CfaR_Z bfZed W`c µUj_R^ZT¶ 4> - Daily Pioneer

18
A year before the high-stake State Assembly elections, Gujarat Chief Minister Vijay Rupani resigned on Saturday to make way for a new face. The surprise decision is seen as the acknowledgment of the fact that Rupani’s political man- agement had left the State unit in disarray, the BJP was facing new challenges from the Aam Admi Party, a well-entrenched spirited Congress, and the demand of influential “patidar” community to have a dominant share in the State power. Rupani, hailing from the numerical smaller Jain com- munity, submitted his resigna- tion to Governor Acharya Devvrat in the afternoon and later said that he had “willing- ly” stepped down from the post after a decision in this regard was taken by the party in the “larger interest of Gujarat”. Rupani was sworn-in as State Chief Minister in December 2017. BJP’s legislature party meeting is to take place on Sunday morning when a new name for the Chief Minister could be announced, according to party sources. The probable names for the Chief Minister from the "pati- dar" community include Union Health Minister Mansukh Mandaviya, who was sworn in as the Union Health Minister in July, Deputy State Chief Minister Nitin Patel, BJP Rajya Sabha member Parshottam, former State Home Minister Gordhan Zadafia, BJP admin- istrator in Dadar Nagar Haveli Praful Khoda Patel, and State Minister RC Faldu. Patels, largely, dominate the Saurashtra region of Gujarat. Besides these names, a non-patidar State BJP president and Lok Sabha member CR Patil, under whom BJP scored well in local elections, is also a potential candidate. Mandaviya, who landed in Ahmedabad soon after Rupani’s resignation and inter- acted with State leaders, main- tained “he is not in the race”. However, it is understood that the BJP leadership in Delhi first decided on Rupani’s suc- cessor before directing him to put in his papers. “The media can do as much kite flying as it wants. The name must have been finalised,” said a senior leader. Rupani was found short of expectations during the peak of the Covid-19 second wave. His grip of the bureaucracy was also questionable as also his ability to check infighting in the State unit. “It has been a five-year journey for the development of Gujarat... under guidance of PM Modi. Now, to further develop the State, with new energy and power, I have decid- ed to resign as Chief Minister,” said Rupani. “It is well known that the BJP, as a party, keeps changing as per requirements... it is a spe- ciality of our party that every worker delivers to the fullest, and I too will continue to work for the party with the same energy,” he said. With 27 years ant-incum- bency staring in the face of the BJP, the party leadership has decided to do course correction well in time for the Assembly polls. The Congress wrested around 19 seats from the BJP in the last Assembly polls. The AAP is also making deter- mined forays in the State by winning 27 seats in Surat municipal Corporation polls. Under the situation, the BJP leadership has decided to hand over the command of the Prime Minister’s home State to a more “dynamic” leader who could carve-out a fresh strat- egy to win Assembly polls in December next year. “Many Ministers will make exit and new faces will find place in the Cabinet under a new CM”, sources said. Just before Rupani’s resig- nation, Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Saturday morning virtually inaugurated “Patidar” promoted Girl’s hos- tel in Ahmadabad as an indi- cation that the patels will be given more weight in the State. BJP has been in CM chang- ing spree as before Rupani, it has organised exit of Karnataka CM BS Yediyurappa and shift- ed two CMs in Uttarakhand — Tirath Singh Rawat and Trivendra Singh Rawat — to ensure that ant-incumbency doesn’t rise until the next Assembly polls. Uttarakhand is due for elections early next year while Karnataka in 2023. I ndia and Australia on Saturday stressed the need for fighting terrorism without compromise and said the situ- ation in Afghanistan is a mat- ter of “central concern” for both the countries. They also called for a free-open and inclusive Indo-Pacific region. These were the main focus of the first 2+2 dialogue between the foreign and Defence Ministers of India and Australia here. S Jaishankar and Rajnath Singh also held talks on the strategic and security architec- ture between the two countries with their respective counter- parts Marise Payne and Peter Dutton. The leaders also reviewed their ongoing fight against the corona pandemic. Sharing the outcome of the talks with the media after the talks, Rajnath said the part- nership between India and Australia was based on shared vision of free, open, inclusive and prosperous Indo-Pacific region. He said during the talks, a rules-based order was empha- sised upon. This came in the backdrop of China asserting itself in the Indo-Pacific region and repeat- edly opposing the Quad com- bine including India, Australia, Japan and the US. The Quad nations recently held Malabar series of naval exercise in the Western Pacific. Last year, Malabar exercise of the Quad nations was held off the Indian coast. Continued on Page 6 A fter the Haryana Government on Saturday ordered a judicial probe into last month’s clash between farmers and police and sent the IAS officer who is at the cen- tre of a row over his remark “break the heads of farmers” on leave, farmers called off their five-day long sit-in outside the Karnal district headquarters. Haryana Additional Chief Secretary Devender Singh said the probe will be conducted by a retired judge and will be com- pleted within a month. SDM Ayush Sinha will remain on leave during the time, he said. A joint Press conference by Haryana Government officials and farmer leader Gurnam Singh Chaduni was held in Karnal after both sides reached an agreement, leading to the ending of the stand-off. There was an indication of a possible ending of the impasse between the farmers and the Karnal administration on Friday evening itself as after a marathon meeting both sides had said that it was held in a cordial atmosphere. About 10 protesters were hurt in the clash with police in Karnal on August 28 when they tried to march towards the venue of a BJP meeting. Sinha, a 2018-batch IAS officer, was caught on video allegedly telling policemen to “break the heads” of farmers if they cross the line. Following the incident, farmers had been demanding the suspension of Sinha. On September 2, he was trans- ferred out of Karnal and post- ed as Additional Secretary of the Citizen Resources Information Department. I n a major breakthrough in the protracted impasse between the Uttarakhand Government and Teerth Purohits on the issue of Char Dham Devasthanam Management board and start of Char Dham Yatra, the Teerth Purohits have suspended their agitation till October 30 after meeting Chief Minister Pushkar Singh Dhami on Saturday. A delegation of the Teerth Purohits, stakeholder Mahapanchayat Samiti met Dhami at his residence on Saturday morning. Talking to the delegation, the CM said that the Char Dhams are the centre of the faith and the Government is working in the direction of strengthening the infrastructure facilities in the temples. He assured them that the Government was trying to start the Char Dham Yatra. Dhami categorically said that the traditional rights of the stakeholders would not be allowed to be affected. He said that the high-level committee would submit its report to the Government after listening to the Teerth Purohits. Dhami said that two Purohits, each from all the four Dhams, would be included in the committee. He said that the State Government would take an appropriate decision after the committee submits its report. Later talking to the media, convener of the Mahapanchayat Suresh Semwal said that the CM has assured them that eight members of the Teerth Purohits would be included in the high-powered committee and the Government would take a deci- sion based on the report of this committee. Semwal said that the Mahapanchayat has decid- ed to suspend its agitation till October 30. Semwal thanked the CM for taking up their mat- ter seriously. Mahapanchayat Samiti member Umesh Sati said that interaction with the CM took place in a positive environment. Continued on Page 6 T he Taliban cancelled the inauguration ceremony of their new Afghanistan Government that was earlier scheduled for Saturday, the 20th anniversary of 9/11, after the group was pressurised by its allies against the plan. The 9/11 terror attacks had killed nearly 3,000 people in the US. A member of Afghanistan government's cultural com- mission, Inamullah Samangani on Twitter said, “The inaugu- ration ceremony of the new Afghan Government was can- celled a few days ago. In order not to confuse people further, the leadership of the Islamic Emirate announced the part of the Cabinet, and it has already started to work.” The Taliban had invited Russia, Iran, China, Qatar and Pakistan to the inaugural cer- emony. However, Moscow reportedly informed Qatar, the go-between for Western nations and the new Kabul gov- ernment, that it would not participate in the inauguration event if it's held on the anniver- sary of 9/11. The Taliban flag waved over the Afghan Presidential Palace the same day the US and the world marked the 20th anniversary of the September 11 attacks. The milestone anniver- sary on Saturday takes place just weeks after the chaotic US withdrawal from Afghanistan and the return to power of the Taliban, the faction that shel- tered the Muslim militant group founded by Osama bin Laden that carried out the attacks. The Taliban flag was raised on Friday and could be seen waving over the Presidential Palace in Kabul on Saturday. The militant group also paint- ed their white backdrop flag on the wall of the US Embassy building. Americans solemnly marked the 20th anniversary of 9/11 on Saturday, remembering the dead, invoking the heroes and taking stock of the after- math just weeks after the bloody end of the Afghanistan war that was launched in response to the terror attacks. The US is now concerned that al-Qaida, the terror net- work behind 9/11, may regroup in Afghanistan. C alling senior leaders of the party to connect the youth with the polling booths for the 2022 assembly elections, Bharatiya Janata Party presi- dent Jagat Prakash Nadda vir- tually launched the booth cam- paign of Uttar Pradesh on Saturday. Nadda addressed the booth workers at 27,700 Shakti Kendras of the state from New Delhi. The BJP chief told party workers that Uttar Pradesh had broken all the records of development under the lead- ership of Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath and now it was the responsibility of the party organisation to take it for- ward and for this they had to make the youths reach the booths. Exuding confidence that the BJP was sure to form the government with a thumping majority in Uttar Pradesh once again, Nadda said, "The power of our hardworking workers is invaluable. On the call of Prime Minister Narendra Modi, the BJP workers have presented the example of human service and hard work. Till now we have won elections with the mantra of ‘Sabka Saath, Sabka Vikas’. We will win the next elections also on the strength of our work and the strength of our workers," he said. “In so far as Uttar Pradesh is concerned, Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath is the most popular leader here. The peo- ple of the state are satisfied with his work. The chief min- ister is very hard working and is always willing to serve the society. At the time of crisis he led from the front and pro- vided relief to the people,” Nadda said. The BJP president said that the coronavirus-free campaigns launched during both waves of COVID-19 by BJP workers were immensely successful. “No one believed that BJP or its workers would come for- ward and carry out such work in making coronavirus-free booths. Our workers served humanity in the times of cri- sis and in difficult circum- stances," he said. Welcoming Nadda from the state party headquarters in Lucknow, BJP state chief Swatantra Dev Singh said that lakhs of party workers were attending Shakti Kendras to lis- ten to the BJP national presi- dent. “All these workers will make a strong booth by taking the development works of the BJP government to every house," he claimed. The BJP has set up Shakti Kendras by attaching four to five polling booths. The party estimates that around 15 lakh workers were present at these Shakti Kendras during the programme. The campaign will continue till September 20. Senior party leaders also attended the virtual pro- gramme from different places, including Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath and his deputy Keshav Prasad Maurya at Prayagraj and Deputy Chief Minister Dinesh Sharma at Ghaziabad. P resident Ram Nath Kovind on Saturday afternoon called for increasing women's participation in the judicial system at the historic 150- year-old Allahabad High Court which is India's fourth and country's largest. He hoped that the judicia- ry would be successful in ensuring access to justice to all. Laying the foundation stone of the multi-level parking and advocates chamber in Asia's largest High Court with Chief Justice of India NV Ramana, Governor Anandiben Patel, Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath, President Kovind said that the first women to become lawyers in the country were from this high court in 1931. Referring to the appoint- ment of three women judges to the Supreme Court last month, President Kovind said that the establishment of a just society would be ensured only by the participation of women. He said at present, the participa- tion of women in the judicia- ry was only 12 per cent. Details on Page 2

Transcript of CfaR_Z bfZed W`c µUj_R^ZT¶ 4> - Daily Pioneer

�������� ��������� ����������������������������������������� �������������������� ����������������� ��������� ��������������������������������������������� ��������������� ����� ���������������������!�"������������ ���� �������������������#����$�� �������%�&$�����������������&���� �����!�'�� ��� �������������� ������������������������������&���� �����������������������������������������������������!�'���(��� ��&���������������������� ����������������� ���������������������������$���� ����� ������������ ��������%�&$������������������������ ��$!

��� !�� ������������������������� �����������"�#���� )������*������$�� ������������������� ����������������������� ����������������+������,�'������������-��&������������������������������ �����.�(��������� ����� �(������������ ����������������!

�������

����� �/�'"

Ayear before the high-stakeState Assembly elections,

Gujarat Chief Minister VijayRupani resigned on Saturday tomake way for a new face. Thesurprise decision is seen as theacknowledgment of the factthat Rupani’s political man-agement had left the State unitin disarray, the BJP was facingnew challenges from the AamAdmi Party, a well-entrenchedspirited Congress, and thedemand of influential “patidar”community to have a dominantshare in the State power.

Rupani, hailing from thenumerical smaller Jain com-munity, submitted his resigna-tion to Governor AcharyaDevvrat in the afternoon andlater said that he had “willing-ly” stepped down from the postafter a decision in this regardwas taken by the party in the“larger interest of Gujarat”.

Rupani was sworn-in asState Chief Minister inDecember 2017.

BJP’s legislature partymeeting is to take place onSunday morning when a newname for the Chief Ministercould be announced, accordingto party sources.

The probable names for theChief Minister from the "pati-dar" community include Union

Health Minister MansukhMandaviya, who was sworn inas the Union Health Ministerin July, Deputy State ChiefMinister Nitin Patel, BJP RajyaSabha member Parshottam,former State Home MinisterGordhan Zadafia, BJP admin-istrator in Dadar Nagar HaveliPraful Khoda Patel, and StateMinister RC Faldu. Patels,largely, dominate theSaurashtra region of Gujarat.

Besides these names, anon-patidar State BJP presidentand Lok Sabha member CRPatil, under whom BJP scoredwell in local elections, is also apotential candidate.

Mandaviya, who landed inAhmedabad soon afterRupani’s resignation and inter-acted with State leaders, main-tained “he is not in the race”.

However, it is understoodthat the BJP leadership in Delhifirst decided on Rupani’s suc-cessor before directing him toput in his papers. “The mediacan do as much kite flying as itwants. The name must havebeen finalised,” said a seniorleader.

Rupani was found short ofexpectations during the peak ofthe Covid-19 second wave. Hisgrip of the bureaucracy wasalso questionable as also hisability to check infighting in theState unit.

“It has been a five-yearjourney for the development ofGujarat... under guidance ofPM Modi. Now, to furtherdevelop the State, with newenergy and power, I have decid-ed to resign as Chief Minister,”said Rupani.

“It is well known that theBJP, as a party, keeps changingas per requirements... it is a spe-ciality of our party that everyworker delivers to the fullest,and I too will continue towork for the party with thesame energy,” he said.

With 27 years ant-incum-bency staring in the face of theBJP, the party leadership hasdecided to do course correction

well in time for the Assemblypolls. The Congress wrestedaround 19 seats from the BJPin the last Assembly polls. TheAAP is also making deter-mined forays in the State bywinning 27 seats in Suratmunicipal Corporation polls.

Under the situation, theBJP leadership has decided tohand over the command of thePrime Minister’s home State toa more “dynamic” leader whocould carve-out a fresh strat-egy to win Assembly polls inDecember next year.

“Many Ministers will makeexit and new faces will findplace in the Cabinet under anew CM”, sources said.

Just before Rupani’s resig-nation, Prime MinisterNarendra Modi on Saturdaymorning virtually inaugurated“Patidar” promoted Girl’s hos-tel in Ahmadabad as an indi-cation that the patels will begiven more weight in the State.

BJP has been in CM chang-ing spree as before Rupani, ithas organised exit of KarnatakaCM BS Yediyurappa and shift-ed two CMs in Uttarakhand —Tirath Singh Rawat andTrivendra Singh Rawat — toensure that ant-incumbencydoesn’t rise until the nextAssembly polls. Uttarakhand isdue for elections early next yearwhile Karnataka in 2023.

����� -/0��/�'"

India and Australia onSaturday stressed the need

for fighting terrorism withoutcompromise and said the situ-ation in Afghanistan is a mat-ter of “central concern” forboth the countries. They alsocalled for a free-open andinclusive Indo-Pacific region.

These were the main focusof the first 2+2 dialoguebetween the foreign andDefence Ministers of India andAustralia here.

S Jaishankar and RajnathSingh also held talks on thestrategic and security architec-ture between the two countrieswith their respective counter-parts Marise Payne and PeterDutton. The leaders alsoreviewed their ongoing fightagainst the corona pandemic.

Sharing the outcome ofthe talks with the media after

the talks, Rajnath said the part-nership between India andAustralia was based on sharedvision of free, open, inclusiveand prosperous Indo-Pacificregion.

He said during the talks, arules-based order was empha-sised upon.

This came in the backdropof China asserting itself in the

Indo-Pacific region and repeat-edly opposing the Quad com-bine including India, Australia,Japan and the US. The Quadnations recently held Malabarseries of naval exercise in theWestern Pacific. Last year,Malabar exercise of the Quadnations was held off the Indiancoast.

Continued on Page 6

����� �'�-�".�%'

After the HaryanaGovernment on Saturday

ordered a judicial probe intolast month’s clash betweenfarmers and police and sent theIAS officer who is at the cen-tre of a row over his remark“break the heads of farmers” onleave, farmers called off theirfive-day long sit-in outside theKarnal district headquarters.

Haryana Additional ChiefSecretary Devender Singh saidthe probe will be conducted bya retired judge and will be com-pleted within a month. SDMAyush Sinha will remain onleave during the time, he said.

A joint Press conference byHaryana Government officialsand farmer leader Gurnam

Singh Chaduni was held inKarnal after both sides reachedan agreement, leading to theending of the stand-off. Therewas an indication of a possibleending of the impasse betweenthe farmers and the Karnaladministration on Fridayevening itself as after amarathon meeting both sideshad said that it was held in acordial atmosphere.

About 10 protesters werehurt in the clash with police inKarnal on August 28 when theytried to march towards thevenue of a BJP meeting. Sinha,a 2018-batch IAS officer, wascaught on video allegedlytelling policemen to “breakthe heads” of farmers if theycross the line.

Following the incident,farmers had been demandingthe suspension of Sinha. OnSeptember 2, he was trans-ferred out of Karnal and post-ed as Additional Secretary ofthe Citizen ResourcesInformation Department.

����� �/'%��#-

In a major breakthrough inthe protracted impasse

between the UttarakhandGovernment and TeerthPurohits on the issue of CharDham DevasthanamManagement board and start ofChar Dham Yatra, the TeerthPurohits have suspended theiragitation till October 30 aftermeeting Chief MinisterPushkar Singh Dhami onSaturday.

A delegation of the TeerthPurohits, stakeholderMahapanchayat Samiti metDhami at his residence onSaturday morning. Talking tothe delegation, the CM saidthat the Char Dhams are thecentre of the faith and theGovernment is working in thedirection of strengthening theinfrastructure facilities in thetemples. He assured them thatthe Government was trying tostart the Char Dham Yatra.

Dhami categorically saidthat the traditional rights of thestakeholders would not beallowed to be affected. He said

that the high-level committeewould submit its report to theGovernment after listening tothe Teerth Purohits. Dhamisaid that two Purohits, eachfrom all the four Dhams, wouldbe included in the committee.

He said that the StateGovernment would take anappropriate decision after thecommittee submits its report.

Later talking to the media,convener of theMahapanchayat Suresh Semwalsaid that the CM has assuredthem that eight members of the

Teerth Purohits would beincluded in the high-poweredcommittee and theGovernment would take a deci-sion based on the report of thiscommittee. Semwal said thatthe Mahapanchayat has decid-ed to suspend its agitation tillOctober 30. Semwal thankedthe CM for taking up their mat-ter seriously.

Mahapanchayat Samitimember Umesh Sati said thatinteraction with the CM tookplace in a positive environment.

Continued on Page 6

������������ ������������������������������ ���������� �����������

���������� ������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������� �������� !"#

� ��� ������������� ���������������������� ����������� � �

����������� ����������� ������ � �����������

!��������������$�������������������������������� ��������������!���������������%�������� ���������������������!��������$�&��������� ������� !"#

!�����������"������� ��������# � ������$���������� %�

�������!�������������������� ������������������ ���������

���������� *��#�1-/0�23%*

The Taliban cancelled theinauguration ceremony of

their new AfghanistanGovernment that was earlierscheduled for Saturday, the20th anniversary of 9/11, afterthe group was pressurised by itsallies against the plan.

The 9/11 terror attackshad killed nearly 3,000 peoplein the US.

A member of Afghanistangovernment's cultural com-mission, Inamullah Samanganion Twitter said, “The inaugu-ration ceremony of the newAfghan Government was can-celled a few days ago. In ordernot to confuse people further,the leadership of the IslamicEmirate announced the part ofthe Cabinet, and it has alreadystarted to work.”

The Taliban had invitedRussia, Iran, China, Qatar andPakistan to the inaugural cer-emony. However, Moscowreportedly informed Qatar, thego-between for Western

nations and the new Kabul gov-ernment, that it would notparticipate in the inaugurationevent if it's held on the anniver-sary of 9/11.

The Taliban flag wavedover the Afghan PresidentialPalace the same day the US andthe world marked the 20thanniversary of the September11 attacks.

The milestone anniver-sary on Saturday takes placejust weeks after the chaotic USwithdrawal from Afghanistanand the return to power of theTaliban, the faction that shel-tered the Muslim militantgroup founded by Osama binLaden that carried out theattacks.

The Taliban flag was raisedon Friday and could be seenwaving over the PresidentialPalace in Kabul on Saturday.The militant group also paint-ed their white backdrop flag onthe wall of the US Embassybuilding.

Americans solemnlymarked the 20th anniversary of9/11 on Saturday, rememberingthe dead, invoking the heroesand taking stock of the after-math just weeks after thebloody end of the Afghanistanwar that was launched inresponse to the terror attacks.

The US is now concernedthat al-Qaida, the terror net-work behind 9/11, may regroupin Afghanistan.

����������������� ������ ����������&��'(�������� ����)���*���%����� ������������+��������,�������-�%��������"�%��

"������� ��������������&���������������������� ����"�������������������������'�����(���������)�� ��������)���� ������� �!

#� �� �����������������������������������������&������������

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

�������� $%#& 456�����7859������� �����/:���������� ��

�'�(#)����*+,- ����������� ��������������������������� ��

,,,-���./ ����-� �

.�&�*�/'"-�"�;��"����<�%�

3))�<3��#��"

0,*�&0�1�/-<%/�<3�%3�/��%"=�</

���2/%��"-<3�%�"��<3#%"��

2&�34�5)".'<"-.�"-��2�-��%�*"�����<�/��<�45��)</%�#�%"�"-.�����

�.� ��/0��.���1�����������*20�232*4�������*-5-��>

?< ����������� ���� ��$!���1���������! �� 6���� �7 ��������!���1���������1

����� -/0��/�'"

Calling senior leaders of theparty to connect the youth

with the polling booths for the2022 assembly elections,Bharatiya Janata Party presi-dent Jagat Prakash Nadda vir-tually launched the booth cam-paign of Uttar Pradesh onSaturday. Nadda addressed thebooth workers at 27,700 ShaktiKendras of the state from NewDelhi. The BJP chief told partyworkers that Uttar Pradeshhad broken all the records ofdevelopment under the lead-ership of Chief Minister YogiAdityanath and now it was theresponsibility of the partyorganisation to take it for-ward and for this they had tomake the youths reach thebooths.

Exuding confidence thatthe BJP was sure to form thegovernment with a thumpingmajority in Uttar Pradesh onceagain, Nadda said, "The powerof our hardworking workers is

invaluable. On the call ofPrime Minister NarendraModi, the BJP workers havepresented the example ofhuman service and hard work.Till now we have won electionswith the mantra of ‘SabkaSaath, Sabka Vikas’. We willwin the next elections also onthe strength of our work andthe strength of our workers," hesaid.

“In so far as Uttar Pradeshis concerned, Chief MinisterYogi Adityanath is the mostpopular leader here. The peo-ple of the state are satisfiedwith his work. The chief min-ister is very hard working andis always willing to serve thesociety. At the time of crisis heled from the front and pro-vided relief to the people,”Nadda said. The BJP presidentsaid that the coronavirus-freecampaigns launched duringboth waves of COVID-19 byBJP workers were immenselysuccessful.

“No one believed that BJP

or its workers would come for-ward and carry out such workin making coronavirus-freebooths. Our workers servedhumanity in the times of cri-sis and in difficult circum-stances," he said.

Welcoming Nadda fromthe state party headquarters inLucknow, BJP state chiefSwatantra Dev Singh said thatlakhs of party workers were

attending Shakti Kendras to lis-ten to the BJP national presi-dent. “All these workers willmake a strong booth by takingthe development works of theBJP government to everyhouse," he claimed.

The BJP has set up ShaktiKendras by attaching four tofive polling booths. The partyestimates that around 15 lakhworkers were present at these

Shakti Kendras during theprogramme. The campaignwill continue till September 20.

Senior party leaders alsoattended the virtual pro-gramme from different places,including Chief Minister YogiAdityanath and his deputyKeshav Prasad Maurya atPrayagraj and Deputy ChiefMinister Dinesh Sharma atGhaziabad.

$���������*!�&��+���,�������������&����������������

�*!���� �*!�$������������������������&��+�������-��+��&� ����$�&��������� �������

����� �%�2�.%��

President Ram Nath Kovindon Saturday afternoon

called for increasing women'sparticipation in the judicialsystem at the historic 150-year-old Allahabad High Courtwhich is India's fourth andcountry's largest.

He hoped that the judicia-ry would be successful inensuring access to justice to all.

Laying the foundationstone of the multi-level parkingand advocates chamber inAsia's largest High Court withChief Justice of India NVRamana, Governor AnandibenPatel, Chief Minister YogiAdityanath, President Kovindsaid that the first women tobecome lawyers in the countrywere from this high court in1931. Referring to the appoint-

ment of three women judges tothe Supreme Court last month,President Kovind said that theestablishment of a just societywould be ensured only by theparticipation of women. Hesaid at present, the participa-tion of women in the judicia-ry was only 12 per cent.

■ Details on Page 2

���������" ������ ��� ������������ �� ��6 ������$�������������

�� ��

������������ ������������������������������� �������������������� ��! ����������""����������!�#��$���������%&''()*(����������+��+�����������,�������&--./���0������� .���1������������%�23�����,�2�����41,��5"�����$�������2�����4���������������$101��')*(678�������%+� �"�����42�.9:4 )-(())!34'- 77;'�. ���<�����4=)7-'>' ');*;�' '*)*;�-'?) ()���"��<�����4=)7*'>'-) ))(�'-) *(������<�����4=)7 '>' * '? �' * '?7�@� ��<�����41��(�9�����A� �9�%��9�������B������1�%@� ��&**)))'������4)**& )**) 77���//��������<�����4!&-*�������(�1<0@.�A��/9���1��&')*-)*�5��������4)*')& ;8?;))C ;8??))

���������� �������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������� ������������������������������������� ��������������������������������������� ��������������� �� ���������������������������������������������������������� ������������ ����� ��������������� ��������������������������������������������������� ���������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������� ������������������ ���������� ���������������������������� �������������������� ���� ��������������������������!������� �����������������������������"��������������������������� ���� ����#����$����%�������������������������� ��������������� �����������������������&����������������������������������� ��������������� ��������������������!�����������������������������

���������� �����������������������

������������������������

���������� �������� �������� ��������� ������ �������� ���� ��� �! ""�#$�%

�&'&�&(��$� ���$�)��� ��������%%���*�$� ++ ,� ��$��-$�� ++ ,��,��,� ..% ������ �� �/��0�,*�10�210���� ,&� ��34��42,���,4 ������� �� �� 5. &6�� ���'�7�8� �9�"�&:��$� ���*�$� ++ ; ��$��-$�� + ,��,��,� ..% ������ ���/� 9�423��42�0�,*10210����:&��9�9+ <� 5.=�� � >;=�� ��:9��4 ??+ ��&��9 �@ �� �/� . ���4�� ,&�3� ����@ & ���8� �@��� �03&����8�� A�$����� ��-9 �����&B��9 ���/� � C5 ��9��� �� �������&(��$ �� ��� �� ���341� 1��D��� ����6�� ���� �/�&� E$�F�)� �� ����:

����G��2���*�$����+ HHI.H;5H=5=� HHI.H;5H=C5

��&'$��� ��J

�� !"#$�0�&�"��) 0�&��1�2%�' 34��4543

NOTICE

I, Amy No 3004553 w RankHav. DHARMENDRA SINGHKUSHWAH R/O Vil l-Nunahata, Distt- Bhind, MP-477332. My wife name RAKHITOMAR is written in my servicerecord which is wrong, Her cor-rect name is RAKHI KUSH-WAH for all future purpose.

NOTICE

Notify that I have changedmy name from Nirdosh Kumarto Nirdosh Kumar Saxena forall purposes & recrods. NirdoshKumar Saxena S/o Shri GovindSahai 125 B Old Haiderganj,Khala Bazar Lucknow.

NOTICE

In school records of mydaughter Falak Fatima myname (mother's name) writtenas Shama, where as my cor-rect name is Nigar Fatima.Please correct accrodinglyNigar Fatima w/o Syed AbidHusain A-36 Mehdi Enclave,Sarfarazganj, Balaganj,Lucknow.

NOTICE

I, JC-286943 K Nb/SubRAMMILAN YADAV R/O Vill-Jamin Sisyand, Post-SisyandKala, Belthara Road, Ballia,Pin-221715. The DOB19.06.2003 of my sonSAURABH YADAV is regis-tered in my service recordwhich is wrong. His correctDOB is 10.06.2003 for allfuture purposes.

NOTICE

I, Amy No 15343508 HBANARSI YADAV an IndianAmy Man presently residing atvill-Jamalpur, PO- Jamalpur,Naikot Chandauli, UP Pin-232109 have changed DOB ofmy: son ADITYA SINGH from13.08.2002 to 13.04.2004 videaffidavit dated 10 sept. 2021 inthe Notary of Civil Court,Prayagraj,UP

NOTICE

Be it known to all that the nameof my son Mohammad AmaanShariq has been changed toMohammad Amaan Ali in futurehe should be known asMohammad Amaan Ali for allpurpose Shariq Habib 298/13Gali Meer Mata MahmoodNagar Chowk Lucknow.

NOTICE

The original registration papersof sale deed house no.32Vikas Nagar Kanpur situated atplot no. 32 block A schemeNo.38. Lakhanpur KanpurNagar area 200 Sq. Yard hasbeen lost somewhere, use byanyone else would be illegal,if found Contact Smt. ManjuMehra W/o Sri Surendra MehraR/O House No.32. Vikas NagarKanpur Mob.9935054419

����� �#�*-30

Congress general secretaryand party in-charge of

Uttar Pradesh affairs, PriyankaGandhi Vadra, completed hermarathon zonal meetings withparty leaders here on Saturday,the third day of her visit on herMission 2022.

Priyanka Vadra said thestate party organisation wouldhave the last say in the selec-tion of candidates for the 2022assembly polls.

“Party organisation willplay an important role in tick-et distribution in upcomingelections. The organisation'swork in the last phase requiresday and night hard work," shesaid and added, “A strongorganisation is necessary notonly for the party but also fornation-building. During theelection workers should workround-the-clock.”

The Congress general sec-retary met the office-bearers ofthe eight zones of the state in

the past two days. PriyankaVadra took the reports one byone from the district, city,state secretary, general secre-tary and state vice-presidents.The two-day brainstormingcovered 831 blocks, 2,614wards and 8,134 nyaya pan-chayats of the state. At the last,meetings of Purvanchal andAwadh zones were held onSaturday.

Discussion was held withthe organisation of 97 blocksand 975 nyaya panchayats ofPurvanchal. Priyanka tookreports of 133 blocks and 1,330nyaya panchayats of Awadh.The Rohilkhand zone meetingwas held with reports of 823nyaya panchayats of 85 blocks.Review of 96 blocks and 874nyaya panchayats of westernUP were also held.

The ongoing farmers’ agi-tation was also discussed dur-ing the meeting, sources said.Besides, brainstorming on theelection strategy for westernUP was also held.

On Friday, Priyanka Vadracompleted interaction withthe leaders of four zones till latenight. She started her interac-tions with the remaining lead-ers of four zones from Saturdaymorning.

Priyanka Vadra is expect-ed to go to Rae Bareli onSunday morning. Congressleaders here said that in-depthdiscussion on elections, organ-isation building and partycampaigns were held withzonal leaders. They saidPriyanka Vadra took reportsand feedback from everyleader.

Discussions were also heldon the trends at the groundzero, leaders said.

Meanwhile, the announce-ment of party candidates forstate assembly polls wasdelayed after an initial discus-sion on Friday with Priyanka.Now the next meeting of theelection committee will beheld on October 5 to discussthe candidates.

����� �#�*-30

The Uttar Pradesh government will beproviding free tablets to one lakh

skilled workers of the state as part of itsSkill Development Mission to helpthem hone their skills further and dobetter in their jobs.

“The Yogi Adityanath governmentis providing a wide range of services tothe people on the one hand and to theskilled people on the other through webportal www.sewamitra.up.gov.in andCall Centre 155330. Skilled workersmust apply for a job through the por-tal, which also facilitates their trainingin order to hone their skills as part ofthe state government’s SkillDevelopment Mission,” Director of SkillDevelopment Mission, Kunal Silku,said in Lucknow on Saturday.

Yogi Adityanath had earlier instruct-ed the authorities concerned to provideemployment to the people standing inthe last rung of society by linking themwith the Skill Development Mission.Subsequently, the Labour department

carried out skill mapping of migrantworkers returning to Uttar Pradeshfrom other states during the first waveof COVID-19 last year to provideemployment during those trying times.

“As part of this continuous missionto uplift workers, the governmentlaunched Seva Mitra service in 25 dis-tricts with the aim to provide employ-ment to more and more skilled work-ers through the Labour department. Theservice is currently under trial and willsoon be launched in the remaining dis-tricts. A 50-seater Call Centre has alsobeen set up in this regard,” Silku said.

The services are currently availablein Agra, Aligarh, Ayodhya, Barabanki,Bareilly, Bijnor, Gautam Buddha Nagar,Ghaziabad, Ghazipur, Gorakhpur,Jalaun, Jhansi, Kanpur Dehat, KanpurNagar, Lalitpur, Lucknow, Mathura,Meerut, Mirzapur, Pilibhit, Pratapgarh,Prayagraj, Saharanpur, Sultanpur,Unnao and Varanasi districts. ChiefMinister Yogi Adityanath is likely tolaunch the service in the remaining dis-tricts soon.

����� �%�2�.%��

President Ram Nath Kovind onSaturday afternoon called for

increasing women's participation inthe judicial system at the historic 150-year-old Allahabad High Court whichis India's fourth and country's largest.

He hoped that the judiciary wouldbe successful in ensuring access to jus-tice to all.

Laying the foundation stone of themulti-level parking and advocateschamber in Asia's largest High Courtwith Chief Justice of India NVRamana, Governor Anandiben Patel,Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath,President Kovind said that the firstwomen to become lawyers in thecountry were from this high court in1931. Referring to the appointment ofthree women judges to the SupremeCourt last month, President Kovindsaid that the establishment of a justsociety would be ensured only by theparticipation of women. He said atpresent, the participation of womenin the judiciary was only 12 per cent.

“We have to increase the beliefthat justice is within the reach of all,”he said.

President Kovind expressed con-fidence that the UP National LawUniversity to be built in Jhalwa wouldbecome a centre of world class legaleducation.

“The students coming out fromhere will become the carriers of justsocio-economic development. Theuniversity will also be helpful in thedirection of becoming a knowledgesuper power. There cannot have beena better place for this university thanPrayagraj,” he said.

President Kovind also mentionedSwami Vivekananda's address inChicago in his 15-minute speech. Hesaid that on this day 128 years ago,Swami Vivekananda had hailed Indiaand had the world accepted theessence of his address, perhaps 9/11would not have happened in America.

The President said that the Indian

judiciary and the Central and stategovernments were working together.He also mentioned advocates likeMadan Mohan Malviya, MotilalNehru, Tej Bahadur Sapru and KailashNath Katju.

Earlier, UP Governor AnandibenPatel highlighted the historical mytho-logical background of Kumbh city andexpressed hope that the law univer-sity would prove to be a milestone. Shetermed it necessary for the quality oflegal education and expressed hopethat youth educated from here wouldbe able to get justice.

Chief Justice of India NV Ramana

said “we are committed to providecheap and easy justice to the commonman.” President Ram Nath Kovindarrived in Prayagraj on Saturday. Hestayed in the Sangam city for about sixhours.

In addition to laying the founda-tion stone of the multi-level parkingand advocates chamber in theAllahabad High Court premises,Kovind also laid the foundation stoneof the National Law University to bebuilt at Jhalwa.

