of them are workingfor an equal number of days and putting in an equal amountof work based on the demands of the characters they play.

Then why just because one is a man and the other isa woman, there should be a pay disparity? I know pay dis-parities exist everywhere but being an actor, I can only talk

about our industry. Pay disparities based ongender exist and I think we should put anend to that.”

Gaurav also spoke up in favour of “thefreedom of creative expression”. He addedthat, as an artist, he felt negatively about the

industry’s practise of remaking films.“I believe that making remakes

take away the freedom of original-ity,” Gaurav claimed. “Creatinganything original, be it a story,song or anything, takes time butit is worth investing our ener-gy in it. To create an originalstory, we have to be very, veryrooted, observant and well-

aware of things happeningaround us,” he expressed.

“Creativity, as in inspiration,comes from reality, and when wemake films based on reality, it cre-ates an instant connection with theaudience. It also reaches a globalaudience because the story is moreauthentic, and therefore better,” heconcluded.

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Young actor Tahir Raj Bhasin enticed hisaudience with his brilliant perfor-

mance as a negative lead in Mardaani.While the newcomer was cast oppositeRani Mukerji, who was playing the role ofa firebrand cop chasing a cold-bloodedhuman trafficker, Bhasin managed to holdhis own with his spine-chilling villainousact. Mardaani released on August 22,2014, and on the seventh anniversary of thefilm, Tahir reveals Mardaani, produced byYash Raj Films, has played a huge role inhis life, earning him the industry’s recog-nition as an actor to watch out for.

Bhasin expresses, “Mardaani was anexplosive break for me. My life transformedwith its release and has never been thesame. The film has played a central role inthe recognition I have received as a pow-erful actor. As a debut film, Mardaani cutthrough the clutter and its uniqueness layin how Walt, the anti-hero, was projectedand stylised by Pradeep Sarkar. People hadseen the boy next door, Mardaani gavethem the bad boy next door.”

The actor mentions he had learnt a lotfrom Mukherji who pushed him to deliv-er a knock-out performance. He continues,“Sharing screen space with Rani Mukherjiwas a challenge and hugely rewarding.Being cast against a star of her staturemeans you have to up your game and thisled to the need to show peak performancefrom day one.”

He adds, “I was working with a starwhose work I have grown up watching andon set and I learnt through her example. Iunderstood how to be extremely focusedwhen it counts and to relax so one can stepout of the zone when you don’t need to bein it. I also saw a sterling commitment tothe craft and a work ethic that I try to carrywith me to date.”

After starting as a negative lead inMardaani, Bhasin followed it up withanother tremendous anti-hero role inForce 2. After shining consistently in his

next few films like Chhichhore, and so on,he was cast to play romantic leads. He willnow be seen in Looop Lapeta as a roman-tic lead opposite Taapsee Pannu and in YehKaali Kaali Ankhein, in which he has beenpaired with Shweta Tripathi. Tahir alsoplays the role of Sunil Gavaskar in KabirKhan’s 83.

Bhasin commented, “2021 is the yearof the romantic hero chapter for me. In mytwo exciting projects set for release, LooopLapeta and Yeh Kaali Kaali Ankhen, I willbe exploring romantic dramas. I grew upon a staple dose of 90’s Bollywood romanceand that’s what I channel as I slip into thisavatar.”

“As an actor it’s a huge compliment thatthe scripts I get now are mostly romanticleads and this pushes me to be more ver-satile with every successive project. Thejourney from anti-hero to hero has been anadrenaline rush and I am thrilled that theaudience will experience a side of me thatthey have not seen before,” he concluded.

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With climate change, global warmingand deforestation becoming the

realities that we are faced with, people aregrowing more concerned about the futureof the planet. With constant conversationsabout deforestation, plastic pollution,our carbon footprint and how the quali-ty of life for future generations will becompromised because of the environmen-tal damage caused, the concept of an eco-friendly lifestyle is becoming paramount.

