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Determined to ensure a sta-ble Afghanistan, India and

some other countries onWednesday vowed to work forensuring that Afghanistan didnot become a safe haven forglobal terrorism. They alsofavoured the formation of anopen and inclusiveGovernment in Kabul.

Giving these assurances ina joint statement the ‘DelhiDeclaration,’ countries includ-ing India, Iran, Russia and fiveCentral Asian nations alsoexpressed concern over thedeteriorating socio-economicand humanitarian situation inAfghanistan and underlinedthe need to provide urgenthumanitarian assistance to theAfghan people. The CentralAsian countries that attendedthe dialogue are Kazakhstan,Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan,Turkmenistan and Uzbekistan.

The participating coun-tries also called for a collectivecooperation against the menaceof radicalisation, extremism,separatism and drug traffickingin the region.

The National SecurityAdvisors (NSAs) later called onPrime Minister Narendra

Modi. Indian NSA Ajit Dovaland Foreign Secretary HarshVardhan Shringla also joinedthe security officials in theirmeeting with the PrimeMinister. Modi was apprisedabout the discussions at the‘Delhi Regional SecurityDialogue on Afghanistan’ bythe security officials, sourcessaid.

The important ‘DelhiDeclaration,’ came after a day-long brain storming sessionhere on Wednesday betweenthe NSAs of seven countries.Hosted by Doval, the ‘DelhiRegional Security Dialogue onAfghanistan’ reviewed the sit-uation in Afghanistan afterthe Taliban took control of thecountry.

It was the Third RegionalSecurity Dialogue onAfghanistan. Iran hosted the

event in 2018 and 2019.However, the latest conclavewas delayed due to the ongo-ing corona pandemic.

The top-ranking partici-pants in the declaration reaf-firmed that

Afghan territory shouldnot be used for sheltering,training, planning or financingterrorist activities.

Voicing concern over thepresent socio-economic situa-tion in Afghanistan after theTaliban took control in August,the security officials saidhumanitarian assistance shouldbe provided in an unimpeded,direct and assured manner toAfghanistan and the assistancemust be distributed within thecountry in a non-discrimina-tory manner across all sectionsof Afghan society.

Inaugurating the high-pro-

file event, Doval said the recentdevelopments in that countryhave important implicationsnot only for the Afghan peoplebut also for the region.

Doval said it is time forcloser consultations, greatercooperation and coordinationamong the regional countriesto deal with the challengesemanating from Afghanistan.

“We all have been keenlywatching the developments inthat country.

These have importantimplications not only for thepeople of Afghanistan but alsofor its neighbours and theregion,” Doval said.

“This is the time for closeconsultation among us, greater cooperation andinteraction and coordinationamong the regional countries,”he said.

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After 20 months, the UnionCabinet on Wednesday

decided to restore the Memberof Parliament Local AreaDevelopment Scheme(MPLADS).

Addressing the media,Information BroadcastingMinister Anurag Thakur saidthat MPLADS funds would berestored for the remaining partof the Financial Year 2021-22and up to the Financial Year2025-26 co-terminus with theperiod of the 15th FinanceCommission. The annualMPLADS fund entitlement perMP constituency is �5 crore,released in two installments of�2.5 crore each, subject to thefulfillment of conditions asper the MPLADS guidelines.

“The Finance Ministry willrelease MPLADS funds at therate of �2 crore per Member ofParliament for the remainingperiod of FY 2021-22 in oneinstallment and at the rate of �5crore per annum per Memberof Parliament during FY 2022-23 to FY 2025-26 in two install-ments of �2.5 crore each. Sincethe inception of the scheme, atotal of 19,86,206 works/pro-jects have been completed withthe financial implication of�54,171 crore,” said the

Government in a statement.The Union Cabinet chaired

by Prime Minister NarendraModi also approved the decla-ration of November 15 asJanjatiya Gaurav Divas for thecommemoration of BhagwanBirsa Munda.

November 15 is the birthanniversary of the tribal free-dom fighter.

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Acase of mistaken identitycreated a flutter across the

country as most major newssites reported the murder ofnational-level wrestler NishaDahiya and her brother onWednesday evening.

Reports suggested that thewrestler, who brought glory tothe country by winning abronze medal at a world cham-pionship last week, and herbrother Suraj were shot dead atthe Sushil Kumar WrestlingAcademy in Sonipat.

So widely did the news ofthe champion wrestler’s murderspread that in the end she wasforced to release a video sayingthat she was absolutely fine andquell the rumours.

It all began when a uni-versity-level wrestler namedNisha Dahiya and her brotherwere killed and their mothersuffered injuries as someassailants opened fire on them

at a wrestling academy inHaryana’s Sonipat district onWednesday, following whichangry villagers set the facilityon fire.

The murdered woman’sidentity created confusion asseveral reports initially mistook her for her morefamous namesake who won abronze medal in the recentunder-23 world championshipin Belgrade.

Police suspected that thecoach-cum-owner of the acad-emy in Sonipat’s Halalpur areais behind the firing incident,and added that the motive isbeing investigated and effortsare being made to nab him.

Sonipat AssistantSuperintendent of PoliceMayank Gupta said NishaDahiya (20) and her brotherSuraj (18) were killed in theincident, but rejected reportsthat the slain woman was thebronze-medallist wrestler. Shewas a university-level wrestlerwho had been practising in theSushil Kumar WrestlingAcademy, Gupta added.

But there was chaos onlineas several reports initially iden-tified Dahiya as the worldmedallist, who had been con-gratulated by Prime MinisterNarendra Modi just this morn-ing for her performance inBelgrade some days ago.

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Tearing into the formerChief Minister and current

leader of the OppositionDevendra Fadnavis for hisalleged underworld links,Maharashtra Minister NawabMalik on Wednesday accusedhim of allegedly “compromis-ing” Prime Minister NarendraModi’s security by helping ahistory-sheeter linked toKarachi-based underworld donDawood Ibrahim get access toa VVIP event and “hushing up”a Rs 14.65 crore post-demon-etisation fake currency case.

A day after having threat-ened to drop “hydrogen bomb”on the former Chief Minister forhis alleged underworld links,Malik also alleged that Fadnavisappointed the brother of a fakenote scam accused as the chair-man of the Maharashtra StateMinorities Commission, stalleda probe against another accusedinvolved in bringingBangladeshis illegally intoMumbai, and appointed thesame accused — withBangladeshi woman as his sec-ond wife — as the chairman ofMaulana Azad MinoritiesFinancial DevelopmentCorporation Ltd.

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Five policemen were suspended in Kansganj inUttar Pradesh following the death of a 22-year-

old man in police custody. The young man, whowas accused of eloping with a girl, was alleged-ly subjected to third-degree torture in custodyafter which he allegedly committed suicideinside a police station on Tuesday.

The deceased identified as Altaf was broughtto the police station on Tuesday for questioning.

Altaf ’s family members claimed he was sub-ject to torture by the cops forcing him to end hisown life. Altaf ’s father Chand Miyan said, “I hand-ed over my son to the police on Mondayevening. Barely 24 hours later I was informed that

he had hanged himself.”District Police Chief Rohan Pramod Bothre

claimed the man sought permission to go to thetoilet at the police station. As he did not returnthe cops went inside and found him hanging,police said, adding that the man was wearing ajacket having a hood with a string attached to it.He made a noose with the string and hanged him-self from the pipe, said police.

Later, the man was brought out of the wash-room unconscious and taken to the hospitalwhere he died within 5-10 minutes, police said.

Soon after the incident, the SP suspended fivepolice personnel, including the inspector. Heclaimed that the primary probe revealed negli-gence on the part of five police personnel, fol-lowing which action was taken against them.

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Plastic products, especiallypersonal protective equip-

ment (PPE) such as masks andgloves, may have played sig-nificant roles in protectinghumans from Covid-19, butthese are leaving the land andmarine life gasping for breath, with a report reveal-ing that more than 25,000 tons of pandemic-asso-ciated waste is entering theglobal ocean.

This medical waste is inaddition to the daily plasticwaste created by the con-sumption of plastic packagingby takeaway services, e-com-merce outlets and expressdelivery industries increasedextensively with social dis-

tancing requirements necessi-tated in pandemic times. Forinstance, takeaway and homedelivery services generated anadditional 1.21 Mt of plastic

waste from April to May 2020during the lockdown inSingapore alone.

“This (medical waste)poses a long-lasting problem

for the ocean environment andis mainly accumulated onbeaches and coastal sediments.We call for better medicalwaste management in pan-demic epicenters, especially indeveloping countries.

“Since the beginning ofthe pandemic, an estimated8.4m tonnes of plastic waste hasbeen generated from 193 coun-tries,” according to the report, published in the onlinejournal PNAS.

“The Covid-19 pandemichas led to an increased demandfor single-use plastics thatintensifies pressure on analready out-of-control globalplastic waste problem,” saidYiming Peng and Peipei Wufrom Nanjing University, theauthors of Magnitude and

impact of pandemic-associat-ed plastic waste.

“The released plastics canbe transported over long dis-tances in the ocean, encountermarine wildlife, and poten-tially lead to injury or evendeath,” they added.

A study in March present-ed the first case of a fishentrapped in a medical glove,encountered during a canalcleanup in Leiden, theNetherlands. In Brazil a PFF-2protective mask was found inthe stomach of a deadMagellanic penguin.

The scientists predictedthat by the end of the centuryalmost all pandemic-associat-ed plastics will end up oneither the seabed or on beaches.

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Pakistan, which declined toattend the Delhi Dialogue

on the pretext that India hadnot invited the Taliban for theevent, will host a meeting onthe Afghanistan situation onThursday in Islamabad as partof the “Extended Troika.” Itincludes Pakistan, Russia,China and the US.

Refusing India’s invitationfor the NSA-level meeting,Pakistan’s NSA Moeed Yusuflast week said a “spoiler cannotplay peacemaker.” He alsoreiterated his country’s positionthat the Taliban should be partof the dialogue. Pakistan hadnot attended the earlierDialogues hosted Iran in 2018and 2019 on the same grounds.

Incidentally, China also

did not attend the Delhi con-clave due to “scheduling diffi-culties”. However, Beijing saidit was open to continuing dis-cussion with India throughbilateral channels. Significantly,China said on Wednesday thatit will attend the meeting onAfghanistan convened by itsall-weather ally Pakistan. Askedwhether China would attendthe meeting in Islamabad,Chinese

Foreign Ministryspokesman Wang Wenbin tolda media briefing in Beijing onWednesday that “China sup-ports Pakistan in hosting thisextended meeting of the China-US-Russia consultation mech-anism and supports all inter-national efforts conducive topromoting peace and stabilityin Afghanistan and buildingconsensus among all parties.”

As regards the meeting in Pakistan, its special envoy on AfghanistanMohammad Sadiq Khan willhost the event. It will be the firsttime that the “Troika Plus” willalso meet Taliban’s ActingForeign Minister Amir KhanMuttaqi.

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Facing attacks from within,Congress party’s Punjab

unit with too many generalsand no common strategy onWednesday received anotherdirect hit with two senior leaders questioning theChief Minister Charanjit SinghChanni over the handling of Advocate-General’s appointment.

The development came aday after the Punjab Cabinetaccepted APS Deol’s resigna-tion from the post of the StateAdvocate-General, virtuallysuccumbing to PunjabCongress president NavjotSingh Sidhu’s pressure. Notably,Sidhu has all along beendemanding Deol’s removal forrepresenting the state’s formerpolice chief Sumedh SinghSaini, one of the main accusedin sacrilege related police firingcases, in the same matter.

Dubbing Channi as “com-promised CM”, seniorCongress leader and formerstate Congress chief SunilJakhar minced no words to ask“whose Government is it any-way”. Also hitting out at thosein the party who have “politi-cised” the AG office, formerUnion Minister and CongressMP from Sri Anandpur SahibManish Tewari asserted thatpoliticising the AG’s office“undermines” the integrity ofconstitutional functionaries.

Going all out against hisown party’s Government,Tewari stated that two previousAdvocate-Generals of Punjabbecame “punching bags inproxy political wars”.

In clear indications that the

Congress party is still a divid-ed house and the infighting stillcontinues despite the change ofguard, the Congress leaders arespeaking against their ownparty’s Government in Punjaband even against the party col-leagues. Notwithstanding theintense efforts by the party highcommand to bring the entirestate leadership together, theCongress party is raising onecontroversy after another.

Leading the charge is theState unit president NavjotSingh Sidhu who has all alongbeen going public againstCongress led PunjabGovernment over key appoint-ments, including that of the AGand the state Director Generalof Police (DGP).

As the Chief Minister a daybefore announced the accep-tance of Deol’s resignation bythe Cabinet while assuring thatnew AG would be appointed ina day, Sidhu raised the issue ofreplacing the IPS Sahota as theState DGP. The decision camea day after Sidhu, whileaddressing the media onMonday, targeted the StateGovernment over the AG andDGP saying, “Either) choosecompromised officers or thePPCC chief.”

Sources told The Pioneerthat the Chief Minister wasreluctant to replace the AG asthe move would put him in aweak position. It was only aftertremendous pressure by theparty high command, in thewake of Sidhu’s diatribe againstthe State Government and theChief Minister, that Channiagreed to accept Deol’s resig-nation. But while doing so, hemade sure that he made the

announcement in Sidhu’s pres-ence — in an apparent attempt to send across a mes-sage that it was Channi whomade the call.

However, the developmentfailed to go down well withsenior leaders.

Reacting, former Congresspresident Jakhar, in a tweet,said: “The ouster of a compe-tent yet ‘allegedly’ compro-mised officer has exposed a‘really’ compromised CM.”

“Giving rise to a pertinentquestion — WhoseGovernment is it anyway?”asked Jakhar, who was amongthe frontrunners for the post ofPunjab Chief Minister after theresignation of Capt AmarinderSingh.

Congress MP Tewari, in aseries of tweets, said: “Thosewho subvert the institution ofAG’s office need to remembera lawyer is neither wedded toa client or a brief.” He said sincethe Punjab Government isgoing to appoint a new advo-cate general, they would be welladvised to peruse rules of pro-fessional standards prescribedby the Bar Council of India.

“An advocate is bound toaccept any brief in the courts ortribunals or before any otherauthority in or before which heproposes to practise. He shouldlevy fees which is at par withthe fees collected by fellowadvocates of his standing at theBar and the nature of the case,”he said in another tweet.

“Special circumstancesmay justify his refusal to accepta particular brief. PoliticisingAG’s office undermines theintegrity of Constitutionalfunctionaries,” he added.

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Haryana Chief MinisterManohar Lal Khattar on

Wednesday offered prayersduring the Chhath Puja pro-gramme organised inGurugram. He announced arestricted holiday in Haryana from next year onChhath Puja.

Addressing the devotees,Khattar also announced theconstruction of a ghat to offerprayers.

The Chief Minister saidthat the festival highlights unityin diversity of our country.

Our country with a popu-lation of about 130 crore,despite different castes, reli-gions, communities, are allone. The spirit of this unity isvisible in our festivals, he said.

He said that a large number ofpeople from Bihar, UttarPradesh, Jharkhand andPurvanchal along with localpeople have participated inthe Chhath Puja programmeon Wednesday.

In 2014, when the BJPGovernment was formed in theState for the first time, we hadgiven the slogan ‘Haryana EkHaryanavi Ek’. I don’t see anydifference between you andHaryanvis, he added. The StateGovernment makes domiciles

of people who are living inHaryana, from any part of thecountry, and are working orrunning their business, and thepeople who have lived here forfive years or more are also givendomiciles, he said.

While interacting with thepeople of the Purvanchal com-munity, the Chief Minister saidthat if they have any problemthen they can share the samewith local MLA or party offi-cials and their problem will beresolved at the earliest.

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Reiterating the StateGovernment’s firm com-

mitment for empowering girls inPunjab, Chief Minister CharanjitSingh Channi on Wednesdaysaid that Government is layingspecial emphasis on girls’ edu-cation in State. Channi, in ameeting with girl students andthe management committee of

SBS Khalsa College (girls) inPadiala, said that quality edu-cation is a key to empowergirls in State so that their in-builtmultitasking abilities can bebrought out for society’s development. He said that girlshave talent of huge capabilitiesand by giving quality educationand equal participation in deci-sion making, they can becomea lighthouse for others.

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The 22 senior bureaucrats inHaryana, who are assigned

districts for monitoring pur-poses will be provided with apersonal security officer (PSO)by Haryana Police to ensuretheir safety amid the ongoingfarmers’ agitation against threecentral farm laws in the state.

The decision in this regardwas taken after the bureaucratsraised the issue with the ChiefSecretary Vijai Vardhan aboutthe difficulty they face in trav-elling due to the farmers’protest.

A letter was also issuedfrom the office of the ChiefSecretary to Home andAdministration of JusticeDepartment to direct theDirector General of Police toprovide PSOs to 22 senior offi-cers who are assigned districtsby the State Government.

The letter stated, “A num-ber of AdministrativeSecretaries and some Heads ofDepartments have beenassigned districts by the StateGovernment for monitoringthe infrastructure, e-gover-nance projects, schemes fund-ed by the Central or StateGovernment, Covid-19 pan-demic preparedness, law andorder etc.

This involves visits to thedistricts as well as to the pro-ject sites at different places bythe designated officers.”

“Many AdministrativeSecretaries / HoDs haveinformed about the difficultiesthey have faced in the dischargeof the duties assigned to themin view of the long-drawnKisan agitation which hasresulted in road jams, picketing at tolls and agitationat various government officesin the district.

These senior officials whiletravelling to their assigned dis-

tricts have to often negotiatesuch hot spots,” it said.”Thematter has been duly consid-ered by the State Governmentand it has been decided that those AdministrativeSecretaries / HoDs who havebeen assigned districts may beimmediately provided aPersonal Security Officer(PSO) by the Haryana Police toensure their safety,” the letteradded.

Apart from the Delhi-Haryana border, farmers arealso sitting on dharnas at someplaces in the state protestingagainst the central farmlaws.Notably, the StateGovernment has assigned 22districts of Haryana toAdministrative Secretaries andHead of Departments for mon-itoring of schemes and law andorder situation.

Additional Chief SecretarySanjeev Kaushal has beenassigned Faridabad district,ACS Anurag Rastogi isassigned Gurugram and ACSVarinder Singh Kundu isassigned Rewari.

Similarly, Kaithal district isassigned to ACS PK Das,Bhiwani to ACS Alok Nigam,Karnal to ACS Devender Singh,Sonipat to ACS Amit Jha, Hisarto ACS Siddhi Nath Roy, Jhajjarto ACS Mahavir Singh, Palwalto ACS Sudhir Rajpal, Ambalato ACS Sumita Misra,Panchkula to PrincipalSecretary Anand MohanSharan, Mahendragarh to ACSRaja Sekhar Vindur, Nuh toPrincipal Secretary (PS) AshokKhemka, Fatehabad toPrincipal Secretary VineetGarg, Kurukshetra to PS GAnupama, Panipat to PSApoorva Kumar Singh,Yamunanagar to PS AK Gupta,Sirsa to PS Vijayendra Kumar,Charkhi Dadri to PS D Suresh,Rohtak to Vikas Gupta and Jindto Vijay Singh Dahiya.

