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India on Tuesday evacuatedits diplomatic staff, including

Ambassador RudrendraTandon in a C-17 transport air-craft of the IAF, from strife tornKabul. The safe pull-out ofnearly 150 people, includingdiplomatic staff and securitypersonnel of the Indo-TibetanBorder Police (ITBP) besidestwo Delhi-based journalists,took place after some highlevel talks between Indian andUS decision makers.

External Affairs Minister SJaishankar called his US coun-terpart Anthony Blinken toensure the safe evacuation ofIndian citizens from the Kabulairport, which is now in thecontrol of the US Armed forces.Jaishankar is in New York.

Similarly, National SecurityAdviser Ajit Doval helddetailed discussions with hisUS counterpart Jake Sullivan toco-ordinate the rescue mis-sion, sources said here on

Tuesday.After these high-level inter-

ventions, the Indian group wasallowed entry into the US secu-rity area at the airport. The C-17 carrying the Indian contin-gent landed at the Jamnagarairport on Tuesday at 11.15 amen route Hindon airbase,Ghaziabad. It finally reachedHindon around 5 pm.

A C-17 plane on Mondaymorning had also brought outmore than 40 Indians, includ-ing diplomatic staff, and land-ed here. Both the C-17s flewto Kabul and returned cir-cumventing the Pakistani air-space, sources said. The USforces made sure that the twoflights landed and took offwithout a hitch, sources said.

They also clarified that theIndian Embassy in Kabul is notclosed and the local staff is pro-viding consular services. Morethan 1,700 Indians have appliedfor their return to India.

It is the second time thatIndia evacuated all its staff

from the Embassy in Kabulafter a similar exercise was car-ried out in 1996 when theTaliban first captured power.

Giving a sense of the cur-

rent situation in Afghanistan,Ambassador Tandon said thesituation is serious and thoughthey have returned, India hasnot abandoned the people ofAfghanistan and the alliancewill continue. Thanking theIAF for evacuating them, hesaid the flight was undertakenin crisis situation. The Indiancontingent was flown outunder conditions “that are notnormal,” said Tandon.

Against the backdrop ofseveral Indian citizens still inKabul and other provinces ofAfghanistan, he said India iscontinuously monitoring thesituation. He said Air India will

continue to run its commercialservices to Kabul as long as theairport there functions.

Air India has suspended itscommercial services because ofthe situation at the Kabul air-port. Tandon said, “We con-tinue to ensure that anyonewho is stuck there is somehowbrought here for which theMinistry of external affairs hasopened a help desk. There aremany others who continue towork in Kabul city, despite thechanging situation and havechanged their mind subse-quently and will be broughtback when the commercialservices begin.”

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Putting the Government in atight spot, the Supreme

Court on Tuesday issued noticeto the Centre in the contro-versial Pegasus snooping mat-ter, making it clear that it didnot want the Government todisclose anything which com-promises national security.

At the same time, the courtalso said there is nothing wrongwith competent authorities fil-ing affidavits in cases of inter-ception of the phones of civil-ians as alleged by the petition-ers. The bench headed by ChiefJustice NV Ramana made thiscomment after SolicitorGeneral Tushar Mehta, appear-ing for the Centre, repeatedlysaid divulging information onaffidavit on the issue of whetherthe Israeli firm NSO’s Pegasusspyware was used or not wouldinvolve the aspect of nationalsecurity.

The bench said the peti-tioners, who are civilians andsome of them are persons ofeminence, have alleged snoop-ing on their phones throughthe Israeli spyware. “They are

alleging snooping or hacking orwhatever you call interceptionof their phones. Now, this canbe done in case of civilians alsoand rules permit this. But thatcan be done only with the per-mission of the competentauthority. There is nothingwrong in that. What is theproblem if that competentauthority files an affidavitbefore us,” the bench, alsocomprising Justices Surya Kant

and Aniruddha Bose, toldMehta. The bench said it does-n’t want even a word in the affi-davit regarding the defence ornational security of the coun-try. “That issue is absolutelybeyond the domain of theseproceedings and like you, weare extremely reluctant to knowanything about that... That issomething which must be con-fidential and secret. There is noissue on that,” the bench said.

While referring to theaspect of national security,Mehta said the Government isnot saying it will not tell this toanyone. “I am just saying thatI don’t wish to tell it publicly,”he told the bench, which post-ed the matter for hearing after10 days. He said theGovernment had made itsstand clear in the affidavitwhich was filed on Monday.

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In the third attack on a BJPleader in the last 10 days, ter-

rorists gunned down HomiShali Bugh constituency pres-ident in South Kashmir’sKulgam district on Tuesday.

The slain BJP leader hasbeen identified as Javed AhmadDar. According to reports, Darwas standing outside his homein Brazloo area when terroristsfired upon him, killing him onthe spot. No personal securityofficer was present on the spot.

Just two days ago, severalBJP leaders in Kashmir hadparticipated in the series ofevents to mark the 75thIndependence Day. The lastrites of the slain BJP leaderwere performed by the family.Hundred of people assembledat the residence of the BJPleader and joined the last ritesin his native village.

Strongly condemning thekilling, Jammu & Kashmir BJPunit chief Ravinder Raina said,“Another BJP worker hasbecome a victim to the sense-less killings by jehadi terroristsbacked by Pakistan. It is anattack on the democratic forcesand nationalist voices inKashmir. His sacrifice will notgo in vain.”

BJP Sarpanch GhulamRasool Dar, along with hiswife, was “mercilessly” killed byterrorists inside their home inLal Chowk area of Anantnagon August 9.

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With the fast changing sit-uation in Afghanistan

with the Taliban taking controland the Indian diplomatic staffreturning home, PrimeMinister Narendra Modichaired the CabinetCommittee on Security (CCS)late on Tuesday. TheGovernment announced itwill issue an emergency e-visato Afghan nationals who wantto come to the country in viewof the prevailing situation.

Modi was briefed byAmbassador RudrendraTandon, who returned with theIndian contingent from Kabul.

Home Minister AmitShah, National SecurityAdviser (NSA) Ajit Doval,Defence Minister RajnathSingh, Finance MinisterNirmala Sitharaman andForeign Secretary HarshVardhan Shringla attended theCCS meeting.

Meanwhile, reaching outto citizens of Afghanistan,India on Tuesday said it will

issue an emergency e-visa toAfghan nationals who want tocome to the country in view ofthe prevailing situation inAfghanistan after the Talibancaptured power there.

The Indian Embassy inKabul is not closed and localstaff is providing consular ser-vices. More than 1,650 peoplehave applied for their return toIndia, sources said here in thebackdrop of the entire Indiandiplomatic staff, includingAmbassador Tandon, airliftedto New Delhi in an IAF air-

craft.All Afghans, irrespective of

their religion, can apply for the“e-Emergency X-Misc Visa”online and the applicationswill be processed in New Delhi.The announcement came twodays after the Taliban capturedpower in Afghanistan.

There are Sikh and Hindusliving in Afghanistan for long.Punjab Chief Minister CaptainAmarinder Singh on Mondayhad appealed to the CentralGovernment to bring out Sikhsnumbering more than 300.

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The Taliban declared an“amnesty” across

Afghanistan and urgedwomen to join theirGovernment on Tuesday,seeking to convince a warypopulation that they havechanged a day after deadlychaos gripped the main air-port as desperate crowds triedto flee their rule. Following ablitz across Afghanistan thatsaw many cities fall to theinsurgents without a fight,

the Taliban have sought toportray themselves as moremoderate than when theyimposed a brutal rule in thelate 1990s. But many Afghansremain skeptical. Older gen-erations remember theTaliban’s ultraconservativeIslamic views, which includ-ed severe restrictions onwomen as well as public ston-ing and amputations before they were ousted by theUS-led invasion following theSeptember 11, 2001, attacks.Kabul remained quiet for

another day as the Talibanpatrolled its streets and manyresidents stayed home,remaining fearful after theinsurgents’ takeover saw pris-ons emptied and armorieslooted. Many women haveexpressed dread that two-decade Western experiment toexpand their rights andremake Afghanistan wouldnot survive resurgent Taliban.Germany, meanwhile, halteddevelopment aid toAfghanistan over Talibantakeover.

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The Kerala Government onTuesday said at least 41

Malayalis, including womenand children, have been strand-ed in Taliban-controlled Kabuland requested the Centre tomake necessary arrangementsfor their safe evacuation to thehome country.

In the wake of panic callsfrom the stranded peoplereceived at the Department ofNORKA, State-run welfareagency of non-residentKeralites, the Government sentletters to the External AffairsMinistry seeking immediatesteps for their repatriation.

As directed by ChiefMinister Pinarayi Vijayan, KElangovan, Principal Secretaryto the State Government, andHarikrishnan Namboothiri K,the CEO of the NORKA, sentseparate letters to the Ministrydetailing the plight of thestranded Keralites there.

Some of the messagesreceived by the StateGovernment even stated thatthe Talibans were verifying theidentity of the stranded Indiansand taking away their passportsand other important docu-ments, he said.

The letter also said that a“huge threat is hanging on thelife of the Malayalis”.

Peshawar: The bannedPakistani Taliban or theTehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan(TTP) terror group has con-gratulated the Afghan Talibanon taking control ofAfghanistan, describing it as a“victory for the whole Islamicworld”, according to a mediareport on Tuesday. In the state-ment, TTP spokespersonMohammad Khorasani reiter-ated the group’s “allegiance tothe Afghan Taliban leader-ship,” and pledged to “supportand strengthen the IslamicEmirates of Afghanistan.”

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The State on Tuesday sawa further slight decline inCovid-19 caseload with

720 new cases reported fromthe 30 districts and the Statepool, with which the total tallyincreased to 9,96,153.But again,out of the new cases, 96 chil-dren in the age group of 0 and18 years tested positive in thepast 24 hours.

A total of 50,727 sampleswere tested in the last 24 hoursand the test positivity rate(TPR) was 1.41 per cent. Theactive cases in the State stoodat 9,672.Out of the new cases,421 were from quarantine and299 local contacts.Khordhadistrict reported the day's high-est 279 cases followed byCuttack with 91, Jagatsinghpur33, Mayurbhanj 29, Jajpur 28,Bhadrak 22, Baleswar 19,

Nayagarh 18, Puri 16, Angul15, Dhenkanal andKendrapada 12 each, Keonjhar11, Kandhamal nine, Rayagadaeight, Ganjam, Kalahandi andDeogarh five each, Balangirand Malkangiri four each,Koraput, Subarnapur andJharsuguda three each,Nuapada and Bargarh two eachand Boudh and Nabarangpurand Boudh one each.

Besides, 60 cases werereported from the Statepool.Meanwhile, another 68patients succumbed to the dis-ease, mounting the total deathtoll to 7,021 in the State, theHealth and Family WelfareDepartment said. The maxi-mum 14 deaths were reportedfrom Cuttack district followedby eight each from Angul andJagatsinghpur, seven fromJajpur, six each from Baleswarand Kendrapada, five eachfrom Dhenkanal and Khordha,three each from Puri andRayagada and one each fromKeonjhar, Mayurbhanj andSundargarh. However, 1,064persons recovered on the daytaking the total recoveries to9,80,471.

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Chief Minister NaveenPatnaik on Tuesday felici-

tated the Indian Hockey teamsthat scripted history with theirbrilliant performances at TokyoOlympics. Patnaik announcedthat Odisha would continue tosponsor th Indian Hockey teams,for another 10 years. The CMfelicitated women’s team captainRani Rampal and Men’s teamcaptain Manpreet Singh. Eachplayer was awarded Rs 10 lakhand each support staff Rs 5lakh. As a token of regards, eachteam gifted the CM a framed jer-sey autographed by players. “You

made us all so proud with yourspirited fight at Tokyo. Thesewere deeply emotional momentsfor India to witness revival ofIndian hockey. For nearly fourdecades, hockey fans had beenyearning to see India grab amedal at the Olympics,” Patnaiksaid. “I believe Odisha andHockey are destined to becomesynonymous. We will continueour partnership with HockeyIndia. Odisha will support IndianHockey teams for 10 more years.This will herald a new era ofIndian Hockey and bring back

the glory to nation.” he said.Patnaik also gave away 13awards. In men’s team,Harmanpreet Singh won withmaximum number of goalsscored. PR Sreejesh won withmaximum number of goalssaved. Nilakanta Sharma wonwith maximum number of goalassists. Rupinder Pal Singh wonwith maximum number ofdefensive tackles andHarmanpreet Singh and AmitRohidas won with maximuminterceptions in the midfield. InWomen’s team, Gurjit Kaur and

Vandana Katariya won withmaximum number of goalsscored. Savita Punia won withmaximum number of goalssaved. Rani Rampal and NavneetKaur jointly won with maximumnumber of goal assists, DeepGrace Ekka won with maximumnumber of defensive tackles andP Sushila Chanu with maximuminterceptions in midfield.Eachplayer was awarded Rs 5lakh.Indian Olympic Associationpresident Dr Narinder DhruvBatra was also felicitated byCM,who too felicitated Odia doctorCol Bibhu Kalyan Nayak whowas appointed as first Indian FIHMedical Officer for TokyoOlympics.“The team and I arevery happy to be present heretoday as we wish to express our

heartfelt thanks to OdishaGovernment for supporting ourteam,” said Captain RaniRampal. Captain ManpreetSingh, shared, “This BronzeMedal may have been won by usas players, but in truth it equal-ly belongs to India, a gift fromHon'ble Chief Minister ShriNaveen Patnaikji whose visionand constant encouragementhelped us achieve our dream ofwinning an Olympic medal after41 years,” Earlier in day, theteams arrived to a rousing wel-come at airport here by fans andsportspersons. They werereceived by Sports and YouthServices Minister TusharkantiBehera and Odisha HockeyPromotion Council ChairmanDilip Tirkey,

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'��"&�� ( ��&�B H U B A N E S W A R :Bhubaneswar on Tuesday regis-tered 235 Covid-19 positivecases, with which total tally incapital city rose to 1,04,295.Notably, city had recorded 211positive cases on Monday.Out of235 new cases, 174 were localcontacts and 61 from quaran-tine.The local contacts included10 cases in Old Town followedby eight each inChandrasekharpur andNayapalli and 7each inBaramunda, Unit-8 and Patia.The active cases in city stood at3,142. Meanwhile, three morepatients succumbed to disease,with which total death toll to 977in the city. PNS

PNSPARALAKHEMUNDI:The four-member Crime Branch(CB) team led by DSPGyanaranjan Mishra which isinvestigating the mysteriousdeath of ACF Soumya RanjanMohapatra on Tuesday intensi-fied the probe and questionedsix persons. The team initiallyquestioned two forest officials.They were the DFO Office gate-keeper Santosh Kumar Biswaland the DFO’s cook Ajay KumarBehera. Biswal made a startlingrevelation that on the fateful day,

he was on duty at the gate at 8pm and district CollectorLingaraj Panda came to theoffice and was present there.However, he avoided questionsfrom mediapersons and saidwhatever he knew he had toldthe CB officials.Later, the CBteam questioned PharmacistSuresh Sahu, 108 AmbulanceManager Pradip Kumar Ram,driver Dayanidhi Sabar andBhagwan Bhuyan, who werepresent during the shifting of thedeceased Soumya from GajapatiDistrict Headquarters Hospital.When asked by mediapersonswhether Gajapati Collectorwould be questioned.

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Puri today is perhaps the onlyplace in the world where an

international airport is beingplanned near the coast. That istoo in the vicinity of anotherinternational airport,Bhubaneswar, which is only 15minutes’ flying time. The recentannouncement by the StateGovernment in regard to theAirport Authority of India’sgreen signal for the airport nearPuri came with a note that it ful-filled all the required criteria. Thepantomime of this dream airportstarted when Chief MinisterNaveen Patnaik in a letter to

Prime Minister Narendra Modion January 1 this year hadsought establishment of an inter-national airport named afterLord Jagannath.

Union Minister fromOdisha Dharmendra Pradhantoo joined the chorus and a teamwas promptly sent to Puri foridentifying a location. It was alla game of one-upmanship, eachtrying to take the credit. In rock-et speed, an area of 1,500 acreson the western outskirts of Puriat Girala mouza was identifiedand the “experts” were quick inremarking that the airport wouldhave no problem with the windspeed and direction. Initially, theairport would have a single run-way; however, a parallel runwayin future would entail another2,300 acres. On July 5,Commerce and TransportMinister Padmanabha Beherasaid the airport could be readyfor operations by 2022-23. Pipedreams all. The so-called expertshave absolutely no knowledge atall about setting up airports in

coastal areas. Puri perhapstoday is the only place in theworld where an international air-port is being planned near thecoast.

A recent study by scientistsat the Newcastle Universityshows that hundreds of coastalairports are at risk of severeflooding with rising sea levelstriggered by global warming. Thestudy “Global Analysis of SeaLevel Rise Risk to Airports” wasconducted by the university'sProfessor Richard Dawson andAaron Yesudian of the universi-ty’s School of Engineering.

It studied 14,000 airportsworldwide and gave a report thatmore than 260 airports aroundthe globe are currently at risk ofcoastal flooding, and dozenscould be below mean sea level bythe turn of the century. Thestudy shows that a temperaturerise of 2 degrees Celsius, whichis consistent with the ParisAgreement, will eventually leadto hundreds of coastal airportsgoing below mean sea level and

hundreds more at risk of severeflooding. Incidentally, airports inAsia and the Pacific topped thelist. “These coastal airports aredisproportionately important tothe global airline network; andby 2100 between 10 and 20per-cent of all routes will be at riskof disruption,” the report said.Depending on the amount ofglobal warming in the comingdecades, as many as 572 airportscould be at risk by 2100.

The last decade was thehottest ever recorded on earthand the Arctic experienced itssecond-warmest year last year.Sea level rise can also make theimpacts of extreme weatherworse by pushing deadly anddestructive cyclonic stormsinland, something we have seenin the Bay of Bengal in recenttimes. The International CivilAviation Organisation (ICAO),a specialised United Nationsagency which sets the principlesand techniques of internationalair navigation, planning anddevelopment of international

air transport too, has issued anadvisory to 75 existing coastalairports to shift inland. Therehave been a multitude of dam-age and disruption in coastal air-ports in recent years due tocyclonic storms. In the global listof airports at highest risk, Eastand Southeast Asia and thePacific dominate.

Bangkok's SuvarnabhumiAirport topped the list. In Japan,the Kansai International Airportwas wrecked by Typhoon Jebi in2018. Major airports in storm-vulnerable regions such as HongKong, Taiwan, Japan, thePhilippines, Thailand and Indiahave repeatedly suffered shut-downs and damage due totyphoons. Hurricane Sandy hadresulted in the closure of all threeNew York area airports. CycloneAmphan left the Kolkata airportflooded. Cyclone Tauktae tooresulted in the closure of theMumbai airport. Even airports ofSurat, Vadodra and Ahmadabadwere badly affected. This incidentillustrated the growing power

extreme weather events can haveon airports situated close to thesea. Cyclone Fani damaged theBhubaneswar airport extensive-ly, resulting in its closure for fivedays although it was a good 50km inland. Imagine what wouldhave happened to an airport onthe coast.

Architect AloukikaMohanty is of the opinion thatairports are high-roofed hollowstructures with hangars, con-courses, terminals, towers, etc.The vulnerability of such struc-tures during storms, winds andrain is very high. She gives theexample of the Malatipatpurbus-stand on the outskirts ofPuri, the roof of which was com-pletely blown off during CycloneFani. Such an ill-planned struc-ture should have never beenapproved in the vulnerable zone.Noted environmentalist BiswajitMohanty has stressed the impactof such coastal airports on thedelicate coastal biodiversity.Besides air pollution andincreased levels of CO2, NO2

and sulphur oxide, there will behabitat degradation with thereplacement of vegetation andcontamination of grasslands.The airport will be in the directfly path of the migratory birdswhich come to the Chilka lake.

