˘ ˇˆ · 1 day ago · gujarat 2,765. gujarat has the worst case fatality ratio at 3.6 per cent....

16
A ddressing the nation on the 74th Independence Day from the ramparts of the Red Fort, Prime Minister Narendra Modi made some major announcements, ranging from an ambitious National Digital Health Mission under which every Indian will get a health ID that will ease access to medical services, to an enhanced digital connectivity and cyber security, even as he issued a veiled warning to China and Pakistan for trying to challenge the country’s sov- ereignty, and made a push for “Aatmanirbhar Bharat” with a “Make for World” call. Stressing that “vocal for local” should be the mantra of India, the PM presented a broad outline for spurring India’s economic growth, asserting that the coronavirus pandemic cannot halt the country’s march towards self- reliance. He said, “Three vac- cines are in various stages of testing. When scientists will give us the green signal, these will be produced on a mass scale and all preparations have been made for it.” On the environmental front, Modi announced a series of plans to protect the country’s environment and biodiversity, from saving Gangetic dolphins and Asiatic lions along the lines of Project Tiger to mak- ing Ladakh carbon neutral and reducing pollution in 100 cities. Under the National Digital Health Mission, “Every Indian will be given a health ID, which will work as each Indian’s health account,” Modi said, adding that it would ease prob- lems faced by citizens in getting healthcare access. The health mission was rolled out on a pilot mode in six union terri- tories — Chandigarh, Ladakh, Dadra and Nagar Haveli and Daman and Diu, Puducherry, Andaman and Nicobar Islands and Lakshadweep. During his 86-minute address, Modi also under- scored his Government’s com- mitment to holding Assembly polls in centrally-administered Jammu and Kashmir after the ongoing delimitation exercise is over, and stated a new era of development has begun in the union territory after Article 370 was scrapped a year ago. Modi, who was dressed in his customary “kurta pyjama” and sported a saffron and cream “safa”, said the armed forces have given a befitting reply to those challenging the country’s sovereignty “from LoC to LAC”, in a veiled refer- ence to Pakistan and China. Dweling at length on the “Aatmanirbhar Bharat” (self- reliant India) campaign, he gave a call for reducing imports and pushing exports of finished products in place of raw mate- rial, saying the country will have to move forward with the mantra of “Make in India” as well as ‘Make for World’. Unveiling his vision, the PM said the goal is to make India a global manufacturing hub while a 110 lakh crore pipeline of national infra- structure projects is being cre- ated to boost the economy and create jobs. Modi said all the six lakh villages in the country will be connected with optical fibres in 1,000 days to improve digital connectivity for the rural mass- es. “About 7,000 projects in dif- ferent sectors have been iden- tified. This will be a type of infrastructure revolution.” The National Infrastructure Pipeline (NIP) project will play a crucial role in pulling the country out of the impact of Covid-19, he said. The Independence Day event which traditionally wit- nessed a bustling crowd was scaled down in keeping with Covid-19 safety protocols that also included social distancing for the visitors including min- isters and diplomats. I ndia’s Covid-19 death count crossed 50,000 marks on Saturday, even as the country once again recorded 60,000 plus cases and showed no sign of peaking out as of now. India is the fourth country to cross 50,000 death marks at 50,080. Ahead of India are the USA 1.72 lakh, Brazil 1.06 lakh, and Mexico 55,000. India’s overall death rate is far lower than the world aver- age, but of late the global death rate has come down to the level of India at around 2 per cent. Maharashtra has so far recorded the highest number of deaths at 19,749 followed by Tamil Nadu 5,641, Delhi 4,188, Karnataka 3,718, and Gujarat 2,765. Gujarat has the worst Case Fatality Ratio at 3.6 per cent. It means for every 100 confirmed cases, 4 have unfortunately succumbed to the virus. The case fatality ratio for Maharashtra is 3.4 per cent from the coronavirus. It means, for every 100 confirmed cases, 3 have died of the virus. Turn to Page 4 A pre-existing drug Ebselen, used to treat multiple dis- eases, including bipolar disor- ders and hearing loss could pre- vent the coronavirus from replicating in host cells, a sci- entific advance that may lead to a therapeutic solution against Covid-19. Ebselen is a chemical com- pound with anti-viral, anti- inflammatory, anti-oxidative, bactericidal, and cell-protective properties. The study, published in the journal Science Advances, assessed the molecule main protease, Mpro, of the novel coronavirus which is a key enzyme that plays a central role in its life cycle. The study is conducted by using state-of- the-art computer simulations. According to the researchers, including those from the University of Chicago in the US, Mpro facilitates the virus’ ability to make proteins from its genetic material — RNA — and enables the pathogen to replicate within the host cell. Using their expertise in modeling biological molecules, the scientists rapidly screened thousands of existing com- pounds for potential use against the virus. “By the virtue of the large number of compounds con- sidered in high throughput screens, those calculations must necessarily involve a number of simplifications, and the results must then be evaluated using experiments and more refined calculations” explained study co-author Juan de Pablo from the University of Chicago. Turn to Page 4 A t a time when the Union Environment Ministry is drawing flak for its ‘faulty’ Draft Environment Impact Assessment (EIA) Notification 2020, one of its Expert Appraisal Committees (EAC) has flagged major errors in the EIA report for the construction of 3,300 crore Ahmedabad- Dholera Expressway in Gujarat, submitted by the National Highways Authority of India (NHAI). The proposed four-lane greenfield highway project is of a length of 109.019 km, being constructed under the Centre’s Bharatmala scheme. While pulling up the NHAI ‘for appointing such poor quality consultants’, the committee deferred the proposal for the want of revised EIA report for the portion related to biodi- versity, ecology and checklist of fauna flora. As per the minutes of its July 29-30 meeting posted on the Ministry’s website, the com- mittee headed by Dr Deepak Arun Apte observed that the consultant for the project, M/s Enviro Infra Solutions, had done “very poor quality stud- ies on biodiversity and ecolo- gy and the checklist of fauna and flora are peppered with errors. Turn to Page 4 Beijing: Indian Ambassador to China Vikram Misri on Saturday said that 2020 has been a very unusual year for India as it had to face the “twin challenges” of Covid-19 as well as aggression on the country’s borders. Addressing a large gathering of Beijing-based Indian community at the India House on the 74th Independence Day, Mr Misri talked about the problems faced by the Indian expatriates. New Delhi: Two-time World Cup-winning former India captain Mahendra Singh Dhoni retired from international cricket on Saturday, ending over one year of suspense and also an era during which his often unorthodox leadership and finishing skills became the stuff of legends. The 39-year-old will, how- ever, compete in this year’s IPL, which gets underway in the UAE from September 19 after being moved out of India due to the COVID-19 pandemic. “Thanks a lot for ur love and support throughout. From 1929hrs consider me as retired,” Dhoni posted on his instagram handle. The announcement came a day after he joined his Chennai Super kings teammates at the side’s home base for a short training camp ahead of the players’ departure to the UAE next week. The BCCI sent out a state- ment, detailing each one of his historic achievements and lauding “a legacy that will be difficult to replicate.” Board president Sourav Ganguly and secretary Jay Shah paid rich tributes. “It is the end of an era. What a player he has been for the country and world crick- et...He will finish with no regrets on the field,” said Ganguly. “He is leaving the game richer from the time he joined,” added Shah. The Board stated that Dhoni “changed the face of Indian cricket with his calm demeanour, sharp understanding of the game and astute leadership qualities.” Turn to P4 Gurugram: Former India opener Chetan Chauhan (73) has been put on ventilator support at the Medanta hospi- tal here after a multi-organ fail- ure. Turn to P4 New Delhi: Michael Jordan needed a Scottie Pippen, so did Lionel Messi with an Andres Iniesta by his side and Suresh Raina is that glue that admirably stuck around with Mahendra Singh Dhoni in highs, lows, and from Saturday, in retirement. On Saturday, following in the footsteps of his favourite captain and mentor Mahendra Singh Dhoni, Raina announced his retirement from interna- tional cricket. Turn to Page 4