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The construction work of theInternational Airport in

Haryana’s Hisar is in full swingand it will be made operationalby October 2022. This wasinformed during a meetingheld under the chairmanship ofChief Minister Manohar LalKhattar in connection withthe operation of theInternational Airport to bebuilt at Hisar. Deputy ChiefMinister Dushyant Chautalaalso attended the meeting.

During the meeting, theChief Minister was apprisedthat the runway of HisarInternational Airport wouldbe ready by next May 2022 andthe work related to lighting inthe airport would also beaccomplished by September2022, said an officialspokesman.

He said that a committeewas constituted as part of thedevelopment of Hisar so thatHisar could be developed as awell-organised city. Similarly, a

proposal for clover connectiv-ity at Mirchpur andDhoondurpur will be preparedfor arrival and departure atHisar airport and this propos-al will be sent to the CentralGovernment to ensure smoothmovement.

It was informed that theparking facility for interna-tional flights would also beavailable at Hisar airport. Apartfrom this, two separate termi-nals will also be constructed atthe airport, whose design willbe ready by the end ofDecember.

Possibilities are also beingexplored to provide train ormetro facility at Hisar airportso that passengers do not faceany kind of problem and theconvenience of cargo can alsobe ensured, the spokesmansaid. A manufacturing hub hasalso been proposed at Hisar air-port so that special types ofindustries can be set up hereand employment can beensured to the youth of theState, he said.

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Punjab Government onWednesday announced to

constitute a SpecialInvestigating Team (SIT) toprobe the alleged revenue lossof �6,600 crore in stateTransport Department in thepast nine years, due to illegalextension of permits by privatebus operators and subsequentlosses to the state transportundertakings.

Announcing this, the stateTransport Minister AmarinderSingh Raja Warring claimedthat after crackdown on taxevaders, illegal activities, andwithout permit bus operators,the Department’s daily incomehas started increasing by morethan �1 crore.

Warring said that the“scam” will be thoroughlyinvestigated by forming a SIT,and every person found guilty,be it a leader or an official,would not be spared at any cost.

“If �6600 crore had gone to thestate exchequer, 24,000 newbuses could have been pro-cured and 50,000 drivers-con-ductors and other staff couldhave been recruited for thesebuses and two new buses couldbe run from each village of theState,” he added.

Warring, while addressingthe media, said that theTransport Department’sincome is increasing day byday, and now it has reached at�100.48 lakh per day.

Referring to theDepartment’s income for thepast two months, the Ministersaid that the income of PRTCand Punjab Roadways stood at�39.01 crore and �34.15 crorerespectively in September 2021,which has increased �54.74crore (PRTC) and �49.57 crore(Punjab Roadways) during themonth of October.

Warring said that the totalincome of the two institutionsincreased by 42.57 percent

(�31.15 crore), and stood at�104.31 crore in October asagainst the total �73.16 crore ofSeptember, adding dailyincome from both the institu-tions till date is �100.48 lakhs.Comparing the Department’sincreased income with the past,Warring said, “Ten years rule ofSAD-BJP and four-and-a-half-year rule of Capt AmarinderSingh’s compromised govern-ment allowed sheer loot of thestate exchequer and theamount of these 5,220-dayswould be stood at around�5,200 crore.”

“These people, who filledup their own pockets by loot-ing public money, could neverthink about the public welfare,”he added.

He informed that the orderpassed in 2012 by Punjab andHaryana High Court JusticeSurya Kant against illegalexpansion in multiple permitswas not implemented proper-ly. “Now, we have implement-

ed this decision in toto andcancelled 680 multiple per-mits of illegal expansion ofmore than one lakh kms. Withthis, the State Government hasstarted getting profit to the tuneof �42 lakh daily during themonth of October,” he added.

Warring stressed that ifthe illegal expansion of permitshad been revoked during peri-od 2012 to 2021, the amount of�1380 crore for 3,285 days ofnine years (�42 lakhs per day)would have gone to the stateexchequer which could bespent on public welfare. “Asmany as 304 buses have beenconfiscated for evading taxes,without permits and other vio-lations and 64 buses have beenchallaned so far.

The Transport Departmenthas been able to collect �sevencrore as tax,” said the Minister,who conducted a midnightsurprise raid on Tuesday tocheck the buses plying illegal-ly or without permit.

The Minister said that 842more buses will be added in theState Government fleet soonwhile 1,100 buses of PRTC and1,550 buses of PunjabRoadways are plying on roadsin the state.

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In a bid to promote ethanolproduction in the state, the

Manohar Lal Khattar ledHaryana Government hasintroduced a separate licencefor distilleries for the produc-tion of ethanol only.

The State Government hasreleased the Punjab Distillery(Haryana SecondAmendment) Rules, 2021,introducing two separate cate-gories of licences to push forethanol production inHaryana.Earlier, only a D-2licence was issued for setting upa distillery in the state. Now, aD-2A licence will be issued fora new standalone separate

ethanol plant installed withinexisting licensed premises of D-2 licence, provided there shouldbe no common boiler, tur-bine, distillation process amongsimilar facilities. A separate D-2B licence has also been intro-duced for a distillery only forproduction of ethanol.

As far as annual licensingfee is concerned, the applicantwill have to deposit Rs15,00,000 (Rs 15 lakh) for a D-2A licence in addition tolicence fee for existing D-2licence. Rs 5,00,000 (Rs 5 lakh)will be charged as a licencingfee to get a D-2B licence in thestate.The licencing fee to get aD-2 licence remains the sameas Rs 1,25,0000 (Rs 1.25 crore)plus Rs 1,30,000 per kilolitre of

installed capacity to be chargedto the applicants.According tothe new rules, “the licensesshall not be transferable exceptwith the sanction of theFinancial Commissioner,Excise and Taxation.

The licensee holding thelicense will have to execute abond, pledging the premises,stock of spirit, stills, all appa-ratus and utensils employed inthe manufacture and storage ofspirit for the due discharge ofall payments which maybecome due to Government.””Alicense granted under theserules shall be valid for a peri-od of one year from the date ofissue unless it is cancelled,determined or surrenderedearlier and shall be renewable

annually on the application ofthe licensee on payment ofannual fee. A license may becancelled for breach of theterms and conditions thereof oras may be determined by theFinancial Commissioner aftergiving the licensee six months’notice,” the new rules stated.

Notably, Haryana is focus-ing on boosting ethanol pro-duction. The State Governmenthad earlier directed the indus-tries to use stubble for ethanoland also planned to ramp upthe ethanol production withthe help of sugar mills. With anaim to lower the expenditureon foreign exchange, theCentral Government has set atarget of blending 20 percentethanol with petrol by 2025.

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In a major setback to the AamAadmi Party (AAP) in

Punjab ahead of crucial 2022state assembly elections, itsanother legislator — RupinderKaur Ruby from BathindaRural — on Wednesday gaveup AAP’s “broom” to holdCongress’ “hand”.

The development came aday after Congress’ seniorHindu leader from GurdaspurRaman Behl joined AAP. Rubybecame the fifth AAP MLA tojoin the Congress. Before her,Sukhpal Singh Khaira, PirmalSingh Khalsa, Jagdev SinghKamalu, and Nazar SinghMansahia have shifted loyaltiestowards Congress.

Ruby, who gave a late-night jolt to AAP on Tuesdayby announcing her resignationfrom party’s membership onTwitter, was inducted in theCongress party by Punjab ChiefMinister Charanjit SinghChanni, Punjab party affairs in-charge Harish Choudhary,Punjab Congress presidentNavjot Singh Sidhu, besides

Cabinet Ministers ManpreetSingh Badal, Tript RajinderSingh Bajwa, Pargat Singh,Amarinder Singh RajaWarring, among others.

“Mr.@ArvindKejriwal jiConvener, AAP &@BhagwantMann ji…This ishereby inform u that I amresigning with immediate effectfrom the membership of AamAadmi Party. Please accept myresignation. Thx RupinderKaur Ruby.(MLA Bti.rural)”she tweeted. Ruby, who became

the youngest MLA in Punjab atthe age of 29 in her very firstelection hustings in 2017 on anAAP ticket, has been main-taining distance from the activepolitics and also party eventsfrom a while now.

In fact, she was conspicu-ous by her absence during theOctober 29 visit of AAPnational convener and DelhiChief Minister Arvind Kejriwalto Bathinda. That was not all!Even Ruby’s pictures were miss-ing from AAP posters.

Welcoming Ruby into the partyfold, Chief Minister Channisaid that it was a matter of greatpride and honour for them asRuby has joined the Congressparty after having been highlymoved by the recent pro-peo-ple policies of his government.He lauded Ruby for her “boldstep” to denounce her party,which was exploiting the sen-timents of common people claiming to be the partyof ‘aam adami’.

“The people of Punjab haveactually realized now thatCongress is the real party con-nected with the grass roots ofthe state and is completelysensitized to their problemsand issues,” he added.

Expressing happiness forhaving joined the Congress,Ruby said that the Congresswas the party of ‘aam adami’ intrue sense contrary to the claimof AAP’s convener ArvindKejriwal.

She expressed her gratitudeto the Congress high commandSonia Gandhi besides RahulGandhi and Priyanka GandhiVadra and the entire leadership

of Punjab Congress for repos-ing confidence in her. Pointingout further, Ruby lauded thestupendous performance ofthe Congress Governmentunder Channi’s visionary lead-ership during the past 50 days,which are “far better than the49 days of KejriwalGovernment in Delhi”.

Ruby categorically said thatshe has been highly impressedby the ideology of Congressand thus joined it.Availableinformation suggests that Rubyhad been in touch with theCongress leadership for a cou-ple of months and wanted tochange her constituency fear-ing anti-incumbency.

Earlier, the Congress waslittle hesitant to induct her. But,it is believed that after Bahljoined AAP, the Congressdecided to induct her in theparty.

With a bachelor’s and amaster’s degree in law, Rubyhad been teaching law as anAssistant Professor before join-ing AAP in 2013. She haddefeated the SAD candidatefrom Bathinda Rural by more

than 10,000 votes in 2017 polls.

UNHAPPY WITH HERPERFORMANCE, AAPEXPECTING RUBY’S EXIT

AAP’s Punjab unit wasexpecting its Bathinda RuralMLA’s exit. Senior AAP MLAand Leader of Opposition inVidhan Sabha Harpal SinghCheema on Wednesdayclaimed that Ruby was notgoing to get the AAP ticket and,therefore, joined the Congress.

“Rupinder Ruby is ouryounger sister, be happy wher-ever you go. This time, she hadno chance of getting a ticketfrom the AAP so she is joiningthe Congress. The Congress isrequested not to cheat Rubyand should give her the ticketfrom Bathinda Rural,” Cheemasaid in a tweet.

Hitting back at Cheema,Ruby accused him of not rais-ing his voice for the partyleaders or the people of Punjab.“When it was time for you tospeak, you did not say any-thing. You neither raised yourvoice for the people of Punjab

nor for Bhagwant Mann. As forthe ticket, you can contestagainst me,” she tweeted,throwing a challenge to the leg-islature party chief.

Notably, Ruby had gone onrecord to say that AAP shouldannounce state unit presidentand Sangrur MP BhagwantMann’s name as the ChiefMinisterial candidate at the earliest, or else it would bemaking the same mistake as itmade in the run up to the 2017polls. It has been learnt thatAAP central leadership was nothappy with Ruby’s performancein her constituency. In fact,AAP’s internal survey has point-ed that party’s popularity hasdeclined to great extent in herconstituency due to her con-tinuous absence. Sources main-tained that Ruby was most like-ly not to get the ticket again.

AAP’s DWINDLING NUMBER IN HOUSE

AAP had 20 MLAs in the117 member House after the2017 polls— emerging as thesecond-largest party after the

ruling Congress. However, thenumber continued to fall overall these years. Only recently,Vidhan Sabha Speaker RanaKP Singh accepted SukhpalSingh Khaira’s resignation anddisqualified Master BaldevSingh Jaito, bringing AAP’sstrength in the House down to17.

Already, AAP’s DakhaMLA HS Phoolka, the formerLeader of Opposition, hadresigned in 2019 which wasalso accepted by the Speaker.

Out of the remaining 17members, AAP’s three MLAs— Pirmal Singh, Nazar SinghMansahia, and Jagdev SinghKamalu — have already shift-ed their loyalties towards theCongress, and have submittedtheir resignations also. It’sanother MLA and former jour-nalist Kanwar Sandhu contin-ues to be a rebel.

With Ruby’s resignationfrom the party, the effectivenumber of AAP MLAs hascome down to 13. However,four of rebels have not resignedas MLAs and continue to sit inthe House on AAP benches.

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RAIPUR | THURSDAY | NOVEMBER 11, 2021chhattisgarh 03

STAFF REPORTER nDURG

The Congress onWednesday decided to

reach out to people at wardand Panchayat levels as partof a fortnight-long nationaloutreach programme start-ing from November 14against the Modi govern-ment.

The campaign willrevolve around price hike,inflation, monetization poli-cy and the ongoing farmers'protests against the threefarm laws of the Central gov-ernment.

A state executive bodymeeting headed by AICCChhattisgarh-in-charge P.L.Punia was held in Durg toplan the activities apart fromsome other issues.

Chief Minister BhupeshBaghel, PCC chief MohanMarkam and around half adozen Ministers in the statecabinet attended the meeting

Congress spokespersonDhananjay Singh Thakursaid the party is going tolaunch a ‘Jan Jagran Abhiyan’between November 14 and29 and a series of activitieslike padyatras, shutdownsand dharnas across the state.

“It was decided in themeeting that all party leadersshould reach out to people inwards and panchayats andtalk to them to understandtheir problems. It has beensuggested that they shouldplan night stays in villagesand hold prabhat pheris(processions at dawn) likeMahatama Gandhi againstthe British,” said thespokesperson.

Other issues dealt in themeeting include membershipdrive, organizational issues,urban body elections and awork plan for the 2023Assembly elections, he said.

Congress to launch outreachevents across Chhattisgarh STAFF REPORTER n

RAIPUR

An injured tigress caught inthe Tiger Reserve

Achanakmar forest ofChhattisgarh will not be releasedin the wild.

This decision was taken bythe Treatment ManagementCommittee considering thetiger's age and health. It needsregular veterinary support.

The Chhattisgarh Forest andClimate Change Departmentconstituted a seven-memberpanel under the chairmanship ofChief Conservator of Forests(Wildlife) S.K. Jagdishan.

The tigress was reportedinjured in the Achanakmar forestrange on June 7, 2021. It was res-cued and brought to KananPendari in Bilaspur for treat-ment. An operation was conduct-ed on June 8.

On its rear left leg, the animalhas progressive osteoarthritis.

Injured tigress not

be released in wild

Congress State Executive Body Meet Held in Durg

Devotees offering Arghya to Surya Dev (Sun God) on Wednesday evening at a pond in Hirapur in Raipur on occasionof Chhath puja. Poineer Photo

STAFF REPORTER nBHILAI

Chhattisgarh ChiefMinister Bhupesh Baghel

said on Wednesday thatChhath festival symbolizesenergy and gaiety.

The Bhojpuri communi-ty around the world gatheredon the banks of ponds, lakes

and rivers to express theirreverence to Sun God.

Baghel announced Rs 1crore for the beautificationand development of ChhathTalab.

He said this whileattending a Chhath Puja pro-gramme organized in BhilaiSector-2. He also attended anevent at Bhilai-Khursipar.

Chhattisgarh after Biharis the only state which hasdeclared a public holiday onChhath festival.

Respecting the religiousfaith and spirit of the peoplein Chhattisgarh, the govern-ment has declared a generalpublic holiday, Baghel toldthe gathering.

‘Chhath festivalsymbolizes energy’

STAFF REPORTER nRAIPUR

Development works related to basicfacilities including electricity,

water, roads, community buildings,gardens and cleanliness of towns andcities must be expedited, saidChhattisgarh Chief Minister BhupeshBaghel on Wednesday.

The Urban Administration andDevelopment Department has sanc-tioned Rs 112 crores for Bhilai-Charoda, Risali, Birgaon and otherurban bodies for such projects.

The development works have beenundertaken to renovate the existingamenities of the urban bodies, an offi-cial statement said.

These include lighting the streets,

widening roads, constructing parks,multi-storey parking, water drainageand management of waste water.

The other works include upgradingpublic health arrangement and sanita-tion, housing for the poor and provi-sion of door-to-door drinking water.

The funds have been sanctioned forthe Municipal Corporations ofBirgaon, Bhilai, Risali and Bhilai-Charoda as well as Municipal Councilsof Jamul, Khairagarh, Khairagarh,Sarangarh, Baikunthpur and ShivpurCharcha.

Similarly, Rs 3 crores each has beensanctioned for Nagar Panchayats ofMaro, Kota, Bhairamgarh,Bhopalpatnam, Narharpur andPremnagar.

Expedite devpt works

in urban bodies: CMSTAFF REPORTER nRAIPUR

The Raipur Collector onWednesday called for a ‘Fire

Audit’ of all hospitals in Raipurdistrict and city besides all multi-storey buildings.

Committees have been set upand told to submit reports withinthree days, an official statementsaid.

The order said it has beenfound that hospital buildings/clin-ics and multistorey buildings arenot strictly following fire safetynorms.

Keeping this in view, all thesebuildings have to undergo ‘FireAudit’ under fire safety and otherrelated standards of fire preven-tion, life safety and fire protection

under the National Building Codeof India 2016.

A panel led by the Raipur SubDivisional Magistrate will inspecthospitals and multistorey build-ings outside the corporation lim-its. SDM Abhanpur and Arang willconduct audits in their limits.

Capital Raipur toundergo Fire Audit

The order said it hasbeen found that

hospitalbuildings/clinics andmultistorey buildings

are not strictlyfollowing fire safety

norms.

STAFF REPORTER nBHILAI

Chhattisgarh Chief MinisterBhupesh Baghel on Wednesday

denounced the BJP and RSS fordefaming former Prime MinisterJawaharlal Nehru and Father of theNation Mahatma Gandhi.

Baghel was addressing a sympo-sium ‘Nehru Ki Kalpana Ka Bharat’in Bhilai city.

He charged the BJP with fanningcommunal hatred and said that itwas indulged in divisive politics.

“This is nothing new. The two-nation theory was actually propagat-ed by Vinayak Damodar Savarkar incontrasty to Nehru who alwaysworked for united India and whobelieved in unity in diversity”, hesaid.

Terming Nehru an architect of

modern India, Baghel recalled hiscontribution in establishing the steelcity of Bhilai. Bhilai now glorifies the

country and all the credit goes to theformer Prime Minister, he said.

Regarding Gandhi, he said non-

violence is a weapon of the brave andonly cowards resort to violence, hesaid.

Baghel flays BJP, RSS fordefaming Nehru, Gandhi


Prices of petrol and diesel will be lower inChhattisgarh compared to neighbouring

states, Chief Minister Bhupesh Baghel said onWednesday.

He told the media after a PradeshCongress Committee (PCC) Executive meet-ing at Durg that all the information regarding

the reduction of state excise tax has beenreceived through the media.