The sheer number of treesthat will have to be felled willharm the already-stressed coastalecosystem.According to activistHector Mishra, who has spear-headed many issues of Puri, theairport is just a dream which isbeing dished out. He is highlyskeptical about the Minister’sclaim that the airport would beoperative by 2023.

According to him, an inter-national airport takes eight to 10years to be completed; the newairports at Mumbai and Delhiare examples. The StateGovernment has not even beenable to upgrade the existingairstrips at Utkela, Jeypore andGopalpur, leave alone makingany new airstrips. A very high-placed meteorological expert,under conditions of anonymity,

is of the opinion that an airportin such a cyclone-prone area willbe a disaster. He also admittedthat no expert opinion was takenfrom weather experts beforesuch a foolhardy project wasannounced.

The adverse impacts causedby tropical cyclones due to cli-mate change have becomeincreasingly important in recentyears. In order to assess tropicalcyclone risk, direct economicdamage is frequently modelledbased on hazard intensity, assetexposure, and vulnerability.

The Government shouldimmediately stop this pie-in-the-sky unrealistic project and notwaste scarce public money. Wehave seen what happened dur-ing the POSCO imbroglio; over55 thousand trees were choppeddown, kilometers of barbed wirefencing and boundary wallsmade and valuable agriculturalland dug up.

(The writer is a heritage his-torian)

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The State Mines Departmenthas served a demand notice

to the Serajuddin & Co forrecovery of �6,028-crore loss tothe State exchequer.

The company has taken theBalda Iron Block on lease withhigh premium in the recently-concluded iron ore auctionsand caused �6,028-crore loss tothe Government. The JodaMines Joint Director has direct-ed the company to pay theamount digitally through i3MSgateway along with applicableTCS within 15 days, failingwhich a certificate case wouldbe initiated to recover the hugerevenue.

The Serajuddin & Co,which quoted a high premium118.5per cent, was granted themining lease over an area of343.981 hectares. However,violating Clause-8 andSchedule-D of the agreement ofMDPA to maintain minimumdespatch of mineral, the com-pany has despatched only1,39,1898.651 MT of iron oreinstead of 85,05,600 MT dur-ing the first year lease with ahuge shortfall. In view of this,the demand notice has beenserved to the company to paythe differential amount towardsshortfall in despatch vis-a-visthe minimum despatchrequired under Sub-Rule -1 of

12(A) of MCR 2016. Recently,submitting a petition to thePrincipal Secretary, Steel &Mines, MASS secretary SubratTripathy has urged theGovernment to recover �2,500crore in the form of penaltyfrom the auctioned mineswhich have produced less thanthe minimum productionrequirement under theirrespective MDPAs.

Tripathy demanded thatas per action envisaged in theMDPA, the regular offendermines must be cancelled. "Strictvigilance is extremely impor-tant when the State contributesmore than 55per cent of thecountry’s iron ore require-ment," Tripathy wrote. TheGovernment is losing hugerevenue due to shortfall inmonthly despatch of iron oreby auctioned mines vis-a-visminimum despatch require-ment as per Rule 12-A of theMineral Concession Rules.

The State Government hasauctioned 21 iron ore mineswith about 1,900-million tonnereserves with total EC capaci-ty of about 89 mtpa for con-tinued supply of ore and sus-tainable revenue generationfor the State. All the blockswere won at exorbitant bid pre-mium values making themunviable from the very begin-ning for some leaseholders.Presently, some lessees areresorting to theft, policy

changes, corruption, lower pro-duction, etc., until law ischanged to ensure that theiroutflow on premium, royalty,DMF and NMET is consider-ably reduced.

These factors have led to anacute shortfall in mineral pro-duction due to deliberate lowproduction by the lessees. Theprices of iron ore have sky-rocketed as some miners con-tinue to play with law and theGovernment machinery.

As per provision, a newlessee is required to maintainsuch a level of production as toensure minimum despatch of80% of the average of theannual production of twoimmediately preceding yearson pro-rata basis, failing whichappropriate actions in accor-dance with respective MDPAsshall be initiated as prescribedunder rule 12A(1) of theMineral ConcessionAmendment Rules 2020.

The legislation has delib-erately used the word ‘pro-rata’to ensure that the monthlydespatch levels are maintainedto preexisting levels and artifi-cial scarcity of iron ore is notcreated in the market. The lawclearly had the intent to main-tain monthly despatches forsustainable supply of ore withconsistent revenue generationfor the State. Many lessees aredeliberately delaying produc-tion for their business interest.

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Adoctor was stabbed by aninebriated youth in the

Jagamara area under theKhandagiri police station inBhubaneswar on Mondayevening over a road rage inci-dent. The doctor sufferedinjuries on his hand. The vic-tim Ashutosh Pradhan, is

engaged at a Covid hospital inKoraput. The incident occurredwhen Pradhan was on his waytowards Khandagiri on hisfriend’s bike . When he sloweddown at a speed-breaker andapplied brakes, a white colourFord car hit from the rear.

Suddenly a youth cameout of the car and demandedmoney saying the car was dam-aged in the mishap. But whenPradhan protested, the youthtook out a knife from his carand tried to stab him in his

stomach. But fortunately, theknife pierced him on the hand.Though many people werewitness to the incident, noneof them came to the doctor’srescue. But later the doctorcalled up the police. But thoughthe Khandagiri police station isat a stone’s throw distance thecops arrived late. But later,after Pradhan filed a com-plaint, the police managed tonab the accused youth, who issaid to be a local of theJagamara area.

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The Congress on Mondayalleged that there has been

massive corruption in theimplementation of MGNRE-GA and RURBAN schemeswith the knowledge of thePanchayati Raj Minister andSecretary. Addressing a Pressconference at the CongressBhawan here, party leaders DrDebashis Patnaik, SatyaPrakash Nayak andManoranjan Das claimed thatduring the time of UPA

Government at the Centre, theMGNREGA scheme was ini-tiated to provide 100 days’work guarantee to the poorand labour class, but now ithas been found that thescheme has been the source oflarge-scale corruption at thegrassroots level.

Presenting a specific caseof Banki block, the Congressleaders claimed that the ben-eficiaries are being identifiedviolating all rules and misap-propriation of funds is goingon.

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The Monsoon Session of theState Legislative Assembly

will commence at 11 am onSeptember 1 and continue tillSeptember 9. Following a com-munication of the Governor,Parliamentary Affairs PrincipalSecretary G Mathivathananissued a notification in thisregard on Monday.

As per the schedule, thesession would have seven offi-cial business days and one pri-vate members business day.The House would remainclosed on September 5(Sunday). The StateGovernment is likely to tableseveral Bills during the session.

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The low pressure area over thenorthwest and adjoining

west-central Bay of Bengal offsouth Odisha-north AndhraPradesh coasts now lies overcoastal Odisha and the adjoiningnorthwest Bay of Bengal.

The system is likely to movewest north-westwards duringthe next 48 hours, said the IndiaMeteorological Department(IMD) Regional Officer here onTuesday. A north-south troughruns from the cyclonic circula-tion associated with the LowPressure Area over coastalOdisha and adjoining northwestBay of Bengal to northTamilnadu and extends upto1.5 km above mean sea level.Several parts of Odisha wouldexperience heavy rainfall activ-ity in the next 48 hours under theinfluence of the system, said the

weather office. On day one(From 1330hrs IST of August 17up to 0830 hrs IST of August18): Heavy to very heavy rainfall isvery likely to occur at one or twoplaces over the districts ofGanjam, Nayagarh, Khodha,Cuttack, Kandhamal,Malkangiri, Koraput,Jagatsinghpur, Mayurbhanj andKendrapada.

Heavy rainfall is is also like-ly to occur at one or two placesover the districts of Puri, Boudh,Jajpur, Bhadrak, Dhenkanal,Keonjhar, Rayagada, Gajapati,Balasore, Nuapada,Nabarangpur, Angul andKalahandi. On Day 2 (validfrom 0830 hrs IST of August 18up to 0830 hrs IST of August19)Heavy rainfall is very likely tooccur at one or two places overthe districts of Bargarh,Jharsuguda, Sundargarh,Sambalpur, Deogarh.

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BHUBANESWAR: TheHigher Education Departmenton Tuesday issued a detailedtimeline to complete the e-admission process in all PlusThree degree and autonomouscolleges.The students can fill upthe common application forms(CAF) on the official StudentManagement System (SAM)portal. The online applicationprocess will start from August20 a notification stated. Thestudents can apply on the ded-icated portal till the last date onSeptember 4 (11:45 pm).

The first selection merit listwould be published onSeptember 9 and the studentscan make the necessary feepayment on the students’account on SAMS portal fromSeptember 9 to September 14(11:45 pm).

All the admissions of theapplicants as per the first selec-tion merit list in their respec-tive allotted institutions wouldbe completed betweenSeptember 11 and September15 (except September 12). Theslide-up option for the appli-cants will be active on theportal during the first round ofadmission from September 11to September 16.

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The Commissionerate policeon Tuesday busted a dupli-

cate cement factory operatingfrom a godown at theBhagwanpur Industrial Estatein the Patrapada area inBhubaneswar.

The factory which wasallegedly manufacturing dupli-cate cement was operatingfrom 2002.The factory wasallegedly being run by oneJiten Sibani who has beendetained by police following

the raid at the unit. Police saidthe unit used to mix genuinecement with marble dust andartificial colours before pack-ing the adulterated cement inthe name of various reputedbrands. Along with duplicatecement, the unit also producedfake white cement, wall puttyand colours.

“Based on reliable inputs,we conducted the raid at thefactory and seized thousands offake cement bags. The owner ofthe factory has been detainedfor interrogation,” said a policeofficial. “A detailed probe willbe held to ascertain the entiresupply chain of the fake cementconsignments,” he said.

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The Archaeological Surveyof India (ASI) would con-

duct a photogrammetric surveyof the Lingaraj and Raja-RaniTemples here soon.

The ASI in collaborationwith the National Institute ofScience Education andResearch (NISER),Bhubaneswar would conductthe survey using drones. TheDirectorate General of CivilAviation (DGCA) under Union

Ministry of Civil Aviation(MoCA) has granted condi-tional exemption fromUnmanned Aircraft System(UAS) Rules, 2021 to theNISER, Bhubaneswar, for thispurpose.

The exemption allows thephotogrammetric survey ofthe two centrally protectedmonuments in collaborationwith the Archaeological Surveyof India (ASI) using drones.This exemption is valid for aperiod of one year from thedate of approval or until furtherorders, whichever is earlier,

and shall be subject to theterms and conditions of theSOP issued by the DGCA. TheASI has taken steps to preparephotogrammetric survey mapsof almost all Centrally-pro-tected monuments and sites ina phased manner.

The survey is being con-ducted in West Bengal, MadhyaPradesh, Uttar Pradesh,Chhattisgarh and many moreStates, sources said.

As per the plan, an aerialsurvey covering the protected,prohibited and regulated areasaround the Lingaraj and Raja-

Rani Temples would be con-ducted. Mapping/ recording ofall structures under the pro-tected and regulated area wouldbe done.

The protected area of thetemples would be mapped insuch a manner that all struc-tures and features present with-in the area can be easily iden-tified. Mapping of other fea-tures like tanks, embankments,mud fortifications, remains ofancient structures, importantlandmarks, buildings, etc.,would also be done during thesurvey.

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The Congress on Tuesdayalleged that the BJD

Government which is inpower for two decades hasutterly failed to establish newPHCs or CHCs and is evenunable to fill up vacancies inhospitals.

So, how would theGovernment reach the targetof enrolling 3.5 crore benefi-ciaries under Biju SwasthyKalyan Yojana and providesmart cards to them, askedthe party.

Party spokespersonManoj Mohapatra said therecent announcement of theChief Minister to providesmart cards is nothing but tohoodwink people as thescheme was a reincarnation ofthe one announced in August2018.

The party leaders askedthat while 183 registered pri-vate hospitals, all Governmenthospitals of the State, DistrictHeadquarters Hospitals andGovernment medical collegehospitals are enlisted in thescheme to provide free healthfacilities to more than 70lakh families up to 5 lakh formales and 10 lakh for femalesand the Government hasalready spent Rs 3,000 croreduring the last three years,

how many people havebeen benef itted by thescheme? The answer given bythe Government in the StateAssembly on Maach 15 isquit intriguing, said they.

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The closure order for theNational Thermal Power

Station Corporation (NTPC)unit at Talcher Thermal has

been stayed by the Orissa HighCourt. Chief Justice Dr SMuralidhar and Justice BPRoutray on a writ petition filedby former MP and NTPCShramik Congress presidentDr Rama Chandra Khuntiaand NTPC Workers INTUCUnions president Bishnu Rathhas stayed the move. Thepetitioners had contended thatdespite generation of power bythe NTPC Talcher Thermal at

around 90 per cent of itsinstalled capacity and achiev-ing several feats like theNational Safety Award for lesspollution in the plant, theNTPC management had decid-ed to close the power stationwithout thinking about itsimpact on locals, regular andcontract workers.

They said that when thecloser decision was known,local people agitated. Localleaders including MLA, MP,Central Minister DharmendraPradhan had backed the stir.

The CMD NTPC had helda discussion with the ChiefSecretary of Odisha and hadassured to start 1,320-MWnew power plant immediatelyand resume operation of theold plant after a safety audit.The State Government hadalso accorded permission forthe new plant. The petitionersKhuntia and Rath had said that

so far no announcement hadbeen made by CentralGovernment or NTPC aboutthe new plant. On the otherhand, the NTPC had declaredcloser of the old plant fromApril 1 even without gettingapproval from the CentralLabour Department.

The approval was got onlyon July 13 without givingopportunity to the workersunions and the local inhabi-tants to represent their case.They sought a stay order fromthe court.

Meanwhile,Dr Khuntia,general secretary INTUCKishore Jena, Madan MohandDhal, Prasant Mohapatra andAkshaya Kumar Tripathystrongly condemned attitudeof Union Government anddemanded to take appropriateaction immediately to start theold thermal plant and the workof new 1320-MW plant.

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#�� '��!��BHUBANESWAR: The BJPon Tuesday accused StateGovernment of deprivingConstitutional r ights ofOBCs, which constitute 52%of State’s population. PartyState OBC wing presidentSurath Biswal said that whilean advertisement publishedby Odisha Public ServiceCommission mentioned11.25% posts reserved forOBCs, in fact the only 4%posts are being reserved forthem. Only 288 posts arereserved out of total vacanciesof 7,633 in education, health,fisheries and animal resourcesdepartments.While ModiGovernment at Centre includ-ed 27 representatives fromOBC community in recentreshuffled Union Ministry,the representation of OBCs isnegligible in Odisha Minisry.

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Although the task was verydifficult and risky, yet the

physically impaired Baleswarborn Army officer could reg-ister another record in hisname by exhibiting a nail bit-ing performance of yoga on theIndependence Day.

He demonstrated his yogaon a 20 feet ladder mounted ona Maruti Gypsy moving at aspeed of around 40 kmph. 50-year-old Lieutenant ColonelLaxmidhar Bhuyan showedthe stunt at Nasik on the 75thIndependence Day. He made arigorous practice to demon-strate his skill which was called‘Longest time hitting on hipsby heels on headstand yogaposition.’ “For the new recordI practiced Yoga and obtainedpermission from Defenceauthorities to perform stunt. I

could succeed in achieving anew record. Three judges wit-nessed and assessed my per-formance. Our top brass offi-cers including Brigadier ARagesh, Station Commanderand Commandant Artillery,and several other officers andmen were present on the occa-sion,” said Col. Bhuyan.

Notably, Col Bhuyan hasachieved several prominentrecords including GuinnessBook Records, Asia Book ofRecords, India Book ofRecords, Limca Book ofRecords, Best of India recordsand Coca-cola Book ofRecords, for showing similarstunts.

He hails from Banguru vil-lage under Oupada block andhad joined the Indian Army inMay 1992. Bhuyan is amarathon runner and is pop-ularly known as flying man ofOdisha. He is an enthusiasticyoga expert as well.

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The special POCSO Judgecum Additional District

Judge has acquitted the accusedof 2015 sensational Jyoti Viharcampus rape case in which aProfessor of SambalpurUniversity had alleged thatone of his colleagues in thecampus had raped his minordaughter taking advantage ofher loneliness in the home.

The incident had assumedsignificance following a mas-sive outrage of people as it hap-pened inside an educationalinstitution. After a prolongedhearing and legal complicaciesof six years, the accused gotscot-free for lack of sufficientevidence. The accused profes-sor remained suspended sincethen as a case u/s 376 (A) readwith POCSO was registeredagainst him after the allegation.

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The inaugural function of aCommunity Diagnostic

Center (OPD) at the CenturionUniversity premises in Jataniwas held on Monday.

Senior Physician, JataniGroup Health Centre DrJitendra Kumar Panda,Research Scientist, SpecialCentre for Molecular Medicine,Jawaharlal Nehru University(JNU), New Delhi Dr GautamPatnaik, former pathologistand blood bank officerMunicipal Hospital andKalinga Hospital BhubaneswarDr DP Rath, Sarpanch ofJamukoli Panchayat JotirmayiChhotray, Sarpanch ofKusumati Panchayat SunilKumar Rautaray and Sarpanchof Janla Pradosh Kumar Jenaattended the event as the guests.Besides Vice Chancellor of theUniversity Prof Supriya

Pattanayak, senior faculties,staff and students were present.Various social service campssuch as diabetes, anemia, mal-nutrition and related activitieswill be organised with the helpof students of the School ofParamedics and Allied Sciencesand health workers of the

Group Diagnostic Center invarious panchayat offices,schools and villages underJatani Panchayat in comingdays. The public will be madeaware of post-Covid healthproblems and other health-related diseases, said DirectorProf Sunil Kumar Jha.

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Local MLA MinaskhiMahanta, besides local

BJD leaders and supporters ofChampua thanked CMNaveen Patnaik for allocatingfunds for construction of anew indoor stadium here.

Rs 6. 55 crore for theindoor stadium of ChampuaNAC has been granted by theCM recently. The stadiumwill be completed within aperiod of 18 months.

"Naveen is the manbehind the success of IndianHockey team, both male andfemale, at the TokeyoOlympics. Our CM has givenenormous importance tosports as sanctioning fundsfor a stadium speaks foritself," said Mahanta.

He has successfully com-pleted the World Cup HockeyTournaments in Odisha in2018. Odisha once again isgoing to host the World CupHockey in 2023, she saidadding that a new hockey sta-dium in Rourkella having asitting capacity of 20,000would be ready for theupcoming tournament.

Among others, who werepresent in the meeting includeNAC president Girija ShankerSahu, BJD district minoritycell president Nesar

Heyat and other partysupporters. Sports equip-ments and materials weregiven to the captains of foot-ball and volleyball teams onthe occasion.

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Farmers of Rokal,Budhipadar, Larka and

Karngamal Gram Panchayatsof Boden block have com-plained that the VillageAgriculture Workers (VAWs)appointed to their Panchayatsare not visiting to area sincelong. When Rupesh Thappahas been provided responsi-bility of Larka and KarngamalGram Panchayats, ThabiraBehera is in charge of Rokaland Budhipadar GPs.

"We regularly try to contactthem over phone as they do

not stay in our Panchayats, butthey don't respond, we face alot of problems in farming butthere is no one to guide us,"alleged farmers. WhenSudhanshu Meher, theAssistant Ahriculture Officer,

who is handling additionalcharge of Boden block in addi-tion to Sinapali, was contactedabout long absence of workers,he informed that these twoVAWs are regular absenteesand do not respond to instruc-tions in spite of administrativeactions taken againstthem."Salary and HRA of thesetwo officials have been stopped.Thabira Behera's incrementhas been stopped, but unfor-tunately they are not changingtheir attitude," said Meher.