Upload: others

Post on 18-Aug-2020

2 views

Category:

Documents


0 download

TRANSCRIPT

Page 1: ˘ ˇˆ · 1 day ago · Gujarat 2,765. Gujarat has the worst Case Fatality Ratio at 3.6 per cent. It means for every 100 confirmed ... fauna flora. As per the minutes of its July

�������������� ��������

Addressing the nation on the74th Independence Day

from the ramparts of the RedFort, Prime Minister NarendraModi made some majorannouncements, ranging froman ambitious National DigitalHealth Mission under whichevery Indian will get a healthID that will ease access tomedical services, to anenhanced digital connectivityand cyber security, even as heissued a veiled warning toChina and Pakistan for tryingto challenge the country’s sov-ereignty, and made a push for“Aatmanirbhar Bharat” with a“Make for World” call.

Stressing that “vocal forlocal” should be the mantra ofIndia, the PM presented abroad outline for spurringIndia’s economic growth,asserting that the coronaviruspandemic cannot halt thecountry’s march towards self-reliance. He said, “Three vac-cines are in various stages oftesting. When scientists willgive us the green signal, thesewill be produced on a massscale and all preparations havebeen made for it.”

On the environmentalfront, Modi announced a seriesof plans to protect the country’senvironment and biodiversity,

from saving Gangetic dolphinsand Asiatic lions along thelines of Project Tiger to mak-ing Ladakh carbon neutral andreducing pollution in 100 cities.