How much it has been reduced and whatthe price is can be accessed only after theorders issued by Madhya Pradesh,Maharashtra, Telangana and Odisha are stud-ied, he said.

“Once the orders on reduction of stateexcise duty are analysed, then petrol-dieselprices (in Chhattisgarh) will be lower as com-pared to these states," Baghel said.

Petrol-diesel rates will be lower: CM


As part of ‘Azadi ka AmritMahotsav’ celebrations, a foun-

dation stone laying ceremony washeld on Tuesday to install a 4Gmobile tower in Sadrabodenar villagein Chhattisgarh's Bastar district.

R.K. Garhwal, Deputy DirectorGeneral (Compliance), DOT,Chhattisgarh, laid the foundation aspart of a project of Universal ServiceObligation Fund (USOF),Department of Telecom.

A large number of people ofSadrabodenar and neighbouring vil-lages were present, an official com-munication said.

A total of 971 towers will be

installed across 14 Naxalite affecteddistricts of Chhattisgarh at a cost ofRs 848 crores.

The commissioning of 4Genabled mobile towers will add toBroadband penetration and help pro-

vide coverage to many villages andcurb the digital divide.

Also, the mobile coverage inthese Naxalite hit areas can be a gamechanger in tackling leftwing extrem-ism.

Foundation laid for 4Gmobile tower in BastarSTAFF REPORTER n

RAIPUR

To assess the impact of traffic, a trial runof 60-70 buses was conducted on

Wednesday at the Inter-State Bus TerminalBhatagaon in Chhattisgarh's capital.

Raipur Collector Saurabh Kumar,Senior Superintendent of Police PrashantAgarwal as well as bus operators and own-ers were present.

Raipur Regional Transport OfficerShailabh Sahu said all the concerneddepartments’ officials too were present tocarry out an assessment.

Videography of traffic movement andarrangements were taken. The bus opera-tors suggested traffic improvement nearPachpedi Chowk Bridge.

On Tuesday, a meeting on shifting ofthe bus terminal from Pandri to the Inter-State Bus Terminal Bhatagaon was heldwith bus operators and owners.

Based on their suggestions, the trialwas held to rectify any fault in smoothmovement of traffic including buses on theroute.

Due to heavy traffic pressure at Pandri

Bus Terminal, a new Inter-State BusTerminal Bhatagaon was constructed. It isclose to the Ring Road. Chief MinisterBhupesh Baghel had inaugurated it onAugust 20.

Trial run at Interstate Bus Terminal

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As the crucial Uttar Pradeshpolls are barely three to

four months away, PrimeMinister Narendra Modi istaking charge of 'showcasing'the State's progress by multipleinaugural of projects and lining-up more visits to the State.

While Modi is specificallyfocussing on 'Vikas', ChiefMinister Yogi Adityanath isconnecting with the issuesrelated to the 'Hindutva' in theState.

Starting this month, thePrime Minister will make sev-

eral visits to the State wherepoll alliances are already firm-ing-up and the campaign hassurged ahead in 403 Assemblyconstituencies.

Modi will visit theSultanpur district of UttarPradesh on November 16 toinaugurate the 340.82-km longPurvanchal ExpressExpressway, which will becomethe State's longest expressway.He will also address a publicrally. The foundation stone forthe Purvanchal Expresswaywas laid by the Prime Ministerin July 2018. The PurvanchalExpressway is being called the

lifeline for Eastern UP that willwill reduce the travel timebetween eastern and westernUP and also help in facilitatingtrade and commerce.

The foundation stone ofthe Ganga Expressway will belaid by Modi next month.

A visit of Prime Minister toJhansi is expected onNovember 19 to attend the193rd birth anniversary cele-brations of Rani Lakshmi Baihere as part of the 'Azadi KaAmrit Mahotsav'.

Modi will be in GreaterNoida on November 25 to flagoff the Jewar International

Airport project in Noida andlay the foundation stone of themuch-delayed project as also ofthe film city.

Modi is again expected tobe in UP in December to

unveil the Kashi Vishwanathcorridor in Varanasi, his homecinstituency where a number ofprojects have already beenannounced by the PrimeMinister during his previous

visits there. Prior to Modi's vis-its, Union Home Minister AmitShah will be at Azamgarh onNovember 13 to lay the foun-dation stone of the State uni-versity there.

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The Congress onWednesday said it would

launch nationwide mass agi-tation programme Jan JagranAbhiyan from November 14 to29, where it would reach outto people to explain how theUnion Government’s “failedeconomic policies” have led torunaway inflation.

The announcement wasmade at an AICC press con-ference addressed by partygeneral secretary (organisa-tion) K.C. Venugopal, gener-al secretary (communication)Randeep Surjewala and seniorCongress leader DigivijaySingh, who heads the party’sinternal committee on organ-ising and coordinating massagitations.

Party workers would leada week-long “padyatra” withnight halts in villages. The pro-gramme would begin with“prabhat pehri” (early morn-ing march), followed by“shramdaan” (cleanlinessdrive). “Padyatris” would holdnumerous small group meet-ings to communicate thenuances of inflation and its

adverse effects on the com-mon man, Venugopal said.

Sources said Congressgeneral secretary PriyankaGandhi Vadra is likely to holdsimilar meetings in UP aspart of her election campaignin the state and other seniorparty leaders have been askedto visit different parts of thecountry.

Ahead of the launch of thecampaign, the party is holdinga workshop for a select groupof functionaries at Wardha,Maharashtra from November12-14.

They will be trained byexperts from sectors like econ-omy, education, health andagriculture on how to reachout to masses and touch uponissues that have impactedthem.

The party workers will bearmed with data on how fuelprice increased under BJPregime, impact of monetisa-tion, farm laws and unem-ployment.

Congress chief SoniaGandhi, during the recentCongress Working Committeemeeting, had stressed the needto train party leaders and

workers on ideological issues.The party’s training depart-ment, headed by Sachin Rao,will be organising three-daytraining programmes fromNovember 12- 15 as part ofthis effort, at Sevagram,Wardha, Maharashtra.

Explaining the context ofthe agitation programme, thecountry is undergoing severepain due to the policies of theModi government, and espe-cially in the last two years, thecondition has deterioratedfurther with a sharp increasein inflation.”

The edible oil prices, henoted, have doubled in the lastone year. Prices of seasonalvegetables had gone up by 40-50 per cent in the last onemonth alone. The cost of sub-sidised LPG cylinder has goneup by 50 per cent to ? 900-1,000 in the last one year.Similarly, petrol and dieselprices have gone up by ? 34.38and 24.38 to ? 103.97 and ?86.67 a litre respectively in thelast 18 months.

A meeting of the agitationcommittee headed by DigvijaySingh was held Monday toplan the activities.

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The Union Cabinet onWednesday approved the

declaration of November 15 as‘Janjatiya Gaurav Divas’ dedi-cated to the memory of bravetribal freedom fighters and toenable coming generations toknow about the sacrifices of trib-al communities such as Santhals,Tamars, Kols, Bhils, Khasis andMizos among others in India’sfreedom struggle.

The revolutionary move-ments and struggles organised bythe tribal communities weremarked by their immensecourage and supreme sacrifice.Tribal movements in differentregions of the country against theBritish colonial rule got linkedwith the national freedom strug-gle and inspired Indians all overthe country. However, the pub-lic at large is not much awareabout these tribal heroes.“Pursuant to the speech of PrimeMinister on Independence Dayof 2016, Government of Indiahas sanctioned 10 tribal freedomfighter museums across thecountry,” the government com-muniqué stated.

November 15 is also thebirth anniversary of BirsaMunda, who is revered asBhagwan, by tribal communitiesacross the country. Birsa Munda

fought bravely against the coun-try against the exploitative sys-tem of the British colonial sys-tem and spearheaded move-ment against British oppressiongiving a call for ‘Ulgulan’(Revolution).

“The declaration acknowl-edges the glorious history andcultural heritage of tribal com-munities. The day will be cele-brated every year and would rec-ognize the efforts of the tribalsfor preservation of cultural her-itage and promotion of Indianvalues of valour, hospitality andnational pride. Tribal FreedomFighter Museum at Ranchiwhere Birsa Munda breathed hislast will be inaugurated by thePrime Minister,” the release said.

The Modi Government hasplanned week-long celebrationsstarting from November 15-22 tocelebrate and commemorate 75years of glorious history of trib-al people, culture and achieve-ments.

As part of the celebration,several activities have beenplanned jointly with StateGovernments and the themebehind each activity is to showcase the achievements of tribalsin Indian Freedom struggle, var-ious welfare measures taken bythe Centre in education, health,livelihood, Infrastructure andskill development.

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Microplastic particles arenow so much present

everywhere in everyday house-hold items like bedding, carpetand soft toys made from syn-thetic materials, as well aspolyester and nylon, that weinhale up to 7,000 every day, ashocking research has revealed.

The total was 100 timeshigher than expected – posinga potential health threat thatcould rank alongside asbestosor tobacco, said the pioneering

study which used highly sen-sitive equipment to count tinyparticles less than 10 micronsin size – just a tenth of thewidth of a human hair.

The highest concentra-tion was in the room of aneight-year-old girl becauseher bedding, carpet and softtoys were all made from syn-thetic materials.

Professor AnoopChauhan, a respiratory spe-cialist with PortsmouthHospitals Trust, saidmicroplastics were dangerous

because they did not breakdown. ‘Having these particlesin your body can cause stressand changes in metabolism, itcan affect immunity, the abil-ity to fight infections, it canaffect your reproductivecapacity and potentially itcould be carcinogenic – caus-ing cancer,’ he said.

Dr Fay Couceiro, an envi-ronmental pollution expertwho led the study, also tooksamples from the kitchen andanother bedroom in the girl’shome.

She said: ‘I am astonishedby the breathable levels ofmicroplastics in each of ourhomes and more work onthis absolutely must be done.’

She said the quantitiesrecorded were probably anunderestimate because theycovered only 14 hours and nota whole day.

Previous studies havefound microplastic particleslodged in all parts of thebody, including the brain, gut,and the womb.

Canadian research pub-lished in 2019 suggested weeat and breathe in between74,000 and 121,000 a year, andthose who drink bottled watertake in an extra 90,000.

Microplastics are increas-ingly being found in vitalorgans in humans such as thebrain, womb and lungs. Whilethe science is in its infancy,scientists suspect microplas-tics can potentially cause oraggravate respiratory condi-tions. The particles have alsobeen found in the gut andblood. Some researchers sus-pect their presence is likely toworsen inflammation.

Also, plastic particles canact as carriers of chemicalsand pollutants. These caninclude endocrine disruptingchemicals, which are associ-ated with disruption in fertil-ity, delayed neurodevelop-ment in children, immunedisorders, and hormone-relat-ed cancers.

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Indigenously designed andmanufactured Tejas light

combat aircraft (LCA) will forthe first time perform aero-batics at the prestigious DubaiAir Show held biennially. Thisyear’s show will take placefrom November 14 to 18.

Giving details of the IAFparticipation, officials said hereon Wednesday the IAF con-tingent has inducted for par-ticipation in the biennial AirShow to be held at the AlMaktoum InternationalAirport.

The IAF has been invitedby the government of UAE to

participate with the Sarangand Suryakiran AerobaticsTeams. These teams will beperforming along with some ofthe best aerobatics and displayteams in the world, includingthe Saudi Hawks, RussianKnights and the UAE’s AlFursan. In addition, the Tejasshall be part of the aerobaticsand static displays during theshow.

The induction of fiveAdvanced Light Helicopters(ALH) Dhruvs of the SarangTeam, 10 BAE Hawk 132s ofthe Suryakiran Team and thethree LCA Tejas was complet-ed by Tuesday.

The induction was sup-

ported by the IAF’s C-17Globemaster IIIs and C-130JSuper Hercules. On arrival,the contingent received a warmwelcome by Major GeneralIshaq Saleh Mohammed al-Balushi of the UAE ArmedForces and other officers of theUAE Air Force.

The teams are now prepar-ing for the opening ceremonyon 14th November 21. Whilethe Sarang Team has previous-ly participated in the Al AinGrand Prix in UAE in 2005, theDubai Air Show will be the firstoccasion for the Suryakiransand the Tejas to show off theirswashbuckling aerial manoeu-vres here.

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With the objective of jointproduction of hi-tech

weapons and systems, Indiaand the US on Wednesday vir-tually held the 11th DefenceTechnology and TradeInitiative (DTTI) Group meet-ing.

The meeting was co-chaired by Secretary (DefenceProduction) Raj Kumar fromMinistry of Defence,Government of India andPTDO (Performing the Dutiesof) Under Secretary of Defencefor Acquisition andSustainment from USDepartment of DefenceGregory Kausner.

The DTTI Group meetingsare normally held twice a year,alternating between India andthe US. However, this DTTImeeting was held via VideoTeleconferencing consecutive-ly for a second time on accountof the COVID-19 pandemic.

The aim of the DTTIGroup is to bring sustainedleadership focus to the bilater-al defence trade relationshipand create opportunities for co-production and co-develop-ment of defence equipment.

Four Joint WorkingGroups focused on land, naval,

air and aircraft carrier tech-nologies have been establishedunder DTTI to promote mutu-ally agreed projects withintheir domains. The groupsreported to the co-chairs onongoing activities and collab-orative opportunities, includinga number of near-term projectstargeted for completion onpriority.

As evidence of their com-mitment to demonstrating thesuccess of DTTI, the co-chairsagreed on a revised Statementof Intent (SOI) that declarestheir intent “to strengthen ourdialogue on defence technolo-gy cooperation by pursuingdetailed planning and makingmeasurable progress” on sev-eral specific DTTI projects.

The co-chairs were alsopleased to note that since thelast DTTI Group meeting inSeptember 2020, the firstProject Agreement for Air-Launched Unmanned AerialVehicle under the JointWorking Group Air Systemswas signed which is a majoraccomplishment for DTTI.

To further encourage USand Indian industries to devel-op niche technologies underthe DTTI Group, the DefenceIndustry Collaboration Forum(DICF) Virtual Expo was con-ducted on Tuesday.

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AKolkata-bound Air Indiaflight with 144 passengers

on board made an emergencylanding minutes after taking offfrom the KumbhirgramAirport in Silchar after one ofits landing gears malfunc-tioned. The plane was forced toland immediately after take-offafter a snag was noticed in oneof its rear wheels. According toreports, smoke billowed fromone of the rear landing gears.The flight returned to Silchar

Kumbhirgram airport soonafter it took off.

PK Gorai, the airportdirector, said the pilot detect-ed the glitch along with ahydraulic leak. “...thepilot...landed the plane back atthe Silchar airport. A full emer-gency was declared at the air-port and the flight also sufferedlanding gear failure.”

The defence airport inSilchar is partially being usedfor domestic purposes. Agreenfield airport is proposedto be built in the region. An avi-ation ministry team recently

visited Cachar to find land forthe proposed airport.

Earlier on October 22, aDelhi-bound Vistara flight wasdiverted to Devi AhilyabaiHolkar International Airport inMadhya Pradesh's Indore aftera passenger complained ofbreathlessness and fainted .

In June this year, a Saudi-bound Air India Express flightfrom Thiruvananthapurammade an emergency landingafter being airborne for lessthan an hour when the pilotsdetected a crack in the wind-shield.

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With nearly 10,000 workerson job on Central Vista,

the dream project of PrimeMinister Narendra Modi hasalready generated 23,02,115man days of employment so far.

Of the total 9373 workersengaged in the construction ofthe central vista project,a teamof 7578 workers are engagedonsite while 1795 people areengaged offsite in the project,the centralvista.gov.in websitedata states.

The website showed 33039metric tons of steel, 74,187 met-ric tons of cement and 10623cubic meters flyash has beenused in the project so far. Thedata showed that 4157 skilledmanpower and 5216 semiskilled manpower are engagedin the construction works.

In a related development,

the government has invitedpre-qualification bids for theconstruction of the ExecutiveEnclave which will house a newprime minister's office (PMO),Cabinet Secretariat, IndiaHouse and National SecurityCouncil Secretariat, estimatingthe project cost at Rs 1,171crore.

The Central Public WorksDepartment (CPWD), whichcomes under the Union Housing and UrbanAffairs Ministry, said theExecutive Enclave will come upon the south side of the SouthBlock in plot number 36/38 inthe high security zone inLutyens' Delhi.

The bid document statesthat the new PMO will havethree floors having a floorheight of 4.75 metres, in addi-tion to the basement andground floor, and the new

Cabinet Secretariat and NSCSwill have the same buildingstructure.

'India House', which willhave one floor in addition tobasement and ground floor, islikely to be used as a conferencefacility like the HyderabadHouse where high-level talks,especially with top visiting lead-ers of various countries, are cur-rently held.

"Relocating the depart-ments will ensure efficient secu-rity protocols for VIPs andVVIPs without disturbing dailymovement of the public in andaround the Central Vista," theCPWD document states.

The CPWD said the pro-posed work is required to becompleted strictly within theprescribed time limit of 24months with the highest stan-dards of quality and work-manship.

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The Enforcement Directoratehas provisionally attached

assets worth �6.32 crore ofSomyendra Nath Banerjee, thethen Deputy Director General,New Technology, Departmentof Telecommunications (DoT),Kolkata and his associates in amoney laundering case linkedto disproportionate assets case.

The attached assets are inthe form of one office premis-es, two vacant plots of land, onethree-storied commercial build-ing along with plant andmachinery of a running com-pany, balance lying in 47 bankaccounts, two vehicles, sharesheld in Demat accounts andtwo Demand Drafts, the EDsaid in a statement.

The ED had initiatedmoney laundering investigationon the basis of FIR registered byCBI, ACB, Kolkata underIndian Penal Code Sectionrelating to abetment and cor-ruption under the Prevention ofCorruption Act.

As per the charge-sheetfiled by CBI, ACB, Kolkata,Soumyendra Nath Banerjeehad amassed huge assetsbeyond his known source ofincome.

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Former Jammu and Kashmir DeputyChief Minister and senior BJP

leader Prof Nirmal Singh has beenserved notice by the JammuDevelopment Authority (JDA) todemolish his 'illegally' constructedhouse in Ban village in the close vicin-ity of Army's Ammunition depot inNagrota within five days.

The notice dated November8,2021 was served to Prof Singh at atime when he was not present inJammu. In its order of demolition, theJDA said the building was construct-ed without attaining the valid per-mission from the competent authori-ty. "...you are hereby directed toremove the illegal construction on yourown level within five days from thedate of issuance of the order.

Confirming the receipt of thenotice in a video message, circulatedin the social media Prof Nirmal Singhclaimed he was consulting his lawyers

in the matter as he was already seek-ing justice from the High Court in thematter which is sub-judice.

In his response Prof Singh also setthe record straight by claiming eversince he had shifted to his new homein Ban village he had not received anynotice. "This is for the first time a noticehas been served to me by the JammuDevelopment Authority", he clarified. In the notice which wasserved to Prof Singh JDA authoritieshad claimed that in response to theshow cause notice U/S 7 (1) of J&KControl of Building Operation Act1988 served to you, no reply has beenreceived by this office till date.

"If you fail to remove the illegalconstruction within the stipulatedperiod of time, the same shall bedemolished by the enforcement wingof JDA and cost of removal shall berecovered from you as arrears of landrevenue," the JDA said in its order.