It is learnt that SudhanshuSahu, who was posted to Bodenas AAO has been sent toNuapada in 2014 on deputationis yet to be reverted althoughNuapada AAO post was filledup. "It is difficult for one AAOto manage two blocks; that'swhy VAWs like Thabira andThapa getting opportunitiesto cheat," said SudhanshuMeher.

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The 75th Independence Daywas celebrated by the

Paradip Port Trust (PPT) witha great enthusiasm. PPTDeputy Chairman AK Boseunfurled the National Flag.Bose said the port has handledthe highest-ever cargo of 114.55Million Metric Tonne (MMT)in the last fiscal and is improv-ing its performance year-on-year. In March 2021, the porthas also handled highest-evermonthly total of 11.64 MMTagainst the previous record of

11.17 MMT in January 2021 inthe current fiscal. DespiteCovid-19 and just three daysafter Cyclone Yaas, a record 30shipping movements were car-ried out from May 29 to 30.

He said that till July 2021,the port has handled 39.60MMT cargo by exhibiting apositive growth of 14.32percent compared to the sameperiod of last fiscal.

The port has been dis-charging its commitment to thesociety by taking up severalCSR activities. Rs 8 crore wasgiven to PM-CARES Fund.The PPT has signed an MoUwith the Government ofOdisha for a dedicated CovidCare Hospital, which is func-tional. The PPT has sanctioned

Rs 2 crore under the CSRfund.Bose gave away awards tothe winners of “Azadi Ka Amrit

Mahotsav celebrations” inpatriotic poem recitation anddebate competitions.

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PNSPARADIP: On the 75thIndependence Day, like everyyear, the Smile Charitable Trustthis year also felicitated fourClass-X toppers of the PankapalSatyasai Gyanbikash HighSchool. Kujang AdditionalTehsildar Dr Puja Lenka waschief guest and hoisted theNational Flag and gave awaycash awards with certificates tothe topper students. The chiefguest, Principal, teachers andstudents recited the National

Anthem. The chief guest, SmileCharitable Trust president DrSachitra Kumar Rout and chiefadvisor advocate SureshChandra Das were felicitated.Chief coordinator SnehamayiAcharya was present. The chiefguest spoke about the develop-ment of the school. Dr SachitraKumar Rout and SureshChandra Das assured that everyyear Class-X topper studentsand champions in sports wouldbe rewarded.

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The Kalahandi police onTuesday arrested four inter-

district criminals who wereinvolved in a series of robberyand dacoity cases in Kalahandi,Balangir, Nuapada, Kandhamaland Bargarh districts.

The nabbed accused hadrobbed cash of nearly 20 lakhfrom the complainants underdifferent police station area inthe last one year.The accusedwere identified as M Ganesh(25), A Ranjit Rao (37), DAkash (27) and J Chendu (18).

All are natives of Ganjam dis-trict. Police have seized twomotorbikes, three mobilephones and Rs 1.33 lakh cashfrom their possession.

The arrestees were alsoinvolved recently in robbing Rs1.09 lakh from one UdhabaSunani of Ambaguda villageunder the Dharmagarh policestation, who was returningfrom Dharmagarh SBI branchafter withdrawing the moneyon August 13. The four accusedsnatched the bag with themoney from Udhaba when hewas about to board an autorickshaw and sped away from

the spot by their bikes. A casewas lodged in this connection.In another case the robbers hadlooted Rs 24,000 here from arailway employee 18 days ago.He was on the way to homeafter withdrawing his pensionmoney from the bank.

After verifying CCTVfootage, police began investi-gation by forming a team con-sisting personnel fromDharmagarh, Junagarh andBhawanipatna town police.

Kalahandi SP said it wasrevealed during probe thatbefore committing a crime,the robbers used to take ahouse in rent in urban areas touse it as a hideout.They hadalso taken a house on rent in

Bhawanipatna also, from wherethey were nabbed but one of

their aides managed to give aslip to police, sources said.

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Socio-cultural organisationKalanjali Artistry Trust

(KAT) founder RameswariNanda organised a ceremonyhere on Sunday to felicitatejournalists, health workers andsocial activists of Brahmapurwho played a key role in com-bating Covid-19 pandemic.

Brahmapur MPChandrasekhar Sahu and MLABikram Panda felicitated theCovid Warriors by giving eacha memento, a citation and acertificate of appreciation inrecognition of their outstand-ing work during Covid.Among others, journalistsSudhir Kumar Sahoo, Dr KCPanda, Shaktidhar Rajguru,

Amar K Das and PK Dasreceived the honour. BJD Statesecretary Tumbanath Panda,district vice-president SanjeetPanigrahi, social worker DurgaPrasad Panda, DigapahandiTehsildar A Swain, Trust pres-ident Prof Bailadu Panigrahiand secretary Nanda were pre-sent. MP Sahu and MLA

Panda in their address hailedthe efforts made by theKalanjali Trust. The leadersrecalled the contributionsmade by the members of theTrust in distributing cookedfoods, dry rations, medicines,and other healthcare needs tohundreds of Corona inflictedpatients.

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��-��!��JAJPUR: A 65-year-old manwas axed to death allegedly byhis daughter-in-law in villageRanapal under Panikoili policestation in Jajpur district onMonday evening. “Utkal Hati,the husband of accused, filedan FIR in police alleging thatRupa Hati (25) in a sudden rageattacked his father Paban Hatiwith an axe and he died on spotas he suffered serious headinjuries. The motive behindkilling could not be ascer-tained immediately. We alsostill do not know modusoperandi of murder. The exactcause of hostility between themis being investigated,” saidPanikoili PS IIC Sushil Nayak.

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The opposition politicalparties rallied behind the

agitators of KharasrotaBanchao SangramSamiti(KBSS), who have beenstaging a dharna for last threedays demanding that scrap-ping a mega pipe water pro-ject in Kharasrota river inKendrapada district.

A team of BJP leaders ledby State secretary PruthivirajHarichandan visited the pro-ject site at Barunadiha and

later discussed with the KBSSagitators at the agitation site.Harichandan asked whenthere were multiple sources toprovide water to Bhadrak dis-trict , why the StateGovernment was hell bent ongetting water from such aplace which was deficient inground water.

The BJP also condemnedthe barbaric act of policetowards the people and illegalarrest of locals .BesidesPrithiviraj Harichandan,senior BJP leaders JatinMohanty, Pravati Parida,

Pinki Pradhan, Bishnu Das,Smruti Pattnaik, AnitaPriyadarshini and others werein the delegation.

Similarly, Congress,CPI(M),CPI,CPI(ML) andother organisations, underthe fold of Milita Birodhi Dal,organised a mass demonstra-tion on Tuesday in front ofthe district Collectorate.

Senior Congress leaders ,P a n c h a n a nKanungo,Ganeswar Behera,Gyana Beura, DebendranathSharma, Anshuman Mohanty,Chinmaya Behura, CPI(M)district secretary GayadharDhal , Umesh singh , CPIleader Ramani RanjanRoutray, Babaji Dhal,CPI(ML) leader Sanjib KumarRout among others partici-pated in the mass demon-stration.

The Milita Birodhi Daldemanded the StateGovernment to take steps forinviting the protestors for abi-lateral discussion over theproject, set up an in-streamstorage at the tail end ofKharasrota, construct theAul-Rajkanika pipe waterproject on a priority basis,stop police action against theagitators and release the localprotestors ,who were in jail.

If the State Governmentdoes not consider thedemands, the Milita BirodhiDal will intensify its agitationin the whole district, warnedGaneswar Behera.

Later, a six membersCongress team visited theproject site and discussedwith the agitating members ofthe KBSS.

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The 75th Independence Day was observed inthe Pallahara stadium by National Day

Celebration Committee of sub division admin-istration amid Covid restrictions. NDCC presidentcum Sub-Collector Pallahara Ajit Pradhan hoist-ed the National Flag at 9.15 am. The 28 winnerslisted in various online competitions were award-ed by chief guest Pradhan. Saraswati Nayak andLaxmi Nayak from Rayadihi village of Pallaharablock were awarded for matriculation results.

Debi Prasad Sahoo of Utklamani GopabandhuHigh School Khamar, Sibani Pradhan of OdashAnchalika High School, Suman Pani, NRTS top-per and Corona warrior SDIPRO inchargeRabindra Nath Behera were felicitated. SDPOSuman Sekhar Singh , BDO Suman Minz , IICKishore Samal, and many journalists of sub divi-sion were present Besides, many Government andnon Government organisations and schools andcolleges across Pallahara held Independence Day.

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Aday after Finance MinisterNirmala Sitharaman said

that there will be no cut inexcise duty on fuel as the pre-vious UPA Government hadreduced fuel prices by issuingOil Bonds of �1.44 lakh crore,the Congress on Tuesday hitback by saying that theGovernment since 2014-15 hasspent �73,440 crore on servic-ing oil bonds and collected �22.34 lakh crore through taxeson petroleum products.

Addressing the AICC pressconference, former UnionMinister Ajay Maken said theofficial figures expose BJP’s oilbond falsehood. “Since 2014-15, the Modi Government hasspent �73,440 crore on servic-ing of oil bonds and againstthis, they have collected �22.34lakh crore through taxes onpetroleum products,” Makensaid at AICC Press confer-ence.

Maken pointed out thatspending on servicing of oilbonds is just 3.2 per cent of thetax collection from petroleumproducts.

The Congress said that inthe current fiscal also, theGovernment has only a liabil-ity to pay �20,000 crore in the

form of bond repayment andinterest on the outstanding oilbonds. At the present rates, theGovernment is expected tocollect �5 lakh crore fromtaxes on petroleum products.

He said that the real rea-son is not oil bonds but reduc-tion in subsidy by 12 times andincrease in taxes by threetimes.

“In 2020-21 alone, tax onpetrol-diesel was �4.53 lakhcrore. It is three times morethan 2013-14, “ Maken said.

He said that the BJP raisedcentral taxes on petrol anddiesel by �23.87 and �28.37per litre in the last sevenyears. He said that theGovernment collected addi-tional �1.89 lakh crore everyyear.

Slamming the

Government for high taxationon fuel, Maken said, “TheModi Government has extort-ed �22,33,868 crore by levyingexcise on petrol-diesel in thelast seven years.”

Citing the official figuresof the petroleum planningand analysis cell, he said thatduring the UPA Government,it gave a subsidy on petroleumproducts to the tune of �1.64lakh crore in 2012-13 and �1.47 lakh crore in 2013-14.

“On the contrary, the pre-sent Modi Government dras-tically reduced this amountyear after year to �12,231crore in 2020-21,” he said.

“Since the lockdown, theincrease on excise duties onpetrol and diesel has sur-passed all forms of exploitationand extortion”, Maken said.

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Battling a prolonged secondwave of the pandemic, the

Northeastern States will get acentral financial package of �1,300 crore as an aid to fight thecrisis which refuses to abate inthe region. Union HealthMinister Mansukh Mandaviyamade an announcement inthis regard on Tuesday.

After reviewing the Covid-19 situation with HealthMinisters of all theNortheastern States inGuwahati, Mandaviya toldreporters that the fund is beingprovided to purchase medi-cines, enhance oxygen supply,increase beds — general, ICUand children — at local anddistrict-level hospitals.

“The fund will also beutilised to speed up the vacci-nation drive by the States in theregion. The Government ofIndia is committed to provideenough vaccines to the States,”he said adding the peak in theregion was seen much later

than the rest of India and so itwas taking time to decline.

“In the last two weeks, thecases have started declining inthe Northeast and this is agood sign. All the States tookvarious steps to contain thesecond wave and it is endingnow,” Mandaviya said.

The NE States, which wereconsidered the safest in thecountry during the first waveof the pandemic, are nowbeing ranked among Stateswith the highest number ofcases.

A tiny State like Mizoramhas 10,618 active cases now.This is a huge number whencompared with bigger Stateslike Bihar and Uttar Pradeshwhere the daily figures arearound 500.

The daily positivity rate inMizoram is 7-10%. Assam’s8,654 active cases may not beconsidered high as the Staterecorded over 5.78 lakh casesfrom March 31 last year.Manipur remains closest toAssam with 6,671 active cases

though it had about 1.07 lakhconfirmed cases during thatperiod, said an official from theUnion Ministry.

There is a fear that if thethird wave strikes, NE mayreport a huge surge. This couldbe because other States havealready seen this surge andStates in the region are yet toexperience peaking.

Assam, which reported thehighest 3.6 lakh cases in thesecond wave in the region, hasbeen able to fully vaccinateonly about 24.21 lakh people ofthe 2.31 crore 18+ population.Similarly, the lowest of 1.67lakh second dose has beenadministered in Nagaland.

“A large number of peopleare yet to be fully vaccinated inthe Northeast. If a third wavestrikes now, it can turn disas-trous. The situation willimprove if it does not. The pos-itivity rate is coming downeven in Mizoram, though it’snot at par with Assam’s lessthan 1%,” the official added.

However, considering theacceleration of the inoculationdrive, they hope that a signif-icant number of people mayescape the wrath of the thirdwave. Nevertheless, they arenot sure whether cases willdrop in winter, like in the firstwave. “Last year, we did not seemany cases during winter. Butno one knows what is on thecards,” Assam NHM director,Lakshmanan S had said recent-ly.

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The National InvestigationAgency (NIA) on Tuesday

arrested two ISIS operatives —Mizha Siddeeque and ShifaHarris — in connection withISIS Kerala module case.

The arrested accused per-sons are residents of Kannurdistrict in Kerala.

The NIA had registered asuo moto case under sectionsIndian Penal Code sectionsrelating to criminal conspira-cy and waging war against thenation among others besidesrelevant provisions of theUnlawful Activities(Prevention) Act on March 5this year in a case relating toterrorist activities of oneMohammed Ameen alias AbuYahya of Kerala and his asso-ciates, the NIA said in a state-ment.

Yahya and his cohortshave been running variousISIS propaganda channels ondifferent social media plat-forms such as Telegram, Hoopand Instagram for propagatingthe violent Jihadi ideology ofISIS and radicalising andrecruiting new members forthe ISIS module, it further

said.“Investigation has revealed

that accused Mizha Siddeequeis affiliated with ISIS. She hadtravelled to Tehran along withher associates to join ISIS inSyria. On instructions ofaccused Mohammed Ameen,she had created a page onInstagram to propagate, moti-vate, radicalise and recruitgullible Muslim youth for ISIS.She had also radicalized otheraccused in the case namely hercousin Mus’Hab Anwar, ShifaHarris and was motivatingthem to join ISIS,” it furthersaid.

Shifa Haris alias Ayeshahas affiliation with ISIS and ondirections of accused Mus’HabAnwar and Mizha, she hadtransferred funds toMohammad Waqar Lone aliasWilson Kashmiri for support-ing ISIS activities. Shifa waswilling to perform Hijra toISIS controlled territory forjoining ISIS, it added.

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The BJP on Tuesday lashedout at Congress leader

Rahul Gandhi, accusing him ofpursuing “reckless” politics byrevealing the identity of thefamily of a minor rape victimand “falsely” claiming to havedone it with their consent.

Rahul’s Twitter accountwas blocked for allegedlyrevealing the identity of thefamily of a rape victim whichis against the law.

Congress, in a letter toTwitter, had claimed that theyhad a letter of consent from thefamily stating they had noobjection to their identity beingdisclosed which BJP claims isnot true.

A section of mediaclaimed that the rape victim’sfamily denied having givenany consent letter to allow the use of their picturesby the Congress.

BJP president J P Naddaand BJP national spokespersonSambit Patra attacked Rahul asan irresponsible and carelessleader, devoid of sensitivity.

“If you have zero sensitiv-ity, loads of arrogance andreckless style of politics, thenyou have scant regard for therule of law,” Nadda said, refer-ring to Rahul.

Inaugurating theKozhikode office of the BJP,Nadda also accused Gandhi of

being a “political tourist” inKerala after losing the LokSabha elections from Amethi.

“The real intentions andemotions of a person do notchange merely by changing thestate,” Nadda said.

Addressing a press con-ference here, Patra accusedt h eex-Congress president of sub-mitting a “forged letter” toTwitter to get his account“unlocked”.

“When Twitter blockedhis account for disclosing theidentity of a rape victim’s fam-ily, Rahul Gandhi lied about consent given by the family. Noresponsible politician behavesin such a manner,” Patra said.

Patra claimed that theCongress had presented a“forged” letter to get Gandhi’sTwitter account unlocked.

“Does such an irresponsi-ble person have the right to beon any public platform…. Hehas used the family of a rapevictime to further his ownpolitical career,” Patra said.

While public has alreadylocked his political account, Twitter should alsolock his account, quipped BJPleader.

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Narendra SinghTomar on Tuesdayheld a meetingwith his ministryofficials to plan thecelebration of theInternational Yearof Millets in 2023.The United Nations (UN) hasdeclared 2023 as theInternational Year of Millets,acting on India’s proposal.

“The proposals for activitiesto be undertaken to celebratethe International Year of Milletswere discussed in detail in themeeting today,” an official state-ment said.

The Government willorganise events in India aswell as in other countries. Aseries of programmes will beorganised throughout the year,it said. For this, cooperation ofState Governments, localadministration of all districts,urban bodies, MPs and otherpublic representatives fromacross the country will also betaken, it added.

In the meeting, Tomar saidthe Government has taken sev-eral steps to boost production

of millets. The country even cele-

brated 2018 as the national yearof millets and notified them asnutritious cereals giving an‘unique identity’.

As a result, millet produc-tion in India has risen to 176lakh tonne in 2020-21 cropyear (July-June) from 164 lakhtonne in 2017-18 crop year, hesaid.

The Minister said 96 high-yielding, disease-resistant,including 10 nutritive-cerealcrops and three biofortifiedvarieties have been released.

Minister of State forAgriculture KailashChaudhary, AgricultureSecretary Sanjay Agarwal,ICAR Director GeneralTrilochan Mohapatra and othersenior officials were present inthe meeting.

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Aday after hosting theOlympics medal winners at

his home, Prime MinisterNarendra Modi on Tuesdayinteracted with the Indianpara-athlete contingent forTokyo 2020 Paralympic Gamesand their families and coachesvia video conferencing andassured them that India isbeing increasingly made‘Divyang-friendly’.

As many as 54 para-ath-letes from across nine sportsdisciplines will be heading toTokyo to represent the nation.This is India’s biggest ever con-tingent to the ParalympicGames.

Speaking on the occasion,Prime Minister lauded thepara-athletes for their self con-fidence and will power andcredited their hard work for thebiggest ever contingent to theParalympic Games.

Modi said he is hopefulafter interacting with the paraathletes that India will create anew history at the Tokyo 2020Paralympic Games.

The Prime Minister saidthat” today’s new India doesnot put pressure for medals onthe athletes but expects them togive their best.”

Referring to the recentOlympics, the Prime Ministersaid that the country is firmlywith the athletes in their effortswhether they win or miss.

The Prime Minister dis-cussed the importance of men-tal strength along with physi-cal strength in the field. Hepraised the para athletes forovercoming their circum-stances and moving forwarddespite them.

The Prime Minister saidthat our villages and remoteareas are full of talent and thecontingent of para athletes isa living example of that.

“Today the country is try-ing to reach them, specialattention is being paid to the

rural areas,” said the PrimeMinister.

Modi informed informedplayers that for recognizinglocal talents, 360 Khelo IndiaCentres have been established.Soon this number will beincreased to 1000 centres, hesaid.

Prime Minister saidequipments, grounds andother resources and infra-structure are being made avail-able to the sportspersons.

The Country is helping itssportspersons with an openheart. The country providednecessary facilities and targetsthrough ‘Target OlympicPodium Scheme’, said thePrime Minister.

The Prime Minister insist-ed that in order to reach thetop, we have to shed fears thatmade home in the hearts of theolder generation when familieswere apprehensive if a childwas interested in sports andthere were no career prospectsin sports barring one or twosports.