President Kovind also visited thehouse of Keshari Nath Tripathi, for-mer speaker of Uttar Pradesh Vidhan

Sabha and former Governor of WestBengal, and enquired about his well-being. The President also unveiled anoil painting of senior High Courtadvocate AB Saran.

The President was accorded agrand welcome at Bamrauli Airportin Prayagraj. Apart from the army offi-cers, he was received by Uttar PradeshGovernor Anandiben Patel, ChiefMinister Yogi Adityanath, DeputyChief Minister Keshav PrasadMaurya, Prayagraj Mayor AbhilashaGupta Nandi. The mayor presentedthe keys to the city to PresidentKovind.

.*!��������'�� ���� ������ %���������������

Lucknow (PNS): A team ofSpecial Task Force (STF) nabbed twopersons from Bareilly junction onSaturday on charges of drugging androbbing passengers in different trainsand recovered 250 gram of psy-chotropic substance from them. Thearrested persons were identified as RajMishra and Santosh Singh of Chinhatin Lucknow.

A senior STF official said that theaccused used to befriend passengersin different trains and then used todrug them. After a passenger passedout, the miscreants used to collect theircash and valuables before doing thevanishing act. After a series of suchcases were reported from variousplaces, a cash reward of Rs 25,000 wasannounced for the arrest of Raj Mishraand the STF was assigned the case.

Mishra was absconding since 2013after his name surfaced in this kind ofcrime for the first time.

The STF team worked on the caseand collected details about Raj Mishra.On Saturday, the team was tipped-offabout Mishra’s presence at platformnumber 4 of Bareilly railway stationand a team dropped the net on him.

Both accused reportedly owned uptheir complicity in a number of suchcrimes.

���������������������������� ���

Lucknow (PNS): The bodies of an uniden-tified girl (8) and a boy (6) with their throatsslit were recovered at Gajadharpur village inFakharpur police station area of Bahraich onSaturday. The police were yet to ascertain theiridentities and claimed that a dispute over prop-erty could not be ruled out as the motive oftheir murder. The Bahraich police formed fourteams to ascertain the identity of the victimsand track down the assailants. As per reports,the bodies of the victims were spotted by a localfarmer, Shreeram Lodhi, in a sugarcane fieldand he informed the police about it. Seniorpolice officials reached the scene of crime andinitiated investigations. The throats of both vic-tims were slit using some sharp-edged weaponand both were found clad in lowers only. Ateam from the forensic department was alsopressed into service to collect evidence.

The police later maintained that the chil-dren seemed to have been killed somewhereelse and their bodies were dumped there to hidethe crime. The locals told police that they hadspotted some people holding bags earlier in theday in the fields and suspected that thesestrangers could have killed the children anddumped their bodies. All adjoining districtshave been informed about the incident and alsoto check any case of missing children.

������������������(���@>����������������������������� �#�*-30

The Uttar Pradesh government said that 120 sugarmills of the state had so far cleared the payment of

Rs 27,465 crore to the farmers which was 83.16 per centof the total outstanding of Rs 33,025 crore.

Of the 120 sugar mills, 53 mills have cleared 100per cent dues of the farmers.

During the last cane crushing season 120 sugarmills were in operation and they purchased 1,028 lakhmetric tons of sugarcane from the farmers.

An official spokesman of the Cane department saidhere on Saturday that 67 sugar mills were yet to clearall the dues of the farmers due to lack of cash creditlimit. He said these mills were making payments to thefarmers from the proceeds of sale of sugar and otherby-products.

The state’s 120 sugar mills on August 31 held atotal inventory of 46, 82 lakh MT of sugar. Thesugar mills will realise as much as Rs 14,982 crorefrom the sale of sugar at the rate of Rs 3,200 per quintal.

The stock of sugar available with the defaultersugar mills is 19.68 lakh MT and the mills will get Rs6,297 crore from the sale of sugar lying in theirgodowns. Besides this, the sugar mills will also get Rs5,660 crore from the sale of molasses, ethanol and elec-tricity generated from the co generation plants, exportsubsidy.

The spokesman said the payment to the farmerswas delayed as the sugar mills never got payment inone transaction and the sale took place in a gradualmanner and the payment to the farmers was madeaccordingly.

����� �#�*-30

The One District One Product(ODOP) scheme products of

Uttar Pradesh which have gainednational and international markethave proved to be an importanttool in generating self-employ-ment and of the micro, small andmedium enterprises (MSME) sec-tor in the state.

The ODOP has come out asan effective way of self-employ-ment which the Yogi Adityanathgovernment promoted consider-ing well that the traditional craftshave immense potential and theartisans needed hand-holdingthough a slew of measures takenby the state government, saidAdditional Chief Secretary(MSME) Navneet Sehgal.

Speaking about the uniqueODOP scheme, he said that thebasic aim behind One DistrictOne Product scheme was toencourage local craft and localcraftsmen and do two things –revive the local craft and alsoimprove the chances of livelihoodsand employment of all thosegroups which were involved inthose crafts.

Elaborating on the scheme,Sehgal said that Chief MinisterYogi Adityanath in 2018 hadannounced the One District OneProduct scheme and had encour-aged a local cluster-based craft.

“Over the world, this is aknown phenomenon but toimprove on the industry, partic-ularly the micro and the smallerindustry, the best way is to createclusters and then work on thoseclusters, create infrastructure, cre-ate both soft and hard infra-structure, improve their produc-tivity, improve their quality,improve their packaging, improvetheir marketability, thus improvetheir livelihoods and improveemployment opportunity.”

The department is training

almost 20,000 craftsmen eachyear in the 75 districts in theirexisting trade and craft so thatthey can be taught the latest tech-nologies, the latest techniques ofproduction and also providedwith a toolkit.

“We have signed memoran-dums of understanding (MoUs)and agreements with nationaland international organisationsfor providing support like wehave a signed agreement with theQuality Council of India to hand-hold and help the artisans andcraftsmen to improve their qual-ity. Then we signed an agreementwith the Indian Institute ofPackaging to help them toimprove their packaging,” heinformed.

To ease the hardships of theseartisans in selling their produce,the department has signed MoUswith Amazon and Flipkart tohelp them to market their pro-duce. “We have also now createdour own e-marketplace, ODOP e-Mart, where these artisans havebeen brought on board to sell theirproducts through the e-com-merce portal,” he added.

Adequate budget has beenprovided by the government forthe scheme. The emphasis of thegovernment on the ODOP hashelped the state to improve itsexport because most of the craftis being exported overseas and theexport has risen by almost 30 percent in the last three years.

The state government is alsoplanning to launch these ODOPproducts in the international mar-ket. “We are also now planning totake part in the Dubai- 2020expo; it will be a big pavilion forODOP to showcase our tradition-al crafts, ODOP products in theforeign market. So, these effortsare being done not only toimprove their visibility but alsomarketability in the foreign mar-kets,” Sehgal said.

����� �#�*-30

Launching an intensive driveagainst the sale of illicit

liquor, as many as 793 personswere arrested and 11 vehiclesseized this month for sale andmanufacturing of illicit liquoracross the state by the Excisedepartment.

Additional Chief Secretary(Excise) Sanjay Bhoosreddysaid that the Excise departmentwas continuously conductingenforcement actions toprevent the manufacture,sale and smuggling of illegalliquor.

Excise CommissionerSenthil Pandiyan said that dif-ferent teams had been formedby the Excise department andthey were conducting randomchecking at dhabas on high-ways and vehicles plying oninterstate routes.

Giving details of recentraids, he said that not justillicit liquor but 15,000 litre ofraw material used for manufac-turing liquor was also

destroyed by the teams. He said15 litre illicit liquor was recov-ered in Barabanki, 50 litre inShamli and 125 litre inMoradabad.

The officer also said thatduring raids illicit liquor wasrecovered in Farrukhabad,Azamgarh, Kheri, Hardoi.

He said brick kilns inGorakhpur, Sultanpur werealso raided by excise teams tocheck manufacturing of illicitliquor.

The officer also said that inVirpur village under Jaithrapolice station of Etah district,raw material used formanufacturing illicit liquorwas found to be concealed inditches.

Likewise, inSiddharthnagar, raw materialswere hidden beside the riverembankment, he added.

An extensive vehicle check-ing drive was also being doneon border districts Ghaziabad,Noida, Hapur, Baghpat, Shamli,Saharanpur, Aligarh, Mathuraand Agra.

�.����������1�Birbal Sahni Institute of Palaeosciences (BSIP) celebrated its

76th Foundation Day on Saturday. The programme started witha floral tribute to the founder, Prof Birbal Sahni, followed by alecture. BSIP director Dr Vandana Prasad welcomed the gath-ering andspoke about the institute and its transformation, high-lighting the state-of-the-art national research facilities as well asscientific achievements. Her lecture was followed by release ofthe volumes of ‘Paleobotanists’ and ‘Journal of Paleosciences’ byProf Subir Sarkar from Jadavpur University. He was the chief gueston the occasion. The Foundation Day lecture was delivered byProf Sarkar, an eminent sedimentologist.

/������.���������$���������1The department of Psychology, Lucknow University, observed

World Suicide Prevention Day under the guidance of coordina-tor Dr Archana Shukla and organising secretary of the event DrMegha Singh. The theme was ‘Creating hope through action’. DrArchana Shukla spoke about the importance of SuicidePrevention Day and how the youth should take a step ahead toprevent suicides. Dr Adarsh Tripathi from the department ofPsychiatry, KGMU, spoke about suicide autopsy. He also spokeabout various ways in which people can help a person with sui-cidal thoughts.

���������6� ��The department of Physics, Lucknow University,

organised a programme called ‘Marching Towards Safety’under Mission Shakti, Phase-III, an initiative of the UPgovernment. The programme was aimed at increasing awarenessand sensitising students about issues around women safety.Head of the department Prof Poonam Tondon started theprogramme with a welcome note while it was coordinated byDr Jyotsna Singh. The organisers tried to cover both physicaland mental aspects around women safety. The main speakerswere founder of Red Brigade Usha Vishwakarma andformer member of UPSCPCR and AGM CRY consultant JayaSingh.

�������������� ����������6 ��������������� �����$�������������

��*8���-!.

����� �%�2�.%��

Chief Minister Yogi Adityanathsaid that the work for which the

foundation stone was being laid waspending for a long time. He said whenthere was a campaign to developinfrastructure in Kumbh, there wascooperation from the High Court.

He suggested naming the LawUniversity after the first President ofthe country, Dr Rajendra Prasad. Hesaid that he had an intimate relation-ship with the city of Sangam andcame to every Kumbh during his life-time.

The Union Law Minister KirenRijiju described Prayagraj as a histor-ical city and assured all possible helpfrom the Government of India tostrengthen the judiciary. He saidthat whatever resources had to beprovided to help the judiciary, lowerjudiciary, would be provided as PrimeMinister Narendra Modi was com-mitted to this.

Acting Chief Justice MN

Bhandari delivered the welcomeaddress. Among the guests wereJustice Vineet Saran of Supreme

Court, Justice Dinesh Maheshwari,Justice Krishnamurari, JusticeVikramnath.

����������� ���������� ��! �� "��##��� �$%$&���� !

'$������ ������(�������� !��� ������)����#��������#

�� ����������.�����������������������!����������������'����������������������� �������

���!��*��(��#����+������ # �� � ����������%���� �����)���)������6 �)���

&,�����#���� �� ����-���#���������� ������� ���.�

�� ���� !"#$ 0�&�"��) 0�&��1�2%�'�34��4543

����� �#�*-30

Lucknow has moved aheadon path of development

under the guidance of ChiefMinister Yogi Adityanath andsoon, several projects nearingcompletion will take it to thetop, Urban DevelopmentMinister Ashutosh Tondonsaid while launching the ren-ovation work of three pondsand repair work of 19 roadson Sunday. He was accompa-nied by Mayor SanyuktaBhatia and Nagar Nigam offi-

cials. About the projects to beunveiled soon in his con-stituency (Lucknow East), hesaid earlier there were 50roads but now 100 roads havebeen constructed, includingthe main Mahanagar andVikas Nagar roads.

Lauding the LucknowMunicipal Corporat ionemployees, he said they haveworked without any fearamidst a raging pandemic.

Speaking on the occa-sion, the mayor said that dur-ing Covid times, develop-

ment works were almoststopped but they worked tire-lessly. “When I took over, theNagar Nigam was facing lia-bilities to the tune of Rs 3.5crore. We started sanitisa-tion work with 32 vehiclesand workers carried out fog-ging machines on their shoul-ders in the narrow bylanes.People died due to Covidand when even their relativewere scared, the Nagar Nigamworkers came forward andperformed their last rites,” shesaid.

����� �#�*-30

Two miscreants pretendingto be policemen robbed a

woman of her ornaments inAshiyana. The victim, identi-fied as Kishna Devi ofSaketpuri of Alambagh, wasstruck by the miscreants nearPrem Plaza in Ruchi Khand-II.Reports said she was going tosee her daughter when stoppedby the accused around 11:20am. “They told me that theywere policemen and asked whywas I wearing ornaments whenit was not allowed. I was scaredby their harsh tone even thoughI wondered why was wearingornaments not allowed.However, I could not dare con-

front them and did as directed.They asked me to put off theornaments and then one ofthem took all my gold orna-ments. He wrapped them in apiece of paper and thenreturned a sachet to me. Bothleft the scene after that. Laterwhen I checked it, I foundsmall pieces of stones in thesachet,” she said. Police regis-tered a case of fraud underSection 420 of IPC.

In another case, a residentof Vibhuti Khand was duped ofover Rs 60,000 in an onlinefraud on Friday. As per reports,Moti Lal Yadav got a callfrom an unknown numberand was told that his mobilenumber would be blocked soon

due to no KYC information.The caller hurried Yadav intosharing his details after whichfirst Rs 49,358 and then Rs9,999 were debited from hisbank account in two transac-tions.

Meanwhile, thievesdecamped with Rs 80,000 incash, garments and valuabledocuments from a house inSikanderpur Khurd village ofChinhat when the occupantswere asleep. As per reports,house owner Surendra Kumaris a private company employ-ee and was at his workplace.His wife and children weresleeping in the house when thethieves sneaked in anddecamped with the booty.

�-������(!����*�#������ ����� �������Lucknow (PNS): A case ofcriminal trespass was registeredagainst three lawyers for alleged-ly destroying the seal put by ateam of Lucknow DevelopmentAuthority at an under construc-tion house in the area for flout-ing building norms. It wasalleged that lawyers PrashunKumar Shukla, Kuldeep Vermaand Etmad Hasan Idrisi (all ofJiamau) took law in their handsby breaking the seal put by LDAat the building in question andstarted the construction work. Itwas alleged that the accusedwere getting the constructionwork done illegally and so actionwas initiated under UP UrbanPlanning and Development Act,1973/ 97.

On January 6, the con-struction site was sealed by theLDA and police were asked tokeep a watch on it. On Saturday,LDA officials came to know thatconstruction work at the sitewas underway, and a teamreached the scene. It was foundthat the above-named accusedwere getting the constructionwork done. The LDA officials ofZone-6 lodged a case in thisconnection.

����� �#�*-30

Ateam of Special Task Forceclaimed to have nabbed

two accused who had dupedseveral investors of Rs 40 crore,promising huge returns byponzi companies. Those arrest-ed were identified as DeveshKumar Yadav aka Bahubali ofChhota Bharwara inGomtinagar Extension andRam Janak Maurya ofPratapgarh.

Devesh, said to be the mas-termind of the gang, is thepresident of Bahubali andBadshah groups and he wasbearing a cash reward of Rs25,000 on his arrest. He got sev-eral people to invest in HelloRide Limited and EnfinityWorld Infra Venture PrivateLimited. Ram Janak Maurya

was bearing a cash reward of Rs15,000 and he used to assistDevesh. The accused werearrested from near Bharwararailway crossing in Lucknow.The STF team recovered threemobile phones, two Aadhaarcards, one PAN card, five ATMcards, an SUV and Rs 1,590 incash. The arrest came during theinvestigation of a multi-crorescam. Devesh owned up hiscrime and disclosed that helured several hundred people bypromising attractive returnsagainst investment in EnfinityWorld infra venture PvtLimited. He further said that hegot people to invest money inbike-taxis under the schemesrun by Hello Ride Pvt Limited.Devesh disclosed that AbhayKushwaha, Neelam Verma,Azam Siddiqui, Shakil Ahmadand others were at the helm ofthe affairs in the two above-mentioned companies and 200employees were working underhim. He said he, along withRam Janak, was getting peopleto invest in his real estate com-pany Elite Vivan Private Limitedof late.

����� �#�*-30

Linear Accelerator, theadvances machine, has

become operational at theCancer Institute in Lucknow.The machine was commis-sioned two months ago but theoperations have started now.Director of the institute DrShaleen Kumar said that a lin-ear accelerator emits radiationwhich is used to kill cancer cellswhere it is directed.

“It is different from othermachines because one can con-trol the doses of radiation verytightly to where the tumour isand, therefore, reduce collater-al damage to normal tissues,” he said.

Radiotherapy is used in 60-70 per cent of the cancerpatients of any site during theirlifetime, either for curativepurposes or for relief whichmeans palliative purpose. “It isthat important a modality.Surgery and radiotherapy arethe only two curative strategiesfor cancer. Chemotherapy isused in a miniscule number ofcancers such as blood cancerand lymph node cancer, andvery miniscule number oftumours. The main treatmentof cancer has always been andcurrently too is radiotherapy,”Dr Kumar said.

The director said the insti-tute is treating 60 patients a dayin one shift and with the helpof the other machine, 60 morepatients a day will be added.“However, these treatmentscan be completed either inone or more with sittings vary-ing from 1 to 5. Also, these sit-tings are aimed at making thetumour more amenable to

surgery so it complements theprocess. Most of the treat-ments take place between 3-7weeks,” he pointed out. It is ahuge unmet need and hencepatients come from over 300-km radius of the hospital, headded.

Linear accelerators inLucknow are available atKGMU, SGPGI, RMLIMS anda few private hospitals but thefacility is not available in anyprivate hospital outside of thedistrict, Dr Kumar said.

“These machines can befound in trust hospitals orcentral institutes. Twomachines are in Varanasi, IMS-BHU and Pandit MadanMohan Malviya CancerCentre,” he pointed out.

SGPGI was the first UPgovernment hospital to havelinear accelerators, and thesame class of machines werebrought by the same team forRMLIMS and KGMU in 2010and installed in 2015-2016, headded.

“In 2018, we floated thetenders for two machines andgot the nod in 2019. The costof these machines when com-bined is Rs 50 crore, includingRs 44 crore with a 5-year war-ranty and another five years forcomprehensive maintenancecontract.

“The first machine cost usRs 27 crore while the second Rs16.5 crore. The first machinebecame operational on April 13last year while the secondwhich was commissioned twomonths back. These are boththe best in class advancedaccelerators available in hospi-tals across the country,” theinstitute director said.

�6������� ���6�����#�*-30

Ahigher dengue strain calledD2 has been detected in

some of the districts of UttarPradesh, according to HealthMinister Jai Pratap Singh. Thisstrain was found in some of thesamples taken from Mathuraand Firozabad, according to thereport which the ministry hasreceived from the IndianCouncil of Medical Research(ICMR).

Singh said it is a slightlydifferent strain of dengue ascompared to the regular oneand one needs to be careful.“The ICMR has issued someguidelines for monitoring andtaking care of this strain,” hesaid. Asked about the possibil-ity of its presence in other dis-tricts of the state, he said it isunlikely since they have beentackling the issue ever sincecase emerged from Firozabad.

“The number of districtswith dengue menace has gonedown from 58 to seven already.Also, we are taking all the mea-

sures for containment,” theminister said. Currently, thedistricts from where denguecases are being reportedinclude Firozabad, KanpurNagar and Mathura. “However,the figures have reduced andthe total cases in the state werearound 236 as on September10. The patients have beenshifted to the hospitals fortreatment,” Singh said.

Initially when the problemcame up in Firozabad, it wasfound that all the 42 patientswho had died were taken to theprivate hospitals and no testswere conducted there, the min-ister pointed out.

“Many of the patients diedat private hospitals and some ofthem at homes too. It wasthen that the officials rushedto Firozabad and ensured thatthe system was in place anddoor-to-door surveillance wasstarted to check if there werelarvae in the houses and all theresidents were told to clean thetrays under their fridges andalso utensils. Anti-larva wassprayed, fogging and cleaning

of areas were ensured. Thenodal officers were sent to allthe districts and asked to staythere for four days and putthings in place,” Singh said.

From September 5onwards, teams of health work-ers are visiting all the houses inall the districts and checkingpeople for fever and collectingsamples, he added.

The minister said thatdengue outbreak is not anannual affair and usually hap-pens after three years. “In 2019,there were so many cases inKanpur and Lucknow but notlast year. This year, it has start-ed in this season when it nor-mally occurs when the rainscommence. And, it’s not onlydengue as in eastern UP, thereis Japanese encephalitis.Besides, there are Kala Azarcases in districts on the borderof Bihar while malaria cases areemerging in Bareilly and somedistricts in the surrounding.There are also cases of chikun-gunya and we tackle all of themthrough different methods,”the minister said.

����� �#�*-30

Three armed persons pep-pered with bullets their

rival, a property dealer, onCampwell Road underSaadatganj police station areaon Saturday night. Some youthscaught hold of the assailants. Inthe meantime, police reachedthe scene and took the accusedinto custody. One of theaccused was identified asShariq, who allegedly sprayedthe victim with bullets. The vic-tim was identified as Anwaraka Annu of Tambaku Mandiin Saadatganj. He was eatingsamosa at a roadside shopwhen shot.

Eyewitnesses told thepolice that the youth who wasshot dead in full public viewwas eating samosa when hisrivals reached there. Theypicked up a fight with him inthe middle of the road even asas passersby and those presentthere had no idea about thenefarious design of the accused,one of whom whipped out apistol and fired several shots.

“The high-voltage verbalspat which resulted into mur-der made the people scamperto safety. However, some youthsspotted few policemen with thehelp of whom the assailantswere nabbed,” an eyewitnesssaid. Initial reports suggested

that Anwar was shot dead overa business-related issue. Apolice spokesman said Anwarwas said to have a criminalpast.

Victim’s brother Abuzartold the police that Anwar,along with a friend, had left thehouse for an outing and theywere informed about his mur-der later. It was revealed in ini-tial probe that Anwar's broth-er Akhtar and Jugnu ofSaadatganj had a money dis-pute about eight years ago

when both worked in Dubai.They fought over Rs 70 lakhwhich they had been paid fortheir work there. Anwar hadshot at Jugnu’s brother Munnenear a guest house onCampwell Road and fled toNepal. He later surrenderedbefore the Nepal police and wasbrought to Lucknow later. Fouryears ago, Jugnu, along withJammu and Izhar, attackedAkhtar and killed him. Anwarthen shot at a henchmen ofJugnu.

����� �#�*-30

Uttar Pradesh set anotherbenchmark in vaccination

by leaving behind developedcountries, including the UnitedStates, in the amount of aver-age daily doses being adminis-tered to people.

On Friday, the UnionHealth ministry tweeted aninfographic demonstrating howIndian states were leavingbehind developed westerncountries in inoculating theircitizens. Uttar Pradesh topsthe chart by administeringmore than 11.73 lakh averagedaily Covid vaccine jabs, leav-ing behind the United Stateswhich could only administeraround 8.07 lakh average doseson a daily basis.

The state has been settingnew records in vaccinationevery day. Uttar Pradeshadministered more than 33.42lakh Covid vaccine doses onSeptember 6, the highest evervaccination achieved in a sin-gle day by any state since thestart of the vaccination drive.The state has administeredover 14.88 lakh vaccine dosesin the last 24 hours. So far, UPhas administered a total num-ber of 8.62 crore cumulative

doses of Covid vaccine. Morethan 48 per cent of the total eli-gible population has receivedthe first dose of anti-COVID-19 vaccine in the state.

Recognising that the needof the hour is to vaccinate peo-ple on a war footing and buildherd immunity to combat thethird wave of COVID-19, theUP government is in an activemode to further boost the vac-cination programme. With vac-cine awareness increasing inthe state, Covid jab numbers inrural areas have seen a bigjump. Over 80 per cent of thedaily vaccination target is beingmet in the state’s rural areas.

As the inoculation ratespicked up, the infection rate hassignificantly come down afterthe magnanimous second waveof COVID-19 hit the country.Of the 2.17 lakh samples test-ed in the last 24 hours, only 14tested positive. In the sameperiod, another 19 COVID-19patients recovered from theinfection. The active caseloadin the most populous state hasreduced to 184 from a high of3.10 lakh in April. No activecase has been found in 34 dis-tricts while no fresh case wasreported from 65 districts.

4'���� ���������� ������� ����������� ��9�

/� -�����,�����- ��*��� ��!�+�

��&�������+������������������������/��0��-��+��&��������������������1����������� ��������� !������

2)345����������&������������������������������������������������� �#�*-30

The district surveillancewhich is currently under-

way in Lucknow has shownthat nearly 1,863 pregnantwomen have missed out ontheir regular immunisationdoses. An official from theCMO office said the regularimmunisation is now beingcarried out in a planned man-ner on Wednesdays andSaturdays.

Doctors said it is importantfor pregnant women to takeCovid vaccine jabs apart fromthe regular immunisation.

A senior doctor said whena pregnant woman is vaccinat-ed or infected, 2-3 kinds ofantibodies are formed, such asIgG, IgM and IgD. “The IgMprotects only the mother andnot the child while IgG cross-es the placenta and reaches thefoetus. The IgG antibodieshave a very long life and thusthe newborn has very littlechances of contracting coron-avirus infection for the next 2-3 years. The IgD antibody getssecreted in the milk and if the

newborn is breastfed for thefirst 15 days, these antibodiesform a coating in the intestineand other layers of the body,be it the oral mucosa or thenasal mucosa, which fightsthe virus and does not allow itto enter. Hence in pregnantwomen who have caught theinfection or have been vacci-nated, the children will be pro-tected and they don’t have toshow any hesitancy in gettingjabbed,” he explained.

Meanwhile, a Covid vacci-nation camp for the seconddose was organised atBabasaheb Bhimrao AmbedkarUniversity on Saturday. Theteachers, employees and theirfamily members were jabbed.Besides, 150 vaccine doseswere also brought for thosewho missed out on the firstdose in the camp which washeld on June 8.

Dr Vikas Srivastava fromBBAU’s Health Centre saidthere were a total of 150 firstdoses and 450 second doses.People who got vaccinatedwere kept under observationfor half-an-hour.

�� ���������������������6���%�����!��������&����0�������������������������Lucknow (PNS): A pregnantwoman was found dead at herhouse in Thakurganj undermysterious circumstances.Police said there were noinjury marks on the body. Thedeceased was identified asBittan (25) of Baraura HussainBari in the area. A native ofHardoi, she got married toSuleman Ansari four yearsback. Her father Chaudhary ofHardoi said he was informedabout Bittan’s death on Fridayevening. Investigating officerAbhimanyu Singh said noinjury marks were detected on

the body which was sent forautopsy.

Meanwhile, a bicyclemechanic was found lyingdead outside a shop inHasanganj on Saturday morn-ing. Reports said a morningwalker, Anoop of Daliganjmarket, spotted the man lyingdead outside the shop ownedby Chhotu Gupta around 6am and alerted police.

The deceased was lateridentified as MohammedKalim of Ashfaqullah Nagar inthe area. He was identified byhis brother Altaf.

������������ ��������������������� ����������

� ������ ��� ����� ���� %�6 ���� �� �������

0������/������� ����� ������� ����� �'������1�� � �

������������������������ ��������������������

���������������������������������&���������1�6����������� ���������� !������

������ ����+�������������������������������������� &��������+����������������������������������������������*����&����!��+���������������� �������� !������

����� ���� !"#$�0�&�"��) 0�&��1�2%�' 34��4543

����������/�����$������=�%�-��"

District Magistrate (DM)Kaushal Raj Sharma has

ordered for suspension of aconcerned lekhpal for showinglaxity in ensuring vacation ofland from illegal encroach-ment where a police outposthas been proposed in Dafisince long. At a meeting inwhich the DM was discussingthe factors causing delay intimely completion of ongoingprojects with the officers of var-ious executing agencies anddepartments here on Friday, hefound that the concerned lekh-pal neither made any effort tovacate the land in Dafi nor sub-mitted his report in this con-nection.

He asked the officers tosort out the factors causingdelay in timely completion ofprojects like land acquisition,payment of land owners,obstructions created by seekingcourt’s stay and illegal occupa-tion by the land mafia. In thematter of Dafi, he instructedthe officers of Sadar Tehsil totake immediate action ensuringremoval of illegal encroach-ments with the help of JCB.Similarly, on the information ofillegal encroachment by a hotelnear Tangra crossing causing

delay in shifting of sewer lines,he directed the officers con-cerned to remove theencroachments immediatelyusing JCB.

Sharma directed the offi-cers of Inland WaterwaysAuthority of India, NationalHighways Authority of India,Bridge Corporation and HPCLetc to expedite the proceedingsrelated to land acquisition andpayment.

He directed to ensure centper cent payment of land takenby farmers for construction ofbridge on river Varuna nearKapsethi (Rameshwar) bySeptember 20 in each case. Healso directed the BridgeCorporation and Public Works

Department (PWD) to com-plete all the pending paymentsby September 20.

Besides, the DM directedto complete the work of plan-tation on the roadsides anddividers made by NHAI andPWD and get it verified by theForest department. Apart fromthis, the PWD, VDA andMunicipal Corporation weredirected to make the city greenby planting a huge number oftrees on the roadsides anddividers.

He also asked the con-cerned officers to send a com-prehensive proposal for trans-fer of Cattle Colony out of thecity to the government. Themeeting was also attended by

Municipal CommissionerPranay Singh, ViceChairperson of VaranasiDevelopment Authority (VDA)Isha Duhan and officers of var-ious departments.

Meanwhile, in view offorthcoming Mahatma GandhiJayanti, Dussehra and other fes-tivals apart from competitiveexaminations to be conductedby the Union Public ServiceCommission, New Delhi;Public Service SelectionCommission Prayagraj; UttarPradesh Subordinate ServicesSelection Commission,Lucknow and others, the DMhas imposed prohibitory ordersunder Section 144 of theCriminal Procedure Code(CrPC) in the district. Theorders which were imposed onSeptember 9 last would remaineffective till October 31. Theviolation of the orders will bean offense punishable underSection 188 of the Indian PenalCode (IPC). Besides, at present,in view of the COVID-19 pan-demic, compliance of theguidelines given by the centraland state governments will beensured and masks will beused by all persons in all typesof religious, political, social,cultural and other events orprogrammes.

����������/�����$����������'����

Electronic medical recordswill make healthcare safer,

accessible and affordable.Unfortunately, nearly 80 percent of the hospitals on theplanet do not have electronicmedical records. We want all ofthem to have the smartest elec-tronic medical record at a pricethat they can afford to pay. Thisis what you need to do, eitherby producing or deliveringessentials of life to everyoneat a price that they canafford to pay by building digi-tal tools.

These views wereexpressed by Padma Bhushanand Padma Shri Awardee DrDevi Shetty while addressing at16th e- Convocation of IndianInstitute of InformationTechnology, Allahabad onSaturday morning. As many as465 students were awardeddifferent degrees via onlinemode at Jhalwa campus.Besides this, the Instituteawarded 23 medals to merito-rious students at the convoca-tion. Twenty nine researchscholars were conferred withPhD degrees.

Addressing the convoca-tion as the chief guest, DrDevi Shetty who is alsoChairman, NarayanaHrudayalaya, said that thestock market valuation is notreal India. Real India stilldepends on the agriculturaleconomy which has notchanged since independence.Nearly half of our country’spopulation still depends on

the rain and price of that theygrow. Unfortunately, farming isa business in which many willend up in bankruptcy, it is amatter of time.

‘Agricultural income stilldepends on rain; when there isno rain there is no crop, nomoney; when there is too muchrain again there is no crop andno money; interestingly whenthere is adequate rain there isbumper crop, still no moneysince what he has grown has nomarket value. Your businessstrategy, if it includes the farm-ers, migrant labourers andworking class people, you enterthe blue ocean of businesswhere there is no competition’,he added.

‘Converting atoms intobytes is the first step towardscreating a world of surplus byproviding rich and poor essen-tials of life at a price that theycan afford. Let me explain, if Ihave one kilo of rice and I giveyou half a kilo of my rice, I amleft with only half a kilo of rice.If I build the world’smost advanced ElectronicMedical Record (EMR) totreat my patients and spendmillions of dollars to build it,I can give a copy of my softwareto any hospital in the world,virtually for free and I will stillhave my EMR. This is thebeauty of converting atomsinto bytes.

Covid has changed ourworld and turned it upsidedown. 50 years from now whenhistorians talk about the past,world events will be classifiedas BC and AC, that is, before

Covid and After Covid. Theworld in which you joinedIIIT-Allahabad as a young stu-dent is dramatically differentfrom the world you are goingto step into now, said Dr Shetty.

‘When you are inspired bysome great purpose, someextraordinary project, all yourthoughts break their bonds –your mind transcends limita-tions, your consciousnessexpands in every direction andour find yourself in a new, greatand wonderful world. Dormantforces, faculties and talentsbecome alive and you discov-er yourself to be greater personby far than you ever dreamed’,he said.

Prof P Nagabhushan ,Director and as Chairman ofBoard of Governor, IIIT-A, inhis speech said that the duringthe covid disruption period, theinstitution suffered its share ofsome set back. Yet that did notdeter us. The institute hasremained active with itsresearch. A rapid diagnostic kitfor the detection of coron-avirus is designed. The kit isnanotechnology based. It isundergoing strict validationtests at KGMU Lucknow. Theprocess takes less than 15 min-utes to get the result and shallprove to be a very economicaland an effective solution.

‘Also the autonomouslypropelled catalytic magneticnanobots are designed fordegradation of toxic industri-al dyes in water bodies. Thisinvention is useful for watertreatment and this will notimpose any secondary pollu-

tion within water bodies. Manycovid related research papersare contributed. Many researchproject proposals are submittedand are undertaken. DespiteCovid disruption our studentshave excelled in hackathonsand other coding competi-tions. I feel happy to also sharethat Sneha Mishra receivedthe prestigious ADOBEWomen in TechnologyFellowship 2021 and KatharSampada Manoj bagged GraceHopper Celebration Fellowship2021.

‘Our on campus placementrecord is very impressive withan average of more than 85%inclusive all branches and allprograms including undergraduate, postgraduate anddual degrees, Package on high-er side is more than � 50 lakhper annum and the average isaround Rs 20 lakh per annum’,he added.

Sahil Goyal was awardedwith the Chairman’s GoldMedal for the year-2021 for hisoutstanding marks.

As many as 144 B.Tech (IT)and 80 B.Tech (ElectronicCommunication Engineering)students got their respectiveundergraduate degrees for thesession 2021. However, 241students were conferred upondegrees for postgraduate cours-es including M.Tech, MBAand PhD degrees.

Prof T Lahari, DeanAcademics, Prof VijayshriTiwari, Registrar, Dr ManishGoswami, Associate DeanExams, Prof Neetesh Purohitspoke on the occasion.

����������/�����$����������'����

Over 55,000 recipients of allage groups were given jabs

during special mega vaccina-tion camp at the district hereon Saturday.

As the department is mak-ing sincere efforts to cover atleast 50 per cent of the target-ed recipients of all age groupsin Sangam City by September15, special vaccination campwere being planned to covermaximum number of recipi-ents.

Till September 11, as perthe Health department, jabshave been given to 20,76,344recipients, including 16,49,280recipients of first dose and4,27,064 recipients of seconddose.

The district health author-ities have set a target to admin-ister jabs to 46.10 lakh benefi-ciaries. On September 7, it hasalready crossed the 20.64 lakhmark.

Teams of ASHA, ANMand other health workers areconstantly approaching men

and women in rural areas to getjabs. Officials, however, saidthat the figures of vaccinationwas quite exciting and now weaim to cover at least 30,000people in a day.

The Health departmentfigures claimed that over 3.03lakh and 3.42 lakh people weregiven jabs in the months ofJune and July respectively.Similarly, over 5.18 lakh jabswere given in August month.

District ImmunizationOfficer (DIO) and AdditionalChief Medical Officer (ACMO)

Dr Teerath Lal informed thenewspersons that a specialmega vaccination drive washeld at the district level onSaturday to cover more andmore recipients of all agegroups living in villages, blocksand urban areas. He added thattally of people covered undervaccination was 55,000 by 5 pmwhich is likely to go up.

Roughly, 45 per cent of thetargeted recipients havereceived jabs and over 9 percent are fully vaccinated in thedistrict so far.