Everyone is now willing to take stepstowards making this planet a better placefor our communities and generations tocome. Charity begins at home. Since ourhome is where we spend most of our time,it is the best place to start.

Can we make our urban homes eco-friendly without calling an architect orcausing major lifestyle changes? Theanswer is yes. It is about taking small stepsevery day, making slight switches andchanging some habits that can make anyhome eco-friendly and sustainable.

Without further ado, here are a fewsmall yet practical ways in which you canmake your home sustainable and eco-friendly:

Reduce plastic wasteEvery person generates around 500-

800 grams of solid waste every day.Managing such vast quantities of waste,especially plastic, has become a pressingissue for the country.

While going to zero plastic in one shotmay not be possible, we can start by tak-ing small steps such as gradually replac-ing plastic containers with ceramics,steel or glass to store and cook food. Whileyou are at it, also replace the householdgarbage bags with compostable garbagebags and carry an eco-friendly cloth bagwhen picking up vegetables, fruits orsnacks.

Reducing plastic is one of the ways tomake your home eco-friendly that is alsogood for your overall health.

Reuse household itemsWhen you are replacing plastic con-

tainers with glass ones, look around to seeif there are any jars or objects you canrepurpose before running to the store.Empty coffee jars make excellent contain-ers for spices and powders, for instance.

Similarly, when before buying new furni-ture, think of eco-friendly ways to spruceup the house.

Daily items such as disposable coffeecups and tissues are easy for us to use butharm the environment. But, there is aneasy way to deal with this, switch toreusable coffee cups and bamboo tissuesor cloth napkins which you can use againand again.

Opt for upcycled productsProducts you choose for your home

go a long way towards reducing your car-bon footprint on the planet. To start small,replace plastic cutlery and daily essentialssuch as toothbrushes with upcycled bam-boo toothbrushes and cutlery that has 0per cent negative impact on nature.

Choose furniture made from recycledwood or other materials that might oth-

erwise go to a landfill or be thrown away.To give your home an aesthetic yet sustain-able upgrade, go for older antiques insteadof showpieces made of plastic or metal.

Switch to green powerGreen energy refers to the energy gen-

erated from natural resources such aswind, sun, biomass and water that can benaturally replenished, unlike fossil fuels.Moving away from the traditional sourcesof energy is a key step to combat climatechange.

Now, choosing green power does notmean that you have to change your elec-tricity provider. It refers to making smallchanges such as replacing regular lightswith LED or CFL bulbs as much as pos-sible and installing solar photovoltaic pan-els on your roof to heat water.

Switch to green appliancesAppliances usually consume a huge

amount of energy; it is ideal if we couldtake advantage of technological innova-tions and shift to more energy-efficientappliances. They can help us save ener-gy and money, along with protecting theenvironment.

So, when it’s time to get a new refrig-erator, a washing machine or any newappliance, look for the products that meeta high level of energy efficiency. Check the‘star label’ on the appliance to get thedetails of the efficiency of the productalong with various other particulars.This will allow you to compare modelsand choose the best one in terms of ener-gy efficiency.

It is now more important than everto adopt an eco-friendly lifestyle. Whilesome people feel that making changes inour homes to be more environmentallyconscious will not make a difference, thesewill, if we rally together on this.

(The author is the co-founder ofBeco, an Indian eco-friendly home,kitchen, and personal care brand.)

The National Centre for thePerforming Arts (NCPA)was the brainchild of JRD

Tata and Dr Jamshed JehangirBhabha (brother of nuclear physi-cist Homi Jehangir Bhabha), twovisionaries, who foresaw India'sneed for an all-encompassingworld-class performing arts cen-tre, when it was still a young inde-pendent nation. Those who thinkDr Homi’s work was of more useto the country than Dr Jamshed’s,in all probability, are not aware ofthis one time when Dr Jamshedhad sought out JRD Tata’s helpfor setting up NCPA, which wasfounded in 1969. As Dr Jamshedrecalled, “I apologised for takingup his time when he had toattend to so many matters regard-ing the steel company. I shallnever forget his reply: ‘No,Jamshed, you should not under-estimate what the NCPA is doing.One day, perhaps, the NCPA’swork may be more important forthe country than the work of thesteel company.’”