This insecurity needed tobe destroyed said the PrimeMinister emphasizing that “wehave to keep on improving ourways and system to developsports culture in India.”

He pointed out that tradi-tional sports are getting a newidentity along with the pro-motion of international sports.He mentioned establishmentof Sports University in Imphal,

Manipur, status of sports in theNew National EducationPolicy and Khelo IndiaMovement as key steps in thatdirection.

“Whatever state, regionyou belong to, whatever lan-guage you speak, above all this,today you are ‘Team India.This spirit should permeateevery part of our society atevery level”’, the PrimeMinister said.

The Prime Minister saidthat earlier, giving facilities toDivyang Jan was treated aswelfare, today the country isworking for this as part of itsresponsibility. That is why,the Parliament enacted a lawlike ‘The Rights for Personswith Disabilities Act to providecomprehensive security to theDivyang Jan. He said ‘SugamyaBharat Campaign’ is thebiggest example of this newthinking. Today hundreds ofgovernment building, railwaystations, train coaches, domes-tic airports and other infra-structure are being madeDivyang friendly, he said.

Efforts like standard dic-tionary of Indian SignLanguage, Sign languagetranslation of NCERT arechanging lives and giving con-fidence to numerous talents allover the country, said thePrime Minister.

Sports Minister AnuragThakur also attended the vir-tual meet.

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The CBI has taken over theinvestigation into cases

against former Chief Ministerof Kerala Oomen Chandy, for-mer Union Minister K CVenugopal, both seniorCongress leaders, and otherpoliticians related to allegationsof sexual exploitation by aprime accused woman in thesensational multi-crore solarscam.

The cases against six politi-cians, including Chandy, wereregistered over the last severalyears and investigated by theCrime Branch of the KeralaPolice based on a complaint bythe woman, an accused in themulti-crore solar panel scamduring the United Democratic

Front (UDF) government. Thewoman had alleged that shewas sexually exploited by themin 2012, officials said.

The CPI-M-led LeftDemocratic Front (LDF) gov-ernment in Kerala had recom-mended a CBI enquiry into thecases in January this year,months ahead of the Assemblyelections in the State in April-May.

The Opposition Congressin the State had then dubbedthe move as “politically moti-vated”, saying the CPI-M-ledgovernment could not findanything against the party lead-ers and took the decision aselections were round the cor-ner.

Besides Chandy andVenugopal, MP Hibi Eden,

Adoor Prakash, MLA A P AnilKumar, and BJP leader A PAbdulla Kutty are the accusedin the six cases. The caseagainst Kutty was registered in2014 when he was a CongressMLA from Kannur. He laterjoined the BJP.

In a letter to the PoliceCommissioner of Ernakulamon July 19, 2013, the womanhad levelled charges of sexualmisconduct and corruptionagainst several Congress andUDF leaders, includingChandy, some of his ministersand two former Union minis-ters.

The agency has taken overthe six FIRs registered by theKerala Crime Branch and re-registered them to investigatethe allegations, officials added.

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Afirst-of-its-kind handbookon formation and promo-

tion of Fish Farmer ProducerOrganisations (FFPOs) underthe central flagship PradhanMantri Matsya SampadaYojana (PMMSY) was releasedon Tuesday at an event here.

The handbook, which wasreleased by Parshottam Rupala,Union Minister of Fisheries,Animal Husbandry andDairying, provides a road mapfor setting up a FFPO as acooperative and spells out sim-ple steps to be taken by theCommunity Based BusinessOrganization engaged byNational CooperativeDevelopment Corporation(NCDC).

Sundeep Kumar Nayak,Managing Director, NCDCand Jatindra Nath Swain,Secretary, Department ofFisheries, were also present onthe occasion.

Rupala shared thatPMMSY, the flagship schemefor fishers provides financialand technical assistance forsetting up FFPOs to econom-ically empower the fish farm-ers while Nayak pointed out

that various awareness andsensitization programmes forpromotion of FFPOs have beenheld in the past several monthsto encourage the farmers to setup such entities.

“The Department ofFisheries has kept a target offorming 500 FFPOs in thecountry, of which 50 FFPOswill be formed by the NCDC inthe first year under theCooperative Societies Act,”Swain added.

Finding potential in thecooperative sector as a way toboost the income of the farm-ers and fishers among others tohelp make them self-reliant, theModi Government has recent-ly set up a new Ministry calledthe Ministry of Cooperation.

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Union Minister of RoadTransport & Highways

Nitin Gadkari on Tuesday saidthat India will soon fully devel-op Lithiumion vehicles, whichwill bring down the cost ofElectric Vehicles and he con-firmed that he will be launch-ing India’s first electric tractornext month.

And while the new scrap-page policy will increase salesof new vehicles, he said, he hasrequested manufacturers togive 5% discount on new vehi-cle bought against scrappingthe old vehicle.

“Vehicles in Delhi/NCRwill be scrapped after 10 and 15years as per judgement of theNGT,” said Gadkari in thepresence of MoS Gen V KSingh.

He said he was glad toshare that India now manu-factures almost 90 percent ofworld leading car brands andvery soon the nation willbecome a major transportmanufacturing hub of world.

Gadkari said as conveyedby PM the scrappage initiativewill promote a circular econo-my and make the process ofeconomic development moresustainable and environment-friendly.

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The Election Commissionon Tuesday said the bypoll

to fill up a vacant seat in RajyaSabha from Tamil Nadu will beheld on September 13. TheRajya Sabha seat from TamilNadu fell vacant following thedeath of AIADMK member AMohammedjan (72) on March23 this year following a heartattack. He had earlier served asa minister in Tamil Nadu.

The bypoll will be held on

September 13, the poll panelsaid in a statement. Accordingto established practice, thecounting of votes will be heldan hour after the polling con-cludes at 4 pm on September13. The commission said allCovid-related protocols willbe followed during the poll.

Each individual will wear aface mask during every elec-tion-related activity. At theentry of hall or premises usedfor election purposes, thermalscanning of all people will be

carried out and sanitiser will bemade available at all locations,the commission said.

“The chief secretary, TamilNadu is being directed todepute a senior officer from thestate to ensure that the extantinstructions regarding COVID-19 containment measures arecomplied with while makingarrangements for conductingthe said by election,” the ECstatement said.Mohammedjan’s term was tootherwise end on July 24, 2025.

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Trinamool Congress leaderSushmita Dev has said that

being the Chief Ministerialface of her party in Assam wasnot the condition for her join-ing the party.

Dev a former Congresswomen's cell chief on Mondayleft her old party of 30 years tojoin the TMC after a briefmeeting with Trinamoolnational general secretaryAbhishek Banerjee.

On whether she was hope-ful of getting projected as hernew party's Chief Ministerialcandidate in Assam, Dev saidher joining the TMC was'unconditional'.

She said "my joining the AllIndia Trinamool Congress wasunconditional ... I willl followthe directions of my leader-ship," saying Mamata Banerjeewas the most able leader on

whom she had supreme faith."I have full confidence in

madam Mamata Banerjee ...She is the most able leader andAbhishek Banerjee is the mostable general," she said.

On whether she had lost

confidence I Rahul Gandhi, shesaid, "Rahulji too is a very ableleader and I have no questionson his leadership. I wish himsuccess in future."

On Sonia Gandhi she said,"whatever I had to say about

Madam Sonia ji I have alreadywritten in my letter written toher on 15 August... I had a 30-year association with theCongress... My father was aCongress leader... I am doingCongress politics since I was a

student."Earlier in a letter to

Congress president SoniaGandhi she wrote “I cherish mythree-decade-long associationwith the Indian NationalCongress. May I take thisopportunity to thank the party,all its leaders, members andworkers who have been mymemorable journey. Madam, Ithank you personally for yourguidance and the opportunitiesyou gave me. I value the enrich-ing experience.”

The daughter of SantoshMohan Dev the late UnionMinister Susmita has been apopular name in Assam’s BarakValley and is likely to be theface of her new party in theNorth-eastern State where theTMC has been trying to makea desperate attempt to set footin, in its bid to become anationally relevant politicalparty.

‘Kolkata: The Bengal BJP islikely to move the court to seekdisqualification of TrinamoolCongress MLA Mukul Roywho won the April-MayAssembly elections on BJPticket before moving across tothe TMC. Roy a former nation-al vice president of the BJPjoined the Trinamool Congresson June 11 and was promptlyappointed as its national vicepresident by Trinamool supre-mo Mamata Banerjee.

Subsequently besidesdemanding his disqualifica-tion from the House the BJPhas been protesting hisappointment as the chairmanof the Public AccountsCommittee.

“We have raised the issueformally with Speaker BimanBanerjee. The petition was tobe heard this week but it hasagain been postponed … nowI am movintg the CalcuttaHigh Court seeking Mr Roy’sdisqualification from theHouse … or for that matter wewill also appeal to the HighCourt to set a date for the com-pletion of the hearing by theSpeaker in this matter,” BengalOppostion Leader SuvenduAdhikari said.

Meanwhile, Roy is knownto written an application to theSpeaker seeking an extention ofthe date of hearing. “Mukul dahas asked for month’s time,” aTMC MLA said. PNS

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The startup zone started atChanpatia in West

Champaran district of Biharhas turned out a huge successstory for many who returnedback to the State after Covid-19 pandemic hit the country.

The move has not onlyhelped skilled labourers to setup their own brand with thehelp of district administration,but also created thousands ofdirect and indirect employmentin the home district. The suc-cess of the initiative can be eval-uated with the fact that a vari-ety of products manufacturedhere are being exported tointernational markets such asSpain, Nepal and Bangladesh.

Mrityunjay Sharma, ownerof a clothing brand called Lisso,returned to the state fromDelhi after he lost his job dueto the pandemic. He washelped by district administra-tion to avail 25 lakh underPrime Minister EmploymentGeneration Programme(PMEGP) loan to set up hisown brand. Now, within ashort span of time, he startedgetting orders in bulk andoverall transaction has reachedin Crores, a month.

The startups at this pro-duction hub are burdened withhuge orders coming from

across the country. With theproducts being available with-in the district at very low costcompared with that importedfrom Surat and other cities ofGujarat, many new shops alsocame into existence adding tothe economic activities of thesmall town.

Aamil Husain, 35, whoused to work in Dubai in a tex-tile company and returnedback after the first wave ofCovid-19. With the support ofdistrict administration, hestarted his own brand calledSufiya Textile and now hiscompany supplies orders inlocal markets as well as neigh-bouring states.

“I had no clue after return-ing back here. The situationstarted turning grimmer day byday and I lost all hopes to goback to work. During the skillmapping test started by localauthorities, I got an opportu-

nity to interact with top offi-cials who helped me a lot in set-ting up my company. The offi-cials kept in touch and pro-vided the platform needed todevelop the business initially.Now, we are getting hugeorders and working continu-ously to fulfill demand fromlocal markets, he said.

Similarly, Anand Kumar,an owner of Aarti Industries,deals in Utensils, closed his twofactories from Delhi and invest-ed at the startup zone atChanpatia. “Getting such anopportunity to work at home issomething I was looking foryears. I shifted all the machinesand inventory here from Delhiafter knowing about initiative.My products are being suppliedto various states in the countryand Nepal also, he said.

Talking to the pioneer,District Magistrate of WestChamparan Kundan said that

many of skilled and unskilledworkers returned back to thestate after Covid-19 createdhavoc in India earlier this year.“After skills mapping exercisesat quarantine centers, we foundthat some of them are highlytrained and skilled in the tex-tile, leather and woodcraft sec-tor. We started exploring waysto set up all these ventures here.

“We called a meeting ofpeople who left Bihar years agoand became well-versed inthese sectors. They providedinputs of the latest technology,machines, and raw materialsneeded for bulk production ofgoods. In order to speedyimplementation of the pro-ject, a single senior official(single window system) wasappointed for every enterprisethat yielded positive results,” hesaid.

“The district officials alsoprovided them all requisitesupport including buying ofraw materials, machinery andhelping them to sell their prod-ucts in national or internationalmarkets. The products manu-factured here are exported tointernational markets such asSpain, Nepal and Bangladesh aswell,” he said.

The initiative in WestChamparan was inauguratedby the Chief Minister NitishKumar in December last year.

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The Covid-19 fatalities andinfections appeared to be

relatively on the lower side forthe second consecutive day onTuesday, as the State logged 116deaths and 4,408 fresh cases.

A day after the Covid-19deaths dropped to 100 deathsand the infections went downto 4,145 in the State, there wasa marginal increase in thenumber of deaths and freshcases in the State.

With 116 fresh fatalitiesreported on Monday, the totalnumber of deaths in the Stateincreased from 1,35,139 to1,35,255, while the infections -- with 4,408 new cases – wentup from 63,96,805 to 64,01,213.

As 5,424 patients were dis-charged from the hospitalsacross the state after full recov-ery, the total number of peopledischarged from the hospitalssince the second week of Marchlast year increased from61,95,744 to 62,01,168. Therecovery rate in the state rosefrom 96.86 per cent to 96.87per cent.

The total “active cases” inthe state dropped from 62,452to 61,306. The fatality rate inthe state stood static at 2.11 percent.

Pune with 14,325 activecases emerged as the first in thestate in terms of maximumnumber of “active cases” in thestate, while Thane with 6985cases stood second in the state,followed by Satara (6797),Sangli (5,915), Ahmednagar(5747), Solapur (5,131),Kolhapur (3157) and Mumbai(3048).

Of the 5,12,91,383 samplessent to various laboratoriesacross the state so far, 64,01,213have tested positive (12.48 percent) for COVID-19 untilTuesday.

Currently, 3,53,807 peo-ple are in home quarantinewhile 2,233 people are in insti-tutional quarantine.

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Even as the LDFGovernment in Kerala is

going ahead with its one-yearlong grandiose ‘mega-cente-nary celebrations’ of theMappila Rebellion of August21, 1921 that saw the biggestethnic pogrom in Eranadu andValluvanadu regions (spreadacross Palakkad, Malappuramand Kozhikode districts)resulting in the massacre ofthousands of people, the fes-tivities had been dampened bydisclosures made by personswho mattered in modern India.

V P Menon, Secretary ofState, who was the Man Fridayto Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel, thecountry’s first home ministerand deputy prime minister, inhis interview to Harry Hodson(who was the ReformsCommissioner to India till1941 before Menon steppedinto his shoes) had made itclear that the Mappila

Rebellion was no way con-nected to the KhilafatMovement as made out by theCongress leaders of that time.

The recordings of Menon’sinterview have been preservedin the archives of the School ofOriental and African Studies,London, according to Left his-torian Narayani Basu whoauthored The UnsungArchitect of Modern India,the biography of Menon. Basuis the great granddaughter ofMenon.

“Khilafat leaders… werenot non-communal. They weremerely making use of Gandhijifor their own purpose,” Basuquotes Menon of tellingHodson who had called on theformer in his capacity as editorof The Sunday Times.

Menon hailed from theregion which saw the worstcommunal holocaust duringthe pogrom and had lost manyof his friends and relatives tothe knives of religious zealots.

“In later years , as theAdministrative ReformsCommissioner and Secretary ofState, he was privy to the intel-ligence despatches sent by theBritish Army to Delhi as wellas London,” said Prof P GHaridas, eminent historian ofKerala University.

Prof M G S Narayanan, for-mer chief of Indian Council ofHistorical Research and whowas a native of the regionblames the Communists fordistorting the MappilaRebellion and portraying it asa peasant upsurge.

“The Conmunists whowere always in the look out foropportunities to foment trou-ble, took advantage of thisHindu-Muslim divide afterindependence. Their ideo-logues like E M SNamboodirippadu character-ized the rebellion as a peasantrevolt. They rechristened theMappila Rebellion as MalabarRebellion and PeasantRebellion.

These labels are mislead-ing,” wrote Prof Narayanan inhis preface to “Gandhi andAnarchy”, authored by Sir CSankaran Nair, the only Keralitetill date to occupy the covetedposition of the president of theIndian National Congress.

Sir Nair was highly criticalof Mahatma Gandhi’s supportto the Khilafat Movement,which the Father of the Nationthought would help him con-nect with the Muslim commu-nity to strengthen India’s free-dom movement.

But his dreams were shat-tered and Gandhiji came downheavily on the leaders of theRebellion.

“I am aghast at the site ofour Muslim brethren mas-sacring their brothers and sis-ters. The information that allthese killings happened as partof their attempts to convert theHindus into Islam” writes theMahatma in Young India (22-9-21) of which he was the edi-tor.

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The EnforcementDirectorate (ED) on

Tuesday said it has attachedimmovable properties worth�234 crore of VivekanandShankar Patil, a four time MLAand former Chairman ofKarnala Nagari Sahakari BankLtd, in a bank fraud case.

The attached properties,inter-alia, include KarnalaSports Academy and manyland parcels.

ED initiated investigationon the basis of an FIR regis-tered by Economic OffenceWing (EOW) of MumbaiPolice in 2019.

“The fraud came to lightafter an audit was done at theinstance of Reserve Bank in

2019-20, when it was revealedthat Patil was siphoning offfunds from the bank through63 fictitious loan accounts tothe loan accounts of KarnalaCharitable Trust and KarnalaSports Academy, which werefounded and controlled byhim,” the agency said in astatement.

The “fraud” was going onsince 2008. It was found thatmanagement of the bank wasunder control of VivekanandPatil.

The agency had arrestedPatil on June 15 this year andfiled a prosecution complaint(chargesheet in police par-lance) on August 12.

Money laundering investi-gation under PMLA revealedthat the defrauded amount

was to the tune of approxi-mately �560 crore (includinginterest) in respect of 67 ficti-tious accounts, it said.

To hide the swindling, theavailable funds were routed tothese fictitious accounts andfrom these accounts to theseveral bank accounts of enti-ties founded/ controlled byPatil.

These funds were thenutilised by Karnala CharitableTrust and Karnala SportsAcademy for construction ofproperties such as sports com-plex, college and schools andfor other personal gains, there-by using the proceeds of crimeand projecting the same asuntainted in contravention ofoffence of money laundering,it added.

‘New Delhi: The CBI on Tuesday arrested Dibakar Das, ChiefManaging Director (CMD) of a private company Rubi StarMarketing Pvt. Ltd. in a chit fund scam. The CBI had registereda case on June 8, 2017 against the CMD of the company basedat North 24 Parganas (West Bengal) and others including twodirectors and branch manager.The case was among many such cases registered at the behestof the Supreme Court.

“It was alleged that the accused had entered into conspira-cy with an ulterior motive of siphoning off the illegally collect-ed money amounting to �38 crore from the investors under var-ious fraudulent schemes on assurance of paying high returns onsuch investments on maturity and later closed its operation andfled away by cheating the said investors for their due amount,and misappropriated the money invested with the accused com-pany,” the agency said in a statement.

It was further alleged that an amount of �5,65,18,924 wasalso diverted from the company's account to the bank accountof CMD, which was misappropriated by the accused.Thearrested accused was produced before the Court of ACJM,Barrackpore, North 24 Parganas, Kolkata and has been remand-ed to five days police custody. PNS

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After Allahabad was rechris-tened as Prayagraj and

Faizabad as Ayodhya, theprocess has been initiated torename Aligarh and Mainpuridistricts too.

A resolution to change thenames of these two districts hasbeen passed in the meetings ofthe Aligarh and Mainpuri dis-trict panchayats. The proposalto rename Mainpuri as MayanNagar and Aligarh as Harigarhwas tabled in the meeting of theDistrict Panchayat Board onMonday. The Houses passedthe motion by voice vote. Nowthe proposals will be sent to theGovernment level. After that,there is a provision to take fur-ther action from there itself.

Around a fortnight ago,the district panchayat hadpassed a resolution to renameFirozabad as Chandra Nagar.The meeting of the districtpanchayat in Mainpuri washeld under the chairmanship ofpresident Archana Bhadauria inthe Collectorate auditorium.Member Yogendra Pratapmoved a proposal to nameMainpuri as Mayan Nagar andit was accepted after a discus-sion, sources said.