Under the National DigitalHealth Mission, “Every Indianwill be given a health ID, whichwill work as each Indian’shealth account,” Modi said,adding that it would ease prob-lems faced by citizens in gettinghealthcare access. The healthmission was rolled out on apilot mode in six union terri-tories — Chandigarh, Ladakh,Dadra and Nagar Haveli andDaman and Diu, Puducherry,Andaman and Nicobar Islandsand Lakshadweep.

During his 86-minuteaddress, Modi also under-scored his Government’s com-mitment to holding Assemblypolls in centrally-administeredJammu and Kashmir after theongoing delimitation exercise isover, and stated a new era ofdevelopment has begun in theunion territory after Article 370was scrapped a year ago.

Modi, who was dressed inhis customary “kurta pyjama”and sported a saffron andcream “safa”, said the armedforces have given a befittingreply to those challenging thecountry’s sovereignty “fromLoC to LAC”, in a veiled refer-ence to Pakistan and China.

Dweling at length on the“Aatmanirbhar Bharat” (self-reliant India) campaign, hegave a call for reducing importsand pushing exports of finishedproducts in place of raw mate-rial, saying the country willhave to move forward with themantra of “Make in India” aswell as ‘Make for World’.

Unveiling his vision, thePM said the goal is to makeIndia a global manufacturinghub while a �110 lakh crorepipeline of national infra-structure projects is being cre-ated to boost the economyand create jobs.

Modi said all the six lakhvillages in the country will beconnected with optical fibres in1,000 days to improve digitalconnectivity for the rural mass-es. “About 7,000 projects in dif-ferent sectors have been iden-tified. This will be a type ofinfrastructure revolution.”

The NationalInfrastructure Pipeline (NIP)project will play a crucial rolein pulling the country out ofthe impact of Covid-19, he said.

The Independence Dayevent which traditionally wit-nessed a bustling crowd wasscaled down in keeping withCovid-19 safety protocols thatalso included social distancingfor the visitors including min-isters and diplomats.

���� ��������

India’s Covid-19 death countcrossed 50,000 marks on

Saturday, even as the countryonce again recorded 60,000plus cases and showed no signof peaking out as of now.

India is the fourth countryto cross 50,000 death marks at50,080. Ahead of India are theUSA 1.72 lakh, Brazil 1.06lakh, and Mexico 55,000.

India’s overall death rate isfar lower than the world aver-

age, but of late the global deathrate has come down to the levelof India at around 2 per cent.

Maharashtra has so farrecorded the highest number ofdeaths at 19,749 followed byTamil Nadu 5,641, Delhi 4,188,Karnataka 3,718, and Gujarat 2,765.

Gujarat has the worst CaseFatality Ratio at 3.6 per cent. Itmeans for every 100 confirmedcases, 4 have unfortunatelysuccumbed to the virus.

The case fatality ratio for

Maharashtra is 3.4 per centfrom the coronavirus. It means,for every 100 confirmed cases,3 have died of the virus.

Turn to Page 4

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

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

���������� �����

����������������������������������� !"#$%&'(%��"�.$���"/��$ �0����")�����0&��'1�# $���$"��/"����� ��2�����0����$�������$�����3�/ $�"���"�4����"�$�/0 ���0�2 $���$"�����"/��"$$5/$�(��$"6�� �""�")����$�%������� ����7�/����/8�"���"��"�5����0�"��$ ���)$9��$����$���$ $�� &��/"�: ���.�7���$��� $���")���$��$7�;/ &�<��.���7$"8/ 0$�$"���"�/"����$�#/��0$($"$=/�$"��!��/0����/"�>#(!?����������$"�/ �$����$�# $���$"��"���$� �0$�8/ ���$�����$��/��$9-"�!�)��������(��$"�2�0&$��� ����/�@$����� �""�")����$�8/ ��$��/=$�@$ � �$�$0��/"9�

�������

���� ��������

Apre-existing drug Ebselen,used to treat multiple dis-

eases, including bipolar disor-ders and hearing loss could pre-vent the coronavirus fromreplicating in host cells, a sci-entific advance that may lead toa therapeutic solution againstCovid-19.

Ebselen is a chemical com-pound with anti-viral, anti-inflammatory, anti-oxidative,bactericidal, and cell-protectiveproperties.

The study, published inthe journal Science Advances,assessed the molecule mainprotease, Mpro, of the novelcoronavirus which is a keyenzyme that plays a central rolein its life cycle. The study isconducted by using state-of-the-art computer simulations.

According to theresearchers, including thosefrom the University of Chicagoin the US, Mpro facilitates thevirus’ ability to make proteinsfrom its genetic material —RNA — and enables thepathogen to replicate within thehost cell.

Using their expertise in

modeling biological molecules,the scientists rapidly screenedthousands of existing com-pounds for potential useagainst the virus.

“By the virtue of the largenumber of compounds con-sidered in high throughputscreens, those calculations mustnecessarily involve a number ofsimplifications, and the resultsmust then be evaluated usingexperiments and more refinedcalculations” explained studyco-author Juan de Pablo fromthe University of Chicago.