Tata wasn’t entirely wrongabout his grand vision given thelegacy that the cultural institutionhas built over the past fivedecades. From a humble begin-ning in a small rented space inAkash Ganga building onBhulabhai Desai Road, todaythe NCPA houses five theatressprawled over eight acres on thesouthern tip of Nariman Point,and hosts over 600 events eachyear spanning all art forms,topromote and preserve India’sheritage of music, dance, theatre,film, literature and photography.

On August 21, the NCPAcommemorated the 107th birthanniversary of Dr Bhabha by pre-senting the Jamshed BhabhaMemorial Lecture, wherein everyyear, a distinguished speaker

from diverse disciplines is invit-ed to speak on art and cultureand allied fields. In the 2021 edi-tion of the series, eminent physi-cian and author Dr Farokh EUdwadia, emeritus professor ofmedicine, author, and a PadmaBhushan awardee, delivered a lec-ture on ‘Art and Mankind’ anddiscussed why art deserves aplace of importance in all humanendeavours.

Khushroo N Suntook, chair-man of NCPA, kickstarted pro-ceedings by addressing the gath-ering. “The last year and a halfhave been a gloomy time for theperforming arts. I am extremelycurious as to what Dr Bhabha’sreaction would have been to thecurrent problems… Back in1997, after four-five years’ worthof work, mere months before its

completion, a fire destroyed hislong-cherished dream project ofcreating a world-class perform-ing art space in Mumbai. But the,then, 83-year-old Dr Bhabha issaid to have responded with asimple, ‘Tomorrow, we beginreconstruction.’ Two years later,in 1999, the Jamshed BhabhaTheatre (JBT) was inaugurated.I wish he was with us, with hisindomitable spirit, in these uncer-tain this time also. The impor-tance of art in our daily lives waskeenly understood by him and itwas a pleasant surprise that DrUdwadia suggested the samesubject when he agreed to speakat this memorial lecture on DrBhabha’s birthday,” Suntookobserved.

After Dr Udwadia took tothe podium, he patiently waited

for the applause to fade awaybefore sharing something abouthis patient and friend, “DrBhabha was a dreamer whodreamed and got to live hisdream. Everyone is a dreamer,but how often does one turn hisdreams into reality? He wassomeone who went againstnorms to live his dreams.”

Dr Udwadia’s love of art andliterature has been a constantcompanion and guide in his dis-tinguished career spanning sixdecades, explained how art andhuman existence are inseparablylinked by saying, “Art is thebreath, smiles and tears of allmankind. When life climbed itsevolutionary ladder to becomehuman, art became part of what’shuman. You cannot separate artfrom mankind. It is a great com-

municator and brings people,societies and countries together.Art builds bridges across coun-tries, sometimes a bridge overtroubled waters. Art is not onlyimportant but essential to man;it is a window to the worldaround us. Don’t forget — art andscience are twin pillars that havemarked the ascent of man fromearly history to the present timesand it is the balance between artand science that will determineour future.”

Theorising that art led thepath to the civilisation of man, DrUdwadia continued, “Apart fromart offering a window to the out-side world, it lends some much-needed perspective into the worldwithin us all. It nourishes ourspirit, our stream of conscious-ness. It enriches our feelings andin doing so, art moulds us into abetter, more civilised humanbeing. Talking about feelings,man is driven by emotions…Can you imagine a world withpoor emotions? Semi-robots,moving around the world, howsad would it be? When immersedin the rapturous beauty of sometranscendental art, the worldceases to exist — you lose your-self. You delve deep within your-self, you discover yourself anew.Isn’t that incredible? Discoveringand rediscovering yourself helpsyou in knowing yourself betterand you are able to, perhaps.”