����������/�����$������=�%�-��"

Secretary (Housing), UnionMinistry of Urban

Development, Durga ShankarMishra expressed dissatisfac-tion over failure of Jal Nigamto complete its projects ontime and maintain quality ofworks. He instructed the offi-cers to complete the projects onpriority by taking personalinterest. Reviewing the progressmade in various projects at ameeting here on Saturday, hewas also unhappy over theslow pace of work by the JalNigam in completion of watersupply projects worth � 268crore apart from the work ofhouse sewer connection pro-ject, showing doubts over theclaims related to the progressmade by Chief Engineer (CE),Jal Nigam.

During the review, theUnion Secretary was informedabout the progress of variousprojects including VaranasiSmart City, works of Jal Nigam,Trans Varuna, Sis Varuna, PMAwas Yojana, Drinking WaterSupply, Sanitation-SWM, CityCompost DistributionProgramme, AMRUT Projectetc through power point pre-sentation.

Giving information relatedto these projects, DivisionalCommissioner (DC) DeepakAgrawal apprised about theupdated status of various pro-jects as well as the work beingdone by the MunicipalCorporation apart from thefuture plans.

The details of Pradhan

Mantri Awas Yojana were pre-sented by Project Officer,DUDA in which heinformed that about 91 per centof the work has been complet-ed and the remaining workwould also be completed ontime.

Apart from this, the projectand future planning related to

Varanasi DevelopmentAuthority (VDA) was present-ed by the town planner. DistrictMagistrate Kaushal RajSharma, MunicipalCommissioner Pranay Singh,Vice-Chairperson of VaranasiDevelopment Authority (VDA)Isha Duhan and many otherofficers were also present.

����������/�����$����������'����

The denizens could alsowatch the live telecast of the

programme to be organisedduring the visit of PresidentRam Nath Kovind to Prayagrajat one place. This arrange-ment was made in the premis-es of Bishop Johnson Schoollocated in Civil Lines. Tents andscreens were put up here late onFriday night. The High Courtadvocates also watched the livetelecast of the programmesorganised in the High Courtwhile sitting here. Along withthe President, the address of theGovernor, CJI, Chief Ministerwas also heard.

Advocates had arrived atthe Bishop Johnson schoolpremises to watch thePresident's live broadcast andlisten to his speech. However,some time before the start of

the programme, there was atechnical snag in the screeninstalled here. Some advocatesalso staged a protest over it. Thetechnical team fixed it in notime. After this, the President'sprogramme was broadcast livefrom 12:30 pm here.

Almost the entire city wasready to warmly welcome RamNath Kovind, the first citizen ofthe country. From their recep-tion to security, the police offi-cers were already in full prepa-ration. After landing thePresident at Bamrauli Airport,he reached the Polo Ground ofthe Army by helicopter. Thenwith this car he reached theHigh Court and Circuit House.The National Security Guard(NSG) commandos along withbodyguards walked in front ofthe car. The President's proto-col was also fully followed.

The President drove in a

Mercedes-Benz S-Class car. It'sa Pullman Guard car. It doesnot have a number plate, butinstead the Ashoka Pillar isinstalled. The car comes fullyequipped with ballistic protec-tion feature. That is, it is bul-let proof. This car also comeswith an emergency fresh airsystem, which supplies oxygenin case of emergency. The priceof this car, very special interms of state-of-the-art andsafety, is said to be around �12crore. The special car is alsoaccompanied by a safari carwith a jammer, so that there isno lapse in safety. At present,some soldiers of the specialteam from Delhi have beendeployed for its security.

A total of 150 vehicles hadbeen deployed for the convoyof the President. The maxi-mum number of 30 vehicleswas in the convoy of the

President and the Chief Justiceof the Supreme Court. Therewere 20 vehicles in the convoyof the Governor and theChief Minister. And there werea total of 150 vehicles in sevenunits.

In view of the arrival of thePresident, the High Court fly-over was closed from 11 am to3 pm for security. For this,police force had been deployedon both sides of the bridge.During this, vehicles comingtowards Chaufatka were divert-ed from Army Supply Depottowards New Cantt. From therethe vehicle moved towardsBaba Chauraha and Rajapur.

On the other hand, vehiclesgoing from Civil Lines towardsKanpur were sent from Eklavyaintersection to Head PostOffice, Church viaNawab Yusuf Road towardswater tank.

9�� ��.������)��:���0� ��� � �������� $���� �����

(����� ���������7(����������������8�� ������������&�������������� �&��+����������������� �������9����������������������!������

0�*-���������#�#�����-(������,� !

���'�� ����������������������� �� ���������������������%�����9�����������!������

�2� -�#��3� �1�#���3���# �)������������/�����$������=�%�-��"

The zonal and regionaloffices of the Punjab

National Bank (PNB) onSaturday jointly organised FitIndia Freedom Run under theAmrit Mahotsav ofIndependence being celebrat-ed by the Government of India.

The objective of the FitIndia Freedom Run was togenerate consciousness amongthe common people abouthealth. While addressing thebank staff on the occasion, thezonal head of the bankRajendra Kumar Vashisth said,‘Only the fit and healthy citi-zens can take a pledge of mak-ing the New India.’

The regional head RajeshKumar, sub-regional headBiman Kumar and others werepresent on the occasion. !$��������������+��������%���#�����%�������������������������� �������9�����������������������������������������������������������������!������

1�#�������*��$-�������-�*�$� ��������������/�����$������=�%�-��"

Indian Bank organised areview meeting at its zonal

office, here in which theGeneral Manager Vinay KumarSingh honoured a few GrahakMitras who performed excel-lently in the zone.

Reviewing the variousschemes being run by the gov-ernment, Singh discussed theloan-related requirements ofcustomers, customers’ expec-tation from the bank andCGTMSE & other schemeswhich are in the interest of thecustomers and said that toprotect the interest of cus-tomers who seek loan, is in thetop priority of the bank. He

assured the customers for notmaking delays in meeting theirneeds regarding the loan andalso addressing their griev-

ances. The Zonal ManagerRajesh said that the bank hasset a long time target to meetthe loan-related requirements

of customers. The senior bankofficer Vijay Kumar Dwivediand others were present on theoccasion.

���� �#���������+��'� �����������������+����������������������%�������������������������������������������������������������������!������

'���� �����111��/���-���#�-��#�

�����������������*������ ��������&������������������� �!��������0�������������

;;�(((����������� �����$�%����� ���������� �������

<� ����������� %���� ����� ������ ���������� ����A L L A H A B A D ( P N S ) :Observing that 'the entire effortof the police is to somehow giveclean chit to the accused', theAllahabad High Court hastransferred a probe into thealleged custodial death of a 24-year-old man in Jaunpur to theCentral Bureau of Investigation(CBI). Hearing a writ petitionfiled by one Ajay Kumar Yadavof Jaunpur, a division benchcomprising Justice SuryaPrakash Kesarwani and JusticePiyush Agrawal transferred theprobe while underscoring thatif the investigation is not effec-tive, purposeful, objective orfair, the courts may, if consid-ered necessary, order fair inves-tigation, further investigation

or reinvestigation as the casemay be, to discover the truth soas to prevent the miscarriage ofjustice. It is alleged that theJaunpur police forcibly tookaway a youth -- Krishna Yadavalias Pujari -- on February 11,2021 in loot case and detainedhim at the Buksa police station.

When the informant(brother of the deceased) wentto the police station, he was notallowed to meet his brother(deceased), and next day in themorning on February 12, 2021,he received information thathis brother had died.

Thereafter, a case was reg-istered against the accusedpolice officers under Sections302 (murder) and other sec-

tions of the IPC at Buksa policestation of UP’s Jaunpur district.

On the other hand, policeclaimed that the deceased wasapprehended while he was dri-ving a motorcycle which fell,due to which he receivedinjuries and the public beat himup. It was further stated thatwhen he was sent for first aidalong with a sub-inspector andtwo constables, the doctor atthe CHC referred him fortreatment to district hospital,Jaunpur, and by the time theyreached the district hospital, hehad succumbed to his injuries.

Due to the custodial death,a judicial inquiry was entrust-ed in the matter to the ChiefJudicial Magistrate (CJM),

Jaunpur, and it recorded thestatements of 16 witnesses,however, it did not reach anyconclusion. After goingthrough the record of the case,the court observed in its judg-ment “The entire effort of thepolice is to somehow give cleanchit to the accused and for thispurpose important evidencesare being left and some piecesof evidence are being createdand manipulated. But present-ly we do not want to commentany more since fair investiga-tion is yet to be carried by anindependent and impartialagency. Transferring the probeto the CBI, the court posted thematter as fresh for furtherhearing on September 20, 2021.

����� ���� !"#$�0�&�"��) 0�&��1�2%�'�34��4543

�0<122$12D��2$�0�2� '���(�)*

Under Rajbhasha Pakhwada (fortnight)–2021 Hindi workshop was organised in

Banaras Locomotive Works (BLW) throughonline medium on Friday.Senior Personnel Officer(Headquarters) of BLW RajKumar Gupta, while speak-ing on the topic ‘RetirementBenefits’ under the work-shop, gave detailed informa-tion regarding the benefits tobe received on the retirementof officers and employees.Along with this, Gupta alsotold about the benefits underthe old pension scheme andnew pension scheme, includ-

ing about the liabilities and facilities availablein the event of untimely death. He also appealed

to the officers and employees that those whohave not nominated their successor in PF, DCRGor in the bank, they should get it done at the ear-liest and also keep checking it from time to timeso that there is no hindrance in any kind of pay-ment in case of emergency. Senior RajbhashaOfficer Dr Sanjay Kumar Singh, in his lectureon ‘Use of simple words in office work’, toldvery simply that in offices the language of mar-ket or home cannot be used. In the same waythe language of the office cannot be used in themarket or at home, he added. Elaborating onthis subject with examples, Dr Singh empha-sised the use of glossary of terms and said thatthe meaning of words also changes with thecontext. In official work such words should beused which have the same meaning through-out the Indian Railways. In the end, seniortranslator Amlesh Srivastava expressed hisgratitude to the speakers, including the visitorspresent through online medium.

�<$$2��<1@21+�+*�,�#-�

Superintendent of Police (SP) Ajay KumarSingh inspected the Police Lines on Friday.

During ot the SP directed the reserve inspector,Police Lines, to ensure sanitation in the premis-es and told all heads of the offices set up in thepremises to keep them as clean as possible toavoid diseases. He directed the RI to ensure thatregular cleaning of drains and no waterlogging

should be seen in the premises. Inspecting thebarracks the SP told the inmates to keep thehousehold articles well arranged along withcleanliness. Inspecting the office the SP direct-ed the officials to ensure delivery of letters toconcerned timely and ensure implementation oforders without inordinate delay. During theinspection of the armoury the SP checked therecords as well as stock and condition of armsand cartridges.

PLAN APPROVED: After discussion in

the meeting Zila Panchayat approved the planof �31.37 crore for development works on Friday.Giving details, apar mukhya adhikari(AMA) jilapanchayat Neetu Singh Sisodiya informed thatin the meeting chaired by chairman RajuKanaujia the proceedings went on as per theagenda. She said that first of all the minutes ofprevious meeting were approved. Further worksrelated to repair of properties of Zila Panchayat,construction of retaining wall in ponds and thoseproposed by members got approved, she said.AMA said works related to rain water harvest-ing, construction of drains, roads, water tankswere also sanctioned. CDO Srilaxmi VS tookthe absence of the officials concerned in themeeting seriously. She warned all the officialsconcerned to attend the meeting of JilaPanchayat positively in future and come withupdated information. She was said the meetingof Zila Panchayat was a proper forum to discussthe issues related with the overall developmentof the district so it should be taken seriously bythe officials.

PROGRAMME: In the series of the pro-grammes under ‘Azadi Ka Amrit Mahotsav’ aprograme was organised on Friday under thejoint aegis of Zila Ganga Samiti and Forestdepartment at Pakka Ghat to make people awareof the sanctity and existence of Ganga. DivisionalForest Officer (DFO) PS Tripathi said the Forestdepartment had planned to plant special types ofspecies which were useful in keeping the Gangaclean but it was the duty of residents belonging tothe region to come forward and support the move.

%�������� ��������0����

������������:-��+�������� ���� ����2;�<$$2��<1@21+� $.��/0#-�

The railway administration has decided to runthe following unreserved express trains.

However, it is mandatory to follow the Covid-19 protocol during the journey,Chief Public Relations Officer (CPRO) PankajKumar Singh said.

BAREILLY CITY-LAL KUAN SPECIAL:The 05327 Bareilly City-Lalkuan unreserved spe-cial train will from September 15 until furtheradvice depart from Bareilly City at 14.45 hrs,from Izzatnagar at 15.05 hrs, from Dohna at15.15 hrs, from Bhojipura at 15.25 hrs, fromAtamanda at 15.33 hrs, from Deoranian at 15.41hrs, from Richha Road at 15.52 hrs, Baheri at16.00 hrs, from Kichha at 16.20 hrs, fromPantnagar at 16.32 hrs and reach Lal Kuan at17.05 hrs. In return journey the 05328 Lal Kuan- Bareilly City unreserved special train will fromSeptember 15 till further advice depart from LalKuan at 17.35 hrs, from Pantnagar at 17.49 hrs,from Kichha at 18.01 hrs, from Baheri at 18.19hrs, from Richha Road at 18.30 hrs, fromDeoranian at 18.40 hrs, from Atamanda at 18.49hrs, from Bhojipura at 19.02 hrs, from Dohnaat 19.07 hrs, from Izzatnagar at 19.25 hrs andreach Bareilly City at 19.45 hrs. A total of 12coaches, including 10 of general class and twoof SLR/SLRD coaches will be attached in thesetrains.

PILIBHIT – BAREILLY CITY SPECIAL:The 05330 Pilibhit – Bareilly City unreservedspecial train will from September 15 till furtheradvice depart from Pilibhit at 10.05 hrs, fromLaluri Khera at 10.14 hrs, from Shahi at 10.22hrs, from Bijauria at 10.31 hrs, from Sethal at10.40 hrs, from Dibnapur at 10.47 hrs, fromBhojipura Junction at at 1102 hrs, Dohna at11.07 hrs, from Izzatnagar at 10.20 hrs and reachBareilly City at 11.50 hrs. In return journey the05329 Bareilly City - Pilibhit unreserved specialtrain will from September 16 till further advicedepart from Bareilly City at 10.05 hrs, fromIzzatnagar at 10.22 hrs, from Dohna at 10.33 hrs,from Bhojipura at 10.53 hrs, from Dibnapur at11.05 hrs, from Saithal at 11.11 hrs , fromBijauria at 11.22 hrs, from Shahi at 11.35 hrs,from Lalauri Khera at 11.44 hrs and reachPilibhit at 12.00 hrs. A total 12 coaches, includ-ing 10 of general class and two of SLR/SLRD willbe attached in these trains.

BAREILLY CITY – PILIBHIT SPL: The05385 Bareilly City – Pilibhit unreserved spe-cial train will from September 15 till furtheradvice depart from Bareilly City at 21.10 hrs,from Izzatnagar at 21.27 hrs, from Bhojipura at21.42 hrs, from Saithal at 21.58 hrs, from Bijauriaat 22.12 hrs, from Shahi at 22.21 hrs and willarrive at Pilibhit at 22.45 hrs.

In return journey 05386 Pilibhit - BareillyCity unreserved special train will fromSeptember 16 till further advice depart fromPilibhit at 07.20 hrs, from Lalauri Khera at 07.29hrs, from Shahi at 07.37 hrs, from Bijauria at07.46 hrs, from Saithal at 07.57 hrs, fromDibnapur at 08.04 hrs, from Bhojipura at 08.19hrs, from Dohna at 08.24 hrs, from Izzatnagarat 08.37 hrs and reach Bareilly City at 09.00 hrs.A total 12 coaches, including 10 of general classand two of SLR/SLRD will these trains.

PILIBHIT – TANAKPUR UNRESERVEDSPECIAL: The 05391 Pilibhit – Tanakpurunreserved special train will from September 14till further advice depart from Pilibhit at 17.20hrs, from Nyoriya Husenpur at 17.40 hrs, fromMajhola Pakarya at 17.51 hrs, from Khatima at18.06 hrs, from Chakarpur at 18.19 hrs, fromBanbasa at 18.34 hrs and will arrive at Tanakpurat 19.05 hrs. In return journey the 05392Tanakpur - Pilibhit unreserved special train willfrom September 16 till further advice departfrom Tanakpur at 18.25 hrs, from Banbasa at18.38 hrs, from Chakarpur at 18.50 hrs, fromKhatima at 19.03 hrs, from Majhola Pakarya at19.23 hrs, from Nyoriya Husenpur at 19.34 hrsand will arrive at Pilibhit Junction at 20.10 hrs.A total of 12 coaches, including 10 of generalclass and two of SLR/SLRD will be attached inthese trains.

��7.���1����������By increasing the frequency of the

04010/04009 Anand Vihar Terminus-BapudhamMotihari-Anand Vihar Terminus weekly specialtrain it has been made biweekly by the railwayadministration. As a result from September 13the 04010 Anand Vihar Terminus-BapudhamMotihari biweekly special train will be run fromAnand Vihar Terminus on every Saturday andMonday while from September 14 the 04009Bapudham Motihari-Anand Vihar Terminusbiweekly special train will be run fromBapudham Motihari on every Sunday andTuesday. However, the timings, routes, stoppagesand rake composition of these trains willremain the same, CPRO said.

�����$������ ������1As per a decision taken by the railway

administration changes have been made in thereservation facility of coaches to be attached inthe 04231/04232 Prayagraj Sangam-Basti-Prayagraj Sangam special train, CPRO PankajKumar Singh said. As a result, there will be a sys-tem of reservation in only one air-conditionedthird class, two of sleeper class and two chair carclass coaches to be attached in these trains whilefive of general class and two of SLR/D coacheswill remain unreserved.

������ ��!��������������

�������������< ����� ������'���� ���

�<$$2��<1@21+� 1���-(

On the directive ofSuperintendent of Police

(SP) Ravi Kumar police appre-hended an accused in theftcases. Police arrested theaccused identified as Sandeep,a resident of Mohammadabadvillage under Dakor police sta-tion. Giving details, AdditionalSuperintnedent of Police (ASP)Dr Rakesh Kumar Singh saidthat on September 7 an appli-cation was received from ShriPrakash Gupta regarding theft

and another one from SandeepTiwari alias Pinki about thetheft in his general store inMohammadabad village under

Dakor police station. A firstinformation report (FIR) waslodged under Section 457,380and 427 of the IPC in thisconnection and a team underthe guidance of CO SantoshKumar was formed for arrest-ing the accused. The Dakorpolice arrested the accused andconfiscated �4,850, two coins,one bag and few equipment. Theteam which made the arrestcomprised inspector AshokKumar Verma, sub-inspectors(S-Is) Hari Krishna and RajendraPrasad Pandey, and others.

"������������������

!������'����� ������������������!������-��������%�����

����������/�����$�������*�-�#%

Kanpur DivisionalCommissioner Dr Raj

Shekhar has stressed on bring-ing down the losses of KanpurCity Transport Services Ltd.

Addressing a meeting ofthe Kanpur City TransportServices Ltd. on Saturday, DrShekhar said it was a majorcause of concern that despiterunning city bus services forthe past one decade, the organ-isation had been incurringlosses to the tune of Rs 12 croreper month and the losses weregradually rising.

He said with the introduc-tion of effective changes andinclusion of new routes withproper operations there wasevery possibility of not onlyreducing the losses but alsoincreasing the income on amonthly basis.

He directed the KanpurCity Transport ServicesLimited (KCTSL) officials tocheck plying of ‘daggamar’(unauthorised private) buses onthe entire 20 routes.

Dr Shekhar said the lossesmust be brought to zero levelwithout fail in three years. Hesaid this year the losses had to

be reduced by Rs 2 crore, by Rs4 crore in the financial year2022-23 and Rs 5 crore in thefinancial year 2023-24 at allcosts for which a strategyshould be worked out andimplemented. He directed themunicipal commissioner toprepare a proposal for a CallCentre to be run in two shiftsto record and maintain therecords of all the complaintsand suggestions received by it.

He said a team should beconstituted to visit the profes-sional call centres to take first-hand information about theirsmooth functioning.

He said in every bus thatwould have CCTV cameras

and GPRS system and numbersshould be displayed promi-nently. He said all this workshould be done under theSmart City Project.

He said a helpline shouldbe set up and by October 30 itshould become functional.

He said the routes of 100buses had been finalised andthey would ply on seven promi-nent routes of the city. He saidthis had to be done by takingthe metro officials into confi-dence so that the profitsincreased. He said no other buswould ply on these routes. Hesaid details for these proposalsshould be finalised by thismonth's end.

He said routes of 100 elec-tronic buses had been finalisedand would become applicableby the next seven days. He saidvideos of ‘daggamar’ privatebuses be prepared so that theexact number of such busesplying illegally could be iden-tified. He said very soon strictaction will be taken against the‘daggamar’ bus owners whowere flourishing under politi-cal patronage. He said all thebuses plying on routes shouldbe sanitised daily and theyshould have a clean interior andCovid protocol should be fol-lowed in the right earnest.

Over one dozen officialstook part in the meeting.

����������/�����$�������*�-�#%

Vice Chancellor ofChhatrapati Shahu Ji

Maharaj University, Kanpur,Prof Vinay Pathak, whileaddressing a webinar on WorldSuicide Prevention Day at PPNDegree College, said coun-selling was the mantra andadded that there was a clearmention of counselling inBhagwad Gita.

He said if a student wentinto depression then he or sheshould share his or herthoughts and emotions withfriends, relatives and teachers.He said in India one studentcommitted suicide every houras per the data compiled by theNational Crime RecordsBureau (NCRB). He said thisyear the theme was ‘CreatingHope Through Action’.

Addressing the session,subject expert and former vicechancellor of InternationalHindi University, ProfGirishwer Mishra, said themodern society had highregard for academic excellenceand those who failed to meetthe expectations often faced

harsh criticism which createdself-doubts about their abilitiesand intelligence. He said intoday’s cut-throat competitiveworld, students were constant-ly pushed to the edge by theirparents to build a bright futureand succeed in life and thisenormous pressure not onlyhindered their growth andlearning but increased stressand anxiety.

He said physical and espe-cially mental health disablingissues such as depression, wereamong the most common ofthe long list of complex andinterrelated factors, rangingfrom financial problems to theexperience of abuse, aggression,exploitation and mistreatment,that contributed to the feelingsof pain and hopelessnessunderling suicide and sub-stances and alcohol abuse alsoplayed a vital role and thiscould be countered throughpublic awareness towards socialstigma and suicidal behav-iours.

Prof Mishra said depres-sion and depressive illnesseswere classified as mood disor-ders and they had a number of

symptoms that affected peoplesocially, occupationally, edu-cationally and interpersonally.He said a student living withdepression often experiencedcompletely different thoughtsbefore and after a depressiveepisode and this could be aresult of a chemical imbalanceand could lead to the personnot understanding the optionsavailable to help them relievetheir suffering. He said sever-al people who suffered fromdepression reported feeling asthough they had lost the abil-ity to imagine a happy futureand added that suffering fromdepression was involuntary,just like cancer or diabetes, butit was a treatable illness thatcould be managed also.

He said psychotherapycould often be beneficial forpeople who were experiencingchronic suicidal ideation andbehavior. He said if individualswere at risk of suicide it wasessential that they received ahigher level of care, such ashospitalisation or intense in-patient or out-patient treat-ment. He said the psychother-apy model considered hope-

lessness to be the strongest con-tributing factor to suicidalideation, and a large part of cri-sis intervention and post crisiscounseling aimed to restorehope. He said once an individ-ual continued in therapy oncethe point of crisis had passedhe/she was likely to exploreways to resist urges to self-harm.

Dr Mishra said when anindividual sought treatmentfor suicidal ideation, healthcare professionals would like-ly attempt to diagnose andtreat any medical or psychiatricconditions that may be present.He said because a variety ofconcerns may lead one to expe-rience thoughts of suicide,diagnosing any health con-cerns, physical or mental, wasconsidered to be an importantstep in the treatment process.He said in cases of severe sui-cidal ideation or behavior, orwhen an individual reached apoint of crisis, hospitalisationor intensive in-patient or out-patient treatment was necessaryas suicidal ideation may lead todeteriorating physical health orself-injury.

����������/�����$�������*�-�#%

Chhatrapati Shahu JiMaharaj University has

m a d etremendousp r o g r e s sunder theable steward-ship of ViceChancellorProf VinayK u m a rPathak dur-

ing the past few months of histaking over the charge. Thelaunch of Students SupportCell will help students to getcorrection/verification of theirmigration certificate/degreeetc. at one place. Now, thedegrees of students would bedelivered at their homes bypost.

During the past three years,

the university was able to con-duct the PhD entrance exam-ination for the first time recent-ly. It also allowed the self-financed college teachers tobecome supervisors for PhDstudents and made provisionsfor fellowship for researchscholars. The university start-ed a dissertation writing pro-ject for its teachers at theexpense of the university.

After reviewing the syl-labuses of different courses,many new faculties were set upto be run according to provi-sions of the new education pol-icy as suggested by the Boardof Studies. The university hasentered into a memorandum ofunderstanding (MoU) with theApprenticeship Board for theinternship of its students.

The vice chancellor hassanctioned internship stipend

from Rs 2,000 to Rs 8,000 forthe pass-outs and final year stu-dents for their skill develop-ment. For the first time, withthe initiative of the vice chan-cellor, the university felicitated84 teachers, both working andretired, on Teachers’ Day fortheir contributions in the fieldof education and society.

On the directives of thevice chancellor, a training andplacement cell and alumni andindustrial relations centre wereset up in the university to edu-cate/train students and assistthem in getting employment.During COVID-19 pandemic,free medicine kits were dis-tributed among the universityemployees while the vaccina-tion drive is still underway atthe Health Centre on the uni-versity campus.

INTERNSHIP: As many

as 11 students of CSJMUniversity’s Institute of Hotel &Tourism Management pursu-ing hotel management andcatering technology courseswere selected by five star lux-ury hotel Shiv Vilas Resort ofJaipur. Their selection wasmade after a telephonic inter-view with them.

Head of department DrVivek Singh Sachan said ShivVilas Resort was among the topluxurious hotels of the country.He said apart from monthlystipend, the hotel would alsooffer fooding and lodging tothe students. The selected stu-dents include SaumyaChaurasiya, Vartika Sharma,Roli Kanchan Katiyar, RitikChauhan, Rajneesh Singh,Rishabh Sen, Abhijeet Sharma,Mohit Kumar, Madhur Mishra,Mihir Gupta and Arjit Saxena.

����+��'" -������������&��������

'���������������������������)�������� �+�������������������������� ��'����������"��������� ��������-������ ��������9��������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������!������

� �������� ����%��������� �����6����������� �7�����)

�.:�9���)�� ������� ���� ������������� ������)

"�����������+�������������&����KANPUR (PNS): Three car-borne youths made a futileattempt to rape a woman in acar in Chakeri police stationarea late Friday night. Whenthe woman resisted, the youthsbeat her up and threatened tokill her. Later, they threw her onthe highway and sped away.

The injured woman, withthe help of local residents,reached Jajmau (Chakeri)police outpost where Sub-Inspector Satyapal Singhrefused to register her com-plaint. The hapless womankept on roaming on the streetfor justice throughout thenight.

According to reports, a23-year-old woman ofLucknow is employed in a pri-vate firm here. She lives in arented house in Nawabganj.Some time ago, she had met ayouth of Chamanganj throughone of her friends and gradu-ally both fell in love. A few daysback, when the woman caughther lover talking to anotherwoman, she had an argumentwith him and stopped meetinghim. This irked the youth who,in a bid to avenge his insult,called the woman to meet himon Friday night. He alsoreached Nawabganj in a car totake her with him.

On boarding the car, thewoman saw two other friendsof her lover also present thereand tried to get down.However, the youths locked thedoor of the car, switched off thelight and started playing loudmusic. When she protested,they brutally beat her up. Theyalso made a futile attempt torape her and on failing in theirmission, threw her on thehighway near Jajmau octroipost from the moving car.

Jajmau police outpostincharge Satyapal Singh askedthe woman to approachChamanganj police for filing acomplaint as the guilty youthsbelonged to that area.

Station House Officer ofChakeri, Madhur Mishra,feigned ignorance of the inci-dent and said if the victimapproached him, he wouldregister an FIR and initiateaction against the guilty youths.

"&������������������������������&�����&����+���KANPUR (PNS): Tension pre-vailed in the Chakeri police sta-tion area late Friday nightwhen members of two differ-ent communities had a heatedexchange of words and scuffledafter a collision between twomotorcycles.

On getting information,deputy commissioner of police(east) rushed to the spot alongwith a police force. A heavypolice force and RAF person-nel were deployed there.

According to reports,Salman of Double Story Road,Sanigwa, was going to the mar-ket to buy medicines late Fridaynight on a bike when he wasknocked down from behind bythe bike of Nanku After a heat-ed exchange of words, Salmancalled his friends who brutal-ly beat up Nanku. After sometime, Nanku returned to thespot with his friends and beatup Salman. Meanwhile, mem-bers of both the communitiesreached there and exchangedpunches.

When DCP (East) PramodKumar along with a policeforce from Chakeri police sta-tion rushed to spot, the warringgroups disappeared. As thematter belonged to two differ-ent communities, police took itseriously and deployed a forcethere. Police and RAF person-nel continued to patrol thelocality throughout the night.

=-�&����������������������������������������������� ���������0KANPUR (PNS): Loweringblood sugar is important as ithelps prevent some of the com-plications of diabetes, particu-larly eye and kidney diseases,peripheral nerve disease and oflate SGLT2 inhibitors in par-ticular, which have demon-strated favourable effects on theheart and the progression ofkidney disease as well. Recentresearches have revealed thatType 2 diabetes can be treatedby inhibiting sodium-glucoseco-transporter 2 (SGLT2), aprotein which facilitates glu-cose reabsorption in the kidney.The discovery of natural

SGLT2 inhibitors can be help-ful in treating Type 2 diabeteswithout any adverse effects.

This was stated by noteddiabetologist from Varanasi,Dr Madhukar Rai, whileaddressing the CME session ofIMA-Kanpur on Saturday. Hesaid the number of patientsdiagnosed with diabetes melli-tus all over the world had risenominously in the past fewdecades, in which the majori-ty of cases belonged to Type 2diabetes which now could beseen at any stage, includingchildhood. He said in the pastcouple of years, many SGLT2

inhibitors had been discov-ered but owing to serious sideeffects, their use was banned.

He said the discovery ofnatural SGLT2 inhibitors wereintroduced primarily as glu-cose-lowering drugs but thenew analysis of DECLARE-TIMI 58 ((Dapagliflozin Effecton Cardiovascular Events) trialgave startling revelations thatSGLT2 inhibitors reduced bothatherosclerotic cardiovasculardisease as well as heart failureoutcomes in diabetic patients.He said whether this drug wasalso useful in non-diabeticpatients with ASCVD risk and

heart failure risk was still a mat-ter of future research. He saidhowever two previous trialswith SGLT2 inhibitors anddiabetes -- EMPAREG out-comes with empagliflozin andCANVAS – had also provedthat these drugs empagliflozin,canagliflozin created pro-nounced benefits amongpatients with prior myocardialinfarction and preserved ejec-tion.

Dr Rai said it had beensuggested that since diabeteshad got a profound impact onthe inflammatory milieu itcaused severe inflammatory

disease adversely impactingon the pump of the circulationcausing heart failure, pipes ofthe circulation that were vesselsand the filter called diabeticnephropathy. He said the use ofSGLT2 inhibitor was impactingall three of them and should beconsidered strongly as a part ofthe routine secondary preven-tion to induce ischemic events,heart failure, and renal events.

He added that whether thedrug was active only in diabeticpatients in benefiting with car-diovascular outcomes or also innon-diabetic patients was alsoa matter of research.

����� ���� !"#$�0�&�"��) 0�&��1�2%�' 34��4543

� ��� ��=(������ �������>������� ���� ���

� �6������.�����&&&In his remarks, Jaishankar

called for combating terrorismwithout any compromise.“Today is the 20th anniversaryof 9/11, it is a reminder, if oneis still needed, of the impor-tance of combating terrorismwithout compromise. Close aswe are to its epicentre, let usappreciate the value of interna-tional cooperation to that end,”he said. Payne said the twosides discussed the situation inAfghanistan at length and said,“Last month did see the fall ofKabul and along with the ongo-ing fight against terrorism, thefuture of Afghanistan remainsa central concern to both ourcountries.” She also said India

and Australia have been victimsof “appalling terrorist attacksand this day September 11will be forever remembered forthose terrible events 20 yearsago when terrorists struck atthe heart of our friend -- the US-- and also by extension at amodern, pluralist and democ-ratic world.”

The Australian DefenceMinister hailed the bilateraldefence ties between Indiaand his country and said it wasat a historic high. He had heldbilateral meeting with Rajnathon Friday.

The foreign and defenceministerial talks took placeamid renewed efforts by theQuad member countries to

expand cooperation in theIndo-Pacific region.

Asked about the Quadgrouping being referred as“Asian NATO,” Jaishankar saidQuad is focussed on issuessuch as vaccines, supply chains,education and connectivity.

“I can’t see any relationshipbetween such issues andNATO or any other kind oforganisations like that. So Ithink it is important not tomisrepresent what is the real-ity out there,” he said. “We callourselves Quad and Quad is aplatform where four countries

have come to cooperate fortheir benefit and for the ben-efit of the world,” Jaishankarsaid.

“I think a term like NATOis very much a cold war term,looking back. I think Quadlooks in the future, it reflectsglobalisation, it reflects thecompulsions of countries towork together,” he said.

Reflecting same views,Payne said as Australia andIndia have re-energised rela-tions, there is also the oppor-tunity to work through small-er groups like the Quad and

other pieces of regional archi-tecture like the East AsiaSummit or the ASEAN region-al forum. “Quad members arechampions of ASEAN cen-trality, we actively engage inthat ASEAN architecture. Weare committed to supportingthe practical implementationof the ASEAN outlook on theIndo-Pacific,” she said.

“We also say that we havea positive and practical agen-da -- around vaccines, aroundclimate, around critical tech-nology also trying to addresssome of the dangerous misin-formation that pervades theworld experience in relation tothe (Covid) pandemic,” theMinister said.

�6����6��&&&He said that everyone is

hopeful the issue would besorted out by the talks. Satiadded that the agitation hasbeen suspended till October 30and a decision on the future ofthe agitation would be takenassessing the decision taken bythe Government on the issue.

The Cabinet MinistersArvind Pandey and GaneshJoshi, secretary ShaileshBagauli, Chief ExecutiveOfficer (CEO) of theDevasthanam Board, RaviNath Raman, secretary H CSemwal, and ACEO ofDevasthanam Board, B DSingh, were also present on theoccasion.

KOCHI: Ninety seven yearsafter he died in a boat capsize,Kerala is agog with demandsfor a comprehensive probe intothe death of Kumaranaasan, thegreat poet and father figure ofMalayalam renaissance move-ment.

It was on January 16, 1924,Kumaranaasan, one of the tri-umvirates of modernMalayalam poetry and aphilosopher par excellence diedin a boat mishap in the 25-meter-wide stretch of PallanaRiver. The poet and 34 othersperished in the river while allemployees and commuters onthe deck swam to safety.

Kumaranaasan was travel-ling in a suite befitting hisstature. His dead body wasretrieved on the third day but

curiously, the suite in which hewas travelling was found to belocked from outside.

“The poet would not havedrowned or sunk along withthe boat because he was agood swimmer. He grew upalong the backwaters and hewas known as an ace swimmer,”P Sujathan, veteran journalistwho has undertaken a lot ofresearch and studies on the lifeand times of the latepoet.

What has shocked thou-sands of fans of the late poet isthe mysterious disappearanceof the report by the P CherianCommission of Enquiry, whichwas appointed by the thenTravancore State Governmentto probe the sinking of the boatRedeemer. PNS

.�����6���������� *3�'"

The Kerala unit of the CPI onSaturday expressed the party’s

displeasure over the commentsmade by its national general sec-retary D Raja and his wife AnnieRaja about the State Police.

Kanam Rajendran, secretary ofKerala unit of the CPI toldreporters on Saturday that thehusband-wife duo’s commentsabout the State administrationand police have brought disreputeto the party and he would informboth of them that party do not sub-scribe to their views.

Early last week Annie Raja, theCPI’s global face, had come downheavily on the Kerala Police and

charged that RSS gangs have infil-trated into the police force and thiswas the reason for the increase inthe attacks on women and childrenin the State. Though hailing fromKerala, Annie Raja is based in NewDelhi and rarely comments onState politics.