Turn to Page 4

���� ��������

At a time when the UnionEnvironment Ministry is

drawing flak for its ‘faulty’Draft Environment ImpactAssessment (EIA) Notification2020, one of its ExpertAppraisal Committees (EAC)has flagged major errors in theEIA report for the constructionof �3,300 crore Ahmedabad-Dholera Expressway in Gujarat,submitted by the NationalHighways Authority of India(NHAI).

The proposed four-lanegreenfield highway project is ofa length of 109.019 km, beingconstructed under the Centre’sBharatmala scheme. While

pulling up the NHAI ‘forappointing such poor qualityconsultants’, the committeedeferred the proposal for thewant of revised EIA report forthe portion related to biodi-versity, ecology and checklist offauna flora.

As per the minutes of itsJuly 29-30 meeting posted onthe Ministry’s website, the com-mittee headed by Dr DeepakArun Apte observed that theconsultant for the project, M/sEnviro Infra Solutions, haddone “very poor quality stud-ies on biodiversity and ecolo-gy and the checklist of faunaand flora are peppered witherrors.

Turn to Page 4

Beijing: Indian Ambassador toChina Vikram Misri onSaturday said that 2020 hasbeen a very unusual year forIndia as it had to face the “twinchallenges” of Covid-19 as wellas aggression on the country’sborders. Addressing a largegathering of Beijing-basedIndian community at the IndiaHouse on the 74thIndependence Day, Mr Misritalked about the problemsfaced by the Indian expatriates.

New Delhi: Two-time WorldCup-winning former Indiacaptain Mahendra Singh Dhoniretired from internationalcricket on Saturday, endingover one year of suspense andalso an era during which hisoften unorthodox leadershipand finishing skills becamethe stuff of legends.

The 39-year-old will, how-ever, compete in this year’s IPL,which gets underway in theUAE from September 19 after

being moved out of India dueto the COVID-19 pandemic.

“Thanks a lot for ur loveand support throughout. From1929hrs consider me as retired,”Dhoni posted on his instagramhandle.

The announcement came aday after he joined his ChennaiSuper kings teammates at theside’s home base for a shorttraining camp ahead of theplayers’ departure to the UAEnext week.

The BCCI sent out a state-ment, detailing each one of hishistoric achievements andlauding “a legacy that will bedifficult to replicate.” Boardpresident Sourav Ganguly andsecretary Jay Shah paid richtributes. “It is the end of an era.What a player he has been forthe country and world crick-et...He will finish with noregrets on the field,” saidGanguly.

“He is leaving the gamericher from the time hejoined,” added Shah.

The Board stated thatDhoni “changed the faceof Indian cricketwith his calmdemeanour, sharpunderstanding ofthe game andastute leadershipqualities.”

Turn to P4

Gurugram: Former Indiaopener Chetan Chauhan (73)has been put on ventilatorsupport at the Medanta hospi-tal here after a multi-organ fail-ure. Turn to P4

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

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

0����1�.%��&2�0.��##%03%���1�����'������0���0%0��4�&�����0�

%����������������������&������������� ��������������������

��0��03�5�4�#%���&��$%4���#6&��0��3��0�&��������

������ �����������������

��0%#�1#�3��5�7�)�%))�)���0����)%8�)&��0�967�)�&���3�2�4�.�0�&)6.&��0

��0���%)�5%�)%&�)%������ ��0�

�6)%������0��1�##�2���6�&

�������������1�!#!���!1*'#�!

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

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

' ��"�������������������������� �$�� ����������%��������������� ��������������������� ��$���������(������ � ��������������������� ����(������������������)��� ��������*�������� �' ������������������$��������� �����������%�� ����������� ���*��������+����������,�� �������������$��-�������,����� ������������������� �,����"������������������������������ �� �����,��� .��'�������$�������������������������� �� ������%�����%����������'������� ������/��0������������������ ���� �� ��������� �� ������������� �������������� ��1���������2�����������������������

' ����������������������� �+���%����� ������������ ��$��������������������������� �����%��%���3�������������� ��������������!��� �' ���$��������� ����������������� �' ��*��������+����������4����$�����������5����3�����������*����������.�� ����������������������������������� ������������������������ �+���%����� ����*���������������� �����/��������������%��������� �������%������������������� ��6�%����������7��� ������)� �� �3����������������� ���������������������������������� �������������%�������������/8�������������� ���������������������� ����� �' �����%���������������������������������������� ��8�������%���������������"���������� ����������������� ������������5����3�����

3����������������� ������� �������*������ �%����������������� ������������������ ���� �����3������������������/����������� ��+����������������3����������������������� ���������� ����������� ��� �������� �����/������� �3�������� ������� ���*������������������������ ��������������������9:����� ��������������� ������������� ���������������/�%������� ���������������� ����� ���� ����������3��������������������������� ����� ������"�������%����������� �������������.��������������������������������������������� ���5����3������������������������������

5����3�������� ������ ������������������������3�����.��+��������������

' ����������������������������� �������������������� �������������� ��������������������� �,������������������������������������������������� ������� ������������3����� ����������������� ������������������������������������������������ ��,������%���������������

' ���������������������������������������������������������������� �' ������������������������ �� ��"���������������������� ����������� ����������� ������������������������ �' ��6����������,�����������4����$������������� ������������������������;<������ �������������������� �$���� �' ��6���������,������������������������� ��������� �)��������/� ��������� �������+�����������������0������������������������������� ������������� �+����,��� �������������������� �������������������������������������������������������������� ���������� ' ��������������� ������ ���������������%������� ������������������������ ��8 ���������+����'�����

' ����������������������������� ����� ��������������������� �������� ������� ���������������������� ������������������� ����������� ������� �2�������������������������������3�������+��������������� �������������������������3���� ������� �������������������������������� � ���������3������� �' ���������������������*����������������������� ������������������������� ���� ����������������(������������������������������ �3���� ������������������ ����*��������� ������������������������� ������� ������������%�� �' ��������-�������+�������������3���� ����������� �������� ���������������������������������������� �$���������� ������������������� ����������� ��������������������������� ���*��������� ���������,�� �����������!�� �������������������������

' ����������� ����������������������������������������!�� ���������������������������������� �$������������������� ��������� ���������������������!�� ����������� ������������������� ����������������������������������������������������� �����������"����� ������������������.���������������� ���� ����������������� ������ �������� �' ������� ��������������������/:�� ��������� ����%�������������$����������� �� ����������������������������������������������������������������������� �%�� �' �������������������)������������� ������������������������������������������������������������������� �!���������������������������

' ������������%�������� ��������������������������������%������������������������� �������������� �' ������������ ���������� ���������������������������������� ������������������������������ �����������%���%�%����������������� ����� �+���%����������������� ������������������� ������6������������;<�����������������������.����������%� �' ����%���������6�������������;<�������������� 3����������.���������������������������� �� �5 ��������������� ������� ��� �������������������������$����������������� ������������������� ����������6����.�����������������������������������������������������������������������������������������

����������������������������������������� ����������������������������� ����� �3��������������������������������������%�������

' ��������������������������� �� ���������� ��$����������������������%������������������ ��������������������� ������������������ �� �+���%������� ����� ���� ���������� �������������������������������������� �!����������������)�%���!���� �

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

New Delhi: Michael Jordanneeded a Scottie Pippen, so didLionel Messi with an AndresIniesta by his side and SureshRaina is that glue that admirably stuck aroundwith Mahendra Singh Dhoni inhighs, lows, and from Saturday,

in retirement.On Saturday, following in

the footsteps of his favouritecaptain and mentor MahendraSingh Dhoni, Raina announcedhis retirement from interna-tional cricket.

Turn to Page 4

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

��������� ����������������� ����������������� ���������������������������������� �������!�"� ����

A���$�<��. �()* ���""+, ���A!� �1� 0�� )$��B� ���8�!22��0�@�$

�"'!-)$"#,.����� ������������ ��������������� ���������� ���������������� ����!"���#$%���

###$%��&'��( $)��

�������+(!;�,��(�!��(!,<!��<�!#-�1���!*'�

:��� �!�,'#�-,��,1��%�-%

-���,��-�1����'1�!11��1

������/!��C�,-���1;1�����D��-#��

(;��,�-���#�-;�����!,�,���:-,�

�� �������������/� ��0������������1��0�����2����

E��$����.#�/"$$ 8�0$@//&90/�F����.2�/"$$ ��##�2�6���0� �"���) ��90/�F����.2�/"$$ F

Page 2: ˘ ˇˆ · 1 day ago · Gujarat 2,765. Gujarat has the worst Case Fatality Ratio at 3.6 per cent. It means for every 100 confirmed ... fauna flora. As per the minutes of its July

�What is Evil about?The show is really fascinating and is

much more than just a horror show. Whileon the face of it may appear to be aboutghosts and demons but it goes further thanthis. The way it has been written bycreators, Robert King and Michelle King,this is why I wanted to do this show, it goesinto a psychological space. It examines thequestion of how ‘evil’ and how it perpetuatesinto our world and what it means. This iswhat Season is about — a psychotic child— is it evil or some sort of possession? Thesequestions come up as well as how technologyget used in perpetrating evil. There arequestions that constantly bombard you —it is something that is outside of our realmor something that we can quantify andunderstand. This question gets played outin many ways here.�How was the experience of doing asupernatural show?