Touching upon our country’sstoried and colourful heritage, heexpressed, “As Indians, we shouldbe proud of our heritage…We area civilisation, a vibrant one at that,which goes back about 5,000years. The cultural heritage of thiscountry is second to none. Thelight of civilisation shone onthis country when the rest of theworld was in bleak darkness,

except perhaps Egypt and China.I don’t think that there is anyother country which possesses agreater store of treasure thanwhat we possess. Be it poetry,visual art, literature, songs, dance,music, theatre, rites and rituals,languages. Now, it should gowithout saying that this heritagehas to be passionately preserved.And for this, it is imperative thatthe people in this country beaware of art and participate in art,and its functions. However, thereis a strange apathy that peoplehave towards art in this country.Look at the number of people vis-iting museums and exhibitionsin, say, London or New York, andcompare it with the footfall ourcountry’s museums entertain.”

What can we do to changethis apathy, you ask? “I remem-ber a sentence from Dante’sgreat work, The Divine Comedy.It goes, ‘It is at school that Ilearnt, O’ Dante, to tread the paththat was to lead me here.’ I amtaking it out of context to say thatit is at school that we need toteach children the relevance ofart. Art must be a subject verymuch like physics, geography,language or mathematics. Itshould not be a side show, itshould not be about ‘teachingart’ but it should be about try-ing to make children practiceart. Be it songs, theatre, or anyform of visual arts, it is onlywhen children, who have prac-ticed some form of art, matureand have to make their own wayin the world that they realise howmuch art really matters. Theywill learn to protect the art theypractice…” remarked DrUdwadia.

(You can catch the completeproceedings of the event on NCPAMumbai’s YouTube channel.)

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Alexander Zverev backedup his Olympic triumph

with a fifth ATP Masters 1000title as he crushed AndreyRublev 6-2, 6-3 in Cincinnation Sunday.

The German needed lessthan an hour against his long-time childhood friend andrival to lift the trophy and puthimself into a solid positionwith the US Open starting aweek from Monday.

“The US Open starts in aweek’s time, so obviously Iwant to keep it up and I wantto maybe play even betterthere,” Zverev said.

Women’s world numberone Ashleigh Barty was simi-larly impressive in winningher fifth title of the season atthe combined ATP and WTAevent, cruising past Swisswild card JilTeichmann 6-3, 6-1.

The Australian,who will keep a firmgrip on the numberone ranking as thefinal Grand Slam ofthe yearapproaches, tookcontrol mid-waythrough the open-ing set and was

never truly threatened.“It’s been an awesome

week, with each match it wasgetting progressively better,”Barty said.

“Today I was able totrust myself and playwith confidence, whichwas important in a big

final.“I’m excited to get

matches in toughconditions herein Cincy goinginto NewYork.”

Z v e r e vshowed noeffects fromthe stomachdis comfor t

which forced him to take amedical timeout during hisdraining semi-final victoryover Stefanos Tsitsipas onSaturday.

Zverev won his 11th matchin a row and his fifth againstRublev, a player he’s been play-ing since their junior days.

The German came intothe week with six defeats inprior Cincinnati appearances,but turned that negative on itshead.

“My first win here was onWednesday and now I’m holdingthe title four days later,” he said.

“It’s been an incredibleweek, I had a lot of greatmatches. It’s a great feelinggoing into the Open.”

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Gareth Bale scored his firstLiga goal since 2019 but it

took two late goals from hisreplacement, Vinicius, to earnReal Madrid a 3-3 draw atLevante on Sunday.

That result allowed cham-pions Atletico Madrid, whobeat Elche 1-0 earlier in theevening, to take top spot in LaLiga.

