aa f_Zej ^ZddZ`_ >R^ReR ^VVed D`_ZR - Daily Pioneer

12
A s part of her exercise to bring together the Opposition parties to take on the BJP in the 2024 Lok Sabha polls, West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee met Congress president Sonia Gandhi at her residence on Wednesday. Separately, 14 Opposition parties held a meet- ing in Parliament to corner the Government on a range of issues, clearly indicating that the “unity” move was not just a solo venture. During Mamata’s “chai pe charcha” with Sonia, former Congress chief Rahul Gandhi too was present. Describing the meeting as “positive”, Mamata said she discussed the political situation in the country as well as Opposition unity with the Gandhis. “It was a very good meet- ing,” the Trinamool Congress (TMC) supremo told reporters after a 35-minute talk with Sonia and Rahul. “Soniaji had invited me for a cup of tea. We discussed the political situation in the country. We also discussed the issue of Opposition unity,” she said. “To defeat the BJP, all of us have to come together and work together,” Mamata said on Opposition unity. Taking on the Government over the Pegasus snooping controversy, Banerjee said, “Why is the Government not replying on the Pegasus issue? If there is no discussion in the Lok Sabha and the Rajya Sabha (on Pegasus), where will this discussion be held? Discussions are held in Parliament, not at tea stalls.” After Sonia, the TMC leader also called on her Delhi counterpart Arvind Kejriwal. Mamata was accompanied by her nephew and party MP Abhishek Banerjee, while AAP MLA Raghav Chadha was with Kejriwal. She is also looking forward to call on NCP patri- arch Sharad Pawar and other Opposition leaders. Responding to a question on Opposition unity, Mamata said, “The country will lead the Opposition, we are the fol- lowers. Opposition unity will happen naturally, automati- cally.” Mamata said the elec- tions are far away but planning for it has to be done in advance. She added she will meet all Opposition members after the Parliament session is over and the coronavirus situation nor- malises, indicating that anoth- er visit soon was on her agen- da. The TMC supremo has been reaching out to various Opposition leaders in a bid to bring together the non-BJP forces ahead of the 2024 Lok Sabha polls. Meanwhile, the Opposition paralysed the Parliament on Wednesday for the seventh day in a row and closed ranks to plan a broad based strategy to corner the Modi Government on a range of issues, including snooping, unemployment, rising prices and welfare of the farmers and the poor. I ndia and the US on Wednesday reaffirmed that they are committed to strength- ening democratic institutions with visiting US Secretary of State Antony Blinken saying shared values — freedom and equality — are key to the rela- tionship between the two nations. Stressing this point here after talks between the US Secretary of State and External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar, both the leaders also said they were focused on finding a peaceful solution to the ongo- ing Afghanistan conflict. The two Ministers held wide-ranging parleys covering the situation in Afghanistan, Indo-Pacific engagements, Covid-19 response mechanism and ways to strengthen region- al security. Blinken also met Prime Minister Narendra Modi and National Security Adviser (NSA) Ajit Doval. Addressing a joint media conference after extensive dis- cussions, Blinken underlined there are few relationships in the world that are more vital than the one between the US and India. At the same time, he said as the world’s leading democ- racies, “We take seriously our responsibilities” towards free- dom, equality and opportuni- ty to all of “our people.” He also said both the democracies are “work in progress.” His observations came days after US Acting Assistant Secretary for South and Central Asian Affairs Dean Thompson said last week Blinken will raise issues of human rights and democracy during his visit to New Delhi. Reacting to this, India had said it is prepared to engage with the US on issues relating to human rights and democracy. Moreover, fol- lowing Thompson’s com- ments, sources had said India is proud of its achievements in upholding democratic values and human rights and it is open to engaging with those who recognise diversity. Jaishankar said the talks took place at an important juncture when key global and regional challenges needed to be effectively addressed. “Our bilateral partnership enhanced to a level that it enables us to deal collabora- tively with larger issues,” he said. The issue of the coron- avirus pandemic was natu- rally a particular priority, Jaishankar said adding the two leaders discussed travel chal- lenges resulting from Covid. I n a subtle message to China, US Secretary of State Antony Blinken on Wednesday met a representative of the Dalai Lama. This meeting was a major interaction of the US with the Tibetans in exile since the Dalai Lama met the then President Barack Obama in Washington in 2016. Blinken met briefly with Ngodup Dongchung, who serves as a representative of Central Tibetan Administration (CTA), also known as the Tibetan govern- ment in exile. A US State Department spokesperson said, “Secretary Blinken had an opportunity to meet briefly this morning in New Delhi with a representa- tive of His Holiness the Dalai Lama.” This meeting may irk China as some days back US Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin had said China was working against the shared principles and interests of the US and its partners across the Indo- Pacific. Meanwhile, the CTA and Tibetan advocacy groups have received a boost in interna- tional support in recent months amid rising criticism of China’s human rights record, particu- larly from the United States. A t least 16 people died and scores are missing in three cases of cloudburst on Wednesday in Jammu & Kashmir, Ladakh, and Himachal Pradesh. In Kishtwar district of J&K, seven people died and 17 others were critically injured, while 20 others could not be traced till late on Wednesday after a cloudburst left behind a trail of death and destruction in a remote Hanzor village of Dacchan area. After receiving the flash message early on Wednesday, the rescue teams comprising SDRF personnel along with local policemen trekked for over 3 to 4 hours to reach the affected area. Before the help arrived, the villagers who sur- vived the fury of the cloud- burst struggled their way to rescue the injured with bare hands. Two columns of the Indian Army were deployed to assist the civil administration in car- rying out rescue operations. A separate incident of cloudburst was reported from the holy cave shrine area of Amarnath Cave late on Wednesday afternoon. Ranchi S tate Cabinet Minister Jagarnath Mahto today got back his Education and Excise and Prohibition portfolios after a gap of about 10 months. The State Government issued a noti- fication to this effect on Wednesday also allotting port- folios to Ministers Rameshwar Oraon, Alamgir Alam and Hafizul Hassan Ansari. Chief Minister Hemant Soren met the Education Minister at his residence on Wednesday and inquired about his well-being. He expressed happiness to see the progress in the health of the minister. The Ministry of Education and Excise and Prohibition has been given to the Minister as he is com- pletely healthy. The Chief Minister has advised the minis- ter to settle the works from home. It is expected that soon Minister Jagannath Mahato will start the work. It is to be known that since he was unwell, the work of his ministry was being handled by the CM himself. Mahato was infected with Coronavirus in the last week of September 2020. After that he was first admitted to RIMS and then to Ranchi's Medica Hospital in a critical condition. The CM was constantly concerned about his health. He had been visiting the hospitals several times to inquire about his health from the doctors. Meanwhile, in view of the deteriorating health condi- tion of the minister, a team of specialist doctors from MGM, Chennai was called to Ranchi on the initiative of the Chief Minister. After this, on the advice of the team, Jagannath Mahato was sent to Chennai on 19 October by air ambulance under the supervision of doctors. He has to undergo lung transplant at the Mahatma Gandhi Medical College and Research Center (MGM) in Chennai, due to his Covid-19 infection. After the lung transplant, the minister remained under the supervision of doctors in Chennai for a few days. When the doctors said that his health was good, then the exercise of bringing Mahato, who was undergoing treatment in Chennai, started. On the instructions of the Chief Minister, a team of doctors was sent to Chennai on June 14 in a chartered plane to bring them to Ranchi. The team included Dr. PK Bhattacharya, Head of the Department of RIMS Critical Care and Dr. Ajit Dungdung, Department of Medicine. On June 14, the minister reached Ranchi late in the evening. When Minister Jagannath Mahto was brought to Ranchi by chartered plane from Chennai, Chief Minister Hemant Soren himself reached the airport to welcome him showing sensitiv- ity. Prior to this, the Minister’s Ranchi residence was also equipped with all the facilities of health benefits on the instruc- tions of the Chief Minister. The CM used to meet the minister from time to time and take stock of his well-being. In this episode, the CM also met him at his residence on Wednesday and following the advice of doc- tors and the Covid protocol, he advised and wished to take up the work from home. I t was the sort of day when almost everything unfolded as it was expected to for India in the Olympics. So, badminton ace PV Sindhu and seasoned archer Deepika Kumari marched into the last-16 of their respective events, debutant boxer Pooja Rani (75kg) won her easy opening bout without a fuss to enter the last-eight stage and the women’s hockey team stared at early elimination after failing to upstage defending champions Great Britain. It was, in a nutshell, anoth- er mixed day for the country which is waiting for its second medal after the spectacular sil- ver by weightlifter Mirabai Chanu on the opening day of competitions. Things started on a dis- appointing note with Rani Rampal’s women’s hockey team taking a 1-4 hammering from Britain, thoroughly pun- ished for not grabbing its chances in the crucial match, which has now severely dent- ed the side’s quarterfinal prospects. T he immunisation campaign against Covid-19 in Jharkhand witnessed a slight drop in momentum on Wednesday as the State man- aged to inoculate about 60,000 residents on the day after achieving daily vaccination numbers of over 1 lakh earlier this week, figures released by the National Health Mission (NHM) highlighted. As per provisional data released by the health depart- ment, at least 48,746 Jharkhand residents were administered the first dose of vaccine on the day, while 12,271 beneficiaries go their second jab. As many as 39,309 residents in the age bracket of 18 to 44 years received their first jab, while 2,716 residents from the same age bracket got their second dose on the day, the health department stated in its provi- sional vaccination report. Jharkhand reported anoth- er Covid death on Wednesday, which took the toll in the state to 5126, a separate bulletin from NHM highlighted. The fresh casualty on Wednesday occurred in East Singhbhum, which has reported 1042 Covid fatalities so far, the second highest among the 24 districts in Jharkhand. The active caseload of Covid-19 in the state, howev- er, dropped to 237 on the day as at least 36 patients recovered while 27 people were found infected in the state. As per NHM data, Bokaro reported the highest spike of six cases on the day, and the active caseload there also rose to 21 as only five patients recovered from the infection. The state on Wednesday tested swab samples of 58,148 residents and 0.04 per cent of them were found infected by Coronavirus. At least 10 dis- tricts – West Singhbhum, Simdega, Saraikela, Palamu, Pakur, Jamtara, Gumla, Garhwa, Dumka and Chatra – did not report fresh Covid cases on Wednesday. At least seven recoveries against four cases brought the active caseload in Ranchi down to 41, while two recoveries against one case brought the active caseload in East Singhbhum down to 13. Over 3.47 lakh people have been infected by the deadly virus in Jharkhand so far and 98.45 per cent of the patients recovered, while 1.47 per cent could not survive. The state on Wednesday also received the schedule for vaccine supply from the Centre in the month of August. According to the schedule, Jharkhand will receive 2,74,480 Covishield doses on August 7 and 78,930 Covaxin doses on August 8. On August 11, August 14 and August 15, the state will receive 2,64,200, 2,74,480 and 2,64,200 doses of Covishield respectively.

Transcript of aa f_Zej ^ZddZ`_ >R^ReR ^VVed D`_ZR - Daily Pioneer

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!��� 56(�-6*."

As part of her exercise tobring together the

Opposition parties to take onthe BJP in the 2024 Lok Sabhapolls, West Bengal ChiefMinister Mamata Banerjee metCongress president SoniaGandhi at her residence onWednesday. Separately, 14Opposition parties held a meet-ing in Parliament to corner theGovernment on a range ofissues, clearly indicating thatthe “unity” move was not justa solo venture.

During Mamata’s “chai pecharcha” with Sonia, formerCongress chief Rahul Gandhitoo was present.

Describing the meeting as“positive”, Mamata said shediscussed the political situationin the country as well asOpposition unity with theGandhis.

“It was a very good meet-ing,” the Trinamool Congress(TMC) supremo told reporters

after a 35-minute talk withSonia and Rahul.

“Soniaji had invited mefor a cup of tea. We discussedthe political situation in thecountry. We also discussed theissue of Opposition unity,” shesaid.

“To defeat the BJP, all of ushave to come together andwork together,” Mamata said onOpposition unity.

Taking on the Governmentover the Pegasus snooping

controversy, Banerjee said,“Why is the Government notreplying on the Pegasus issue?If there is no discussion in theLok Sabha and the Rajya Sabha(on Pegasus), where will thisdiscussion be held?Discussions are held inParliament, not at tea stalls.”

After Sonia, the TMCleader also called on her Delhicounterpart Arvind Kejriwal.Mamata was accompanied byher nephew and party MP

Abhishek Banerjee, while AAPMLA Raghav Chadha was withKejriwal. She is also lookingforward to call on NCP patri-arch Sharad Pawar and otherOpposition leaders.

Responding to a questionon Opposition unity, Mamatasaid, “The country will lead theOpposition, we are the fol-lowers. Opposition unity willhappen naturally, automati-cally.” Mamata said the elec-tions are far away but planningfor it has to be done inadvance.

She added she will meet allOpposition members after theParliament session is over andthe coronavirus situation nor-malises, indicating that anoth-er visit soon was on her agen-da.

The TMC supremo hasbeen reaching out to variousOpposition leaders in a bid tobring together the non-BJPforces ahead of the 2024 LokSabha polls.

Meanwhile, theOpposition paralysed theParliament on Wednesday forthe seventh day in a row andclosed ranks to plan a broadbased strategy to corner theModi Government on a rangeof issues, including snooping,unemployment, rising pricesand welfare of the farmers andthe poor.

!��� 56(�-6*."

India and the US onWednesday reaffirmed that

they are committed to strength-ening democratic institutionswith visiting US Secretary ofState Antony Blinken sayingshared values — freedom andequality — are key to the rela-tionship between the twonations.

Stressing this point hereafter talks between the USSecretary of State and ExternalAffairs Minister S Jaishankar,both the leaders also said theywere focused on finding apeaceful solution to the ongo-ing Afghanistan conflict.

The two Ministers heldwide-ranging parleys coveringthe situation in Afghanistan,Indo-Pacific engagements,Covid-19 response mechanismand ways to strengthen region-al security. Blinken also metPrime Minister Narendra Modiand National Security Adviser(NSA) Ajit Doval.

Addressing a joint mediaconference after extensive dis-cussions, Blinken underlinedthere are few relationships inthe world that are more vital

than the one between the USand India.

At the same time, he saidas the world’s leading democ-racies, “We take seriously ourresponsibilities” towards free-dom, equality and opportuni-ty to all of “our people.” He alsosaid both the democracies are“work in progress.”

His observations camedays after US Acting AssistantSecretary for South and CentralAsian Affairs Dean Thompsonsaid last week Blinken willraise issues of human rightsand democracy during hisvisit to New Delhi.

Reacting to this, Indiahad said it is prepared toengage with the US on issuesrelating to human rights anddemocracy. Moreover, fol-

lowing Thompson’s com-ments, sources had said Indiais proud of its achievements inupholding democratic valuesand human rights and it isopen to engaging with thosewho recognise diversity.

Jaishankar said the talkstook place at an importantjuncture when key global andregional challenges neededto be effectively addressed.“Our bilateral partnershipenhanced to a level that itenables us to deal collabora-tively with larger issues,” hesaid.

The issue of the coron-avirus pandemic was natu-rally a particular priority,Jaishankar said adding the twoleaders discussed travel chal-lenges resulting from Covid.

!��� 56(�-6*."

In a subtle message to China,US Secretary of State Antony

Blinken on Wednesday met arepresentative of the DalaiLama. This meeting was amajor interaction of the USwith the Tibetans in exile sincethe Dalai Lama met the thenPresident Barack Obama inWashington in 2016.

Blinken met briefly withNgodup Dongchung, whoserves as a representative ofCentral TibetanAdministration (CTA), alsoknown as the Tibetan govern-ment in exile.

A US State Departmentspokesperson said, “SecretaryBlinken had an opportunity tomeet briefly this morning inNew Delhi with a representa-tive of His Holiness the DalaiLama.”

This meeting may irkChina as some days back USDefense Secretary Lloyd Austinhad said China was workingagainst the shared principlesand interests of the US and itspartners across the Indo-Pacific.

Meanwhile, the CTA andTibetan advocacy groups havereceived a boost in interna-tional support in recent monthsamid rising criticism of China’shuman rights record, particu-larly from the United States.

�������������� 7�889

At least 16 people died andscores are missing in three

cases of cloudburst onWednesday in Jammu &Kashmir, Ladakh, andHimachal Pradesh.

In Kishtwar district ofJ&K, seven people died and 17others were critically injured,while 20 others could not betraced till late on Wednesdayafter a cloudburst left behinda trail of death and destructionin a remote Hanzor village ofDacchan area.

After receiving the flashmessage early on Wednesday,

the rescue teams comprisingSDRF personnel along withlocal policemen trekked forover 3 to 4 hours to reach theaffected area. Before the helparrived, the villagers who sur-vived the fury of the cloud-burst struggled their way torescue the injured with barehands.

Two columns of the IndianArmy were deployed to assistthe civil administration in car-rying out rescue operations.

A separate incident ofcloudburst was reported fromthe holy cave shrine area ofAmarnath Cave late onWednesday afternoon.

!��� Ranchi

State Cabinet MinisterJagarnath Mahto today got

back his Education and Exciseand Prohibition portfolios aftera gap of about 10 months. TheState Government issued a noti-fication to this effect onWednesday also allotting port-folios to Ministers RameshwarOraon, Alamgir Alam andHafizul Hassan Ansari.

Chief Minister HemantSoren met the EducationMinister at his residence onWednesday and inquired abouthis well-being. He expressedhappiness to see the progress inthe health of the minister. TheMinistry of Education and Exciseand Prohibition has been givento the Minister as he is com-pletely healthy. The ChiefMinister has advised the minis-ter to settle the works from

home. It is expected that soonMinister Jagannath Mahato willstart the work. It is to be knownthat since he was unwell, thework of his ministry was beinghandled by the CM himself.

Mahato was infected withCoronavirus in the last week ofSeptember 2020. After that hewas first admitted to RIMS andthen to Ranchi's Medica Hospitalin a critical condition. The CM

was constantly concerned abouthis health. He had been visitingthe hospitals several times toinquire about his health from thedoctors. Meanwhile, in view ofthe deteriorating health condi-tion of the minister, a team ofspecialist doctors from MGM,Chennai was called to Ranchi onthe initiative of the ChiefMinister. After this, on the adviceof the team, Jagannath Mahato

was sent to Chennai on 19October by air ambulance underthe supervision of doctors. Hehas to undergo lung transplantat the Mahatma Gandhi MedicalCollege and Research Center(MGM) in Chennai, due to hisCovid-19 infection. After thelung transplant, the ministerremained under the supervisionof doctors in Chennai for a fewdays. When the doctors said that

his health was good, then theexercise of bringing Mahato,who was undergoing treatmentin Chennai, started. On theinstructions of the ChiefMinister, a team of doctors wassent to Chennai on June 14 in achartered plane to bring them toRanchi. The team included Dr.PK Bhattacharya, Head of theDepartment of RIMS CriticalCare and Dr. Ajit Dungdung,Department of Medicine. OnJune 14, the minister reachedRanchi late in the evening.

When Minister JagannathMahto was brought to Ranchi bychartered plane from Chennai,Chief Minister Hemant Sorenhimself reached the airport towelcome him showing sensitiv-ity. Prior to this, the Minister’sRanchi residence was alsoequipped with all the facilities ofhealth benefits on the instruc-tions of the Chief Minister. TheCM used to meet the ministerfrom time to time and takestock of his well-being. In thisepisode, the CM also met him athis residence on Wednesdayand following the advice of doc-tors and the Covid protocol, headvised and wished to take upthe work from home.

!��� )2:;2

It was the sort of day whenalmost everything unfolded

as it was expected to for Indiain the Olympics.

So, badminton ace PVSindhu and seasoned archerDeepika Kumari marched intothe last-16 of their respectiveevents, debutant boxer PoojaRani (75kg) won her easyopening bout without a fuss toenter the last-eight stage andthe women’s hockey teamstared at early elimination afterfailing to upstage defendingchampions Great Britain.

It was, in a nutshell, anoth-er mixed day for the countrywhich is waiting for its secondmedal after the spectacular sil-ver by weightlifter MirabaiChanu on the opening day ofcompetitions.

Things started on a dis-appointing note with RaniRampal’s women’s hockeyteam taking a 1-4 hammeringfrom Britain, thoroughly pun-

ished for not grabbing itschances in the crucial match,which has now severely dent-ed the side’s quarterfinalprospects.