The CPI(M) took the com-ments seriously because the policedepartment comes under ChiefMinister Pinarayi Vijayan. But theparty did not issue any rejoinder tothe comments made by AnnieRaja. Vijayan himself told reportersthat the comment was serious andwould be looked into.

But notes have been exchangedbetween the leaders of the CPI(M)and the CPI about the comments.

The State leaders of the CPI tookobjections to the reported com-ment by Annie and reacted strong-ly to it. This made D Raja, thenational general secretary of theparty come out openly and supporthis spouse.

On Saturday, Rajendran in hismedia interaction, said that AnnieRaja’s comments were made inpoor taste. “we will inform Rajaand Annie about the resentmentcreated in the party over their com-ments. We do not mind whetherRaja is the national secretary or not.Since he and Annie made com-ments which are not in synch withtruth, we will definitely tell themthat they erred in making such alle-gations,” said Rajendran.

����� .�-.<3*

The Sikkim Government onSaturday announced that

all schools and colleges in theState would be shut down afterCovid-19 cases were foundamong students.

Education Secretary GPUpadhaya said that schoolsand colleges were opened onSeptember 6. In the schools,classes were being held forstudents of standard 9 andabove.

However, after someschools reported that at least

five students were found to beCovid-positive, it was decidedto shut the educational institu-tions again till October 31, hesaid.

The school and collegeswere functioning with 50 percent staff, and students wereattending class only afterobtaining the consent of theirparents, Upadhaya said.

Covid-positive cases werereported from Governmentschools in Namthang in SouthSikkim, Rhenock in EastSikkim and Yuksom in WestSikkim, besides a private school

at Mangan in North Sikkimdistrict, he said. "The StateGovernment is very concernedthat if the schools are notclosed the chances of morecases are very high," he said.

All primary contacts ofthe infected students werebeing traced and more casescould be reported, he said.

"This is a state-wide trendand we do not want to compro-mise with the health of the stu-dents, which is why the stategovernment has decided toclose all schools and colleges,"he said.

.�))����������� ���� ��� ��� ����� ����% #�� �� �� �'��#������� ���

Srinagar: Jammu & KashmirLieutenant Governor Manoj Sinha onSaturday said a special drive will belaunched to vaccinate students agedabove 18 years on priority to enableeducational institutions to reopen inthe Union Territory.

Speaking to reporters on thesidelines of a function at SKICC here,Sinha said most of the teachers havealready been vaccinated againstCovid.

"We are trying to vaccinate stu-dents aged above 18 years on prior-ity and professors and teachers in theacademic institutions as well becausethe aim is to restart the institutions,"he said.

A special drive will be conduct-ed for the vaccination of studentsabove the age of 18 as most of theteachers have already been vaccinat-ed, Sinha said.

Asked about the security sce-nario in Jammu and Kashmir, the L-G said "all is well", without comment-ing further.

Earlier, Sinha released a booktitled "Analysis of AccreditationReport of Union Territories of JammuKashmir and Ladakh" by NationalAssessment and AccreditationCouncil (NAAC) at SKICC.

Speaking on the occasion, thelieutenant governor termed theassessment and accreditation processas an important factor to maintain thequality of education in universitiesand colleges.

Sinha said the publication willwork as an intelligent assistant foracademicians, vice-chancellors, pro-fessors and students.

Highlighting the need to intro-duce new reforms to meet therequirements of the rapidly trans-

forming education system and thechanging market dynamics, he saidthe university and colleges haveimmense power and a small shift incurriculum can have a decisiveimpact on the socio-economic envi-ronment.

"The future belongs to those stu-dents and teachers who can realisetheir full potential and adapt torapidly changing requirements," hesaid.

"As we are heading towards anera which will be dominated by theknowledge economy, our biggestasset would be the human capital, acombination of talent, skill and cre-ativity. We are making efforts to con-tinuously improve the courses in uni-versities and colleges, incorporatingstudents' feedback to create a con-ducive environment for learning andinnovation," Sinha said. PTI

����� ���%�=�<"

Andhra Pradesh reported 1,145 fresh cases of coro-navirus, 1,090 recoveries and 17 deaths in 24 hours

ending 9 am on Saturday.A health department bulletin said the state now has

15,157 active Covid positives has climbed to 20,28,795,recoveries to 19,99,651 and toll 13,987, it said.

In 24 hours, East Godavari district added 216 freshcases to its tally.

SPS Nellore reported 173, Chittoor 132, Krishna 128,Prakasam 117 and Kadapa 111, while the remainingseven districts added less than 100 new cases each, withKurnool and Vizianagaram logging six and sevenrespectively.

Chittoor reported four fresh fatalities, Kadapa andSPS Nellore three each, Krishna and Prakasam two each,East Godavari, Guntur and Srikakulam one each in a day.

Bengaluru: Former Karnataka Chief MinisterSiddaramaiah on Saturday condemned the demo-lition of an 'ancient' Hindu temple at Nanjangudin Mysuru district and said the BJP Governmentshould have consulted the local residents beforetaking such an action, 'which has hurt the religioussentiments of the people".

"The destruction of an ancient temple inNanjangud is condemnable. Since it was a sensi-tive issue, the @BJP4Karnataka should have spo-ken to the local residents, The demolition is donewithout the consultation of the people in the region& has hurt the religious sentiments," he said in aseries of tweets.

The officials concerned have not followed thedue process, he said.Though there was a courtorder, the administration should have given athought before implementing it (order)," he saidin another tweet. The Congress leader demand-ed that a piece of land be earmarked to constructa temple there to compensate for the demolition. PTI

4@A�������������� ��(�������������������������������������������������B��C*��D.

������������������������������� �=�������>1���������������$��������

�#$������� ����%�&�'�"���� ���������������(������#�����

���� ���������&�������?���������������������:2@�����������������������������1��������������6�������� �������� !"#

�� ������������������������������1�����)����$��������������� �A�������������� �������� !"#

�4� ���'��##�� -�����/�

/� ����4�!��"�5���������*�������� ��� �#�� -

Vikarabad (T'gana): UnionCivil Aviation MinisterJyotiradtiya Scindia on Saturdaysaid “Medicines from the Sky'project under which drugs andvaccines are delivered usingdrones, will be taken up on apilot basis in 16 green zones inTelangana and scaled up to thenational level based on data.

Launching ‘Medicines fromthe Sky' project here, Scindiasaid the new Drone Policybrought out by the NDA gov-ernment at the Centre recentlyeased rules regarding droneoperations in the country byreducing the number of formsthat need to be filled to operatethem from 25 to 5 and decreas-ing the types of fee charged fromthe operator from 72 to 4.

Under the Green zone, no per-mission is needed to fly drones.Whereas permissions are need-ed in Yellow zone while RedZones are no fly areas.

“In 16 Green Zones this'Medicines from the Sky' projectwill be taken up. The data willbe analyased for three months.We along with the HealthMinistry, IT Ministry, StateGovernment and the Centre willtogether analyse the data andmake model for the whole coun-try. Today is a revolutionary daynot only for Telangana but forthe whole country,” the Ministersaid. Scindia said under thevisionary leadership of PrimeMinister Narendra Modi theDrone Policy was envisaged. Hefurther said an interactive aero-

space map is being prepared. With the help of the map,

various zones are being ear-marked with the help of states.The ‘Medicine from the Sky' isan initiative of Telangana inpartnership with WorldEconomic Forum, NITI Aayog,and HealthNet Global (ApolloHospitals). The project waslaunched on experimentalBeyond Visual Line of Sight(BVLOS) drone flights for deliv-ery of vaccines using the iden-tified airspace of the Vikarabaddistrict. Telangana Minister forIT and Industries KT Rama Raorequested the Union Minister toestablish an Aviation Universityor Centre of excellence atBegumpet Airport inHyderabad. PTI

����������(���� ������������ ���������4E�������F�������<;�����������������

Mumbai: A 34-year-oldwoman, who had been rapedand brutalised with a rod by aman inside a stationary tempoin suburban Sakinaka area,died at a hospital during treat-ment in the early hours ofSaturday, police said.

The crime which bore achilling similarity to the 2012`Nirbhaya' gangrape case ofDelhi took place in the weehours of Friday. The suspectwho had been arrested withina few hours of the incident hasbeen now charged with mur-der.

While the city policeformed a Special InvestigationTeam to probe the incident,opposition BJP demanded cap-ital punishment for the accusedand questioned if women weresafe in Maharashtra.

Maharashtra ChiefMinister Uddhav Thackeraytermed the incident as a a "bloton humanity".

"The trial in the case will beheld on a fast track and the vic-

tim, who succumbed to injuriestoday, will get justice," he saidin a statement. He has dis-cussed the case with stateHome Minister Dilip Walse-Patil and Mumbai PoliceCommissioner HemantNagrale, Thackeray added. TheSakinaka area in the westernsuburbs has several industrialunits.

According to police,accused Mohan Chouhan (45)worked as a driver and lived onthe pavement in the same area.Besides being raped, the victimwoman was assaulted with aniron rod in her private partsand lost a lot of blood, a policeofficial said. She had also beenstabbed with a knife, he added.Police commissioner Nagraletold reporters that the crimecame to light when the watch-man of a company located onKhairani Road called the policecontrol room and said that aman was seen thrashing awoman. Police reached thespot within 10 minutes and

found the victim inside aparked tempo.

As her condition was seri-ous, they decided to take her tohospital in the same vehicle soas to save time. They got thekey of the tempo from thewatchman and drove her toRajawadi hospital in suburbanGhatkopar, the commissionersaid.

The police also obtainedCCTV footage of the spot. Aman seen leaving the tempowas identified as MohanChouhan who hails fromJaunpur, Uttar Pradesh, thecommissioner said.

He was arrested and pro-duced before a court whichsent him in police custody tillSeptember 21, Nagrale said.His blood-stained clothes wereseized. They would be sent forforensic analysis to find out ifit is the victim's blood, thecommissioner added. A SpecialInvestigation Team has beenformed to conduct the probe,he said. "Assistant

Commissioner of PoliceJyotsna Rasam will be theinvestigation officer. The probewill be completed within amonth, and the case will betried before a fast-track courtas the Chief Ministerannounced," the commission-er said. "As the victim wasunconscious, her statementcould not be recorded.Therefore police are as yetclueless about what exactlyhappened. But it will be ascer-tained during the investiga-tion," Nagrale said. The probeso far has revealed the involve-ment of only one person in thecrime, the commissioner said.On Friday the police hadbooked the accused under IPCsections 307 (attempt to mur-der), 376 (rape), 323 (assault)and 34 (common intention).After the victim died, section302 (murder) was added, whilesection 34 was dropped as theinvolvement of any other per-son in the crime has not cometo light, a police

�������&����������������������������������&������������

Rangiya/Goalpara/Guwahati(Assam): At least seven peoplehave been killed and nine oth-ers injured in separate roadaccidents in Assam, police saidon Saturday. Four people werekilled and eight others injuredwhen an ambulance collidedwith a tempo at BaihataChariali in Kamrup (Rural) dis-trict late on Friday night.

Two people died on thespot, while two others later suc-cumbed to their injuries at thehospital, a police officer said.

The injured people, includ-ing the ambulance driver, havebeen admitted to the GauhatiMedical College and Hospital.

In another accident, a vehi-cle hit a motorcycle which inturn hit another vehicle com-ing from the opposite directionat Amjonga.

4�*����#������#����#�� �

������.��� ���������*

Lucknow (PNS): The bodyof a 60-year-old man, iden-tified as Raees Ahmad ofKasimpur police station areain Hardoi, was exhumed inthe presence of circle officerand sub-divisional magis-trate of Sandila on Saturdayon the orders of the districtadministration.

The victim’s son, Sayyed,had lodged a complaint withthe district magistrate ofHardoi claiming that hisfather was an oil grindermachine mechanic and for-mer gram pradhan AfsarHussain had come home andcalled his father asking himto set up an oil grindermachine on June 24.However, during the setting

up of the machine, it fell onhis father and he died. Later,the body was buried withouta post-mortem examination.It was alleged that AfsarHussain, his brother Kausarand his son Kamil did noth-ing to stop the machine fromfalling on the victim andthis resulted in his death. Thepolice said that an autopsywould be conducted to findout the cause of death andaction would be initiatedaccordingly. On the basis ofa complaint last week, thepolice registered a case undercharges of causing death bynegligence against AfsarHussain, his brother Kausarand his son Kamil and aprobe was started.

����� ���� !"#$�0�&�"��) 0�&��1�2%�' 34��4543

����� -/0��/�'"

In what could be perceived asa “backdoor” entry for pri-

vate players in the IndianRailways, the Centre is consid-ering engaging private playersto run passenger trains, coinedas theme-based trains for reli-gious, tourism, hospitality andother activities.

According to a policy beingformulated by the Ministry ofRàilways, the national trans-porter’s new regime led byAshwini Vaishnaw is now look-ing at professionals from thetourism sector to utilise its traincoaches for rail-based tourism.

The Railways wants tolease and even sell train coach-es to private players for lever-aging their expertise in tourismactivities, a top Rail Ministryofficial said.

The private players can runthese coaches as cultural, reli-gious or any other tourist circuittrain, the Ministry of Railwayssaid in a statement on Saturday.

“To tap the potential oftourism sector and to leveragethe core strengths of the pro-fessionals of tourism sector intourism activities like market-ing, hospitality, integration ofservices, reach with customerbase, expertise in development

and identification of tourist cir-cuits, etc., Indian Railways isplanning to spread rail-basedtourism among masses throughleasing of coaching stock tointerested parties to run themas theme-based cultural, reli-gious and other tourist circuittrain,” the Ministry said in astatement.

An Executive Director-level committee has been con-stituted by the RailwayMinistry to formulate the pol-icy and terms and conditionsfor this project.

So far, the broad features ofthe proposed model have beenformulated. These include

coaches to be leased as perdesired configuration of inter-ested parties. They can also

take bare shells on lease or pur-chase coaches. Sources saidthat private players will have to

lease or buy a train with at least16 coaches.

Lessees and buyers will be

allowed to make minor refur-bishment to coaches. The leasewill run for a minimum of fiveyears and can be extended tillthe codal life of coaches. Codallife refers to the maximumservice life of a coach, beyondwhich it has to be mandatori-ly replaced.

“The business model will bedecided and developed by theprivate player. This will includeroute, itinerary, tariff, etc,” asenior railway official said.

Sources said the RailwayMinistry has promised thatthe registration process forinterested parties will be simple, based on eligibility

criteria.Indian Railways will

levy haulage charges, nominalstabling charges and leasecharges. No lease charges willbe taken if the coaches are pur-chased.

Punctuality will be givenpriority. Also, coach refurbish-ments and itineraries will bepromptly approved. There willbe no haulage charge for main-tenance runs.

Once leased or sold, third-party advertisements will beallowed inside the train coach-es. Branding of trains will alsobe allowed, added the Ministrystatement.

����� -/0��/�'"

AParliamentary panel has saidthe Government should iron

out the issues hindering the sign-ing of Free Trade Agreements(FTAs) with the US and the EUnations as domestic exporters areat a disadvantage due to theabsence of these agreements.

The Parliamentary StandingCommittee on Commerce chairedby YSR Congress leader VijaysaiReddy submitted the report toChairman of Rajya SabhaVenkaiah Naidu on virtual modeon Saturday.

The panel has expressed con-cern that India’s exports con-tracted from 2019-20, registeringa negative growth rate of (-)15.73 per cent in 2020.

In view of the crucial roleplayed by exports in the overalleconomic growth of a country, theCommittee in the report opinedthat “India needs to step up itseffort in export promotion,expand its export baskets and pen-etrate new export markets torecover from its current slump andincrease its share in global exports”.

The panel also underlinedthat the Indian exporters are at a“disadvantage” in the US and theEuropean markets while compet-ing with other exporting nationsdue to the absence of FTAs withthe US and the EU countries.

“The Committee recom-mends the Department ofCommerce to iron out the issuesthat hindered the signing of FTAswith our leading trade partnersand enter into trade agreementsthat are beneficial for our coun-

try while balancing the interest ofthe domestic market with that ofour exporters,” the report stated.

The panel also expressed con-cern that the share of rail freightvis-a-vis road is only 35 per centwhereas the trend is reversed indeveloped countries.

The Committee, therefore,recommends the Ministry ofRailways to undertake a detailedstudy on the reason for low shareof rail and take a concerted effortto increase the share of rail infreight traffic, the report said.

At the same time, the panelsaid, it is “disheartening to notethat the Ministry of Railways isunable to provide competitivefreight rate for movement ofexport consignment”.

The Committee feels that thiswill adversely affect the compet-itiveness of India’s exports inglobal markets as freight costplays a crucial role in determin-ing the final price of the product,as per the report. The panelundertook an in-depth examina-tion of export-oriented measuresand held seven meetings with allstakeholders spanning over fornearly twenty hours, it said.

The panel led by Reddy, whois a noted chartered accountant,in the report recommended theGovernment to take appropriatemeasures, relook its export strate-gies and policies to achieve a pos-itive growth rate of exports andhigher share in global exports markets.

����������� ��� 6�%����3�/��(� -+%"�&+� �-����# �� ����,�� ���

����� -/0��/�'"

The Aircraft AccidentInvestigation Bureau

(AAIB) on Saturday released itsprobe report into the planecrash at Kozhikode airport inAugust last year that killed atleast 20 people and injured sev-eral others, pointed out that thepilot’s non-adherence to thestandard operating procedureis the probable cause of the AirIndia Express plane crash butthe role of the systemic failuresas a contributory factor cannotbe overlooked.

According to the report,the investigation team is of theopinion that the role of sys-temic failures as a contributo-ry factor cannot be overlookedin this accident. “A large num-ber of similar accidents/ inci-dents that have continued totake place, more so in AIXL,reinforce existing systemic fail-ures within the aviation sector.

“These usually occur due toprevailing safety culture thatgive rise to errors, mistakes andviolation of routine tasks per-formed by people operatingwithin the system. Hence, thecontributory factors enumerat-ed below include both theimmediate causes and the deep-er or systemic causes,” it added.

The report, released a little

over a year after the deadlycrash of the Air India Expressplane, said the “probable causeof the accident was the nonadherence to SOP (StandardOperating Procedure) by thePF (Pilot Flying)”.

The PF continued anunstabilised approach andlanded beyond the touchdownzone, “half way down the run-way, in spite of ‘Go Around’ callby PM which warranted amandatory ‘Go Around’ andthe failure of the PM to takeover controls and execute a ‘GoAround’,” it noted.

The crash of Air IndiaExpress’s B737-800 aircrafthappened on August 7 at theKozhikode airport in Kerala.The plane coming from Dubaihad overshot the runway atKozhikode airport and laterbroke into pieces. There were190 people onboard the ill-fated aircraft and at least 20people, including the twopilots, were killed and severalothers were injured.

Union Civil AviationMinister Jyotiraditya Scindiasaid in response to a questionduring a press conference onThursday that the report hasbeen submitted to the Ministry.We will release it in the nextcouple of days into publicdomain.

����� -/0��/�'"

Moderna’s vaccine forCovid-19 is significantly

more effective against the Deltavariant of the SARS-CoV2virus than Pfizer or Johnson &Johnson, a new study has said.

Published in Morbidityand Mortality Weekly Report,the study said Moderna was 95per cent effective at preventinghospitalisation among adultsages 18 and older.

“These real-world datashow that vaccines remainhighly effective at reducingCovid-19 related hospitalisa-tion and emergency depart-ment visits, even in the pres-ence of the new Covid-19 vari-ant,” said researcher ShaunGrannis from Indiana

University in the US.“We strongly recommend

vaccinations for all who are eli-gible to reduce serious illnessand ease the burden on our healthcare system,”Grannis added.

The team also found thatPfizer was 80 per cent effectiveat preventing hospitalisationamong adults ages 18 andolder, while Johnson & Johnsonwas 60 per cent effective.

For the study, the team

analysed more than 32,000medical encounters from nineStates during June, July andAugust 2021, when the Deltavariant became the predomi-nant strain.

The results showed thatunvaccinated individuals withCovid-19 are 5-7 times morelikely to need emergencydepartment care or hospitalisa-tion, similar to the overalleffectiveness prior to the variant.

The study also found thatvaccine effectiveness is lowerfor people 75 years and older,which has not been shown inprevious research. This couldbe due to a range of factors,including the increased timesince vaccination, theresearchers noted.

����� -/0��/�'"

Recalling the terror strikes in theUS two decades ago, Prime

Minister Narendra Modi on Saturdaysaid that the world was today realis-ing that tragedies like 9/11 will have“a permanent solution, only throughIndian humanitarian values.”

Modi made these remarks whileperforming the Lokarpan of‘Sardardham Bhavan’ and ‘BhoomiPujan’ of ‘Sardardham Phase–II‘Kanya Chhatralaya’ (girls hostel) atAhmedabad, Gujarat.

The comments of the PrimeMinister about “Indian values” resolv-ing world problem, particularly terror-ism, came against the backdrop of thewithdrawal of the US troops whichhad landed in Afghanistan soon afterAmerican cities were attacked byOsama-bin-Laden’s al-Qaeda terrorgroup on September 11, 2001.

The American intervention thenhad led to the ouster of the Talibanswhich are again back in the seat ofpower in Kabul after 20 years of theirpolitical exile.

Addressing the Gujarat event, Modirecalled the 9/11 terror-strikes saying,“Today, September 11th, is a date in thehistory of the world that is known tohave struck humanity. But this date alsotaught a lot to the whole world! A cen-tury ago it was on September 11, 1893,when the World Parliament of Religionswas held in Chicago.”

Modi reminded that on this day,Swami Vivekananda stood on thatglobal stage and introduced the worldto “the human values of India.”

“Today the world is realisingthat tragedies like 9/11 will have a per-manent solution, only through these

humanitarian values,” he added.The PM’s address through video-

conferencing was attended by ChiefMinister and Deputy Chief Ministerof Gujarat. The Prime Minister alsoannounced the establishment of achair in the name of Tamil poet‘Subramania Bharati in BanarasHindu University. The PrimeMinister said September 11th isanother big occasion — the 100thdeath anniversary of India’s greatscholar, philosopher and freedomfighter ‘Subramania Bharati.

Bharati gave a new direction to

his thoughts and new energy whileliving in Kashi, he said.The philoso-phy of ‘ Ek Bharat Shreshtha Bharat’envisioned by Sardar Saheb has beenshining with full divinity in theTamil writings of Mahakavi Bharatihe said.

Modi said the hostel facilitybeing inaugurated at Ahmadabad willalso help so many girls to come for-ward. He said the state of the artbuilding, girls hostel and modernlibrary will empower the youth.

The EntrepreneurshipDevelopment Centre will enrich the

strong business identity of Gujaratand the Civil Service Centre will givenew direction to the youth interest-ed in careers in civil, defence andjudicial services.

The PM said Sardar Dham willnot only become an establishment forbuilding the future of the country, butalso inspire the future generations tolive the ideals of Sardar Saheb.

He lauded all the members asso-ciated with Sardar Dham Trust fortheir dedication to the service ofhumanity. He admired their empha-sis on the empowerment of the youthof the Patidar society as well as thepoor and especially women.Sardardham Vishwa Patidar Kendra isestablished to spread awareness aboutthe strength of Sardar VallabhbhaiPatel’s persona among Patidar youthas well as to strengthen the PatidarCommunity socially, financially,administratively and politically.

����� -/0��/�'"

The downpour wasn’t just inDelhi. Several States like

Tamil Nadu, Andhra Pradesh,Telangana, Gujarat, Rajasthanand Madhya Pradesh also wit-nessed heavy and unusual rain-fall on Saturday.

The increase in the num-

ber of heavy rain events isdirectly linked to climatechange. This may impact theonion crops and paddy sowingduring the kharif season.

The India MeteorologicalDepartment’s (IMD) latest pre-dictions said these weatherconditions are likely to persistover the next 3-4 days in

Maharashtra, Goa, Telangana,Tamil Nadu, Andhra Pradesh,Chhattisgarh, Odisha,Rajasthan, Madhya Pradeshand Gujarat.

According to the IMD,from Sunday onwards, therewill be a gradual reduction inthe rainfall in Punjab andHaryana. Delhi will receive

fresh spell of rain fromSeptember 17-18.

The IMD said a low-pres-sure area lies over EastRajasthan and the neighbour-hood with associated cycloniccirculation extending up tomiddle tropospheric levels.The low-pressure area and itsremnant are likely to persist

over the same area during 3-4days. Delhi has witnessedseven heavy rain events thismonsoon season so far, thehighest in a decade, and thesespells account for more than 60percent of the rainfall record-ed in the city.

Mahesh Palawat, vice pres-ident of Skymet Weather, a

private forecasting agency, saidglobal conditions such as ENSOneutral conditions, lower seasurface temperature in east andcentral-Pacific ocean, neutralIndian Ocean Dipole and theMadden-Julian oscillation pass-ing through the Indian Oceanwere favourable for good rain-fall in September.

�-0*�-�*&��&�-����?,*-��3,8-�.��0*&��,�3�*&9��.�

� < ������� ����:���������������� ���"���,���:���������������������7G4HD7G�������������������(������� ���������IDJ�45!6>�����������7G7G

� < ����������������������� ���� ��"������:����������������K����(������L��� ��#������� ��/����������$����� ������������� ��� ����:�������������������� ��� ���������)<����� �� ��#������� ��/#���������

� < �������������:���������������� ���� ��� ��������������� ��(�D�D(�������������>5���������� ������� ������������(����������(��������������

@B22:��+�������+������������������������������#������������������������,�!�

!��������������$���������������� �����-�+������� � �������������������������!������ � ���������!���:##�'���������������������������� ������������$�&��������� ������� !#�

�%�)�8����'������8��9:�)#��;��<%�8)�"��%9��;���%<

=���������8����>��!����=��%%8)���?��!�%<�=���������8

����@���= ��A������'��#�A�!�B")�#��%'�#C��'

��8���(��0���?���'

� < ��������������� ��������������� ����K"�����(�����L������(����������� �������������������������������������� �� ��$�������� ���� ����������� ��#�������� � � ��������������� �����������������������������������������$��� ��3����D �D�����,����DM������������������������� ���44��7GG4

� ����������� ��.�&������(������������������� ��H144�������D���$����������K<���������� ���44� �������������� �� ���������� ��������� �����$�������� �(�������$ ������!������ ���������������� ������������ ��� ���������N���������������������������� ���44��4@H>��� ���� ��0������������������%����������� ������� ����L

������������������� �����������! �6����������������,� ����

������������+��������������@B22�������������+��������������������)����-���������������)���� ������� !"#

������%"���()*�$()+,�������

��� �������� �� 6.&��7��� %����� �

�� �!�"# �"�$���� ��%�#�& ������

���������&������������&����������������� �������������������+�������� ������� !"# ����������+������&�����������������������������C�+�������$�&��������� ������� !"#

����� �'�� !"#$�0�&�"��) 0�&��1�2%�'�34��4543

��� ����������� -/0��/�'"

The Delhi Prisons officials onSaturday said that a ‘Poshan

Mela’ will be celebratedthroughout the month ofSeptember for over 5,00 femaleinmates lodged in jails of Tiharand Mandoli in order to sensi-tise and create awarenessamong them about the impor-tance of having a nutritious diet.

According to prison offi-cials, 399 women presentlylodged in jail no 6 of Tihar and163 women presently lodged injail no 16 of Mandoli are partof the "Poshan Mela" initiativebeing celebrated by the DelhiPrisons.

The initiative was kick-started on Thursday at femalejail no 6 of Tihar in associationwith National Commission forWomen (NCW) where inmateswere made aware about thevalue of nutritious diet throughPower Point Presentation fol-lowed by speeches from mem-bers of the Commission,including Meeta Rajivlochan,IAS, Member Secretary NCW,a senior jail official said.

Special diet and fruits werealso provided to the womeninmates, he said.

“At the 'Poshan Mela', dif-ferent stalls were arranged for

children, lactating mothers,pregnant women and adults.They were explained about theimportance of taking a nutri-tious diet at various stagesduring their pregnancy,menopause or in case theywere anaemic,” said SandeepGoel, the Director General ofDelhi Prisons.

As per rules, childrenbelow six years are permitted tostay with their mother in thejail and according to a datashared by the Delhi Prisons,presently there are 17 such chil-dren who are staying withtheir mothers inside the twojails meant for women. Besidesthem, there are four pregnantwomen lodged in the two jailsincluding one in Mandoli Jail.

Out of the 17, eight chil-dren are in Central Jail no 6 ofTihar while the remaining nineare presently in Central Jail no16 in Mandoli, the data stated.

"The pregnant women andlactating mothers are givenSpecial Diet in the Prison.They remain under constantmedical supervision of the Jaillady doctor. Proper care istaken of the nutritional needsof the children too. There is acreche in each of these Jails forchildren. They very much likegoing there," said Goel.

��� ����������� -/0��/�'"

Addressing the 10thNational Council meeting

of the party on Saturday, AamAadmi Party (AAP) nationalconvener Arvind Kejriwalasked party leaders and vol-unteers not to harbour anydesire for posts and tickets tocontest polls and insteadprove their worth by workingfor society and the country.

Kejr iwal said thatShaheed-e-Azam BhagatSingh and Babasaheb DrAmbedkar are the ultimateideals of the AAP and theparty will follow the pathshown by them. He said everyAAP worker has to be readyto sacrifice and fight likethem.

The Chief Minister addedthat everyone has to work alot for society and country butnever aspire for any posi-tion.

The AAP is focusing onpoll-bound Punjab, Goa,Uttarakhand, Uttar Pradeshand Gujarat as part of its planof national expansion.

Kejr iwal said, “I amdelighted that we have suc-cessful ly onboarded the

AAP's new National Council.I hope and pray that thetenure of this council isextremely fruitful and pros-perous.

On the occasion, seniorAAP leader and Delhi DeputyChief Minister ManishSisodia said that even in thelast 70 years, political partiescould not take the country tothe quantum of the potentialof the country.

Kejr iwal said, “I amdelighted that we have suc-cessful ly onboarded theAAP's new National Council.I hope and pray that thetenure of this council isextremely fruitful and pros-perous.

��� ����������� -/0��/�'"

The Delhi Fire Service (DFS) offi-cials on Saturday safely rescued

40 bus passengers trapped at theunderpass of Delhi’s Palam flyover,towards airport road due to water-logging.

According to Atul Garg, theDirector of DFS, the call seekingassistance was received at around11.30 AM after which two fire ten-ders were pressed into service.

“A bus with passengers got trappedat the underpass at Palam flyover dueto water logging. Two fire tenders wererushed to the spot and all the passen-gers were rescued safely,” said Garg.

Heavy rains lashed the nationalcapital Saturday morning, leaving theforecourt of the Delhi airport andother parts of the city waterlogged.

According to civic agencies, sev-eral areas in the city including MotiBagh, RK Puram, Madhu Vihar,Hari Nagar, Rohtak Road, Badarpur,Som Vihar, Ring Road near IPStation, Vikas Marg, Sangam Vihar,Mehrauli-Badarpur Road, PulPrahladpur Underpass, Munirka,Rajpur Khurd, Nangloi and Kirarialso witnessed waterlogging.

People posted pictures andvideos of waterlogged streets onsocial media.

The Delhi Traffic also postedtweets informing people about thestretches where they are expected towitness waterlogging.

����� -/0��/�'"

Jawaharlal Nehru University(JNU) Vice-Chancellor M

Jagadesh Kumar said the coro-navirus pandemic has delayedthe probe into the violence onthe campus in January lastyear that left around 35 peopleinjured.

Asked why the committeeset up by the university toprobe the incident did notconduct online depositions, hesaid the students are alreadyunder a lot of stress and it is notthe right time to send themnotices for online depositions.

A group of masked menarmed with sticks and rodsattacked students and teachersand damaged property on theJNU campus on January 5,2020, prompting the universi-ty administration to call in thepolice.

JNU Students' Union pres-ident Aishe Ghosh was amongthose injured in the violence.

Days after the incident,JNU set up a five-membercommittee to probe the inci-dent and recommend mea-sures to ensure the safety of stu-dents.

"The committee is lookinginto the matter. It has to call thestudents for deposition. Is it theright time to call them whenthey are in their hometowns?For this, we need to see thecondition. These are our stu-

dents. Considering the Covidsituation, depositions have notbeen conducted. We are wait-ing for the situation to nor-malise," Kumar told PTI onFriday.

Asked why the committeedid not conduct online depo-sitions, the VC said, "The situ-ation is not conducive. We arewaiting. Students are alreadyunder a lot of stress. It is not theright time to send them noticesfor participating in an onlinedeposition. We don't considerour students as criminals. Theyare our own students."

In August this year, the LokSabha was informed by UnionMinister of State for HomeNityanand Rai that the DelhiPolice had not arrested anyonein connection with the JNUviolence, even though severalpeople were examined.

After the violence, therewas a clamour for Kumar'sremoval as the JNU VC and the

Delhi Police came under attackfor not acting when the mobwas running riot on the cam-pus and especially, for namingstudent union leaders, includ-ing Ghosh, in two FIRs foralleged vandalism.

On the Jawaharlal NehruUniversity Teachers'Association's (JNUTA) objec-tion to the renewal of the con-tract of security agency Cyclopsfor another two years by theuniversity's Executive Council(EC), Kumar said the contracthad not been renewed butextended till the process ofappointing a new agency iscompleted.

"If you want to appoint asecurity agency, then you haveto follow the tendering processand the General FinancialRules laid down by the gov-ernment. During this Covidperiod, many of our staff mem-bers were down (with coron-avirus). You cannot suddenlyask the security people to packtheir bags and leave and put thesecurity of the campus at risk,"he said.

"The EC took a decisionthat the security company willcontinue," he said. The VCstressed that the contract has-n't been renewed but onlyextended till the process ofappointing a new securityagency is completed. Thisprocess will require at least sixmonths, he said.

����� -/0��/�'"

ADelhi court has dischargedeight accused from the

charge of causing arson duringthe February 2020 riots, notingthere is no CCTV footage andno complainant has identifiedthemselves or alleged that theycommitted the offence.

Additional Sessions JudgeVinod Yadav said the ingredi-ents of Section 436 of theIndian Penal Code (mischief byfire or explosive substance),which was added in the chargesheet, are "not at all made out"from the material produced bythe investigating agency.

Eight people were arrestedbased on 12 complaints filed byvarious shopkeepers whoalleged that their shops wereallegedly looted and vandalisedby the riotous mob during thecommunal violence in north-east Delhi.

The accused were arrestedbased on disclosure statementsgiven by them in other casesfiled against them and identi-fication by police constables,who were posted as beat offi-cers in that area.

Discharging eight accused,the judge said Section 436 IPCcannot be invoked merely onthe basis of statements given by

police constables as the 12complainants had stated noth-ing in this regard in their writ-ten complaints.

"A fine-tooth-comb analy-sis of written complaints revealsthat none of the complainantshas identified the accused per-sons to be part of the riotousmob which had vandalised theirshops,” the sessions judge saidin an order dated September 10.He further said there are noallegations by the complainantsregarding the commission ofarson in their shops and as suchingredients of Section 436 IPCare not at all made out eitherfrom complaints or statements.

Even from the photographsfiled on record, no incident ofcommitting mischief by fire orexplosive substance is borneout, he said, adding that thereis no CCTV footage or videoclip of the incident on record.

Furthermore, ASJ Yadav

said there is no connecting evi-dence on record in the form ofstatements of independenteyewitnesses who could haveseen the accused persons at thetime of the incident.

The judge said one com-plainant said the alleged crimetook place on February 25,while the others claimed that ithappened on February 24.

"Whether these com-plaints of different dates couldhave been clubbed by the inves-tigating agency in one FIR is aquestion which will be seenduring the course of the trial,”the judge said.

The police submitted thatthe distance between the vari-ous spots where looting andvandalisation took place is notmuch and the same unlawfulassembly was operating in thearea on February 24 and 25 andas such, they could be said tobe part of the same transactionand accordingly one single FIRserves the purpose in this case.

The other sections invokedin the charge sheet such as sec-tions 147 (rioting), 148 (rioting,armed with a deadly weapon),149 (unlawful assembly), 457(house-trespass), 380 (theft),411 (receiving stolen property)are "exclusively triable" by amagistrate, the judge said.

��� ����������� -/0��/�'"

The State Bharatiya JantaParty (BJP) president,

Adesh Gupta, on Saturdaysaid the party has launchedthe programme of free pil-grimage for senior citizensand women in t he Capital.