It was on March 19, 2018 Lt-GenLt-General Saranjeet Singh, GoC of 16

corps, had written to Prof NirmalSingh, holding the charge of Power andHousing and Urban DevelopmentDepartment at that time, that ongoingconstruction on a plot, owned by hiswife Mamta Singh, is illegal and “hasimplications on the security of amajor ammunition storage facility aswell as the safety of all personnel liv-ing in close vicinity of the ammunitiondepot”. Lt-Gen Singh had also request-ed: “May I request you to reconsiderconstruction of residential accom-modation in close proximity of theammunition depot being a potentialsafety hazard.”

Before writing directly to ProfNirmal Singh the army authorities hadapproached various state governmentdepartments including local policeauthorities to stop ongoing construc-tion activity but failed to do so.Meanwhile, a large number of local res-idents in the area had also demandedimmediate shifting of the ammunitiondepot to a safer location.

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The post Assembly pollwrangling in the Bengal

unit of the BJP on Wednesdaysaw the expulsion of a seniorparty leader after he openlylambasted Opposition LeaderSuvendu Adhikari for his“questionable conducts.”

Surajit Saha the Howrahdistrict president of the partywas “summarily” expelled fromthe party by State vice presidentPratap Banerjee for attackingAdhikari apparently to send astrong signal to other dissent-ing voices.

The lightning quick deci-sion came from the State unitafter Saha on Wednesdaymorning went on record ques-tioning Adhikari’s credentialssaying “he (Adhikari) left theTrinamool Congress to join theBJP a few months before theelections … It was he wasopenly seen in the televisionaccepting money in the Naradapayoff case … no BJP leader or

worker was seen doing so … soSuvendu Adhikari should notteach us how to be devout BJPmen.”

Adhikari had earlier criti-cized the Howrah district lead-ers (including Saha) for work-ing in favour of the TrinamoolCongress leading to the party’sdefeat in the Assembly elec-tions.

Saha also lambasted thesenior leader for puttingTrinamool Congress turncoatson key positions before thecoming Howrah MunicipalCorporation elections.“Suvendu Adhikari is makinga B team of the TMC within theBJP by putting Trinamool turn-coats on key positions … I asthe president of the Howrahunit refuse to work with this Bteam of the TMC.”

When asked to commenton the issue BJP national vicepresident Dilip Ghosh said“leaders may have issues … weare a democratic party andsuch issues should be dis-

cussed inside the party and ina proper forum … speakingthings out in public is notallowed by the BJP.”

Saha is known for his prox-imity to two very senior lead-ers in the party and his expul-sion is seen as a message tothese leaders who have beenconsistently challenging theparty line vis a vis electoral pol-itics in Bengal.

Apart from Saha seniorleader and former TripuraGovernor Tathagato Roy toohave been attacking the Bengalleaders including Dilip Ghoshand party’s then observer forBengal Kailash Vijaybargiyaand Arvind Menon.

Roy has been attackingGhosh for speaking the lan-guages used by anti-social ele-ments. Vijabargiya and Menoncame under his line of attackfor spoiling the party’sprospects in Bengal “by blind-ly inducting leaders fromTMC.”

Kolkata: In bid to strengthen theTrinamool Congress’ organisation-al base and test the political watersin Tripura party national general sec-retary Abhishek Banerjee is likely tovisit Agartala on November 22,party sources said.

He is likely to address some ral-lies in the Tripura capital ahead ofthe November 25 municipal corpo-ration elections there. The TMC iscontesting from all the 51 seats inAgartala. Senior TMC leader wholeft the party before Bengal electionsto return to it a week ago said thatthe Agartala municipal electionswas “the first exam outside Bengal”and the party was confident ofputting up a good show in the elec-tions.

“We are under attack by the BJPgoons who are not letting us to fightthe elections because they know thatthe ground beneath Biplab Deb’s(Chief Minister) is fast slipping out… they know that they will lose theelections if the vote is free and fare… so they are using the goons andthe police against us … but the TMC

is determined to fight back … wehave done so in Bengal led byMamata Banerjee … we will do soin Tripura too,” Rajib Banerjee said.

Earlier Abhishek Banerjee whois also the nephew of Bengal ChiefMinister Mamata Banerjee said that“we will repeatedly come back toTripura till we have overthrown theBJP Government here … and theBJP workers who are today attack-ing our men will tomorrow come tojoin the TMC … I promise to takethem in and make them serve thepeople of Tripura by holding theirfeet.”

The Left Front leadership how-ever said that much like Bengal theBJP and the TMC were engaged ina “shadow fight” whereby the “BJPis making grounds for the TMC soas to break the Left vote base … butthe people of Tripura are intelligentenough to read into their schemes…”

According to sources the BJPmen were forcing the oppositionLeft, Congress and TMC candi-dates to withdraw their candidaturean allegation rejected by t he BJP.

KOCHI: The Indian National Congresswhich faced a total rout in the Assembly elec-tion held earlier this year is on a resurgentmood while dissension is brewing up in theCPI(M), a political outfit that looked invin-cible till a few weeks ago.

It may be a strange coincidence that twoname-sakes in these parties have emerged asforces that call the shots capable of makingor marring their fortunes in the run up tothe 2024 Lok Sabha elections. The CPI(M)-led Left Democratic Front had trounced theCongress-led United Democratic Front(UDF) and wrested the power in the State inthe 2016 assembly election. But the UDFswept the 2019 Lok Sabha polls from the Stateby winning 19 out of the 20 constituencies.The 2021 assembly election saw the CPI(M)returning to the State Secretariat withincreased numbers and, a unique phenom-enon in Kerala politics. The Congress HighCommand elected a new team of office bear-ers for the Kerala Pradesh CongressCommittee. Veteran leader K Sudhakaran, amass leader who is also a tough task master,was appointed as PCC chief while V DSatheeshan was appointed as Leader of theOpposition overlooking the claims of RameshChennithala, the LoP during the 2016-2021assembly. “It is known to all that KSudhakaran has a mass following in the State,”

said Hari S Kartha, former chief editor,Janmabhumi. G Sudhakaran, former minis-ter in the governments led by late E KNayanar, V S Achuthanandan and PinarayiVijayan, is the new eyesore for a section ofleaders in the CPI(M). Like his name sake inthe Congress, Sudhakaran is a typicalCommunist leader moulded in the oldschool of thought. He was not given partyticket in the 2021 assembly election despitehis clean performance as the minister forPublic Works Department. No PWD min-isters in the past had completed their tenureswithout any blemish and Sudhakaran was anexception. “Vijayan is afraid of Sudhakaranoutclassing him as a party leader and admin-istrator. Moreover his principled stanceagainst religious fundamentalism of anykind has made him dear to all,” said Kartha.

The Islamists in the CPI(M) do not wantSudhakaran anywhere near the corridors ofpower and that could be the reason why hewas denied a party ticket. He has been cen-sured by the party leadership openly for hisindifference towards the tough fight his suc-cessor had to face in Alappuzha during the2021 assembly election. The run up to the2024 Lok Sabha polls is of crucial for theCPI(M) which is hopeful of being the partof a government that would be formed in thecentre. PNS

New Delhi: The ideal time for abooster dose for Covid-19 vaccine issix months after the second dose,Bharat Biotech Chairman andManaging Director Krishna Ellasaid on Wednesday, and also empha-sised the importance of having anasal vaccine.

He also pointed out that hiscompany was the first in the worldto develop a Zika vaccine.

Taking the Covaxin vaccine bythe Prime Minister Narendra Modishowed confidence in IndianScience, he said at the Times NowSummit 2021.

"The ideal time for a boosterdose is six months after the seconddose," Ella stated.

Bharat Biotech is also looking atnasal vaccine as a booster dose as its

scaling up capacity is very easywhen compared with Covaxin, headded.

About the importance of nasalvaccine, he said the entire world islooking at nasal vaccines. That is theonly way to stop transmission.Everyone is trying to figure out theimmunology and fortunately, BharatBiotech has figured it out.

"We are coming out with a nasalvaccine, we are thinking thatCovaxin can be given as first dose,the second dose can be given a nasal,that is also strategically, scientifical-ly very important because with thesecond dose, if it is a nasal one, youstop the transmission of the virus...,"Ella said.

Nasal vaccine works well ifsomeone has been infected or if

someone has been vaccinated withone dose, he added.

About the PM taking theCovaxin shot, he said, "What woulda scientist like to have? A countryhead taking his vaccine. That is thebest satisfaction a scientist can get...It shows confidence in the Indian sci-ence, confidence in the startup, andconfidence in our innovation...".

Speaking about a vaccine forZika, Ella said Bharat Biotech isready with a vaccine for Zika virus.Phase I is complete. The governmenthas to take up more trials becausethere are more cases now.

"We were the first company inthe world to develop the Zika vac-cine in 2014... We were the first oneto file for a global patent for Zikavaccine", he added. PTI

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Jaipur: A truck collided head-on with a bus in Rajasthan'sBarmer district on Wednesday,leaving 12 people dead and 32others injured, a Governmentofficial said.

The accident occurred nearBhandiyawas village on theBarmer-Jodhpur NationalHighway and both vehiclescaught fire following the colli-sion.

"Twelve persons have diedand 32 others were injured.Some of the injured werereferred to Jodhpur for treat-ment and some were dis-charged," Barmer district collector Lok Bandhusaid.

There was chaos at theaccident site and hospital wherethe victims were taken.

T h i r u v a n a n t h a p u r a m :Devasahayam Pillai, a Hinduconverted to Christianity in the18th century, will become thefirst Indian layman to be con-ferred sainthood.

Pope Francis will canonizeBlessed Devasahayam Pillai,together with six other Blesseds,during a Canonization Mass inSt Peter's Basilica in Vatican onMay 15, 2022, Church officialssaid here on Wednesday.

The announcement wasmade by the Congregation forthe Causes of Saints in theVatican on Tuesday. With thecompletion of the process, Pillai,who took the name "Lazarus"after embracing Christianity in1745, will become the first layperson from India to become asaint, the church said. PTI

Lakhimpur (UP): A forensicreport has confirmed thatweapons recovered fromUnion Minister Ajay Mishra'sson Ashish Mishra and oth-ers after the Lakhimpur vio-lence had been fired.

Protesting farmers hadalleged that Ashish Mishrahad opened fire. Though theForensic Science Laboratory(FSL) report confirmed thatthe weapons had been dis-charged, it does not specifywhether they were fired onthe day of the violence orsome other day.

In a related development,Pawan Kashyap, brother ofRaman Kashyap, a journalistwho was among the victims ofthe Lakhimpur violence, hasmoved court for the registra-tion of another FIR against 14

people, including the minis-ter and his son, in connectionwith the scribe's death.

Eight people died in theOctober 3 violence. Four ofthem were farmers who wereallegedly knocked down by avehicle carrying BJP workers.Infuriated farmers thenallegedly lynched some peo-ple in the vehicles.

The other dead includedtwo BJP workers and theirdriver. Four weapons, includ-ing a rifle belonging to AshishMishra alias Monu Mishra,had been seized followingthe Lakhimpur violence. Apistol owned by Ankit Das,nephew of former Unionminister Akhilesh Das, and arepeater gun, which was withDas' bodyguard Lateef Kale,were also among them. PTI

Mumbai: Bus operations at all250 depots of the MaharashtraState Road TransportCorporation (MSRTC) were shuton Wednesday due to the strikeby its employees over the demandfor a merger of the loss-makingcorporation with the StateGovernment, officials said.

Hundreds of MSRTCemployees from across the stateconverged in Mumbai in theafternoon and held a rally at theAzad Maidan to press for theirdemand, even as Chief MinisterUddhav Thackeray appealed tothem not to hold the poor peo-ple hostage by continuing theirprotest, and cooperate with thegovernment in its effort to resolvetheir issues.

Thackeray also hit out at theopposition parties for "instigat-ing" the MSRTC employees fortheir political gains and said thisis not the time to play politics.

"All 250 depots are shutacross the state today. Yesterday,at least three depots were func-tional, but those are also shut," anMSRTC official said. A sec-tion of the MSRTC employeeshad not been reporting for dutysince October 28 seeking a merg-er of the cash-strapped corpora-tion with the State Government.

They intensified their agitationafter the Diwali festival con-cluded last week.

The Bombay High Courton Monday expressed displeasureover the protest and the state gov-ernment had appealed to theemployees resume their duty,but they have refused to budge.

Lakhs of passengers werefacing hardships as the MSRTCbuses were off roads. TheMaharashtra government haspermitted private buses andgoods vehicles to ferry passen-gers, but those are insufficient,according to officials of theRegional Transport Office(RTO).

Maharashtra TransportMinister Anil Parab, who is alsochairman of the MSRTC, hascalled a meeting with the actioncommittee of labour unions ofthe corporation here later in theday over the issue of their strike.

The MSRTC is one of thebiggest state transport corpora-tions in the country with a fleetof more than 16,000 buses andaround 93,000 employees, includ-ing drivers and conductors. Thecorporation used to ferry over 65lakh passengers daily before thecoronavirus outbreak last year.

On Wednesday afternoon,

hundreds of MSRTC employeesarrived here from across thestate and held a rally at the AzadMaidan in south Mumbai.

Leader of Opposition in thestate Legislative Council PravinDarekar, BJP legislatorsGopichand Padalkar, SadabhauKhot, former BJP MP KiritSomaiya and other leaders werepresent at the rally.

Addressing the protesters atthe rally, Darekar said they do notbelieve in oral assurance, hencethe agitation will continue tillminister Parab gives a writtenassurance over the MSRTCmerger issue.

Talking to PTI, Khot claimedthat police stopped nine vehiclesof women MSRTC employees atvarious locations in neighbour-ing Navi Mumbai while theywere trying to reach the state cap-ital. In the wake of the agi-tation, the city police had beefedup security at the Azad Maidanand the state secretariat'Mantralaya'. CM Thackerayin a statement said, "Since the lastfew days, the government hastaken steps to address the issues.Even the high court is satisfiedwith the steps taken by the gov-ernment to address the issues ofMSRTC employees. PTI

Lucknow: Suheldev BhartiyaSamaj Party chief Om PrakashRajbhar on Wednesday saidthere would have been noPartition had Mohammad AliJinnah been made the firstprime minister, adding to therow on a remark by SamajwadiParty supremo Akhilesh Yadav.

Rajbhar's poll ally Yadavhad recently talked of Jinnah inthe same breath as SardarVallabhai Patel, MahatmaGandhi and Jawaharlal Nehruas freedom fighters, triggeringcriticism from BJP leaders,including UP Chief MinisterYogi Adityanath.

"Had Jinnah been madethe first prime minister, thepartition of the country wouldnot have happened," Rajbhartold reporters in Varanasi.

On BJP leaders' criticism ofYadav's remark on Jinnah,Rajbhar suggested that formerPrime former Deputy PM L KAdvani too had similar viewsabout Jinnah.

“Read Advani ji's views,read Atal ji's views, read theviews of country's other well-

wishers on the prospect ofJinnah having been made thePM. Why did they praise him?”

Yadav had made theremark apparently equatingPakistan fonder Jinnah withGandhi and Nehru while lav-ishing praise on Patel on his146th birth anniversary onOctober 31, raising many eye-brows. "Sardar Patel,Father of the Nation MahatmaGandhi, Jawaharlal Nehru and(Muhammad Ali) Jinnah stud-ied in the same institute andbecame barristers. They helped(India) get freedom and neverbacked away from any strug-gle," he had said.

Yadav had also referred tothe ban imposed on the RSS byPatel, the then home minister,following the assassination ofGandhi in 1948, saying only hecould do it.

Reacting to Yadav's state-ment on Jinnah, BJPspokesperson Rakesh Tripathihad said Jinnah was considereda villain in the country andthose who are trying to use hisname will not get any benefit.

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Two days after two servingpolice inspectors linked

to him were arrested, aMumbai Magistrate’s court onWednesday issued a Non-Bailable Warrant (NBW)against Mumbai’s formerPolice Commissioner ParamBir Singh in an extortioncase.

Wednesday’s was thethird NBW warrant issuedagainst Singh, against whomfive First Information Reports(FIRs) have been registered indifferent police stations.

Singh has been abscond-ing for the past seven months.A look-out circular (LoC) isalready in force against him.

Hearing a complaintlodged against him and oth-ers by builder ShyamsunderAgrawal at the Marine Drivepolice station for allegedextortion, Additional ChiefMetropolitan Magistrate R.M. Nerlikar issued an NBWagainst Singh.

Last month, the courts inThane and Mumbai hadissued two similar NBWs inextortion cases. The case inwhich the court issued a

NBW to Singh, relates to acase in which two servingpolice inspectors --Nandkumar Gopale and AshaKorke – were arrested by theState Criminal InvestigationDepartment (CID) onMonday night. The twoarrested police officers wereon Tuesday sent by a citycourt to the State CID’s cus-tody for a week.

Apart from Singh, thereare seven– including Gopale,Korke and three other policeofficers – accused in the case.

The Marine Drive Policehad registered the extortioncase against Singh and 7 oth-ers, including five police offi-cials, on July 22 following acomplaint by Agrawal.

Currently, the CID isinvestigating a case underMaharashtra Control ofOrganised Crime Act(MCOCA) against Agrawal,registered by Juhu PoliceStation, alleging links with theabsconding underworld gan-glord Chhota Shakeel.

On his part, Agrawal hasalleged that based on this"false" case had been filedagainst him. He has allegedthat Mumbai’s former police

commissioner Singh andother police officers hadextorted money from him atthe behest of his former busi-ness partner SanjayPunamiya.

Singh has been missingfor nearly seven months now.It may be recalled that theMaharashtra government toldthe Bombay High Court onOctober 21 that it has notbeen able to trace Param Birand assured the court that itwould not take coerciveaction against the latter.While his whereabouts arenot known, he approachedthe high court through hislawyer Mahesh Jethmalanito mention his plea seekingthe quashing of an FIR regis-tered against him.

The Maharashtra gov-ernment-appointed Justice(retired) Kailash UttamchandChandiwal Commission ofenquiry –which is hearinginto the allegations of cor-ruption made by him againstMaharashtra’s former HomeMinister Anil Deshmukh --has issued several summonsagainst him, fined him andeven issued a bailable arrestwarrant against him.

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Balrampur (UP): PragatisheelSamajwadi Party Lohia chiefShivpal Yadav on Wednesdaysaid he was ready for his party's"merger" with the SamajwadiParty if its president AkhileshYadav agrees to field PSPL's win-ning candidates in the assemblypolls. Shivpal Yadav has soughta merger or alliance of his partywith the Samajwadi Party sever-al times, the latest being onTuesday in Barabanki, sayingthat Akhilesh Yadav shoulddecide on an alliance or mergerwithout delay.

"We are ready for any sacri-fice to remove the BJP frompower. If Akhilesh Yadav givestickets to our winning candidates,we are ready for any sacrifice,including an unconditionalmerger with the SP," Shivpal

Yadav told reporter here whileparticipating in his party'sSamajik Parivartan Yatra.