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The immunisation campaignagainst Covid-19 in

Jharkhand witnessed a slightdrop in momentum onWednesday as the State man-aged to inoculate about 60,000residents on the day afterachieving daily vaccinationnumbers of over 1 lakh earlierthis week, figures released bythe National Health Mission(NHM) highlighted.

As per provisional datareleased by the health depart-ment, at least 48,746 Jharkhandresidents were administeredthe first dose of vaccine on theday, while 12,271 beneficiariesgo their second jab. As many as

39,309 residents in the agebracket of 18 to 44 yearsreceived their first jab, while2,716 residents from the sameage bracket got their seconddose on the day, the healthdepartment stated in its provi-sional vaccination report.

Jharkhand reported anoth-er Covid death on Wednesday,which took the toll in the stateto 5126, a separate bulletinfrom NHM highlighted. Thefresh casualty on Wednesday

occurred in East Singhbhum,which has reported 1042 Covidfatalities so far, the secondhighest among the 24 districtsin Jharkhand.

The active caseload ofCovid-19 in the state, howev-er, dropped to 237 on the dayas at least 36 patients recoveredwhile 27 people were foundinfected in the state. As perNHM data, Bokaro reportedthe highest spike of six cases onthe day, and the active caseloadthere also rose to 21 as only fivepatients recovered from theinfection.

The state on Wednesdaytested swab samples of 58,148residents and 0.04 per cent ofthem were found infected byCoronavirus. At least 10 dis-tricts – West Singhbhum,Simdega, Saraikela, Palamu,Pakur, Jamtara, Gumla,Garhwa, Dumka and Chatra –did not report fresh Covid

cases on Wednesday.At least seven recoveries

against four cases brought theactive caseload in Ranchi downto 41, while two recoveriesagainst one case brought theactive caseload in EastSinghbhum down to 13. Over3.47 lakh people have beeninfected by the deadly virus inJharkhand so far and 98.45 percent of the patients recovered,while 1.47 per cent could notsurvive.

The state on Wednesdayalso received the schedule forvaccine supply from the Centrein the month of August.According to the schedule,Jharkhand will receive 2,74,480Covishield doses on August 7and 78,930 Covaxin doses onAugust 8. On August 11,August 14 and August 15, thestate will receive 2,64,200,2,74,480 and 2,64,200 doses ofCovishield respectively.

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District and Sessions judge-VIII of Dhanbad subor-

dinate court was crushed todeath by a speeding auto rick-shaw coming from behind earlyon Wednesday morning justoutside the judges colony locat-ed near the Randhir Vermasquare .

The Judge, Uttam Anand,was transferred to Dhanbadfrom Bokaro about six monthsago. A regular morning walk-er, he was on way to RandhirVerma stadium located close tothe colony, when the incidenttook place around 5 am.

Anand was taken toSNMMCH by someone, whowas crossing from there butdoctors declared him dead.

By this time, a message wasflashed at the police line that apolice jawan has been admitted

to hospital in injured condition.However, later, the police body-guard who reached the hospi-tal identified him and passedon the information of the inci-dent to the principal districtand sessions judge besides oth-ers.

Senior judicial officialsbesides police officials reachedthe hospital along with familymembers who by then had filedinformation of the missingwith Dhanbad police .

Senior Superintendent ofpolice (SSP) Sanjeev Kumarsaid that an autorickshaw hitthe judge and the driverescaped with the vehicle.

The incident reported inthe CCTV camera is of 5.08am. However, investigationrevealed that it was a deliber-ate attempt or accident as thejudge was on the extreme leftof the road, he said.

The SSP said, "It is anopen case and police wouldinvestigate the case keeping inmind all possibities includingmurder".

In another move, thelawyers associated withDhanbad Bar Associationdecided to abstain from alljudicial work in honour of thedeceased judge.

Senior lawyer BrajendraPrasad Singh has demanded identification of thevehicle so that legal actionmay be initiated. He also con-doled the untimely death of thejudge .

The judge was probingRanjay Singh murder case.Ranjay happened to be theprivate body guard of formerJharia MLA Sanjeev Singh,who is in jail owing to hisalleged involvement in NeerajSingh murder case.

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After serving four notices tothe defaulters, the

Jamshedpur Notified AreaCommittee (JNAC) has start-ed a fresh survey identifyingbuilding code and basementnorms in the steel city.

Four notices were issuedon Tuesday. They have beendirected to dismantle the ille-gal portions on their own orJNAC would carry out theoperations and add the expens-es to their accounts. Those vio-lating the orders will have legalproceedings initiated againstthem.

The building under con-struction’s plan was passed forbasement + ground + 4 floorsbut a fifth floor was being con-structed. JNAC Special OfficerKrishna Kumar had issued a

notice accordingly but in theabsence of satisfactory expla-nation, a fresh notice wasissued giving the owner of thebuilding 24 hours’ notice to dis-mantle the illegal construc-

tion.The Special Officer has

issued office orders to completeremoval of the remaining por-tion of the illegally construct-ed portion.

A JNAC official confirmedthat they are going to start afresh drive against the build-ings, especially commercialbuildings and market com-plexes to ensure that the own-

ers of the buildings have notviolated the building code.

"We are making a list of thebuildings to ensure that theowners have not made an extrafloor in violation of the build-ing plan approved by the civicbody. We are also looking intowhether any building ownershave let out the basement forcommercial purposes," he said.

He pointed out while car-rying out the survey we are get-ting the building in questionvideographed so that effectiveaction can be taken in the courtof law against the violators.

According to sources in theJNAC, due to using the base-ment for commercial purpos-es instead of using it for park-ing, roads in front of the build-ings remain occupied with thevehicle parking.

The sources said the build-ing where the basements arebeing used for running restau-rants, shops or office purpos-es will be taken to task.

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As the city geared up to cel-ebrate the 117th birth

anniversary of Bharat RatnaJRD Tata on Thursday, richtributes have started pouringfor the great pioneer.

From 1926, when on thedeath of his father he becamea Director of Tata Sons at theage of 22 and then itsChairman 12 years later, till hisdeath in 1993, JRD Tata’s lifewas one of continuous and out-standing achievement for the

national cause. As leader ofIndia’s largest and most suc-cessful group of industrialenterprises, he made an enor-mous contribution to the devel-opment and growth of thenation.

Born in Paris on July 29,1904, Jehangir RatanjiDadabhai Tata was the son ofJamsetji’s nephew RatanjiDadabhai Tata and his Frenchwife Sooni. The Tatas had fivechildren who grew up andschooled in France, and some-times in Bombay wheneverthe family visited the city.Though JRD would rather havebeen in Cambridge, he had toserve the French Army for ayear in 1924 instead. The nextyear, RD Tata recalled him toBombay to join the Tatas andplaced him under the charge ofJohn Peterson, the Director-in-charge of Tata Steel at BombayHouse.

Through the ups anddowns of the decades that fol-lowed, Tatas had the good for-tune to be steered by a manwho stood for all the idealsthat were dear to Jamsetjisuch as the principles of jus-tice and equity.

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A21-year-old youth killedhis handicapped younger

brother with an iron rod afteran altercation between theirwives over an unknown reasonat Makoli CCL colony underChandrapura police station,17 km from Bokaro steel city,on Tuesday evening. Soon afterthe incident, he was arrestedand remanded in custody.

The assailant was identifiedas Rahul Yadav, a mentallyunstable man, who killed hisdisabled brother Rohit Yadav.Police said a brawl ensuedbetween the wives of the twobrothers in the evening overunknown reason.

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The 22nd battalion of CRPFHazaribag celebrated 83rd

Foundation Day of the force on27 July following all protocolsof Covid-19. The programmewas inaugurated by the com-mandant of battalion RK Singhwith flag hosting of the force.

On this occasion, the com-mandant said that this force isthe biggest paramilitary force of

India. The force proved theirtraining during the Chinaattack in 1959. The CRPFjawans foiled the attack ofinfantry battalion of 3,500jawans of Pakistan and 34jawans were killed of Pakistanand four arrested.

The organisation has sixwomen battalion, doing won-derful work with the malejawans. The CRPF jawans havewon 2000 Virta awards, 16

Arjun awards and differentmedals in the different gameswhich are conducted in Indiaas well as outside India.

At the end of the pro-gramme, the commandant andall officers paid homage tomartyrs. On this occasion,Deputy Commandant BrijeshKumar Singh, Ajit KumarSingh, Bipin Kumar Singh andDy Commandant PiyushBansal were present.

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The CPI (Maoist) are havingtheir week-long martyrs

day till August 3 while onesplinter group, the PLFI, islabouring to recruit young andunsuspecting people in its fold,said sources.

Well-placed sources in thepolice headquarters said theSimdega police in Jharkhandnabbed two PLFI ultras whowere alleged to be out forrecruitment of young, joblessblood in their outfit only to getcaught by the Simdega police.

Police sources said thedepletion in the number ofcadres in the dreaded Maoist

outfit down to the splintergroups like that of the PLFI hasforced the naxal outfits to bringin youngsters in the outfit.

Police sources said this isno less a worrisome situationfor them since any lateral ordirect entry of the youth in thenaxal outfit will mean a swell ofthe outfit.

A press note of the mediacell of the Simdega police readthat under order of the SPSimdega Shams Tabrez policethere nabbed two PLFI ultrasidentified as Rinku Sahu aliasBabu 21 and Binod Pyke aliasPandit 20 who were trying towoo or induct new recruits inthe naxal outfit there.

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Sensation spread in the entirearea on the information of

the dead body of a CCLemployee hanging from theceiling on Wednesday at NewMinus quarter under Gomiapolice station area.

Sources said that HiramanMahato, working in CCL,Swang- Govindpur Phase-,IlColliery, was found dead at 3pm in his Quarter No.(NM/34).

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BJP parliamentarian fromRanchi, Sanjay Seth on

Tuesday met Prime MinisterNarendra Modi and handedhim a request letter high-lighting slew of infrastructureprojects for State Capital. Seth,through his request letter,urged the Prime Minister forrevival of the HeavyEngineering Corporation(HEC) plant, setting up AllIndia Institute of MedicalScience (AIIMS) and opera-tion of monorail in Ranchi.

Seth informed the PrimeMinister that more than50,000 families are depen-dent on HEC which was setup in the early sixties. TheRanchi MP, highlighting thepoor condition of HEC, saidthat with the revival of HECplant, which is known asmother of all industries,Jharkhand can retain its lostglory. Heavy Engineering

Corporation Ltd, is one of theleading suppliers of capitalequipment in India for steel,mining, railways, power,defense, space research,nuclear and strategic sectors.

Seth during his meetingwith Prime Minister Modialso requested him to set upanother AIIMS in Jharkhand.He said that in absence of bet-

ter medical facil it ies inJharkhand, patients from theState are left with no otheroptions but to move to otherstates. With setting up AIIMSin Ranchi, the health hub willnot only cater to the demandsof patients in Jharkhand, butpatients from neighbouringstates such as Bihar, WestBengal and Odisha too will get

better medical treatment. Hesaid that presently there isonly RIMS catering to themedical needs of poorpatients.

Prime Minister NarendraModi during his first tenurehad gifted AIIMS centre atDeoghar, however, theOutpatient department (OPD)facilities are yet to start at thehealth hub.

The Ranchi MP alsorequested the Prime Ministerfor operation of monorail inRanchi. He said that with theincrease in population, thereis a huge problem of trafficjams in the State Capital. Hesaid that Ranchi's populationis around 36 lakh, but theState Capital lacks a bettertraffic system. The talks ofrunning monorail is not a newproject. It was former ChiefMinister Raghubar Das whohad mooted the idea of run-ning a monorail project inJharkhand, but the projectcould not start. The PrimeMinister listened to the MP'sdemand and assured him ofhis demand.

Earlier, Seth in Lok Sabharaised the issue of Corporate

Social Responsibility (CSR)projects by the Ministry ofCoal. Seth said that Jharkhandis a fertile land for sports tal-ents. There are large numbersof players playing at the worldlevel and there are many play-ers who are still looking foropportunities in differentgames. For their promotion,better training and protectionof such sportspersons, theMinistry of Coal should takesteps to provide them bettertraining facilities under CSR.

Seth also praised the CoalMinistry for initiating theprocess for opening a nation-al level library in Ranchiunder CSR. Union CoalMinister Pralhad Joshiinformed Ranchi MP aboutvarious CSR projects run bythe ministry of coal. He saidthat a sports academy is oper-ational at Khelgaon (Ranchi).At the same time, the work ofsetting up fabricated toilets ata cost of about Rs 17 crores isgoing on at different railwaystations of Jharkhand. InRanchi itself, Lal-Ladli Yojanaand many other programsrelated to education are goingon at a cost of Rs 1.27 crores.

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Following the instruction ofAll India Congress

Committee (AICC) onWednesday JharkhandPradesh Congress Committee(JPCC) with limited numberof party workers protestedagainst the increase in theprices of petrol-diesel andLPG, under the leadership ofJPCC Chief, Dr RameshwarOraon near Bapu Vatika atMorhabadi in the StateCapital.

In this demonstration,Congress Legislature PartyLeader, Alamgir Alam,Agriculture Minister Badal,Health Minister, Banna Gupta,former Union MinisterSubodh Kant Sahai, MLAsPradeep Yadav, BandhuTirkey, Purnima Neeraj Singh,Bhushan Bada, RamchandraSingh and Anup Singh werepresent.

Speaking on the occasionOraon said that the slogan ofMake in India was coined byformer Prime Minister PanditJawaharlal Nehru and IndiraGandhi, but now the slogan ofSell in India is rising duringthe tenure of Prime MinisterNarendra Modi. “The people

of the Country are unitingagainst the increase in theprice of petrol and dieselunder the leadership ofCongress President SoniaGandhi and senior leaderRahul Gandhi but the CentralGovernment is working only

keeping in mind the interestsof its few capitalist friends,” headded.

“There has been a hugeincrease in the prices of fooditems to industrial goods.Earlier in the Congress rule,people used to say that it will

take decades to reach the priceof petrol and diesel at Rs 100,but today in the BJPGovernment the price ofpetrol and diesel has not onlyreached Rs 100 but has reachedRs 111 and the prices of bothpetrol and diesel became

almost equal,” said Oraon.Addressing the gathering

on the occasion CLP Leader,Alamgir Alam said that thepublic is watching what hashappened to the BJP's slogan of'Acche Din', only BJP’s capi-talist friends developed in

seven years with the slogan of'Sabka Saath and Sabka Vikas'.He said that the people of theCountry can no longer toler-ate the Government, if theCentral Government cannotreduce the prices, then PrimeMinister Narendra Modishould step down.

On this occasion, BannaGupta said that during theCongress regime, when theprice of petrol was Rs 62,BJP's Smriti Irani used to roamthe streets demanding toreduce the price by hanging astrap around her neck, but inthe Modi Government onpetrol and diesel Rs 4.21 lakhcrore tax has been collected.The price of petrol wasincreased by 298 percent andthat of diesel by 830 percent, headded.

Subodh Kant Sahay saidthat when there has been a fallin the price of crude oil acrossthe world, the increase in theprice of petrol and diesel in theCountry is beyond the com-prehension of the commonman. He said that now the timehas come for the countrymento take necessary initiative tocomprehensively oppose theanti-people policies of theCentral Government.

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Jharkhand High Court onWednesday issued a notice

to Election Commission ofIndia (ECI) to explain thatunder which law the ECIremoved the Jharkhand VikasMorcha (JVM) from the list ofthe political party and froze‘comb’ as the election symbolof the JVM.

While issuing the notice,the court of Justice RajeshShankar directed the ECI tofile its reply within six weeks.The court passed this orderwhile hearing a petition filedby MLAs Bandhu Tirkeyand Pradeep Yadav. Bothhad won the 2019 Jharkhandassembly election as theJVM nominee, the party washeaded by Babulal Marandi.

Tirke y, Yadav andMarandi were the three can-didates who had won the last

assembly election as theJVM candidate.

In February last yearexecuted a split in the JVMand merger his party in theBJP under provisions of 10thschedule of the Constitution.Before the merger Marandiexpelled both of them fromthe party on disciplinaryground. But it was done toremove any technical hurdlesince both of them were

opposed to merger of theJVM in the BJP hence aftert he i r expuls ion t he yremained the single MLA.

On the same day Tirkeyand Yadav joined t heC ongress . They fur therannounced to merge theJVM in the Congress statingthey represent the originalJVM. B ot h t he groupsinformed ECI and office of

Jharkhand assembly aboutthe merger.

Whi le t he of f i ce ofSpeaker of Jharkhand assem-bly has so far not recognizedmerger of any of the groups;ECI in March last yearissued a notification recog-nising merger of JVM in theBJP. After the order the JVMceased to exist as a separatepolitical party in Jharkhand.During the Rajya Sabha elec-tion in Jharkhand the ECIrecognised Marandi as theBJP MLA in its voter listwhere Tirkey and Yadavwere listed as independentMLAs. ECI in its order stat-ed that the party's electionsymbol of a comb wouldremain frozen till furtherorders.

Both MLAs stated thatECI under political influ-ence passed the order tovalidate merger of the JVM inthe BJP by Marandi.

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Jharkhand may achieve herdimmunity against Coronavirus

by the time a potential third wavehits the state, experts said onWednesday, claiming that at leasthalf of the 2.6 crore adult popu-lation in Jharkhand may get theprotection of at least one dose ofvaccine by October, which mayhelp in preventing hospitalizationand deaths in case a third wavecomes.

“We have already vaccinated90 lakh residents. If the vaccina-tion pace continues at the samepace, then we will have at least halfof the adult population protect-ed against Covid-19 by October.If Covid-appropriate behavior isfollowed and people are cautious,then the third wave may not havea major impact,” said the StateCoordinator of Indian MedicalAssociation (IMA), Dr. AjaySingh.

Besides, the fourth sero sur-vey conducted by the IndianCouncil of Medical Research

(ICMR) in June found that 61.2per cent of the population sur-veyed in three districts ofJharkhand – Pakur, Latehar andSimdega – had Covid antibodies.As per ICMR, of the 1231 peo-ple tested, 753 were found to haveantibodies against Covid-19.

Dr. Prabhat Kumar, the coor-dinator of the Covid-19 taskforce at Rajendra Institute ofMedical Sciences (RIMS), how-ever, said that the governmentshould continue with the currentrestrictions in order to avert athird wave. “Despite several citi-zens developing antibodies tofight the virus, Covid restrictionswill have to be followed strictly inorder to stop the virus frommutating and getting stronger bymoving from one body to anoth-er,” he said.

Dr. Kumar, who has beentreating Covid patients atJharkhand’s largest State-run hos-pital since the first wave of thepandemic in 2000, said that theseverity of symptoms was alsogradually dropping with a drop incases in the state and a third wavemay not have a major impact ifCovid protocols are followed.

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The leadership of theJharkhand Congress on

Wednesday intervened intoongoing controversy that alleged-ly some of the party MLAs haveeither been paid or keen toreceive kickback from the BJP totopple Hemant Soren led JMM-Congress-RJD government.

Leader of the legislativebody of the Congress and min-ister Alamgir Alam and stateparty president and ministerRameshwar Oraon onWednesday jointly summonedMLAs to seek clarification/ con-fession whether they have soiledtheir hands.

MLAs Irfan Ansari andUmashankar Akela, whose namehave figured in the police inves-tigation for visiting Delhi andholding secret parley with two ofMaharashtra based BJP leadersconfessed their Delhi visit. Butthey denied their involvement in

the shady deal.The congress has 16 MLAs

in Jharkhand. Other MLAs of theparty namely Amba Prasad,Purnima Niraj Singh, NamanBixel Kongari, Mamata Deviand some other MLAs werepresent in the meeting.

Ansari told the leadershipthat the liquor mafia implicatedhim in the false case. Ironically,the police acted on the basis ofan FIR lodged by the Congresslegislator Jaimangal Singh. Hehad claimed that some hawalaoperators are in Ranchi to man-age MLAs of the ruling party. Onthe basis of his inputs the policearrested three persons.

Later on, speaking to themedia Alam defended any of theMLA has compromised his orher integrity.

“MLAs stand like rock withthe party and the alliance andwhat is being circulated on theirname is baseless. This is a coin-cidence that Irfan and

Umashankar travelled togetherto Delhi which can’t be the basisto prove anything,” said Alam.

Alam further said that hehad spoken to Jaimangal toknow inputs and logic behindlodging a police complaint.

“Across the country the BJPhas been trying to destabilize thenon-BJP government. He cameto know that some hawala oper-ators are planning something.But he never meant that MLAsare involved in this. In the recentpast raids were carried acrossJharkhand against hawala oper-ators,” he said.