He said this pilgrimagewill continue for next threemonths in which senior cit-izens and women will betaken to various religiousplaces inc luding Har idwar, Vr indavan , Khatu Shyam, Shri Balajiand Ayo d hya among others.

“During the COVIDperiod due to being confinedwithin four walls of theirhomes , women wentthrough a lot of mental ten-sion and problems. It is togive them some kind ofrelief that the party hasdecided on this programme,”Gupta said and thanked thelocal councilor Anju Aman Kumar.

“Ten buses have beensent from here Saturday todifferent religious places,” hesaid, “Our idea is to send100 buses each for differentreligious destinations fromone ward each.”

����� -/0��/�'"

Marriages can be registered in the vir-tual presence of parties, the Delhi

High Court has ruled, saying that in thepresent times, citizens cannot be pre-vented from exercising their rightsbecause of a rigid interpretation of lawwhich calls for "personal presence".

Hearing a plea by a US-based Indiancouple seeking to register their marriagehere through video conferencing, JusticeRekha Palli opined that not treating phys-ical presence as a mandatory requirementwould also encourages parties to easilyget their marriages registered.

"I have no hesitation in coming to theconclusion that the term 'personalappearance' in Clause 4 of theRegistration Order has to be read toinclude presence secured through VideoConferencing. Any other interpreta-tion, would not only frustrate the verypurpose of this beneficial legislation, but,it would also undermine the use of thisimportant and easily accessible tool ofVideo Conferencing," the judge said inher order dated September 9.

She said the Delhi (CompulsoryRegistration of Marriage) Order, 2014 iswelfare legislation, promulgated at theinstance the Supreme Court to encour-age the registration of marriages.

"The insistence of physical appearanceeven when their personal appearance canbe easily secured through video confer-encing, will definitely make it morecumbersome for parties to come forwardfor the registration of marriages. This willnegate the very purpose of enactment of

the Registration Order and cannot be per-mitted," the order further reads.

The court allowed the couple to marktheir "personal appearance" before theRegistering Authority through video con-ferencing after submitting their applicationfor the registration of marriage throughtheir counsel/Power of Attorney Holder inphysical form alongwith copies of all sup-porting documents duly notarized, eitherby the notary public in the United Statesof America or by a notary public here.

It directed that the two witnesseswould appear physically before theRegistering Authority with their originalID proofs on the date notified by theRegistering Authority.

The Authority will then expeditious-ly register the marriage and issue theMarriage Registration Certificate withina period of two weeks' from the date ofreceipt of the application, the court added.

In the present case, the coupleclaimed that their marriage was solem-nised in 2001 as per Hindu rituals, butthey did not get the same registered asthey moved abroad prior to the intro-duction of the Delhi (Compulsory

Registration of Marriage) Order, 2014. Considering that their application for

a green card was now not beingprocessed in the United States for wantof a marriage certificate, the coupleapproached the local authority here forissuance of a marriage certificate, whomaintained that physical presence of theparties was a mandatory requirement.

The couple, represented throughsenior counsel Vibha Datta Makhija,moved the high court after their repre-sentation to the authority concerned forvirtual appearance remained unanswered.

The court observed that while the"universe has undergone a sea change"since the time when the Registration Orderwas notified, the Registering Authority was"refusing to recognize the reality that withthe technology as is available today, webportals and Video Conferencing havebecome almost the norm".

Acknowledging the acceptance ofvideo conferencing even in the judicialsystem in this country, the court said that"these aspects appear to have been sim-ply overlooked by the RegisteringAuthority, who is continuing to insist onthat the parties must remain presentphysically before him".

"I am of the view that, in times suchas these, when technology has proven tobe the bridge that ensured uninterrupt-ed communication, widespread dissem-ination of information in public interestand the smooth functioning of society,the Court cannot allow a rigid interpre-tation of the statute to prevent citizensfrom exercising their rights," the judgesaid.

@�������� ��� ����� ����� �������� ������

$��������������������� ���#������� ���������������� ���"���������-��7'

A(������� ������������� ���������������������� �6���� ��

#������-��������������������������� �� ����������������������

�:������������������ ���� ��� ����� �����+����6 ���7�,����

��� �������������;��(����������������������� ����������������-#�=�

A��+� ����������)����>�������� ��������)����+���)���D���������������

��� ����������� -/0��/�'"

Ahighly unusual rainfall inDelhi on Saturday, the

highest in 46 years and almostdouble the precipitationrecorded last year, threw traf-fic movement and daily life ofDelhiites in complete disarray.

Several roads across thenational Capital remainedwaterlogged, railway trackssubmerged and Indira Gandhi

International (IGI) Airportflooded with knee-deep water.

A bus with 40 passengersgot trapped at a flooded under-pass of Palam flyover, towardsairport road on Saturday morn-ing to be later rescued by thefire department. Another 18passengers got trapped in atempo and a truck and wererescued from the waterloggedarea of outer Delhi’s Mundka.

Netizens posted pictures

and videos of waterloggedstreets on social media. In avideo on Twitter purportedlyshowing waterlogging inMadhu Vihar, some DTC clus-ter buses could be seen stand-ing in the water and other com-muters manoeuvring theirvehicles through the inundat-ed road.

Due to heavy rainfall, anold building in Delhi’s Narelaarea, which was declared adangerous structure by civicauthorities, also collapsed.However, no one was injured inthe incident.

As many as 262 waterlog-ging complaints were receivedby the Public WorksDepartment (PWD) and civicagencies till evening.

Some of the key areas thatwitnessed heavy waterloggingincluded Ring Road nearWHO building, ITO, NH-48(Airport road), Moti Bagh, RKPuram, Madhu Vihar, HariNagar, Rohtak Road, Badarpur,Som Vihar, Ring Road near IPStation, Vikas Marg, SangamVihar, Mehrauli-BadarpurRoad, Pul PrahladpurUnderpass, Mahipalpur,Munirka, Rajpur Khurd,Nangloi and Kirari.

Waterlogging also resultedin heavy traffic jams at busy

road stretches, including ITO,Ring Road, Mukarba Chowk,Azadpur, Pul Prahladpur andRohtak Road. The authoritieshad to shut traffic movementon the Pul Prahladpur under-pass due to waterlogging.Nearly 10 instances of treesfalling were reported in the city.

According to IMD, the cityrecorded 117.9 mm rainfallfrom 5:30 am to 2.30 pm.

Delhi recorded more than100 mm of rainfall on two con-secutive days at the start of themonth -- 112.1 mm onSeptember 1 and 117.7 mm onSeptember 2.

The IGI airport was alsowaterlogged leading to diver-sion of five flights towardsJaipur and Ahmedabad whilethree were cancelled.

Aviation MinisterJyotiraditya Scindia said hespoke to airport officials and“was told that the waterloggedforecourt was cleared up with-in 30 minutes”.

The Aerocity area -- whichhouses multiple luxury hotels-- near the airport was alsowaterlogged in the morningwith people trying to maneu-ver their cars through the accu-mulated water, showed anoth-er set of videos.

Delhi International Airport

Limited (DIAL) said on Twitterthat there was waterlogging atthe forecourt for a short peri-od. “Due to heavy downpourpassengers encountered water-logging for a short while. Theon-ground team was immedi-ately mobilised and the oper-ations are back to normal since9 am,” they tweeted.

Traffic police advised com-muters to avoid roads thatwere affected due to waterlog-ging.

“There is waterlogging onNH 48 near Gurugram/ParadeRoad Crossing. Vehicles goingfrom Dhaula Kuan toGurugram are the worst affect-ed. These vehicles may take theright turn on Carriappa margand take a left turn fromThimmaayya Chowk onThimmaayya Marg to reachAirport/ Gurgaon,” trafficpolice tweeted.

“Traffic Alert. Water log-ging near WHO on Ring Road.Kindly Avoid the Stretch,” itsaid in another tweet.

“Traffic is affected atDwarka Sec- 20 road no-226due to water logging. Pleaseavoid using this route,” trafficpolice said in another tweet.

“This to inform that nearabout T point of road number210 and 224 near DJB boosterpump Dwarka, there is heavywater logging due to overflowof drain and rain. Commutersinformed to avoid the stretchuntil situation is normal,” it

tweeted.“There is 3-4 feet of water-

logging in Rani Kheda UnderPass, traffic is affected. Pleaseavoid using this route,” trafficpolice tweeted.

Taking a dig at ChiefMinister Kejriwal, Delhi BJPleader and national secretary ofBharatiya Janata Yuva MorchaTejinder Bagga shared a videoof himself on a rafting boat ina waterlogged street inBhajanpura area of northeast

Delhi.“This season I wanted to go

to Rishikesh for rafting but dueto coronavirus and continuouslockdown I could not go. But Iwant to thank Delhi CMArvind Kejriwal as he hasmade arrangements for raftingin every nook and corner ofDelhi (as streets are water-logged). He should also hangboards of his this feat as he doesin every case,” Bagga said in thevideo.

���-��#����#"�*����#����(� ���� �1�1�/����

A������������������#������������#���������������������� �����������������$�&��������� ������� !"#

�� �&��+�����&������&����������� �����������#������������#�����������������������������������������$�&��������� ������� !"#

<� ����������������A=��������� )������� ������� 6������� �� �� �����

�������������������&������������E�F������������������� -/0��/�'"

A32-year-old man was onFriday stabbed to death

with a sharp iron piece dur-ing a scuffle with two minorboys in west Delhi's Naraina,police said.

The deceased has beenidentified as Tinku, a residentof Ranjit Nagar, they said.

On Friday at 5.07 pm,information was received atthe Naraina Police Stationregarding the incident.

Tinku landed in a fightwith the two minor boys andone of them attacked himwith the iron piece. Tinkuwas rushed to hospital wherehe was declared broughtdead, a senior police officersaid.

According to the boys,they were collecting scrapparts of iron in Loha Mandi.The victim tried to snatchsome money from them andone of them stabbed himwith the iron piece, the offi-cer said.

Police have apprehendedthe two minors and verifyingtheir age. Further investiga-t ion is under way, they added.

�#&$()���� �*�� !"#$�0�&�"��) 0�&��1�2%�'�34��4543

�������+�������++��,�

�������!�� ����������������/������(�'� �������,��*���� ������="� ����������FF�$ ����� ����� ��� ����-�������%��������"��������������������%-"������ ���������,������������������������$�� ���� ���������.�(�������!

��� ��!�������$��������/����/����6��������/���:� .������� ������������������$�����(������ ����� �������������������������$���� ����������F�������$!�< ������ .�(�������������������� ����$��,�������(������0��������� ��� ������������.������!

�.����� ����2�� �����������������������6�����7��''�� <�����$�����������������$������������� ��������������� ����� �������������������������������� ������(������ ��������,������(������� ������(���!

���� -/0�23%*

Three Presidents and theirwives stood somberly side

by side on Saturday at theNational September 11Memorial, sharing a momentof silence to mark the anniver-sary of the nation’s worst terrorattack with a display of unity.

Presidents Joe Biden,Barack Obama and Bill Clintonall gathered at the site wherethe World Trade Center towersfell two decades ago. Theyeach wore blue ribbons andheld their hands over theirhearts as a procession marcheda flag through the memorial,watched by hundreds ofAmericans gathered for theremembrance, some carryingphotos of loved ones lost in theattacks.

Before the event began, ajet flew overhead in an eerieecho of the attacks, drawing a

glance from Biden toward thesky. For much of the ceremo-ny he stood with his arms

crossed and head bowed, lis-tening while the names of thevictims were read. At one point,

the president wiped a tearfrom his eye.

Biden was a senator whenhijackers commandeered fourplanes and executed the attack.Now he marks the 9/11anniversary for the first time ascommander in chief.

The president was spend-ing Saturday paying his respectsat the trio of sites where theplanes crashed, but he left thespeech-making to others.

Vice President KamalaHarris spoke at the Flight 93National Memorial inShanksville, Pennsylvania,commemorating the heroeswho brought down a hijackedplane that was headed for theUS Capitol. Harris praisedtheir courage and the resilienceof the American people, andspoke about the unity thatAmericans experienced in the days following theattacks.

�������&%��������� �����)�5B//���08��6����������� ������

!���������*��������)�������)����������������������������)� ������ �)� ������!�������������������)� ������%�����-����1�������������)� ������!��������������+�<����) ������%�����-������������<����)�%�����-����*�������������� ������$�&�.��+��������������������������)������������������@B22���������������������������$��������@B22������������������������ �����������$�&�.��+ �!

���� -/0�23%*

The 9/11 anniversary com-memoration at ground zero

began Saturday with a tollingbell and a moment of silence,exactly 20 years after the startof the deadliest terror attack onUS soil.

President Joe Biden, for-mer presidents Barack Obamaand Bill Clinton joined a crowdof victims’ relatives and firstresponders at the Sept. 11memorial plaza in New York.The memorial stands where thethe World Trade Center’s twintowers were rammed and felledby hijacked planes.

Observances are alsoplanned at the the two othersites where the 9/11 conspira-tors crashed the jets: thePentagon and a field nearShanksville, Pennsylvania.Biden is scheduled to payrespects at all three places.

The anniversary comesunder the pall of a pandemic

and in the shadow of the USwithdrawal from Afghanistan,now ruled by the same mili-tants who gave safe haven tothe 9/11 plotters.

The attacks killed nearly3,000 people and marked thestart of a new era of fear, war,politics, patriotism and tragedy.

“It’s hard because you

hoped that this would just bea different time and a differentworld. But sometimes historystarts to repeat itself and not inthe best of ways,” said TheaTrinidad, who lost her father inthe attacks and has signed upto read victims’ names at theceremony at ground zero inNew York.

+%� ��*��89�!�������������"����-�#(���/��(�������#�

��+�������&�� ��������� ������&����� ����A�����"�������������� �����������������D������ ����������������&�� �!� ��������

����� �3-�3-

The terrorists behind the9/11 attacks in the United

States failed to shake the beliefin freedom and democracy,British Prime Minister BorisJohnson said on Saturday, as theworld marked the 20th anniver-sary of the terror strikes.

In a message on Twitter,Johnson said that while the ter-ror threat may not have goneaway, people have refused tolive in “permanent fear”.

“Today we remember the2,977 people taken from us onSeptember 11th 2001,” said

Johnson in his message.“But while the terrorists

imposed their burden of griefand suffering, we can now saywith the perspective of 20 yearsthat they failed to shake ourbelief in freedom and democ-racy,” he said.

“That we are comingtogether today — in sorrow butalso in faith and resolve —demonstrates the failure of ter-rorism,” he said.

Britain’s Queen Elizabeth IIalso offered her sympathies tothe victims, survivors and fam-ilies affected by the attacks 20years ago.

Singapore: Singapore PrimeMinister Lee Hsien Loongwarned on Saturday that thefight against terrorism is “farfrom over” two decades afterthe 9/11 attack in the UnitedStates, and that terrorist groupsin faraway places were seriousthreats to Singapore.

“Terrorist groups in thesefaraway places were seriousthreats to Singapore,” he said ina commentary published onthe 20th anniversary of the Al-Qaeda attacks in the UnitedStates. PTI

Kabul: The Taliban flag wavedover the Afghan presidentialpalace the same day the U.S.And the world marked the 20thanniversary of the September 11attacks.

The milestone anniversarySaturday takes place just weeksafter the chaotic U.S.Withdrawal from Afghanistanand the return to power of the

Taliban, the faction that shel-tered the Muslim militant groupfounded by Osama bin Ladenthat carried out the attacks. TheTaliban flag was raised Fridayand could be seen waving overthe presidential palace in Kabulon Saturday. The militant groupalso painted their white back-drop flag on the wall of the USEmbassy building. AP

���� ��-.*3*

Fifteen to 20 villagers, includ-ing several teenagers, have

been killed in some ofMyanmar’s deadliest fightingsince July betweenGovernment troops and resis-tance forces, a villager andreports by independent mediasaid on Friday.

The fighting near Gangawtownship in the northwesternMagway region started onThursday, two days after a callfor a nationwide uprising wasissued by the National UnityGovernment, a Oppositionorganisation that seeks to coor-dinate resistance to militaryrule.

The fighting broke outwhen more than 100 troopsarrived in four military vehiclesto secure the area in Myin Thar

and five other nearby villages,a resident told The AssociatedPress by phone.

Members of a lightlyarmed village self-defense mili-tia fired warning shots butcould not stop the soldiersfrom entering the area andclashes continued after that,said the resident, who spoke oncondition of anonymity to safe-guard his personal security.

The opposition movementthat rose against the army’sFebruary seizure of power fromthe elected Government ofAung San Suu Kyi was initial-ly peaceful, but gradually beganfighting back after securityforces used deadly force tobreak up nonviolent protests.

The National UnityGovernment’s call on Tuesdayfor a “people’s defensive war”has received an enthusiastic

response on social media, butits actual impact on the groundis hard to measure.

Media sympathetic to theopposition reported an out-burst of small-scale shootingsand sabotage by the resistance,particularly the toppling of cell phone transmission towers.

But similar activities havebeen happening for severalmonths and details are difficultto independently verify.

The villager who describedthe new fighting said at least 11members of the self-defensegroup were killed, according towhat others in his village toldhim. Photos of what weredescribed to be their bodies cir-culated widely Friday on theinternet, and were clear enoughto be identifiable to thosefamiliar with them.

United Nations: The Taliban’s victory inAfghanistan might embolden other groups indifferent parts of the world, Secretary-GeneralAntonio Guterres has warned, expressing hisworry over global terrorism while asserting thatdialogue with the militant group is “absolutelyessential” as the UN wants the country to playa “constructive role” in international relations.

“I must tell you, I am very worried with whatwe are witnessing in different parts of the world.And the fact that in Afghanistan, the Talibanwere able to win might embolden other groupsin different parts of the world independently ofthe fact that they are different from the Talibanand I am not seeing there is a similarity amongthem,” Guterres said during a Press conferenceon Friday at the UN Headquarters. PTI

Dubai: The US has removed its most advancedmissile defence system and Patriot batteries fromSaudi Arabia in recent weeks, even as the king-dom faced continued air attacks from Yemen’sHouthi rebels, satellite photos analysed by TheAssociated Press show.

The redeployment of the defenses fromPrince Sultan Air Base outside of Riyadh came asAmerica’s Gulf Arab allies nervously watched thechaotic withdrawal of US troops from Afghanistan,including their last-minute evacuations fromKabul’s besieged international airport. While tensof thousands of American forces remain across theArabian Peninsula as a counterweight to Iran, GulfArab nations worry about the US’s future plans asits military perceives a growing threat in Asia thatrequires those missile defences. AP

���� �<��-<��I#�J

Atlanta’s zoo says at least 13western lowland gorillas

have tested positive for Covid-19, including 60-year-oldOzzie, the oldest male gorilla incaptivity.

Zoo Atlanta said on Fridaythat employees noticed thegorillas had been coughing,had runny noses and showedchanges in appetite.

A veterinary lab at theUniversity of Georgia returnedpositive tests for the respirato-ry illness. Zoo Atlanta says it’s

waiting on confirmation fromthe National VeterinaryServices Lab in Ames, Iowa.

The zoo says it is treatingthe gorillas at risk of develop-ing complications from SARS-

CoV-2 with monoclonal anti-bodies. The zoo is also testingall 20 of its gorillas, who live infour troops.

Zoo officials say theybelieve an asymptomaticemployee who cares for thegorillas passed on the virus.The employee had been fullyvaccinated and was wearingprotective equipment such as amask and gloves. The zoo saysthere’s no evidence that thegorillas can pass the virus backto humans and says visitors aretoo far away to be infected bygorillas.

�� ��� ����������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������FG�������������� ���� ���������22����������������+����� ��������������$�������� ���������22����������H�����������$�&�.��+ �!

*��� ������������ ����)�%������������ �����7�� ���

����������������� ����� ����������������+������������(��,

*���%������ ���������,�������������������

"���������"������� ��������������������&�����������������������������������'������� ������� �!

3��- �������$!�� ���*����� ����� ��:��� ���������������

"������0�������������� �������������������������������������� ������������� �&����,�($���� �

9.��������������������������.���������8��������)�

'��#��������� ���������# -��-���������� �/ ��� ��;

����� -/0��/�'"

The Central Board of IndirectTaxes and Customs has direct-

ed its officers to expeditiously dis-pose the unclaimed, uncleared,and confiscated goods that areholding up containers, a moveaimed at easing availability ofcontainers for exporters.

In an instruction to its fieldofficers, the CBIC said that theyshould take proactive steps sothat containers housing importedcargo that are under enquiry areexpeditiously released.

"To continue the emphasis onenhancing the availability of con-tainers, the Board has decided thatthe field formations also....Disposeexpeditiously theunclaimed/uncleared/seized/con-fiscated goods including that areholding up containers followingthe timelines and procedures pre-scribed in a Board's circular," it said.

It added that field formationshad reported certain reasons suchas court cases, held by intelli-gence agencies for non-release ofcontainers.

Exporting community has time

and again raised the issue of short-age of containers as it affects exports.

Commenting on this,Ludhiana Hand Tools AssociationPresident S C Ralhan said that itis a good move by the government,but the big question is that wherecourt cases are there, it will not bepossible to lease those containers.

"But at the moment, it looks likethere will be a lot of containers avail-able for exporters," Ralhan said.

Federation of Indian ExportOrganisations (FIEO) DG AjaySahai said that about 20,000 con-tainers are still stuck up with custo-dian (Ports/ CONCOR/ CWC) asthese have been either detained byagencies or abandoned by theimporters. "The number is not verylarge but at this point of time whensupply is inadequate, this will help.The proactive action by Customs willhelp in releasing them and addingthem to supply. However, similartime bound action is needed by theCustodians as well," Sahai said.

Sharing similar views, FIEOVice-President Khalid Khan too saidthat "it is really a good move" asavailability of about 20,000 con-tainers will be a huge benefit to trade.

����� -/0��/�'"

In order to arrest price rise inedible oils, the Government has

slashed import duty on palm,sunflower and soyabean oil tobring relief to the common manreeling under skyrocketing cook-ing oils prices. The decisioncomes after edible oil prices haveseen a spike up to 50 per cent inthe last one year. The reductionin taxes could bring down pricesof the edible oils in India andboost consumption, effectivelyincreasing overseas buying by thesouth Asian country. In the lastfew months, the Centre has cutimport duty on various edible oilsand asked states to take details ofstock of edible oils and oilseedsfrom wholesalers, millers, refin-ers and stockists.

"With effect from Saturday,the base import tax on crudepalm oil has been slashed to 2.5percent from 10 percent, whilethe tax on crude soyoil and

crude sunflower oil has beenreduced to 2.5 percent from 7.5percent," the Ministry of Financesaid in a notification.

The import duty along withcesses on crude palm oil (CPO)will be 24.75 per cent against30.25 per cent. On RBD (refined,bleached, and deodorized) palmoil, it will come down to 35.75 percent from 41.25 per cent. Forcrude degummed soybean oil,the new rate will be 24.75 per centagainst 30.25 per cent and onrefined soybean oil, the rate hasbeen lowered to 35.75 per centfrom 41.25 per cent. Duty hasalso been lowered in crude sun-flower oil to 24.75 per cent from30.25 per cent. After the cuts,crude palm oil, soyoil and sun-flower oil imports will be subjectto a 24.75 percent tax in total,including a 2.5 percent baseimport duty and other taxes,while refined grades of palm oil,soyoil and sunflower oil wouldcarry a 35.75 percent tax in

total. Earlier, the government hasalso reduced import duty on edi-ble oils last month. In a majorstep last month, the govern-ment has reduced the price ofcooking oil. The Centre hasmade 7.5 per cent reduction inthe import duty of soya oil andsunflower oil in August. Whilethe move was meant to cooldown domestic prices of edibleoils, it failed to do so as interna-tional prices in Indonesia andMalaysia rose quickly to nearrecord highs anticipating arenewed demand from Indianbuyers.

India fulfils more than two-thirds of its edible oil demandthrough imports and has beenstruggling to contain a rally inlocal oil prices for the last fewmonths. The country importspalm oil mainly from top pro-ducers Indonesia and Malaysia,while other oils, such as soy andsunflower, come from Argentina,Brazil, Ukraine and Russia.

����� -/0��/�'"

The Heavy IndustriesMinistry has asked US-

based electric car major Teslato first start manufacturing itsiconic electric vehicles in Indiabefore any tax concessions canbe considered, Governmentsources said.

They said that theGovernment is not giving suchconcessions to any auto firmand giving duty benefits toTesla will not send a good sig-nal to other companies thathave invested billions of dollarsin India. Tesla has demandedreduction in import duties onelectric vehicles (EVs) inIndia.

At present, cars importedas completely built units(CBUs) attract customs dutyranging from 60 per cent to100 per cent, depending onengine size and cost, insur-

ance and freight (CIF) valueless or above USD 40,000.

In a letter to the road min-istry, the US firm had statedthat the effective import tar-iff of 110 per cent on vehicleswith customs value aboveUSD 40,000 is "prohibitive" tozero-emission vehicles.

It has requested the gov-ernment to standardize thetariff on electric cars to 40 percent irrespective of the cus-toms value, and withdraw thesocial welfare surcharge of 10per cent on electric cars.

It has stated that thesechanges would boost thedevelopment of the IndianEV ecosystem and the com-pany will make significantdirect investments in sales,service, and charging infra-structure; and significantlyincrease procurement fromIndia for its global operations.

����� -/0��/�'"

CNG and piped cookinggas prices in cities such as

Delhi and Mumbai may behiked by 10-11 per cent nextmonth as the Government-dictated gas price is set to riseby about 76 per cent, ICICISecurities said in a report.

The Government, usingrates prevalent in gas-surplusnations, fixes the price of nat-ural gas produced by firmssuch as state-owned Oil andNatural Gas Corp (ONGC)from fields given to them onnomination basis, every sixmonths. The next review isdue on October 1.

The price, referred to asAPM or administered rate,will rise to $ 3.15 per millionBritish thermal unit (mmBtu)for the period from October1, 2021 to March 31, 2022from the current USD 1.79,the brokerage said.

The rate for gas fromdeepwater fields such as KG-D6 of Reliance Industries Ltdand BP Plc would rise to $7.4

per mmBtu next month.Natural gas is the raw

material that is convertedinto compressed natural gas(CNG) for use in automobilesas fuel or piped to householdkitchens for cooking pur-poses.

"The expected surge inAPM gas prices would pre-sent a challenge to city gasdistribution (CGD) players asit would mean a rise in theirgas cost for CNG and resi-dential piped natural gas," itsaid. "APM gas price risewould mean hefty price hikeswould have to be made byIGL (that retails CNG innational capital and adjoiningcities) and MGL (which retailCNG in Mumbai) in the nextone year."

The city gas distributors(CGD) "would have to makeprice hikes of 10-11 per centin October," ICICI Securitiessaid in a report.

Going by the trend ininternational markets, theAPM gas price is likely to riseto USD 5.93 per mmBtu in

April 2022 to September2022 and to USD 7.65 duringOctober 2022 to March 2023.

This would mean anoth-er 22-23 per cent hike inCNG and piped natural gasprices in April 2022 and 11-12 per cent in October 2022,it said.

"Rise in APM gas pricefrom USD 1.79 per mmBtuin H1FY22 to USD 7.65 permmBtu in H2FY23E wouldmean MGL and IGL wouldhave to make price hikes of49-53 per cent duringOctober 2021 to October2022," it said. "CGD playersmay be able to make therequired hefty price hikesgiven sharply higher prices ofcompeting fuels, petrol anddiesel. However, some hit toprevailing lofty margins ofMGL and IGL cannot beruled out."

The rise in gas pricewould help boost margins ofONGC and Oil India Ltd aswell as private companiessuch as Reliance IndustriesLtd (RIL).

��� �������� �����%�� ����������� ������������

)��� 6�'2�������� �!������9���<������ ����

'�1'�#���� ���������� � �*�� ������������������������ !���� �����������,�� ���

=�����&�����"�������� �������������������������#������� ����������D������������������������������0

�� !"#$�0�&�"��) 0�&��1�2%�'�34��4543 -&)� . �% /�

�����8 ���.�����

3(���� �������� �������������O��<=� ������������������������

�� ������������������������ ��������������� ��$��D ���$���������� ����� ��� �(������������� �� �������!�������� ��������������� ������(��������(������(������� ���������� ��������� �������$����� ���������!�0� �����(����������� �������������� ������������������� ����� ��������������"�����O���<= �������������������������N�< ��� ��������������������(������ �����$���������������(�����.���� �� ����� ���� ������������������ ���������������������:���(��������� ������� ���� �����������������+.���� �#���(��� �O��<=,!�< ��������������������

���� ��4H� ��������� ������47����������������������(��������������!�O���<=�(��������������������������������� ��<�����������$��*��$���� ����,��&����� I� � ���� �����J�D��������I���� �J��������� �I���� �� ��$��J�D�%�� ��I*�� ���*���J!*������� ����,��� � �$�*����D���������������

��������$����$�����$ ������������� ����������!�*��$���� ����,������������ �� ��$�������*�� ���*�������������������������������������������$��'����<��$����$ ���/$���������/$$�<�����* ������* ����������*������!�<��$���� ���� ������������ �

����������K����������� ���������� �������������������,����� ���������� ������(�����$�� ���������������!���������� ���� ������"����������������� ������.���� � ����� !�.���� �� ����� ������&����������(������������,����������!�3�������������������������� ���������������$������ ���������������������������������$��� ��������������� ���������������F����(���� ���������,���������� ��!����������������������� ��������� ����� �����������������������F������������� �������������� ������������������� �������������� �,6G�!�"��������*�� �������"���������� ������������� ���(��� �����������������%� ������������������������������������ �������!L�

�2-�.<&2�,.-4�*<-��-3-��,*�&0.��0�,��9�,0,�,04,,C�

������ ������� �����3�3%�,���$��=�� ���� ������������

������ ����������� ����������� ��� ��������(������������(�������������������� ����������������"���!�< ��(��������� ��$���������� ��� ������

��(������ ��� ������������ �� ������������� �������������&��!������,��&���������� �� ��� ��� ��������� ������� �������� ���������� ���������P��$������ ����:�� �������� ������$�$��!�< ��(��������������������� � D������������� �������������������(����(����������� ���������� ��������!�3 �(�������� �� ��� ���������� �������� ������� �� �������������������� ��� �����������&����� ��������������������� �� ������ ��� ��!�< ����������������� �����������������,���������� ���� ������������� ���� ������������������� ���� �����&������������!�� ������������������D��D������� � ���������������� ������� ���������� ��� ������ �(�������(����������� ��

������,� ���!�'���������������������� ������ ���� ������� �����������������������,� ���������� � �!<��$���� ����� ��������� ����������� �������� �����������������(�������K�� ���������������

���������������;����������������������������� �����������������! < ������� ��P��������� ������������������������� ��� ������(�������������������������� ���� ��������������������� ���������������!L���� ���<�(���� �������� ���������* �&��������K�������������������������(������ ����������� �� ���������$�������������������� ������ ���� ��������������� �� ��� ���������� ������!�0�,������ ������������(�������� ����� �������+���$��=�� �,��� � ����������$���� ��������� ��$��NL��0 ���� ��.�������P����������� ������������������������������� ���������� ��������������������Q�3������� ������� �����Q

��������������� �� ����

� ����������*������������������������������������ ���� �����(������:����������� ��!��������� ������������� ���������� ���� �� ����!�< ��������� ����������P��������������&����*����������������� �����������@�GGG��������������� ���������!����/���� ���� ���� ��� �"�����"���� ����+/� ���!,�< �6D����$����������������$������������������������������������������������������������:�������!�0���������(������������������������ ;������������ �������������������������������������������������� �� ������ �� ���!�"����������� ����(���� ����������� ������������ ���� ������$��� ����� ������ ���� ���������� �� ��� �D���(��3��"��"�Q����/�������������� ��4G� �������� ������������-)<��������������������������������������� ��48� �������� ��!�< ���� �������� ���������$�� ������������������������ �������������������� ��*��'���)�������6������(��� ���������������� ������'������������������� ���������������(����� ���������������

�:������������������ �����(��� ������������ ��'�������� ��48� ��������� ��!�< ���������������(���� ��'�����������������������������"�������(����������������������� �� �� �����(�������������������������������������������������(������(����������������(������ ��������������'�������������������� ������������������������������I�����(������������������ ���J����������������(����I������������ ������ ��� ������J!"���������������� �������� ����/� ����� �����������"���,��������"��������������������������� ������D��D�D$������������(��!�/� ������$���������:���������������� ����$�+����,�C�+� ���,�� �����������(�� ������ ��HG,�!������ ����� �� ���� ��� �������� ���(��������������������(����������� ���������!��

� � � � 0 � � � �

����������� ����������� ���������������''�="���-�/2�� ����������.���������$� ��������<=;��� � ���� �����$������#�%"2��%��/�'� ���� ����:������������$��������������������� ��� ���������� � ������������

�What is Shubh Laabh about?The show has a very differentconcept, it is not a micro showor a normal daily soap. Peoplewould be able to relate to theshow so much as it is madekeeping in mind the daily hustleof life. I am playing the role ofGoddess Lakshmi and my rolewill not just be to guide the maincharacter Savita (GeetanjaliTikekar) but our Indianaudience too. The show is full ofmessages for people. Anexample would be that throughthis we will tell people that Godis not responsible for the goodand the bad in our lives, it is ourdeeds. A lot of people would beable to connect themselves withthis show, it might be for theirbetterment as people would beable to see things positively.

�What made you say yes to the role? It is a very positive role to play.There have been instances in mylife when things have actuallyworked out in my favour and Ithink it is only because of mybelief in God who listened to myprayers. And I have always beenvery grateful for everything inlife. So, I could relate to the showmyself. Being an actress, I haveplayed different characters onTV. This was the first time I wasvery excited to play somethingreally different. Another reasonis that I love SAB TV shows,which I feel are very light andhave good concepts and Ihaven’t done anything of thatsort till now. So, I was prettyexcited and on top of that theproducers are very humble andpositive people to work with. Itis always good to say yes tosomething different.

�How different is your rolefrom the previous serials?This one is quite challenging.Portraying a character on screen

whom you haven’t seen or metin real life is tough because wedon’t know their true self. Wedon’t know what their behaviouris or how they walk or talk. So,I have to go through my scriptagain and again, I read it severaltimes so that I am able to getmyself into that state where I canfeel it.

�You are a professional singerand have learnt Kathak. Howdid acting happen? Once I performed in a realityshow and Sonali Bendresuggested to me that I should trymy hands at acting. But it wasquite a task to convince my dadfor the same and on the other

hand my mother has alwayssupported me through it. She ismy pillar.

� In the trailer, you are seenwearing EarPods. Does thatmean you are a modern-dayGoddess?It is just an element we haveadded to the show becausesamay ke saath parivartanzaroori hai. You can say that wehave used it to denote that Godis listening to everything.Nowadays, people are wellequipped with technology andthis was one way we could alsorelate it to God.

�This is the second time thatyou will be acting as a Goddessfor a serial. How tough oreasy was it for you to adapt toa role of a different Goddess? I have played Parvati before inNamah, which was a completelymythological show. Both thecharacters are equally difficultand took the same efforts andhardwork to portray on screen.There are some characters forwhich you don’t have to practicevery hard because you haveseen them in real life and haveexperienced something or theother but playing as someoneyou have never seen becomeslittle challenging as you have toset your mind in such a way thatyou can feel the character andact accordingly, which takes a lotof time and practice.

�How different was it to shootin a pandemic? Shooting in a pandemic is quitea task as things are not runningas smoothly as they used to.People have been reduced in theunit due to safety protocols.Before, shooting was muchmore than just shooting. Now,we do have fun but we don’t feelfree because somewhere back inour minds we all fear the virus.