In the late game in Valencia,Bale gave Real Madrid the leadafter five minutes. KarimBenzema ran in on goal butwhen the ball was held up bywater on the pitch cut it back toBale who side-footed the ballhome.

It was the Welshman’s firstgoal in La Liga since his secondgoal, an 86th minute equaliser,in a 2-2 draw against Villarrealat the start of September in2019.

Real dominated the firsthalf but could not find a second.

Instead, Levante levelled28 seconds into the secondhalf.

The ball broke to unmarkedRoger who beat ThibautCourtois with a hard low shot

Levante took the lead in the57th minute when JoseCampana met a deep crosswith a sweet volley into the topcorner.

Real manager CarloAncelotti promptly yanked offBale, Isco and Eden Hazard ina triple substitution.

One of the subs, Viniciusrepaid his coach in the 73rdminute, accelerating onto a passfrom Casimeiro, shrugging offa defender and rolling a shotinto the corner of the net.

Seven minutes later, David

Alaba nodded a Levante freekick down into his own six yardbox and Rober Pier gleefullythumped the ball home fromclose range.

With five minutes left,Vinicius again equalised.

Receiving the ball wide ofthe post and near the goal-line,he still somehow found thenet, lofting the ball round goal-keeper Aitor Fernandez and inoff the far post.

Two minutes later,Fernandez was sent off for han-dling outside hs area to stop aReal counter-attack. BecauseLevante had used all their sub-stitutes, defender Ruben Vezowent in goal but Real could notfind a winner.

In Madrid, Angel Correacontinued his torrid form forAtletico.

A week after striking twicein a 2-1 victory in the openinground at Celta Vigo, thediminutive Argentinian strikerstruck again in the 39th minute.

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Cristiano Ronaldo was denieda last-gasp winner to save

Juventus after his stoppage timeheader was ruled out for offsidein a dramatic 2-2 draw atUdinese, while JoseMourinho got off to a win-ning start at Roma with a3-1 victory overFiorentina.

Ronaldo started onthe bench at the DaciaArena in Udine amidrumours he is lookingfor a way out ofthe Italiangiants, but hea l m o s tsnatched thethree pointsdeep intostoppage timeafter Juveinsisted hewas goingnowhere thisterm.

Allegri’s Juvelooked to be cruis-ing to victory whenPaulo Dybala,wearing the cap-tain’s armband,and JuanCuadrado putthem two aheadmidway throughthe first half.

But two sec-

ond-half blunders from Juve‘keeper Wojciech Szczesnyallowed Udinese to take a pointthrough Roberto Pereyra’s penal-ty and a Gerard Deulofeu strike.

6 RED CARDSIt was the most dramatic

moment in an eventful nightin the Italian top flight, withsix red cards in four match-es and three big-namemanagers returning to thetouchline. The one with the

biggest reputation —Mourinho — was

made happy bytwo assistsfrom news i g n i n gT a m m yA b r a h a m

who on hisRoma debut

laid on bothgoals in a fine

win at the StadioOlimpico.

With Fiorentinadown to 10 menafter BartlomiejDragowski’s badfoul on theEngland interna-tional forward, inthe 26th minuteAbraham slippedthrough HenrikhMkhitaryan whoseneat finish was

given as a goal after

a long VAR check.Nicolo Zaniolo’s second

yellow card gave a braveFiorentina side hope and NikolaMilenkovic levelled the scoreson the hour mark.

However great work againfrom Abraham led to Romaretaking the lead throughJordan Veretout four minuteslater, the 23-year-old just aboutstaying onside before rolling aperfect low cross which allowedthe French midfielder to slothome.

Veretout made sureMourinho got three pointsfrom his first match in Serie Asince winning the league withInter Milan in 2010 when herolled home the third in the79th minute after collecting abrilliant Eldor Shomurodovpass.

Luciano Spalletti also tri-umphed on his return to foot-ball with Napoli, his team run-ning out 2-0 winners overnewly-promoted Veneziadespite playing three-quartersof the match a man down afterstriker Victor Osimhen wassent off for punching DaanHeymans.