SP founder Mulayam SinghYadav's younger brother ShivpalYadav had been trying to patchup with his nephew AkhileshYadav for a long time but he hasnot got any clear response fromthe SP. Talking of theLakhimpur incident, the PSPLchief said it is clear now from theForensic Science Lab report thatMinister of State for Home AjayMishra's son Ashish Mishra hadopened fire. Accordingly, theminister should be immediatelysacked, he demanded.

Attacking the BJP, he saidthe party has not fulfilled itspromises and crime and corrup-tion have reached its peak in thepresent regime. PTI

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not easily separate workerswhen the industry runs into aslum. On top of the statutorywages are the trade unions.What the unions can be, onewould know if one has workedin Kolkata or in Kerala. In thelatter State, even the class IVworkers know what the lawsays. They do not need theunion leaders to argue forthem.

If we prefer full employ-ment, a change of policy isrequired. A lot of labour pol-icy has come from theIndustrial Disputes Act 1947,possibly the last legislation leftbehind by the BritishGovernment before it left afterIndependence. An extremeleft winger called AneurinBevan was in charge of Healthand Labour. He gave Britain itsnational health service whichis supposed to provide totalhealth care to every citizen freeof charge. Indians got theIndustrial Disputes Act onwhich the entire labour ethoshas grown. He did not realisethat India was not Europe andwe desperately neededemployment as all underdevel-oped countries do. He visitedMumbai before he demittedoffice in 1952, and I haveheard him speak for an hour

at the Grant Medical College.This legislation added by

the communist trade unionattitude led to an anti-employ-ment formula for India. A jobis better than none is our need.A person’s skill and qualifica-tion will ensure him/her anadequate employment in anycase. For the rest, there shouldbe a free market. Between aperson and a potentialemployer there should be free-dom of negotiation of salary.So that the employee is nottreated unfairly, there shouldpreferably be a minimummonthly contract and amonthly notice of termina-tion. With his salary packet,he/she should get a nation-alised bank draft payableexactly five years, hence for 25per cent of his wage. Thiswould represent his savingslike provident fund, gratuityetc. So that the employee isassured of his dues for hiswork life. The employer canterminate his services with onemonth’s pay in lieu of notice.The salary would be free anddepending on how much theemployee is prepared toaccept.

No other complicationshould come in the way of anappointment. With the size of

our population and the num-ber of young men and womenseeking employment everyday, this kind of a free marketfor labour is required.Remember, that agriculturewould be freeing more andmore workers who are likelyto come to industry and ser-vice for jobs. At the rate we areprogressing, anything like fullemployment would remain apipe dream. If the licence to setup an enterprise is free, whycontrol the wage level? Thatnot only discourages employ-ment but also creates anatmosphere of minimumemployment.

An employee would expectan increment every year.Whereas a machine attractsdepreciation which is a tax-freesaving to the employer foreventually acquiring a replace-ment machine. This practicealone shows a preference fora machine over man from anemployer’s point of view.More need to be said to advo-cate wages that favour freeappointment without anyimpediment.

(The writer is a well-known columnist, an authorand a former member of theRajya Sabha. The viewsexpressed are personal.)

�� Sir — 'Fake news' appears to be a substan-tial problem in India for which one can-not entirely fix the Government. However,in November last year, the SupremeCourt questioned the Centre to explainits mechanism against fake news, since itis the responsibility of any Governmentto have proper control over this danger-ous phenomenon by framing rigid lawsand taking stringent actions against thepropagandists. In the last few years,unfortunately social media has turned outto be a massive player in shaping publicdiscourse in a democratic space.

Though there has been pressurefrom policymakers on service/platformproviders, nothing concrete has beenbuilt up towards the accountability of theuser or platform proprietors. Lack of pol-icy implementation or laws which couldeither curb fake news or hold the per-petrator accountable for their action haveonly made the situation complex andchallenging. Responsible users havetime and again raised the issue to reviewand amend the existing laws to meet thechallenges of spreading fake news, butefforts by both policymakers and civilsocieties have not been enough toaddress this lacuna within the overpow-ering digital space.

Ranganathan Sivakumar | Chennai

��Sir — The meeting held between ChiefMinisters of two neighbouring States —Odisha and Andhra Pradesh — to findamicable solutions for long drawn issuesis a right step towards reaching mutualbenefits. These two States share not onlyborders but also unfulfilled dreams ofdevelopment, apart from the rich histo-ry. The decade old controversy over util-ising river water of Vamsadhara couldhave easily been solved and the available115 thousand million cubic (TMC) ofwater could have effectively been utilisedwith equal share had the proposed NeradiBarrage been constructed.

It's good that both the parties agreedto form an institutional mechanism withboth Chief Secretaries at helm to find

solutions in a time bound manner. Thecontroversy over thirty one border villagesalong the Andhra-Odisha border, theissue of utilisation of eight TMC ofJanjavathi river and other issues do needa little bit of cooperation between thesetwo. Clearly, a mutually agreed decisionwill yield huge dividends for the States interms of growth and development. Itwould be a win-win situation for Statesand its people if they continue the dia-logue meaningfully.

DVG Sankararao | Vizianagaram

��Sir — We can now say with certainty thatthe Rafale deal was shady and it was notfree from the taint of kickbacks. The lat-est revelation by the French investigativeportal Mediapart that 7.5 million euroswere paid as bribe, euphemistically called‘consultancy fees’, to middleman SushenGupta through his InterstellarTechnologies in Mauritius in guise of‘dubious IT contracts’ by the French firm

Dassault Aviation for ‘facilitating’ the saleof Rafale jet fighters between 2007 and2012 lends a new twist to the scandal andmakes it an involved deal needing moreunravelling. The fact that the payoffs werepaid during the UPA tenure inclines usto wonder if it were not an ‘all-party scam’.We find it hard to reconcile to the justi-fication that no defence deal is clinchedwithout kickbacks and the depletion of thenation’s coffers in this way.

It could not have been the case thatmiddleman kept all the bribe proceeds tothemselves and did not distribute it to ‘otherentities’, read political leaders in power-cum-decision-makers. The Congressshould disclose what clout Sushen Gupta,who was allegedly close to Amit Shah andArun Jaitley, had with the UPAGovernment for Dassault Aviation to hireor continue him as a middleman.

G David Milton | Maruthancode

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Every time wages andsalaries of unskilled andsemi-skilled workers areincreased by the

Government, my first reaction isone of gladness. TheGovernment has raised theirdearness allowance. For long, Ihave believed that teachers, espe-cially at the school level, are themakers of the quality of ourfuture society. As a consequence,the better the quality of society,the higher would be our civilisa-tion. The same logic does notapply to the wages of commonworkers in India at its presentstage of economic development.The reason is if we raise wagesstatutorily, the employers, espe-cially of small and medium busi-nesses and industries would bescared away. They can't all affordto pay more, most of the time.

Regardless, we must realisethat industry or manufacturingis an employer of machines, notof men or women. True, it gen-erates employment down the linein the shape of transport, of can-teens, of dealers of shops andgenerally pushes the economyforward. But an efficient employ-er is in constant search of reduc-ing the number of heads permachine. The intent is to controlthe unit cost of his product. Theraw materials, packing, and elec-tricity are supplied by others whocontrol their respective cost ofproduction. But the man tomachine ratio, perhaps theemployer is able to keep somecontrol. The reality is that any-one who is skilled and can get ajob at �20,000 would not workfor �19,000. The Governmentneed not worry about his wagesand welfare. The scheme of min-imum wages that theGovernment tries to ensure, ifnot enforce, is for those who arenot easily employable; they donot have either the motivation orthe skills to get a job on reason-able terms. By laying down aminimum, the Governmentobstructs his prospects of gettinga job.

The next thing that happensis a communal consensus amongentrepreneurs — that it is safestto avoid labour intensive activi-ties. For one, such enterprises areexpensive, and worse, one can-

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Notwithstanding the crit-icism by mainOpposition the Telugu

Desam Party (TDP) and JanaSena, the fact remains that thehistory of ganja or hemp in theNorth Coastal tribal belt inAndhra Pradesh and neigh-bouring Odisha goes back tocenturies.

Police records and thecases booked by the NarcoticsControl Bureau, clearly estab-lishes ganja smuggling fromtribal areas on the borders ofAP and Odisha even duringthe TDP rule led by NChandrababu Naidu in theundivided state of AndhraPradesh and also in the resid-ual State after bifurcation of APinto two States.

During TDP rule, as ganjasmuggling was going onunchecked and also being

smuggled to Sri Lanka fromVisakhapatnam, the UnionHome Ministry had to alertthe state to take stringentaction. A meeting of DGPs offour states held inBhogapuram of Vizagapatamdistrict on October 10, 2016,took note of the age-old ganjatransportation. The mediapublished stories and analyseson how ganja was being smug-gled from the Andhra-Odishaborder during 2014 and inearly 2019 during the TDPrule.

During the British Rule inIndia, the then administrationhad appointed the IndianHemp Drugs Commission.The purpose of theCommission was to ascertain,amongst others, the extent towhich the hemp plant is cul-tivated in the provinces.

Officers responsible for the topAdministration inVizagapatam districts contain-ing the present three Northcoastal districts of AP and fiveborder districts of Orissa(under Madras Presidency)were among over eleven hun-dred witnesses who appearedbefore the Commission andgave evidence as well as sug-gestions to overcome the prob-lem. The Commission laterpublished its conclusions.

Despite all these facts andrecords available right from

British Rule, Chandrababu andhis party leaders are trying topaint a picture as if the ganjaissue has just cropped up nowduring YSRCP rule. The TDPleaders are conveniently forget-ting the fact that their partyMinister Ch.Ayyanna Patruduopenly raised his voice againstanother minister and foundfault with the latter for con-ducting review meetings on thesteps being taken to eradicateganja smuggling ignoring therealities that the kingpinsbehind the smuggling were notbeing booked.

At least people of the statecannot forget the decisiontaken by the then police headsto take stringent action againstthe hemp cultivators in theVisakhapatnam agency pock-ets on AOB and even decidedto destroy the weed fields with

the help of the satellite images.In 2014 and 2015 theVisakhapatnam police arrest-ed 1,150 persons and seizedover 50 tonnes of ganja and anumber of vehicles, however,no kingpin was then arrested.

While this is the scenarioduring 2014 and early 2019 inAndhra Pradesh, within a fewdays after YS Jagan MohanReddy assuming charge asnew Chief Minister, the stategovernment took a firm standto suppress the ganja gangs.The AP police have registered2,040 cases under theNarcotics Drugs andPsychotropic Substances(NDPS) Act against ganjasmugglers and paddlers so farthis year. A total of 270 tonnesof ganja has been seized byarresting 5,415 personsinvolved in the smuggling

from January 1 till Octoberend this year.

At a time when the Stategovernment has intensified itsoperations and are trying toend the menace, TDP is tryingto show figures provided bythe police department to twistand say that ganja smugglingis thriving under YSR rule.Misinformation with regard toseizure of drugs in Mundraport is also being spread by theopposition TDP. DespiteCentral government agenciesassociated with the investiga-tion of the case as also theDGP categorically clarifyingthat AP has no links to theseizure of drugs, the TDPcontinues to carry out thepropaganda.

"The increasing numberof NDPS cases is an indicationthat police are acting tough on

ganja smugglers. We areobserving zero tolerancetowards smuggling of ganja,drugs and any other sedativeswhich cause harm to healthand spoil career of youngsters,"said Director General of PoliceD Gautam Sawang.

Police have filed morecases in 2020 and 2021 com-pared to previous years. On anumber of occasions, the DGPhas made it clear that ganjacultivation has been prevalentin the neighbouring States ofOdisha, Chhattisgarh andJharkhand and the contra-band is being transportedfrom the border areas.

The police department isworking on a specific strategyto weed out ganja smugglingfrom the State with the coop-eration of the NationalInvestigation Agency (NIA).

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(The writer is Advisor, nationalmedia and interstate affairs,

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The COP26 climate meet is full ofpromises as the desertificationthreat to India and the worldincreases. The meet is less on

concrete terms to bring down tempera-ture but high on verbosity.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi hasstruck the right chord. He has taken timetill 2070 so that India's development is notsmothered by the reticence of the devel-oped world. He says that the commitmentto climate has a cost and the rich nationsare not meeting out their pledge of pro-viding $100 billion a year to developingnations by 2020 as agreed at the climateconference in Copenhagen in 2009. Thetarget has not yet been met.

The commitment is significant to cli-mate financing negotiations and thesteps by rich countries, which till nowhave not met their pledge of providing$100 billion a year.

Nations like Saudi Arabia, Japan andAustralia on the other hand are asking theUN to play down the need to move awayfrom fossil fuels. The Inter-Governmentalpanel on Climate Change says that 32,000submissions have been made by govern-ments, companies and other interestedparties to dilute the issues of fossil fuel.

They are arguing that that the worlddoes not need to reduce the use of fossilfuels as quickly as the current draft of thereport recommends. A West Asian coun-try's oil ministry has sought removal ofphrases like the need for urgent and accel-erated mitigation actions at all scales. Theissue of temperature reduction by 2degrees may remain on paper as theypress for slower action and temperaturelimit be reduced to 1.5 degrees.

Australia does not accept the conclu-sion that closing coal-fired thermalpower plants is necessary, even though theCoP26 objective is to end the use of coalthat adds to the problem of greenhouseeffect. OPEC also asks the IPCC todelete lobby activism, protecting rentextracting business models. Saudi Arabiawants deletion of the UN conclusion thatthe focus of decarbonisation efforts in theenergy sector needs to move rapidly shift-ing to zero-carbon sources and activelyphasing out fossil fuels.

Many developing countries are notcomfortable with the zero emission.Argentina, Norway and OPEC also chal-lenge the contention. Norway argues theUN scientists should allow the possibil-ity of capture and storage (CCS) as apotential tool for reducing emissions fromfossil fuels. Even India had to resort tolarger coal prospecting as its power sys-tem was reportedly coming to a criticalstage and it had to keep the thermal powerplants running.

The draft report accepts carbon couldplay a role in the future but says there areuncertainties about its feasibility. The CCSemerges as a vague term for continuingwith the fossil fuel.

In 2015, the Paris Agreement stressed

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the need for limiting temperaturebetween 2 degrees to 1.5 degreeCelsius before 2100. India's andChina's commitment has increasedhopes that zero emission is possi-ble by 2070 but that again does notremain a certainty.

The globe is warming up faster.The climate change is to affectrainfall patterns and warmeratmosphere can lead to more rain-fall in some areas and drought inmany others. It is expected toincrease global poverty as water inexcess or shortage would playhavoc with human development.

The global area of dry lands isexpected to expand as the climatewarms. Various projections onemission scenarios indicate aridlands will increase by 11 to 23 per-cent compared a 30-year period of1961 to 1990. This means that drylands could be 50 to 56 percent ofthe earth's land surface, a 38 per-cent rise, by 2021. The arid regionswill expand over southwest ofNorth America, north and southAfrica and Australia, theMediterranean and SouthAmerica.

Now at Glasgow CoP 26,Australia and 123 other countriessigned an agreement to end defor-estation by 2030. There havebeen many such declarationsbefore. Such policies have to beadopted by different countries atthe domestic level. If these are notimplemented due to domesticpolitical pressure such declarationswould have little impact.

India never reneges on suchcommitments but there are vari-ous lobbies that are on recklessconstructions in the Himalayas

and other sensitive zones leadingto serious crisis. About 97.85 mil-lion hectares (29.7 percent) ofIndia's total geographical area(TGA) of 328.72 mha underwentland degradation during 2018-19. In 2003-05, 94.53 mha (28.76percent of the TGA) underwentland degradation. The numberincreased to 96.40 mha (29.32 per-cent of the TGA) in 2011-13.

About 83.69 mha underwentdesertification in 2018-19. Thiswas greater than the 81.48 mha in2003-2005 and 82.64 mha in2011-13. India witnessed anincrease in the level of desertifi-cation in 28 of 31 states and Unionterritories between 2011-13 and2018-19.

Forest covers are dwindlingall over Asia and various Indianstates too are amending theirlaws for increased "develop-mental activities" across. Treefelling and water erosion also iscausing heavy erosion as con-struction activities are increas-ing. The Centre's commitmentand the states' priorities oftenclash and the later play havoc atthe ground level.

A McGill paper has found thatmore airport constructions wouldcreate environmental problems,increase warming and other eco-logical issues. Since these havebecome symbols of fast develop-ment, across India, and in manyother countries, more airports arebeing constructed. Each adds todegeneration. Recently in UP andthe hilly states a number of air-ports are being constructed for"better connectivity".

The IPCC says that various

climate model simulations suggestthat rainfall, when it does occur,will be more intense for almostthe entire world, potentiallyincreasing the risks of soil erosion.Projections indicate that most ofthe world will see a 16 to 24 per-cent increase in heavy precipita-tion intensity by 2100.

So, desertification means thatthere is overall land degradationin water-scarce parts of the world.Since large business lobbies areengaged in such activities, it hasbecome difficult for any govern-ment across the globe to stopthem though it causes deteriora-tion of the economic productiv-ity of the land and its ability tofarm the land for commercial orsubsistence purposes. The degra-dation includes the decline inquality of soil, vegetation, waterresources or wildlife. Each of itaffects the quality of life andlivelihood.

Director of research at theGrantham Institute at ImperialCollege, London, Joeri Rogelji,says that various pledges at differ-ent climate meets are still not suf-ficient to meet the goals of theParis Agreement and CoP 26 stillhas an important task. The tem-perature control the pledges needto strengthen but, he says, thepledges do not match the ambi-tions.

The International EnergyAgency is unhappy with what thegovernments are trying to showthey are doing. The governmentsneed to have clear and crediblepolicies. Ambitions count for lit-tle if they are not implementedsuccessfully.

(The writer is a seniorjournalist. The views

expressed are personal.)

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Imran Khan on Wednesdayfaced a barrage of questions

at a hearing of the 2014 terrorattack on an Army-run schoolduring which the SupremeCourt bench asked the Pakistanprime minister why he wasnegotiating with the culprits ofthe massacre of nearly 150people, mostly students.

The apex court gave amonth-long deadline to thegovernment to determine theresponsibility for security fail-ure in the horrific attack inwhich 147 people, 132 of themchildren, were killed whenTehreek-i-Taliban Pakistan(TTP) militants stormed theArmy Public School (APS) inPeshawar.

The three-judge bench -headed by Chief Justice ofPakistan (CJP) Gulzar Ahmed,and comprising Justice QaziMohammad Amin Ahmed andJustice Ijazul Ahsan - had sum-

moned Khan.The court asked Khan

about the action taken after aspecial commission in its probepresented to the court last yearreported that security failurewas responsible for the attack.

"The satisfaction of theparents [who lost their childrenin the APS attack] is necessary,"said Justice Ahsan addressingthe premier. The court alsotook the government to task forholding talks with the TTPinstead of taking any actionagainst those responsible forsecurity failure.

"If the government wasgoing to sign on a document ofdefeat with those who killedthese children…Are we goingto surrender once again?"Justice Amin asked the premier.

The government is in talkswith the TTP over a "reconcil-iation process", withInformation Minister FawadChaudhry having announcedon Monday that a "completeceasefire" had been reachedwith the banned outfit.