��������������6�����������1�.��

������"�������������� ������������� ���� � ������������������� ����������� ���� �����������������F����!�0���������������������(����������������������������� ��������������� ����������������������

������:���������� �������������������!�< ���������2��������������� ���������������$������� ���$��������� ����� �������P���������� ����������������������� �������!�"��� � D���� ���������������� �������������������������������� ��� ������������� ������������������D�����:���������� ����$������������������������������(�������!�< ���(�����������������(������������ �����������(��(������������������������������(���� ����������(����������!��������������� ���������������������&����������������������������������������� ��(����������� �������������� ��� ����!�< ����$��������(���������������������$��� �������������(������������ ������������(�����������(����� ��$������������&��������/��'� < ��������������/������3�����/���������� ���47��7G74�)8���5��

�.�6������� ������������ �����������.��� ������� ��$��6.!���������

������������������� ��������

������������ �,�����������:��;)�����������������< ��< ���%�� ;������P������(������� ������ ����������������������������,���(��!�3����&���������������������� �����$� ����������� ���� �� ����������� �� &������ ����������� ����:�;�������!+%��;��:������ ���� ���������������� ������ ��� ���������������������� ��� �� ���� �������� ������������������������� ���������������� ��������� ������(���������� ��������������$�������!�0 ������� �������������������������������������� ��������(����������� �Q�"���� �������� ����� �����������(�������D����������������� ���������������� &����!"�����������;%��;�������P�������� ���� ������D�:����������������������������� ������ ������������������ ��������(���������������� �(������������� ��!/��'� < ���������������/������3�����/���������� ���47��7G74�)8���5�������@�

�1�#� ����)��1�2 �3�"��1� #�&� �1��������&�

������$ �1)�4 � &�� �-

!��!&� �"&$ 3��3&� �� ������1�)��&%�� �1�1� �1� 5 �)21� 3� -�#

�1�# 3����#)����� !��!&� �"&$3� �3&� �� ����1�2� !���%�&�

�D���!���������������������������������������$�������6������ ���� ���

"�,��� ��������� ������������,��)������������������

/������������� ��������F����������������3��������������3��������:����(��������� ��+%����������,!��F������"���,��)����������'���%����/������������� �����!�< ����������� ����<������������������������������(������ ������*�������� �� �� ���� �(�� ������������������������������������� ��%������������� ���� �������������������������������� !���������������� �� ���������������+'��������'������������,��� ��� ��� ����� �(�� ��������������������������������������������������� �� �����������!��������48������ ���7G74�������������������������������H���������(������ ������*�����������������H�>G���������F���������������R��������I< ��������������J!�< ��������F����3��������������������������������!�< ������� ����(�$��������������������� �������'����������������� ���������������������������.���������� �� �<���������<���D�D<��������!�< ��� ���� ��������� ������ ����� ���������� ����������������� ������ ������������ ������ �������������� ������!�"������������������,�

������������� � ���������� � ���������������:�������������� ���� ��� �������!��������������������������� ����������� ��� ��������������������������������� �����,����!������� ������������� �����F���� ���� �������������������� ����� �������������� ������������� ������������ ���D�D����������:���!�< ��� �������������$,��&����������� ��������D�:����������������������� ������� ����������:������������ ���D�D����� �����������������������:

��������������������� ���� � �������������������� ���������!���� ��� ��������� �������������������$������������������%����$� �.���������$��%�F����������$��� ������������ ��� ��!< ����������F����3���������������(������ ������*��������������������� ������D$�������������������� ���� �%�� �������� �����������.������������ ����������!�< �������������������������� � ��$�������������������������� �� ��������������������

����������������� ��� ����������������������������������� �������������������������������������������(����������������(��������������!�< ��� ������� ������� ��������������� ��� �� ������ �������,������������ �������&��������� �������� �����&� �������� � ��������������������������� ������������������� �������� ����!�< ��� ������ �������� �������������� ���� �� ������ �������,����������� ��������&��������� ������� ������&� �������� � ��������������������������� ������������������� �������� ����!�< ��� ����������� ��&������������������������������(������ ��������� ����������������(�������:���(����������������������� ���������������� ����������D������!�� ������������������� ���������� ������������ ������������������������� �������� ������� ���������������������������������������(�������� ������������������������������� �� ������ ��������� �������� ��������$����������� �������������� �����(���������������!��< ������������(������������ ��� �������������� ������ ����������������-����=�� ���!�*������%��&������� ��F����� �����!

�����������1����������1��������� ���������������.��� !����/���������������

< ������,����������$���� �����������������������&

��&������������������ ����������� ��������� ������������������D������"�����< ��)������������� ��$������������ ���������� ����D��������������������%���$!�< ���� �� ���������%���$��������+����,�� ���������������������������$������������� ��������������������������������������������������D�����������!< ���� �������������������� �� �����������������%���$����������������������������������������� ���������������������������������������������G!EHS9������� !"��"������ ������������������������������������������%���$���������������(��(��)���� ����������������������� ��$��� �������(����� �������� �����������(���������������������$�������� ������ �����"�����!�%���$,��������(��� ������������������������&���&������������������ ����������� ����������� ���������������������������������������� ��������

�������������!����$������� �� ��������� ������������������&���&����������K"������������������������ �%���$������������(����������$����������(��� �������� �����������!�"��������������������� ������������������������������������

����������� ��������� ����������������������������������!�< ���� �� ��������� �(���������� ���$�� ������������������� �������������������(���������������������� �����������������������������$��������������������������� �������������!L

�!��& //�� !"#$�0�&�"��) 0�&��1�2%�'�34��4543

��������� �.�1���6��1./��6�������22�1���� ���������� ��.��������������������$���1���$�������� ��.����0�1./��6�.���� ������$���������1�������������

It takes all sorts to makethis world go round.While on one handthere were people whotook advantage of others

during the second wave of thepresent pandemic, they wereothers who went out of theirway to help those in need.Meet Manpreet Kaur, whohails froma small village inFerozepur village, Punjab.

The 22-year-old, who ispursuing an ElementaryTeacher Training course tells yuthat while she didn’t the oppor-tunity to study beyond highschool, she wants the otherchildren in her village to get asmuch education as possible.

“Education is the gate-way to not just knowing andlearning from the book; it isalso about being matureenough to understand theimportance of hygiene andsanitation,” Kaur says. Shehas also taken up the task ofcleaning up the village pondwhich is very dirty

Due to the pandemic, theclasses shifted to online mode.Most children in villages don’thave smatphones and even ifthey do, the idea to sit alonein a room and listen to theteacher proved to be boringfor them.

To ensure that the stu-dents didn’t miss out of themost important aspect of life— education — Kaur openedthe doors to her home toteach these kids.

“My mentor introducedme to Pride of Punjab initia-tive. Even before the pan-demic hit us, I was teaching ina local school. When theCOVID-19 forced the schoolsto shut, I decided to do mybest to make sure children didnot discontinue their studies.I opened doors to my home.I ensured that the childrenwho came wores masks, sani-tised themsevles and main-

tained social distacing as theysat while I taught them. On arotation basis, I held classeswith eight to 10 students perbatch. I also convinced theparents to send their childrent me. I told me that I wouldensure that they would snai-tise their hands regularly,”Kaur explains.

She didn’t have manyfancy things. She made dowhat she had. She combinedmodest resources and taughtthe kids in a play way manner.This way the kids enjoyedcoming to her home; at thesame time they learnt to readand write as well.

Recalling a case of a stu-dent in Class IV, Kaur tells youthat this student didn’t knowhow to read or write. “I wasshocked to know that he did-n’t know even the basics. I start-ed teaching him from thebeginning. It took time butslowly he gained confidenceand now he is at par with otherstudents in his class and doingwell,” Kaur recounts.

While Kaur herself didn’tmanage to study further butsince she is pursing her teach-ing training, she will be ableto relise her dream — thatchildren in her village nevermiss out on education.

“There are so many smallissues that come up. People inmy village are not educated.People lack the basic under-standing and need forhygiene. Because of my asso-ciation with Pride of Punjaband the work they are doinghere, a lot of improvement hascome in. Education gives con-fidence and with it comes theknowledge and the under-standing that it is possible toachieve what they want,” Kaursays.

�$1����2*�1���� ����������� �������6������.��� ������������������

What if some-one were totell you that avisually chal-lenged person

is out on the streets lending ahelping a hand to those inneed during the present pan-demic? Meet Kavya NR fromTumkur district in Karnataka.This 21-year-old is not just aCOVID-warrior, she is also amarathon runner and anational wall climbing cham-pion.

“I have never let my visu-al disability to stop me fro pur-suing my dreams and achievegoals that I set for myself.Rather than use it to get sym-pathy or not do things, I usedit to push myself in sports thatsome of my friends avoided.Through sports I am able toexpress what I want to achieve.By representing SamarthanamTrust for the Disabled in sport-ing championships, I am ableto test my boundaries,” Kavyasays.

She tells you that the trustin response to the COVID-19,provided disabled people, theelderly and the poor with dryration. “I wanted to contributeas well and joined the team. Ihelped them to coordinateand plan out how to go aboutit,” Kavya says.

At present, she is workingas a librarian with the trust.Her work for those who need-ed help during COVID-19

began when the lockdownstarted last year.

“During the lockdown Irealised that there were somany people who were worseoff than I am. That is when Idecided that I needed to helpthem out. I am visually chal-lenged. I wanted to tell peoplethat disability should not bethe reason why you should notstep out to help others. I want-ed to send a message to the‘normal people’ that theyshould help. I wanted to moti-vated them. There is so muchwork that one can do even ifyou don’t go out in the field,”Kavya tells you.

She began collecting datafrom disabled people in thearea. She compiled it and sentit to the trust who on the basisof this rationed the dry ingre-dients that needed to be deliv-ered to those in need.

“I even coordinated vacci-nation for the people whowere physically, mentally andvisually challenged. There aredesignated centres for them. Ihelped them to identify thecentres and reach there. Ihelped all those who neededhelp,” Kavya explains.

She tells you that her par-ents were very scared for herand did their best to dissuadeher. But she was determinedand insisted that she needed tohelp the less fortunate.

“My parents, to beginwith, were scared; it is natur-al; they are farmers. But I con-vinced them. I took all the pre-cautionary steps t ensure I wassafe. I went with a group offive. My wall climbing coachalso came home. He told them

that I should be allowed tohelp others since it wouldwould encourage them. Wecollected the supplies that weneeded from people.Through the trust, the dryration kits were then givento the needy,” Kavya says.

She tells you that shehas never her disabilityaffect her — whether it wasworking long hours to helpothers or competing in sports.She competed in 2018 in wallclimbing competition held inKashmir.

“I went to Kashmir for thecompetition and was placedthird. This is a annual com-petition,” She says.

She tells you that rockclimbing comes with instensetraining that requires mentaland physical fitness. “Mycoach would take us throughintesne exercises. He would tiea cloth over our eyes and thentrain us; he would then give usinstructions on how to andwhere to find the holds. Hetaught us how to feel for sup-port with our hands. In thiswe would explore the terrain.The touch and feel on therocks would help us pull upour bodies. That’s how Ilearnt this sport,” Kavya says.

This is not all, her goal isto play cricket; she alreadyrepresents the State in thevisually challenged team.

“I am an all-rounder.My favoutite is PrakashJayaramaih; he is the VC ofthe India national blindcricket team. My otherfavourite is Virat Kohli,Captain of Team India,”Kavya says.

-�� 6�����8�2���D

1��6$���6�����1��������23�1���� ����������� �1./��6E���6����6����1�.��������������������

�$������������ ������������� �������������� ����������2�� (��� ���%��������� �����

������ �� ����������$��������������������������3="�D4H!�%����� ����������������������������� ��$���� ��(��������*�������������� ���� ���!�

"������������� �����$������ ��%��������� �����(��������� ���3="�D4H������������!�< ��7GD����������� � �������(������������������������%�&������$��� �������� ������������ ������(����������������������������� ���� ����� ������ �������������!

< ����� ��� ���������������� �������� �� ��������������3="�D

4H�����2�0�� !�K"�������������� ���"����������������������� ����������������$��������� ������ ������� ����������� ��!�< �����������(�����3="�D4H�������(���������������������������������� �����$������ �������������� ������������ ������� ��������!�"������������(��� ��� ����� ���������������T���� �������������� ������� ����������������������������L�%�������������!

'������������� �������� ��(����� �������������� �(��������(�����������5GD6G�$�� ������� ����������� �� ��������� �����!�K"����� ����������(���� ������������ �� ���������������� ��$������ ������ ������� ����������� ��������������� ��!�< ���� ���"��������� ���"� ������������� �������� ��������!�"�����������!�<�� ������ ��"������������

"�$���!�3������������������� �������������!�3����� ����� ��������������&����!�0����(�����������������������������T�)�������������(��L�%�������!�<������� ���������(���>5G

(����������� ���������$����������� ������!�

<���������� ����������� ��������������������������� ������ �������������� �.�(�����������

�(���� ������!�< ��������� ���� ����������������������(��� ���������$��� ����(��� ���� ���������������������� �������� �������������� ����(�������������!�-�������� �������� ��(�������������������������$���� ����������������� ������������� �(���������� �(��� ��� ������������� ������������������!�"����� ������������������ ������������(����� �� �������� ��!

K0 ��������������� �����$������������������������������ ��P�����!�0����(��������� ������� ������������ ������ ��������������!����������������$��� �������������������� �� ���>7D����������3="�D4H������������������������������������������ ��������� ����:����P������������ ��������� ���L�%�����������!�

3����������� ��������� ����������

� ���%��������������� ���� ���������!�0 ��� ������47�� �����������=� �������!�< �����$Q�<���������������������������(������������ � �������!�0 ��� ���������4@�� ���������� ��2�(��)�����"���3���������!�0� ������������ �����(������������ ������������������$������������$��������������������� �������������������� ���� �����!

����� ����$��������!�K��������������������������,�� �(���� ��$�������!�0 ���������$������ � �������������� ����������� �������������(��� �������������������������!�0������������P������������������������ ���� ����� �������������� �����������(�������� ����������!<�$������:����!�0����������������$������5GG��������(�������� !< ���������H�GGG!�"������������$��

����������������$���������������� ���������� � ����� ����(������� ��������L�%�����:����!

'������������� ��� ���������������������������� ����� ���� ��������������(��!�K<�� ������ ������������������� ���(�� ���������� ���������(���������!�����"������������ �������� ��!�3� ��������������&�������������!����������������������������� ���� �������� �������������������������� ���� ����������������� ���������$�L�%�������!

��������� ��� ���������� ����������������� ������������,����$!������ �����������!�������� �������������������� ���������!%�������� ��������������(�����������(���� ���� ���(���� ��������T�������������� ��� ��������������� ��������������������$��������!K-�����$��� ������������������L�%�������!

.,����������������������� ������/ =1�#�� ��� � !-��#������ �� ��

�������������������� �� ����������

< ���������������� ���� ������������� ��������!�'���(����� ��������&������������������ �� �(�������������������������� ��� ����������������� ����!��'��"-" ��*�/-� � ��������������� ���������������� ��������������� ��2�0�� �I.��������#�������"���J��������D���$� ��������������������� ��#-"�/)����� ���������������������(��� ������������������ ���������

�$"���� � ��� 6"��7�� �2 ��$

&��#��2 -#�) �1�3��75 � � �&��

�3�"� "�$�#����$�2�1� )!�#���� �-1�2��� ��$��������

�!�#� /��� !"#$�0�&�"��) 0�&��1�2%�'�34��4543

� ��� -/0�23%*

Novak Djokovic will play Daniil Medvedevto try and complete the first men’s singlescalendar-year Grand Slam since 1969

after defeating Tokyo Olympic championAlexander Zverev in Friday’s US Open semi-finals.

Top-ranked Djokovic outlasted theGerman fourth seed 4-6, 6-2, 6-4, 4-6, 6-2 toreach Sunday’s championship match atArthur Ashe Stadium against Russian sec-ond seed Medvedev.

“I’m going to treat the next match like it’sthe last match of my career,” Djokovic said.

One more victory will give the 34-year-oldSerbian star the first calendar-year Slam sinceRod Laver accomplished it 52 years ago.

“There’s only one more match left. Allin. Let’s do it,” Djokovic said. “I’m goingto put my heart and my soul and mybody and my head into that one.”

Djokovic seeks hisfourth career US Opentitle and his 21st over-all Slam crown,which would lifthim one above theall-time record heshares with RafaelNadal and RogerFederer, both absentwith injuries.

“These are themoments we live for,”Djokovic said.“These are the kindof unique opportu-nities we dream ofwhen we are lookingfor motivation.”

Australian legendLaver, 83, was in thestands to watch asDjokovic took a mea-sure of revenge forZverev, 24, beating him inan Olympic semi-final, denyingDjokovic’s bid for a ‘GoldenSlam’ with a Tokyo Gold medal.

“I knew coming onto thecourt it was going to be a greatbattle,” Djokovic said.“Alexander is a big champi-on. He’s someone I admireon and off the court.”

Medvedev, the 2019US Open runner-up,

defeated Canadian12th seed Felix Auger-Aliassime 6-4, 7-5, 6-

2 toreach his third career Slamfinal.

“I don’t think I playedmy best today but I’mreally happy to be in thefinal,” Medvedev said.

Djokovic is the old-est US Open finalistsince Andre Agassi at 35in 2005 and could be the

oldest US Open champi-on since Ken Rosewall at 35

in 1970. By beating Zverev,Djokovic matched Federer’s

all-time record of 31 men’sSlam final appearances.

Djokovic is 20-10in major

finals.

����� -/0��/�'"

Sunrisers Hyderabad openerJonny Bairstow, Punjab

Kings batsman Dawid Malanand Delhi Capitals all-rounderChris Woakes have pulled outof the upcoming Indian PremierLeague (IPL) due to personalreasons.

The England and Indiaplayers were supposed to flyinto UAE from Manchestertogether in a bubble tobubble transfer but Covid-19 cases in the visitors’camp forced IPL teams tomake their ownarrangements.

All players arriv-ing in Dubai nowhave to do a six-day quarantineand that could bethe reason behindBairstow and Malanpulling out.

A BCCI official said thatBairstow and Malan the play-ers won’t be part of the IPLresuming September 19. TheGuardian reported onWoakes’ unavailability.

“They won’t be boardingthe flight to UAE. One of thereasons for their pull out is thesix-day quarantine which theydidn’t need to do earlier,” saidthe official.

While Bairstow is a regularin the Sunrisers line-up, worldnumber one T20 batsmanMalan made his IPL debut withKings earlier this year. Aiden

Markram has been named hisreplacement.

“Malan will be takingsome time off to be with hisfamily ahead of the#T20WorldCup andAshes,” tweeted PunjabKings.

Bairstow had made248 runs at strike rate of141 plus in seven gamesearlier this season.

Bairstow, Woakes andMalan were part of

England’s Test squad inManchester.

Bubble life has taken a tollon players and with the T20World Cup to follow in UAE,not playing the IPL wouldallow more family time toBairstow, Woakes and Malan.

� ��� *��#�

Women could still beallowed to play cricket,

the chairman of Afghanistan’sCricket Board has claimed to anAustralian broadcaster in anapparent backflip on theTaliban’s hardline stance.

Azizullah Fazli said thegoverning body would outlinehow this would happen “verysoon”, adding that all 25 of thewomen’s team remained inAfghanistan and had chosennot to leave on evacuationflights.

“We will give you our clearposition on how we will allowwomen to play cricket,” he toldSBS Radio Pashto on Friday, thebroadcaster reported on itsEnglish-language website. “Verysoon, we will give you goodnews on how we will proceed.”

His comments appear tocontradict the deputy head of

the Taliban’s cultural commis-sion Ahmadullah Wasiq, whotold the same broadcaster onWednesday that it was “not nec-essary” for women to playsport.

Those remarks sawAustralia threaten to cancel ahistoric maiden men’s Testbetween the two countries, setto take place in Hobart inNovember.

Cricket Australia said inbrief comments on Saturdaythat it remained in regular dia-logue with the AfghanistanCricket Board and that “wemade our position very clear inthe statement”.

It was referring to a state-ment on Thursday in which itsupported “the game unequiv-ocally for women at every level”,adding that it would have “noalternative” but to cancel theHobart Test if the Talibanbanned women.

/'����������( ����#�� �������!

Manchester: The legendarySunil Gavaskar has lauded theBCCI’s offer of reschedulingthe cancelled Old Trafford Test,saying India should never forgetEngland’s gesture of returningback to complete a tour, whichwas halted midway due to the26/11 Mumbai terror attacks in2008.

“Yes, I think that (resched-uling the cancelled Test) wouldbe the correct thing to do. Look,we, in India, should never for-get what the England team didin 2008 after the horrific attack,the 26/11. They came back,”Gavaskar told official broadcast-er of the series Sony Sports.

“They would have beenperfectly entitled to say ‘wedon’t feel safe. We are not com-ing back’.”

The visiting England teamwas playing an ODI againstIndia in Cuttack on November26 when terrorists attackedMumbai, leading to the cancel-lation of the last two ODIs of theseven-match series.

England headed homeimmediately, but later returnedfor the two Test series whichIndia won 1-0.

Gavaskar said that the thenskipper Kevin Pietersen wasinstrumental in England's deci-sion to return back for the Testmatches. “Never forget thatKevin Pietersen led the team,and he was the main man. If KPhad said, no I don’t want to go,that would have been the end ofthe matter.

Gavaskar termed BCCI’srescheduling offer as a “fantas-tic news” and said the cancelledTest can be held next year afterthe IPL.

“Don’t forget, the gesture ofthe ECB has to be remem-bered,” he said. “It’s absolutely aptthat the BCCI now says, rightnext year, we are still coming toEngland. I think there will be alittle lean period. I think the IPLwill finish in early June. So thereis enough time for them to go afew days early, depending onwhether we still have Covid andall the restrictions and maybeplay a Test match before or after,”Gavaskar said.

“This is fantastic newscoming that the BCCI willmake up for it. This is exactlywhat the relations betweenboards should be.” PTI

�����+���&���������#>��� ��� �����������������������"���

�� � -/0�23%*

Joe Salisbury has a chanceat the doubles double at the

US Open.Salisbury and Rajeev

Ram won their second GrandSlam men’s doubles titletogether with a 3-6, 6-2, 6-2victory over Jamie Murrayand Bruno Soares on Friday.

The women’s doublesfinal is Sunday, when CocoGauff and Caty McNally willtry to win their first majortitle.

Salisbury and Ram, whowon the 2020 AustralianOpen together, turned theirmatch around after the No 4seeds got off to a roughstart.

“We didn’t play a greatfirst set,” Salisbury said.

“We found it tough, theconditions. It was my firsttime playing on Ashe. It wasreally tough with the sun andthe shade. It was kind of onehalf of the court was in sun,one half in shade. We werestruggling to see the ballwell.”

He’ll be back out thereon Saturday in the mixeddoubles final. He and part-

ner Desirae Krawczyk, seed-ed second, beat the team ofAmericans Jessica Pegulaand Austin Krajicek 7-2 (2),6-4 later on Friday.

Salisbury is trying tobecome the first player towin the men’s and mixeddoubles titles at the US Opensince Bob Bryan in 2010.

The British player andKrawczyk won the FrenchOpen, before Krawczyk wonWimbledon with NealSkupski. The American canbecome the first to win three

Grand Slam mixed doublestitles in a year since MartinaHingis and Leander Paes in2015.

Gauff, 17, and McNally,19, advanced to the women’sfinal when Luisa Stefanilanded awkwardly near thenet during a f irst-settiebreaker, collapsed to theground and was unable tocontinue.

The No 11-seededAmericans will play the No14-seeded team of SamStosur and Zhang Shuai.

*��� ��������)�� ��������������)��� �)������������������������)�� ����(����� �����)����������( <�������>���������������� �!

� ��� -/0�23%*

One match fromfinishing the first

calendar-year men’ssingles Grand Slam in

52 years, NovakDjokovic isn’t getting

ahead of himself by talkingabout it.

“I know everybody wantsto talk about histor y,”Djokovic said. “I’m just tryingto look into what I knowworks for me.”

World number oneDjokovic will try to completethe first calendar Slam sinceRod Laver in 1969 and onlythe fourth ever after Laver in

1962 and Don Budge in 1938.Australian legend Laver, 83, was

in the stands to watch Djokovic con-tinue his quest for history.

But the task remains unfinished,so talking seems premature toDjokovic.

“Why should I be happy? Thejob is not done,” he said. “That’s kindof the attitude I have.”

Djokovic is keeping his usualroutine between matches.

“I’m focusing on recovery, cali-brating all the systems, getting thatvital energy,” he said.

Djokovic, who would be theoldest US Open champion since KenRosewall at 35 in 1970, also takespride in honing his game to perfec-tion.

“I know what my strengths are.I stick to them,” Djokovic said. “I’veworked over the years to perfect mygame so that my game can have lit-erally no flaws.

“Every player has some weak-nesses in his game. There’s alwayssomething you can improve. I wantto have as complete of an all-aroundgame as I possibly can so that whenI’m playing someone I can adjust onany surface.

“I can come up with differentstyles of play. I can tactically imple-ment the game that I need for thatparticular match in order to win.

“Over the years, working onperfecting the game has really helpedme just be very adaptable to any-body’s game and to any surface.”

New York: Daniil Medvedevis getting tired of losing GrandSlam finals after dropping apair and he’s hoping the thirdtime is charmed when heplays in Sunday’s US Openfinal.

The 25-year-old Russiandropped the 2019 US Openfinal to Rafael Nadal and lostFebruary’s Australian Openfinal to world number oneNovak Djokovic — the manhe’ll face on Sunday.

“The more you lose some-thing, the more you want towin it, the more you want togain it and take it,” Medvedevsaid.

“I lost two finals. I want to

win the third one. You neverknow what’s going to happen,but I’m going to try more thanI did the first two times.”

Medvedev has droppedonly one set in the FlushingMeadows fortnight, savinghim valuable energy for thegrind to come againstDjokovic, who is chasing thefirst calendar-year Grand Slamsince Rod Laver won all fourmajors in 1952.

“There were some tightmoments. There were sometight battles. It’s never easy, butI'm happy that I managed tosave a lot of physical abilities,physical power, and mentalpower.” AFP

$�#��#���-���>�#� � ���-�� �#

81� �1�"&$ � 3� 1�!!�9�1� 6�3 ��:� $���; �6�7�#

����� *�%��'"

The New Zealand Cricketsquad arrived in Pakistan

on Saturday after 18 long yearsto play a bilateral ODI and T20series in Rawalpindi andLahore.

The visiting players werewhisked away from theIslamabad international air-port to their hotel amidst heavysecurity.

The Pakistan Cricket Board(PCB) has made arrangementsto have a bio-secure bubble forthe New Zealand players andofficials at their hotel.

New Zealand last touredPakistan in 2003 for a white-ballseries and since then haveavoided touring the countrybecause of security reasons.

Led by Tom Latham, theNew Zealand squad is missingits regular captain, KaneWilliamson and other key play-ers of their white ball formatswho are either set to competein the IPL or have taken breaks.

Regular coach, Gary Stead

has also not come with the vis-iting squad which will playthree ODIs in Rawalpindi andfive T20Is in Lahore.

The PCB and New ZealandCricket have mutually agreed tochange the status of next week’sODI series to a bilateral series

from the ICC Cricket WorldCup Super League fixtures dueto the non-availability ofDecision Review System (DRS),a requirement in the eventplaying conditions.

As New Zealand will returnto Pakistan in the 2022-23 sea-

son to play two Tests and threeODIs, the two boards haveagreed that these 50-overmatches will now counttowards the ICC Men’s CricketWorld Cup 2023 qualification.

Some key players will jointhe New Zealand squad bytomorrow as they were not partof the squad that recentlyplayed a T20 series inBangladesh.

Daryll Mitchell, Todd Astle,Ish Sodhi, Mark Chapman andMartin Guptill will be joiningthe T20 squad.

NEW ZEALAND SQUADSTom Latham (c) (wk), FinnAllen, Hamish Bennett, TomBlundell (wk), Doug Bracewell,Colin de Grandhomme, MattHenry, Ajaz Patel, BlairTickner,Will Young, Ish Sodhi,Martin Guptill, MarkChapman, Todd Astle, DarylMitchell; (Jacob Duffy, ScottKuggeleijn, Cole McConchie,Henry Nicholls, RachinRavindra only ODIs); Ben Sears(only T20I).

"�6���������������)������/@������������ �#��"

Royal Challengers Bangalore(RCB) opener Devdutt

Padikkal said on Saturday thatthe break between the twohalves of the IPL 2021 wasn’thuge and therefore all the teamhas to do is continuing with themomentum it had gained in thefirst half.

“It’s almost felt like weare continuing the tourna-ment again. It doesn’t feel likethat we have had a longbreak because we have hadenough cricket in between aswell. It does not feel likea huge break. So, it’s justabout continuing withthe momentum we hadin the first phase of theseason,” said Padikkal ina video interview post-ed by the franchise ontheir Twitter account.

Asked about theexpectations forBangalore to win the

trophy this season, Padikkalsounded optimistic. “I wouldhope so. Every year, everyonecomes with the same hope towin the IPL. Hopefully, this isour year. We have a good squadand got some good replace-ments coming in as well. So, welook ready for the challenge andcontinue with the momentum

that we have.”Padikkal concluded

by saying he got no indi-vidual goals for the sec-

ond half of IPL 2021 andwants to contribute to

the team’s success.“Nothing specific. Ijust want to contin-ue to contribute tothe side and helpthe team win at theend of the day.That’s what everyone of us wants. Nospecific individualgoals as such. Justwant to contribute tothe team.”

������������������������������������������������������ �����

�������-�'/�</%1�#��"

The Indian cricketers, con-tracted to play the Indian

Premier League (IPL), left for theUAE in chartered and commer-cial flights after returning neg-ative RT-PCR tests for the sec-ond time in two days.

The travel arrangementswere made by players’ respectivefranchises.

“The good news is that allthe players and support staffmembers have now tested neg-ative for the RT-PCR for the sec-ond time. The reports arrivedlate on Friday evening and mostof them are already on their wayto Dubai for the IPL,” a seniorBCCI official said.

“Two non-IPL playersAbhimanyu Easwaran andArjan Nagwaswalla will be fly-ing out on Monday with the restof the support staff. They will beflying to their respective Indiancities via Dubai and will take acommercial flight,” the seniorofficial said.

The players started depart-ing in clusters — some in char-ter flight arranged by their fran-chises like Mumbai Indians andSunrisers Hyderbad whileChennai Super Kings cricketers

took commercial flight.“Mumbai Indians flew in

three of its Indian contingentmembers, captain Rohit Sharma,Jasprit Bumrah, andSuryakumar Yadav, to AbuDhabi on a private charter flight.The trio, along with their fam-ilies, arrived today morningand will now undergo six daysof hard quarantine, startingtoday as per the IPL’s guidelines,”MI issued a statement.

“All members had returnednegative RT PCR results beforedeparture. A new RT PCR testwas undertaken upon arrival atAbu Dhabi, which are negativeas well,” it also stated.

RCB captain Virat Kohliand pacer Mohammed Sirajalso took a charter flight fromManchester. “Keeping the safe-ty and security of our players asthe utmost priority, RoyalChallengers Bangalore havearranged a special charter flightfor captain Virat Kohli andMohammed Siraj to ensure theirsafe transit to the UAE.

“The players will be flyingout at 11.30 PM (UK time) onSaturday and will arrive inDubai early Sunday morning.Both, Virat and Siraj will under-go 6-day quarantine in Dubaibefore joining the team bio-secure bubble,” RCB said.

���������������)��� ����+��������&���%���D������:���������)�� ����&�����������( <�������0������ �������������%����� �!

$����/��$#0�������� ����+����

�������#��������+����������� ���������������*�������������������������

��������)�����&������0����������&�$�(�����������������������������������(���(���#�3�������������

&0-�2�0

,2,8The final is a rematch of

February’s Australian Openfinal won by Djokovicin straight sets.Medvedev trailsDjokovic 5-3 in theirall-time rivalry.

“If I can make this,I’ll probably be in thehistory books a little bit some-where like not letting him dothis,” Medvedev said. “But Idon’t really care about it. I thinkit’s more about him, that itaffects him.

“I’m just going to throw iteverything and I’m definitely

not going to be think-ing about Grand Slamor whatever.”

Djokovic has won27 consecutive Slammatches, three shy ofhis all-time record

streak from 2015 and 2016when he won all four majortitles in a row.

Zverev, last year’s US Openrunner-up, saw his 16-matchwin streak end.

,������������� �1������ '�-��������2��!������������� �$#0�

3)�������/�� ����0���� �����4�5����$�.*,��.�&�*.�.-3-�*�/�E�'

Crystal Palace ended 10-man Tottenham’s perfect start tothe Premier League season asWilfried Zaha’s penalty and alate double from OdsonneEdouard sealed a 3-0 win.

Nuno Espirito Santo’s sidehad Japhet Tanganga sent off fortwo bookings in quick succes-sion in the second half atSelhurst Park.

Zaha netted from the spotafter Ben Davies’s handball andformer Celtic striker Edouard’sdebut brace made it a first winfor Palace boss Patrick Vieira.

South Korea forwardHwang Hee-chan scored his

first Premier League goal forWolves in their 2-0 win atWatford.

Wolves’ first league goal thisseason — an own goal byWatford's Francisco Sierralta —was followed by Hwang’s 83rdminute tap-in in his debutappearance after joining fromLeipzig last month.

Brighton won 1-0 atBrentford thanks to LeandroTrossard’s 90th minute strike,while West Ham striker MichailAntonio was sent off in their 0-0 draw at Southampton.

� ��� ��-�'/�</%

Cristiano Ronaldo enjoyed adream return as a ManchesterUnited player with a double as

the Red Devils beat Newcastle 4-1 infront of a rocking Old Trafford andRomelu Lukaku also scored twiceagainst Aston Villa in Chelsea’s 3-0 winon Saturday.

Ronaldo now has 120 Unitedgoals to his name, but scored his firstsince leaving for Real Madrid 12 yearsago to take Ole Gunnar Solskjaer’s mentop of the Premier League table.

United were made to work hard-er than expected for the three points,but were able to rely on Ronaldo’spredatory instincts to strike twiceeither side of Javier Manquillo’s well-worked equaliser. Bruno Fernandesthen sealed a day where Portuguesestars shone with a stunning long-rangeeffort 10 minutes from time beforeJesse Lingard rounded off the scoringin stoppage time.

United’s fortunes on the field havedeclined dramatically since Ronaldo’sdeparture with no Premier League orChampions League success since AlexFerguson retired as manager in 2013.

His return was enough to gener-ate a feverish atmosphere among74,000 in attendance not seen at OldTrafford for many years.

The 36-year-old arrival has addedeven more firepower to an alreadyloaded selection of attacking optionson offer to Solskjaer.

Jadon Sancho and Mason

Greenwood flanked Ronaldo in afront three with Fernandes and PaulPogba supplying the ammunitionfrom midfield.

The crowd who had come for aparty were starting to get restless asNewcastle held out relatively comfort-ably until Ronaldo’s first big momentarrived in first-half stoppage time.

Greenwood had scored in all ofUnited’s first three Premier Leaguegames before the international breakand provided the spark once more asFreddie Woodman spilled hisdeflected effort and the ballfell perfectly for Ronaldo tosmash home.

Rather than opening thefloodgates for a comfortablewin, Newcastle emerged forthe second-half with a farmore potent threat and cutUnited open to stun the home support10 minutes into the second-half.

Miguel Almiron, who was onlycleared to play on Friday after theParaguayan football federation with-drew a case for him to be banned fornot being released for internationalduty, burst through midfield andreleased Allan Saint-Maximin.

The Frenchman then rolled theball perfectly into the path ofManquillo to slot home his first

Newcastle goal in 85 appearances.United on the other hand now

have one of the deadliest finishers inthe history of the game and Ronaldoensured the day would be all about himon 62 minutes.

Despite his advancing years,Ronaldo showed no shortage of paceto burst away from Isaac Hayden tolatch onto Luke Shaw’s pass and hispowerful strike went straight throughWoodman’s grasp.

United still needed the interven-tion of David de Gea to secure the winas the Spaniard brilliantly turnedbehind Joelinton’s shot that was des-tined for the top corner.

Fernandes has been United’s talis-man for the majority of the 20 monthssince he joined from Sporting Lisbon,just as Ronaldo did in 2003.

And the midfielder ensured he wasnot completely overshadowedby his compatriot with a sensa-tional strike into the top cornerfrom Paul Pogba’s pass.

Pogba was also involved inthe fourth as Lingard turnedonto his pass and curled into thefar corner.

CITY WIN, SPURS LOSEDespite Ronaldo’s snub, Bernardo

Silva showed Manchester City can copejust fine with their array of talent as hefired the champions to a 1-0 win atLeicester.

Portugal playmaker Silva struck inthe 62nd minute with a close-range fin-ish after Caglar Soyuncu blocked JoaoCancelo’s drive.

Second placed City have nowwon their last three games.

�!�#� /��� !"#$�0�&�"��) 0�&��1�2%�'�34��4543

� ����3-O�

Max Verstappen will start the Italian Grand Prix in pole posi-tion despite finishing second in Saturday’s qualifying sprint

at Monza.Mercedes driver Valtteri Bottas won the 18-lap race ahead of

Verstappen but the Finn was already condemned to start Sunday’srace at the back of the grid after being penalised for taking on powerunit components in qualifying on Friday.

Red Bull’s Verstappen also claimed two championship pointsto extend his lead on Lewis Hamilton to five after the reigning cham-pion finished fifth, some 20 seconds off the pace.