Lorenzo Insigne openedthe scoring with a 62nd-minutepenalty after having blazedover a spot-kick just minutesbefore, and Eljif Elmas drilledhome the second 11 minuteslater to secure the win.

Lausanne: The Indian men’shockey team drag-flickerHarmanpreet Singh and hisfemale counterpart Gurjit Kaurwere on Monday nominated forthe FIH Player of the Yearawards as the country made theshort-list of all the categories onthe back of its stupendous per-formance in the TokyoOlympics.

Veteran India custodian P RSreejesh was among three short-listed for Goalkeeper of theYear award for men while SavitaPunia was among three short-listed in the women’s category.

The Indian men’s team headcoach Graham Reid andwomen’s team counterpartSjoerd Marijne were amongthree nominees for FIH Coachof the Year award for men andwomen.

Harmanpreet had scored a

whopping six goals from eightmatches from his drag-flick tohelp the Indian men’s teamclinch a historic Bronze, its firstOlympic medal in 41 years.

Gurjit was also a pivotalmember of the Indian women’steam that reached the semifinalsfor the first time before losing toGreat Britain in the Bronzemedal play-off.

India’s Sharmila Devi wasnominated for FIH Rising Starof the Year Award for womenwhile Vivek Prasad was namedamong men. PTI

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The best ever Olympics justwent by for India and the

country looks good for itsbest ever Paralympics with anunprecedented 54 inspira-tional athletes eyeing a medalhaul that might just surpassthe double digit figure for thefirst time at the showpiece,starting here on Tuesday.

The likes of star javelinthrower Devendra Jhajhariaand high jumper MariyappanThangavelu — both 2016 RioParalympics Gold winners —will lead the biggest ever con-tingent.

India is competing in ninesports in the Paralympics andthe expectation of unprece-dented success would not bewide off the mark as at leastfour Indians are ranked top ofthe world while six are atnumber two and around 10are at number three in globalstandings.

Jhajharia, who lost his lefthand due to electrocution asa child, is going strong even at40 and is aiming for a hat-trick of Gold medals in the F-46 category after finishing ontop of podium in 2004 and2016. He is current worldrecord holder in the event.

Mariyappan, who waspermanent disabled at the ageof five when a bus crushed hisright leg below the knee, is

another para athlete seeking todefend the Gold he had wonin 2016 in T63 high jump,though he is currently rankedworld number 2.

He will also hold thecountry’s flag during theopening ceremony onTuesday.

World champion SandeepChoudhary (F-64 javelinthrow) is the third Gold medalcontender from the 24-strongpara athletics team. He isworld number one and worldrecord holder also.

Other medal prospectsfrom para-athletics are reign-ing world champion SundarSingh Gurjar and Ajeet Singh(also in F-46) and NavdeepSingh (F41) — all para-javelinthrowers.

The ParalympicCommittee of India is hoping

to win 10 medals from paraathletics.

Badminton will make itsdebut at the ParalympicGames in Tokyo and Indiahave some of the brightestmedal prospects.

World No 1 and multiple-time world champion PramodBhagat is a top Gold medalcontender in men’s SL3 event.

World No 2 shuttlerKrishna Nagar (SH6) andTarun Dhillon (SL4) are otherpara shuttlers who are expect-ed to do well.

The experienced ParulParmar, a two-time formerworld championship Goldmedallist, and young PalakKohli (SL3-SU5), whose onehand did not develop proper-ly at birth, will carry highhopes of returning with amedal in the women’s catego-ry.

India is also banking on itsshooters and archers to rise tothe occasion in Tokyo.

India’s campaign beginsfrom August 25 with para tabletennis players Bhavina Pateland Sonal Patel in action andIndia’s first medal is expectedto come on Friday when paraarchery events begin. Oncepara athletics events begin onSaturday, a medal rush isexpected to start.