"You are in power. The gov-ernment is also yours. Whatdid you do?

You brought those guilty tothe negotiating table," ChiefJustice Ahmed told Khan.

Khan in his response saidthat at the time of the attack hisPakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf partywas ruling in Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa and it could onlyprovide material compensa-tion which it did by givingmonetary support to the vic-tims' families.

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Elton John has no doubtbeen a member of many

exclusive clubs over thedecades, but probably nothingquite as exclusive as the one he formally joined onWednesday.

In an investiture ceremonyat Windsor Castle, PrinceCharles anointed the rock starand charity patron as a mem-ber of the Order of theCompanions of Honour.

It is one of the highestawards that can be bestowed byCharles' mother, QueenElizabeth II, to citizens inBritain and across theCommonwealth. The 95-year-old monarch is also a memberof the order.

Introduced in 1917 by hergrandfather King George V, theaward recognizes people who

have made "a major contribu-tion to the arts, science, med-icine, or government lastingover a long period of time."

Current members includeBritish environmentalist DavidAttenborough, Canadianauthor Margaret Atwood andone of Britain's greatest-everathletes Sebastian Coe.

The group, which in thepast has included Britishwartime prime ministerWinston Churchill and scien-tist Stephen Hawking, can onlynumber a maximum of 65,excluding the sovereign, at anyone time.

John, who was knighted bythe queen in 1998, a year afterthe death of his friend Diana,the Princess of Wales, joinedthe Companions of Honour inthe queen's honors list in late2019 for his services to musicand charity.

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Afederal judge rejected for-mer President Donald

Trump's request to block therelease of documents to theHouse committee investigatingthe Jan. 6 Capitol riot.

In denying a preliminaryinjunction, U.S. District JudgeTanya Chutkan said Tuesdaythat Congress had a strongpublic interest in obtainingrecords that could shed light ona violent insurrection mount-ed by the former president'ssupporters. She added thatPresident Joe Biden had theauthority to waive executiveprivilege over the documentsdespite Trump's assertions oth-erwise.

Barring a court order, theNational Archives plans toturn over Trump's records tothe committee by Friday. ButTrump's lawyers swiftlypromised an appeal to the U.S.Court of Appeals for theDistrict of Columbia Circuit.The case will likely eventuallyhead to the U.S. Supreme

Court."At bottom, this is a dispute

between a former and incum-bent President," Chutkanwrote. "And the Supreme Courthas already made clear that insuch circumstances, the incum-bent's view is accorded greaterweight."

Trump "does not acknowl-edge the deference owed" toBiden's judgment as the currentpresident, Chutkan said. She

noted examples of past presi-dents declining to assert exec-utive privilege and rejectedwhat she said was Trump'sclaim that executive privilege"exists in perpetuity."

"Presidents are not kings,and Plaintiff is not President,"she said.

According to an earliercourt filing from the archives,the records include call logs,drafts of remarks and speech-es and handwritten notes fromTrump's then-chief of staff,Mark Meadows. There are alsocopies of talking points fromthen-press secretary KayleighMcEnany and "a draftExecutive Order on the topic ofelection integrity," the NationalArchives has said.

Rep. Bennie Thompson,D-Miss., who chairs the Housecommittee, said in a statementafter the ruling that the recordsare crucial for understandingthe attack and "in my view,there couldn't be a more com-pelling public interest thangetting answers about an attackon our democracy."

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Britain's Prince Harry hassharply attacked the failure

of social media companies tochallenge hate online, revealingthat he warned the chief exec-utive of Twitter ahead of theJan. 6 Capitol riots that the sitewas being used to stage polit-ical unrest.

Harry made the commentsTuesday in an online panel onmisinformation in California.He said he made his concernsknown via email to TwitterCEO Jack Dorsey the daybefore the riot in Washington.

"Jack and I were emailingeach other prior to January 6where I warned him that hisplatform was allowing a coupto be staged," Harry said at theRE:WIRED tech forum. "Thatemail was sent the day beforeand then it happened and Ihaven't heard from him since."

Twitter declined to com-ment on Harry's remarks.

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Tibet's exiled spiritual leaderthe Dalai Lama says China's

leaders "don't understand thevariety of different cultures" andthat the ruling CommunistParty's penchant for tight socialcontrol can be harmful.

The 86-year-old Buddhistmonk on Wednesday also saidhe wished to remain home inIndia, where he has lived since1959 after a failed uprisingagainst Chinese rule in Tibet,rather than get involved in the"complicated politics" betweenChina, run by the officiallyatheist Communist Party, andstrongly Buddhist Taiwan.

Speaking at an online pressconference hosted by the TokyoForeign Correspondents Club,the Dalai Lama said there wereno particular plans to meet

with Chinese leader Xi Jinpingand declined to comment onXi's plans to remain in office fora third five-year term.

"Chinese communist lead-ers, they do not understand thevariety of different cultures," hesaid. "In reality, too much con-trol will harm people."

China exercises rigid con-trol over all religions and inrecent years has stepped up acampaign of cultural assimila-tion targeting Tibetans, TurkicMuslim Uyghurs and otherminority groups.

The Dalai Lama said he didnot want to become involved in"local and political difficul-ties," but was dedicated tomaking contributions to"brothers and sisters" in bothTaiwan and mainland China."This situation is quite com-plicated," he said.

Poland: German ChancellorAngela Merkel asked RussianPresident Vladimir Putin onWednesday to intervene withBelarus over the migrant situ-ation on that country's borderwith Poland, where groups ofmigrants made bold attemptsthis week to cross intoEuropean Union territory.

The chancellor's office saidMerkel spoke with Putin byphone and underlined that theexploitation "of migrantsagainst the European Union bythe Belarusian regime is inhu-man and completely unac-ceptable." Merkel asked theRussian president "to exert hisinfluence on the regime inMinsk," her office said.

Russia is a close ally of thegovernment in Belarus.Germany is a favored destina-tion for migrants who manageto enter the EU. AP

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The competition betweenIndian and Chinese steel

players could intensify at glob-al level, amid subdued steeldemand in China, according toIcra.

In China -- the largeststeel consuming country --steelmakers could brace for anextended period of weakdemand as the economy goesthrough the process of rebal-ancing of an overheated prop-erty market, which was a keygrowth engine driving thecountry's steel demand for thelast two decades, the ratingsagency said in its latest report.

According to Icra, in 2020-21, China emerged as the single-largest importer of steel fromIndia. However, with the Chinesesteel demand growth waning inthe current fiscal, the share ofsteel exports to China by Indianmills has plummeted to just 8 percent in the first half of the ongo-ing fiscal from 30 per cent in thepreceding financial year.

Mumbai:The rupee tumbledby 32 paise to end at 74.37against the US currency onWednesday, weighed down bya muted trend in domesticequities and strong greenbackin the overseas market.

Besides, persistent foreignfund outflows also put pressureon the domestic unit, forexdealers said.

At the interbank foreignexchange market, the localcurrency opened at 74.11 andwitnessed a high of 74.06 anda low of 74.42 against the USdollar in the day trade.The local unit finally settled at74.37 a dollar, down 32 paise

over its previous close of 74.05.According to Emkay

Global Financial Services,"Inflationary concerns areincreasing globally, and as weproceed with the week, the IPOrelated inflows may dry out,keeping USD/INR spot afloat".

The key catalyst for theforex market is the US inflationdata. A lower-than-expectedCPI figure will reflect a 'tran-sitory' factors, however, a high-er-than-expected data or a fig-ure in line with market con-sensus will induce the Fed toaccelerate the pace of assetpurchases, it said. PTI

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Markets regulator Sebi hasamended the regulatory

regime governing alternativeinvestment funds (AIFs), tofacilitate co-investmentthrough the portfolio man-agement route.

Co-investment meansinvestment made by a manag-er or sponsor or investor ofCategory-I and -II AIFs ininvestee companies where suchcategory of AIFs makes invest-ment.

In a notification on Tuesday,the Securities and ExchangeBoard of India (Sebi) said, "Co-investment by investors of alter-native investment fund shall bethrough a co-investment port-folio manager."

The regulator said the termsof co-investment in an investeecompany by a manager or spon-sor or co-investor, will not bemore favourable than the termsof investment of the AIF.

It further said the terms ofexit from the co-investment inan investee company, includingthe timing of exit will be iden-tical to the terms applicable tothat of exit of the AIF.

These framework will beapplicable only for co-invest-ment made on or afterDecember 9.

The manager will not pro-vide advisory services to anyinvestor other than the clientsof co-investment portfoliomanager for investment insecurities of investee companieswhere the AIF managed by it

makes investment.The regulator has allowed

Category-III AIFs to calculateconcentration norms based onnet asset value of the fund.

Sebi said Category-III AIFswill invest not more than 10 percent of the net asset value in list-ed equity of an investee compa-ny. They will invest not morethan 10 per cent of the investablefunds in securities other thanlisted equity of an investee com-pany, directly or through invest-ment in units of other AIFs.

This is provided that largevalue funds for accreditedinvestors of Category-III AIFsmay invest up to 20 per cent ofthe net asset value in listed equi-ty of an investee company. Theymay invest up to 20 per cent ofthe investable funds in securi-ties other than listed equity ofan investee company, directly orthrough investment in units ofother AIF.

To give effect to this, theregulator has ameded AIFnorms. This came after Sebi'sboard approved a proposal inthis regard in late-September.

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The recent decision of theCentral Government to cut

the excise duty on diesel andpetrol is significantly positivefor inflation, Reserve Bank ofIndia Governor ShaktikantaDas said on Wednesday.

He said food inflation isnow under control, but coreinflation continues to remainelevated.

“That (excise duty cut onpetrol and diesel) is signifi-cantly positive for inflation,”Das said.

Inflation in India is main-ly caused due to the supply-sidefactors, which have beenaddressed by the government,he added.

“The supply-side factorshave been addressed by thegovernment, particularly withreference to pulses and edibleoils, and now very recently withreference to petrol and diesel.All these have augured well forthe inflation scenario.

“So, food inflation, by andlarge, looks to be now undercontrol,” Das said. “So far, asIndia is concerned, core infla-tion has remained elevated,and that is a policy challenge,and we are keeping a very closewatch of the evolution of thecore inflation,” he noted. Eventhe fuel inflation has alsoremained elevated, and theRBI is closely monitoring it, headded.

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Armed with necessarymacro and micro growth

drivers, India is on its way tobecoming the fastest growingmajor economy in the world, a Finance Ministry report said.

Rapid vaccination andteeming festivities will pushIndia's ongoing recovery result-ing in narrowing of demand-supply mismatches and greateremployment opportunities, asper the monthly EconomicReview prepared by the min-istry.

"Aatmanirbhar BharatMission encapsulating major

structural reforms continues toplay a critical role in shapingIndia's economic recovery, boththrough the signalling of busi-ness opportunities and expan-sion of spending channels.

"Armed with necessarymacro and micro growth dri-vers, the stage is set for India'sinvestment cycle to kickstartand catalyse its recoverytowards becoming the fastestgrowing economy in theworld," the review said.

The Economic Survey2020-21, released in Januarythis year, had projected GDPgrowth of 11 per cent duringthe current financial year end-ing March 2022.

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Finance Minister NirmalaSitharaman is scheduled to

meet heads of banks and finan-cial institutions next week toremove friction in credit flowto productive sectors of theeconomy battered by theCovid-19 pandemic.

The two-day conference,beginning November 17, wouldsee participation from all pub-lic sector banks and financialinstitutions (FIs).

Besides, CEOs of top six

private sector lenders and non-banking financial companies(NBFCs), including HDFCBank, ICICI Bank, KotakMahindra Bank,Cholamandalam Investmentand Finance, Shriram TransportFinance and Tata Capital, wouldalso be present.

In a letter addressed tochairman and CEO of banks andfinancial institutions, the financeministry said the two-day con-ference will focus on flow ofcredit into different sectors of the economy in a seamless man-ner.

Observing that bank cred-it is integral to economic activ-ity, the letter said "traditional-ly, banks have been the mainsource of credit for various sec-tors of the economy and theirlending operations haveevolved in response to needs ofthe economy."

In order to better under-stand the ecosystem and relat-ed issues, it said, a stakehold-ers' conference is being organ-ised on November 17-18 to beattended by Finance Ministerand other top government offi-cials.

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Odisha Chief MinisterNaveen Patnaik on

Wednesday inaugurated aState-of-the-art mega dairyprocessing plant in Cuttackdistrict. The � 273-croreOdisha State CooperativeMilk Producers Federation(Omfed) plant at Arlio nearCuttack city will increasefarmers' incomes and benefitaround 6 lakh agriculturists,Patnaik said in his address.Technical consultancy for theplant has been provided byNDDB.

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Mumbai:Key stock marketindices Sensex and Nifty closedlower on Wednesday due to loss-es in banking, metal and selectFMCG stocks amid mixed glob-al cues. The 30-share BSESensex ended 80.63 points or

0.13 per cent lower at 60,352.82as 17 of its constituents closed inred. The index opened on aweak note and touched theday's low of 59,967.45 beforerecovering some of the losses inafternoon session. PTI

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Siddhant Chaturvedi made amark with his acting skills in

Zoya Akhtar’s Gully Boy inwhich he played the role of therapper MC Sher. The unani-mous acclaim landed him alead role in Yash Raj Films’Bunty Aur Babli 2 in which heplays the new Bunty. Siddhantopens up about nepotism andthe herculean struggle thatoutsiders like him have to gothrough to make a mark inBollywood.

Siddhant candidly says, “Itis a known fact that outsiderstake way longer to make theirpresence felt in the industry. Ihave seen many who havegone through a lot before theywere even spotted to do some-thing substantial, despite hav-ing serious talent. I, too, havehad my fair share of strugglesfor many years, which I trulycherish, before I got my break.”

The actor, wholeheartedly,thanks his mentors for empow-ering him to live his dream tobe an actor. He expresses, “Iwill be forever grateful to ZoyaAkhtar, Farhan Akhtar, andRitesh Sidhwani for the oppor-tunities they have given me atthe start of my career. I wouldbe no one today without their

hands over my head. I knowI’m one of the fortunate strug-glers who have got the atten-tion that we truly deserve. Iknow of many who didn’t. It’ssad but it’s the truth.”

Siddhant weighs in on theinsider v/s outsider debatethat’s raging in the industry. Hecontinues, “Yes, insiders doget spotted early, they have iteasy to get their first break andalso get many more opportu-nities than what the outsidersget. It’s a reality of this indus-try and every other industry ofthe world. It’s almost like a lawof the land. Nepotism existsand outsiders have to work thatmuch harder to make theirpresence felt but there’s beau-

ty in that hard work, too.”Siddhant credits the hard-

ships that he has faced forshaping him into the humanbeing that he is today. “It(being an outsider) shapes youand your thoughts and stealsyour mind to achieve what youtruly want in life. The only wayoutsiders in Bollywood cansurvive is by getting the love ofpeople through our craft andI’m concentrating on doingjust that. I hope I manage toentertain the audiences so thatthey keep coming back towatch me on the big screen andgive me wind beneath mywings to soar,” he adds.

Yash Raj Films’ Bunty AurBabli 2, which releases onNovember 19, is an out-and-out comedy that will pit twosets of con-artists called Buntyand Babli, from different gen-erations, against each other. SaifAli Khan and Rani Mukerjiplay the OG Bunty-Babli, whileSiddhant and the gorgeousdebutant Sharvari, play thenew Bunty-Babli. It has beendirected by Varun V Sharma,who has worked as an assistantdirector in YRF’s biggestblockbusters, Sultan and TigerZinda Hai.

As industries are in the process ofrebooting to the new normal after

being hit by the pandemic, hospitality —which was one of the worst-hit industries— is also getting back to operations. Afterthe unprecedented and unimaginable sce-nario arising out of the pandemic, theIndian hospitality sector — which wasflourishing with a double-digit growthrate before — is now betting big on thenew breed of festive travellers. Thoseyearning to take a break from the monot-ony of life during the pandemic, are nowfinding leisure travel and festive stayca-tions as the best way to rejuvenate and cel-ebrate. There has been a steady increasein the bookings and people are passion-ately inquiring about the best and safeststaycations. The pent-up demand for trav-el due to the festive season has fuelled newpassion and energy to bring back the lostcharisma of India’s promising hospitali-ty and tourism sector. These festive trav-ellers are more confident and willing tohit their favourite destinations withutmost safety measures.

As we all know the culturally richIndian travel and tourism industry wasabuzz with international and domestictravellers. India, in recent times, was oneof the most preferred travel destinationsdue to the vibrant variety it has to offerand, in turn, the hospitality industry pros-pered. But the pandemic and the result-ing travel restrictions have completelyhampered travel. With 70 per cent of thecountry’s adult population receiving atleast one dose of the vaccine, the recentdecision by the Government of India tobegin issuing tourist visas again to inter-national tourists arriving by charteredflights is a booster amidst the holiday sea-son. Reopening doors for internationaltourists will certainly revive the hospital-ity sector and give a new lease of life tosmall and boutique hotels.

While domestic travel has alreadystarted picking up, this move will createnew avenues for inbound travel to recov-er. The struggle with Corona is not overand is discouraging Indian travellers fromventuring outside their own country dueto the restricted flights, strict Covid pro-tocols, uncertainty, and lockdowns. Thishas been a huge hit for the hospitality sec-tor as a considerable revenue stream hasbeen reduced tremendously. One can eas-ily assess that it will take some time fortravellers to regain their confidence andthings to normalise.

With the arrival of the festive season,domestic travel is resuming. Bothexplored and unexplored tourist destina-tions are receiving large numbers of vis-itors. The market has really been show-ing positive trends for both air ticketingand hotel business. Bored with a monot-onous lifestyle and exhaustive with work-from-home, kids’ online classes or hec-tic household tasks, people are now des-

perately looking forward to stepping out.The travellers’ quest to unwind is certain-ly a big reason for the sector to cheer.

Indian travellers are getting back toexploring but with care. Most are stillavoiding crowded public places, prefer-ring indoor experiences, staycation des-tinations, and remote locations — desti-nations away from big cities. Health,hygiene, cleanliness, sanitisation andsafety are key top priorities; there has beena substantial increase in guests searchingfor these measures at their preferred des-tinations. Guests have become extreme-ly cautious of choosing accommodationsand want transparency on their prepared-ness in this regard.

The Indian travel and hospitality sec-tor is very resilient and has alwaysbounced back. This is a huge opportuni-ty for Indian hospitality players to rebuild,reinvent and reboot. It is high time for theindustry to set new benchmarks for hos-pitality, safety, and guest satisfaction. By

showcasing truly Indian experiences anddestinations, it is time for the industry togear up with authentic experiences,impeccable services coupled with culinarydelights to make the celebration memo-rable. Global travellers have alwayslooked towards India for cultural expe-riences and authentic Indianness. So, thereis no reason why travellers in the newsetup would not appreciate the same.

Although the festive travel trend isnot for the long run but with India backin a holiday mood, it is unpacking a wholenew chapter for the country’s hospitali-ty industry. Dominant trends such asrevenge travel, bleisure, staycations, work-from-home away from home (long dura-tion stays), remote working, vacationrentals, road trips, weekend getaways andnow the latest trend of festive travel areall breathing the much-needed new lifeinto the hospitality industry.