“That went a little bit better than expected,” saidVerstappen.

“Up to second, scored some points, up topole tomorrow. It’s going to be an interesting bat-tle tomorrow.”

Hamilton had started the sprint in secondbehind teammate Bottas but was overtaken byVerstappen and dropped back in the fieldafter a dreadful start which will make his lat-est bid for a 100th victory that much hard-er.

Alongside Verstappen on the frontrow will be McLaren’s Daniel Ricciardo,who also breezed past Hamilton in theopening moments and held on to thirdposition to claim second in the grid.

Ricciardo promised “full attack”against Verstappen on Sunday eventhough he finished over 12 secondsbehind the Dutchman and he will havehis teammate Lando Norris backinghim up in the second row after he fin-ished fourth.

Seven-time F1 champion Hamiltonhas been stuck on 99 wins since victory

at the British GP in July, but after strongdisplays in both practices and qualifyinglooked in good shape to make his centu-ry.

However he will have his work cut outfor him from the second row afterVerstappen and Ricciardo came up eitherside of him in a chaotic start.

?��� ������������� �1 ��������

����� ����'/��#%

Newly-appointed Indianwomen’s football coach

Thomas Dennerby on Saturdaysaid the team needs to play atleast 10 international matchesagainst opponents with diverseplaying styles in the run up tothe AFC Asian Cup.

The 62-year-old Dennerby,who was earlier in charge of theIndian U-17 women’s WorldCup squad, was last monthroped in to help the seniorteam prepare for the AFC AsianCup, which will be hosted in thecountry from January 20 toFebruary 6 next year.

“It is very important for usto play 11-13 matches before thetournament (AFC Asian Cup)starts. The federation is working

very hard trying to help us, weknow about the situation withcorona,” Dennerby said duringa virtual media interaction.

“It is important to us to playnot less than 10 games before thetournament starts and we needto play different opponents withdifferent playing styles,” headded.

The All India FootballFederation (AIFF) has struggledto find an opponent due to theCovid-19 quarantine restric-tions in various countries. Theteam is currently gathered inJamshedpur for the preparatorycamp, leading to the continen-tal event.

“It is tough for us to findopponents, countries whichallow us to come. Still in somecountries India is red marked. It’s

hard for the federation to findattractive opponents to play.But I know they are doingeverything they can.”

Dennerby, who comes withover three decades of experienceand has previously guidedSweden’s women's national team

to a third-place finish in theFIFA World Cup in 2011, and aquarter-final spot in the 2012London Olympics, said it isvital the Indian team playsdiverse opponents.

“The FIFA window openstomorrow but so far we have no

confirmation of a game. We aretrying whatever we can. Weneed to play some teams whichare a little bit weaker to imple-ment attacking ideas and (need)some games against equal teams.

“It is also important to findopponent who are a little bit bet-ter, who will help us to speed upthe pace of the game, the deci-sion making, the passing andreceiving and all that you needto do.

“Even if we prepare theteam now with good endurancetraining, we need to put all thetraining into the game,” headded. Dennerby said the targetis to reach the quarterfinals ofthe continental showpiece.

“We will put in a hugeeffort to reach the knock outstage that means going into the

quarterfinals and if we can dothat it will be successful tour-nament for us.”

“We have a good squad, wehave different types of player. Wehave good defenders, strongone on one players etc.”

Talking about the prepara-tion, Dennerby said “We havebeen in camp for about threeand a half weeks now. A nor-mal week for us is 11 sessions,the girls are working veryhard. “It’s only five and ahave months for theAFC women’s champi-onship. We have a long-time plan also we can’tdo everything in thefirst week, we can’t over-load the work, we are try-ing to increase the load gradually,” he added.

� ��� �/%�"-

Erling Braut Haaland scoredtwo goals on Saturday as

Borussia Dortmund twice camefrom behind to seal a thrilling4-3 win at Bayer Leverkusen togo second in the Bundesliga ongoal difference.

The Norwegian striker’sbrace in Leverkusen means hehas now scored eight goals inhis last five games for club andcountry having also netted ahat-trick against Gibraltar in aWorld Cup qualifier.

The 21-year-old scored fivetimes in three qualifiers over thelast ten days having also nettedfor Dortmund in a 3-2 win overHoffenheim a fortnight ago.

Haaland has scored 13goals this season — five forNorway and eight forDortmund.

In Leverkusen, teenage

Germany international FlorianWirtz put the hosts ahead, thenset up team-mate Patrick Schickfor their side’s second to makeit 2-1 at the break after Haalandhad earlier headed Dortmundlevel.

Haaland then set up JulianBrandt to put Dortmund onlevel terms early in the secondhalf only for Leverkusen’sMoussa Diaby to put the hosts3-2 up with 35 minutes left.

Dortmund levelled for athird time through RaphaelGuerreiro before Haaland putthe visitors ahead 13 minutesbefore the whistle when heconverted a penalty after a foulon Marco Reus.

Wolfsburg consolidatedfirst place in the league tablewith a 2-0 win at newly-pro-moted Greuther Fuerth andBayern Munich beat RB Leipzig4-1 at Red Bull Arena.

+�������� ���67�������������

� ��� ��%"�

Ander Herrera scored twiceas Paris Saint-Germain

defeated promoted Clermont4-0 on Saturday in the absenceof Lionel Messi and Neymar,both rested after their exer-tions this week in World Cupqualifying.

The Spanish midfieldernodded PSG in front at theParc des Princes on 19 min-utes and then fired in a secondfrom close range on the half-hour.

Kylian Mbappe, whoshook off a calf injury pickedup on international duty withFrance, raced clear of the

Clermont defence to addPSG’s third before Idrissa

Gueye headed in a fourth.Mauricio Pochettino’s

team made it five wins fromfive in Ligue 1, stretchingtheir lead to five points overAngers, who take on strug-gling Brest on Sunday.

Clermont, playing in thetop flight for the first time,entered the weekend a sur-prising third, and unbeatenafter two wins and two draws.

But the visitors were with-out forward Mohamed Bayo,the Guinea striker ruled out ofthe game after the coup d’etatin the African country delayedhis return to France.

Italy goalkeeper GianluigiDonnarumma made his firststart for PSG since signingfrom AC Milan.

� ��� -���/�

Kalidou Koulibaly madesure that Juventus’ miser-

able start to the season contin-ued on Saturday with the latewinner in a 2-1 triumph forNapoli that put them top ofSerie A.

Senegal defenderKoulibaly knocked home thewinning strike from practical-ly on the goal line with fiveminutes to go at the StadioDiego Armando Maradona tomaintain Napoli’s 100 percentstart and move them threepoints clear in first place.

Matteo Politano levelledfor Luciano Spalletti’s sidejust before the hour markafter Alvaro Morata had put adepleted Juve ahead early on.

Defeat for MassimilianoAllegri’s Juve drops themdown to 16th place in Italy’stop flight after a second

straight defeat which leavesthem with a single point fromtheir first three matches.

Lazio, Inter Milan, Romaand AC Milan will attempt tomaintain their perfect startswhen they play on Sunday.

Juve had come into thematch against one of theirfiercest rivals off the back of

an embarrassing home defeatto Empoli and the suddendeparture of CristianoRonaldo before the interna-tional break.

In Saturday’s early game,Venezia got their first pointsof the season after runningout 2-1 winners at fellow pro-moted team Empoli.

����� -/0��/�'"

The country’s premier foot-ball tournament, Indian

Super League (ISL) is set tointroduce a 9:30 pm kick offtime for its weekend doubleheaders in the upcoming2021-22.

It is learnt that ISL, organ-ised and promoted by FootballSports Development Limited,for the first time in its sevenyears history will attempt fora late evening weekend kickoffs.

“The league had informedclubs on the possible changeto the weekend double head-er start,” confirmed an ISLclub source.

“From players point ofview, the 9:30 pm will be amuch-welcomed decision as itwill bring respite from thesweltering humidity,” thesource added.

While the regular week-day fixture will be a 7:30 pmstart, the double headers onweekends, which until lastseason were a 5:30 pm feature,will now move to 9:30 pmstart.

“The league is likely toannounce 2021-22 fixture byearly next week,” informedanother source while con-firming change in the week-end double header.

ISL now runs fromNovember to March, with anincreased matches to 115involving 11 clubs.

The league has selectedGoa to conduct the upcoming2021-22 season commencingNovember 19. The tourna-ment will be held behindclosed doors at three stadiumsuntil March 2022.

������������ ��� !"#��������� � �������� ������$����

��&� -��&�2<� &��&� 3����#:

������������������������������������� ����&��������������-����+����� I����+.����&

�%� �� ���������� �� ��

�������>��!�����:/�����+�����������)�F��� ��������)������������� ������������������0�����������������������$��&���������� ������� I�������

/�� �!�������������������/� � �

London: Arsenal eased the pressure on under-fire manager MikelArteta and earned their first Premier League win of the seasonafter Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang sank Norwich 1-0 onSaturday. The Gunners captain’s 66th-minute winner releasedthe tension that had been bubbling up inside the EmiratesStadium and lifted his team off the foot of the table.

Arsenal broke their Premier League duck 24 minutes fromtime in chaotic circumstances.

Pepe saw his effort tipped onto the post by Krul and hit thepost again in a rebound tussle with Williams before Aubameyangtucked away the loose ball for his fifth goal in his last three gamesagainst Norwich.

Referee Michael Oliver confirmed the goal to Norwich’s furyafter a VAR review, with relieved Arsenal fans ironically chant-ing “We are staying up”. Aubameyang, Emile Smith Rowe andPepe all had chances to put the game to bed but Arsenal heldout for a much-needed win. AP

#��������������������������2G������������� ���������,���������

0�� ���)����:����6������

%������������� �������� �

����#������������%�����(�����

����� �8D4��U�� �����

����������=���

Sao Paulo: Brazilian footballlegend Pele remains in inten-sive care but is making a satis-factory recovery after undergo-ing surgery for a suspectedcolon tumor, his doctors saidon Friday.

Pele’s medical team at theAlbert Einstein Hospital inSao Paulo said in a statementthat he was “actively convers-ing and displaying vital signswithin normal range.”

Pele, 80, took to Instagramto reassure his fans.

“My friends, with eachpassing day I feel a little better.I’m looking forward to playingagain, but I’m still going torecover for a few more days,” hesaid. AFP

3�7!�7 /��� !"#$�0�&�"��) 0�&��1�2%�'�34��4543

Film festival and that too inthe Capital? That’s a bitstrange and unheard of. Butthe present pandemic hasthrown a curveball and the

fact that The Great Indian FilmFestival (TGIFF), a touring film fes-tival, a cultural initiative that aims tobring the different cultures of theworld together on a single platformmaking art and cinema reach one andall, was organised in New Delhi wasdefinitely good news for cinemabuffs.

Initially, the TGIFF’s first seasonwas to happen on March 27-28, 2021in Mumbai as it's the film capital ofIndia. Unfortunately, because of thepandemic and the second wave hittingus just at that point in time, it had tobe postponed. “Mumbai is still notopen to movies in theatres and we hadto do justice to our filmmakers whohad waited for the entire year for theirfilms to be screened. So, the momentwe got a window in Delhi through thePVR cinema, we decided that weshould give filmmakers an opportu-nity to talk about their creation,”Vevek Paul, founder TGIFF, says.

Who said only a feature film couldmake for a great movie with a mes-sage or an award-winning film? A filmas short as that can be shot on amobile phone can also have an amaz-ing story to tell, a story that could bean Academy Award winner. Pauldecided to start a film festival of hisown when his short films got accept-ed by the international film festivalsand one of them called Feast, wasselected at the Vancouver film festi-val and was also screened. It was hishigh!

“I was so thrilled that a very shortfilm or a micro-short film can also beplayed in the theatre. People gavereviews on it and it made me happy.

That day, I decided that I would liketo have a festival of my own. I wantto make sure that the films arescreened at the best venues in theworld,” Paul tells you.

TGIFF started as an open frameat a co-working space in Gurugram,where people would come out everyFriday and Saturday to enjoy films.Few films were curated to be shownto the public and few award-winningshort films from all over the worldwere screened. Every weekend, Pauland the team would have outings forfilmmakers, film enthusiasts. It was avalidation platform, he started receiv-

ing films from many countries.“I would take feedback from the

audiences and send it back to thefilmmaker. And in 2020, we official-ly opened the festival to the world. Itwas heartening to see that in the firstyear itself, I received close to 120 filmsfrom all over the world,” Paul tells you.

A lot goes into deciding the bestmovie when you have some great sto-ries from around the world under dif-ferent categories. There are certainparameters set by the judges onwhich a movie is selected to bescreened. A one minute film can alsogive a strong message as a 15 or 20-

minute film could do. “As a festival,our responsibility is to give the film-makers a platform. We have aboutseven categories in which we receivethese short films, starting from doc-umentaries to under 60 minutes to aone minute film,” he explains.

The Oscars is something thateverybody looks up to but in the caseof short films, not many people areaware that the Oscars also has a cat-egory for short films. In this seasonof TGIFF, the short film ‘TheNeighbors' Window’ was chosen as anopening film because the subject wasvery appealing in the times that we areliving in right now. The film is direct-ed by Marshall Curry and won anOscar last year.

“This movie came our way as ithad won Oscar last year. It is a storyof a couple who lives by looking at thewindow of the neighbours and thetimes that we have lived in because oflockdown, it was coincidentally avery good choice for us to have it asan opening film,” Paul tells you.

Watching movies is not just aboutpassing time, it is about understand-ing the story, learning something outof it and understanding the creative-ness and efforts put into it by a film-maker. Paul, who received 110 filmslast year for TGIFF, watched all ofthem. “Once you watch them, you feellike watching the other films becauseall these films are so different and asa filmmaker and a producer, it satiatesmy appetite looking at these films,” hesays.

The next event will be held inDubai and they will also have a mid-year event coming because they areworried that the number of films thatthey are receiving, they might not beable to do justice to all of them if theirmission is to screen only through thebigger venues.

�����

.��@�,�� ����������/�����

0� �� �����������������:���������� ��������������������

*��������������� �$����� � �$���� �$� �(���������� ������� ����������������������!��������&����(�������� ���� �������� ��� ��� ��������������� ��������� �����������������������P������� ������������ ��� ������ ��� �����!

< ��������� ������� �� ������ ��%�&�� ������!�������������������������������������������������������������������������������!�"�� �������� ������� �� ����� �� ���������������(���������������� ������������������������!�< ���� ������������� ��������������������������������������������������(�����������������'�����������������������. �F�������� �$������!

�&�����(���������K����� ���������� �����������������������!�< ����� �������������� ���� �� ������������������������!�< ������������������"���� ��������� ������ ��� � �����������:�����U��������������!��������� ���� ����������������������������������"��� �� ������� �� ��������� �������(������!V

� How did you come onboard for Panipat?

When I made my debut aslead with Everest made byAshutosh Gowariker. Panipat ishis project as well. He calledhim and said that he had a partfor me — Shamsher Bahadur,Baji Rao I and Mastani’s son. Ithought it was a great part. I didtested with him as well. Itmakes it possible to find out ifyou can kill the part. I amhappy that I was able to crackit.�Was acting always on thecards?

No. I was studying to be anengineer. I was a good student.For pocket money, I starteddoing modelling. That’s how itall started. But after Everest, Istudied acting.�You got the Best Fresh Faceby Luon Gold Awards andStar Guild Award for yourrole in Everest. What wasyour reaction?

When you are from Jammu

and manage to get a role in aseries like Everest and themusic is by Mr AR Rahman; allthese things are big for a new-comer. I was not even thinkingabout what would happen afterthe show. I was concentratingon how good I can be here. Tobe in screen on biggies, therewas a bit of pressure. I was noteven thinking about whataward I would get. I am grate-ful that I got it.� From Jammu to Mumbai,how has the journey been?

My journey has beensmooth. I have turned downmany reality show. I knowwhat kind of projects I want todo and what I don’t want to do.I am a committed actor andenjoy playing different people;that’s my craft. The TV seriesthat I did were made by film-makers. Yes, there are hard-ships when you don’t get a partbut one has to be emotionallystrong. � You are an avid traveler.

How are you managing thiswith the pandemic?

I definintely travelled a lotduring the pandemic, withinthe country of course. I went tothe North-east for the firsttime. I was so impressed with

the places I visited; the peopleare warm and welcoming.Whichever city I visited, whatwas stark was how clean thesewere. The people was so sofisti-cated. I went to Rajasthan andvisited Delhi, Goa andBenguluru as well. Of course,all throuhg I carried a bottle ofsanitiser. Most hotels were par-ticular with sanitising therooms. Taking the precautionshas kept me negative till now.� You love to make stylestatement. what does fashionmean to you?

Fashion is about beingyourself. I hate it whrn peoplefollow trends blindly. I am notsaying don’t follow them but atthe same time, it is importantto stay real and be unique.Whatever is your inner per-sonality is, it is important tobring it out through fashion.Being an artist, fashion is a wayof showcasing your art; it isabouting showcasing your per-soanlity and mood.

%/710�%/0/�71@/"�*�(���� �*����� !���� � � �� "�����*��(� -%7/0121 %/5%&2/ �� �-(�-������#� -���������&����� ���#����� ����-�� �*���(-���� ���������

%�#���

������ �!"

< ���������������������� ������������������������������ ����W�������������� ��

���������������(����� ������������������������������������ ����$��� �����!����������������������������� ������� �������������� �������������������������� ���(�������!

���������������(���� ���������P�������������(������������$������� ���������������$��� ���������� ��!�<�:������������� ����� �����(�����$����������������P����������� ������������������������������$��� ����������� ��������� ����������������������� �����$������� ������� �����(���������������������� ���� ������������������� ���� �������������!

������������������������������� ���������������������������� ���� ���������� �����������������������������������!

J���������!!�����''����)������������������)�#>��""�������� �����������������

3������� ���������������� ������$��������������� �(���������

��������� ����� ������ ��$����������������������������������������� ������������ ������������ ������ �(��!

"�����������������������(����� ������� �������� ������!����������������� ���� �������������P�����������!�'���(��� ���������������� ���� ������U������������:����� �������������!�"��������������������������������������������������(�������������� ���!�< ������� ��������������������!�0 ������������������ � ���������������������������� ���� ������������������!

�How did you come on board with theshow Mauka-E-Vardaat?

I have been very close friends withthe producer Arav. He was look-

ing for someone to spice up theshow. I was a little apprehensive

because I have done a showcalled Shapath a couple ofyears back. But it was moreof a fantasy show whereyou had superheroes ver-sus super villains. It wasliked by the kids verymuch because we had anIndian version of Supercops and fighting withsuper powers is some-thing very exciting.Mauka-E-Vardaat ismore of a realisticshow and is more con-nected to emotions.

�What made you sayyes to the series?

I have been away from televisionfor quite sometime so, I thought itwould be a good break for me. I hadenough time and it also offered megood pay.

�We haven’t seen you doing manymovies. Why?

Nothing much has happenedfrom the last two years and the lastfilm I shot was three years back.Four years back I got more into

events, shows and public speaking, I

didn’t have much time. In the film industryeverything seems to be changing nowbecause of the OTT platforms coming indue to COVID-19. There is nothing hap-pening in the film fraternity right now.And whatever is happening is beingreleased on OTT platforms. I think I stillneed to take some time to make the rightdecision.

�You do stunts by yourself. What kindof preparation do you do?

To be honest, I have reached that stageof my life where I kind of switch on andswitch off because in television there is notmuch preparation you need to do.Moreover, there are certain things youneed to follow. First, you need to knowyour lines, second is that there is a specificexpression you need to keep while you areplaying a character because everybody isfighting against the time because theepisode needs to go, there is a telecastissue. Television is now like a newspaper,which you read and throw away. But yes, itis a medium where you reach out to peoplein various parts of the country and aroundthe world. So, I would definitely love to bea part of it.

�What is the attraction of doing stuntsyourself?

I am a very physical person and a lotinto physical activities. I play every kind ofsport, I swim, I cycle, I do horse riding.There are action directors and stuntmenavailable but I like to do my own actionbecause I am a very physically fit person.

������������� �������������������������������-���5-� ���0�������(�����"��������������������������������$�*����?��#�� A����������������%-������%�*����������������� ������������������������ �������������

"�'�=/�%/��'/��<'�<�<�./�3)��2��")/�0'/%/�"*"-��3)��0"<�'�3-��-��0"<�'�3))��/��#�/�"-

</�/="�"3-�<'/%/�"��-3<�#�'��%/��%�<"3-�23#

-//��<3��3!�<'/%/��%/��/%<�"-

<'"-.��23#�-//��<3)3��30!�)"%�<��23#�-//�

<3�*-30�23#%��"-/���/�3-��"��<'�<�<'/%/�"�����/�")"��/R�%/��"3-

23#�-//��<3�*//�

#$#��%��$#��������

�������� � ��� ���� �� � �� �� �������������� � �������������������� � ������

1)0082))+�9$1,-���!����:-������������;������� ������:����'�(�������(���;(�����(�����"�����:%������"��;(���:#����'���������������;<������=��:(���!��(�����;

,>?0$��9$>?0$���@�8���:�������;-�������2����?��)��:�������+���;�������0�!��8���:"����;#����������:,��������;0�!��"�%������������:1���+���;

=#�+��&�&���+����� ������#����0��&���������0

���

$�&���&���"�

�-����133������ �������� ���� �����(� -�� ������ ��#� ���-��#���� -�'��� ��� -� ����- ��� ������ -��(��#� �� -������������� ���#��� ������� ������-�#����A�%+�)1@/�)/$&%7� �����!� ��

����������!���F'�)�=�'!��>��!

������*������������� ����$��������� ������������������

��������$��;.�����;����;*�$;������ ���������:���� ������;"�;��3(��;!

<��$���� ���� �� ����������;"�;��3(��;�� ���� �������� ������������������� �(������������� ������������� ������V;"�;��3(��;���������� � �������������������� ���������!�"���������� ��$������� ������������� ��(��������������������������"����(�����:�������������!�"����������� ���������������������������������� ������������������������� ���������������(��������� ��!���������������� ���������������&������������������ � ���������� �(�������������� ����������������� ���������!V��� �� !

�� � ��������������������������������������

�� � ���������������������������������������

���!' �%<��-���"-/���)3%����

"<�0��'/�%</-"-.�<3�//�<'�<�"-�<'/)"%�<�2/�%"<�/�)��"�%/�/"=/���3�/�<3�47G)"����)%3�����3=/%�<'/�03%���

������������

������������������

�����������������

We have seen the world trans-form remarkably in the lastone and a half years. The post-Covid-19 world has taught usto cope up with our mental,

physical and emotional health as part of ourdaily routine.

One key trend that emerged was the grow-ing conscious awareness towards getting fit.From Generation X and Y to Generation Z andAlpha, everyone took to the ground and homearena to establish a regime to get healthy, whileencouraging others to follow suit. Social mediastreams and communities became the virtualground for people from different demograph-ics registering their journey of enrolling with aFittr coach to transform their lifestyles. Manycouples started their fitness journey by pro-moting body positivity and highlighting fitnessas a form of couple therapy, sharing#CoupleFitnessGoals and inspiring others tojoin their fitness expedition which the fitnesssector could attest!

The fitness community in India hasevolved rapidly with an advent of a buddingecosystem consisting of vigilant consumers, fit-ness service providers coupled by governmentinitiatives. However, the idea of a healthy mindin a healthy body is not new to Indians —yoga, akhadas, ayurveda, and meditation havealways been a part of our culture. With globali-sation and ease in the availability of informa-tion, traditional practices and exercises arebeing reinforced and supplemented by a mod-ern, dynamic, and rising fitness industry inIndia.

As per a report by Redseer Consulting, thecountry’s fitness industry, which includesequipment, sportswear, fitness services, andrecreational sports was valued at US$12 billionin 2018.

Recent industry reports from FICCI, E&Y,Redseer Consulting, Global Wellness Institute,and IHRSA & Fitternity on the fitness servicessegment estimate that there are six millionactive users spending on an average US$350 toUS$400 annually towards fitness services,amounting to a US$2.6 billion market size.

The overall fitness industry is expected togrow at an annual rate of 27 percent and touchthe US$32 billion mark by 2022, of which fit-ness services (like gyms, slimming services,and formats like zumba, aerobics, crossfit, etc.)will contribute around US$6.6 billion.

����������� �������������������� � ���������������������������

As we continue to grapple with the effectsand after-effects of the pandemic, there isnow a new breed of fitness enthusiasts thathave come into the fold. According to a 2020report, 77% of Indians tried staying fit bycombining household chores with virtualclasses and DIY home workout routines.With gyms and fitness centers closed, limitedspace to exercise indoors and lack of gym-like-set up with little to no access to fitnessequipment, being innovative to stay fitbecame the need of the hour. With fitnessapps such as Fittr and others in play, finding

the right exercise, coach, diet as per one’sneed has become seamless.

From terraces and living rooms, any placewith good connectivity that allowed for liveonline coaching became everyone’s very ownprivate fitness centre! Fitness coaches becamecreative, curating routines with exercises thatwere adapted to these environments.

����������� ����������� �����������������

With the threat of the virus still at largeand easy access to online training sessions,workouts-at-home have become the pandemicfitness trend, leading to a sharp boom for thevirtual fitness industry and diverse offeringsfor consumers. As per a survey conducted,84% of fitness enthusiasts tried live-streamingfitness classes at least thrice during the lock-down.

Along with online offerings, there’s alsobeen an increase in demand of fitness acces-sories and equipment such as yoga mats,dumbbells, among others. People have recog-nised need of inculcating quantified nutritionand physical exercises in their lifestyle and areincreasingly becoming more aware and con-scious about their health and are looking atvarious alternatives to integrate fitness intotheir lives.

With fitness industry seeing one of thebiggest leaps to online development andbecoming almost entirely digital, the need forfitness specialists and nutritionists haveincreased. Keeping in mind the prevailing sit-uations, fitness specialists have also equippedthemselves with the craft of world wide weband have quickly modified their offerings toonline. In no time, online fitness coaching hasbecome a lucrative business and an alternativecareer option with many applying to becomea certified trainer and even earn specializedfitness certificates by taking online fitnesscourses.

One of the major reasons for digital fitnessindustry booming is that people now under-stand the perks of working out at home in one’sown comfortable space. It’s almost like havingyour personal trainer with you at your homewith:

��Time not being an issueThe excuse that ‘I don’t get time to work

out because of a hectic work schedule’ is nolonger applicable. Previously, while going toand from the gym or a studio was time-con-suming, making it difficult to commit to adaily workout, is no longer an issue anymore!With virtual workouts, you have the leisure ofworking out at your own convenience andtherefore, find the time to insert a sweat ses-sion in your routine. So, no more excuses, allyou have to do is leave them behind, put onsome comfy clothes, set up your mat and turnon your fitness app.

��No more hassle to finding a perfect gymThe hassle to find a gym accommodating

your health goals, budgets and within proximi-ty is no longer a challenge. With virtual fitness

you have a gym right in the comfort of yourhome! All one needs to do is find a comfort-able spot, place your smartphone, laptop, ortablet, option and start working out. You canalso take your workout with you outside, onvacation, to a friend’s house or in your own liv-ing room.

��No peer pressureWhen you exercise amongst a bunch of fit-

ness fanatics at a studio or a gym, for begin-ners especially, it can be an intimidating expe-rience. By working out virtually, much of thatpressure dissipates since you’re only competingwith yourself!

��A community can help build disciplineEspecially for beginners finding discipline

is very important. Once you are disciplinedwith your routine and you start seeing results,motivation will follow. In the beginning per-suading oneself to lace up sneakers and get thebody moving can be challenging. That’s wherevirtual trainers and communities can help gen-erate discipline, passion, guidance, and sup-port, which will amplify your drive. Such fit-ness communities help in becoming moreinvested in your workout so that you are morelikely to show up for the next one. A studyfrom the University of Michigan discoveredthat individuals who worked out virtuallydemonstrated more motivation and performedbetter than those who worked out alone.

��Workouts are boring? Nah!Following the same routine and frequent

exercises can become monotonous and makeyou lose interest. Fitness historically has been amotivating light, bringing in discipline, focusand camaraderie in some cases. Overcoming astale workout routine can be simple. You canswitch up exercises, change exercise order, ormodify activity targeting that muscle you areworking on or your aim.

Moreover, online tools and platforms likeZoom, YouTube, Fittr and Instagram haveincreasingly united a wave of virtual fitnesscommunities in the last eighteen months.Lockdowns even forced people to adapt theirliving spaces to support home fitness routines,allowing people to create new groups, invitefamilies and loved ones for engaging fitnesssessions.

��Easy access to qualified instructorsProfessional guidance is very important to

help you chalk out your fitness regime. Withvirtual programs, exercises to nutrition intakehave been detailed out craft fully by your per-sonal coaches for you to get the most out ofyour workout.

���������� ���� ��������������� ��������������

The emerging trend of online fitness class-es has also made us realise that a person does-n’t need to travel anywhere to stay fit. Anyonecan perform exercises anywhere in the worldand your favourite fitness regime is just a clickaway. But will the increase in live streaming ofworkout sessions and the ever-increasing risein the number of home workout and fitnessapps affect the future of people going to thegym?

Personally, I don’t see that happening. I seethe future as a blend of both digital and physi-cal. It is also the testament of how the generalthinking around fitness has expanded. Besidesworkout arenas and gyms are places wherepeople meet, socialise, and even form friend-ships. In a post-pandemic world, I see peoplewanting to meet — and the gym is a great wayto start. However, gym packages will be a com-bination of physically visiting the gym, onlineclasses, and a personal trainer coming home.

The writer is the author of Lose Fat, Get Fittrand Founder & CEO, Fittr

3-/�3)�<'/����3%%/��3-��)3%��"."<��

)"<-/���"-�#�<%2�33�"-.�"��<'�<

�/3��/�-30#-�/%�<�-��<'/

�/%*��3)�03%*"-.3#<��<�'3�/�"-�3-/;�

30-��3�)3%<���/����/!�"<;�����3�<�"*/�'�="-.�23#%�/%�3-���<%�"-/%0"<'�23#��<�23#%

'3�/�

����#%���)�'�������>%)��%<��##;#�����&�/��G������)>����#)8)'��

;#������<�%8��)8�?�'�(A�;#��)�"��)8

��� �6��,������������ ���������� �� /����� ��� ���,����������.�������� ��7�����$�� �

= � � > � ? � � � � � � �

1%���%�!'�<�)#�)��#)<��(�G������')�A�)�%G�);'��&��'�)�(�G����A%���%��%'�'�)>��<<)G)��'#A�'%���<%#��'���;%:���:)'�)�

��������������������������

< ������������������������������� ��

���������������� ���������,���������

���(������� �������������!�2������(�����

���������������&��������$������������

�"</-�%���'3#*�/2

3���� ������������ ����������� ����������������� ���� ������������!��������� �������� �������� ������������������(������ ������:�������������������� ����������� ����� �������!�< ����������(������������������� ��������������:���������������� ��� ����������� ���������������P��$����������� ��(������ ����������������������:��������������� ������������� �������������������������������:����!

< �������������(��������� ���������������&����������������������������������� ����(������� �������P��� ����� � �������������������!������������� �����������������������������(��������������(������$����������������!�< �������������� ���� ����������� ��������������������!�< ������������(����������������� �������������P��������������������� ������������������ ���� �!�

<���(����&������������:������������ ���������������������� ����������������:����� ������ �������������������������!"����������&�������������� ������������&������B�� <�$���(�����������������������������

��������������������������������$���!� ������������������������������������������

� ��������������� �������������� ���:��D���!��/(�������������D�������������������

�(��������� ������� ��������� ������������������ ���� �����!�"��������(������ �(� ����� ���������������&�����������&�����������������(�� �������������������������������� �������:�����������(������������������������!�������$������������������ ������������������������ �����������������&�����������������������������������������&��������� ������������!

� ? � � + � � � @ � � � � � > � � �

FITNESSHOMEEMERGENCE OF

������������

������������ �����������������

0'/-�23#��%/�/-<'#�"��<"���3#<�0'�<�23#��3��23#)//��<'"���3�"<"=/�/-/%.2!

"<;��=/%2��"���/T���#�3��3/�'3

?�����&#��&�%��3����<'�*

Life and death are the two sides of the same coin. Theycomplement each other. They complement one anoth-er. It was this reality that Lord Krishna explained to

Arjun in the Gita when he says that one that is born is cer-tain to die at a predestined time. And one who dies is boundto be born again. All living beings of this world before theirbirths were unmanifest, that is, without the physical bod-ies. In death they again become unmanifest or without thephysical bodies. The physical body is merely an intermedi-ary stage. The soul is defined as unmanifest, beyond imag-ination and faultless. As a man discards old, worn out clothesand puts on new ones, similarly the soul leaves the old, agedbody and gets into a new one. It does not die when the bodyperishes. It is eternal, omnipresent, immortal and stable. Thiseternal lesson of Bhagwad Gita gives an answer to the biggestmystery of life and death. Swami Prabhupada opined thatlife is a question none can answer and death is an answernone can question. But still death is grieved by all. That isthe mystery of life. We don’t want our near and dear onesto depart from this world though we all know that death isa necessary end that will come when it will come. That isthe weakness of human nature. We know that death isinevitable. Yet, we do not like death. This is natural. The inde-structibility of soul is something that does not give any kindof solace to human beings as we know that one who hasdeparted will never come back. Yes, it is a hard fact, the mostdifficult reality of life. It is this reality that we have to facetime and again but coping with it even after knowing it isnot easy. It is this issue that is the most difficult to resolve.The sad news of the demise of a dear friend, Dr. ChandanMitra, was something that put me in a similar predicament.It was sudden and had a big impact. True, it would have givena similar impact to many people, and for a number of rea-sons, all equally genuine. But my case was different. A goodfriend, a noted journalist, and of course, a known person-ality who also was close to me were definitely there at theback of the mind as the reasons that caused pain. But therewas another very significant reason. He was the person behindthe idea of this Hidden Souls, the column that I have beenwriting religiously for around a decade. We had been dis-cussing about this idea of starting a column on spirituality,values and ethics on many occasions that we met. And thensuddenly, after a gap of some twenty days or so I received acall from him that we are going ahead. Had it not been forhim, Hidden Souls would have remained hidden from thereaders even today. It was an idea with a laudable objective.To sensitise readers on issues that stir the soul, make themlook inwards and bring about an awakening to create a bet-ter society. It was an attempt with a lofty objective and it didbring about some encouraging responses from not only dif-ferent parts of the country but many corners of the globe.Though Dr. Mitra is not present with his physical body, hispresence will be felt. The soul lives on.

!���+��������� ������� �����������)�&�����)�����������������������������+��9�1������������������������+9���I�����9���

This article is in the Indian context,because of our widespread aware-ness about God, soul, etc. Then,

why aren’t so many spiritualistsamongst us? There are several reasons.The first and the most basic one is notrealising what one is missing.

We are born in material bodies, andfrom then on we identify ourselves asmaterial bodies only. Spiritualitychanges everything. Spirituality rein-forces the knowledge/reminds us thatwe are spirits or souls. One of the basicqualities of the soul is consciousness.A conscious entity will not be oblivi-ous of its own reality. Spiritualityworks as a mirror in the sense that itshows the true picture. Why don’t wewant to see the true picture? Becausethe identity of being a soul requires usto connect to the whole, who is God,and that requires ‘tapasya’. We wouldrather live in ignorance, because wedon’t wish to give up our unlimiteddesires for lustful enjoyments.

This is bad enough but worse is forthose who are engaged in sinful acts.They are not oblivious of the fact thatthese sinful acts will be punished as perthe ‘karmaphala’ principle. All acts arebeing duly recorded. A time of reckon-ing will come. But they will rather benot reminded of the harsh reality.Spirituality will shake them.

There are some other reasons aswell for shunning spirituality or specif-ically God. ‘Ahankar’ (ego) is a bigspoiler. Though ego is an intrinsic partof the human body, it is used in a wrongway. We need to have this feeling thatI must do what I have to, who else? Butwe go wrong when we begin to thinkthat we are better than other people orbegin to think and talk too much about

ourselves. In this mindset, where is aplace for God. Ravana, before dying,famously said that ahankar was thecause of his undoing. Bad company isanother reason. Because when weinteract with anyone, something of usrubs on that person and vice versa. Inbad company one justifies whatever oneis. Then, where is the chance of chang-ing, which is required for the progresson the spiritual path?