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New Delhi: Five Indian SuperLeague franchises and three I-League teams will be among 16sides vying for top honours inthe Durand Cup football tour-nament, to be played acrossKolkata from September 5 toOctober 3.

The tournament, now in its130th edition, was first held inthe mecca of Indian footballback in 2019, after moving fromits longtime venue at Delhi.

Besides top ISL franchisesFC Goa and Bengaluru FC, theother clubs from ISL would beKerala Blasters, Jamshedpur FCand Hyderabad FC.

Challenging them wouldbe the century-oldMohammedan Sporting ofKolkata, who were the firstIndian winners of the Cup in1940 and defending I-Leaguechampions Gokulam Kerala andSudeva FC of Delhi. PNS

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India’s Sania Mirza and herAmerican partner Christina

Mchale entered the quarterfi-nals of the ClevelandChampionships with astraight sets win over OksanaKalashnikova and AndreeaMitu here.

The Indo-American pairtriumphed in their women’sdoubles pre-quarterfinals 6-3,6-2 over the duo from Georgiaand Romania on Sundaynight.

Sania and her partnerfrom the USA dominated thematch thoroughly and neverallowed their opponents achance to stage a comebackafter comfortably winning thefirst set.

The second set was no dif-ferent as they won withoutbreaking a sweat to progressinto the quarterfinals of thetournament.

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New Delhi: Olympic Bronzemedallist Bajrang Punia willnot compete in the upcomingwrestling WorldChampionships after beingadvised a six-week rehabilita-tion to treat the ligament tearhe suffered in his right knee inrun up to the Tokyo Games.

The World Championshipswill be held in Oslo, Norwayfrom October 2-10 and Bajrangwill not be able to begin his mattraining until the rehabilitationprogramme is compete.

Bajrang recently under-went an MRI scan toknow the extent of theinjury he suffered inRussia in June beforethe Olympics.

“It’s a ligament tearand I have beenasked to followa rehabilita-tion pro-g r a m m efor sixweeks. Iwon’t beable to com-pete at the WorldChampionship,”Bajrang said..

There is no

ranking series event lined up inthe remainder of the year andBajrang said his season is over.

“The Worlds was the onlymajor championship in thecalender for this year. I don’t seemyself competing in any othertournament this season,” headded.

Bajrang had suffered theinjury in the run up to theTokyo Games when he com-peted at a Russian tournament— Ali Aliyev in June.

“Since it was my firstOlympics and I had a dream to

win an Olympic medal, Icompeted through pain inTokyo. I had to do it.”

Bajrang said he wasnot consulting any specif-

ic physiotherapist for hisrehabilitation.

“I am doing itmyself in Sonepat.The doctor hasadvised a fewexercises, that Iam doing every-day now ingym. The mat-training time

will also go into the rehab,” he

said. PTI

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India vice captain AjinkyaRahane on Monday dis-missed criticism he and

Cheteshwar Pujara faced forslow batting during the Lord’sTest against England, sayingthey have played long enough toknow what suits the team’sinterest.

Rahane even laughed offthe flak they faced on socialmedia by saying that only“important people” are talkedabout.

Rahane (61 off 146 balls)and Pujara (45 off 206) tooknearly 50 overs to add 100 runsin their partnership.

“I am happy that people aretalking about me. I have alwaysbelieved that people talk aboutimportant people, so I am nottoo concerned about that. It’s allabout contribution for theteam,” Rahane said ahead of thethird Test, starting here onWednesday.

Asked again if criticismmotivates him, he said,

“Everything motivates me.Playing for the country moti-vates me. I am not botheredabout criticism.”

Pujara took 35 balls to getoff the mark at Lord’s but hisslow innings along with that ofRahane’s eventually did nothurt India, with the visitors win-ning the match by a whopping151 runs.

Rahane, in the context ofthe win, said that he was pleasedwith the way he played.