In the first meeting of theDistrict Panchayat Board inAligarh, Bijauli block chiefUmesh Yadav and Atrauli blockchief Kehri Singh proposed thatearlier the name of the districtwas Harigarh. In such a situa-tion, a proposal to renameAligarh as Harigarh should bepassed by the House and sent tothe government.

District panchayat presi-dent Vijay Singh said that theAkhil Bharatiya KshatriyaMahasabha has also given amemorandum to renameAligarh as Harigarh.

Aligarh district panchayatpresident Vijay Singh said theproposal to rename Aligarh asHarigarh has been unanimous-ly accepted.

Lucknow: With 17 UP districts having zero active andfresh Covid-19 cases, 27 new cases were reported acrossthe state on Tuesday. The districts with zero active casesinclude Aligarh, Amethi, Badaun, Ballia, Bahraich,Chitrakoot, Deoria, Farrukhabad, Firozabad, Hardoi,Hathras, Kasganj, Kaushambi, Mahoba, Sant Kabir Nagar,Shamli and Shravasti. “What has come as a big relief asnone of the 75 districts in Uttar Pradesh have reportedfresh Covid cases in double digits lately,” Additional ChiefSecretary (Information) Navneet Sehgal said.

“It indicates that the dangerous virus is receding inthe state with as many as 54 districts reporting no Covidcase in the last 24 hours while over 21 districts report-ed new cases in single digits,” he added.

In another significant development, the active case-load in the most populous state, which was at a high of3,10,783 in April, has been reduced to 420 now, where-as states like Kerala and Maharashtra account for an activecaseload of 1,72,250 and 62,452, respectively.

Of the 1,83,270 samples tested in the last 24 hours,the reports of only 27 came out positive in the most pop-ulous state while 24 patients recovered from disease, tak-ing the total recovery figures to 16,85,785.

With proactive measures such as the aggressive T3(trace, test and treat) approach and prevention throughvaccination and partial corona curfews to eradicate thepandemic, the UP government has left no stoneunturned to minimise the devastating impact of coro-navirus, as a result of which the positivity rate hasslumped to 0.01 per cent, the lowest in the country, Sehgalpointed out. PNS

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After the terrorist threats inUttar Pradesh in the past,

along with the arrest of two ter-rorists of the Al-Qaeda backedorganisation in Lucknow, the UttarPradesh Government has decidedto expand the scope of Anti-Terrorists Squad (ATS).

The Government has madepreparations to open a new ATScommando centre in western UPat Deoband. The Government hasallotted 20,000 square metres ofland near Deoband in Saharanpurfor Uttar Pradesh ATS CommandoCentre.

Advisor to the CM, ShalabhMani Tripathi in a tweet onTuesday said ,"After the news ofbarbaric and return of Taliban inAfghanistan, Yogiji has decided toopen ATS Commando Centre inDeoband with immediate effect.Work on war footing has alsostarted. About one-and-a-halfdozen smart ATS officers selectedfrom across the State will be post-ed in the centre. Preparations areunderway to open ATS

Commando Training Centre inLucknow and Noida beforeDeoband too."

Saharanpur is only 30 km awayfrom Deoband. More than eightterrorists and ISI agents have beenarrested in Saharanpur recently.There are more than 300 madrasasin Deoband. Due to Darul Uloom,students from all over the countryand the world come to Deoband foreducation. Deoband, which iscalled the city of knowledge, is nowon the radar of the Governmentdue to terrorist activities. Becauseof this, the UP Government hasdecided to set up an ATS com-mando centre in Deoband. Selectedcommandos of Uttar PradeshPolice will be given training inDeoband. To do this work, aboutone-and-a-half dozen officers of thestate will also be posted there.

A confidential proposal wasinvited from the Saharanpur dis-trict administration on this. Thedistrict administration had sent aproposal to set up an ATS com-mando centre at the IndustryTraining Center in Deoband. TheGovernment has approved it.

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fication in 2002 had a somewhatChinese flavour in the form ofBeijing supporting Iran andIraq as a counterpoise toAmerican influence and anovert lifeline given to the NorthKoreans — yet, the imperativesof global ‘Evil’ then were notclearly Chinese. Two decadeslater, with the Middle Easternswathes retaken from ISIL (AlQaida diminished), Saddamgone and North Korea no longerthe face of “global terror”, theChinese imprint has conjoinedextremist pan-Islamism as thepet peeve of Washington DC. Inthis recalibrated melee of glob-al outlook, the proverbial “Axisof evil” has metastasised thetwin angularities of extremistreligiosity and the Dragon’s fin-gerprints; herein Pakistanemerges yet again as amongstthe foremost and most deserv-ing contender for joining the“Axis of evil” (especially after thevictorious march of its progen-itor, Taliban, into Kabul).

Washington DC must belicking its wounds after itsinglorious run fromAfghanistan and ponderingthe “what if ” question ofPakistan’s role and contributionto the situation that ultimatelybefell Afghanistan. Would theTaliban have survived the USonslaught for nearly 20 years ina landlocked country (withborder countries other thanPakistan inimical to Taliban,

like Uzbekistan, Tajikistan,China and Iran)? Wasn’t thePakistani ‘establishment’ invalu-able in supporting the Talibanto survive all these years? Isn’tit true that every US Militarycommander in-charge ofAfghanistan had repeatedlyblamed the Pakistanis of adangerous double game? If theanswer is “Yes” — then should-n’t Pakistan now with its proventrack record on terror and afurther status as an unabashedChinese minion, qualify as theleading candidate of the “Axisof evil”? The US is no longerobliged to swallow its pride anddignity in tolerating thePakistani deceit as the need forPakistani ‘hospitality’ in main-taining US assets inAfghanistan is now over.

Now even Afghanistancould emerge as a worthy can-didate of “Axis of evil” if theTaliban end up delivering ontheir bigoted promises.Additionally and tactically, theTaliban has seemingly madedeliberate overtures to theChinese as a possible source ofcommercial, diplomatic andstrategic cover, as is readilyoffered by the Chinese to anyinternational pariah State likePakistan, North Korea, Junta-led Myanmar and now, possi-bly, Taliban-led Afghanistan.Already in a telling augury oftimes, China has “welcomed”the Taliban and stated that

“China respects the right of theAfghan people to indepen-dently determine their owndestiny and is willing to contin-ue to develop…friendly andcooperative relations withAfghanistan” — rare warmth inwords that could even embar-rass a serial-fabulist like ImranKhan who played a pivotalrole in ensuring the Talibanphenomenon. If indeed, the‘Emirate of Islamic Afghanistan’does make a counter-intuitivealliance with Communist China(like the Beijing-Islamabad “all-weather friendship”), theTaliban-led Afghanistan couldemerge as a worthy contenderto the revised list of “Axis of evil”.

If only the US could getover its fixation over thewounded past of Iran-Iraq andacknowledge the nefarious roleof its own derelict ArabPrincelings (rememberKhashoggi?) — new realitiesought to force the lens on thenew geographical continuumof the ultra-expansionist China,ultra-extremist Afghanistanand the ultra-untrustworthyPakistan in a single-line arc toform the updated name, geog-raphy and face of ‘Evil’. Newtimes, new entrants to the infa-mous “Axis of evil”.

(The writer, a military veteran, is a former Lt Governorof Andaman & Nicobar Islandsand Puducherry. The viewsexpressed are personal.)

�� Sir — The Plastic Waste ManagementAmendment Rules, as notified recently bythe Centre, would contribute towardseliminating single-use plastic in our coun-try in a phased manner. Plastic articles ofeveryday use remain the main source ofpollution and a health hazard. The utilityof lightweight and inexpensive single-useplastics lasts only hours or at the most fordays. But they leave a legacy of immensedamage to the environment. The new rulesprohibit the manufacture, sale and use ofcertain plastic products from July 1 nextyear, among other things. Plastic pollutionis a global problem. The large-scale produc-tion and use of plastic products make it lookthat we indeed live in Plastic Age.

The discarded plastic bottles, bags, cups,plates, wrappers, buds and straws we seearound us, scattered or in heaps, remainnon-biodegradable for centuries on end.Only a small percentage of plastic waste getsrecycled and incinerated. The rest accumu-lates in landfills or in the natural environ-ment; much of the plastic waste eventual-ly reaches the oceans. So much plasticreaches the oceans that it is feared that by2050 there could be more plastic in theoceans than fish! The problem requiresurgent attention and action; we need toclean up the accumulated plastic waste andhalt further flow of plastic into oceans.

G David Milton | Kanyakumari

�� Sir — Children are at the heart of fearsaround the looming third wave of theCOVID-19 pandemic in India. There arepredictions that the third wave will hitIndia by the end of this month or in earlySeptember, and will significantly impactchildren below 18 years of age. But to datethere are very few vaccines that have beentested extensively on children. This hasonly added to the panic and paranoia.(‘Third Degree’, August 15).

Recently, the NCPCR urged theUnion Health Ministry to take cognisanceof the preparations to tackle the pandem-ic’s third wave. Also, as a precaution, thecountry’s leading vaccine manufacturer

Bharat Biotech has reportedly recruitedvolunteers for trials in the 12-18 years agegroup. But to quell any needless fears andput them in perspective, the IndianAcademy of Paediatrics (IAP) released adetailed statement in May this year,which states: “Children are as susceptibleas adults to develop COVID-19 infection,but not severely. It is highly unlikely thatthe third wave will predominantly orexclusively affect children.” However,given India’s woefully constricted medicalinfrastructure, and more so for children,it is prudent to prepare for the complica-tions that come with the pandemic.

Ranganathan Sivakumar | Chennai

�� Sir —On August 14, 2021, Prime MinisterNarendra Modi announced on twitter thathenceforth the date would be observed as“Partition Horrors Remembrance Day”. Thememories of Partition are painful. Millions

of people, who were all Indians untilPartition, lost their lives and were renderedhomeless on both sides of the divide.

The memory of this cataclysmictragedy should bring us home to the real-isation that hatred and violence can neverbe a solution to human differences andaspirations. Instead of perpetuating a feel-ing of otherness and enmity, theannouncement should result in fosteringa feeling of remorse over what transpiredduring Partition and promote harmony,understanding and peaceful coexistenceamong fellow human beings.

Those who were directly affected stillhave anger and a strong sense of loss. Theyneed our solidarity and a healing touchand not hollow words or actions that leavethem with festering wounds.

Zulfikhar Akram | Bengaluru

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Soon after 9/11, and aftersending troops toAfghanistan, US PresidentGeorge Bush had coined

“Axis of evil” to denote nationsknown to incubate terrorism. The9/11 attack had entailed 19 coreperpetrators, of whom 15 werefrom Saudi Arabia, two from theUnited Arab Emirates and oneeach from Lebanon and Egypt —the “mastermind” was also a Saudiie Osama bin Laden, who had beenactively supported by the Pakistaniestablishment and the Taliban.Yet, it was not the Arab Sheikdomsor even the perennially roguishPakistan that was slammed under“Axis of evil”; instead it was SaddamHussein’s Iraq, Iran’s favouritepunching bag, and the distantNorth Korea — none of whom hadany role in the subsequent ‘war onterror’. Pakistanis were given thelong rope as usual, and the Arabroyalty was spared the deservingrap for recklessly funding extrem-ism, globally.

Almost two decades later,more than 240,000 lives down andover $2 trillion burnt — the evict-ed Taliban insurgents have juststormed back, and Afghanistan isin the dark grip of the broodingTaliban like never before. In theseinterim two decades, the haplessIranians remained unfairly casti-gated as “the world’s number onesponsor of terrorism”, Saddamwas deposed without any proof ofthe weapons of mass destruction(WMDs), and North Korea’s KimJong Un and Donald Trumpapparently “fell in love”! The real‘nursery’ of State-sponsored glob-al terrorism, ie Pakistan remainedsubject to schizophrenic love-haterelationship, but was never reallyput into the “Axis of evil” owing theUS’s own compulsion of toleratingPakistani duplicitousness as theprice for accessing its landmasstowards securing its assets in land-locked Afghanistan. Ironically,none of the global terror attacks —from India, Sri Lanka andEuropean capitals to African heart-lands — had anything to do withIran or North Korea, as terror fin-gerprints invariably pointed tothe protected tracts of Af-Pakregion, accommodativelyuntouched, undisturbed and flour-ishing under the protectorate of thePakistani establishment.

While the “Axis of evil” classi-

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In the first part, published on 31st July2021, I talked of the optimism aboutthe new minister for Indian Railways(IR), a professional with a repertoire

of experiences, having been catapulted tothat berth. To be firmly back on rails, IRneeds some firm actions and consummatereforms to emerge from the smoke screenof hype, optics and financial jugglery. Theminister has less than three years for thisso I list some ‘to dos’ for him in short andmedium terms.

Begin with operating performance:Some apologists maintain now that IR ispart of the central government budget,IR should not be very worried about ris-ing pension costs. There is, however asimple principle: earn significantly morethan you spend. On this front IR has slidfrom a spend-to-earn ratio of 65 to 80 tomore than 90 now. Leaving aside suchissues as wrongly projected OperatingRatio and the promised AccrualAccounting, the primary concern shouldbe to enhance its earnings.

IR’s earnings would be a function ofcost and time of delivery. Traditionalcommodities like coal, cement, food-grains, POL, iron ore, fertilizers, etc., willnot see any significant increments. Theleads for coal have reduced over the yearsas the feeds to powerhouses have changed,renewables are replacing coal, and earningshave actually gone down. Similarly,pipelines are increasingly the preferredmode for POL. There is need and scope toattract new traffic in multi-modal logisticslike ‘Roll on-Roll off” (Ro-Ro) of trucks,automobiles, containers for white andExim goods, etc. Since the fixed costs of IRare high, it must earn more by reclassify-ing the tariffs downwards while increasingthe volume carried per wagon. The fixedinfrastructure on crucial routes, therefore,has to be modified on war footing to be ableto carry dwarf double-stack containers, alltypes of trucks in Ro-Ro mode and SUVsin two-tier. This improvement in SOD(Schedule of Dimensions) is not as daunt-ing as it appears; it only needs a short-termplan to undertake an upgrade. MoreMulti-modal hubs would be needed,preferably through PPP. Tariff structurewould also need a relook to do away withextra charges for Over DimensionalConsignments but the likely benefits evenin short term can be high.

IR had to upgrade 5000 route km offeeder routes of the Dedicated FreightCorridors(DFC) such that they would com-plement the DFC on which bigger andheavier wagons would run. This wouldenable operating of high-capacity rakes of25t and 22.9t axle-load wagons seamless-ly from end to end. DFC will have both ori-gin and destination of traffic on DFC itselfonly to the extent of around 25 per cent.There is lack of clarity about the compat-ibility of these upgraded routes in spite ofmassive expenditure. Those feeder routeswhich are commensurate with DFC oper-ation should be clearly identified and noti-

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On the evening of August14, 1947, the thenViceroy, Lord

Mountbatten, and his wifeEdwina settled down to watcha Bob Hope movie, “MyFavourite Brunette.” A fewyards away, in the Central Hallof Parliament, Pandit JawaharlalNehru rose to make his famous“Tryst with destiny” speechannouncing India’sIndependence. He declared, “Atthe stroke of the midnighthour, when the world sleeps,India will be awake to life andfreedom." Thus, on August 15,two independent nation-states,Hindu-majority India andMuslim-majority Pakistan,were born. It is befitting to lookback at and look forward towhen India turns 75.

It has been a long andbumpy journey. The freedom

fighters recognized that withthe hard-won independencecame tremendous challengesand responsibilities. India had30 crore people in 1947 whichhas grown to 1.35 billion inthese 75 years.

The primary challenge in1947 was to remain united, sov-ereign, democratic, and free,harmonious, and diverse.Partition left behind a mess.However, disproving manyprophets of doom predictingIndia's Balkanisation, the coun-try has moved forward in manyareas. There were tall leaderslike Mahatma Gandhi, Nehru,and Sardar Patel who laid thefoundation for building thecountry. Indeed, it is the storyof success, yet a story of unful-filled potential.

In the initial stages, thechallenges were too many.

From politics to social life,Indians have witnessed signif-icant changes in their lives.India faced challenges fromneighbouring countries, mili-tants, separatists, Naxals,regionalism, and IndiraGandhi's famous 'foreign hand'which she met boldly.

The country has takenmany steps in other areas likeinformation technology, phar-maceuticals, and space andnuclear fields. However, sever-al rural areas are yet to get basic

facilities like water and electric-ity. The second challenge wasto establish democracy. Exceptfor a brief period duringEmergency, democracy sur-vived in a country that wasbogged down with illiteracy,massive poverty, and other ills.There were challenges in edu-cation, health, and other sec-tors, and they still remain as therecent pandemic proved theinadequacy.

Sixteen times power wastransferred without any hitchin the past 75 years. Evenauthoritarian rulers chose totake the democratic route.Moreover, most political par-ties had been given a chance torule the country as a single-party majority or coalition.This was possible because ofthe democratic principle thecountry embraced. Today India

can boast of being the largestdemocracy in the world.

But some other elements ofdemocracy have also suffered.The values of the freedomstruggle based on whichIndependence was achieved in1947 are under threat.Communalism and divisivetendencies are spreading. Thereis a growing influence ofmoney power and musclepower in politics. Institutionshave become weaker. Politicalparties resort to the crudest,violent and polarising tech-niques to mobilize voters intheir quest for power. There isa need for a political consen-sus to restore those lost values.

India is a young countrywith a productive population.There is an aspiring, emergingmiddle class. They should begiven the right direction. There

is a need for population regu-lation, but it has to be volun-tary and not forced as had hap-pened during Emergency.

On the economic side, thecountry has made phenomenalprogress in 75 years. The year1991, when the countryembraced liberalization, is alandmark. Our internet pene-tration is the second largestafter China. We have a revolu-tion of start-ups in terms of lat-est technology. India has hitnew heights in physics, maths,chemistry, literature, music,film, sports, or space. FourIndians have won the NobelPrize. But simultaneously, thereis also a broader disparity inskills development.

In foreign policy, Indiahas become the leader of thesubcontinent. However, shehas lost her premier position as

the champion of the non-aligned world. She has comecloser to the United States in aunipolar world. It is also anuclear country, a member ofG 20 and other world fora.

Now that India is movingtowards its ambition to becom-ing a global power, it needs aroadmap for the future.Looking forward, PrimeMinister Narendra Modi hasidentified five agendas for thefuture. “Freedom Struggle,Ideas at 75, Achievements at 75,Actions at 75 and Resolve at 75— we have to move forwardwith these five aspects.”

Every Indian has a role andshould feel proud of being anIndian and take a vow to sharein building ‘New India.” Thiswould take the country to newheights and be a befitting trib-ute to India's 75th birthday.

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(The writer is retiredGeneral Manager, Indian

Railways. The viewsexpressed are personal.)

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fied to help the customers plan theirtraffic of not only heavier but tallerwagons like those for regular dou-ble stack containers.

Increasing the average speed ofwagons would not only boost traf-fic but also reduce the requirementof wagons, saving precious Capex.WhenLalu Yadav as minister gotheavier wagons permitted, the per-missible speed was 75 km/h, laterdowngraded to 60 km/h, with theprovision that it would be upgrad-ed based on the experience. Sincethen, huge expenditure has alsobeen made on replacement of trackto higher level of 60-Kg90-UTS typebut neither a thorough review hasbeen done nor the speed of opera-tion increased beyond the dismal 60km/h, although all the wagons inoperation are cleared for this speed.Surprisingly, even on DFC, all thewagons certified fit for 100 km/hhave been cleared for operation atspeeds much below 100 km/h. Thisdefeats the very purpose of the cor-ridor. There is a departmental war-fare going on and it needs to beaddressed.