Alam was in great pain tosave the image of the party andMLAs. Some of the MLAs per-sonally conveyed that the silenceof the leadership was intriguingat a time when they MLAs arewrongly facing insinuation. Theyalso said that leadership mustrestrain unbridled aspirations ofundisciplined elements of theparty.

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In a bid to empower ruralwomen, Jharkhand State

Livelihood Promotion Society(JSLPS) signed a Memorandumof Understanding (MoU) onWednesday with HDFC Bank toprovide credit linkage to SakhiMandals in the State.

Sakhi Mandals in the Statewill be benefited by coming for-ward of private sectors lenders forcredit linkage to Sakhi Mandals,said Jharkhand State LivelihoodPromotion Society (JSLPS) ChiefExecutive Officer (CEO), NancySahay, Chief while the signing ofMoU with HDFC Bank onWednesday.

Appreciating this initiative,Sahay said that other private sec-

tor lenders will also be encour-aged by the initiative of HDFCBank to provide credit linkagesto Sakhi Mandals so that they cando their business and the bene-fit of this will be for the sisters ofSakhi Mandal, they will haveoptions available for credit link-age and will not face any prob-lem.

“Now other private banks arealso coming forward to provideloans to the Skhai Mandals in theState through credit linkage. TheMoU has been signed betweenHDFC Bank and JSLPS to con-nect Sakhi Mandals of the Statewith credit linkage” said Sahay.

The JSLPS Chief ExecutiveOfficer and Regional Head,Sustainable Livelihood Initiative,HDFC Bank, Vivek Kumar by

signing the MoU jointly startedthe work to provide credit link-age through HDFC Bank in theState.

JSLPS under theDepartment of RuralDevelopment is constantly try-

ing to connect rural women inthe State with credit linkage.HDFC Bank is the first privatebank to join the initiative of pro-viding credit linkage to SakhiMandals in the State. The rep-resentatives of the bank talkedabout more help under the CSRitem for the livelihood of SakhiMandals in the State in thecoming days.

Under the DeendayalAntyodaya Yojana, NationalRural Livelihood Mission, about2.6 lakh Sakhi Mandals havebeen formed. Out of these, anamount of Rs 2000 crores hasbeen made available to about 1.5lakh Sakhi Mandals as creditlinkage. This amount has beenlinked by the Governmentbanks.

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Traders protesting againstthe demolition of shops

and buildings at business hubUpper Bazar area by Civicbody, Ranchi MunicipalCorporation (RMC), todayurged Federation ofJharkhand Chamber ofCommerce and Industries(FJCCI) to intervene in thematter. The traders stated thatthe RMC plan, for demolitionof shops many of these 50years old, is impractical. Thetraders claimed that many

shops which are in the radarof RMC demolition plan haveholding numbers, paying elec-tricity bills, municipal taxesand other government taxes.In such a situation, the Civicbody’s demolition plan is ille-gal. The traders stated that ifthere is excess of constructionthen the building can be reg-ularized by charging appro-priate fee and penalty. Thetraders claim that completedemolition of buildingsamounts to loss of nationalproperty. The traders alsoquestioned if their building isillegal than why the RMC ischarging holding taxes fromthem.

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As many as 10 Lok SabhaMPs could be suspended

from the House for tearing andthrowing papers on theSpeaker and in the Houseduring Question Hour, which,incidentally, could be held forthe first time on Wednesdaysince the commencement ofthe Parliament’s MonsoonSession on July 19.

The Government will pro-pose Lok Sabha Speaker OmBirla to take action against theOpposition MPs including TNPrathapan, Hibi Eden, Gurjeet

Singh Aujla, ManickamTagore, Deepak Baij, AM Ariff,Dean Kuriakose andJothimani.

Last week, Rajya Sabhachairman M Venkaiah Naiduhad suspended TMC MPSantanu Sen for the remainingpart of Monsoon Session forsnatching papers fromInformation TechnologyMinister Ashwini Vaishnawand tearing them in the House.

When papers were beinglaid, Congress membersGurjeet Aujala, TN Prathapan,Hibi Eden and some othersthrew business papers of the

day besides some torn papersand placards at the Chair. Apiece of the torn placard land-ed in the press gallery justabove the Speaker’s podium.

They intensified theirprotests at 12 noon, whenSpeaker Om Birla left andRajendra Agrawal took thechair.

The members repeatedlythrew papers at the Chair andlater towards the Treasurybenches. However, Agrawalcontinued with the proceed-ings.

One of the papers landednear the seat of Parliamentary

Affairs Minister Pralhad Joshi.The Chair then adjourned theproceedings till 12:30 pm.

When the House reassem-bled at 12:30 pm, the din con-tinued and Agrawal adjourned Lok Sabha pro-ceedings till 2 pm. As theprotests continued, the Housewas again adjourned till 2:30pm.

While Minister of State for

parliamentary affairs ArjunRam Meghwal said: “Therewill be some action, for sure(against the unruly MPs),”Union Minister AnuragThakur told reporters outsidethe parliament building thatthere is a way to protest, buttoday, the opposition has dam-aged the dignity and decorumof the temple of our democ-racy.

Amidst the bedlam, theLok Sabha passed two bills —The Appropriation Bill, 2021and ‘The Insolvency andBankruptcy Code(Amendment) Bill, 2021’ .

The noisy protests fromthe opposition benches con-tinued parallel to theQuestion Hour and answerswere given by the ministersamidst the din.

From the word go, theOpposition members movedinto the Well as they sought toraise various issues.

Some members wereshouting slogans and display-ing placards.

From the Pegasus spywarecontroversy to the three farmlaws, the members wanted toraise various issues during theQuestion Hour.

On Tuesday, there were 10adjournments in the LowerHouse before proceedingswere adjourned for the day inthe evening.

Opposition members havemade it clear that they wouldnot allow business to be run inthe Lok Sabha and each daythey troop into the well of thehouse the moment the day’sproceedings begin.

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Rajya Sabha proceedingswere also disrupted for

the seventh consecutive dayon Wednesday as Oppositionparties kept up their protestsover the Pegasus snoopingrow, farm laws and price rise.Amid the din, the UpperHouse approved the JuvenileJustice (Care and Protectionof Children) AmendmentBil l , 2021 with BJP’sBhubaneswar Kalita in theChair. The Bill has already

been passed by Lok Sabha.The Upper House, which

has seen continuous protestsby the Opposition since theMonsoon session started onJuly 19 to press for discus-sions on Peagasus and farmlaws, was adjourned thricebefore the Chair finallyadjourned it for the day.Before the final adjournmentwas made by Kalita, TMCmember Shanta Chettri faint-ed while protesting alongwithother Opposition members inthe Well of the House.

Members rushed to assisther. Union Women and ChildDevelopment Minister SmritiIrani, who was reading outthe Statement of her Bill inBengali at that point of time,too rushed to assist the faint-ed member following whichthe House was adjourned forhalf an hour. Chhetri wasthen rushed to a hospital.

While moving the billfor consideration in theHouse, Irani said that despitethe disruption, the Housewill agree that the children of

this country deserve theirattention for protection andsupport. However, the oppo-sition members did notreturn to their seats and theHouse witnessed continuousuproar.

Early in the day, asChairman M Venkaiah Naiducalled for the Zero Hour,where MPs raise issues ofpublic importance, MPsbelonging to Congress, TMCand other opposition partiesstarted raising slogans onPegasus snooping, farm laws,fuel prices and other issues.

They also brought plac-ards and raised slogans likeKhela Hobe. As some of themtried to move into the Well ofthe House, Naidu orderedthat no placards will be dis-played.

He instructed the RajyaSabha Secretariat to publishthe name of MPs and theissue they wanted to raise inthe Zero hour.

When the Houseresumed at noon, DeputyChairman Harivansh man-aged to take up all questionslisted for the Question Houramid the din.

As soon as the Houseresumed after lunch, Kalita,who was in the Chair, calledIrani to move The JuvenileJustice (Care and Protectionof Children) AmendmentBill, 2021 for the considera-tion of the House.

The minister moved thebill and it was passed amidthe din. Thereafter, Kalitaadjourned the House for theday.

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The IAF on Wednesday for-mally inducted Rafale air-

craft into No. 101 Squadron atthe Hasimara air base in WestBengal. The IAF has so farinducted 25 Rafale jets with 18to 20 of them at the Ambala airbase in north India.

The Hasimara airbase pri-marily caters to the easternfront facing China and theLine of Actual Control(LAC).With the ongoing tension andstand-offs at the LAC inEastern Ladakh and its spillover affect in other borderstates, the induction the Rafale

jets in the east is important.IAF Chief RKS Bhadauria

presided over the inductionceremony. The event includeda fly-past heralding the arrivalof Rafale aircraft to Hasimarafollowed by a traditional watercannon salute.

Addressing the personnelduring the induction ceremo-ny, Bhadauria said the induc-tion of Rafale had been care-fully planned at Hasimarakeeping in mind the impor-tance of strengthening IAF’scapability in the Eastern Sector.

Recalling the glorious his-tory of 101 Squadron whichbestowed upon them the title

of ‘Falcons of Chamb andAkhnoor,’ he urged the per-sonnel to combine their zealand commitment with theunmatched potential of thenewly inducted platform.

He said he had no doubtthat the Squadron would dom-inate whenever and whereverrequired and ensure that theadversary would always beintimidated by their sheer pres-ence.

One squadron has 18 to 20jets. India will receive all the36 Rafales from France by nextyear.

The 101 Squadron is thesecond IAF Squadron to be

equipped with Rafale aircraft.The Squadron was formed on01 May 1949 at Palam and hasoperated Harvard, Spitfire,Vampire, Su-7 and MiG-21M

aircraft in the past. The glori-ous history of this Squadronincludes active participationin 1965 and 1971 Indo-Pakwars.

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Flagging terrorism as themost serious threat to

international peace and secu-rity, Defence Minister RajnathSingh on Wednesday reaf-firmed India’s resolve to fightthis scourge in all its formsand manifestations.

Making this assertionwhile addressing the defenceministers’ conclave of theShanghai CooperationO r g a n i s a t i o n ( S C O ) i nDushanbe, Tajikistan, he alsosaid “any act of terror and sup-port to such acts, includingcross border terrorism, com-mitted by whomsoever, wher-ever and for whatever motives,is a crime against humanity.”

He emphasised that Indiaaccords high priority to theconsolidation of trust in thesecurity domain within theSCO as well as strengtheningties with SCO partners bilat-erally on the basis of equali-ty, mutual respect and under-standing.

He congratulated

Member-States of the SCO onsuccessful completion of 20years of its existence. He saidthough India joined theorganisation in 2017, histor-ical and civilisational rela-tions and geographical con-nects make India inseparablefrom the SCO.

Stressing on the impor-tance of the regional groupand reaching out, he pointedout that it is in the same spir-it India helps people ofAfghanistan, which is facingviolence and devastation overdecades. So far, India hascompleted 500 projects inAfghanistan and continuingwith some more with totaldevelopment aid of US dollar3 billion.

Speaking about geo-strategic location of Indiathat makes it both a Eurasianland power and also a stake-holder in the Indo-Pacific,Rajnath said the country’saspirations are thereforefocused towards prosperityand development of the entireregion.

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In the first of its kind efforts to devel-op green cover in the Indian deserts

of Rajasthan, Khadi and VillageIndustries Commission (KVIC) hasplanted 1,000 bamboo saplings at Tanotvillage in Jaisalmer in collaboration withthe Border Security Force (BSF).

KVIC Chairman VK Saxenalaunched the plantation program onTuesday in the presence of SurendraPanwar, Special DG (WesternCommand), BSF. Bamboo plantation, aspart of KVIC’s Project BOLD (BambooOasis on Lands in Drought), aims atserving the combined national goals ofreducing desertification and providinglivelihood and multi-disciplinary ruralindustry support to the local population.

The bamboo saplings have beenplanted over 2.50 lakh sq feet of GramPanchayat land near the famous TanotMata Temple which is located close toLongewala Post on the Indo-Pak Border.Situated nearly 120 Kms from theJaisalmer city, Tanot is one of most vis-ited tourist spots in Rajasthan. KVICplans to develop the bamboo-basedgreen patch in Tanot as a tourist attrac-tion. BSF will be responsible for main-taining the plants.

Project BOLD was launched on July4 from a tribal village Nichla Mandwain Udaipur district in Rajasthan with aplantation of 5,000 saplings of specialbamboo species over 25 bigha of aridland.

“The project is aligned with PrimeMinister Narendra Modi’s call for reduc-ing land degradation and preventingdesertification in the country. The ini-

tiative has been launched as part ofKVIC’s “Khadi Bamboo Festival” to cel-ebrate 75 years of independence “Azadika Amrit Mahotsav,” the KVIC chair-man said.

He said the bamboo plantation inthe deserts of Jaisalmer will serve mul-tiple objectives, i.e. preventing deserti-fication, environment protection andcreating a sustainable model of devel-opment by supporting rural and bam-boo-based industries. “In the next threeyears, these bamboos will be ready forharvest.

While this will generate recurringincome for the local villagers; KVIC willalso develop this green patch into atourist spot considering the large foot-fall of tourists visiting Longewala postand the Tanot Mata Temple,” Saxenasaid. He lauded the support of BSF inimplementing the project in a very shorttime.

In the next 3 years, 1000 bambooplants will multiply and produce at least4,000 bamboo logs weighing about 100MT of bamboo. At the current marketrate of Rs 5000 per ton, this bambooproduce will generate an income ofnearly Rs 5 lakh after three years andlater on every year, thus supporting thelocal economy.

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For the first time in nearlyfour months and amid the

fear of a third Covid wave,India on Wednesday recorded43,654 new coronavirus cases— 47 per cent higher than aday ago when fresh casesdipped below 30,000 with justone State Kerala with 22,128infections contributing overhalf of the total national case-load.

Likewise, the test positivi-ty rate nationally stood at 2.51per cent while in Kerala it was12.35 per cent. The SouthernState, which is facing criticismfor the Eid relaxations, has alsobecome the first in the last 50days to report over 20,000fresh Covid cases in a singleday. The country reported 640deaths in the last 24 hours, saidthe Union Health Ministry.

An official from theMinistry said that the surge inKerala is worrying even asother states have seen a con-siderable drop in infections.“Up to 50 per cent of new casesare coming from Kerala andMaharashtra. The fatalities arelow because their health infra-structure is good,” he said.Also, a “cause for concern” isthat 22 districts across sevenstates including Kerala andMaharashtra are witnessing anuptrend in daily Covid-19cases, which might be an indi-cation that the second wave ofcoronavirus is not over yet inthe country.

While Maharashtrarecorded 6,258 fresh Covidcases, Karnataka reported1,501 cases and Tamil Nadurecorded 1,767 infections.

So far, 3,06,63,147 peoplefrom across the country haverecovered. Recovery Rate cur-rently is at 97.39 per centwith 41,678 patients recoveredduring the last 24 hours,

according to the Ministry.Total deaths recorded in Indiaare 4,22,022.

On the vaccination front,more than 46.23 crore(46,23,27,530) vaccine doseshave been provided toStates/UTs so far, through allsources and a further1,20,70,820 doses are in the

pipeline. Of this, the totalconsumption includingwastages is 44,29,95,780 doseswhile more than 2.18 Cr(2,18,10,422) balance andunutilized COVID Vaccinedoses are still available withthe States/UTs and privatehospitals to be administered,said the Ministry.

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The Union Home Ministryon Wednesday said there

is no room for complacency inthe approach to deal with theCovid-19 pandemic as theabsolute number of positivecases is still significantly high.

Extending the existingpandemic guidelines tillAugust 31, Union HomeSecretary Ajay Bhalla also saidthere should be continuousfocus

on the five-fold strategy of‘test, track, treat, vaccinateand adhere to COVID-appro-priate behaviour’ for effectivemanagement of COVID-19.He also said there is a need toensure adherence to Covid-appropriate behaviour (CAB)in all crowded places in viewof the upcoming festivals.

In his communication toall states and union territories,Bhalla said that with thedecline in the number ofactive cases, states and UTs arereopening economic and otheractivities in a gradual manner.

“While the decline in thenumber of cases is a matter ofsatisfaction, it may be notedthat the absolute case numbersare still significantly

high,” he said. Therefore,the home secretary said, thereis no room for complacencyand the process of relaxingrestrictions should be carefullycalibrated, as has been reiter-ated in his earlier communi-cations. Bhalla said the repro-duction number of the virus,commonly known as the ‘R’factor, is hovering just below1 but is high in some of thestates.

“The officers concernedshould be made personallyresponsible for any laxity instrict enforcement of COVIDappropriate behaviour. I wouldalso advise that Orders issuedby the respective State gov-ernments and UT adminis-trations, district authoritiesin this regard, should be wide-ly disseminated to the publicand to the field functionaries,for their proper implementa-tion,” he said.

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Ahead of the Assemblypol ls , the Elect ion

Commission on Wednesdayheld a review meeting withchief electoral officers of thefive States to take stock ofpreparations. The ChiefElectoral Officers from UttarPradesh, Goa, Manipur,Punjab and Uttarakhand gavea detailed presentation onvarious aspects of the conductof election including thehealth of electoral roll, avail-ability of budget, manpowerresources, SVEEP, planning,polling station arrangementsand IT applications.

The terms of the legisla-t ive assemblies of Goa,Manipur, Punjab andUttarakhand are coming to an

end in March 2022, while theterm of the Uttar Pradesh leg-islative assembly is sched-uled to end in May.

“The preliminary meetingheld was focussed on variousthematic issues includingAssured Minimum Facilities(AMF) at the polling sta-tions, ease of registrationarrangements for voter facil-itation, electoral roll, timelyresolution of grievances,arrangements ofEVMs/VVPATs, postal ballotfacility for senior citizens(80+) and PwDs, COVIDMitigation plan, training ofpolling staff and extensivevoter outreach amongst oth-ers,” the EC said in a state-ment.

Reviewing the pol lspreparations, Chief Election

Commissioner Sushi lChandra stressed the signifi-cance of the purity of the elec-toral roll and asked the CEOsfor expeditious redressal of allpending applications withregard to voter registration.He also emphasized the needfor rationalization of pollingstations keeping in view theCOVID 19 pandemic andreiterated the need to havebasic facilities and infra-structure in all polling sta-tions.

Chandra mentioned thatall logistical challenges in theimplementation of postal bal-lot facilities to senior citizens(80+) and persons with dis-abilities need to be identified& resolved for its smooth &transparent implementationduring the elections.

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For the first time sincethe commencement

of Parliament’sMonsoon Session onJuly 19, the Lok Sabhaon Wednesday con-ducted the QuestionHour without anyadjournments despitevociferous and continu-ous protests from theOpposition MPs whotried to block proceed-ings with banners andplacards.

Amidst bedlam laterduring the day, LokSabha passed two bills—The AppropriationBill, 2021 and ‘The

Insolvency andBankruptcy Code(Amendment) Bill,2021’ .

The noisy protestsfrom the oppositionbenches continued par-allel to the QuestionHour and answers weregiven by the ministersamidst the din.

From the word go,the Opposition mem-bers moved into theWell as they sought toraise various issues.Some members wereshouting slogans anddisplaying placards.

From the Pegasusspyware controversy tothe three farm laws, themembers wanted to

raise various issues dur-ing the Question Hour.

Speaker Om Birlacontinued with theQuestion Hour despitethe protests and morethan 10 questions relat-ed to various ministriesas well as supplemen-taries were taken up.

This is the first timein the current Monsoonsession that theQuestion Hour went onwithout any adjourn-ments.

Since the com-mencement of the ses-sion on July 19, the pro-ceedings have beenrepeatedly adjourneddue to Oppositionprotests.

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New Delhi:The UnionGovernment said onWednesday that 2,734projects have been com-

pleted under the ‘SmartCities Mission’ till Junethis year.

In a written reply tothe Rajya Sabha,Minister of State forHousing and UrbanAffairs, Kaushal Kishore,said, “The Smart CitiesMission is being imple-mented in 100 citiesselected through fourrounds of competition

from January 2016 toJune 2018.

“As on June 30, 2021,these cities had tenderedout 5,956 projects worthRs 1,79,413 crore. Out ofthese, work orders havebeen issued in 5,314 pro-jects worth Rs 1,48,029crore, of which 2,734projects worth Rs 46,769crore have been com-pleted.” IANS

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The parents of teenagers needto introspect as to why their

wards hang out on the state'sbeaches after nightfall, ChiefMinister Pramod Sawant told thestate Assembly on Wednesday.