“I always believed in contri-bution and that contributionwas satisfying.

“You think about your owngame but team performance isultimate. You think about yourmethods, your good inningsand what suits you but ultimate-ly whatever team needs wefocus on that.”

Asked about his discussionwith Pujara in the middle,Rahane said it was all abouthanging in there.

“The communication wasall about short targets and buildit on from there. Cheteshwar, we

always talk that he plays slowbut that innings was reallyimportant for us. He batted for

200 balls. We back each other.“Cheteshwar and I have

been playing since long, weknow how to handle pressure,how to handle certain situations.Whatever we can’t control, weare not thinking about that,” hesaid.

The Headingley will be anunknown territory for the cur-rent Indian team since none ofthe players have the experienceof playing there. But for Rahane,that is not something which is

worrying the side.“When you are playing in

the UK, your line and lengthsare very important and that’s achallenge as a bowling unit.2014 when we came here, wewere a young unit, the guys werestill learning. Now we are expe-rienced.

“All the bowlers have playedall over the world, they knowhow to bowl in ceratin situation.We focussed on bowling inright areas.”

������������%�������2� ����Leeds: England pacer MarkWood was on Monday ruledout of the third Test againstIndia with a ‘jarred’ shoul-der, dealing another blow tothe under-fire hosts.

Wood had hurt hisshoulder while fielding dur-ing the second Test at Lord’s.

“England seamer MarkWood has been ruled out ofthe LV= Insurance third Testagainst India with a jarredright shoulder,” the ECBsaid in a statement.

“Wood sustained theinjury on the fourth day of

the second Test at Lord’s andwill not be fit to play atEmerald Headingley startingon Wednesday.

“He will remain withthe squad in Leeds and willcontinue his rehab with theEngland medical team.The31-year-old will be assessedat the end of this Testmatch.”

Seamer SaqibMahmood, who was calledup as cover for Broad, couldbe handed a Test debut. The24-year-old has played sevenODIs and nine T20Is. PTI

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India channelled their aggres-sion to their advantage to

script a famous win at Lord’swhile England failed to rile upthe opposition players despiteregular attempts and that issomething Joe Root is lookingto avoid in the third Test.

The second Test was playedin an intense atmosphere withplayers of both teams not shy-ing from constant sledging.

With India leading theseries 1-0, one expect moreaggression from Virat Kohli’steam but Root said his team haslearnt its lessons from the pre-vious game and will not be

drawn into the conversationsneedlessly.

“There’s the theatre andeverything else surroundingthe game. We’ve got to makesure that we play the game howwe want to play and we lookafter that as best as we can, andnot get too distracted or drawninto anything that’s not honest,”said Root in the virtual pre-match media interaction.

“We’ve got to be genuine toourselves, genuine to how weare as individuals and how weare collectively and be as goodas we can, the way that we go.Virat’s team will play how theyplay, I just want us to go out andbe the best version of ourselves.”

Root has already admittedto tactical blunders that cost hisside the Lord’s Test. Their emo-tions also got the better of them.

“I think there were alwaysconversations you always try tofind one percenters in ways youcan deal with different situa-tions. “We’ve done some goodlearning off the back of the lastgame I think we could havemanaged certain areas differ-ently, me as the captain, wecould have gone about thingsslightly differently.

“We have got three massivegames to play in this series,there’s a lot to play for. And youknow we’re desperate to bounceback strongly," he said.

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Tokyo: The TokyoParalympics opening cere-mony will feature the flag ofAfghanistan as a ‘sign of sol-idarity’, InternationalParalympic Committee chiefAndrew Parsons said onMonday even as the country’sathletes were forced out of theGames after Taliban’s takeoverthere.

Afghan athletes wereforced to withdraw from theGames as all flights out of cap-ital Kabul got cancelled afterthe Taliban seized control ofthe strife-torn nation. PTI

Afghanistan flag willbe part of openingceremony: IPC chief

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