Some people don’t try, because spir-ituality is somewhat of an unknown ter-ritory, though as souls it shouldn’t be.Here again identifying self as a mate-rial body is a big hindrance. Don’t westruggle for quarter of our lives just tobe able to earn our living? Then, whyshould spirituality, which brings enor-mous rewards, be so easily attainable.Similarly, gains in spirituality are sub-tle, unlike material achievements,which are gross and visible to our sens-

es. But those who practice spiritualitycan sense that they are progressing,because God responds. He has to, oth-erwise how else will we make the nec-essary efforts, or more specifically do‘tapasya’. When we don’t embrace spir-ituality, we hurt ourselves badly, espe-cially in old age when we need God themost. The human life has been divid-ed in four parts and the last part ismeant specifically to pursue spiritual-ly. Shelter of God is absolutely essen-tial then, when the body begins toweaken or gets stricken with some dis-eases. God can help and does help.Spiritualists never suffer ‘durgati’ (endup badly). The Lord has given a spe-cific promise that His devotees neverperish. (9.31) But will we ignore themirror and go on living a life of delu-sion? ����������������������&�����������������������

������������I����������9���

It is explained by KavirajGoswami and the previousacharyas that Krishna has threeprimary energies. His internalenergy, which is his spiritual

energy. His external energy or mater-ial energy and the marginal energywhich is the part and parcels spirit soulsthat are eternally sub-ordinate to oneof these two energies as tatatha shak-ti. The living entity must be a servantunder the subjugation of either theinternal energy or the external energy.

The internal energy is where theconstitutional nature of a jiva can befully expressed. The internal energy isthat which is eternal, full of knowledge,full of bliss. Where the bliss of lovingecstatic pastimes is all that takes placeforever. It is the land of unlimited hap-piness. The external energy is the landof exploitation. The land of envy andgreed.

And the Lord has explainedthrough his representatives that thisinternal energy has three principles:Sandini, Samvit and Hladini. TheSandini potency of the internal ener-gy of the Lord is that energy in whichthe Supreme Personality of Godhead

maintains all of existence. And theSamvit potency is that in which thesupreme Lord knows Himself andmakes Himself known to others. AndHladini potency is that potency whichgives the Lord unlimited eternal plea-sure and also gives all of His devoteesunlimited eternal pleasure. And it is forthe purpose of this Hladini shakti thatSandini and Samvit are manifested; areexisting. Because ultimately anandamayo abhyasat Krishna is anandamayi. That means he is the reservoirof all pleasure. And it is only for plea-sure that the Lord transcendentally per-forms his various functions and pas-times in the spiritual world.

Krishna is the supreme enjoyer. Hisenjoyment is the all and all of his exis-tence. And because Krishna is thesupreme enjoyer, the jivatma, which ispart and parcel of Krishna, our life andsoul is also to enjoy. We find the con-ditioned soul under the illusions of thisexternal energy. Every part of that soul’sexistence is simply to try to findenjoyment in one way or the other.Even when we make sacrifices and per-form great austerity it is ultimately forthe purpose of enjoyment. Even when

a man goes to the battlefield to die forhis country, it is so that he can enjoythe fact that his country would be freeand he has given his life for that pur-pose.

Factually, everything we do is forthe purpose of enjoyment. We havechildren for the purpose of enjoyment,we raise children for the purpose ofenjoyment. We go to work and sufferso many austerities for the purpose ofenjoyment. We even remain in thisbody and suffer birth, old age, diseaseand death just for the purpose of littleenjoyment. The whole existence of ourlife is to seek pleasure because we arepart of Krishna , because Krishna exis-tence is simply to taste pleasure, toenjoy pleasure.

But the illusion is we think we canenjoy apart from Krishna. But the nat-ural function of the pleasure seekingnature of the soul is to experienceunlimited pleasure in giving Krishnapleasure. When you water the root ofthe tree every part of the tree is satis-fied. Similarly, when we satisfy Krishnaautomatically our soul is satisfied, allthe Demi-Gods are satisfied, everyoneis satisfied. That if we surrender to

Mukunda we have no other responsi-bilities or duties to anyone because allobligations are fulfilled when we pleaseKrishna. Because He is the reservoir ofall pleasure which means that we canall derive unlimited pleasure fromKrishna just by pleasing him.

But where does Krishna get hispleasure from? This is the great ques-tion that Krishnadas Kaviraj Goswamiis herein explaining in such wonder-ful, wonderful shlokas. That thesupreme absolute truth is one. Thereis one God, there is not a second God.

Krishna says I am the source of allmaterial and spiritual existence.Everything emanates from me.

That Krishna is the supreme truth.There is no truth superior to Krishna.He is the supreme enjoyer. But wheredoes that one supreme truth andenjoyer get his enjoyment from?Obviously he gets it from himself.Because everything is contained with-in him, nothing exists separate fromHim.

Krishna has multifarious energies.We have described the principal three.And they have innumerable sub-divi-sions, but they are all Krishna , they areall within Krishna, they are all ofKrishna. So when Krishna wants toenjoy supreme bliss he is the supremeenjoyer, so in order for Him to enjoysupreme enjoyment He needs someonewho is supremely enjoyable. ThereforeKrishna expands Himself as His ownHladini shakti or pleasure potency. Andthe function of this pleasure potencyis to give Krishna unlimited pleasure.And in giving Krishna pleasure, thepleasure potency enjoys even greaterpleasure than Krishna. And in this rela-tionship of supreme pure spiritual plea-sure, Krishna becomes the reservoir ofall pleasure and then all living entities,all the jivatmas can derive unlimitedbliss from Krishna and he gets that blissfrom his eternal consort ShrimatiRadha Rani. She is the source of allpleasure. She is the source of all hap-piness. And just as Krishna expandsHimself in various avatars to enjoy var-ious rasas or pleasures at different timesand at different places and in differentmoods for all of eternity, similarlyShrimati Radha Rani, his pleasurepotency, expands alongwith Him.

When Krishna expands inVaikunta into Lord Narayan, ShriRadhika expands Herself as LaxmiDevi. Simply to give Narayan unlim-ited pleasure. Radha is the supremeenergy of Lord Krishna and accompa-nies Krishna in all his incarnations.This year on 14th Sept we celebrateRadhaAshtami the appearance day ofShrimati Radha Rani

"��&�����������������������������#������������ ������� ���'�������������������7# '<$8

�-�����������AAA

%���� ��� !"��� ����

*%"�'-��'���#�<")�%"3#�

/-/%."/�!�0/�'�=/�/��%"�/��<'/�%"-�"����<'%//!

<'/�/�'�=/"--#�/%���/��#�D�"="�"3-����#<�<'/2�%/�����*%"�'-��<'/2��%/����

0"<'"-�*%"�'-���<'/2��%/�����3)

*%"�'-�!!!

Many people dream ofowning an abode, butvery few are lucky

enough to make their dreamscome true. A house becomes ahome because of the memberswho live in it. However, yourarchitect plays a crucial role inthe happiness of your family.When the architect plans yourdream home, the small negli-gence of following Vaastu cancause profound joy or pain inyour life.

A Vaastu practice is mainlyfollowed to achieve overall well-being and prosperity. VaastuShastra architecture revolves

around the structure and designof a building. By having theright shape or shell, a home canchannel the right energy andprevent negativity from comingin. Vaastu principles are bestconducted using symmetrical orright-angled shapes, such as rec-tangles and squares. Houseswith these plot shapes are pros-perous and happy. Ancient sci-ence believes that irregular orcurved-shaped buildings (oval,circular, or semi-circular)restrict an individual’s growthand cause various health prob-lems, losses, and a general feel-ing of unhappiness in the indi-

vidual life. According to Vaastu

Shastra, spaces are organisedand shaped based on their func-tions and purposes within aroom, a structure, or a collectionof rooms. Vaastu Shastra hasbeen incorporated into thedesign of cities, towns, gardens,roads, and water systems, as wellas in cities, townships, play-rooms, offices, and prayerrooms.

Besides illustrating how tobuild a building, Vaastu offersguidelines for designing it. Anarchitect can play a vital role inyour happiness and prosperity

by following or not following theVaastu norms. As an Architect,you can look up to few factorswhile designing. In the contextof Vaastu Shastra, whichencourages positive energy flow,the setting of the house property— which identifies the locationand orientation of the livingspace — is crucial because itestablishes the flow of positiveenergy.

Vaastu Shastra says anydirection a home faces is good,whether it’s East, West, North, orSouth because every one ofthem has advantages but, anarchitect could look for some ofthe following instructions whiledesigning and planning:��Positioning the puja room inyour house affects prosperityand peace in the home.��A furniture arrangement caninfluence a room’s energy bal-ance, affecting health and men-tal wellbeing.��Health and happiness can beenhanced by placing mirrors inthe key locations in the home.��For healthy and hygienicenvironment water should beplaced correctly.��Choosing the right coloursfor every room in the house canalso affect the mood or feelingin the room and should be donewith care.

So, next time you look topurchase a property, ensure andcheck if your architect knowsthe basics of Vaastu and liveyour life with happiness.

The writer is an astrologer &Vaastu Consultant

��� ������������������������(���������������� �����!�������������������������������'�%2� ="-3��*#��%�3�'�

������ ����������������������������� ����� ������������!������������������������� ��� �(������������������������������"<�*#��%��"�'-3"

< ���������� �������(�����������������!�0���������(���������������������� ��&���� ��������� ���������%��'�-�<'��0��"

!'�&�"��&��"�'(��&

���������A���

������������������4�'����4

�%�)���)�"�'��';�%#%�"���"�)�<�)%�������>��8�G�'%��%�:)'��#�G9�%<G%8;�'��G)�����8�)�'����G��%<8�#���;')>�(���>)%��0���')8������:����'%����G��<%G��%�)��)>)���#��A��8)G%<��<<��������<%G��%��%G)�#)�?�')G�����)��H�)')��'��'�F�G��(�'��<��#)�"%<�"�)�<&��%#�')%��'%"�)�<���#�'��;�%(#�8�#)��)���#;)�"�G%�G�����)��)>)���#�'%(�G%8��8%��;%�'���%�������'���')G�����'�A�%�'��:���:�A�%<�F;��)��G)�"0G%88��)G�')�"����(�)�"&��%#�'���;�G'�%<�"�)�<�%�#���%'�(��)>%�G���<�%8�'��G%�'�F'�%<�'���:�%#�#)<������>)G��>���

''� �#�� "���

#����������������7�#������ ��������� �����)�Grief has been with us in

one guise or another allalong. Off and on, it has visit-ed all of us. Understandinggrief is concerned with one ofthe most intrinsic activities ofhuman mind, namely mentalevents or experiences thatcause grief. Grief, essentiallyspeaking, is a phenomenalexperience: a phenomenonconnoting a sense mind direct-ly takes note of. The concept ofgrief goads us to know not onlyhow mental activities occur orget altered during grief but alsohow it affects our physical andpsychological being. Grief pro-vokes more investigation intothe relationship between griefand facts of life. Let us look atthe wood instead of the trees.Simplicity eludes us in explain-ing most simplistic situations inlife. The objective of this arti-cle is to cover limited aspectsof grief related situations.

A friend of mine, inemployment almost a thousandmiles from his home town, onhis visit to home town, met hiselder brother who was grippedby severe physical problems.Elder brother requested forsome financial help. Youngerone obliged and promised himsome help in future. Monthslater, younger one kept hispromise and sent him someamount as per his financialcapacity through money order.With no mobiles/landline inthe house, he got no confir-mation. Moreover communi-cation with members of hishouse had significantlydeclined with yawning timegap as he was employed far off.But younger brother had noworries. Money had gone; itwould reach. Internet facilitywas yet to come to shape.Movement tracking was notpossible on the postal depart-ment website.

About a month later, themoney order came back with acryptic message. “Theaddressee expired six monthsback. Hence money returned.”Shock came to younger one intwo forms: first why none inthe family thought of inform-ing him of his brother’s death,and second: Did he delay hisaction in sending money to hisbrother? Could he present acoherent face to his relativesand friends? The aftermath ofan incident causing griefassumes greater significancewhile life is seemingly stabilis-ing once one travels long dis-tances from the time of inci-dent. But is it so?

Such incidents do occur toall of us reminding us ofPakistani poet Muneer Niyazi’s

poem: HAMESHA DER KARDETA HOON MAIN. Whatsensitive lines from a sensitivepoet!

“Hamesha der kar deta hunmain har kaam karne men,

Zaruri baat kahni ho, koivaada nibhana ho,

Use avaz deni ho, use vapasbulana ho,

hamesha der kar deta hunmain,

Kisi ko maut se pahle kisigham se bachana ho,

Haqiqat aur thi kuchh, usko jake ye batana ho,

Hamesha der kar deta hunmain har kaam karne men”.

The eminent poet harpedon the essence of time. Time iscrucial in rendering help to any.A person in need may not beable to tell of his woes nextmoment. Then only the hazeremains. To be more precisegrief or its remains: the haze ofgrief. Had money reached intime, would something betterhave occurred to the elderbrother? Would he have liveda few more months or years?Perhaps not. Nevertheless, griefovertook the younger brother.He had answers to none. Butthis element of grief stayed withhim throughout. It might bethat in no way, the eldestbrother was a pillar of youngerbrother’s existence. He was acomplete self-made man. Griefstrikes self-made men andwomen too. This incident tookplace almost twenty years backbut traces of devastated per-sonality of my friend are stilleasily perceptible.

Grief distorts the equani-mous infrastructure of life,though it is possible from out-side, a man’s face reveals noth-ing or he does not display anyouter disturbances when con-fronted with grief-causingepisodes. Many times clearimages of grief are not easilydiscernable from a man’s facewhich may harbour amongmany elements, sadness; anx-iety; distorted thoughts; dis-oriented realties; fear, tiredness,remains of last night’s dreamsand above all a sense of regret.Gloomy faces, social with-drawal, irritability, obsession-al worrying are part of pictureof grief. Alternatively said,these are the general contoursof grief. Of late psychologistshave reached some consensuson severe complexity of natureof grief. Individualistic char-acter of grief has narrow inter-pretative values. Grief hasmany consequences. One suchis kicking in of “fight or flight”behaviour with stress hor-mones flooding the body.Researchers have shown grief

has strong effect on grief-stricken people. It disturbs thelimbic system of the brainwhich controls memory andemotions. Resultantly the pre-frontal cortex which plays acentral role in cognitive controlfunctions like attention, cog-nitive flexibility, decision mak-ing, etc, roll back to backwater.Excessive grief causes an indi-vidual to experience feelings ofprofound sadness and depres-sion slowly leading to loneli-ness. Emptiness becomesprominent in his joyless lifewith significant slowing downof thought processes. Oftentimes he is visited upon by guiltof “unpardonable sins” like theyounger brother above. If thehaze of grief continues forbeyond a reasonable time andin a disproportionately greaterproportion, depressive patternsand other mental aberrationsraise their heads.

Grief has many ramifica-tions. What if a person isbereft of capacity to feel sorrowand grief or is unable to expressthese publicly? World is repletewith strange creatures and bythe same corollary strangeactions and reactions. Theprincipal character in AlbertCamus’s classic novel TheOutsider got a telegram inform-ing him of his mother’s death.The rest of the novel handlescharacter’s rendezvous with

the grief his mother’s deathcaused and its aftermath whichled to his refusal to tell lies, hisconfession of truth, then histrial and then punishment.During trail a barrage ofunpleasant questions he had toaccount for such as weather he“had displayed a lack of emo-tion” on the day of his moth-er’s death; if he “had felt anygrief ” on the day of funeral; ifhe “believed in God”; if moth-er’s death was “a personal sac-rifice for” him; if he had criedseeing his dead mother, etc.What followed his mother’sdeath were sequences centringon “grief ” but leading to otherdirections away from the prin-cipal theme of death and grief.The character chose to die forthe sake of truth: he refused tolie. He did face the haze ofhaunting grief before he wentto suffer punishment. Griefdoes not end instantaneously,it lasts. At times it is a life-timepunishment.

Vladimir Nabokov’s bookINSOMANIC DREAMS toomerits consideration. Nabokovwas a die-hard insomniac usinghigh and strong doses of med-ication for sliding into dream-less and soothing sleep. So hehad dreams at dawn just beforewaking up from restlessness ofdisturbed sleep throughout thenight. Then he had an enlargedprostate gland causing him

repeated urge to rush to loo forurination. These facts are bareminimum to see the context.Staying in a grand Swiss hotelin Montreux, Nabokov toyedwith an experiment. DuringOctober 14, 1964, to January 31965, immediately after wakingup, he recorded the rescuedportions of his dreams. Thusthis book is a dreamer’s log.What for? Next few days hewould search for somethingthat happened and had any-thing to do with his dreams. Hewas keen to put a theory toscrutiny. The theory believesdreams: fragmented, jumbledand mis-labelled, may not onlyrelate to past events like deathof a beloved one or divorce butcould be precognitive. Let uslook at following lines:

‘Got up, lay down, got upagain.

Daybreak, like death, drewnearer, creeping.

If I’ll keep going on with-out sleeping,

I shall complain.’ A closer look at the analy-

sis of his dreams unquestion-ably convinces readers thatdreams may be ornamentalconvolution of past and futureevents but in no less importantway, they bring readers close toNabokov’s personal world ofgrief, anxiety, pain, intensedepression and woes. It’s ananxious world: violent and

surreal. Grief-stricken peoplevery often see different types offear arousing, tormentingdreams an analysis of contentof which gives a graphic pictureof the internal upheavals ofsuch people. Sleeplessnessenhances problems further.

What causes grief andresultant mental issues is aquestion which has beensought to be answered by psy-chologists. Way back in 1959,psychiatrist Silvano Arietiattributed severe depressivereactions to three causativefactors: First, death of a lovedone (like the younger brother’sbrother); second, failure in apersonal relationship; andthird, a setback in the work towhich an individual has devot-ed significant portion of his life.These still remain three broadcategories, though one can addmany more to the list. Theseconditions first create griefand then lead to conduciveenvironment for aberrations inbehaviour. How long does grieflast? From a few days to years?When grief lasts for long time,it becomes a disease known asprolonged grief disorder justlike anxiety disorders requiringpsychiatric treatment.

One way to rescue oneselffrom severe consequences ofcontinuing grief (deep depres-sion, melancholy and otherpsychic issues) is to draw a bal-ance between seeking plea-sures from life and avoidingpain and discomfort. One hasto learn to perceive and copewith real-life situations: joyousor inevitable hurts. Neededsocial, emotional, intellectual,moral competencies have got tobe learnt though problem-solving and decision makingprocesses in life. This inabnormal psychology is called“the process of maturation”. Inan experiment, Harlow &Harlow observed that if infantmonkeys were subjected topartial deprivation, (they couldsee but not interact with othermonkeys), it would lead topermanent inadequacies insocial behaviour. To handlegrief, one needs to haverequired adequacies at one’scommand. If that is not avail-able, a person will not be ableto tackle stressful situationsstemming from grief and it, inturn, will pave the way forher/his disorganisation. Fearhas serious links with grief.

It is during infancy andearly childhood that fears areacquired as at that stage manyindividuals are helpless andcannot cope with externalthreats. Therefore, individualswho unfortunately don’t learn

needed competencies and ade-quacies to handle external dan-ger become vulnerable later.These competencies enable aperson to come out of whatpsychologists Woodworth andSchlosberg call “blindingeffect” or “functional fixidity”.“Blinding effect” in brief con-notes a person’s inability to lookbeyond a few alternatives. Forsolving problems, say for exam-ple, arising out of grief situa-tions, a matured individualhas to initiate process of stim-ulating new ideas; they mightshow that there is more thanone way of looking at things.Life does not have only onefacet. There should be contin-ual attempt to embrace moreand more phenomena andoptions. One ought to forgetsingle-peaked nature of grief.He has to tease out psycholog-ical nuances of his own situa-tion and behaviour. Correctappreciation of grief, its natureand aftermath is instrumentalin understanding himself.

Considering that pro-longed grief disorders havemuch to do with lack of com-petencies and maintenance ofmaladaptive behaviour, a timehas dawned to reduce focus onindividual dynamics of suffer-ers and focus on social injus-tices and inequities that exac-erbate feelings of grief. Solutionto grief-related problems lies inhelping concerned individualsto become more spontaneousand authentic and try outnewer ways of experiencing,communicating and being.Isolated aspects of grief shouldnot be divorced from the context of the whole life andvice versa.

(The writer, a civil servantwho superannuated in July 2020as Additional DeputyComptroller & Auditor Generalin the rank of Special Secretaryto the Govt of India from theoffice of CAG. He is a poet,writer and columnist. Author ofthree volumes of poetry, hispoems have been translatedinto Hindi (Andhere Se NikliKavitayen — VANIPRAKASHAN (2017) and hisbook “Shadows of the Real” intoRussian by veteran Russianpoet Adolf Shvedchikov. Hisfourth book “Soliloquy of aSmall-Town Uncivil Servant”: aliterary non-fiction published inMarch 2019 by RupaPublications, New Delhi, hasreceived international acclaim inliterary field. His next book: acollection of Essays& Critiquesis expected shortly. Viewsexpressed here are his personalviews)

�>���)<�'�����)��%�8))%��%<�;��)'��'%�"��)G�;%##�'��'�)������")%�0�'��������G���')##�(���<<�G'���(A�F;%����'%�'���;%##�'��'�'���;%�'��<�%8���������%<9)#%8�'����:�A�

!��<�#"��1�'���<�".

��$#/-� $<A

0����!���#���(���� �� ��#�� �!����- ������� ���Water and air pollution

seriously impact thehealth of human and theecosystem, with a rapidly grow-ing, resource-consuming pop-ulation. Less than 1 per cent ofworld’s freshwater is availablefor human consumption, andeveryday, over 2 million tonnesof sewage, industrial and agri-cultural wastes are releasedinto waters around the world.

Riverine pollution iscaused by numerous factors,but the biggest determiningfactor continues to be devel-opment in areas vulnerable torun-off. The anthropogenicactivity follows a template ofresource consumption, utilisa-tion, and wastage. Applied tothe context of freshwater fromrivers, we consume water fromour rivers, use it for our needsand dispose downstream foranother set of users.

Unplanned and uncon-trolled disposal of solid waste,not just wastewater, has exac-erbated the problem of passingon pollutants to other waterusers. The dependence of riverflow on regular freshwaterinputs from precipitation andsnowmelt underlines theintrinsic connection betweenthe atmosphere and the waterflowing in our rivers.

The nature of anthro-

pogenic activities heavily influ-ences the composition of theearth’s atmosphere, affectinghuman and ecosystem’s health.According to the WHO, over91 per cent of the world’s pop-ulation live in places where the

air quality has sunk beyond therecommended limits. Air pol-lution accounted for over 12per cent of all deaths in 2019.

To add to these issues, theoccurrence of both legacy andnew “emerging” organic pollu-

tants has become increasinglycommon. Chlorinated pesti-cides used for agriculture andvector control, brominatedplastic additives added as flameretardants for fire resistance,fluorinated surfactants used in

non-stick cookware, and manysuch chemicals are all examplesof persistent organic pollu-tants (POPs), which poseimmense risk to human healthowing to their ability to resistdegradation.

Other compounds, includ-ing pharmaceuticals and plas-ticisers, are deemed to be pseu-do-persistent because of theirconstant release into the envi-ronment. Some of these chem-icals are carcinogenic, cancause endocrine disruptionand mutagenicity. Despitebeing present at trace levels inthe environment, chronichuman exposure to these toxiccompounds can significantlyimpact health.

During the recent Covid-19 pandemic, day-to-day andregular commercial activitieswere crippled and pollutants inair like PM10, PM2.5, oxides ofsulphur and nitrogen saw amarked decline in their con-centrations. Some surface waterquality characteristics, like dis-solved oxygen levels and nutri-ent concentrations, showedslight improvements in theriverwater.

However, despite a slow-down in economic activities,the presence of POPs in theenvironment will continue tolinger for decades despitedecreased manufacturing anduse. Once released into theenvironment, POPs continue tooccur due to their persistence.POPs can also undergo long-range atmospheric transport(dubbed “grasshopper effect”)

and exhibit the tendency fortransboundary movement,affecting non-source regions.Thus, even if there was noemission of these pollutants ina particular region, these areascan still be affected by exposureto POPs transported from hun-dreds of kilometre away.

(Paromita Chakraborty isan Associate Professor, SRMResearch Institute SRM Instituteof Science & Technology,Kattankulathur, India. ProfDaniel Snow is LaboratoryDirector, Water SciencesLaboratory, University ofNebraska-Lincoln/NebraskaWater Center, USA. The WaterScience Laboratory, part of theNebraska Water Center andDaugherty Water for FoodGlobal at the University ofNebraska, is at the forefront ofemerging pollutants analysisincluding steroids, pharmaceu-ticals and other toxicants.Environmental Science &Technology Group at SRMResearch Institute, Departmentof Civil Engineering, Institute ofScience and Technology, hasdeveloped protocols especially forwastewater-based epidemiolog-ical surveillance and concur-rence of SARS-CoV-2 withchemical markers during thispandemic.)

���������A�

< �����$��������������$��������!����$�����������������������$�������������������� �������!�"����������������� �$�� ����� ������������������������� ��� ������,�����������������������!�3��� �����������������������������$�������������������������������������� ���� ���������������� ����� � � ���(������������������������ �����!�< ����������������(�����������������$��� �� ������������ ��������������������(���������������������� ���������������!�< ��� ������������$������ ��������������������������������D��$��������������������!�3��� ���������� ����������������(������������������ ���� �������!������������� �������������������(������� ������ ������������������!

��G9A���8(�� 4>��G9A�G%#%�� ��������G9A���A 0��������

����� 2�����438�/���39

< �����$�������������������������������(����������������� ���� !�������� ������� ������ �������������,����������(���� ��!�/������������������� �����!�"���������� ���������$������!�'���������$��� ��������������������������������������$�������� ���� ����������!�3��� ����������������������������� ��������������������������� ���������$!�<������������������������������������ �(������ ����������!�������������� ���������������������!�����D���(��������&��������� �����������!�2���������$���������� ����$������������!������&���������� ������������(�������!3��� ������������������������������������ ��������������$���������������((��!

��G9A���8(���6��G9A�G%#%�� 0 ����G9A���A ������

�������/���4582�.�45

< �����$� ���� ��������(�!�"����������� ��������������������� �������������������������� ���������� ��!�< �$����(���������:����� �� ��������������� ������������$����� ���� �����������������!�2�������������������������������������� �������������������������� �(������������ ���.��!�3��� ���������������$���� �������������������������������!2��������$������������������������������������(��� �����������(��� ��&� �� ������,��������������!������������(������������������������� ��$�� ������$������������������������$����������$������!�"��� ����������� ��������������������� ���(�������������������!��������������������� �(�� ����� ������������� ���� ���������� !

��G9A���8(�� 7��G9A�G%#%���.������G9A���A )����

�!�"�2�.�438+����45

< ���������������������(������� ���� !�2������$��������(���������!�2��������� ����(����������(������������(���� ��!�� ����� ����������������� ������ ������������!�.�������������$������������������ ������������������������������������� ���� ��������� ���!������������������������ ������������������� �� �������������������������������!����������������������������������������� ����������&����������� ������!�2������� ��� ��������D��������� ������$��������� ���!2������������������������� ���� ���������$������������������������������$�������������!�"����(������� ������������������������� �� �������� ��������������������������������������� �!

��G9A���8(���@��G9A�G%#%���%����G9A���A���������

#�"#��+����438+��.�44

2������������� ����������������� ������(�� ������� ���� ����!�%�������������������������� ����������������� ��������� ���������!�2��� �(�����������������������(������������������������������� ���������� �������������������������������������!�3��� �������������������� ������ ������(�����!�< ����� ���� ������������$����������������������������� �������!����,����� ����� � ������� �(���������� �����������������������������!3��� ���������� ��������������������������������������������������� ������������!��(��� ��������������!�2����������� ��������������������������������!�2��������������� ��(������������!2����������� �� �������� � �1 ��!

��G9A���8(�� 4G��G9A�G%#%�� 2�������G9A���A ������

$�� %����4:8&�/�44

< �����$������ ���� ����� ������!�2������������������������������������P��$���(�������������$����� ��������������&����������!�2������� �(��� ����(����������������������(���������!��������������� �������� ������$������� ��$����������!�3��� �������������������� ��������� ���� �����������$�����������������!�2������������������������������ ���$��!�����������(����������(���������������������$��������������!�< ��������������������������� �������������������������������������:������������������� �� ���$������ ���� ���������������� ��������!�3��� ������������������ �����$���� ���������� ������������������!�< �������������������� �(���(��������� ���������������(������� ��(�����!

��G9A���8(�� 4E��G9A�G%#%�� 3�������G9A���A <������

&�'��&�/�4:8#���44

< �����$����������(��������� ��������� ������������������� ������������������������� �!�3��� ������������������������������������ ������������(�������� ������������������������������ ���������������� ��� ���������!�������������&�������������������������������,������� ���� ����(����� ������������������������������������������� ��� ���!�< �����$����$�������������������������!�< ������������ ����������������� ���� �����������������!�2��������������������������� ��������� ������������:�����!�3��� ����������������(�������(����������$������� ����� ���������������������������� �������������������������!����,������ ���� ���� �����������������������������!�������$������ ������� ���������!

��G9A���8(���5��G9A�G%#%���"������G9A���A���������

�#%�(�%#���4:8" ;�43

< �����$��������� �����������������������!�< ��������������� ���� ���(������!������������� ���� ���� ��������� ��������(��������������������������!���� ���� �������������������������(������� �� �����������(������(�D���������$!�2����������������� �����������������������������������!���������������� ���������������������$�����������������������$�������������������:!���������������������������������������������������������� ����� ����������!�< ����� �������(��� �������������������!�3��� ��������� ������������������������������������� ������������&����� ���������������������� ��������������� ����������������� ��!�2������������������� ����� �(������������� ��������� ���������� !

��G9A���8(���>��G9A�G%#%����$��������G9A���A�< ������

�)������ +���458����3<

(��#������3982�����45

< �����$�������������$�������������������� ����������������������:���!���������� �������������$�������������������������������� �� ��������������� ����!�<������ ���� ����������:�������������������������$�!�.��������P������������������!������ ����:����������������������������������������������������!�3��� �����������������������:�������(������������������!2�������������������(�������&� �����������������������$�����(������,���������&� � ������������ �������������������!�2���������������������������������������� ������!�3��� ������������������������� ��� ��������� �� ���������������������� ���������������������������$������������� ���!�2��������������������������!

��G9A���8(�� 7G��G9A�G%#%���.�����G9A���A�)����

#�(��#%�"����448+���39

< �����$� ������ ������������ ���� !�"������������ ������� ������������ ������ ���� ����$������������������ ���������!����$�������������!���������� ���������������� �������������� �������:������������������(�����1�������!�3��� ������������������������������������������������� ��� ���� ������������ ����������������(������������������!�)�������������������� ������� ������� �(������������������ ����������,������������,�� �(�!�3�� ����(���������$����� ������������������������������������������������,������$���������(���������(��������������!�< ���������������������$� ����������������������� �� ����������� �������������� �������������(�!

��G9A���8(���47��G9A�G%#%����������G9A���A�< ������

&�% +��.�4:8����44�< �����$������ ���� �������!������������� ���:������U�� ���������� ��������&�������������!�"����,������ ������������ ���������������&��������,��(������������������������������������ ���� �����������������!�3��� �����$������������������������������(��������!�< �������� ��������������������� ����$����!�2��������:����������������1�������������� ��&� ���(�������������� � ����������������!0�������� ���������&� ��������������� ����������!)��������� ����������������������������������(��������:���� ��� ��������!�3��� ��������������������������������������������������������������� ���������� ����!�< ������������������������������� ���!���������(������� �������������������!

��G9A���8(���44��G9A�G%#%���.�������G9A���A ������

�� ��������" ;�448����43

0���8��@�?���

���'#�*3<"2�

������������

��� ���%/���*-30�/�./�"��<3*-30�<'/�/R</-<�3)3-/;��".-3%�-�/T��3-)#�"#� �����������������

Human mind is driven by a sense ofduality. That makes you see thingsin relative terms. Two persons

exploring the same issue/object may per-ceive it differently. Even truths pertainingto the living mortal world becomes rela-tive. For, there remains thin dividing linebetween seeming reality and the underly-ing truth. Put almost equal amount ofmilk in two transparent glasses. Mix littlewater to one of them. To the onlookers, itwill be difficult to figure out which one isadulterated. But if you offer the adulterat-ed milk to a swan, it will consume puremilk and leave aside water content. Sucha fine sense of discriminatory ability isarrived at by what is termed in spiritualityas becoming a Paramhansa. This state isarrived at when one transgresses all limi-tations of mind.

The ones who could becomeParamhansa, were able to explore andcomprehend even subtle realities of life,operative at imperceptible level. AncientIndia’s rishis, Buddha, and realised mas-ters all across come under this category.They came out with profound philoso-phies. Those, who could overcome theirlimitations even partially, emerged asacclaimed scientists who created history

with their remarkable inventions. Evenmany social reformers who led peopleimprove their lot, come under this cate-gory. It is believed that Einstein could use10% of his mind-power against 5 to 7%ordinarily available with ordinary mor-tals.

That is why Swami Vivekanand usedto say: “The history of the world is thehistory of few men, who had faith inthemselves. Faith calls out divinity within;you can could do anything. You do notfail in life simply because destiny is soscripted. It is because you do not strivesufficiently to unfold immense powerwithin.”

What happens when you become aParamhansa? He/She has access to thefull landscape of mind, when wholesomepowers of mind spontaneously come intoplay. It then knows no limits. The irony,however, is that with limited mindpoweravailable, ordinary mortals get a narrowwindow frame to look at. Evidently, witha narrow vision, one fails to look at issuesin hand in the right perspective due, andwith obvious consequences. And becauseof one’s habit tendencies, we dissipate alarge part of our mindpower, towardsunproductive ends. One, thus, is hardly

left with enough to do justice to the call-ings of the targeted destination. This isnot to suggest that each one of us couldbecome a Paramhansa. Even if one couldoptimise what is already available, it willhelp successfully negotiate the callings ofusual life with relative ease. If one couldraise the mindpower little higher throughconscious efforts, he could make it big inlife.

The question now is: why is it that anordinary mortal is born with a limitedmind power? And how come they fail tooptimally use even what is available?Answer lies in our inherent ignorance,coming as it may as Karmic carryoverfrom the past. That holds the key to anindividual’s desire trends as well as habittendencies and attitudes. The habits andattitudes do not let you weigh your desiretrends objectively — whether they areachievable. They do not let you lookbeyond for better options suited to yourskill sets either. Nor do they allow you tocarry on the task in hand in a focusedway.

While I was explaining the aboveconcept to someone who has often failedto strike his targeted destination, cameout with a counter question: “Can destiny,

which is a sequel to our own doing andundoing in the past be changed?Applying the same logic, is it possible tochange the habits and attitudes identifiedwith a being?”

Yes, one could do it through sus-tained conscious efforts, I answered.Elaborating further, I explained that itwas with the intent to find answer to theabove question that learned masters suchas Buddha toiled day in and day. In theprocess, they explored the subtle as wellas living realities of life. Pursuing further,they not simply found the root causeunderlying human suffering, but alsoworked out ways and means to overcomethem. To make things further clear, twoaspects of life need attention. First, thepremise on which the theory of Karmastands. Second, the construct and chem-istry of mind, which remains the prime-mover of a being. For, all that happensout in open, begins in mind. First youvisualise and then articulate ways andmeans to successfully pursue the task inhand.

"��&&�������������������������)����������������������������������������������9��������&&���������

"��,�@@2:222:@@323G5KFK5B@3K2G5KFKF/����,��������������������I�����9���

����������'�%�<��'#�'�-�������/3

�����'����������������������������)����������������)�����%������)�� �6����#���������� �"�������������������9���������������,�����I����������9���)�&&&9����������9���)��,�@3K5F35552

B�*� (��#�������� ���� ��

����������� ��� �X�-�=-//< �/-�"%�<<����3-�#�<"-.�/�"<3%�Y ★ ��1�.������������ X ��<"�'��'�-�%����*'�3�����/-"3%�/�"<3%�I�%/�<"=/J

�������������������������������� ���������������������

< �����$� ���� ����������� �� ������!�<�$����������������������� �$����(���������$����� ����������$����� �������������� �� ���������� ����� �����!����(����������������$�P�����������������������������!*������$�������� ���������� �����!�������$�� ��������������� ����������������� ��������� �(�������������!�� �������������(����������&����������!< ��������������������������������&��������������������������(���������������������������� �����������������������!��������������������������������������!�3��� ����(���������$����� �����(�������,��$���������!���(������������ �������������� ����������������������������!�.(��� ������ ����!�/:������������ �������������� ���������� �������� ������!

��G9A���8(�� H��G9A�G%#%������������G9A���A�������