Sawant was responding toaccusations levelled by theOpposition MLAs, who hadalleged a breakdown in the lawand order situation in Goaafter two minor girls wereallegedly raped at the popularColva beach in South Goa onthe night of July 24.

"Ten children went for aparty on the beach. Out of the10, six returned home. Theremaining four, including twoboys and two girls, stayed on thebeach the whole night. When a14-year old girl spends the nighton the beach, the parents toohave to introspect, they tooshould be taking care," the ChiefMinister said in his reply to acalling attention motion movedduring the ongoing MonsoonSession of the state Assembly.

"It is also our responsibili-ty. Just because children are notlistening (to their parents), wecannot leave all the responsi-bility to the police," Sawant said.

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The Madras High Court onWednesday came out

strongly against the TamilNadu Government issuing aGovernment Order on the 10.5per cent reservation forVanniyar communities underthe Most Backward Caste quotaand said that it would have noother option but to stay it as theGovernment Order was issuedin urgency.

The first bench of theMadras High court comprisingof Chief Justice Sanjib Banerjeeand Justice SenthilkumarRamamoorthy while hearing apetition against the G.O., saidthat the court will hear a batchof petitions that had come upbefore the bench challengingthe validity of the Order.

The bench said, "We willhear the batch of petitionschallenging the validity of thereservation in 10 days. But ifthe government wants toimplement the quota evenbefore the court decides itsvalidity, then we have to stayany such move."

The AIADMK government,before the 2021 assembly elec-tions, had passed a legislationproviding 10.5 per cent reser-vation for the Vanniyar com-munity in admissions as well asemployment under the MostBackward Caste (MBC) quota.

A series of Public InterestLitigations (PIL) were filed byseveral affected communitieswho are in the MBC category,in the Madras High court chal-lenging the validity of 10.5 percent reservation for Vanniyars.

These communities that fallunder MBC contended in theirappeals before the Madras Highcourt that if such a reservationto Vanniyars are implemented,then that community wouldenjoy reservation to higher edu-cation institutes and governmentservices while other 25 castesunder the MBC and 68 castesunder Deprived Communities(DC) would have to share theremaining reservation.

The court has directed thestate government to immedi-ately get instructions from theauthorities regarding theGovernment Order.

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The Delhi High Court onWednesday expressed dis-

pleasure over Twitter Incappointing a “contingent work-er” as Chief ComplianceOfficer (CCO) and said themicroblogging platform wasnon-compliant with the newInformation Technology (IT)Rules. Justice Rekha Pallinoted that while the rules man-dated appointment of a keymanagerial person or a senioremployee as CCO, Twitter dis-closed in its affidavit that it hadappointed a “contingent work-er” through a third party con-tractor.

“He (CCO) is categorical(in his affidavit) that he is notan employee. This itself is in theteeth of the rule. There has tobe some seriousness about therule. Some sanctity has to begiven,” the court remarked.The court added that it hadreservations with respect to theusage of the term “contingentworker” by Twitter especiallywhen it was not known whothe third party contractor was.

“What is this contingentworker? I don't know what itwould mean. I have a problemwith the word. Contingent thenthird party contractor! What isthis? I am not happy with theaffidavit,” the judge told Twitter.The court said Twitter's affidavitwas unacceptable and asked itto comply with the rules whole-

heartedly. “File a better affi-davit. This is not acceptable. I'mgiving you a long rope but don'texpect the court to do it on andon. Disclose the name of thethird party contractor andexplain contingent,” the courtsaid as it granted a week's timeto Twitter to file the new affi-davit.

The court further directedTwitter to not only disclose all thedetails pertaining to the appoint-ment of the CCO as well as theResident Grievance Officer(RGO) but also clarify as to whya Nodal Contact Person had notbeen appointed yet and by whenthe position will be filled.

Senior advocate SajanPoovayya, representing Twitter,stated that while the CCO wasa contingent worker, appoint-ed via third party contractor, hehas undertaken to perform allfunctions and responsibilitiesunder the IT Rules. Usage ofthe term contingent worker

was on account of “structure ofemployment” and the fact thatTwitter Inc did not have a liai-son office in India, Poovayyasaid as he added that the plat-form would no longer appoint“interim” officers to the posts.It was reiterated that theprocess for establishing a liai-son office on ongoing.

Additional SolicitorGeneral Chetan Sharma,appearing for the Central gov-ernment, argued that Twitterwas acting in “abject non-com-pliance of the rules” as theCCO has to be an employee ofthe social media intermediaryand not a contingent worker.“It has been months. You can'thave it so easy. We hold ourhands because we are beforeyour lordship,” ASG Sharmasaid, adding that Twitter earnsseven million dollar per yearrevenue from India. The mat-ter would be heard next onAugust 6.

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There was no respite for Kerala fromCovid-19 on Wednesday as the

Department of Health diagnosed 22,056new patients while 131 succumbed to thevirus during the last 24 hours. More than1.96 lakh samples were subjected to test,the average Test Positivity Rate remainedhigh at 11,2 per cent, said the release issuedby the Health Depattment.

Wednesday’s report came amidstnews that the Union Health Secretary haswritten to the Kerala Government express-ing his anguish and concern over theunabated Covid-19 figures in the State.Though the State Health Minister VeenaGeorge alleged that the Union Governmentwas not releasing the quantity of vaccineswhich Kerala had asked for, the HealthDepartment statistics say that the State hadreceived 23 lakh doses of vaccine betweenJuly 15 and 26.

Malappuram topped the table of dis-tricts having highest number of Covidcases (3,931) followed by Thrissur (3,005),Kozhikode (2,400) Ernakulam (2,397)and Palakkad (1,649).

The release further said that the 1,96,902 samples tested on Wednesday was thehighest ever samples to be tested in theState on a single day. As on Wednesday, theState had 1.49 lakh Covid-19 patientsunder treatment.

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Though he has to stand trial with five other MLAsfor the 2015 ruckus in the Legislative Assembly,

Kerala’s Minister for Education K Sivankutty said that there was no need for him to resign.

Speaking to TV channel news reporters after thepronouncement of the Supreme Court verdict onWednesday which dismissed the Kerala Government’splea to withdraw the case filed against the six partyMLAs for the vandalism in the Assembly, Sivankuttysaid that such verdicts were common for thoseinvolved in public life. “This is not a corruption caseand hence there is no need for me to resign asMinister,” said Sivankutty.

A Vijayaraghavan, CPI(M)’s Kerala secretary saidthe party would discuss the details of the verdict withits partners in the LDF before making any publicannouncement. “Let us go through the court verdictbefore coming to a conclusion,” said Vijayaraghavan.

Leader of Opposition V D Satheeshan said thatit was not proper for Sivankutty to continue as min-ister despite the verdict by the Supreme Court. “Heshould quit immediately in the backdrop of the apexcourt verdict,” said Satheeshan.

P C George, seven term MLA and leader ofJanapaksham, came down heavily on Sivankutty andthe five CPI(M) MLAs for the vandalism inside theHouse. “Having seen their antecedents from closequarters on that day, I am of the opinion thatSivankutty should resign immediately. What he didon that fateful day was a blot on Kerala’s democra-tic history,” said George.

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The Bengal BJP has saidthat Chief Minister

Mamata Banerjee’s efforts tounite the Opposition partiesincluding the Congress underone banner will end up as a“big flop show” like it hap-pened in 2019.

Referring to the Bengal rul-ing outfit’s "attitude" towardsRahul Gandhi, State BJPspokesperson Sami Bhattacharyasaid that “the Trinamool willnever accept his leadership …and there are many regional par-ties which will also not accept theleadership of the TrinamoolCongress … so this grand effortwill end up in a big flop show”like it happened in 2019.

“Mamata Banerjee is tryingto make an all-India ‘jot’ (front)against the BJP but a carriage cannever run when all its horses pullat different directions … the firstdifference will be between RahallGandhi and the TMC becauseneither of them would accepteach other’s leadership … this isthe reason why we say that thisattempt of Mamata Banerjee isa non-starter.”

Meanwhile Banerjee onWednesday said that it wasupon the Left to decidewhether the BJP was theirbiggest enemy or not. Herstatement came days after

CPI(M) politburo memberBiman Bose said that the Leftwas ready to back even theTrinamool Congress to drivethe BJP out at the national level.

“I cannot say anythingabout the Left because they area different group … but itdepends upon them to decide asto who is their bigger enemy …they will have to decide whetherthey are with the BJP or againstit,” the Chief Minister saidprompting the CPI(M) leader-ship to react rather strongly say-ing it is the Trinamool Congresssupremo who has brought thesaffron outfit to Bengal.

Former CPI(M) MP andparty central committee mem-ber Sujan Chakrabarty said,“We will not take any lessonabout what the Left should dobecause it is Mamata Banerjeewho has brought BJP to Bengal… her policies in Bengal hasonly given the BJP a fillip…despite the mock fights theworld knows about their clan-destine friendship … She can-not erase the history of her 10-year alliance with the BJP.”

He said that “it is the LeftFront that will finally drive outthe BJP from the State,” adding“the entire India knows aboutthe Left Front’s struggle againstcommunal forces … we havefought against the BJP andwill continue to do so”.

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Bringing curtains to theintense drama and sus-

pense that preceded the pass-ing of baton in Karnataka,Basavaraj Bommai onWednesday took oath as thenew State Chief Minister andbegan his inning at the helmlike his father S R Bommaifrom ‘Janata Party’ did in 1988following the resignation of thethan Chief MinisterRamakrishna Hegde.

The 61-year-old Lingayatleader was administered theoath of office and secrecy byGovernor ThaawarchandGehlot at the Raj Bhavan atBengaluru.

It is the `Bommai judge-ment`, described such after hisfather, that had considerablyrestricted the centre's propen-sity to dismiss state govern-ments under article 356.

The Karnataka BJP legis-lature party on Tuesdayevening elected him as its newleader to succeed B SYediyurappa with the latterproposing his name in themeeting and paving way for thesmooth transfer of the power ina state which is most importantfor the BJP and the RSS fortheir southern politicaladvance.

Bommai, an engineer byeducation , was Minister forHome Affairs, Law,

Parliamentary Affairs andLegislature in Yediyurappa'scouncil of ministers which wasdissolved on Monday. In 19013when Yediurappa left the BJPBommai had stayed back in theBJP which he had joined in2008.

It's the second instance ofa father-son duo becomingChief Minister of Karnataka,after H D Deve Gowda and HD Kumaraswamy. Bommai is athree time MLA from Shiggaonconstituency in Haveri districtand has been MLC twice.

Yediyurappa, and Unionministers DharmendraPradhan and G Kishan Reddywho were appointed as centralobservers by BJP's parliamen-tary board for the legislatureparty meet, party's nationalgeneralsecretary in-charge ofKarnataka Arun Singh, statepresident Nalin Kumar Kateeland a host of others attendedthe swearing-in.

Bommai, who alone tookoath on Wednesday, said he

will try and expand the Cabinetsoon.

"I had met centralobservers DharmendraPradhan, Kishan Reddy andGeneral Secretary Singh, theysaid let's not discuss it today,once they go back to Delhi let'ssee," he said in response to aquestion by reporters onexpanding the cabinet.

Asked whether he will waitfor 'Ashada' month (consid-ered inauspicious) to get over forundertaking the expansion, hesaid, "nothing like that, we willdo it at the earliest, won't taketoo much time because I needa complete team to do the workas there is COVID and floods."

When questioned whetherhe will continue with the sameMinisters, Bommai said allthese are part of the cabinet for-mation exercise and "every-thing will be decided together",adding that he will discussand decide about his Delhivisit.

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With the farmers’ leadersannouncing to intensify

their agitation in poll-boundUttar Pradesh, Samajwadi Partyand its ally Rashtriya Lok Dalhave finalised their plans tocampaign in the State, partic-ularly in western UP.

RLD, once a dominantplayer in the west UP politics,has started working to regainthe political space lost to theruling Bharatiya Janata Partyand the Mayawati-led BahujanSamaj Party. The RLD hasalready organised ‘bahichara’rallies in Muzaffarnagar in abid to restore the social coali-tion of Jat-Muslim and otherOBC communities. This coali-tion was shattered by theworst-ever communal riots inMuzaffarnagar in September2013 during the SamajwadiParty regime headed byAkhilesh Yadav. RLD had con-tested the 2017 UP Assemblypolls and the 2019 Lok Sabhaelections in alliance with theSP.

The RLD is eyeing to wooback its once loyal Jat voters,who are little over 10 per centof the electorate in districtsunder the Meerut division,along with other castes andcommunities, including

Gurjars, Tyagis, Brahmins andMuslims, besides the Dalits.RLD president and former MPJayant Chaudhary led‘bhaichara’ rallies to build arainbow coalition of castes andcommunities to revive thepolitical fortunes of his party.

Jayant Chaudhary’s grand-father, Chaudhary CharanSingh after deserting theCongress in 1967 had createda social coalition of farmers ofdifferent castes and religions.The rise of the political forcesfollowing the implementationof the Mandal Commissionreport in 1990, emergence ofBSP and of BJP following thetemple movement in 1990,destroyed that rainbow coali-tion.

The first of the series ofbhaichara sammelans waslaunched in Khatauli VidhanSabha constituency inMuzaffarnagar district, thehome district of BharatiyaKisan Union (BKU) leaderRakesh Tikait, spearheadingthe farmers’ agitation atGhazipur on Delhi-UP border.

The Samyukt KisanMorcha, an umbrella underwhich the ongoing farmers’stir is underway, hasannounced to hold a kisanmahapanchayat in the sameMuzaffarnagar district of west

UP on September 5. It has alsoannounced to hold demon-strations across UP andUttarakhand, includingLucknow.

Samajwadi Party, the seniorally of the RLD, has alsoresumed tour of the state in therun-up to UP assembly polls in2022. SP chief Akhilesh Yadav’stour was scheduled to resumeafter panchayat elections inApril but was deferred due tothe second wave of theCOVID-19 pandemic.

Sources in the SP saidthat between December 2020and April this year, AkhileshYadav had campaigned in asmany as 40 districts. Theparty said while Yadav wouldcomplete the tour of theremaining districts this timearound, he may also revisitsome districts, including hisLok Sabha constituencyAzamgarh, Varanasi,Gorakhpur, and districts inBundelkhand region. Thesetours involve meeting theparty cadre for discussions onpoll preparation, road shows,public meetings, kisan pan-chayats, press conferences,and short bicycle rides withparty workers. He had alsobeen on temple runs, going toHindu, Muslim, and Buddhistplaces of worship.

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After Bharatiya Kisan Unionpresident Rakesh Tikait

exhorted farmers’ unions tointensify their agitation in UttarPradesh and Uttarakhand, twoneighbouring States that go topolls early next year, a sectionof the farmers opine that agi-tating unions should now enterelectoral politics and contestelections. On the other hand,there is another section whichmaintains that the farmers’ stirshould remain apolitical.

“A section of farmersbelieve that this is the righttime for the farmers’ unions toenter electoral politics. Theissue was discussed in a closeddoor meeting which wasattended by senior leaders ofSanyukt Kisan Morcha (SKM)in Lucknow,” veteran farmers’leader Mandeep Singh toldthis reporter.

The issue of farmers’ join-ing politics has crossed manyminds at various occasions. Itstarted with senior BKU leaderGurnam Singh Chaduni, whois one of the major faces in theongoing farmers’ agitation,had opined that the time wasripe for farm unions to give uptheir apolitical stand and for-

mally enter electoral politics tobetter serve the community’sinterest they represent.Chaduni had said that whenpolitical parties had failed toprotect farmers’ interests itwas the right time for farmersunions to fight elections toensure pro-farmer people wereelected. He also said thatanother senior leader,Yogendra Yadav, had writtenan article in The Print head-lined ‘Farmers’ movement can’tand shouldn’t be apolitical.That’s not a democracy’.

“In that write-up heclaimed that the farmers’ agi-tation against three farm lawsis not apolitical. This shows thatthere is consternation amongthe members of farmers unionsabout projecting the agitationas a political movement. Whatprevents us from contestingelections in Uttar Pradesh,”the farmers’ leader sought toknow.

There is a belief that iffarmers contest elections theunion can win more than 30seats in western UP and thiswould catapult them in kingmakers’ position. But anothersection feels that farmersshould stay away from con-testing elections.

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In a tragic accident on theLucknow-Ayodhya highway,

19 labourers heading home toBihar were killed and 24 oth-ers were critically injuredwhen the bus they were trav-elling in was hit from behindby a heavy duty cargo truck inRam Sanehi Ghat area ofBarabanki late on Tuesdaynight.

The double-decker bus car-rying nearly 120 labourersworking in Palwal in Haryanaand some places of Punjaband was headed to Bihar onTuesday evening, when an axleof the front wheel broke downon Kalyani bridge nearBarabanki-Ayodhya borderaround 7 pm.

Later on, the driverparked the vehicle near aroadside dhaba and went outlooking for a mechanic andspares. With night approach-ing, some of the passengerswent out of the stranded busand slept under it or by itsside. Around midnight, aspeeding trawler coming fromLucknow rammed into the

stationary bus from behind,causing grievous injuries tothe passengers inside the busand also to those sleepingunder the bus and by its side.

After the accident, thetrawler driver managed to fleethe scene but due to the colli-sion both vehicles were man-gled and caused a massive traf-fic snarl on the busy highway.

On being informed, policepersonnel from Ram SanehiGhat and neighbouring policestations converged on the acci-dent site and started rescueoperations. While several vic-tims died on the spot, a largenumber of passengers had to beextricated from the mangledbus and taken to Ram SanehiGhat community health centreand Barabanki district hospital.

Superintendent of Police ofBarabanki, Yamuna Prasad, con-firmed 18 deaths in the tragedywhile another died while beingtreated in a hospital.

The deceased were resi-dents of Sitamarhi, Supaul,Shivhar, Saharsa districts ofBihar.

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Buoyed by the response tothe ‘Prabuddh Varg’ (intel-

lectual class) conventions inAyodhya, Prayagraj, Ambedkarnagar etc, and banking heavi-ly on the social engineering for-mula in the coming UPAssembly polls, Bahujan SamajParty chief Mayawati decidedto have the maximum outreachamongst the Brahmin com-munity and fast track theprocess so that other rival par-ties do not outrun and outwitits endeavour.

Apprehending that partieslike Bharatiya Janata Party,Samajwadi Party and evenCongress, might and will try toplay the Brahmin card,Mayawati on Wednesdayannounced that now the BSPwould hold several such meet-ings in different places on thesame day. Interestingly, to avertany action from the ElectionCommission of India, the BSPalso changed the name of itsmeeting from BrahminSammelan to Prabuddha VargSammelan.

As per a BSP communiquereleased on Wednesday, theparty will start the campaign ofthe second phase of PrabuddhaVarg Sammelan from the cityof Kanha -- Vrindavan -- fromJuly 31. Many tall leaders of the

BSP, including Satish ChandraMishra, will be involved in this.BSP general secretary SatishChandra Mishra said thatbefore inaugurating theBrahmin convention atVrindavan, the party leadersand workers would pay obei-sance in the Banke Bihari tem-ple.

The BSP had started thefirst phase of its Brahmin out-reach from the city of LordRam - Ayodhya. Whileaddressing the Brahmin con-ference in Prayagraj, SatishMishra had lashed out at theBJP as well as Samajwadi Partyfor not developing Vrindavanand had accused the regimes ofbeing apathetic towards thepeople of Vrindavan andMathura. He also did notspare Jitin Prasada, consid-ered the Brahman face inCongress before he joined theBJP recently, and said thatPrasada had deceived theBrahmins and was an oppor-

tunist.In the second phase, the

BSP will hold such conventionsin 24 districts between July 31and August 14. The phase willstart with a meeting a Mathura,followed by Agra on August 1,in Kasganj, Firozabad, Etah onAugust 2, Aligarh, Hathras onAugust 3, Shahjahanpur,Bareilly on August 4,Lakhimpur Kheri, Sitapur onAugust 5, Budaun, Moradabadon August 7, Bijnor,Muzaffarnagar on August 8,Sambhal, Amroha on August 9,Meerut, Baghpat, Ghaziabadon August 10, Saharanpur,Shamli on August 11,Bulandshahr on August 13and finally Noida on August14.

On Tuesday, Mayawati saidthat the success of the‘Parabuddha Varg’ (intellectu-al class) conventions organizedby the BSP was indicative of thefaith people had in her partyand claimed that this had madeher political opponents uneasy.