If it has to attract customers, IRshould also enter parcel traffic in abig way but with time-tabled trains.Many express trains on the goldenquadrilateral and diagonals runwith much less than 24 coaches. Theavailable vacancy should be used forParcel Vans for perishable andwhite goods traffic.

IR should design and operatecommodity-specific wagons forDFC and its upgraded routes andoperate them as ‘proof of concept’to attract private transporters to

pitch in after witnessing the advan-tages. At present IR expects them tochip in with long-term investmentsin wagons, in spite of attendant risks,not a very smart way to attract traf-fic.

Believing that invest-mentswould drive growth, IR hasincreased its Capex three-fold.Investments have impacts on work-ing expenses too in terms interest.Has IR evaluated whether theinvestments werejudicious?Infrastructural upgrades like dou-bling/quadrupling have long-termsbenefits but the absence of honestpre/post evaluation of Capex is adamaging legacy. For example, dou-bling of Rewari-Ahmedabad routewhich, with DFC opening up short-ly, may not bring any additional rev-enue? Some test cases of majorinvestments should be identified foran analysis to see if the returns areanywhere near what was projected?

The passenger segment is a los-ing proposition as IR cannot chargefares realistically due to itssocialobligation. But within the con-straints, there are ways to improveearnings. One is to exploit the avail-able margin for increased fares of air-conditioned inter-city trains, say, 10to 35 per cent higher than at present,with Train 18 like trains, whichwould cut down travel time with bet-ter travel experience. The ministerhas, reportedly, already acted in thisdirection. But the initiative of oper-ation of private trains has come acropper due to cussed bureaucracy.This project needs to be revived inthe earnest. The minister shouldfacilitate a move towards

Aluminium-bodied energy-efficienttrain sets. Ham-handed efforttowards this, like the one by ModernCoach Factory, would not work. Theproject should be assigned to IntegralCoach Factory (ICF), the fountain-head of coaching designs.A blueprint for this, titled Train 20, is readywith them. It was stalled in 2018 dueto certain vested interests but it canbe revived. If IR acts swiftly,a cou-ple of truly world-class trains can bein operation by early 2024. Let us callthem Train 24.

There are tourist attractionslike Kalka-Simla and DHR sectionswhich have a huge potential to earnmore, provided they are run profes-sionally by a competent entity fromthe hospitality sector. Why not runit in PPP mode with a share of rev-enue and let all the expenditure beborne by this partner? Or unremu-nerative branch lines, which are adrain, may be hived off to a privateparty which can run trains, withfares as on IR, with but its own skele-tal staff operating DEMU/Rail Bustype services.

One way to make precious rev-enue for IR is to get the MoUD doaway with the barriers in their biddocuments which favour multi-nationals and deprive IR's factoriesto manufacture Metro coaches. IR,particularly ICF, can supply equiv-alent coaches at 60 to 70 per centof the price and this can be a win-win for Metros and IR. After all,ICF manufactures trains forKolkata Metro and Suburbantrains, with the latter subjected toharsher conditions as compared toMetro trains.

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Peshawar: The bannedPakistani Taliban or theTehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan(TTP) terror group has con-gratulated the Afghan Taliban

on taking control ofAfghanistan, describing it as a“victory for the whole Islamicworld”, according to a mediareport on Tuesday.

In the statement, TTPspokesperson MohammadKhorasani reiterated the group’s“allegiance to the AfghanTaliban leadership,” andpledged to “support andstrengthen the Islamic Emiratesof Afghanistan.”

“It is a victory for thewhole Islamic world,” accord-ing to an official statement

issued by the TTP and releasedto CNN.

Taliban insurgents cap-tured Kabul on Sunday afterthe US-backed Afghan gov-ernment collapsed andPresident Ashraf Ghani fled thecountry, bringing an abruptend to a two-decade campaignin which America and its allieshad tried to transform the

war-ravaged nation.The Pakistani Taliban’s

main leadership has long oper-ated out of Afghanistan and hasbeen behind some of the worstterrorist attacks in Pakistan.

In a statement released byPakistan’s national securitycommittee on Monday, arequest was made that “Afghansoil is not used by any terror-

ist organisation/group againstany country.”

A separate report also saidthat two border crossingsbetween Afghanistan andPakistan have been reopened,including a major transit pointat Chaman.

A senior official, whospoke to CNN on the conditionof anonymity as they are not

authorised to speak for the gov-ernment, said Pakistan andthe Afghan Taliban agreed tokeep the Chaman border openbetween 8 a.m. and 4 p.m. daily.

The southern crossinglocated alongside the Afghantown of Spin Boldak was alsoreopened, but only those hold-ing Pakistan or Afghanistannational identity cards were

allowed to pass. It was previ-ously closed for two weeks.

The official, who waspart of the team that spoke tothe Taliban, said the militantgroup has asked that Afghansbe allowed visa-free entry intoPakistan on humanitariangrounds. PTI

Islamabad: Interior MinisterSheikh Rasheed Ahmad onTuesday said Pakistan hastaken the Afghan Taliban onboard over the issue of thebanned Tehreek-e-TalibanPakistan (TTP) terror group,hoping that Afghanistan’s soilwould not be used against it.

Ahmad’’s comments comeas reports said key TTP com-manders were released fromjails in Afghanistan as theTaliban took over the country.Militants from the TTP orPakistani Taliban have carriedout major terror attacks acrossPakistan in recent years.

Taliban insurgents swept

Kabul on Sunday after the US-backed Afghan governmentcollapsed and President AshrafGhani fled the country, bring-ing an abrupt end to a two-decade campaign in whichAmerica and its allies had triedto transform the war-ravagednation.

Speaking to Geo News,Ahmad said: “We have takenthe Taliban on-board over theTTP issue and told them thatPakistan will not allow its soilto be used against Afghanistanand it hopes Afghanistan won’’tallow its soil to be used againstPakistan.”

PTI

Moscow: Russia’s top diplomaton Tuesday said that Moscowwas “in no rush” to recognisethe new Taliban government inAfghanistan and called for aninclusive dialogue of all polit-ical forces in the country.

Foreign Minister SergeyLavrov said Russia was “justlike all other countries” and “inno rush to recognise” theTaliban government. At thesame time, Lavrov noted“encouraging signals from theTaliban, who are declaringtheir desire to have a govern-ment with the participation ofother political forces”.

His remarks came as theTaliban in Kabul declared an“amnesty” across Afghan and

urged women to join theirGovernment. Lavrov saidMoscow supports “the begin-ning of an inclusive nationaldialogue with the involvementof all political and confession-al forces in Af ”.

Russia designated theTaliban a terrorist organisationin 2003, but has since hostedseveral rounds of talks, mostrecently in March.

Moscow, which fought a10-year war in Afghan thatended with the Soviet troops’’withdrawal in 1989, has madea diplomatic comeback as amediator, reaching out to feud-ing Afghan factions as it hasjockeyed with the US for influ-ence in the country. AP

London: India as a key partnerof the UK in the region andchair of the United NationsSanctions Committee will havea very important role to play indealing with the unfolding cri-sis in Afghanistan with thetakeover of the Taliban, the UKgovernment said on Tuesday.

Foreign Secretary DominicRaab said the way forwardwould involve the creation ofsome form of international“contact group” to ensureAfghancan never be used tolaunch terrorist attacks.

“I think it’s incrediblyimportant in all of this to beworking with a wider group ofnot just like-minded countriesbut partners that can exercisemaximum influence. And thatwill mean, difficult as it is, toengage with China and Russiaas well as our closer partnerslike India,” Raab told the BBC.

The Minister, who facedsome criticism for going aheadwith his summer vacation plansas the Afghan capital of Kabulfell over the weekend, returnedto London on Monday ahead ofan emergency Parliament ses-sion on Wednesday. PTI

Kathmandu: Nine Indiannationals and 118 Nepalesepeople, all working in the USembassy in Kabul, arrived hereon Tuesday from Afghanistanon a chartered flight after theTaliban seized control of thestrife-torn country. All 127people arrived from Kabul viaQatar Air’’s flight. They land-ed at the TribhuvanInternational Airport (TIA),Foreign Ministry sources said.

According to Sewa Lamsal,spokesperson at the Ministry ofForeign Affairs, all the peoplewere brought to the countrywith the coordination of the USAir Force from Kabul. PTI

Brussels: NATO Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg on Tuesdayblamed a failure of Afghan leadership for the swift collapse ofthe country’s Western-backed armed forces, but he conceded thatthe alliance must also address flaws in its military training pro-gram. NATO has been leading international security efforts inAfghanistan since 2003 but wound up combat operations in 2014to focus on training Afghanistan’s national security forces. NATOhelped build up an army some 300,000 troops, but that force with-ered in the face of the Taliban offensive in just days.

“What we have seen in the last few weeks was a military andpolitical collapse at a speed which had not been anticipated,”Stoltenberg told reporters after chairing a meeting of NATOambassadors. AP

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Kabul: The Taliban have seizedpower in Afghanistan twoweeks before the US was set tocomplete its troop withdrawalafter a costly two-decade war.The insurgents stormed acrossthe country, capturing all majorcities in a matter of days, asAfghan security forces trainedand equipped by the U.S. Andits allies melted away. Here’s alook at what happened andwhat comes next:

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The Taliban, a militantgroup that ran the country inthe late 1990s, have again takencontrol. The U.S.-led invasionof Afghanistan in 2001 oustedthe insurgents from power, butthey never left. After theyblitzed across the country inrecent days, the Western-backed government that hasrun the country for 20 yearscollapsed. Afghans, fearing forthe future, are racing to the air-port, one of the last routes outof the country.

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They’re worried that thecountry could descend intochaos or the Taliban couldcarry out revenge attacksagainst those who worked withthe Americans or the govern-ment. Many also fear theTaliban will reimpose the harshinterpretation of Islamic lawthat they relied on when they

ran Afghanistan from 1996 to2001. Back then, women werebarred from attending schoolor working outside the home.They had to wear the all-encompassing burqa and beaccompanied by a male relativewhenever they went outside.The Taliban banned music,cut off the hands of thieves andstoned adulterers. The Talibanhave sought to present them-selves as a more moderateforce in recent years and saythey won’t exact revenge, butmany Afghans are skeptical ofthose promises.

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Thousands of Afghansrushed there, hoping to escapethe country because they fearwhat the Taliban’s rule willbring. Some were so desperate,they clung to the side of a mil-itary jet as it took off and thenplunged to their deaths. U.S.troops used helicopters to tryto disperse the crowds and firedwarning shots in the air. At leastseven people died in the chaos,U.S. officials said.

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Probably because U.S.troops are set to withdraw bythe end of the month.

The U.S. has been trying toget out of Afghanistan, itslongest war, for several yearsnow. American troops oustedthe Taliban in a matter of

months when they invaded toroot out al-Qaida, whichorchestrated the 9/11 attackswhile being harbored by theTaliban. But it proved more dif-ficult to hold territory andrebuild a nation battered byrepeated wars.

As the U.S. focus shifted toIraq, the Taliban began toregroup and in recent yearstook over much of the Afghancountryside.

Last year, then-PresidentDonald Trump announced aplan to pull out and signed adeal with the Taliban that lim-ited U.S. military action againstthem. President Joe Biden thenannounced that the last troopswould leave by the end ofAugust.

As the final deadline drewclose, the Taliban began a light-ning offensive, overrunningcity after city.

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The short answer?Corruption.

The U.S. and its NATOallies spent billions of dollarsover two decades to train andequip Afghan security forces.But the Western-backed gov-ernment was rife with corrup-tion. Commanders exaggerat-ed the number of soldiers tosiphon off resources, andtroops in the field often lackedammunition, supplies or evenfood. AP

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Lahore: A nine-feet tall coldbronze statue of the first Sikhruler Maharaja Ranjit Singhwas on Tuesday vandalised byan activist of the bannedTehreek-e-Labbaik Pakistan(TLP) at the Lahore Fort inPakistan’s Punjab province,according to media reports.

As per the video that hasgone viral, the accused could beseen chanting slogans, breakingthe arm of the statue and dis-mantling Singh’’s bust fromthe horse and throwing it onground before being pulled byanother man.

The TLP activist has beenarrested by the Punjab police,the Express Tribune newspaper

reported.The Lahore Fort’s admin-

istration said that strict actionwould be taken against theaccused. Reacting to the inci-dent, Information MinisterFawad Chaudhary in a tweetsaid that such “illiterates arereally dangerous” for Pakistan’’simage internationally.

Special Assistant to thePrime Minister Imran Khan onPolitical Communication DrShahbaz Gill said that imme-diate action will be takenagainst the accused.

“These are symptoms of asick mindset. This is an attemptto undermine Pakistan’’s assess-ment,” he was quoted as saying

in the report.The nine-feet tall statue,

made of cold bronze, shows theSikh emperor sitting on a horsewith a sword in hand in com-plete Sikh attire.

The statue was unveiled inJune 2019. This is not the firsttime that the statue has beentargeted. The arm of the stat-ue was broken in Lahore lastyear. It was also damaged inAugust 2019 by two youngmen, according to Geo News.

Maharaja Ranjit Singh wasthe founder of the Sikh Empire,which ruled the northwestIndian subcontinent in theearly half of the 19th century.

PTI

Brussel: European Union for-eign ministers are holdingemergency talks on Tuesday toweigh the security implica-tions of the Taliban takeover ofAfghanistan amid concern thatwidespread fear of hardlineIslamist rule will provoke anexodus of people from theconflict-ravaged country.Afghans are among the biggestgroup of nationalities seekingsanctuary in Europe, afterSyrians. According to someEU estimates, around 570,000Afghans have applied for asy-lum in Europe since 2015. AP

Paris: France has evacuated several dozenpeople from Kabul in a military planeafter the Taliban took power inAfghanistan. The flight on early Tuesdaybrought the evacuees to a military air basein Abu Dhabi, and several of the passen-gers were then sent back to France. TheFrench military did not say whether therewere Afghan or other citizens among theseveral dozen people brought on theovernight flight. France withdrew its lasttroops from Afghanistan in 2014 and hasalready evacuated more than 1,000Afghans who supported French forces.

AP

Washington: A top USdefence official says plans arebeing made to temporarilyhouse thousands of Afghansat three US military instal-lations. Pentagon spokesmanJohn Kirby said Tuesday thatup to 22,000 Afghans andtheir families could behoused at the installations.Kirby did not identify morespecific locations.

AP

New York: The Committee toProtect Journalists (CPJ) hassaid the US has a specialresponsibility to do more toensure the safety of vulnerableAfghan journalists, includingproviding emergency visas,emphasising that to under-stand what is happening inAfghanwill depend on the sur-vival of what was once a thriv-ing independent press. AP

Dubai: A top Talibanofficial has met with aQatari official beforereportedly leaving thecountry forAfghanistan. MullahAbdul Ghani Baradarmet with Qatar’sForeign MinisterSheikh Mohammedbin Abdulrahman AlThani on Tuesday.

AP

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Kuala Lumpur: Malaysia’s kingcalled for an end to politicalbickering at a meeting Tuesdaywith party leaders as he beganthe process of selecting a newprime minister amid a wors-ening coronavirus outbreak.The resignation of PrimeMinister Muhyiddin Yassin onMonday after less than 18months in office followedmounting public anger overwhat was widely perceived ashis government’s poor handlingof the pandemic. AP

London: Patients with longCOVID syndrome continue tohave higher measures of bloodclotting, which may explaintheir persistent symptoms suchas reduced physical fitness andfatigue, according to a study.The symptoms of long COVIDsyndrome, including breath-lessness, fatigue and decreasedexercise tolerance, can lastweeks to months after the ini-tial infection has resolved, andis estimated to affect millionsof people worldwide.

PTI

Moscow: A prototype militarytransport plane crashed whileperforming a test flight outsideMoscow on Tuesday, Russia’s United AircraftCorporation said.

The new light militarytransport plane, Il-112V,crashed in a forested area as itwas coming in for a landing atthe Kubinka airfield about 45kilometers (28 miles) west ofMoscow, spokespeople of thecorporation told the Tass newsagency.

AP

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Beijing: China on Tuesdayasked the US to tone downfrictions, re-impose the banon Xinjiang’s Uygur militantgroup — the East TurkistanIslamic Movement (ETIM)—for cooperation to stabiliseAfghanistan after the Talibanseized power in Kabul.Taliban insurgents sweptKabul on Sunday after the US-backed Afghan governmentcollapsed and PresidentAshraf Ghani fled the coun-try, bringing an abrupt end toa two-decade campaign inwhich America and its allieshad tried to transform thewar-ravaged nation. AFP

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The Government will comeout with a solution on

pending dues of exportersunder the two incentiveschemes, MEIS and SEIS, bythe first week of September, atop official said on Tuesday.

Exporters of goods andservices used to avail benefitsunder the Merchandise Exportfrom India Scheme (MEIS),and the Services Export fromIndia Scheme (SEIS). TheMEIS ended last year.

Commerce Secretary B VR Subrahmanyam said thatthe arrears are there for MEIS(two years), SEIS (one year)and target plus scheme.

“It is a pretty largeamount...We are working veryclosely with Finance (min-

istry). Give us 15 days. By first

week of September, we willcome out with a solution toboth the arrears of MEIS andSEIS,” he told reporters.

He said that pending pay-ments would probably be stag-gered,”but (we will) stagger it inaway that people (exporters)can encash it early”.

Exporters have time andagain demanded for earlyrelease of the pending duesunder these schemes.

The secretary also saidthat Remission of Duties andTaxes on Exported Products(RoDTEP) is going to be a flag-ship scheme for the ministryfor promoting exports.

“There will be one or twoother schemes which are in thepipeline which will be sup-

porting exports. In the comingfew weeks, we will be announc-ing them,” he said.

Elaborating about the ben-efits under RoDTEP, he saidthat the MEIS at its peak wascovering 7,900 products, butthe RoDTEP is covering 8,555lines plus three chapters underthe RoSCTL of textiles.

He added that the gov-ernment is working to resolveall issues of exporters includingrelated to logistics and others.“Systematically, the govern-ment is approaching to all theproblems,” he said.

When asked whether, thirdparty opinion has been takenon the RoDTEP, DirectorGeneral of Foreign Trade(DGFT) Amit Yadav said, “Wehave taken a legal opinion onthis”.

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The Indian economy facestwin challenges of fulfilling

its commitments for decar-bonising the energy sector aswell as meeting the country’srising power demand, whichwould primarily be reliant oncoal due to its affordability andindigenous availability, the coalministry said on Tuesday.

India’s coal sector has toplay a crucial role in the fore-seeable future in fulfilling thecountry’s energy demand formeeting various developmen-tal needs, and at the sametime, be responsible towardsenvironment and society, theministry said in a statement.

Against this backdrop,India’s coal sector has been tak-ing several innovative initia-tives to promote sustainablemining.

One of the key initiativeshas been ‘Go Greening’ drive inand around mining areas,thereby not only amelioratingthe local ecosystem but alsocreating additional carbon sinkto mitigate the causes of climatechange.

Further, coal companiesare also aiming to achieve car-bon neutrality through variousenvironment-friendly mea-sures, such as extensive plan-tation and adoption of cleancoal technologies.

During this year, coal andlignite PSUs of the coal min-istry have set an ambitioustarget under the ‘Go Greening’drive to cover 2,385 hectares ofarea under bio-reclamationand plantation. The ‘GoGreening’ drive is to be pro-vided the right impetusthrough the launch of the‘Vriksharopan Abhiyan 2021’on August 19 by Coal andMines Minister Pralhad Joshi.

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To boost exports, the gov-ernment on Tuesday

announced rates of tax refundsunder the export promotionscheme RoDTEP for 8,555products, such as marinegoods, yarn, dairy items.

The Government has setaside �12,454 crore for refundsunder the Remission of Dutiesand Taxes on ExportedProducts (RoDTEP) schemefor the current fiscal, a top offi-cial said.

Under the RoDTEP, var-ious central and state duties,taxes, and levies imposed oninput products, among others,would be refunded toexporters.