(The author is the executive directorof Noor Mahal and the Jewel Group.)

For cinema-goers, the name Kay KayMenon is synonymous with someriveting content. While his first the-

atre break was opposite NaseeruddinShah in Feroz Abbas Khan's Mahatma vsGandhi, it was in the Zee TV seriesPradhan Mantri (2001), directed by KetanMehta, that he charmed the camera. Aconsummate actor, each of his outings hashim portraying a character that has sev-eral layers. Whether it is the St Stephens-educated Siddharth Tyabji of HazaaronKhwaishein Aisi (2003) who gets caughtin the whirlwind of the Emergency or thesleazy producer, Vishnu Nagare in Sarkar(2005) or the scheming Khurram Meer inHaider (2014), each character is meticu-lously fleshed out. The actor talks abouthis craft, films and Special Ops 1.5: TheHimmat Story.

�Himmat Sigh is an enigma. Was thatan important reason why you said yesto the role?

There were several reasons. One is thedirectors, Neeraj Pandey and Shivam Nair.There were other different ones too — thewriting, the way the character shaped up,the entire spectrum of the character. So,I find Himmat Singh an extremely inter-esting character for any actor to play. Thattoo is a rationale why I took it up.

�Usually, the seasons of a series runchronologically. But Special Ops 1.5: The

Himmat Story is a prequel to the firstone... Was this always planned? Or wasit because the previous one was a success?

This is something that Neeraj wouldbe able to answer better. But from what Igather, it was not because of the successof the first season. A creative mind worksin weird ways. And Neeraj has an extreme-ly creative one. It could have just dawnedon him one fine day that let’s do a backstory of Himmat Singh. That could havebeen the origin.

�Was there any special preparationthat went into the character?

The usual. I perform people and notroles. I prepare within the parameters ofthe script and that is the vision of the direc-tor and the person who has written it. Ikeep myself confined in that vision andthen prod further in terms of reading upthe script and finding out the meaning inthe text. I read the text a thousand timesto find that eureka moment. There can behidden factors at the sub-textual level.

These are the processes of an actor. I haveseveral discussions with the writer and thedirector. That has been my processthroughout and that is the way fictionneeds to be tackled.

�While Special Ops looks at theworking of an institution,Shaurya, a film, that you diddepicted the internal operationand its failings. Can somethinglike that be made now?

As long as there isgood storytelling any-thing can be made.There is nothing likenow or before.There is no prob-lem at all. Andboth are fiction.

�You startedwith market-ing. How didyou get inter-

ested in acting?I was treading a different path not

completely aligned with my talent. I guessthat happens with most people. I

believe that every person is bestowedwith talent but his or her desiresmight be different. So, the twaindon’t meet. More often than notpeople go by what they desirerather than what they arebestowed with. So, the easiest wayto do that is by finding out what

comes naturally to them. Onecan be bestowed with a

talent like carpentry orinterior design orsomething else...while one is trying

to be an actor. Youhave to identify

it. Themoment Ii d e nt i f i e dmine, I gotback into

acting. I say, ‘got back’ as I had been onthe stage since the age of nine. But it wasalways a side job. I am a Physics graduatewho did an MBA and marketing but allthose were desires to have a decent career,money and all that stuff. At some point,I realised that my calling was different andit was to be an actor.

�Mahatma Vs Gandhi, one of your firstbig theatre outings, was with NaseeruddinShah. Was that intimidating?

I do not get close to getting intimidat-ed by anyone in the field that I am good in.For me, the whole process was very inter-esting. At the rehearsal, you watch peoplewho are stalwarts and you learn a lot aboutthe art and the craft. It is said, ‘Acting cannever be taught but acting can be learnt’. Itwas a journey and it was fruitful as I couldgather a lot of things and hone my skills asan actor.

�Your initial releases — Paanch, BlackFriday, Hazaaron Khwaishein Aisi — gotdelayed. Was that disheartening and howdid you keep yourself motivated?

It taught me lessons... while I wasexpecting that one release should changethe world of cinema. Of course, there wasfrustration and anger initially. But I learntsomething from all these delays which I fol-low even today. It is to be dispassionatelypassionate about my work. This means thattill the last day that I am working on theproject I am extremely passionate but, onceit is over, I do not hang myself to its des-tiny. That film, after its birth, has its des-tiny. It helps to keep me balanced so thatsuccess won’t go to my head and failurewon’t make me distraught.

�Whether it is Sarkar, Gulaal, Haider, orany of the other grey characters you’veplayed, you seem to sink your teeth intothe role. Do you think these offer morescope?

I don’t apply that criteria. There wasalso a Partho of Honeymoon Travels Pvt.Ltd. There are so many others that are onthe other side of grey. I really don’t thinkit is essential to choose like that. Choose,rather, based on what interests you. Thereis no overriding principle that you shoulddo something. If you are topically readingsomething and it interests you, then goahead and do it. Subjectively speaking, ofcourse. There is no objective way toanalyse it.

�Are there many permutations andcombinations — the director, role, storyand more — that influence you in sign-ing up for a role?

Of course, there are many factors.Acting is the world’s most difficult organ-ised art. The reason is that in any organ-ised form of profession, the constants aremore than the variables. Percentage-wise,it might be 80 for constants and 20 for vari-ables. In cinema, it is just the opposite. Asmall cloud cover or even the slightest driz-zle can completely mess up your shoot. Itis one of the most difficult organised

endeavours so the entire team has to becredited for whatever you, as an actor, areapplauded for. It is because all the variableswere taken care of that you could performso well. People don’t know much about itbut the entire team comes together tomake it happen. In any other organisation,constants are more so even a computer cando the job.

�Would you say storytelling has becomemore nuanced because of the coming ofOTT platforms? Or is the audience pro-pelling this demand for content-richseries where the star is not so important?

It also has to do with the medium. Afew things are very different in OTT. Afilm is about two-and-a-half hours, a TVseries is never-ending and this is some-where in between. It is about eight to 10episodes, which is about the optimumlength to flesh out both the story and thecharacter. The other factor, that is differ-ent from other mediums, is that theaudience has the button. It is more likeindividual viewing. Hence, contentbecomes very important as individualswatch things with much more gravity thanin a mass, unlike cinema that has its owncharm as mass psychology works. Whenyou are watching a film in a theatre andthe hero turns in slow motion, everyonestarts whistling. You don’t do that whenyou are alone. It is a mass syndrome. Theseare things that I doubt that an individualwatching a film on his iPad will do. Hewon’t start dancing to a Sheila ki Jawani.Films, TV and OTT are different viewingmediums, none less than the other. Thecraft needs to adapt to each. So, you makeeach episode in a manner that you leaveit on a cliffhanger to ensure that peoplewatch the next one. Storytelling, the wayyou do it, is different.

�What are the advantages each of themediums — films, OTT, theatre —brings to the actor’s craft?

What you gain depends upon youand not the medium. If you have anopen and fertile mind, you can gain alot. As far as theatre is concerned, it isa completely different medium. Theoperations and craft are completelydifferent. The actor does not differen-tiate. When I am talking about differ-ent mediums, I am referring to how themakers have to think to craft the con-tent in terms of web, cinema or TVseries. The craft, for actors, remains thesame and we aren’t doing less or moreacting depending upon the medium.Actors have to apply themselves totheir craft. Their sincerity and dedica-tion remain the same.

�Future projectsSame standard answer... lawyers are

very powerful and the contracts don’tallow you permission to speak. Butinteresting stuff coming up.

(The show starts streaming fromNovember 12 on Disney+ Hotstar.)

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DMF Sankalp is an initiativewhich will tapping into the

potential of Keonjhar’s youth bysetting up block levellibrary/learning and careercounselling centres in each ofthe 13 blocks of the district.

The focus of the initiativeis towards developing earlylearning capabilities in chil-dren, academic excellence instudents and exam competi-tiveness in aspiring youth of thedistrict. With an area of oneacre, the library will havecapacity of approximately15,000 books in Oriya andvarious languages on arts andscientific subjects with readingspaces for books, newspapers

and publications for 200 per-sons distributed on each floorand in the garden green read-ing space, open to all users,bypassing cumbersome mem-bership processes.

Digital library systems con-necting the servers of NationalDigital Library, OdishaArchives, Odisha SecretariatLibrary and E-Libraries ofreputed Indian institutions willbe accessible to users alongwith a free Wi-Fi zone in thelearning centre. Publicationmaterials for preparation ofcompetitive exams with exclu-sive preparation space will beprovided and seminar spacewith capacity of 50 persons will

host lectures and career coun-selling sessions by experts.Early learning of children willbe provided through a‘Children learn and play’ spacein the library. Science and sen-sory garden including per-fume, tactile, resonance andnature play garden will invokedifferent sensory developmentprocess and display of simpli-fied scientific processes.

Natural light and ventila-tion maximised through natu-rally lit reading spaces andopen to sky internal exhibitionspace with rainwater-harvest-ing systems and site develop-ment will follow environment-friendly technologies

Power Finance Corporation(PFC), its subsidiary

PFCCL and its regional officesobserved Vigilance AwarenessWeek 2021 from October 26 toNovember 1, on the theme‘Independent India @75: Selfreliance with integrity’.

Beginning with theintegrity pledge, variousawareness activities were car-

ried out during the week. Anew initiative, VigilanceCorner was created on thewebsite of PFC and PFCCL foroutreach to the general publicas well as other stakeholders.Employees were sensitised tothe organisation’s rules andregulations and were madeaware of improvements inbusiness practices.

The 10th edition of the AllIndia Police ArcheryChampionship is being

organised by the Indo-TibetanBorder Police (ITBP). A ceremo-nial opening ceremony was heldNovember 9 at the 39th BattalionITBP Campus in Greater Noida.VSK Kaumudi, special secretaryof Internal Security at the MHA,Government of India was thechief guest on the occasion.

Praising the ITBP for highquality professional arrange-ments made for the champi-onship, Kaumudi said that theAll India Police Championshipshave been a great platform forthe archery talents of the policeforces of the nation.

Sanjay Arora, DG ITBP wel-comed the chief guest and theparticipating teams and saidthat the ITBP has made allrequired arrangements for thechampionship. He said that theITBP has been doing exceeding-ly well in the field of differentsports specially in archery overthe years.

Proposing the vote ofthanks, I S Duhan, IG Trainingat ITBP said that the ITBP hasbeen organising the All IndiaPolice Archery Championshipfor the 2nd time since 2014 andit is a privilege of the Force toorganise All India Police

Championships over the yearswith flying colours.

24 teams of the CentralArmed Police Forces, state policeforces and central police organ-isations are participating in theChampionship. More than 350men and women archers will be

competing in various categoriesof archery — recurve, com-pound and Indian includingranking with medal/ individual/team and mixed events etc in thefive-day long championship.(From 9 to 13 November, 2021).

The All India Police Games

— co-ordinated by All IndiaPolice Sports Control Board(AIPSCB) are organised everyyear for different sports annual-ly. The history of the games is 70years old and the first edition ofall India Police games was heldin 1951. Archery was included in

the list of AIPSCB controlledannual police games from 2013.The ITBP had hosted the 2nd AllIndia Police ArcheryChampionship in 2014.

The closing ceremony ofthe Championship will be heldon November 13.

Power Grid Corporation ofIndia Limited (POWER-

GRID), a ‘Maharatna’ Companyunder the Ministry of Power, GoI,has announced unaudited finan-cial results for Q2FY22, endingSeptember 30, 2021.

The company has reportedPAT (profit after tax) of `3,376.38crores and a total income of`10,514.74 crores on a consolidat-ed basis, registering a YoY growthof nine per cent and seven per centrespectively. On a standalone basis,the company has posted PAT andtotal income of `3,338.27 croresand `10,472.00 crore respectivelyregistering a YoY growth of sevenper cent and six per cent respec-

tively during Q2FY22. For six-month period

(H1FY22), the PAT and totalincome on consolidated basis are`9,374.66 crores and �20,906.35crores respectively, which are about82 per cent and six per cent high-er, with respect to the correspond-ing period of FY21; while onstandalone basis, the PAT and totalincome are �9,423.68 crores and�20,757.38 crores respectively, reg-istering a growth of 85 per cent and6 per cent respectively.

The company incurred a cap-ital expenditure of `1,939 croresand capitalised assets worth ̀ 7,633crores (excluding FERV) on con-solidated basis during Q2FY22.

POWERGRID’s gross fixed assetson consolidated basis stood at�2,54,997 crores as on September30, 2021.

During the quarter, 2,100ckm transmission lines and14,000 MVA transformationcapacity has been added. TheInter-Regional (IR) power trans-fer capacity has been enhanced by5700 MW, with the commis-sioning of 765 kV D/cVindhyachal -Varanasi line(4200MW) and Bipole-II (Pole 3)1500 MW, ±800 kV HVDCRaigarh-Pugalur link. The IRcapacity of the national gridstands at 1,10,750 MW at the endof Q2FY22.

All the elements under TBCBsubsidiaries, POWERGRIDVaranasi Transmission SystemLimited and POWERGRIDFatehgarh Transmission Limitedhave been fully commissioned.

At the end of Q2FY22, thetotal transmission assets of POW-ERGRID and its subsidiariesstood at 1,70,724 ckm of trans-mission lines, 262 substations and4,54,350 MVA of transforma-tion capacity.

POWERGRID maintainedaverage transmission systemavailability of 99.82 per cent dur-ing H1FY22 compared to 99.83per cent in the correspondingperiod of the previous year.

As part of its commitmenttowards raising awareness

for sustainable and environmentfriendly lifestyle, GAIL (India)Limited has partnered for aunique and exciting photographycompetition, ‘The Earth WeShare’, which focusses on theenvironment and biodiversity.

As a responsible corporate,GAIL has been pursuing sustain-able practices to generate long-term value by understanding &balancing the ecological, eco-nomic, and social environment.GAIL strives to play an impor-tant role in transitioning frompolluting fuels to the cleanernatural gas, renewables, greenhydrogen and other clean ener-gies to strive for a greener andcleaner tomorrow.

GAIL has also been drivingthe social initiative, Hawa Badlo,to sensitise people to the harm-ful effects of pollution by mobil-ising collective societal efforts toimprove the deteriorating airquality, by encouraging sustain-

able and environment-friendlylifestyle habits. To further itscommitment towards better envi-ronmental GAIL has come upwith ‘The Earth We Share’.

#TheEarthWeShare photog-

raphy competition aims at creat-ing awareness about Environment, Biodiversity and Sharing Space- it is about co-existence. Thecompetition is open for partici-pation for teens (between ages 13

and 19) and adults (20+) catego-ry. The entries can be shared onthe link:

https://aartsmaestro.com/competition/Theearthweshare-Photography-Adults

Our beautiful planet Earth is

home to more than just humans.Close to nine million species offlora and fauna call this planettheir home. The wellbeing of eachone of us depends on the wellbe-ing of the Earth, our home. Thephotography competition shinesa light on this diversity and theneed to cherish and preserve thesame. All pictures submittedfor the competition need to tellthis story.

A story of shared destiny. A story of diversity.A story of interdependence.The theme can be interpret-

ed in many ways. It could bewildlife, flora or fauna. Or every-day stuff, happening around us —the choices we make adds up to‘The Earth We Share’.

The idea of the competitionis allow talented photographers tocanvas an inclusive planet.Diversity is not just about board-rooms and corporates — we firstneed to practise it everyday. Liveand let live, share the love we getfrom mother Earth.

This year, India International Trade Fair 2021 willbe inaugurated by the Minister of Commerce &

Industry, Government of India on November 14, 2021at Pragati Maidan, New Delhi.

The 40th edition of IITF, an initiative of IndiaTrade Promotion Organization(ITPO) representsIndia in totality as an ideal destination for numerousbusiness and investment opportunities. This year, thefair assumes a special significance as it coincides withcelebrations of ‘Azadi Ka Amrit Mahotsav’ — 75 yearsof India’s Independence.

The fair is being organised at the New ExhibitionComplex at Pragati Maidan. Being an integral com-ponent of the ongoing iconic International Exhibition-cum-Convention Centre (IECC) project, the complexcomprising four new Modern Exhibition Halls wasinaugurated by the Prime Minister of India, NarendraModi, on October 13, 2021.

The fair focusses on the theme of anAatmanirbhar Bharat, which aims to promote invest-ment and self-reliance in diverse sectors to meetdomestic demand and be a part of global supply chaineco-system. The fair highlights the outstanding per-formance of Indian entrepreneurs who have shownexemplary commitment to excel despite all odds dueto the COVID-19 pandemic. Importantly, IITFoffers an ideal platform to showcase Indian productsunder the ‘Vocal for Local’ campaign and infuserenewed confidence and vigour in the Indian econ-omy.

The event will be organised in a safe and secureenvironment with all COVID protocols in place. Withnearly 3000 exhibitors from India and abroad, IITF2021 is being held in a total area of 70,000 sq mtr —almost three times that in the previous edition in 2019.Bihar is the partner state, while Uttar Pradesh andJharkhand are the focus states. The fair will also wit-ness overseas participation from Afghanistan,Bangladesh, Bahrain, Kyrgyzstan, Nepal, Sri Lanka,UAE, Tunisia and Turkey.

As in the past, state day celebrations, seminarsand cultural programmes are among the added attrac-tions to the visitors.

Participation of SARAS, Jute ManufacturesDevelopment Council, small and medium enterpris-es, handlooms, handicrafts, Coir Board, small-scaleIndustries, khadi and village industries, cottageindustries, et al, will display the achievements of tra-ditional sectors in order to reinforce their local strengthand global appeal.

ITPO has made extensive efforts to improve theoverall experience for exhibitors and visitors alike. Forinstance, ITPO has introduced a transparent onlinesystem for booking stalls and other services, onlineregistration for dignitaries during the first five days,a mobile application for the fair and LED screens forthe display of information.

Apart from the dedicated post-office, banks andATMs, other facilities include a media centre, proto-col, registration for business days (first five days only).Paid parking will be available at Bhairon Marg forexhibitors. During IITF and other events, ITPOencourages proactive steps to make the venue plas-tic-free and replace the same with environment-friend-ly substitutes.

On Legal Services Day, the APHigh Court Legal Services

Committee launches Mission LegalService Programme on November9, 2021. As part of this programme,VIT-AP School of Law (VSL) isselected by the AP High Court tojoin the mission legal services andrender their services to create legalawareness in the villages identifiedand adopted by the VIT-AP univer-sity.

The programme was started atone of three adopted villages of VIT-AP University — Inavolu — follow-ing the inauguration by JusticeRamana Kumari, the secretary ofAP High Court Legal ServicesCommittee and who was joined byDr Chakka Benarji, the dean of VIT-AP School of Law, Prof M MahathiFaculty Coordinator of the VIT-APSchool of Law Legal Aid Centre andstudents. The programme also wit-

nessed the presence of B Seshaiah,the senior civil judge of Mangalagiriand the chairperson of MandalLegal Services Authority. Whileinaugurating the programme, theMission Legal Service secretaryinformed the participants aboutthe importance of creating legalawareness to provide access to jus-tice to the needy.