“The enthusiastic partic-ipation in the Prabuddha Vargconventions, which has comeinto discussion as BrahminSammelans, is proof that peo-ple have conscious faith in theBSP. Heartfelt thanks to all,”she said in a tweet inHindi.

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nurture contribute to personal-ity development and individualcharacteristics; the height maybe because of the genes, butexpertise in aviation dexterous-ly acquired could be the out-come of precise identificationand empathetic nurturance ofthe interest shown in school.Finally, it is the overall transi-tion from an innocent personto a personality — achievedthrough formal education thatintegrates skills and spirit ofenterprise — that contributes tonational knowledge kitty.

A thoughtful, visionary andfuturistic curriculum harmon-ising academic education withskill development and entrepre-neurship could generate muchhigher levels of learner interestand participation, help in mov-ing ahead in creating an enjoy-able stress-free learning environ-ment. It would be worthwhile torefresh the factors that imped-ed the launch of vocationalisa-tion of secondary educationrecommended by the KothariCommission (1964-66), andincluded in NEP-1968. At thatstage, no parent was willing tolet their ward opt for vocation-al stream as social milieu con-sidered acquisition of vocation-al skills as “second-rate educa-tion” and everyone wanted aGovernment white collar job.The job market scenario haschanged drastically, and thischange is being accepted by the

parents and learners. It is com-mon experience that childrenget more interested and involvedin participatory activities. Well-perceived and judiciously artic-ulated amalgamation of acade-mic learning with skills andentrepreneurship would offer fargreater opportunities for nurtur-ing curiosity, creativity, ideas andinnovation. It could indeedoffer the opportunity of work-ing together, and that leads to“learning to live together”.

Major breakthroughs ineconomic and social sectors oran attitudinal transformationwould be achieved if the edu-cation system is pragmatic,dynamic and fully responsiveto the current changes.Consequently, education sys-tems that have in-built mech-anisms to usher in changes incontent and pedagogy withoutdelay shall sustain their rele-vance. In this race, there are noquarterfinals or semifinals;everybody is in the final round.We are already witnessing theconsequences of the advancesin ICT in terms of societal andcultural transformation. Anydelay in “learning to livetogether” could result in dan-gerous repercussions. Theworld got glimpses of it whenFrance had to suffer in termsof social cohesion and religiousamity. Laws, rules and regula-tions shall have only limitedimpacts. It is the right educa-

tion, the holistic approach —through dialogue and intensiveinteraction — that alone offersa long-term solution.

There would be no breaksin “lifelong learning”. It wasnever before so critical andcompulsory. As Einstein said, “ittakes a touch of genius and a lotof courage” to make awesome-looking complex things simpleand simpler. In the recent past,Steve Jobs, whose mantra was“focus on simplicity”, articulat-ed: “Simple can be harder thancomplex. You have to workhard to get your thinking cleanto make it simple. But it is worthit because once you get there,you can move mountains.” Thisis most relevant for the teachersof every stage, the gadgets arenot making your job easy, youhave find out how these couldbe used to make life easier andenjoyable for learners. Teachereducation institutes must realisethe new challenge before them:Make teaching learning simpler.Sir Richard Branson said in thecontext of managing humanresources: “Train people wellenough so they can leave. Treatthem well enough so they don’thave to.” Yes, educate yourteachers well, and treat them asthe Most Important Persons. Itwould work.

(The author works in education and social cohesion.The views expressed are personal.)

������������������� ����������Sir — There can be no second opinionthat BS Yediyurappa has vacated his seatas the Chief Minister of Karnataka withagony in his heart, particularly when itis an open secret that the Delhi andNagpur high commands forced him totender his resignation. This unceremo-nious ouster of Yediyurappa has not beentaken kindly by the Lingayats, the com-munity to which he belongs. Even thereligious heads of the Lingayats, who wentvocal in recommending Yediyurappa’scontinuity as the Chief Minister, remainsnubbed and angered. Though the BJPhas tried to get two mangoes at onestroke; packing off Yediyurappa andassuaging the anger of the Lingayats byelevating Basavaraj Bommai, anotherLingayat, as the new Chief Minister, thereis every possibility of the Lingayatstelling Bommai: “Not that we love youless, but we love Yediyurappa more.”

Earlier, Yediyurappa lamented in hisfarewell speech that the Centre did notgive him a free hand to effectively dis-charge his duties and did not allow himto take independent decisions. In thiscontext, only time will tell whetherBasavaraj Bommai would act as a realChief Minister, taking decisions on hisown or would remain a mere bommai(doll) dancing to the tune of his Delhi-Nagpur masters!

Tharcius S Fernando | Chennai

�������������������������������Sir — Parliament was again forced toadjourn as the Opposition parties raisedissues pertaining to the alleged Pegasussnooping, the Assam-Mizoram borderviolence and the three farm laws whichthe Government is determined not torepeal. With Parliament non-functionalfor the last one week, the frustrated BJPwent into a huddle to rework its politi-cal strategy for the ongoing monsoon ses-sion, which is likely to be washed out.

Many Opposition parties have urgedPresident Ram Nath Kovind to direct theModi Government to discuss the Pegasussnooping and farmers’ issues in

Parliament. The Congress gave adjourn-ment motion notices for discussing the“Pegasus Project” report in the LokSabha. Raising the issue of the Assam-Mizoram police clash, Congress MP fromAssam Gaurav Gogoi sought a probe anddiscussion in the House. The Congressis sending a seven-member panel to theviolence-affected areas.

It just shows that all is not well withthe Union Government which is not ableto handle the functioning of Parliamentand has turned into a mute spectator, low-ering its image and credibility in the eyesof people across the country. It is hightime that the Centre must discuss ordebate with the Opposition parties inboth the Houses on various issues anddefuse the acrimonious situation.

Bhagwan Thadani | Mumbai

�������������������Sir — Age is just a number when yourplans are well devised. Aging isinevitable, but to grow old gracefully is

a choice. While we know that getting oldis unavoidable, how we perceive thisnatural process depends greatly uponour social and cultural influences.Aging gracefully is about more than justlooks. It is about accepting theinevitability of getting older, taking careof your mind and body and being yourbest self at any age.

After all, life begins at 60 when youhave to take care of your own health andyour spouse’s at this crucial juncture inlife. That means the seniors have under-stood the concepts and techniques ofactive aging and about healthy living,which is possible only through positivethinking. Such seniors are role modelsfor the younger generation. This is thereal success of life as seniors don’tbecome a burden on the family or thesociety.

MR Jayanthy | Mumbai

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The recent Cabinet reshuf-fle strengthens theMinistry of Education bybringing the Ministry of

Skill Development andEntrepreneurship within its ambit.It was an artificial separation in thecurrent times when the progressand development of any nation isdirectly dependent on skilled man-power and the spirit of innova-tions. The change of nomenclaturefrom the Ministry of HumanResources Development toMinistry of Education has nowacquired a truly comprehensivemandate. Both these changes har-monise beautifully with the recom-mendations in the NationalEducation Policy (NEP-2020).

This policy has the potential tousher in the much-needed-though-considerably-delayed emphasis onflexibility and multidisciplinaritythat would enable learners to chalkout their trajectory depending onpersonal assessment of interests,liking and comfort. The curricu-lum developers and textbook writ-ers have a real challenge in front ofthem. Einstein once wrote that ifhe had his say, the school curricu-lum would consist only of scienceand mathematics. The spirit behindthe preference for music and math-ematics clearly indicates the insep-arability of knowledge.

Henceforth, a child in class 10or 12 or in higher education couldopt for physics, music and psychol-ogy in consonance with the poli-cy stipulation: “No hard separationbetween arts and sciences, betweencurricular and extracurricularactivities, between vocational andacademic streams….” In the 21stcentury, the boundary among sci-ences, social sciences, arts, human-ities and sports must get obliterat-ed to ensure “unity and integrity ofall knowledge”. These are the timesof universal acceptance of the“cognitive capital” being the primevehicle for growth, progress anddevelopment of every nation,which could be enhanced manifoldif the education systems offer a joy-ful learning environment.

Further, the prime prerequisiteis to ensure that the inherentinterest and choice of the learneris identified and encouraged with-out any external influences.Education systems — particular-ly every teacher — must remainconscious that both nature and

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Asenior delegation of the Afghangovernment and Taliban represen-tatives has met in Doha for high-stakes negotiations as violence

escalates on the ground in Afghanistan.Thetwo sides have been meeting on and off formonths in the Qatari capital but the talkshave lost momentum as a string of battle-field gains by the armed group has coincid-ed with foreign forces finalising their with-drawal from Afghanistan.

The government delegation is com-prised of several high-ranking officials,including former chief executive AbdullahAbdullah.

Its reported aim is to support the gov-ernment’s negotiating team in terms ofspeeding up the stalled talks. Negotiatorsfrom the Taliban’s political office in Dohajoined them. The lengthy sessions contin-ued in Doha on July 17 and 18. Earlier,Fraidoon Kwazoon, the Afghan governmentdelegation spokesman, told the media:“The solution to the conflict in Afghanistanlies in negotiations, and peace can bereached through dialogue.” For his part,Taliban spokesman Mohammad Naeemsaid the group has “repeatedly confirmed itsreadiness for dialogue and negotiations”,adding that the problems can “only be solvedby dialogue”.

Al Jazeera’s Osama Bin Javaid, report-ing from the location of the negotiations inDoha, said the latest round of talks wasanother effort to try and bring the two sidestogether. “Both sides are saying that dialogueis the only way forward and they believe thata solution for a peaceful Afghanistan canonly come from the table - but actions onthe ground speak a very different language,”he said.

“There seems to be no headway, no realtangible progress. The Afghan side insiststhat there needs to be a ceasefire before therecould be any real dialogue, and the Talibaninsist that they want their version of Sharia,they want a government that is comprehen-sive and includes all sides of Afghanistan,”he said.

Bin Javaid said special representativesfrom Europe, the United States, and theUnited Nations were also present at the talks“to try and see if they can push to achievesome sort of peace in Afghanistan” aftermonths of major disagreements. “There isn’tmuch hope that there is going to be a con-crete solution coming out of this meeting,but at least it is something to go forwardwith,” he said.

The Taliban has capitalised on the laststages of the withdrawal of US and other for-eign troops from Afghanistan to launch aseries of lightning offensives across the coun-try.

Afghan forces clashed on July 16 withTaliban fighters in Spin Boldak after launch-ing an operation to retake the key southernborder crossing with Pakistan.The route isone of the main trade and travel routesbetween Afghanistan and Pakistan and is animportant source of revenue for the West-backed government in Kabul.

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The role of informationin warfare has changeda lot since the sabotage

of enemy communicationlines in the two world wars.The German communica-tions infrastructure was crip-pled by British and Alliedforces by what we now callhacking, a broad term thatencompasses both access tothe enemy country’s topsecrets through covert meansand sabotaging its criticalcommunications grid. Sincethen, technological break-throughs have enabled coun-tries to launch sophisticatedattacks on one another tocause a complete breakdownof vital assets across civil andmilitary domains.

Future warfare will not justdepend on military superiori-ty but the ability to conquer

new frontiers of technology,including cyber and outerspace. Access to sensitive andsecret information and technol-ogy will be a key determinantof any new-age combat.

Even in localised conflictwith China, cyber warfarewill play a vital role, both indetermining the outcome andin setting the larger narrative.To create deterrence againstChina’s hegemonistic tenden-cies, it is vital to build supe-rior cyber capabilities. Muchbefore its tanks roll out on theLadakh border with India orfrigates and aircraft carrierscome out in the Taiwan Strait,China will unleash cyber war-fare. The future of the presentorder will be determined bywhether China is defeated inits attempts to weaponizeinformation.

A holistic global cyberstrategy to circumvent China’sproclivity to use data as aweapon of global dominancemust be formulated. Theurgency regarding this can begauged from the fact that theUnited States accused China'sall-powerful Ministry of StateSecurity (MSS)of a sophisticat-ed cyber-assault on Microsoft'sExchange email systems thisyear.

In 2020, both India and

Australia were at the receivingend of sophisticated cyber-attacks. A third of all cyber-attacks in India allegedly orig-inate from China. With theadvent of technology, this entireexercise is done remotely, in lit-tle time, and is hard to detect.They are a useful tool in anycountry’s arsenal since theycan be deployed relatively eas-ily, can cause disproportionatedamage, and allow nations toclaim plausible deniability.

Cyber warfare has threeclear aspects, and China hasbeen beefing up its capabilitiesin all these spheres. One, gath-er sensitive information abouta rival country to compromiseits national security. Two, crip-ple the adversary’s nationalassets like power grids and tele-com networks. Three, paralysethe enemy’s military command

systems during a full-blownmilitary conflict. The ability todefend against cyber-attacks isnow almost as important asprotecting physical borders.

But cyber-attacks are alsoabout stealing industrial secrets,or ‘cyber theft’. This is exactlywhat has worried the US sincein its indictment of the fourChinese nationals whenattempts were made to stealtrade secrets from the aviation,defence, and bio-pharma sec-tors that are central to Chinesetechnology strategies for itsMake in China 2025 and Makein China 2035.

The world must guard itsindustrial secrets more thanever before. Industries that relyheavily on technology in sectorslike aerospace, semiconduc-tors, quantum, telecommunica-tions, etc., need to keep their

guard high.A holistic counter-strategy

needs a combination ofAmerica’s naming and sham-ing, India’s policy of banningapps where data security is atrisk, and Australia’s invest-ments in bolstering digitalinfrastructure. US Secretary ofState Antony Blinken’s hard hit-ting statement regarding MSSshould set the tone for a largerand collective approach to tack-le the threat. Blinken said MSS“has fostered an ecosystem ofcriminal contract hackers whocarry out both state-sponsoredactivities and cyber crime fortheir own financial gain”.

Global data governance,which requires close coopera-tion amongst countries, unfor-tunately, has not kept pacewith technological develop-ments. Norms regarding the

collection, sharing, and usage ofdata amongst nations need tobe instituted. Interoperabilitystandards for global data valuechains that put together a col-lection of data and access todata platforms must be creat-ed. Codified data governancestandards to build trust andmanage issues like data owner-ship, usage, security, and priva-cy are the need of the hour.

The Data Standards TaskForce under the UN will createa single framework with clearregulations, norms, and rules.India can play an active role inthese efforts by leveraging itstraditional strengths in technol-ogy and providing insightsfrom its own experiences ofhandling cyber-attacks.

I-warfare has no regardfor national boundaries; theresponse to it must not either.

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(The writer is retiredSenior Professor,

International Trade, andMember, Vivekananda

InternationalFoundation, New Delhi.

The views expressed are personal.)

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(The writer is a senior journalist,columnist and author of thebook 'Blinkers Off, How Will

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The battle at the southern bor-der follows weeks of intensifyingfighting across Afghanistan, with theTaliban pressing multiple offensivesand overrunning dozens of districtsat a staggering rate.The group has inrecent weeks captured border cross-ings with Iran, Uzbekistan, andTajikistan while also tightening theirgrip in the north.

Al Jazeera’s Charlotte Bellis,reporting from Kabul, said thearmed group now controls morethan 50 percent of the country andthat their grasp is getting “ever clos-er" to the capital.

As fighting raged over largeswathes of Afghanistan, a war ofwords was also heating up betweenKabul and Islamabad after theAfghan Vice President accused thePakistani military of providing “closeair support to Taliban in certainareas”. Pakistan strongly denied theclaim with a foreign ministry state-ment saying the country “took nec-essary measures within its territoryto safeguard our own troops andpopulation”.

Afghanistan’s southern borderhas long been a flashpoint in relationswith its eastern neighbour. Foreigntroops have been in Afghanistan fornearly 20 years following the US-ledinvasion launched in the aftermathof the September 11, 2001, attacks.They have appeared largely out of thepicture in recent months, but fearsare growing that Afghan forces willbe overwhelmed without the vital airsupport they provide.

The speed and scale of theTaliban onslaught have caught manyby surprise, with analysts saying itappears aimed at forcing the govern-ment to negotiate on the group’sterms or suffer complete military

defeat.Russia's foreign minister saidon July 16 that the US mission inAfghanistan had "failed".

Fifteen diplomatic missions andthe NATO representative in Kabulhave joined hands to urge the Talibanto halt military offensives acrossAfghanistan, just hours after a peacemeeting in Doha failed to agree ona ceasefire.

A senior delegation of Afghanleaders met the Taliban's politicalleadership in the Qatari capital buta Taliban statement issued late on July18 made no mention of a halt toAfghanistan's rising violence.

"This Eid al-Adha, the Talibanshould lay down their weapons forgood and show the world theircommitment to the peace process,”the 15 missions and the NATO rep-resentative said, referring to the July20 holiday in Afghanistan.

The joint statement was support-ed by Australia, Canada, the CzechRepublic, Denmark, the EuropeanUnion delegation, Finland, France,Germany, Italy, Japan, Korea, theNetherlands, Spain, Sweden, Britain,the United States, and NATO'ssenior civilian representative."TheTaliban's offensive is in direct con-tradiction to their claim to supporta negotiated settlement," said the jointstatement.

“It has resulted in a loss of inno-cent Afghan lives, including throughcontinued targeted killings, dis-placement of the civilian population,looting and burning of buildings,destruction of vital infrastructure,and damage to communication net-works.” Over the last few Eid holi-days, the Taliban has called tempo-rary ceasefires, saying it wanted to letAfghans spend them in peace.Thistime there has been no such

announcement, as the Taliban makesswift territorial gains in near-unprecedented levels of fightingnationwide.

The group has been emboldenedas foreign forces near a completewithdrawal after 20 years of fighting,cutting a huge swathe across thecountry, capturing hundreds of dis-tricts, seizing key border crossings,and encircling provincial capitals.

July 19th’s statement by the 15missions also condemned rightsviolations, such as efforts to shutschools and media outfits reportedby media in areas recently capturedby the Taliban, which has previous-ly denied such assertions.

Moscow would welcome India’sactive participation in a settlementformat for Afghanistan later onafter the conflict is resolved, RussianSpecial Presidential Envoy forAfghanistan and Director of theForeign Ministry’s Second AsianDepartment Zamir Kabulov saidduring an online discussion of theinternational Valdai discussionclub.The diplomat noted that Indiacouldnot participate in the format ofthe expanded group of three becauseit does not have any influence on theTaliban. “The format of the‘Extended Troika’ with the participa-tion of Russia, the US, China andPakistan is convened exclusively tofacilitate the launch of the intra-Afghan talks leading to nationalaccord. Only countries that have anunequivocal influence on both sides(of the conflict) participate,” theenvoy explained.

(The writer is retired SeniorProfessor, International Trade, andMember, Vivekananda InternationalFoundation, New Delhi. The viewsexpressed are personal.)

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Saudi Arabia has announced athree-year travel ban and hefty

penalties on citizens who visit coun-tries on the kingdom’s Covid-19 redlist, including India.

“Travelling to the banned coun-tries is an obvious violation ofCovid-19 related travel restrictionsand the Kingdom’s updated instruc-tions,” the Gulf News on Tuesdayquoted a report by the state-runSaudi Press Agency (SPA) as saying.

The SPA report said an officialat the Saudi Ministry of Interior haswarned Saudi citizens against trav-elling to countries that have been puton the no-travel list recently as thesenations are currently witnessing asurge in cases of Covid-19 and its

variants. The red-list countriesinclude the UAE, Libya, Syria,Lebanon, Yemen, Iran, Turkey,Armenia, Ethiopia, Somalia, Congo,Afghanistan, Venezuela, Belarus,India and Vietnam.

The source, quoted by the SPA,said there are reports about citizenstravelling to the banned countries inviolation of the instructions issuedby official authorities.”Those whoviolate the travel ban will be heldaccountable and slapped with heavy

penalties,” the source said, addingthat those who are found to haveviolated the instructions would bebanned from travelling abroad forthree years.

The Ministry called on citizensagainst travelling directly or indi-rectly to the red-list countries wherethe pandemic has not yet been con-trolled and there is a surge in casesof mutated strains of coronavirus.

It also urged citizens to exercisecaution and stay away from areaswhere instability prevails or thevirus is spreading, and take all pre-cautionary measures regardless oftheir destination.

As on Tuesday, the kingdom’scoronavirus tally stands at 5,20,774,including 11,136 active cases, whilethe total death toll was at 8,189.

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ATaliban delegation led byMullah Abdul Ghani

Baradar on Wednesday made asurprise visit to China andheld talks with Chinese ForeignMinister Wang Yi, duringwhich the Taliban leadertermed Beijing as a “trustwor-thy friend” and assured that thegroup will not permit “anyoneto use” Afghanistan’s territory.