Commerce Secretary B V

R Subrahmanyam said that �19,400 crore would be availablefor 2021-22 for both theRoDTEP and the Rebate ofState and Central Taxes andLevies (RoSCTL). The RoSCTLscheme was announced forthe export of garments andapparels.

For the RoDTEP scheme,the amount is �12,454 croreand the remaining �6,946 crorefor RoSCTL.

As the RoDTEP schemecame into effect from January1 this year, additional funds willbe provided at pro-rata basis forthe period January to March.

“Today we have notifiedthe rates. RoDTEP is going tobe a long-lasting scheme and itis going to be a flagship schemeof the commerce ministry. It is

also compliant to the WorldTrade Organisation,” the sec-retary told reporters here.

He added that both theschemes together would cover95 per cent of the tariff lines or

goods and exports.However three sectors of

steel, chemicals and pharma-ceuticals would not get the ben-efit of RoDTEP as they have“done well without” incentives.

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Union Minister for FoodProcessing Industries

Pashupati Kumar Paras onTuesday said that efforts are onfor early completion of 19mega food parks in the coun-try, which are under variousstages of implementation.Efforts are also on to boostvalue addition in 22 perishablesidentified by the ministry tosupplement the income offarmers as part of theOperation Greens Scheme, hesaid in a statement after meet-ing with officials. The Minister,who plans to visit Bihar onAugust 20, said will conduct anon-the-spot assessment of amega food park at Mansi inKhagaria district of Bihar,which is 70 per cent com-plete.He will also meet Bihar’sIndustry Minister ShahnawazHussain to assess the progressof the mega food park atMotipur block of Muzaffarpurdistrict, approved by the Centrein April this year.

Mumbai:Equity gauges Sensexand Nifty continued theirrecord-setting spree for afourth session in a row onTuesday as participants glossedover weak global cues to buyshares in defensive sectors likeIT, FMCG and pharma.

After scaling a fresh life-time high of 55,854.88 duringthe day, the 30-share BSESensex settled 209.69 points or0.38 per cent higher at55,792.27 – a new closingrecord.The broader NSE Niftyadvanced 51.55 points or 0.31per cent to a new closing highof 16,614.60. Intra-day, ittouched new all-time peak of16,628.55. In the Sensex pack,Tech Mahindra was the topgainer, rising over 3 per cent,followed by TCS, Nestle India,Infosys and HUL.

On the other hand,

IndusInd Bank, NTPC, BhartiAirtel, L&T and M&M wereamong the laggards. Of theSensex constituents, 18 sharesended in the green and 12 inthe red.Sectorally, BSE IT, teck,healthcare, FMCG, consumerdurables and power indicesrose up to 2.33 per cent, whilemetal, telecom, basic materialsand realty indices fell up to 2.63per cent.Broader midcap andsmallcap indices advanced upto 0.71 per cent.”Domesticindices swung between gainsand losses in a volatile sessionamidst weakened global mar-kets. Due to concerns over therising global infection rate andtighter government regulationsfor the Chinese internet sector,global markets continued to faninvestor worries,” Vinod Nair,Head of Research at GeojitFinancial Services, said. PTI

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The rupee on Tuesdaydeclined by 11 paise to

close at 74.35 against the UScurrency due to a strongerdollar in the overseas markets.

At the interbank foreignexchange market, the domesticcurrency opened flat at 74.23against the American curren-cy but later slipped to close at74.35.

“Rupee opened on a flatnote but fell in the latter half ofthe session following weaknessin domestic equities. Broaderstrength in the dollar against itsmajor crosses also weighed onthe currency,” said GaurangSomaiyaa, Forex & BullionAnalyst, Motilal OswalFinancial Services.

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The Delhi High Court Tuesday said itwill implement the single-judge order

restraining Future Retail Ltd (FRL) fromgoing ahead with the �24,713 crore dealwith Reliance Retail to sell its business,which was objected to by US-based e-com-merce giant Amazon, in case no stay isobtained from the Supreme Court within

four weeks.Justice Suresh Kumar Kait, hearing

Amazon’s plea for enforcement of theaward by Singapore’s Emergency Arbitrator(EA) restraining FRL from going aheadwith the deal, said that in the absence ofany stay from the apex court, he has nooption but to enforce the order passed byJustice JR Midha on March 18.

“Either get a stay within 2-3 weeks on

March 18 order or comply with the order.This court has no third option,” the judgesaid.

Listing the matter for further hearingon September 17, the court said: “I makeit clear that if before the next date of hear-ing the respondents fail to get any stayorder, this court shall proceed with thematter for implementation of the orderdated 18.03.2021.”

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India has got a composite‘Financial Inclusion Index’

(FI- Index) to capture theextent of financial inclusionacross the country.

Accordingly, the ReserveBank of India has constructeda composite FI-Index whichwas announced in the‘Statement on Developmentaland Regulatory Policies’ in thefirst ‘Bi-monthly MonetaryPolicy Statement’ for FY22.

On Tuesday, RBI said theFI-Index has been constructedwithout any ‘base year’ and assuch it reflects cumulativeefforts of all stakeholders overthe years towards financialinclusion.

“The annual FI-Index forthe period ending March 2021is 53.9 as against 43.4 for theperiod ending March 2017,”RBI said in a statement.

“The FI-Index will be pub-lished annually in July everyyear.” As per the statement, theindex has been conceptualisedas a comprehensive indexincorporating details of bank-ing, investments, insurance,postal as well as the pensionsector in consultation withGovernment and respectivesectoral regulators.

“The index captures infor-mation on various aspects offinancial inclusion in a singlevalue ranging between 0 and100, where 0 represents com-plete financial exclusion and100 indicates full financialinclusion.” “The FI-Index com-prises of three broad parame-ters viz., ‘Access (35 per cent),Usage (45 per cent) and Quality(20 per cent)’ with each of theseconsisting of various dimen-sions, which are computedbased on a number of indica-tors.”

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In a bid to strengthen itspayment services offering in

India, instant messaging plat-form WhatsApp has intro-duced ‘Payments Backgroundsfeature on the platform. “Builtfor India, this new feature is rel-evant, exciting, and memo-rable as it helps people easilyconvey a feeling along withsending money,” said a com-pany statement on Tuesday.Designed in partnership withthe National PaymentsCorporation of India (NPCI),on the Unified PaymentInterface (UPI), the paymentsfeature on WhatsApp is anIndia-first, real-time paymentsystem that enables transac-tions with over 227 banks, itsaid.

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With the gradual lifting oflockdowns across sev-

eral states, retail sales in Indiahave improved and in July2021, they stood at 72 per centof the pre-pandemic levels ofJuly 2019, according to a sur-vey by the RetailersAssociation of India (RAI).

In June, the retail salesstood at 50 per cent of the pre-pandemic levels.

In a statement, the retail-ers’ body noted that retailbusinesses in the southernpart of India have indicated avery sharp comeback in July2021 with sales at 82 per centof the pre-pandemic

levels.The western region isyet to improve and has indi-cated sales at 57 per cent ofpre-pandemic levels.

This is mainly because ofprolonged curbs inMaharashtra that disruptedthe smooth functioning ofmodern retail in the state, itsaid.In categories, QuickService Restaurants (QSR)recovered the best in July2021 with sales at 97 per centof the pre-pandemic levels(July 2019). However, beauty& wellness segment, whichincludes salons, is still at 50per cent of pre-pandemicsales, while apparel is at 63 percent sales of the pre-pan-demic levels in July 2021.

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Crash courses are very helpful.There are many students whohave improved their marks

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Now, you might think why dostudents improve significantly inthe last few months of the exam?

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Whatever may be the reason, thecrash course can help the students inthis aspect. Not only for the studentswho have completed their prepara-tion and are looking for revision, theNEET crash course also helps the stu-dents who have not yet started theirpreparation to secure qualifyingmarks in the exam.

The crash course is entirely dif-ferent from the normal course which

lasts for months or years. A crashcourse usually lasts for about fourmonths and the tenure varies frominstitute to institute. The precisemeaning of a crash course is a briefcourse of instruction to quicklycomplete a course.

For instance, a crash course canhelp you cover a two years course ina few months. The NEET crashcourse helps you complete the entiresyllabus in a few months.

Is it worth joining a crash course?The worth will be calculated on

the basis of the benefit you havegained from it. The crash courseenables you to cover the main con-cepts of the entire NEET syllabusquickly and helps you attempt theexam with more confidence. Thecrash course is extremely helpful forthe students who feel revision is com-pulsory. It helps you to revise all theimportant topics in a short span oftime. During the crash course, thestudents will be provided with sum-marised versions of the course syl-labus, study materials, key conceptsand marathon chapters covering theentire syllabus. A few best NEETcrash course training institutes also

give students tips, tricks and excel-lent short cuts to solve questionsquickly.

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Unlike the Board exams, themajor portion of the NEET examquestions are application based andhence students have to follow a dif-ferent approach to answer the ques-tions. The crash course will providestudents with ample practice andmock tests and helps them to evalu-ate their skills. This practice lets thestudents understand and get famil-iarised with the best approach forsolving the questions. It also helpsyou understand the different types ofquestions that may appear in theNEET exam, exam pattern and areaswherein you need more focus.� Saves time

Clearing the Board exams isvery important. If you allocate moretime for the Boards, you may be leftwith very less time for exam prepa-ration. In such a situation, the crashcourse will help you avoid wasting ayear for long-term coaching to attendthe entrance exam. The NEET crashcourse enables you to cover all the

topics of the syllabus in less tenureand helps you attend the examinationwith more confidence.� All important topics are covered

It does not matter how muchtime you have spent on NEET prepa-ration or how many topics you havecovered. But, the time you spend onimportant topics really matters a lot.You should clearly understand thesyllabus and list out the importanttopics to focus more on them. Thetutors at crash course institutes willhave complete knowledge on the top-ics that should be focused more andwhich topics to skip. Accordingly,they will guide you in your prepara-tion by providing tips and shortcutsfor answering questions quickly andcorrectly.

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Motion Education, a leadingeducational institution in

India known for preparing stu-dents for JEE, NEET, NTSE,KVPY, Olympiads and othercompetitive exams, achievedalmost 35 per cent growth inadmissions.

The total number of admis-sions offered by Motion in2020 was 10,084, however, the

number of new studentsenrolled till August 1, 2020 were5, 349. In contrast, 7381 newadmissions were completed tillAugust 1, 2021. Based on thisgrowth trajectory, the totalnumber of fresh admissionsexpected this year are 13,500.These figures clearly depictthat despite the pandemic andaftermaths of Corona’s secondwave, Motion Education regis-tered a vivid growth in terms of

new admissions. In response to the consis-

tently growing students’strength, Motion Educationinaugurated its new multi-storey building Daksh situatedat Dadabari, Kota. It is well-equipped with all the modernfacilities of a quality infra-structure to impart efficaciouseducational solutions. NitinVijay, Founder & ManagingDirector, Motion Education,

believes that a clear vision andproclivity towards technologycan easily convert a crisis intoan opportunity. He said, “Dakshmarks the beginning of ourNEET division’s expansion.”

Amidst the slowdown,when the coaching industry isstruggling hard to survive, theinstitute is not only growing innumbers but also introducingcustomised courses throughhybrid learning models.

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Eupheus Learning, India’sfastest growing School

Focused EdTech Company, ispartnering with GlobalEducation Solutions (GES)for their proprietary platform—MyKensho, which provideslife skills and career develop-ment tools for the overalldevelopment of students,aligned with the NEP 2020’s

vision.MyKensho is a discovery

platform which enables stu-dents as early as Class V tounderstand their identity andbecome more self-aware, thengradually explore suitableopportunities, leading up tostudents in later years to makeinformed decisions on studyand career choices withinstructor-led intervention.Also, it will strengthen the

trinity of School-Student-Parent partnership by pro-viding easy access to parentsto become a part of children'sprogress via the “discovery todecision making” process.

MyKensho offers stu-dents the flexibility to joinfrom home or at the schoolpremises, and schools alsohave the liberty to adapt it andrun it at their convenience.

This partnership will

strengthen the Eupheus offer-ing within schools and bridgethe gap between in-classroomand at-home learning solu-tions. Since the schools willhave to draw out content,capability, tools, and resourcesto offer an overall develop-ment of students; EupheusLearning will enable thisthrough MyKensho and thedeep expertise of the GES team.

Every medical aspirant in Indiawants to get admission in India, butthe seats are limited. Only 84,000

MBBS seats are available in medical col-leges in India and 14 lakhs studentsappear in NEET exam. It makes it hard-er for medical students to get admissionand in that case, they choose to studyMBBS abroad.

It is considered a better option formedical students. Apart from affordablefees, Government & top medical univer-sities, global working opportunities, stu-dents can get easy admission without anydonation. Unlike India, foreign medicaluniversities have sufficient medical seats.It accepts applications from internationalstudents.

This profession becomes much indemand during pandemics. Everyonerealised medical science is the field that isin much demand amid COVID-19. Manystudents back out from medical coursesdue to the expensive tuition fees of privatemedical colleges in India. On the otherhand, students can complete MBBS abroadfor between �12 to �25 lakh including orexcluding hostel and mess fees.

There are many countries in theworld that are considered to be ideal forIndian students to study MBBS abroad.Many of them have invested a lot in theeducation system for R&D. Due to this themedical education is pretty affordable.

Duration of MBBS in India vs abroadThe duration of MBBS studies varies

between countries. Students can completetheir MBBS study in just five years and five

months in India. That includes the train-ing or internship duration (12 months). Onthe other hand, countries like Russia,China, or Ukraine offer six years (Approx.)including internships under experiencedprofessionals.

Major benefits to study MBBSabroad vs India

�Affordable fee: MBBS fee in Indiastarts from �40 to �50 lakh (private med-ical colleges). In comparison, the MBBS feein developed countries like Ukraine isbetween �14 to �25 lakh.

�World-class infrastructure: Not allcolleges have their own hospitals to offerpractical training to students in India. Onthe other hand, aspirants will get trainingin the university hospital under experi-

enced medical professionals.Top ranking medical colleges: Most

of the colleges in India have a low rank-ing in the international ranking list. On theother side, 30 Russian medical universitiesare listed in the top 100 medical univer-sities in the world.

How can students take admissionabroad?

When it comes to taking admission inthe medical college it all depends on qual-ifying NEET exams. After that next stepis how good rank you hold in the NationalEligibility cum Entrance Test. At last, coun-seling and then the rest of the admissionprocess. Colleges set their cut-off list andselect only those students who fall in thosecriteria.

On the other hand, NEET rank doesnot play a vital role in MBBS Admissionin MCI/NMC approved medical univer-sities abroad. There will be no predefinedcutoff for admission in medical collegesoutside India. Aspirants just need toprove their eligibility and that’s it.

There is a myth every student musthave heard that only those students applyfor MBBS abroad who are weak in theirstudies. This is completely baseless.Students who scored 550+ are applying foradmission in top medical colleges abroad.The reason is the competition is high.

For seeking admission in colleges ofcountries like Ukraine, Russia, Kyrgyzstan,Kazakhstan, Bangladesh, and Georgiathere is no entrance exam conducted. Theonly condition is that you complete the eli-gibility and just pass the NEET exam.

Most of the popular universities areapproved by the National MedicalCommission and the local Government ofthat country. The Medical degree is validin India and other countries as well. Topractice in India, students have to pass theFMGE exam after MBBS in abroad.

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There are hardly any doubtswhen we hear that learning

a foreign language is fun andinteresting. People who havemastered a foreign language arecapable of opening doors tonew opportunities in Indiaand abroad. Moreover, withgrowing business relationsbetween India and other coun-tries, there has been a signifi-cant increase in the inclinationtowards foreign languages apartfrom English.

As the world is becomingmore connected and depen-dent day by day, the perks oflanguage learning are muchhigher today than ever before.This ever increasing demandfor the foreign language isdirectly proportional to theincrease in the number ofstudents opting for a foreignlanguage. Amidst this, Frenchis the language that tops thecharts.

Aspirants are highlyinclined towards learningFrench to shape up theircareers to the best of theiradvantage. While there aremany institutes in India thatoffer the best French learningcourses; picking the best onemight be a little tricky. Hence,to help you simplify the selec-tion process, we present to youa quick list of the top five insti-tutes for French learningcourse.

Henry Harvin: If you

wish to give a new definitionto your career graph, a Frenchlanguage course offered byHenry Harvin is the mostviable option. This thought-fully designed course helpsyou in acquiring knowledge ofthe language that will help youto touch skyscrapers in yourcareer along with teachingyou the skills to articulateyour thoughts in the Frenchlanguage.

The training session isdivided into two levels — B1and B2 and is delivered bysome of the most renownedindustry veterans. The entirecurriculum of the courseacquaints you with masteringthe art of speaking the lan-guage fluently along with writ-ing long sentences in French.The successful completion ofthe course allows you to attainthe certificate of FrenchLanguage Training and is fol-

lowed by regular bootcampsand internship opportunities.

Alliance Française: TheFrench learning course offeredby Alliance Française is divid-ed into six broad levels:Beginners (A1), Intermediate(A2), Advanced (B1),Independent (B2), Superior 1(C1), and Superior 2 (C2). Allthe six levels train the studentswith every minute concept ofthe language; right from thebasic everyday expressions toconveying their thoughts flu-ently and spontaneously.

Cosmolingua Institute ofForeign Languages:Cosmolingua Institute ofForeign Languages is one ofthe leading Institutes thatoffers French learning cours-es with a communicativeapproach. The major aim ofthe institutes is to acquaint thestudents with informativesources and thereby enhance

their language skills.Equipped with hi-tech

audiovisual source availabili-ty, this institute indulges invarious modern facilities tobenefit the students in its bestcapacity. This course alsoallows the students to testtheir knowledge and sharpentheir French speaking skillseffectively.

Coursera: This interme-diate level B1/B2 Frenchcourse offered by Coursera isdesigned in accordance withthe requirements of theEuropean Framework ofReference for Languages andis a part of the dual system“training with digital tech-nology” and “language andinterculturality”.

Lingoda: LingodaInstitute offers a comprehen-sive online French class focus-ing on more than just gram-mar and vocabulary. Thecourse covers useful topicslike ‘Life abroad’ and teachesyou to speak confidently inany situation.

Split into multiple levelsfrom Beginners to Advanced,from A1 to B2 respectively; thecourse is delivered by indus-try veterans and aims to pro-vide high quality and effectivesessions as second languageinstruction and a deeperunderstanding of the culturethrough dynamic teachingmethods.

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�/�G��/��Sanskriti University,

Mathura invites online appli-cations for admission todiploma, under graduate, andpost graduate programmes inEngineering, Management &Commerce, Education, SpecialEducation, Humanities &Social Sciences, Pharmacy,Agriculture, FashionDesigning, Law and LegalStudies, Yoga andNaturopathy, Tourism & HotelManagement, Medical &Allied Sciences, Basic &Applied Sciences, Ayurveda,Unani, and Nursing courses.

Eligibility: Applicationsare open to applicants whohave passed or will appear forthe qualifying examinationsunder the higher secondary(Class XII) from any recog-nised Board of Education suchas AISSCE/IB/ICSE/CBSE, orequivalents. For Admissionto diploma programmes,Students are required to havepassed the Class X examina-

t i o nfrom any state or central boardlike CBSE/ICSE.

How to apply: Applicantsseeking admission arerequired to fill an online appli-cation form availableonwww.sanskriti.edu.in. Thesubmission of the ApplicationForm can be done online orin-person at the University bydepositing �1000. For onlinesubmission, visit thislink:https://www.sanskriti.edu.in/register. The admission prereq-uisites will be in accordancewith the various regulatorybodies as amended from timeto time.

L ast date to apply :September 30, 2021.