Further, she highlighted therole of students, lawyers, judges,social workers, district and mandalauthorities to make villages as dis-pute and litigation free model vil-lages. She directed and encouragedthe students to involve actively tocreate legal awareness among thecommon citizens of the country.

The programme witnessed par-ticipation by the local people, man-dal officials and other village rev-enue officials and students of VIT-AP School of Law.

Today, Dr Virendra Kumar, UnionMinister for Social Justice and

Empowerment has released the train-ing modules of the Central SectorScheme i.e. in-service training andsensitisation of key functionaries of theCentral and State Government and localbodies at India International Centre,New Delhi. Anjali Bhawra, (IAS) thesecretary of the Department ofEmpowerment of Persons withDisabilities (DEPWD), Tarika Roy, thejoint secretary, Dr Uma Tuli, ex-CCPDand Dr Subodh Kumar, member-secre-tary of RCI (Rehabilitation Council ofIndia) were also present on the occa-sion.

Approximately 100 heads of thetraining institutes, faculty membersfrom Delhi and NCR were present inthe conference hall.

The training module has been

developed by RCI for different levels oftarget groups such as health and alliedprofessionals, education functionar-ies, grassroots level functionaries, seniorand mid-level functionaries includingintroductory modules in English andHindi in a simple language with picto-rial and graphic designs.

During his address, Dr Kumarinformed the delegates that the train-ing modules developed by RCI for thesix target groups will be instrumentalto sensitise the government functionar-ies at different levels and other stake-holders to deal with persons with dis-abilities effectively. He also informedthat through this scheme, 12000 gov-ernment functionaries have been sen-sitised to date.

The DEPWD will be implementingthis scheme all over the country in theforthcoming month.

IITF puts the spotlight onan ‘Aatmanirbhar Bharat’

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BBraj Raj Utsav’ and ‘Hunar Haat’, the‘Kumbh of Kaushal Kuber’, was inau-

gurated by Uttar Pradesh’s Chief MinisterYogi Adityanath on November 10 atVrindavan.

Union Minister for Minority Affairsand Deputy Leader, Rajya Sabha,Mukhtar Abbas Naqvi, MP Hema Malini;UP’s Minister for Power, ShrikantSharma; Uttar Pradesh Cabinet Minister,Laxmi Narayan Chaudhary; UP BrajTeerth Vikas Parishad vice-chairman,Shailja Kant Misra and other dignitarieswere also present at the inauguration ofthe 31st ‘Hunar Haat’ at Vrindavan,Mathura.

Naqvi said that ‘Hunar Haat’ is theperfect platform to promote, preserve andprovide market and opportunities to cen-turies old traditional and ancestral art andcraft of India, strengthening the“Swadeshi” and “Vocal for Local” cam-paign. ‘Hunar Haat’, being organised atorganised at Kumbh Mela Ground,Vrindavan, Mathura (UP) fromNovember 10-19 will also ensure eco-nomic empowerment of indigenous arti-sans and craftsmen.

Braj Teerth Vikas Parishad is organ-ising the 10-day Braj Raj Mahotsav fromNovember 10 in Vrindavan to promotethe glorious Braj culture. Religious, tra-ditional, folk dance as well as cultural pro-grammes related to Braj culture will beorganised during the event.

Naqvi shared that about 400 artisans,craftsmen and culinary experts are par-

ticipating in ‘Hunar Haat’, during the‘Braj Raj Utsav’, from more than 30 statesand UTs.

Renowned artists such as AnnuKapoor; Kailash Kher; Suresh Vadekar;Punit Issar (to perform the Mahabharatshow); Sadanand Biswas; Anoop Jalota;renowned bhajan singer Usman Mir;singer Rani Indrani and others will per-form various cultural and musical pro-grammes every evening at ‘Hunar Haat’.

Naqvi added that more than six lakhartisans, craftsmen and people associat-ed with them have been providedemployment and employment opportu-nities through ‘Hunar Haat’ over the lastsix years. ‘Hunar Haat’ is also availablefor viewing at virtual and online plat-form http://hunarhaat.org and GeMportal. People of the country andabroad can buy ‘Hunar Haat’ productsdigital and online also.

The next ‘Hunar Haats’ will beorganised in Lucknow (November 12-21);Pragati Maidan, New Delhi (November14-27); Hyderabad (November 26 toDecember 5); Surat (December 10-19);New Delhi (December 22, 2021 toJanuary 2, 2022).

‘Hunar Haat’ will also be organisedin Mysuru, Guwahati, Pune,Ahmedabad, Bhopal, Patna, Puducherry,Mumbai, Jammu, Chennai, Chandigarh,Agra, Prayagraj, Goa, Jaipur, Bengaluru,Kota, Sikkim, Srinagar, Leh, Shillong,Ranchi, Agartala and other places in thenext few months.

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Ablockbuster clash betweencomeback girl Geeta

Phogat and world champi-onship bronze medallist SaritaMor is keenly anticipated, whileNarsingh Pancham Yadav andGourav Balian will also beeager to prove themselves whenthe National WrestlingChampionships begin herefrom Thursday.

Geeta, 32, is making acome back to the competitivewrestling after giving birth toher son, Arjun in 2018.

Set to compete in 59kg, thenational event will help Geetaassess herself as she has a longterm goal of competing in the2024 Paris Olympics.

Much water has flownunder the bridge since shestopped competing on the matand it will be interesting to seehow the 2010 Commonwealth

Games gold medallist respondsto the challenges ahead.

New rules are in place andthe standard of Indianwrestling has also improved inthe last few years. But she hasgot a good start as save theclose semifinal, Geeta easilycleared the state trials whereshe beat four Haryana grap-plers to emerge the winner.

�� -3*/7,

Madhya Pradesh pacerAvesh Khan, who earned

a national call-up for the T20series against New Zealand onWednesday said that his dreamto represent the country hasbeen fulfilled.

Avesh, who had 24 wick-ets in the IPL, deservingly gota national call-up and got thenews just after MP’s SyedMushtaq Ali T20 match againstKerala.

“Every cricketer has adream that he plays for hiscountry and he works hard toturn this dream into a reality.My dream has been fulfilled

now,” Avesh, who has 100 first-class wickets, from 27 match-es, told PTI Bhasha.

Avesh said that he hadperformed well in the lastdomestic season and also in the

Indian Premier League, whichhelped him to earn the nation-al call-up.

The right-arm speedstercredited former cricketers likeAmay Khurasiya, ChandrakantPandit, Devendra Bundela andAbbas Ali for spotting the tal-ent in him and then guidinghim throughout his career.

Khan’s father Ashiq Khanrecalled how he gave wings toAvesh’ dreams.

“My son first got associat-ed with Indore Colts CricketClub. Then Amay Khurasiyaspotted his talent and took himto his own academy. After thathe did not look back,” hisfather remembered.

�� -3*/7,

Madhya Pradesh pacerAvesh Khan, who earned

a national call-up for the T20series against New Zealand onWednesday said that his dreamto represent the country hasbeen fulfilled.

Avesh, who had 24 wick-ets in the IPL, deservingly gota national call-up and got thenews just after MP’s SyedMushtaq Ali T20 match againstKerala.

“Every cricketer has adream that he plays for hiscountry and he works hard to

turn this dream into a reality.My dream has been fulfillednow,” Avesh, who has 100 first-class wickets, from 27 match-es, told PTI Bhasha.

Avesh said that he hadperformed well in the lastdomestic season and also in theIndian Premier League, whichhelpedT10 format has a brightfuture ahead, can be played atthe Olympics: Du Plessis

Abu Dhabi, Nov 10 (PTI)Former South Africa skipperFaf du Plessis feels the T10 for-mat has a bright future aheadand can also be played at theOlympics.

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Pakistan seem primed to wintheir second title but it will

take a special effort to upstagea tenacious Australia, which ispeaking at the right time, in thesecond semifinal of the T20World Cup here on Thursday.

Pakistan have turned itaround following their first-round exit in 2016. The BabarAzam-led side has defied theodds to become the team tobeat this edition. The 2009champion is the only team thatremains undefeated in theongoing tournament.

The last time these two metin the semifinals of a T20World Cup, Australia, inspiredby Mike Hussey, had beatenPakistan in a thriller.

But in the ongoing edition,the Men in Green have resist-ed crumbling under pressureand are comfortable in theUAE, having hosted severalseasons of the Pakistan SuperLeague and their home match-es here since the 2009 terrorattack on the Sri Lankan teamshut down international crick-et in their country. Following ahistoric win over India wherethey looked completely invin-cible, Pakistan have showedvery few chinks in their armouragainst New Zealand andAfghanistan.

The formidable top-order,led by the tournament’s leadingrun-scorer Azam (264), whohas four half-centuries againsthis name, is expected to deliv-er once again but Australia’sbowling attack will also beready and waiting to capitalise

on any slip up.In case the opening duo of

Azam and Mohammad Rizwanfail, Pakistan have an array ofmatch-winners in the middleorder in the form of six-hittingmachine Asif Ali and veteransShoaib Malik and MohammadHafeez, who all are among theruns.

However, the team wouldbe expecting more from FakharZaman, the only one to havenot made a significant contri-bution with the bat yet.

Their bowling attack hasbeen as impressive as their bat-ting unit if not more. Pacers

Shaheen Shah Afridi and HarisRauf have troubled batters butHasan Ali has had an ordinarytournament and, although skip-per Azam has backed thespeedster to come good,Australia is likely to target him.

Spinners Imad Wasim,Mohammad Hafeez andShadab Khan will be skipperAzam’s main weapons againstAustralia, a side that strugglesagainst spin in general.

On the other hand,Australia, the 2010 runners-up,are begin to peak at the righttime in their bid to win theironly missing title.

�� 3,4*,2�-

India captain Virat Kohli onWednesday thanked the

team’s outgoing head coachRavi Shastri and other mem-bers of the support staff, whosetenure ended at the T20 WorldCup, lauding them for theircontribution in preparing aformidable outfit.

While India failed to qual-ify for the semifinals of the ICCT20 World Cup in the UAE, theShastri-Kohli duo along withbowling coach Bharat Arunand fielding coach R Sridharwere part of a set-up that wontwo Test series in Australia.

The side is leading 2-1 inthe five Test series in Englandset to be completed next year.The departure of Shastri andCo. Marks the end of an era inIndian cricket.

“Thank you for all thememories and the amazingjourney we’ve had as a teamwith you all. Your contributionhas been immense and willalways be remembered inIndian cricket history,” Kohli,has given up T20 captaincy,wrote on his twitter page inpraise of the coaching staff.

“Wish you the best movingforward in life. Until nexttime,” he said.

From November 17, RohitSharma will be India’s new

T20 captain with Rahul Dravidin charge as head coach.

It is expected that Rohit

will take over the reins of ODIcaptaincy as well during thetour of South Africa.

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Andy Murray beat qualifierViktor Durasovic of

Norway 6-1, 7-6 (7) to set upa second-round match withtop-seeded Jannik Sinner at theStockholm Open.

The three-time GrandSlam champion cruisedthrough the first set but wasnearly pushed to a decider bythe 354th-ranked Durasovic.

The 34-year-old Briton,who blew seven match points in a loss to DominikKoepfer in the Paris Masterslast week, saved a set pointbefore closing it out on his thirdmatch point.

“He hits the ball huge fromthe back of the court,” Murraysaid of the 24-year-oldNorwegian.

“He will keep moving upthe rankings if he’s playing

like that. I was happy to getthrough in the end because hewas playing very well at the endof the match.” The 10th-ranked Sinner, chasing his fifthtitle this year, awaits onWednesday. The 20-year-oldItalian just missed qualifyingfor the ATP Finals.

“He’s had a fantastic year,”Murray said.

“He loves playing indoorson hardcourt, so it will be a bigtest for me.”

Fifth-seeded Taylor Fritzdefeated Egor Gerasimov 6-4,6-4 and will next face doublespartner Tommy Paul. Fritzbeat his fellow American twoweeks ago on his run to thefinal in St. Petersburg.

Spaniard Pedro Martinezwill face eighth-seeded FrancesTiafoe in the second roundafter beating Emil Ruusuvuori6-4, 3-6, 7-6 (4).

�� #./�."2/

For front-running Brazil, themain aim this week is beat-

ing Colombia and securing anautomatic spot at next year’sWorld Cup in Qatar with plen-ty of time to spare in SouthAmerican qualifying.

For second-placeArgentina, the bigger concernahead of its trip to Uruguay isover the fitness of Lionel Messi.

Brazil has 31 points andArgentina has 25 from 11matches — their encounter inSeptember was bizarrely sus-pended after seven minutes ofplay because of concerns fromauthorities over breaches ofCOVID-19 protocols. FIFAwill decide what to do with it.Ecuador (17), Colombia (16)and Uruguay (16) hold the nextthree places, but have all played12 matches.

The top four teams inSouth America earn directentry to next year’s World Cup.The fifth-place team goes intoan inter-continental playoff fora spot in Qatar.

A Brazil victory at the

NeoQuimica Arena in SaoPaulo on Thursday will putcoach Tite’s team 18 pointsahead of fourth-placeColombia, which will haveonly five more matches inhand. The Colombians are theonly team to hold the Seleçãoto a draw in the current editionof qualifiers.

Some mathematical com-binations allow second-placedArgentina to hope for its directspot with a win against Brazilnext week in San Juan, but theCopa America champions willhave to beat Uruguay inMontevideo on Friday to haveany chance of achieving that infront of their home fans.

There’s three other match-es in South American qualify-ing on Thursday, includingEcuador hosting last-placeVenezuela and Peru againstBolivia.

�� 3,4*,2�-

All-rounders in Indian crick-et are a rare commodity

and the newest entrant to theclub, Venkatesh Iyer, knowsonly too well that he has to keephis focus on both aspects of thegame in order to remain rele-vant.

The 26-year-old MadhyaPradesh man has been reward-ed with a maiden call-up for theT20 International home seriesagainst New Zealand startingNovember 17 and knows thatgoing forward, workload man-agement would be an importantfocus area for him.

“My workload manage-ment has been good so far. I aman all-rounder so I have to beequally focussed on bothaspects of the game. That’swhat I have been doing rightfrom my age-group state leveldays.

It’s so far not been a verybig issue,” the suave KolkataKight Riders man tod PTI in anexclusive interaction.

For Iyer the endeavour is todisplay multiple skills acrossformats.

“I have always worked hardon my red ball game and it hasbeen my conscious effort not beone dimensional.

“If you have to play forIndia, you have to be consistentacross formats and that’s why Ihave put in a lot of work in both

departments of the game.“As much as I have worked

on my batting, I have alsoworked on my bowling,” saidIyer, who many like HarbhajanSingh believe can shock batterswith extra pace.

His 370 runs in the IPL forKKR, along with steady medi-um pace that got him threewickets, brought him intonational reckoning. He is beingseen as a replacement of HardikPandya, who is still not fit tobowl and does not quite fit inas a pure batter.

Iyer, who has six half-cen-turies and seven wickets forMadhya Pradesh in Ranji

Trophy, believes that it hasbeen his consistency, not onlyin IPL but also in first-classcricket, that has helped get thisfar. During the IPL in UAE, didhe get a feeling that he wouldmake it?

“I must say that it was notjust about IPL that gave mebelief that I could represent mycountry.

“When I was playing RanjiTrophy, Vijay Hazare Trophyand Syed Mushtaq Ali for mystate Madhya Pradesh, I alwaysknew that if I carry on withgood performances in domes-tic cricket, I would play forIndia one day,” he said.

�� 3,4*,2�-

The domestic badminton sea-son is set to begin next

month after a 20-month hiatuswith back-to-back senior rank-ing Level 3 tournaments, thenational federation announcedon Wednesday. The season willstart in Chennai with the firsttournament from December 16to 22 followed by another Level3 tournament in Hyderabadfrom December 24 to 30.

Both the events carry aprize money of Rs 10 lakh each,and are a part of theBadminton Association ofIndia’s (BAI) new domesticformat, which was approved in2019 but couldn’t be imple-mented due to COVID-19pandemic. The last date ofentry for the Chennai event isNovember 24, while forHyderabad it is December 1.

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All-rounder Moeen Alitop-scored with anunbeaten 37-ball 51 to

propel England to 166 forfour against New Zealand inthe first semifinal of the ICCT20 World Cup here onWednesday.

Sent into bat, Moeen andDawid Malan (42 off 30 balls)were England’s main contrib-utors with the willow in therematch of the epic 2019 ODIWorld Cup final.

Moeen smashed threefours and two sixes, whileMalan struck four boundariesand a maximum.

After three relatively quietovers, opener Jos Buttler (29)smashed Trent Boult for twosuccessive boundaries -- onestraight down the ground andthen the batter reached out toa wide delivery to play itthrough the covers.

Boult then pitched onetoo short and the ball flewpast Buttler as well as wicket-keeper Devon Conway foranother boundary and anextra run in the form of awide.

Promoted to the top of theorder in the absence of injuredJason Roy, Jonny Bairstow(13) played his first attackingshot straight over the bowler’shead for a boundary, asEngland reached 37 for no lossin five overs.

New Zealand skipperKane Williamson effected abowling change and the moveimmediately paid dividends asthe skipper himself pulled offa fine diving catch at mid-off

off Adam Milne’s first deliveryto signal the end of Bairstow’sstay in the middle.

That Milne over not justgave the Kiwis their firstbreakthrough, but it alsostemmed the flow of runs, asEngland finished the powerplay at 40 for one.

Leg-spinner Ish Sodhistarted his spell by givingaway five runs before Buttler,not one to let the Kiwis takecontrol of the proceedings,employed the reverse sweep toget a boundary against left-arm Mitchell Santner.

New Zealand soon had alot to cheer about as Sodhi gotthe huge wicket of Buttler,who went for the reversesweep again, but did not suc-ceed on that occasion as theball hit him on the pads.Dawid Malan ended the overon a good note, going inside-out to get himself a four.

James Neesham inducedan edge off Malan’s blade, butConway could not get to theball, and three balls later, thebatter drove the mediumpacer for a boundary.

England had a productive11th over as they scored 11runs, thanks to two fours byMalan off Glenn Phillips.

Southee got the big wick-et of an ominous-lookingMalan just as he was about tocut loose.

After Malan’s dismissal,the onus was on Moeen topropel England and the all-rounder did his job that was asked of him with hislusty hits.

Liam Livingstone chippedin with 17 off 10 balls.

Moeen’s 50 lifts England to 166 against NZ

�� .�"*�.�-

Players of the England andNew Zealand teams

observed a minute’s silence inmemory of Mohan Singh,Abu Dhabi’s chief curatorwho died earlier this week,ahead of the first semifinal ofthe T20 World Cup here onWednesday.

Those present inside theSheikh Zayed Stadium paidtheir respects to the Indiancurator just before the nation-al anthems of the two semi-finalists.

Singh was found dead inhis room on Sunday hoursbefore the match betweenAfghanistan and NewZealand.

According to UAE crick-et sources, the 45-year-old,who hailed fromUttarakhand, was sufferingfrom depression and wasfound hanging in his room,hours after inspecting thepitch for the clash that New Zealand won byeight wickets to enter thesemi-finals.

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