This is the first meetingbetween China and the Talibanamid the withdrawal of US andNATO forces from Afghanistan.

The ongoing offensive bythe Taliban capturing a signif-icant amount of territory fromgovernment forces has sparkedconcerns in China that the sep-aratist Uygur militant groupfrom its volatile Xinjiangprovince, the East TurkistanIslamic Movement, (ETIM)

would infiltrate through itsAfghan borders.

The Chinese ForeignMinistry spokesman ZhaoLijian has confirmed at a mediabriefing that the delegation ledby Baradar met Wang at theport city Tianjin located closeto Beijing. The Ministry alsoposted photos of Wang withBaradar and his delegation.

The Taliban delegation’svisit followed days afterPakistan and China announcedplans to launch ‘joint actions’in Afghanistan to drive out ter-rorist forces during the talksbetween Wang and PakistanForeign Minister, ShahMahmood Qureshi at theChinese city of Chengdu onJuly 25.

During Wednesday’s talks,Wang expressed hope that theTaliban can draw a clear linebetween themselves and theETIM, Zhao said reading out apress release issued after theWang-Baradar meeting.

A recent UN report saidhundreds of ETIM fightershave gathered in Afghanistan’sBadakhshan province whichborders China’s volatileXinjiang province.

Wang said that ETIM is alisted terrorist organisationthat threatens territorialintegrity. Fighting ETIM is acommon cause of the interna-tional community.

He expressed hope thatTaliban can draw a clear linebetween themselves and ETIM.That would create a favourablecondition to eradicating ter-rorism. Baradar said “China isa trustworthy friend”.

Tehran: Iran’s supreme leader onWednesday called the US “stubborn” installed nuclear talks in Vienna for dis-cussing Tehran’s missiles and regionalinfluence. Supreme Leader Ayatollah AliKhamenei’s remarks come as his hard-line protege, President-elect EbrahimRaisi, is posed to be sworn in next weekas the head of the country’s civilian gov-ernment and as talks on reviving thedeal remain stalled in Vienna.

While Raisi has said he wants toreturn to the accord, which saw Iranlimit its enrichment of uranium inexchange for the lifting of economicsanctions, Khamenei seemingly calledfor a more-adversarial approach in hisremarks. They also appeared to describeoutgoing President Hassan Rouhani’s

eight-year government as naive for itsapproach in reaching the 2015 agree-ment as its officials sat before him.

“Others should use your experi-ences. This experience is a distrust of theWest,” Khamenei said in remarks broad-cast by state television. “In this gov-ernment, it was shown up that trust inthe West does not work.”

He added: “Westerners do not helpus, they hit wherever they can.”

The US State Department did notimmediately respond to a request forcomment. The Biden administrationdays earlier criticised Iran for sayingAmerica had delayed a possible pris-oner-swap deal, calling it “an outrageouseffort to deflect blame for the currentimpasse. AP

Beijing: China on Wednesday hit out at USSecretary of State Antony Blinken for obliquelyaccusing it as a threat to democracies, saying thecountries claiming to be democracies faced theproblems of racial discrimination and politicalpolarisation. Addressing civil society members inhis first public event on Wednesday after arrivingin New Delhi, Blinken warned of rising globalthreats to democracy.

“At a time of rising global threats to democra-cy and international freedoms — we talk about ademocratic recession — it’s vital that we two worldleading democracies continue to stand together insupport of these ideals,” Blinken said, without refer-ring to China.

Asked for his reaction to Blinken’s remarks ashe seemed to be raising concern about China with-out mentioning it by name, Chinese ForeignMinistry spokesman Zhao Lijian said, “I want tostress that democracy is a common value of human-ity. It is not a patent to any country”.

The way to realise democracy is diverse with-out a certain pattern, he said.

“A multi-party political structure is not the onlyform of democracy and democracy cannot be usedto stoke confrontation,” Zhao said. PTI

Yerevan (Armenia): Armenia’s Defence Ministry saidWednesday that three of its troops were killed and two morewere wounded in clashes with Azerbaijani forces on the bor-der between the two ex-Soviet nations, which have beenlocked in a decades-long tug-of-war over the Nagorno-Karabakh region.

Azerbaijan’s Defence Ministry said two of its servicemenwere wounded on Wednesday.

Both countries have accused each other of starting theclashes. Azerbaijan said Armenian forces opened fire at itspositions on the Kalbajar section of the border. TheArmenian military said its personnel were attacked by theAzerbaijani forces. Armenian Foreign Ministry issued a state-ment saying that “the Azerbaijani side has been deliberate-ly initiating escalation,” and the Foreign Ministry inAzerbaijan said in turn that “the responsibility for aggravat-ing the situation by committing another provocation on theArmenian-Azerbaijani border lies entirely with the military-political leadership of Armenia.”

Tensions on the border have been simmering since May,when Armenia protested what it described as Azerbaijanitroops’ incursion into its territory. Azerbaijan has insisted thatits soldiers were deployed to what it considers its territoryin areas where the border has yet to be demarcated.

In the wake of the clashes on Wednesday, Azerbaijan’sForeign Ministry urged Armenia “to stop military provoca-tions and start negotiations on the delimitation of the twostate borders.” AP

Geneva: The World HealthOrganisation says the numberof coronavirus deaths globallyjumped by 21% in the lastweek. Most of the 69,000 deathswere reported in the Americasand Southeast Asia. The U.N.Health agency also noted thatCovid-19 cases rose by 8%worldwide and that there arenow nearly 194 million infec-tions.

WHO said that “if thesetrends continue, the cumulativenumber of cases reported glob-ally could exceed 200 million inthe next two weeks.” AP

Jerusalem: Palestinian health officials said aman was shot and killed on Tuesday by Israeliforces in the occupied West Bank. The Israelimilitary said the man approached troops wield-ing an iron bar.

Shadi Omar, 41, was shot near the town ofBeita, where residents have held weeks ofprotests against an unauthorized Israeli settle-ment outpost.

In a statement, the Israeli military said Omarbegan advancing rapidly towards Israeli troopscarrying an iron bar. They said the man con-tinued to advance despite warning fire and wasthen shot. Palestinians from villages nearbyEviatar outpost say the settlement was built ontheir land and fear it will be merged with larg-er settlements. AP

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Pakistan Prime Minister Imran Khanhas said that the US “really messed

it up” in Afghanistan as he questionedthe American motive for the 2001 inva-sion of the country in the first place andthen their subsequent attempts of seek-ing a political solution with the Talibanfrom a position of weakness.

Khan also said that the only goodsolution to Afghanistan’s situation isthrough a political settlement that is“inclusive” an” involves all factions,including the Taliban.

“I think the US has really messedit up in Afghanistan,” Khan said dur-ing an interview with Judy Woodruff onPBS NewsHour, an American news pro-gramme, aired on Tuesday night, Dawnnewspaper reported.

Under a deal with the Taliban, theUS and its NATO allies agreed to with-draw all troops in return for a com-mitment by the militants that theywould prevent extremist groups fromoperating in areas they control. USPresident Joe Biden has announced thatAmerican troops will be out of thecountry by August 31.

The Taliban ruled Afghanistan bybrute force from 1996 to 2001 when theUS invasion toppled their government.

The US invaded Afghanistan inOctober, 2001 after the Taliban refusedto hand over al-Qaeda’s leader Osamabin Laden, who was behind theSeptember 11, 2001, terror attacks inAmerica. Khan criticised the US for try-ing to “look for a military solution inAfghanistan, when there never was one”.

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With glitches still hauntingthe new income tax por-

tal, Finance Minister NirmalaSitharaman on Wednesday saidshe wished the Infosys-devel-oped website did not havesuch a launch but hoped issueswill be sorted out soon.

Sitharaman said Infosyshad done trial runs before theJune 7 launch but users facedtechnical issues in accessing theportal.

“I wish it hadn’t happenedthis way. But we are correctingthe course and sooner the por-tal will be as is planned, easy touse,” she said.

The new income tax e-fil-ing portal‘www.Incometax.Gov.In’ hada bumpy start from the day ofits launch on June 7 as it con-tinued to face tech glitches.

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The Government is strivingto complete privatisation of

CPSEs listed out in the Budget,including Air India, BPCL,and BEML, in the current fis-cal ending March 2022,DIPAM Secretary Tuhin KantaPandey said on Wednesday.

The Department ofInvestment and Public AssetManagement (DIPAM), whichmanages sale of governmentequity in public sector enter-prises, has already receivedmultiple expressions of interest(EoIs) for strategic sale of thesecompanies. “I would certain-ly say Air India we are verykeen...Despite the problems, wemay have some delay becauseof Covid but broadly disin-vestment is on track. Some ofthe key transactions which weought to complete in this finan-cial year, for the first time thefinance minister has men-

tioned in the Budget speechnaming the enterprises...Weare striving to conclude thetransactions,” Pandey said.

Speaking at a Ficci event,the secretary said BEML,Shipping Corp of India,Neelachal Ispat Nigam, BPCLand Air India are the compa-nies where the disinvestmentprocess is underway. “We arestriving to complete it this fis-cal,” he said.

g to set up a SpecialPurpose Vehicle (SPV) formonetising land and other sur-plus assets of CPSEs.

“On asset monetisation ofnon-core assets...Finance min-ister had announced SpecialPurpose Vehicle to be formedfor doing this. “We are work-ing on it and trying to convertthat announcement into action,which is actually to form a SPVto enable faster monetisationof the land and other surplusasset of the companies,” he said.

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As many as 52,391 entitieswere recognised as start-

ups by the Department forPromotion of Industry andInternal Trade (DPIIT) as onJuly 14, Parliament wasinformed on Wednesday.

According to industryestimates, there are 53 unicornscurrently in India, with a ten-tative valuation of Rs 1.4 lakh

crore, Minister of State forCommerce and Industry SomParkash said in a written replyto the Lok Sabha.

“As of July 14, 2021, 52,391entities are recognised as start-ups by DPIIT,” he said. He alsosaid that as on this date, over5.7 lakh jobs have been report-ed by more than 50,000 start-ups. The Startup India initiativeis a flagship initiative of thegovernment which aims to

build a strong ecosystem fornurturing innovation andstart-ups in the country.

In a separate reply, he said17,583 companies were struckoff as per the provisions ofSection 248 of the CompaniesAct, 2013. Replying to a ques-tion on exports, Minister ofState for Commerce andIndustry Anupriya Patel saidthat during the past threefinancial years, 22,099 firms

have been placed in DEL(denied entity list) and penal-ties were imposed on 2,922firms after adjudication.

“Whenever such misuse(of export schemes and con-cessions) is detected, the firmsare placed in the denied entitylist (DEL) and adjudicationproceedings initiated.Investigations into such misuseare concluded within a rea-sonable time,” she said.

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The Government onWednesday cleared amend-

ments to the Limited LiabilityPartnership (LLP) Act, with anaim to decriminalise variousprovisions under the law andfoster the ease of doing busi-ness in the country.

Changes include removingcriminal action for failure tocomply with provisions of theAct will help about 2.30 lakhsuch firms in the country.

With the approval, the totalnumber of penal provisions inthe Act will be reduced to 22,the number of compoundableoffences will be only seven, thenumber of non-compound-able offences will be only three,and the number of defaults willbe only 12, among others,Finance Minister NirmalaSitharaman said after theCabinet meeting.

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Equity benchmarks nursedlosses for the third session

on the trot on Wednesday,weighed by banking, energyand auto stocks amid a lack-lustre trend overseas.

Global markets stayed onthe backfoot amid a continuingsell-off in Chinese shares, whileinvestors also remained on thesidelines ahead of the USFederal Reserve’s policy deci-sion.

After plummeting over700 points in intra-day trade,the 30-share BSE Sensex clawedback some lost ground to end135.05 points or 0.26 per centlower at 52,443.71.

Similarly, the broader NSENifty slipped 37.05 points or0.24 per cent to close at15,709.40.

Kotak Bank was the toplaggard in the Sensex pack,shedding 2.64 per cent, fol-lowed by Dr Reddy’s, M&M,PowerGrid, NTPC, HDFCBank and Nestle India.

On the other hand, BhartiAirtel topped the gainers’ chartwith a jump of 5.08 per cent

after the telecom player hikedits prepaid tariffs, just a weekafter upgrading its postpaidplans.

Tata Steel, IndusInd Bank,Bajaj Finserv, ICICI Bank andUltraTech Cement were amongthe other winners, climbing upto 2.60 per cent.

New Delhi:The 14th FinanceCommission has not made anydistinction between generalcategory States and special cat-egory States in the horizontaldistribution of shareable taxesamong the states, Parliamentwas informed on Wednesday.

Replying to a question inthe Lok Sabha, Minister of

State for Planning Rao InderjitSingh said after the accep-tance of the 14th FinanceCommission recommenda-tions, the state’s share in divis-ible pool of central taxes hasincreased from 32 per cent, asit used to be earlier, to 42 percent for the period 2015-20.

PTI

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Markets regulator Securitiesand Exchange Board of

India’s (SEBI) Chairman AjayTyagi on Wednesday said thata large part of the non-bankingfinancial intermediation is hap-pening through the capitalmarkets, and going ahead, theywill play a bigger role in theeconomic growth of the coun-try.

“Going forward, the capi-tal markets are going to play abigger role in funding the eco-nomic growth,” he said.

Addressing the 18thAnnual Capital Markets

Conference, organised byFICCI, Tyagi said that goingforward the focus area for theSEBI will be on strengtheningthe robustness of capital mar-kets.

“The household financialsavings deployed in the secu-rities market is rising and sus-taining it will give tremendousboost to both the capital mar-kets and the economy,” headded. On IPOs, fund raisingand disclosures, he said saidthat the success of IPOs fromnew age tech companies willattract more funds and helpcreate a new eco-system ofentrepreneurs and investors.

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Amajority of prospectivehomebuyers want dis-

counts, freebies and flexiblepayment options from buildersto encourage them to pur-chase their flats as real estatecontinues to be the preferredasset class for investment,according to a joint survey byreal estate portal Housing.Comand realty body NAREDCO.

The survey was conduct-ed by the real estate portalbetween January and Juneamong over 3,000 consumers.

The survey report was releasedon Wednesday at a webinar.

According to the surveyfindings, real estate is the pre-ferred mode of investment for43 per cent (35 per cent lastyear) of respondents, followedby stocks 20 per cent (15 percent last year), fixed deposit 19per cent (22 per cent last year)and gold 18 per cent (28 percent last year).

The majority of the respon-dents (71 per cent) feel thatflexible payment plans anddiscounts will provide much-needed financial aid during

current times and drive themto make purchase decisions.

Naredco PresidentNiranjan Hiranandani said thebuilders are operating at thinmargins but discounts andfreebies are being offered bythose developers who are stuckwith more supply and alsohlike debt repayment.

“The price of product isgoverned by demand-supply. Ifbuilders are locked with excessinventories, they do offer dis-counts. Discounts are alsobeing given sometime as feelgood factor to customers,” headded.

Dhruv Agarwala, GroupCEO of Housing.Com,Makaan.Com andPropTiger.Com, said theCOVID-19 health crisis hasreinforced the importance ofhome ownership across theworld. “As a result, the resi-dential real estate market is notonly witnessing fresh demandfrom first time homebuyers butalso from a lot of consumerswho are upgrading to biggerapartments.

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From receiving damagedgold items to delay in get-

ting hallmarked jewellery fromthe assaying centres and impo-sition of an ID system ongoods, jewellers are facingmany challenges after manda-tory gold hallmarking cameinto force from June 16 in aphased manner, jewellers’ bodyGJC said on Wednesday.

The Government has iden-tified 256 districts from 28states and union territories forphase-1 implementation ofgold hallmarking.

Gold hallmarking, a puri-ty certification of the preciousmetal, was voluntary in natureso far.

“We are ready for manda-

tory gold hallmarking but thereare certain problems whichsmall jewellers are facing. Ifthese are not addressed, thenthe industry will be on theverge of complete collapse,”All India Gem and JewelleryDomestic Council (GJC)Director Dinesh Jain toldreporters.

A major problem beingfaced by jewellers is that theynow have to upload on a BIS(Bureau of Indian Standards)portal a six-digit HUID (hall-mark unique identificationnumber) that is affixed witheach hallmarked gold article, hesaid.

“This HUID system isextremely time consuming dueto which Assaying andHallmarking Centres (AHCs)are not able to hallmark morethan 150 to 20 pieces per day,”Jain said. Both AHCs andthe jewellers have to upload theHUID.

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Markets regulator Sebi iscontemplating reforms in

the IPO norms, especially onthe book building, fixed priceaspects and certain provisionspertaining to price band, itschief Ajay Tyagi said onWednesday.

Apart from initial publicoffer (IPO), the regulator islooking into further reforms onpreferential issue front, Tyagisaid at the FICCI’s annualCapital Market Conference.

He further said that thefocus on review of equity fundraising norms will continue inthe near future.

“We have few other pro-posals in pipeline that are in theearly discussion stage – IPOreforms on the book buildingand fixed price framework andprovisions relating to price

band and further reforms onpreferential issue- being someof them,” Tyagi said.

The nature of fund raisinghas undergone a change overthe years and the regulator hasbeen constantly reviewing itsexisting regime for differentmodes of fund raising for sometime now.

He said that Sebi hasmade several major changesparticularly to the frameworkfor rights issue and preferentialissue in the last two years.

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Mumbai:The rupee recoveredby 9 paise to close at 74.38against the US currency onWednesday, snapping its two-day losing run ahead of theUSFed policy decision.Forextraders said the rupee is trad-ing in a narrow range thisweek ahead of the monthlyexpiry and the US Fed’s poli-cy decision. At the interbankforeign exchange market, thelocal unit opened at 74.44against the dollar and wit-nessed an intra-day high of74.31 and a low of 74.49 dur-ing the session. PTI

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Bank has made Net Profit of�101.81 Crore during the

quarter ended June 2021 asagainstNet Profit of �21.46Crore in the quarter ended June2020 registering a growthof374.42%. Operating Profitof the Bank for the quarter June2021 stood at �1286.28 Croreasagainst �977.08 Crore forthe quarter ended June 2020registering a growth of 31.65%.

Net Interest Income of theBank for the quarter endedJune 2021 has increased to�1460.24 Crore from �1266.78Crore for the quarter endedJune 2020 registering agrowthof 15.27%. This is high-est Net Interest Income in last23 quarters. Other Income ofthe Bank for the quarter endedJune 2021 has increase to�969.51 Croreas against �73.93Crore for the quarter endedJune 2020 registering a growthof 25.27%.

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DAG presents the first-ever exhibition of thecomplete series of 288 etchings by artist

Baltazard Solvyns that he called Les Hindoûs —the second, enlarged edition — that was pub-lished by the artist in Paris between 1808 and1812. This four-volume set, now a rare find, isa documentation of the people and material cul-ture that Solvyns encountered over the decade.The Flemish artist F Balthazar Solvyns lived inCalcutta from 1791 to 1803 and produced aremarkable series of etchings, portraying thepeople of Bengal, their life and culture.

This exhibition is a foreigner’s view of India’spast, the eighteenth century particularly. A greatbody of work that focusses on Bengal and neigh-bouring regions, where the artist lived andworked for over a decade starting in 1791.Curated by Dr Giles Tillotson, senior vice pres-ident, Exhibitions and Publications at DAG, itis accompanied by a book that introduces, illus-trates and contextualises this body of work.

Durga during visarjan and a series of boatsof Calcutta mostly in the river Hooghly are someof the best images among the exhibition and thebook. The Hooghly, a distributary of theGanges flowing south to the Bay of Bengal, wasa river of truly global significance for centuries,attracting merchants, missionaries, mercenar-ies, statesmen, labourers and others fromEurope, Asia and beyond.

The best among all the images is a retinueof boats of Calcutta. The craftsmanship of the18th century is both rich and of great beauty.It is the ambience of nostalgia that takes us backin time. The prints of many of these are boatson the Hooghly — cargo, canoes as well as dingyboats — are a treat for tired eyes. It is clear thatthere was a distinct production of riverine craftin building these boats for communication andfreight on the river. It is said that 18th-centu-ry boats were crafted from dictates found inSanskrit models. The profiles of these boats areenchanting — the deeply rising prow and thebroad planks terminating in the vertical hull —the character is one of precious antiquity.