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Lycée Français International de Delhi, known for prioritising theacquisition of language, critical thinking skills, and the devel-

opment of confident, independent learners declared their diplo-ma results for the batch of 2021. The students have outdone them-selves with a 100 per cent success in the French Baccalauréat.

LFID is a part of network of schools under the Agency forFrench Education Abroad (AEFE). The school has recorded impres-sive performances by the students. Out of all students enrolled forthe Diploma Programme from over 40 countries, 75 per cent ofstudents graduated with distinction.

The AEFE network welcomes students of more than 80 nation-alities and guarantees them access to excellent education.

On the outstanding performance by the students, Nicolas Sieger,Headmaster of Lycée Français International de Delhi comment-ed, “We are proud of our students who reached this milestone evenafter these unprecedented times. Our school has a resolute objec-tive to focus on learning languages, excellent exam results and open-ness to the Indian culture. It’s inspiring to see that despite the dif-ficulties brought on by the pandemic, our students remained resilientand achieved extraordinary success.”

The certificate is now equivalent to the school leaving exam-ination certificate issued by the Central Board of SecondaryEducation (CBSE) or other secondary, intermediate and pre-uni-versity educational establishments recognised by the Republic ofIndia. This enables students to advance their studies in both Frenchand Indian educational systems.

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In all this chaos, the one certainty isthat COVID is rapidly reshaping theworking world. In India, on average

3.5 lakh students graduate from B-schools every year. With the onset of thepandemic, pay cuts and job loss in 2020,freshers are now competing with expe-rienced professionals in the job market.This lays emphasis on aggressive prepa-ration for job opportunities, not justbased on business education but deep-rooted soft skills.

The good news is that while com-petition is high for graduates, there hasalso been a steady increase in opportu-nities this year, compared to the lowemployment rate seen in 2020. Thesenumbers are expected to grow as com-panies plan to resume frozen hirings.However, there is a steady inclination tohire business graduates that are notwired through theoretical learning butadept at the practical application of con-cepts, soft skills, communication, prob-lem-solving and digital adaptability.

For companies, bigger hiring man-dates and reduced budgets may implyhaving to quickly change their percep-tion towards freshers. But their concernsremain the same. Are these fresh grad-uates competent in these skills that theindustry now demands?

It is the institutes’ responsibility tohone skills. They can do so by incor-porating the following principles.

Accountability in higher educa-tion: In the management field, place-ments are a show-stopper for any grad-uate who is looking to enter the corpo-rate world. B-schools can enhance thisby taking accountability for students'placements with a sharp focus on build-ing the credibility of their students' skills& achievements, along with relationshipbuilding with corporates. This will leadto more corporate-student interactionbefore student's day 1 at his/her work-place.

Hands-on learning: The coursestructure should encourage a morehands-on way of learning, led by tech-nology. Our dependency on technolo-gy and the dire need for digital literacystood out during the pandemic.Learning from that, the managementcurriculum needs to propagate the easeand usage of digital mediums. This will

also help students be more agile in thewake of tech-related transformations inorganisations.

Tailored curriculum: The B schoolsneed to make the shift from a one-size-fits-all approach to propagate a tailoredcourse structure that prioritises domain-specific and role-specific concepts. Thiscurriculum is led by technology, pro-viding every student with a customisedlearning. Through this, students getversed with strengths and weaknessesand have a chance to apply their learn-ings in the real world to see for them-selves what works and what doesn’t.

Such a tailored learning curve facil-itates professional growth among stu-dents and bridges the gap betweenindustry demands and the soft skills.

Along with this approach, game-changing skills and the onset of gig-economy, HRs can take lead in smoothhiring for remote positions and corpo-rates can thrive with low-cost especial-ly on the infrastructure front.

For this smooth transitioningtowards the future of work and remoteworking, corporates also need to take aleap of faith and look at freshers asindustry-ready professionals. This willbe led hugely by B-schools for deliver-ing a talent pool of graduates ready totake on the challenges with the right softskills.

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The Kotak Kanya schol-arship invites applica-tions for its collabora-

tive CSR project of KotakMahindra Group companies,which is being implementedwith Kotak EducationFoundation to financially sup-port meritorious girl studentsfrom underprivileged sectionsof the society to enable themto pursue higher educationafter passing out 12th stan-dard.

Eligibility: Meritoriousgirl students who have securedadmission to first year grad-uation programme from insti-tutions of repute(NAAC/NBA/UGC accredit-ed) for professional courseslike engineering, medicine,architecture, designing, spe-cialised commerce/finance,and computer courses or pro-fessional courses pursuedalongside graduation like CA,CS, CFA, CWA, LLB are eli-gible. Applicant must havescored 75% or more marks inClass 12 or equivalent. Annualfamily income must be �3lakh or less.

Reward: Scholarship upto �1 lakh per year (Terms andConditions Apply)

How to apply: Onlineapplication only -www.b4s.in/a/KKGS1

Application deadline:The last date to apply is

September 30, 2021.

Applications are invitedfor an initiative by Legrand tosupport meritorious girl stu-dents to pursue a career inengineering and architec-ture.

Eligibility: Girl studentswho have passed Class XII in2021 and are looking to startBTech/BE/BArch programmein academic year 2021-22 at arecognised college/university.They must have scored min-imum 75 per cent marks inClasses X and XII Board.Total family income of theapplicant must be less than �5lakh from all sources. Studentswho lost their parents due toCOVID-19 be prefered.

Rewards: 60% of tuitionfees or �60,000 per annum(whichever is less)

How to apply: Applyonline: www.b4s.in/a/LFL3

Application deadline: Itis September 10, 2021.

The IDFC First Bankannounced its MBA schol-arship under its CSR initiativeof IDFC FIRST Bank to finan-cially support studentsenrolled into the first year ofa two-year MBA programs.

Eligibility: Gross annualfamily income should be lessthan or equal to �6 lakhs. Agemust be 35 years or younger.

Reward: �2 lakhs (total)How to apply: Online at

www.b4s.in/a/LFL3Application deadline:

September 2, 2021

Lakhs of people appear forcompetitive exams but only afew can clear it. One thing that

makes these people stand outamong the other candidates ismocks’. A mock means solving a testfor practice following all the rulesof the actual examinations. Thishelps a lot while appearing for theactual examination.

A candidate can analyze his/herperformance in the mock andmake the necessary changes toavoid the same mistakes in the actu-al examination. Solving the mockswill help you to get to know how theactual test will be. It will give youan idea about various things like thepaper pattern, what kind of ques-tions can be asked, the difficultylevel of the questions, and howmuch time it takes to complete thetest.

Without taking the mocks youwill not know how good/bad yourpreparation is. You can take themocks and make strategies, planyour study schedule and makeyour preparation to the mark.

Practice makes man perfect andfor competitive exams, mocks are

what make a difference betweenany candidate and the topper. Hereare seven reasons why the mock testis extremely important for everycompetitive exam:

Get an idea of what to expecton D Day: Mocks are exams sim-ilar to the actual exam. Solvingmocks will give you an idea of thekind of questions that can beexpected on the exam day. Mockswill familiarise you with the kind ofsyllabus, pattern, and difficultylevel of the actual exam.

Analyse your preparation andperformance: Mocks will give youa reality check on how effective yourpreparation is. Mocks will help youremember the concepts and not for-get things that you have learned andmastered. It will also help you tokeep revising the syllabus againevery time after you solve a mock.

Helps you try and test differ-ent strategies: You can plan andimplement different strategies ineach of your mocks and implementthe best one during the actualexam. This will give you a chanceto experiment and strategise well forthe exam day.

Helps you to know how to usetime efficiently: Solving mocks willgive you an idea of how fast or slowyou are. When you solve mocks youmight realise that you need moretime for a particular section and lessfor another. Once you know this,you can plan on how much time tospend on each section in such a waythat you can complete the paper andhave time to revise.

Know your mastery and areaswhere you fall short: Once yousolve a couple of mocks you willknow which section is your strengthand which is your weakness or evenwhich topics in a particular sectionare easier and which are difficult.

Once you get an idea of this,you will know which topics to focusmore on. The mocks analysis reportat the end of each mock will helpyou understand the topic-wise aswell as section-wise analysis to

weigh your accuracy and timespent. These two are essentionalparameters for proper planning.

Reduces your pre-exam ner-vousness: Mocks are like an actu-al exam. So when you solve enoughmocks you will know what it is likein the actual exam. When you knowhow it would feel on D-day you willbe more at ease. When you scorewell enough in marks you wouldalso have confidence that you cando well in the actual exam too.

Helps you keep a track of yourprogress: You can keep an eye onhow your scores have been as timepassed and as you solved moremocks. You can know how muchyour score has increased or if youhave fallen short on a certain occa-sion. You can know your mistakesimmediately and start rectifying andworking on them.

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Andy Murray returnedto the ATP Tour

on Monday after lastcompeting atW i m b l e d o n ,reaching the sec-ond round of theC i n c i n n a t iMasters with a 6-4, 6-4 win over FrenchmanRichard Gasquet.

The three-time GrandSlam champion who owns twotitles here and played the 2016final, has been struggling overthe summer with a groin strain.

Murray hammered 14 acesand broke three times in thewin lasting just under twohours.

After three games whichlasted for a total of 20 minutesto start, Murray grabbed a 5-3lead, which he lost a game laterbefore re-breaking to win the

first set 6-4.Gasquet was broken in the

final game of the match aftersaving a match point beforeMurray prevailed.

Also, birthday boyJannik Sinner turned 20 ona rain-interrupted day andcelebrated with a 6-2, 7-5win over ArgentineFederico Delbonis.

The young gun wasjoined in the secondround after a delayedstart by 34-year-oldItalian compatriotFabio Fognini, whojoined the party witha 7-6 (7/3), 6-3 winover NikolozBasilashvili ofGeorgia in a first-time meeting.

A r g e n t i n eDiego Schwartzmanturned 29 on the

day, defeating British

number one Dan Evans 6-2, 4-6, 6-3 after more than twohours.

South African Lloyd Harrisearned a place in the secondround against Tokyo OlympicGold medallist AlexanderZverev as he beat Japan’sYoshihito Nishioka 6-3, 6-4with the help of 11 aces.

Canadian Felix Auger-Aliassime overcame his first-round loss a week ago at hometo beat Marton Fucsovics 7-6(7/0), 6-3 in a match interrupt-ed by the rain which plaguedplay all day.

Dominik Koepfer won anall-German first-rounder withhis defeat of Jan-Lennard Struff7-6 (7/2), 5-7, 6-3.

In the women’s draw at thejoint event, Roland Garros final-ist Barbora Krejcikova made asingles debut at the midwestvenue as she defeated RussianDaria Kasatkina 6-3, 6-2.

Czech 12th seed PetraKvitova, a two-time semi-final-ist, beat 2019 championMadison Keys 7-5, 6-4,aveng-ing a defeat by the American inJanuary, 2020, in Brisbane.

Spain’s Paula Badosa savedfive match points in two andthree-quarter hours to get pastPetra Martic 4-6, 6-4, 7-6 (11/9)and next takes on third seedand Montreal semi-finalistAryna Sabalenka.

Swiss Jil Teichmannstopped Romania’s SoranaCirstea with the loss of just twogames.

Former French Open win-ner Jelena Ostapenko advancedpast Slovene Tamara Zidansek7-5, 6-1. British qualifierHeather Watson put outAliaksandra Sasnovich 6-2, 3-6, 6-1, ending a four-match lossstreak that began inBirmingham prior toWimbledon.

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India will face arch-rivalsPakistan in their openinggame of the ICC T20 World

Cup in Dubai on October 24, theICC announced on Tuesday.

As per the schedule, the2007 champions next opponentwill be World TestChampionship winners NewZealand on October 31 inDubai, followed by a matchagainst Afghanistan in AbuDhabi on November 3.

India’s remaining two Super12 matches are against the win-ner of Group B (November 5 inDubai) and second placed sideof Group A (November 8 inDubai).

The tournament’s firstround kicks off on October 17in Oman, with the hosts takingon Papua New Guinea andBangladesh playing Scotland.

Group A consists of 2014champions Sri Lanka, Ireland,the Netherlands and Namibia,

while Group B has Bangladesh,Scotland, Papua New Guineaand Oman.

The top two teams fromeach group will qualify for theSuper 12 stage.

The Super 12s — round twoof the tournament, with twogroups — will begin on October23, with Australia facing SouthAfrica in Abu Dhabi andEngland up against title holdersand two-time champions WestIndies in Dubai.

The first semifinal will beheld in Abu Dhabi onNovember 10, while the secondwill be played in Dubai onNovember 11.

The final will be held inDubai on November 14 withNovember 15 marked as reserveday.

The tournament is beinghosted by India in the UnitedArab Emirates (UAE) andOman since a third wave of theCovid-19 is being anticipated atthat time of the tournament.

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Kolkata: Indian men’s teamcoach Igor Stimac on Tuesdaysaid he “may consider” releasinghis premier defender SandeshJhingan from national commit-ments to play club football inCroatia.

Referring to Jhingan’s moveto Croatia to play leagueFootball, Stimac said: “Having inmind that the Croatian leaguehas already had five rounds, andthe players are fit, we are think-ing as to how we can helpSandesh get into form as soonas possible, and also try to facil-

itate him get his place in theteam.

“It’s important for him to getinto the playing XI. So we mayconsider releasing him fromthe camp and bringing himback but allow him to stay withthe club.”

Stimac had coached Croatiato the 2014 FIFA World Cup inBrazil.

The Indian team’s defensivemainstay Jhingan is expected tojoin Croatian top division clubHNK Sibenik, making use of aclause that allows him to leave

his current club ATKMohun Bagan if he getsan opportunity toplay inEurope.

I n d i awill be trav-elling toKathmandulater this monthto play Nepal intwo internation-al friendlies inSeptember.

“It is very dif-ficult to organise

matches under such circum-stances. You need to understand

that no one is able to cometo India, and if wewant to go out toplay there are

quarantine rules. Sothe options are very

limited,” Stimac said.“We had agreed to

first play Libya andJordan in Istanbul. Butthe long duration of

quarantine in Istanbul did-n’t allow us to proceed withthe matches.

“We also looked at otheroptions wherein we agreed toplay Nepal and Malaysia inNepal. But Malaysia couldn’ttravel owing to quarantine rulesback home in their country,” thecoach added.

“Now we need to preparefor the next 12 days before wehead to Nepal. We also have theSAFF Championship in Octoberfollowed by the AFC U-23Qualifiers — maybe the bestoption will be to hold on withthe U23 team all throughoutOctober.”

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English captain Joe Rootadmitted to committingtactical blunders and

said he underestimated theIndian lower-order afterMohammed Shami and JaspritBumrah’s batting heroics fash-ioned an epic win at Lord’s inthe second Test.

England were in a domi-nant position before they lostcontrol during an unanticipat-ed unbroken ninth-wicketstand of 89 between Shami (56not out) and Bumrah (34 notout) on the final morning atLord’s.

England were then bowledout for 120 inside two sessionsto lose by 151 runs. Bumrahcontributed three wickets andShami one while the majordamage on the Englishmenwere done by MohammedSiraj (4/32). Senior pacerIshant Sharma took two wick-ets.

“I think a lot falls on myshoulders as captain. TacticallyI could have done thingsslightly differently,” Root saidat the post-match virtual newsconference.

“It (Shami and Bumrahpartnership) was the pivotalmoment of the game, withoutquestion, and I don’t think Idealt with that well enoughtactically. It put us in a diffi-

cult position,” he said.“It’s just disappointing we

didn’t manage to close out thatinnings how we could have.Probably I just underestimat-ed how challenging and usefulthe lower order defence can beso as I said a lot falls on myshoulders,” Root said.

During the England firstinnings, Bumrah had dishedout some short stuff againstnumber 11 batsman JamesAnderson who copped fewblows to his body and itseemed Root lost the battle incarrying out the payback.

There was a barrage of

short balls when the Indianlate order duo were at thecrease. Root admitted theshort-ball ploy against Shamiand Bumrah failed.

“Looking back, I’d look atsome of the field placings andthe way we bowled. We couldhave looked at maybe attack-

ing the stumps a little bitmore frequently and usingshort ball as more of a sur-prise,” he said.

“We have to give themsome credit. They scored inunusual areas and made ithard to set conventional fieldsand you were trying to managetaking wickets but not lettingthe game get away from us.

“But I would have taken alittle bit more time and proba-bly brought more modes of dis-missal into the game sooner.”

There’s a nine-day breakbefore the third Test begins onAugust 25 and Root urged theteam to come back refreshed.

“We need to stay calm. It’snot time to panic. There is a lotof cricket in the series.”

Underestimated India’s lower order: Root

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If any rival player tries tosledge one of ours, the

remaining 10 would only comehard at the opposition andthat’s exactly what had hap-pened with England duringtheir 151-run defeat in thesecond Test, said India openerKL Rahul.

The on-field altercationsstarted after Mark Wooddished out short-pitched stufftargeting Jasprit Bumrah’s head,resulting in an argument withEngland skipper Joe Root andJimmy Anderson. Even rook-ie Ollie Robinson was having ago at the Indian batters.

However, the tables turnedwhen England were bowled outfor paltry 120 in their secondinnings with India captainVirat Kohli leading the battle ofsledges.

“It showed how badly bothteams wanted to win. That’show Test cricket is played. Weas a team are never shy to saya word or too,” player-of-the-match Rahul, who scored 129in the first innings, said afterthe match.

“Someone comes after ourplayer and rest of the 10 guysget pumped as well. That’s thekind of atmosphere and team

bonding that we have. If you goafter one of our guys thatmeans you are going afterwhole team,” Rahul said.

He, in fact, made it clearthat all the four fast bowlerswere ready to give England atest of their own medicine.

“Bowlers were really keento have a go and have a crackout there in the middle and giveit their all in 60 overs. This iswhat people come to watch andit only speaks about how badlyeach team wants to win.”

He lauded Jasprit Bumrahand Mohammed Shami’srecord 89-run ninth-wicketstand, which set up the gamenicely for the bowlers to do the

job inside 60 overs.“Partnership between

Bumrah and Shami was so sogood and after they put up afight like that, bowlers werewaiting to have a crack atthem. We knew after lunch thedeclaration is going to come.

“We knew each of themwould have to bowl 10 or 12overs. The pitch was behavinga bit up and down and oppor-tunity like this to win a Testmatch always doesn’t come. Wewere all very keen and excitedand to go out there and put outa performance like that wasvery special,” said Rahul, whohas till now scored 244 runs inthe series.

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London: England head coachChris Silverwood on Tuesdaysaid he won’t push star all-rounder Ben Stokes’ returnfrom mental health breakdespite the team’s struggles inthe ongoing Test series againstIndia.

“No, there is no pushingfrom my point of view. I don’tthink you can push with theseissues. I will wait and there willbe an element of waiting forhim to come to me to let meknow he is ready,” he said.

Stokes had taken an indef-inite break from the game lastmonth after leading England toa 3-0 ODI series win overPakistan.

Echoing Root’s opinion,Silverwood said one can’t push

an individual on sensitive mat-ters like mental health.

“There is no time limit onit,” asserted Silverwood.

“I would stress again theimportant thing is Ben is okay,his family is okay and that hecomes back strong and, whenhe re-enters the frame, he isready in his mind to come backand perform for England likewe know he can.

“I am certainly not pushinghim for an answer and I don’tthink that would be the rightthing to do. There are peoplearound him supporting himand, when he is ready to comeback in, we will welcome himwith open arms, but until thenhe will get all the support heneeds.” PTI

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Stimac ‘may consider’ releasing Jhingan for club football in Croatia

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Tammy Abraham has com-pleted his move to Roma

from Chelsea, the Serie A clubannounced on Monday. TheEngland forward joined formerBlues boss Jose Mourinho in theItalian capital in a deal worth 40million euros. Roma said thatAbraham had signed a five-yearcontract and that Chelsea would“retain the right to a percentageof any future transfer fee involv-ing the striker”.

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