These images seek to restore the waterwayto the heart of global history. It brings back thehistory of those who struggled to control theriver — the Portuguese, the Mughals, the Dutch,the French and finally the British, who built theirimperial capital, Calcutta, on its banks. We con-sider how the Hooghly was integrated into glob-al networks of encounter and exchange, and the

dramatic consequences that ensued.Travelling up and down the river, Solvyns

explores themes of enduring concern, amongthem the dynamics of migration and human

labour; the role of technologies in revolution-ising social relations; and the human impact onthe natural world. The boats of Calcutta offerlessons of deep humility and fervour.

The book published by DAG, replete withimages of all kinds of men in the streets andbazaars of Calcutta, speaks of primitive simplic-ity. This book is a double-dip in nostalgia andbrings into memory the history of active slavemarkets in Calcutta in the mid 18th century.Slaves, brought by Portuguese and Burmesetraders and pirates, were actively bought andsold throughout Calcutta, mostly on the river-fronts as well as in some places in the outskirtsof the city. Budge Budge, just south of Calcutta,for example, was where the Portuguese slaveships often moored, after which their “ship-ments” were brought to Calcutta by road, or onsmall riverboats. Rich in narratives, detailed inexpression and cultural customs, this exhibitionis bound to educate, inform and engage for itshistorical reach and range.

(The exhibition opens on July 31 and is onview till August 20 at the Bikaner House.)

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It’s an explosion of talent whentwo power-packed performers

come together on screen. And itseems like the audience is in storefor one such thrill ride withVikrant Massey and RadhikaApte’s first-ever outing together inForensic.

The first look of the suspensecrime thriller, produced by SohamRockstar Entertainment Pvt Ltdand Mini films, is out now. Thefilm will also be the reunion ofVikrant and director Vishal Furia,who have previously workedtogether on the much-appreciatedweb show Criminal Justice.

Talking about the forthcomingfilm, Vikrant says, “I have alwaysbelieved in the story being thefront-runner for a film and whendirector Vishal Furia narrated thescript to me, I was intrigued as anactor and as a member of the audi-ence.”

Radhika shares, “There is aparticular way to navigate thrillerfilms and with Forensic, it hits allthe right notes. I am looking for-ward to starting this project andworking with a talented costar likeVikrant and our director Vishalwho has such a clear and interest-ing vision for this film.”

Vishal says, “With the contentlandscape going through a drasticshift, I feel this is a film that is sureto entertain the audience as well askeep them on the edge of theirseats. I am so humbled by the factthat two powerful actors likeVikrant and Radhika are on board.They are the kind of performerswho elevate the material theyhave been given. And I am sograteful to my producers for thesupport they have shown to me. Iam truly working with a dreamteam and together we aspire to

make a dream film for the view-ers.”

“I am excited to see this filmcome to life. When you have tal-ent like Vikrant and Radhikaalong with director Vishal, youbetter give the audience a memo-rable experience. We are all set toroll this edge-of-the-seat suspensethriller,” shares Deepak Mukut ofSoham Rockstar EntertainmentPvt Ltd.

“The hinge of any film is thescript which is what lured actorslike Vikrant and Radhika in. Wehave a solid story and we areinvested in Vishal’s vision for thefilm. I am glad that we have theopportunity to tell a story of thisnature, which is pacy and thrillingin equal parts,” adds Mansi Bagla,of Mini films.

An increasing number ofworking professionals getstuck in the rut of daily rou-

tine. The mental and physicalstress of dealing with the constantcompetition of being a participantin the rat race of life, career andfamily can be truly draining anddemoralising. The only healthysolution that is effective and does-n’t cause any side effects is takinga break.

Vacation has become a vitalpart of modern life. While it doesnot always have to be centredaround travel, it is the best form ofleisure. Getting yourself physical-ly out of the place that is burningyou out, to somewhere you desireto be, can do wonders to your stateof being. But what do you do whenyou need a break during a full-blown pandemic? Well, you have adifferent sort of vacation.

Necessity drives innovation.Given how vacations are crucial tolead a healthy life, corporate work-ers and avid travellers have founda workaround to enjoy a vacationwhile incorporating pandemic pro-tocols. Staycation, workation anddrivecation are the most effectiveways to ensure that you genuinelyrelax while never missing a beat inyour normal schedule.

��, ���This type of vacation can be

taken from your residence, a hotelroom, a farmhouse, et al. The ideais to make your stay at any place arelaxing holiday. With COVID-19resulting in several layoffs, pay cuts,especially with people workingfrom home (for longer hours thanexpected), a staycation is a breathof fresh air. People, in general, wereokay with the first couple of

months of lockdown.They saw advan-tages, a newe x p e r i e n c e ,more interac-tions with thefamily, morequality time,savings andmore. But allof thesequickly woreoff as the lock-down period pro-longed, and peoplewere edging for a change oreven the old norm. A staycationintends to give you a breather.Travel to a different place of resi-dence or pamper

yourself with the com-forts of a hotel room.

The choices areendless.

&������According

to HRTechnologist, aworkation is a

vacation thatallows you to

work remotelywhile integrating ele-

ments of leisure that letyou unwind, relax and be

more productive. For people whohad to commute for

hours to get to a 9-5 job where theyhave to remain confined withinfour walls, workation is a dreamcome true with scheduled breaks.Imagine working in an open field,where there are no distractionsexcept for the sensory rechargesthat nature can provide. With theWFH situation that became thenorm as a consequence of the pan-demic, companies have realisedthat they don’t need a rigid corpo-rate office to ensure that theiremployees work. With apps — likeMS Teams, Slack, Basecamp,Asana, Zoom, Whereby — and astable internet connection, employ-ees can be productive. Also withthe rapid expansion of the networkto even the most remote corners,travellers now have access to theinternet almost everywhere, signif-icantly expanding their workationchoices. Workations can even be agreat place to know about differ-ent industries and companies fromdifferent people whom you travelwith and make greatfriends/acquaintances. So, take fulladvantage of the WFH situation,and unwind in a cosy workationspot for a few days/weeks/monthsto ensure productivity.

���� ���Some people were pushed to

the point of claustrophobia duringthe lockdown and yearned foropen roads. They wished to

travel in such a way that they feltthe road beneath them as they tra-versed beautiful landscapes andenjoyed different cuisines.Drivecation is truly the way for youto remind yourself that the worldis a prominent place and there arefar too many things to admire,rather than gape at your comput-er or mobile screens. You justneed a car, camper van or caravanto drive in and out of your favouritecity to enjoy a well-deserved breakfrom your hectic schedule.

Cascading advantages ofthese types of vacations�COVID-19 severely impactedthe travel and the hotel industry.These vacations provide themwith a chance to more than justsurvive.�The increase in revenue for thetravel and travel-support indus-tries from the influx of touristsgoes a long way to revamp theentire sector.�Travellers who get sick of the citychoose remote areas as destina-tions for their workation. Thispromotes the outlying areas whilethe hotels/cafes/motels also devel-op.�These types of vacations havealso inspired a new kind of pro-ductive work culture. Leveragingthe advantages of the internet, andthe stable mindset that workationprovides, an increasing number ofcompanies are exploring if worka-

tion can be made permanent. Itsaves companies infrastructurecosts, improves the mental stabil-ity of the employees, and increas-es productivity.

Whether it’s a staycation,workstation or drivecation, chooseone that resonates with yourdesire and idea of a break. Moreimportantly, these new trendsgive you the option of genuinelyrecharging while keeping yourelaxed. Some great places feel likethey are almost designed to be thebest vacation spots:

Staycation: Coorg, Lonavala,Dharamshala or Gangtok

Workation: Goa or ShimlaDrivecation: Kanyakumari,

Kochi, Pondicherry, Kochi,Gokarna, Darjeeling, Leh, Ladakhor Spiti Valley

The above places have becomeincreasingly popular among mod-ern and millennial tourists. Besidestravelling by motor vehicles, peo-ple can hop on trains to reach suchdestinations. Trains, nowadays,have everything that a moderntraveller needs, complete with acharger socket and light (especial-ly for AC coaches) for every seat.The coaches now also have 4Gpenetration even in remote areasand train stations with WiFi con-nectivity. Indian Railways evenplan to onboard WiFi facilitiesinside trains in the coming years.

(The writer is the co-founder and CEO

of Confirmtkt.)

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A33/11kV 10 MVA substation commissioned underthe Integrated Power Development Scheme (IPDS)

of the Government of India was inaugurated inNusso, Bandipora. The Power Finance Corporation(PFC) is the nodal agency for the IPDS scheme.

The inauguration ceremony is a part of Azadi kaAmrit Mahotsav celebrations marking 75 years of India’sindependence.

The project was inaugurated by Rohit Kansal, prin-cipal secretary (Power), Jammu & Kashmir, DrBasharat Qayoom, MD of Kashmir Power DistributionCorporation Limited, Dr Owais Ahmed, deputy com-missioner of Bandipora along with RS Dhillon, CMDof PFC and PK Singh, director (commercial) & pro-jects (additional charge) - PFC, who joined the cere-mony through a virtual platform. The inauguration cer-emony was also attended by senior dignitaries from PFCand REC Power Development and Consultancy

Limited (the project implementation agency). The substation, which was sanctioned at a cost of

�3.85 crores, will benefit more than 2400 householdsin the areas of Nishat Bandipora, Baghi Bandipora,Nusso, Lankreshara, Papchan and the surroundingareas. Additionally, the substation will reduce the cur-tailment of power supply in the region. The substationwill also ensure that the Ajar station gets relieved by450 Amps of electricity.

Dr Virendra Kumar, UnionMinister of Social Justice and

Empowerment, e-inaugurated thefifth Northeast India TraditionalFashion Week (NEIFW) 2021, in thepresence of Ministers of State for SocialJustice and Empowerment, KmPratima Bhoumik, A Narayanaswamy.The secretary of the Department ofEmpowerment of Persons withDisability (DEPwD), Anjali Bhawra,was also present at the inaugural cer-emony.

Dr Kumar welcomed all and con-gratulated DEPwD and the NationalInstitute for the Empowerment ofPersons with Visual Disabilities(NIEPVD) for this innovative pro-gramme for divyangjan belonging tothe Northeast. He assured that this willbe made an annual event to promoteindigenous and traditional skills acrossIndia and preserve the heritage of eachcommunity of the Northeast throughthis divyangjan movement. He opinedthat under the leadership of PrimeMinister Narendra Modi ji, manynational mission programs are beingimplemented and the citizens of thecountry are benefitting from it. Thus,all the national institutions of DEPwDmust act as a strong link and expandtheir services so that the divyangjan getthe full benefits of all these nationalmission programs such as the SamagraShiksha Abhiyan, National BambooMission, Skill Development.

He also added these kinds ofevents will certainly encourage entre-preneurial avenues for divyangjan,while generating employment oppor-tunities for them. All the institutionsof the department, including eightnational institutes, RehabilitationCouncil of India, National Trust,National Handicapped Finance,Development Corporation andArtificial Limb ManufacturingCorporation of India are also conduct-ing various awareness programmesduring this event. With an inclusiveapproach towards divyangjan, thisevent seeks to enrich the Make in Indiamovement by mainstreaming divyang-jan along with promoting the indige-nous culture and art-forms of

Northeast India. Narayanaswamy added that the

Northeast region of India is historical-ly known for its fine artisans and hasa very advanced and large-scale infor-mal artisan entrepreneurship for theirtextile, handloom and craft industry.Bhoumik shared that Women fromthe North-East are known for theirskills in the weaving, textile and craftindustries. She also highlighted howthe indigenous and traditional skills ofthe Northeast in the areas of silk-rear-ing, silk-extraction, weaving, wood-craft, bamboo craft, organic cultiva-tion, orchids are some avenues that canbe explored for encouraging the skill-training and mainstreaming ofdivyangjan.

Anjali mentioned that as a part ofthe ‘India@75 national celebration’ andflagship programme for NortheastIndia, the divyangjan movement willgain momentum gradually and it willbe a milestone for empowering the spe-cially-abled towards an inclusive India.

NIEPVD, Dehradun is organisingNEIFW 2021 intending to cater to thedivyang populace and stakeholders topromote the arts and artisans ofNortheast India. It aims to empowerand uplift the divyangjan from the var-ious tribes and ethnic groups of theNortheast, encouraging the textileand craft industry to take an inclusion-ary approach. The NEIFW focussedon skills and entrepreneurship build-ing, artisan training workshop, theexhibition of divyang artisans, a tra-ditional dress show and the tradition-al cultural festival. This will not justcreate awareness about the skills andabilities of divyangjan but also helppromote their employment avenues.Members of the divyangjan commu-nity, along with their families and rep-resentatives of other NGOs, DPOs,parent organisations, special schools,special vocational centres and coop-eratives from all eight North-EasternStates are participating in this historicevent that will pave the way forwardfor re-engineering the concept ofskilling, employment and entrepre-neurship of divyangjan across thecountry.

In pursuance of the decision ofthe Cabinet on July 14, 2021, the

Department of Pension &Pensioners Welfare has issuedorders for increasing the dearnessrelief to pensioners and familypensioners of the central govern-ment (including pensioners/ fam-ily pensioners of the armed forces,all India services and railways)with effect from July 1, 2021 to 28per cent of the basic pension/fam-ily pension (including additionalpension/family pension), repre-senting an increase of 11 per centover the existing rate of 17 percent.

Given the unprecedented sit-uation which arose due to theCOVID-19 pandemic, three addi-tional instalments of dearnessrelief to pensioners, which weredue from January 1, 2020, January1, 2021, and July 1, 2021.

Now, the government hasissued orders to increase thedearness relief topensioners/family pensionerswith effect from July 1, 2021, to28 per cent of the basicpension/family pension. Theincrease subsumes the threeadditional instalments arising onthe dates mentioned above. Therate of dearness relief for the peri-od from January 1, 2020, to June 30,2021, shall remain at 17 per centof basic pension/family pension.

The last year brought me the joyof motherhood. And as theysay, a significant part of that

joy is the opportunity to relive one’sown childhood. As my little onegrew from weeks to months, Ifound myself filling the house withscores of toys for him, many thatwere appropriate for his age andlearning but also some that I foundinteresting and thought I would haverelished through my childhood. Toalign my purchases with my resolveof responsible buying and exposingmy little one to minimal plasticproducts and mostly home-grownitems, I would carefully read throughthe specifications of the toys. Inoticed that almost every other toywas manufactured in China. Musicaltables, cars and carts, puzzles andstuffed animals, from popularbrands like Fisher Price, Mattel, Legoare manufactured in China. Eveninteractive books, published byhouses like Ladybird, Penguin,MilesKelly, Igloo and based out ofthe UK or the USA or anywhere elsein the world are all printed inChina. With much struggle, I couldfind only a few brands selling toysthat checked all the boxes, were eco-friendly, manufactured in the coun-try, sturdy and of good quality, andmost of all engaging and age-appro-priate for a toddler. This experiencethrew me into a sudden nostalgia fortoys from my early years of life andI realized that many wonderful toysfrom our own culture were eitherlost in time or had no takers anylonger.

India’s glorious cultural heritageboasts of being the originator ofmany globally popular games andtoys. In fact, archaeological findingshighlight the presence and impor-tance of toys in India from the IndusValley Civilization, over 6000 yearsback. Needless to say, toys are animportant part of childhood, as they

educate the child on his or her envi-ronment and aid physiological,mental and emotional develop-ment. Traditional Indian toys weresimple, took inspiration from natureand supported the development ofthe mind by offering necessarystimulation. The rattles and dug-dugis, the wooden toys of Varanasi,the head-shaking Thanjavur dolls,the Channapatna rocking horseand spinning tops, wood-chiselledKondapalli and Natungram dolls,Rajasthani kathputlis, or the minia-ture Bhatukali utensils have been apart of our treasured possessionsand memories at some time. Madeof natural and recyclable material,these toys were in sync with our sen-sibilities and sanskar. These toys tolda story and were a cultural asset, pro-moting both learning and livelihood.

India is probably the world’slargest crafts capital and the great-

est resource of artisanal skill and wis-dom. However, there is no clear,aggregated data on the size and con-tribution of the handicraft andhandloom sector in India, nor thesize of handmade exports or peopleengaged in handmade business.Available data has been restrictedprimarily to surveys on handicraftsand handlooms conducted by theMinistry of Textiles and the esti-mates vary, depending on theauthority. Many crafts and artisansare outside the scope of this ministry,and often toymakers fall outside thisambit. A robust database on the sizeand contribution of the lifeline of themost vulnerable sections of theIndian economy has been missingand this challenge of data has beenone of the many factors negativelyimpacting the handmade toy sectortoo. Neglect of several past govern-ments, inadequate resources to

evolve to match the changing mar-kets, lack of professionalguidance and exposure,subsequent low rev-enue, little interestfrom the followinggenerations have onlyadded to the manywoes of the craftpersons of thesetoys. The dismalrealities of thissector are a resultof undermining itspotential and hugecompetitive advantage.The Indian traditional crafts offerrural opportunities for non-farm,labour-intensive, employment-intensive, value-added activity andhold multifold advantages for eachaspect of society and its develop-ment. These crafts offer livelihoods,generate revenues in domestic andglobal markets, utilize eco-friendlyand sustainable processes, preservetradition, promote cultural her-itage, and empower women andmarginalised communities as mostartisans are still at the margins ofsociety. With social, political, envi-ronmental, cultural, historical, eco-nomic, aesthetic and even spiritualelements, the Indian handmadeindustry and its issues require multi-sectoral consolidated attention andeffort.

The 12th Five Year Plan hadprojected that this sectorwould become thelargest non-farm sec-tor in rural India,swelling its workforceby 10 per cent, dou-

bling the outputand exporting 18per cent moreduring 2012-17.The EconomicCensus 2012 is a

milestone in theprocess of collecting

robust datasets for India’s crafts, butas a database is limited. It accountsfor only those establishments thattake products directly to the market.To begin with, building a detailedand accurate database of craftsper-sons and artisans including thoseengaged in handcrafting toys ispivotal. On these lines, the Ministryof Statistics has recommendedundertaking further surveys to eval-uate and verify the data from theEconomic Census 2012 and toanalyse some puzzling data sets andfor the development of satelliteaccounts for assessing the contribu-tion of this important sector. Satelliteaccounts will help map opportuni-ties and challenges for building onthe existing base of these sectors,taking to scale an unparalleledIndian advantage.

Additionally, there is a need tohone entrepreneurship capacities tobuild a brand image that aligns‘handmade in India’ withAtmanirbhar Bharat and Make inIndia. The Toycathon 2021 initiat-ed by Prime Minister NarendraModi, is a great initiative in thisdirection, conceived to challengeIndia’s innovative minds to concep-tualise novel toys and games basedon Bharatiya civilization, history,culture, mythology and ethos. A col-laborative effort by the Ministry ofEducation’s Innovation Cell, AllIndia Council for TechnicalEducation, Ministry of Women andChild Development, Ministry ofCommerce and Industry, Ministryof MSME, Ministry of Textiles andMinistry of Information andBroadcasting, the initiative will sup-port winning teams to commer-cialise the exceptional toy conceptswith support from industry andinvestors. Currently, India’s toy mar-ket stands at around 1.5 Billion USD,dominated primarily by importedtoys and based on concepts that donot represent Indian heritage, civil-isation and value systems. The newlyformed Ministry of Cooperation alsohas some hope for nearly 250 mil-lion of our traditional artisans organ-ised into nearly 600,000 co-opera-tives, including those who handmake toys. The ministry proposes todeepen and strengthen co-operativesas a true people-based movementthat reaches the grassroots.Furthermore, each small step of con-scious and responsible buying byindividuals will be catalytic in reviv-ing our traditional toys and empow-ering the toymakers.

(The author is a developmentcommunication specialist who

leads communication for the healthand governance initiatives at the

United Nations DevelopmentProgramme in India.)

�In a tie-up with Voltas, the schemeoffers nearly 40 per cent discount onMRP of 1.0 and 1.5 Ton Split AC�Scheme is open for all segments ofconsumers and any number of ACscan be purchased��2,500 shall be adjusted for old ACunder buyback scheme

Tata Power Delhi DistributionLimited (Tata Power-DDL), a lead-ing utility supplying electricity to apopulace of 7 million in NorthDelhi, has tied up with Voltas for anexclusive scheme on energy-effi-cient ‘5-star all weather (hot and cold)inverter air conditioner’ for its con-sumers.

Tata Power-DDL has been afrontrunner in introducing energy-efficient and safe electrical productsfor its customers. With this launch,they have added another energy-effi-cient product to its existing productportfolio of LED bulbs, tube lights,ELCBs and ceiling fans. The compa-

ny aims to promote the usage of ener-gy-efficient products among its con-sumer base which will result inenergy savings and a reduction inelectricity bills.

Under this scheme, Tata Power-DDL’s consumers can buy new ACs

or exchange their old ACs for one tonand 1.5 ton BEE 5-star rated all-weather inverter ACs. This schemeis open to all segments of customers.

The scheme has been launchedespecially targeting the residentialconsumer as the domestic sector

accounts for almost 50 per cent ofenergy consumption in Delhi andpower consumption of ACs is a majorcomponent of the same. The usageof the 5-star rated ACs can helpreduce electricity consumptionsharply.

Discounted Price of ‘5-star all-weather inverter AC’ for Tata Power-DDL customers:�The consumers can also exchangetheir old ACs for a price of �2,500under its buyback scheme.

To avail of the scheme, customerscan register online on Tata Power-DDL website or through mobile app.

An interaction was organ-ised by Prof Pramod Garg,

Executive Director of THSTIwith press media atTranslational Health Scienceand Technology Institute(THSTI), an autonomous insti-tute of the Department ofBiotechnology (DBT), located inFaridabad.

The agenda for the pressinteraction was to brief themedia about the exemplarywork done by THSTI andTHSTI’s high-end facilitieswhich include an immunologycore lab, biosafety level-3 facil-ity (BSL-3), small animal facil-ity (SAF), ferret facil ity,biorepository and an office ofconnectivity at NCR’s BiotechScience Cluster. These facilitieswere inaugurated by Dr JitendraSingh, the Minister of State(IC), Minister of Science andTechnology MoS (IC) EarthScience, MoS PMO, Personnel,Public Grievances and Pensions,Atomic Energy and Space, onJuly 15, during the 12th founda-tion day celebrations of THSTI.

During the briefing, ProfGarg gave an insight into thesefacilities which will help in pro-viding infrastructural support tobasic and translational research

for researchers across NCR. Healso highlighted the majorachievements of THSTI in var-ious areas such as tuberculosis,influenza, pregnancy cohorts,non-alcoholic fatty liver dis-ease and stressed upon the stel-lar role and significant contribu-tion by THSTI in COVID-19particularly in vaccine develop-ment such as Sputnik andBiological E with a bioreposito-ry of >5000 samples of covid-19and indigenous antibody kitdevelopment.

When asked about THSTI’srole in contributing to the coun-try’s futuristic science, he saidthat THSTI works on findinginnovative solutions to dis-eases/disorders based on theexisting knowledge. Speaking onthe progress THSTI has made inthe last twelve years, Prof Gargsaid THSTI has made a markglobally. He said THSTI’s NABLaccredited Bioassay Lab hasbeen recognised as a part of theCoalition for EpidemicPreparedness Innovations(CEPI) network lab, one of itskind in India. He also spokebriefly about other facilities atTHSTI which have been con-tributing towards the researchknowledge base.

The 2017 batch alumni of SRMInstitute of Science and

Technology (SRMIST), led byNeelesh Kumar Kuttala and Pavanhave donated 100 vaporisers toSRMIST maintenance workers andhospital staff. This was done by theduo’s initiative - Bhishma andAbhimanyu under the theme‘Humanity starts with charity’ in abid to help the underprivilegedfight COVID-19.

Present during the handoverceremony were SRMIST’s ViceChancellor (Interim) Dr CMuthamizhchelvan, Registrar

(Interim) Dr S Ponnusamy, DeputyRegistrar and Director (SRMInstitute of Hotel Management) DrAntony Ashok Kumar, DeputyRegistrar, WordsworthManivannan, and AssociateDirector (Campus life) & NodalOfficer UBA Dr V Thirumurugan.

This was undertaken through theDirector (Alumni Affairs) Dr ARathinam.

Speaking at the event, Neeleshsaid, “Several of my school teacherswere affected due to this pandem-ic. During the first wave, I reachedout to them and helped them getback on their feet. Now I want to dosomething for my institution andhence I came up with this idea.”

Dr Muthamizhchelvan said,“We are proud that our alumniremember and think about theiralma mater even after leaving theinstitution.”

Yesterday, Vellore Institute ofTechnology’s (Andhra Pradesh)

founder-chancellor, Dr G Viswanathanmet with YS Jaganmohan Reddy,Chief Minister of Andhra Pradeshand handed over �50,00,000 towardsthe Chief Minister’s RELIEF FUNDto support the efforts of the AndhraPradesh government’s fight againstCOVID-19. Initially, VIT-AP haddonated `25 lakh on March 30,2020to the state government.

Dr SV Kota Reddy, the vice-chancellor, shared that VIT-AP isoffering undergraduate programmesin B. Tech CSE, ECE, Mech, BBA

with specialisations in DigitalMarketing, Fintech, BusinessAnalytics Post Graduate programmesin, M Tech CSE, M. Tech(VLSI) M

Sc in Physics, Chemistry, DataScience, BA-MA Public Service,BSc-MSc Data science Dual Degreeand BA LLB and BBA LLB, M Tech

software engineering integrated pro-grammes through seven differentschools. Those are School ofComputer Science and Engineering(SCOPE), School of ElectronicsEngineering (SENSE), School ofMechanical Engineering (SMEC),School of Advanced Sciences (SAS),VIT-AP School of Business (VSB),VIT-AP School of Law (VSL), VIT-AP School of Social Sciences andHumanities (VISH).

Dr Sekar Viswanathan, vicepresident of VIT, said that the VIT-AP campus has 4728 students from27 states and six countries and along

with good infrastructure also pos-sesses 72 student operated clubsand chapters. VIT-AP has signed14 MOUs with industry partnersto enrich student skills with cer-tification in addition to MOUswith 18 Partner universities fromthe USA, UK, Australia andEurope creating opportunities forfaculty exchange and semesterabroad programmes (SAP).

Sankar Viswanathan, vicepresident of VIT University andDr CLV Sivakumar, registrar ofVIT-AP were also present on theoccasion.

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Tokyo: Battling gusty windsunder floodlights, DeepikaKumari was not at her best butthe world number one archerkept the Indian medal hopesalive by sailing into the pre-quarter finals of the women’sindividual section at the TokyoOlympics on Wednesday.

On a day her teammatesTarundeep Rai and PravinJadhav exited in roundtwo, Deepika survivedsome anxious momentsbefore getting past USteenager JenniferMucino-Fernandez 6-4 tosail into round three.

Deepika’s husbandAtanu Das is the only otherIndian left in the fray. TheIndia No 1, who slipped to35th place in the ranking,begins his campaign againstDeng Yu-Cheng of ChineseTaipei in his opening roundof 64 match on Thursday.

Deepika, who qualified asninth seed in the rankinground, had a facile 6-0 winover world number 193Karma of Bhutan in a low-scoring opening roundmatch.

Returningto action inless than anhour underlights at theYumenoshima Park,Deepika felt the pres-sure early on as she start-ed off hitting the red-cir-cle, managing a poor 7to lose the first set by

one point (25-26).But she bounced back

strongly, firing in three 10s ina row to usurp a 4-2 lead. She,however, failed to wrap up thematch in the fourth set, mis-firing a 6 in her second arrow.

The 18-year-oldAmerican made it 4-4, win-ning the set by one-point (25-

24). In the winner-takes-allfifth set, Deepika had two 9sto start with before finishingwith a poor 8.

Needing a 10 in her lastarrow to force a shoot-off,Jennifer signed off with anine in what was a promisingcampaign for the Americanteenager.

“Maybe I was nervousand was not able to adjust tothe tricky wind conditions,”Deepika said after the hard-fought win.

“I tried very hard andthat was the reason I could notget consistent scores.”

Deepika will have twoday’s break before gearing upfor her big day on Saturday

when the women’s individ-ual medals will be decided.

Her round-three oppo-nents will be decided onThursday and her bracket

includes world number 8Ksenia Perova (Russian teamSilver medalist in Rio 2016)and Maja Jager of Denmark(the 2013 World champion)who are headed for a poten-tial round-two clash.

Earlier in the day, 37-y e a r - o l dRai lost to

Itay Shannyof Israel in a tight shoot-offfinish for a heartbreaking sec-ond round exit in his lastOlympics. Rai’s Army col-league Pravin Jadhav also suf-fered a round-two loss as theduo failed to negotiate gustywind conditions here.

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WEDNESDAY HIGHLIGHTS

�Badminton: P V Sindhubeats NY Cheung (Hong Kong)21-9, 21-16 in women’s singlesgroup J match. Qualifies forpre-quarterfinals.B Sai Praneeth lost to MCaljouw (Netherlands) 14-21,14-21 in men’s singles Group Dmatch. Fails to qualify for pre-quarterfinals.�Boxing: Pooja Rani beatsIchrak Chaib (Algeria) inwomen’s 75kg round of 16bout.�Archery: Tarundeep Raibeats Oleksii Hunbin (Ukraine)6-4 in men’s individual firstround match; loses to ItayShanny (Israel) in shoot-off insecond round.Pravin Jadhav beats GalsanBazarzhapov (Russian OlympicCommittee) 6-0 in men’s indi-vidual first round; loses toBrady Ellison (USA) 0-6 in sec-ond round.Deepika Kumari beats Karma(Bhutan) 6-0 in women’s indi-vidual first round match; beatsJennifer Mucino-Fernandez(USA) 6-4 in second round.�Hockey: India lose 1-4 toGreat Britain in women’s PoolA match.�Sailing: KC Ganapathy andVarun Thakkar finish 18th,17th and 19th in three races tolanguish at 18th overall inmen’s Skiff 49er. �Rowing: Arjun Lal Jat andArvind Singh finish sixth inmen's lightweight double scullssemifinal 2; fail to qualify formedal round.

IN ACTION TODAY�Hockey: India vs Argentina(Men’s)�Boxing: MC Mary Kom vs ILValencia (Colombia). �Badminton: P V Sindhu vsMia Blichfeldt (Denmark). �Archery: Atanu Das vs DengYu-Cheng (Chinese Taipei). �Shooting: Rahi Sarnobat andManu Bhaker in Women’s 25mPistol Qualification.

Tokyo: Reigning world champi-on P V Sindhu stormed into thepre-quarterfinals of women’ssingles badminton event but BSai Praneeth’s maiden Olympiccampaign ended in agony in the

men’s competition of the TokyoGames on Wednesday.

Sindhu, who had claimed aSilver medal in Rio, beat worldNo 34 Hong Kong’s NY Cheung21-9, 21-16 in a 35-minute

match to top Group J.However, 13th seed

Praneeth failed to bring his ‘A’game to the table once again,going down 14-21, 14-21 toMark Caljouw of Netherlands in

40 minutes for his second defeatin Group D.

The world No 15 Indianhad earlier lost his openinground to Israel’s MishaZilberman.

World No 29 Caljow, withthis win, topped the group toqualify for the knockout stage.Only the group toppers advanceto the knockout stage.

For Sindhu, it was her sixthwin over Cheung in as manymeetings.

“I found my rhythm fromthe second game on and I fin-ished it off. It was a fast gameand I made a couple of unforcederrors. I changed my tactics andgot things under control. Thistype of test is important beforea big match,” the 26-year-oldIndian said after the match.

World No 7 Sindhu willnow meet Denmark’s worldnumber 12 Mia Blichfeldt, whotopped Group I.

Sindhu has a 4-1 head-to-head record against Blichfeldt,whose only win against theIndian was at the YonexThailand Open earlier this year.

“It’s not going to be an easygame. I need to recover well andcome back stronger. I’ve playedher a couple of times, everypoint is going to be important.She’s an aggressive player so Ineed to be aggressive as well,”

Sindhu said. In men’s singlesmatch, Praneeth was inconsis-tent and erratic and didn’t haveanswers to his opponent’s pre-cise returns.

“I was not confidentenough. I was trying everythingbut there was no confidence inmy strokes. I came on the courtto win but unfortunately it wasnot a good performance for me.I started well in the second andthen lost the points,” Praneethsaid.

Tokyo: Two-time Asianchampion Indian boxer PoojaRani (75kg) out-punchedAlgeria’s Ichrak Chaib in heropening bout to enter thequarterfinals of her maidenOlympic Games onWednesday.

The 30-year-old Indianclinched it 5-0, thoroughlydominating a rival 10 yearsher junior.

The Haryana-boxer wasin command with her right

straights and also benefittedimmensely from Chaib’s lackof balance in the ring.

All three rounds were astory of Rani’s domination asChaib, also appearing in hermaiden Olympics, just couldnot figure a way to connectcleanly.

All Rani had to dothroughout the bout wascounter-attack as Chaib failedspectacularly in trying to hitpowerfully, her wild swingsmostly missing the target area.

Next up for Rani isOlympic Bronze-medallist,two-time Asian champion,and former world Gold-medallist Li Qian of China.

The two will square off onJuly 31.

The 31-year-old has animpressive record against theIndian, having beaten her inthe semifinals of the 2014Asian Games as well as lastyear’s Asian Olympic quali-fiers in Jordan.

On Thursday, six-timeworld champion M C MaryKom (51kg) will fight herpre-quarterfinal bout againstColombia’s Ingrit Valencia, aboxer she has defeated bothtimes the two have faced off.

In the men’s competition,debutant Satish Kumar, thef irst super heavyweight(+91kg) to make the Olympiccut from India, will open hiscampaign in the pre-quarter-final stage against Jamaica’sRicardo Brown.

Satish is a former AsianGames Bronze-medallist anda Commonwealth GamesSilver-medallist.

So far, Manish Kaushik(63kg), Vikas Krishan (69kg)and Ashish Chaudhary (75kg)have bowed out with opening-round losses from among thenine-strong squad that qual-ified for the Games.

�����*�*���������� �������7�Tokyo: The Indian women’shockey team wasted chancesgalore to lose 1-4 against defend-ing champions Great Britain onWednesday, its third consecutivepreliminary stage defeat whichreduces the side’s chances ofqualifying for the Olympic quar-terfinals.

The Indians were guilty ofwasting opportunities in theirfirst two games and the trendcontinued on Wednesday asGreat Britain punished themthrough strikes from HannahMartin (2nd and 19th minute),Lily Owsley (41st minute) andGrace Balsdon (57th minute).

This was Great Britain’s sec-ond consecutive win in Pool A.

For India, Sharmila Deviscored the lone goal in the23rd minute.

Indian coach Sjoerd

Marijne described the defeat ashis side’s ‘worst match’ of theongoing Olympics and lam-basted the players for failing toraise their game in the crucialmatch.

“This was our worst match.

We always try to play for a six(out of 10) for each individual,and I don’t think each individ-ual today played for a six. Baddecisions, bad choices and I’mpretty disappointed by this,” theDutchman said after the match.

“The individual perfor-mances just weren’t goodenough.”

Rani Rampal’s side will nextplay Ireland on Friday.

The Indians needed at leasta point from this game to be safebut they now will have to wintheir remaining two matchesagainst Ireland and South Africato harbour any hopes of quali-fying for the knockout stage.

Despite the setback,Marijne Insisted that they stillhave a chance of progressing tothe knockout round and askedhis players to introspect.

“We still have chances.There are still six points to getand that can be enough for thequarters. That’s what we’re allabout, that’s our goal and that’swhat I said to the girls,” thecoach said.

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Tokyo: Indian rowers Arjun Lal Jat andArvind Singh failed to qualify for the men’slightweight double sculls final at the TokyoOlympics after finishing sixth and last in thesecond semifinal here on Wednesday.

Arjun and Arvind clocked 6:24.41 tofinish last in the six-team semifinal 2 at theSea Forest Waterway.

The top three pairs in each of the twosemifinals qualify for the final.

Arjun and Arvind have, however, pro-duced the best-ever Olympic performanceby Indian rowers by reaching the semifinals.

They will finish at least at the 12th spot.While Arjun assumes the role of the

bower, Arvind is the team’s stroker. The twohad finished fifth in their heats on Saturday.

SAILORS LANGUISH AT BOTTOMEnoshima: The Indian pair of K Ganapathyand Varun Thakkar languished at 18th afterfour races in the men’s skiff 49er sailingevent at the Tokyo Olympics here onWednesday.

The Indian duo finished 18th, 17th and19th in the three races on Wednesday. Theyfinished 18th in the first race on Tuesdayin 19-team race at Enoshima Yacht Harbour.

Eight more races and a medal roundremain in the competition.

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Aresurgent Indian men’shockey team would look

to seal a quarterfinal berth butdefending championsArgentina won’t be an easychallenge to overcome whenthe two sides clash in theirpenultimate pool match of theOlympics on Thursday.

With two wins out ofthree games, world No 4 Indiaare sitting pretty at the secondspot in Pool A, which is beingheaded by the unbeatenAustralians which boast of aperfect record till now fromthree games.

Argentina, currentlyranked seventh in the world,are placed at the fourth spotwith one win, a draw and aloss respectively.

Going by head-to-headrecords in recent times, Indiadefinitely has an edge overArgentina.

In the FIH Pro Leaguedouble header earlier thisyear, India beat Argentina 3-2 in the shoot-out after thefirst game ended 2-2. Theyalso registered a comfortable3-0 win in the next game inBuenos Aires.

In the practice matches,which were part of Olympicpreparation for both teams,the Indians registered a 4-3win, 4-4 draw, 0-1 loss and 4-2 win respectively.

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Colombo: A depleted Covid-19-hit India struggled formomentum against the SriLankan spinners on a sluggishtrack, managing 132 for five inthe second T20I, here onWednesday.

Debutant DevduttPadikkal, though, in his briefinnings gave a glimpse of abright future.

The degree of difficultycould be gauged by the fact thatonly seven boundaries and a sixwas hit in 20 overs with as manyas 42 dot balls consumed by thevisiting team batsmen.

However looking at thepitch, India won’t be unhappywith their score.

Skipper Shikhar Dhawan(40 off 42 balls) aware of a thin-on experience batting line-uphad a cautious approach on atrack where ball simply refusedto come onto the bat andimprovisation was the order ofthe day.

With heavy rain slowing theoutfield, run-making became anordeal but young Padikkal (29off 23 balls) was elegant as usualbefore a moment’s indiscretiondid him in.

The other much-anticipat-ed debut of Ruturaj Gaikwad(21 off 18 balls) also ended ina whimper when a Sri Lankancaptain Dasun Shanaka’s shortball climbed on him and he gothimself in a tangle while play-ing a pull-shot that wentstraight-up after for MinodBhanuka.

Knowing that only fivebatsmen are playing on the day,Dhawan had to cut down onrisky shots even though a coverdrive, an on-drive and a slog-pull behind square were thereamong his five fours before off-spinner Dananjaya de Silva(2/13) got him to play the slog-

sweep.But the man who impressed

the most was Padikkal, who slogswept Dhanajaya de Silva for asix, ran well between the wick-ets during his 32-run standwith skipper Dhawan and briefone with Sanju Samson.

But the player, who onceagain blew away an opportuni-ty was Sanju Samson (7 off 13balls). He was hoodwinked bya leg break from AkilaDananjaya (2/29) and wasbowled.

Samson has now blownaway nine chances in T20Is andis unlikely to get too many moreafter Thursday’s final game.

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Tokyo: Japan’s badmintonworld No 1 Kento Momotawas knocked out in the groupstages at the Tokyo Olympicson Wednesday, a day afterJapanese tennis superstarNaomi Osaka also went onwomen’s singles in tennis.

Unseeded South KoreanHeo Kwang-hee, 25-year-oldworld No 38, beat Momota 21-15, 21-19, ending the favourite’sbid for the Gold medal afterjust two matches in the groupphase.

“I’m thankful for all thesupport that I have received,”Momota is quoted as sayingafter the match by the BWF.

“I’m sorry I could not ful-fil all the expectations that peo-ple had of me.”

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Tokyo: Its morale hit after aseries of poor results and rev-elation of factionalism amongcoaches, India’s shooting con-tingent would be lookingtowards the seasoned RahiSarnobat for a reboot whilehoping that Manu Bhakerrediscovers her form in thewomen’s 25m pistol event of theOlympics on Thursday.

Bhaker will get one lastchance to leave her mark at theGames on Thursday after sheendured a major weapon mal-function leading to a heart-breaking exit from the women’s10 air pistol event.

Thursday could well turnout to be a new beginning forBhaker and Indian shooting,provided she and Sarnobat canhandle the pressure.

Sarnobat, fresh from anISSF World Cup stage Gold inOsijek, Croatia, leading up tothe Games and Bhaker willhave to go through two days ofqualification on Thursday andFriday, before the top eight areseparated after the second rapidfire round.

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