Doing a supernatural show is nodifferent than doing any other show exceptfor a few ghouls and goblins on the setsrunning around. The first time I was on theset, I was in the make-up room, the actorwho plays the demon in the show wasstanding in complete make-up — from headto toe — I was not expecting to see this andit was completely terrifying to look at thisghoul with a completely friendly voice thatsaid: ‘Hi Aasif, how are you’? It was jarringand bizarre. What is strange is that I nevergot to meet the actor behind the make-up.�How was your working relationship withthe co-stars?

I have a great relationship with KatjaHerbers and Mike Colter. Sometimes whenyou do a show like Evil, where there is heavycontent that is disturbing, the off-screenantics are much more light-hearted andthere is a lot of fun. We had a lot of fun.Luckily, we all get along and there are nodivas on the set except probably me. We havea text group and keep in touch even in ourhiatus. We bring in different qualities andhave good chemistry to the show.�Do you think the series finds aconnection with the viewers here inIndia?

There are so many supernatural storiesthat come out of India. When I got cast inthe show, one of the things that I spoke withRobert King were the stories that mygrandmother would tell me that she heardwhen she was a little girl about ghosts. Thereare so many such stories from India. It issurprising that there isn’t more horrorcontent on TV and films. I am hoping thatEvil is something that people will embracebecause at the end of the day it is also anentertaining show that brings up interestingissues.�Was acting always on the cards?

Yes, I wanted to be an actor since I was

11. There was nothing else that I wanted todo. Luckily my mother encouraged me andleft me alone just enough so that I could findmy way in this crazy business and find a levelof success. Acting, performing and writingwas not something that I chose, it came tome. Before I got married and had a son, twoloves in life were acting and peanut butterand I discovered both at the same time.

�You have done films, TV and stage. The medium you are most comfortable?

I can’t say that I am comfortable withone over the other. I have been veryfortunate to have gone back and forthbetween different genres like comedy anddrama and stage, TV and films. I have gotto do different things and this variety for meis what keeps things. I would never not wantto go back to the stage or not do films. Theyallow me to explore different aspects of mycraft. I started with theatre and have a lovefor it but I can’t choose.�Is there a character that you loved beingpart of?

One of the character’s that I lovedplaying was for a Netflix show — A Seriesof Unfortunate Events. I got to playMontgomery aka Uncle Monty, a larger thanlife British accented adventurer. This was oneof the most fun parts that I got to play onTV.�Usually Asians are typecast inHollywood. Where does this stem from?

This is changing. Hollywood suffersfrom many of the same ills that the rest ofthe world suffers from. For a long time, therewere no financial and economicopportunities seen in telling Asians andpeople of colour. Hollywood was run byWhite people so stories were about them.But this is changing now. We see a muchmore global storytelling. We have morestories being told from people of colour.There is more diversity behind the scenesand one sees that reflected on the screen.

����������*������ *������+ ,-.�/0/0 �� ��������

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

����������� ������ ����������������� ������������������������������������� �� �� �����!��"����#��� $����%&&'''(� �����)'&&%*'&&'*++���,,��������-�����).%/&�!��������-0$1����,�����#�%('&/'&�2��������)'&('%*3453''6*3455''����������7#����8�������$(&'�(&&!�����%�/�����92���:�;�����)����������10<!2<�=1<�;��� (�'';��)������������)���>���)��, �61�,�� �!����)��#����6�������������)��?��������8�� -�����)*��.�����!��!������#�������.�@ �<������8�� %((�'&��A���������)'+((%(/*�**/�(/*�***�(/*�**+�

‘Show is more than just about ghosts & ghouls’�����3���������������� ����

�����7$$&$"���8/ ���$�"�$2$"�$"0$���.�2$0����$2��/�$�������������� ������ 7���$B�$"����7� ��7$�0/�$��/���$�����00/�2/�$ ���/�1����G1������"9�!���������/�/8�8�"��"��@�"�$ �����7��� $=$��$���������$@ /��$ ��7$"��7���/����2$�&�")��/�$�0�/��$ �8/ ����/���8�=$�.$� �H

��$"�%�2���1�� ����/���/8�0� �/���.���&$����$���/�7�$��$ �@/���/8���$�����$���0��$8��"��=������.�/ ��/)$��$ ����&����1�����7���I��0&��/� $2�.J�3:/ ��/�$�/8���$���0��$8��7$������$����294���$�@ /��$ �7�/���=$����� $$�.$� ���)$�)�2�@$�7$$"��$���0/"8$��$���/�$���")��@/�����$� $����/"���2�8/ ���$�=$ .�8� ������$�/"�$�$=���/"9�1����1����J�3���=$�"$=$ �$"��/"$�������@$8/ $��@���7$6=$�"/���2/&$"�/�$�0��/��$ �8/ �����/")����8/� C8�=$�.$� �9!"�����7�����=$ .�����.� $��/"�@$0���$�/87��0���������22$"$�9���/ $�/"$�/81������"6��0/��0�94���$"�2 /@$��@.! 0��"��#� �"�1�")���1������"����$�8� ��$ J�3�����7��"6���/�$�"/ ����0/��0@//&9������7������$�@.�2��"���&�")�.0/��$0��")���$����0&$ ��8 /����$�@�0&�/8���$)/���2/��@/���$�6�0�29�!"��@$0���$��$��/ $�����@ /&$�������"��>���)��?94�!"��1�����7��

�2�$��7��������@ /��$ ��@$0���$�/8�7�/�������"��7���8 �0�� $���"���//&��@/���8/� �/"�����/��$��9���$�7/ ���7����1��������+������� �$��7��������#��"/��$��/"���"����$ $0��$��"��" ��.�@ $�&�@$0���$�/8������"0��$"�9������.��1��������$�J�3(���7�$"�7$8�"���.�)/��@�0&��/)$��$ ���/����$����$�+���$��/5�����&�5��"K�1����C1������"H4

!����$�@�"�$ �0/"��"�$���%�2�����&$�1�����7�$��$ ��$�� ��"$���/�@$�����")$ �/ ��$������*/��)�8�$�����$"�9��/�7��0��1���� $2��$���������$�"$=$ ��"�$"�$���/�@$0/�$����")$ 9�����$���$�@ /��$ ��7$ $�8/0��$��/"0/�2/��")�����0���/�2 $�$"����$� /�)��� �0&/8���$��/")��1�������$���/� $0/ ������"����=/�0$9�!"������/���22$"$���������$��0 ��0��/8��$��/")������� 7����22 $0���$���/��0����������7����"����$�������1������$"�����=/�0$��/�����"���$�8�"���=$ ��/"9��

���4�������������������1/".�1!(L������� ��� ��������$���/

7��"$�����$�$"� .�/8����$"�$�.����$"�$�� ����$���"/+�<��"�����7�/�����$���/�$���.

��$� /�$�/8����$��)�����") .��0�/ ��!+�.%��� 9���$���/7�������/���/70��$��/0�������$���� /�)����$�$.$��/8�8/� ��."���07/�$"�2/��0$�/88�0$ ���"������0/"��"�$���/7�"�����$"0$�L��$� ���7����������)��C�$� �$�0/"�$"���"��2/7$ 8���2$ 8/ ��"0$��8 /����$0���9

�"/+�<��"�����7����$"�$ ������ ���8/ ���$��20/��")�$2��/�$������$� ��� /@!+�.�%��� ����8��/���(/��.7//���$ /&"/7"�8/ �����0/2�8 �"0���$��/=�$�9��$���

��") .�8/ ����$��)���$=$"�7�$"��$����"/���//��")��"�������7�.��7/ �$���@/������2�@��0����)$��"�������//&�9

!+�.�� �=$�������0&"/7��/���//��8/ �����20/��")�8�����"��/"�����7�.��#���2�>1/"�������&?���/2������=$��0�$�8/ ���=�")�$�=��.���"�$��)����$���"��8�"$�����9������/$��"/��)/�7$���7����!+�.��"������� $�����/87��0���$���������$��#���2��8/ ���/22�")����0� 9�!8�$ �@$�")���������$��@.���$��0�/ �#���2���$0��$���/�I�����$ �+/@9�-"���$�/��$ ��"���19�9-9����$$"��>*��&��5/���?����$ �"8/ ���$=$ ./"$��������$.���=$�@$$"�)�=$"��$� $�2/"��@����.�/8�!+�.�%��� 6���$0� ��.����$�7����@$���//��")��"�8 /"��/8���$� ������#/��0$����"�9�����$�������1� ��"����$�$����$���7����!+�.�%��� 6����"� �������$�������/"�7������&$��� ���$ ��$ �/����� "�7�$"��@/�@��� $���2����!+�.6����8$���� ��&9

�������22$"��"$B���"���/7�7������$$"������&��"���$ ��$�����=$�!+�.%��� M���$��20/��")�$2��/�$����=$�������$�"�

�������4������� ��������<���2$�,��������"��"������=$�@.

$"/7"$���� $0�/ ��"��2 /��0$ ��# �&���

5���������/�$) /7"�"���"��22�������0/���8/ ����$"���� /�)�������2�$�=��$/���� �")2���8/ ���""/�"0$������"���/"7��$����"0��/��.9�"��"����$�2���/���&$����$"���0���@�$�"����2���8/ �� $����.��00$���@�$�8/

$=$ ./"$����$���$��8/ �0 $���")�������22�2 /��$�9

"���0/�"� .�7�����/ $����"��9 �@����/"2$/2�$����&�")����2�0$��"�(/��.7//��/ ��"./��$ �2$ 8/ ��")�2���8/ �������������"�� $���8/ ���".9��/")�I�$�$��/�����$0����")��)$"0�$���0/�2$����/"��/"�������0 $$"����=$��$8�"��$�.��$�2$����".��/���&$��$� �� $����0/�$�� �$9������2$ ����$"0$/"$�0�"�)$��������/"�9��/7$=$ �� $����.��/7���0/�2$����/"���"��������/"����=$�$�2$��/"�.���������0��"&�/���/8���$���".7���$�0/�"��$���0/"��"�$��/���2� $�8/ $0/)"���/"��"��8��$H�

</��$"��")�/"���$��22����"0��# �&����5�������J�3!�7��$�)�2�������$B�����8/ ��/�$�2 /8$���/"����7�/�� $��"�/����/���+/@��"��0�""/�����"���"��/")�I�$�$��/ ���/)�� ��8/ �������/"��@���� $�$B� $�$�.����$"�$�9/ $/=$ ���"������$ ��/7"���./�")����$"���� �=$�8/ ���������"�@�$��"0/�$��7���$���$� ���$"����&$����@�0&��$����@$0���$�� �=$���")������$�7�.��/���@���7���/�����0� $$ �@�0&�2�����@�)��$��9�"�$ $���")�.�� � ���"�������/������0��@ �)������$"���7�/�0�"� ��$��/�8��$��8�)�=$"���0��"0$9�(�������.��� $�����"���2� ���/"��/8�$"���$���$��/���0&�/8��� $�$=�"�2���8/ �9��/�@ ��)$������)�2��"���/� $���)�"$���/ $�0/"=$"�$"��7�.�/8�@�����")��2���8/ ���/����2��.��"���2/�����$"�����$0/"0$2��/8�������22�7�$ $�2$/2�$�0�"���� $=��$/���"�����"����0��"0$��/�@$�"/��0$��@.2 /��0��/"��/��$���"���� $0�/ ���8 /����$0/�8/ ��/8���$� ��/�$���7�����$��$���7/.$� ��@�0&��# /=���")������)$��� /�)���"�22������8� ���/8�����&�"���"������=$��"�"���94

���������������������������1/".��"�$ ���"�$"���$�$=���/"6������

�� ���0/��")��2�7������=$ .��2$0����� �0&�/"��$�/00���/"�/8������"�$2$"�$"0$���.7��0��7������=$�!"�"�������$=�"����/&��".������&��"��$��9���$�� �0&����0���$�"�$2$"�$"0$���.�12$0����N������������9���7����@ �")��/���)�������&6��$B2$ �$"0$�"���$� "�")�8 /��1��9�

��$���/7�������7�.��@$$"�/"$�/8���$�"0�/ ��/8�1/".��D�@$0���$�/8���$�"�$ $���")���/ .���"$��"��=����@�$��$�0��")�/8�1��������� $���/7"��"�$=$ .�� �0&9!���$"0$��"��1��������� � $��7� $�/8���$���$�7�$"�1����$���/&��".������&��"�������=$ .�2/2��� ���/ .�8 /��1�����������9��$� �0&�7����@$����8���.���/70��$���$�7�.���"7��0��1���2 /�$0���2$/2�$�7�/���/7�8������"�����"����/7$ �������/=$��"��@�$���")�9

1�� �")�����$B0��$�$"��/"�@$�")���2� �/8���$���/7�!"�"���������3�L��@$$"�) $��$B2$ �$"0$��"��/22/ ��"��.��/�@$���2� ��/8$ $�1�����/79�����) ��$8����/���&$ ��8/ 0/"���$ �")��$��/�2��.�������$)$"�� .0�� �0�$ �/8�L�/&���".������&L9������� �0&�����=$ .�2/2��� ���/ .�8 /��1��0�� �� �9����=$���/��$� ��/8��������/ .��� �")��.�0�����//�9����� ��"���&"/7�/8�$�0�/��$ ���"0$���=$ .�/")����$�@���"$=$ �)/����$�0��"0$��/�7/ &�/)$��$ 9�����������$� �)���/22/ ��"��.��/��/������"����/2$�=�$7$ ��7������&$������� �0&91����"���/&��".������&6��@�$"���� "$��/����/@$����� "�")�2/�"���"�����&6����8$9��7/��� $���.�7�"����$�0� $"��)$"$ ���/"O���$�./����/�&"/7���$���)"�8�0�"0$�/8������� �0&9�3

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

��!������-�(�!��!<�-,�1�<��

�!1���9����,���!1�-���*���1����!���!������-��-9

�'<%�;�;�-���,��<-',!*����

!�����:����!�-��5'1����-'*��1-��!���<-'���:��;��!;�����1<,!P;�('1��11!���:���!���D��

-:�1'<<�11

������������

9��;�����<���������=��9�9������������������%&1#�->�03��;�0����=�8��)'���0$�7�)�8�&��'��03���(%��'��4%�����*������)����&%���!?�+

The film right at the start letyou know that while it isinspired by true events none

of the situations or the events thatunfold are true. In other words, itis a work of fiction. Despite this bitof disclaimer, the movie directed bySharan Sharma will keep oneengrossed till the last minute. Thereare several reasons that makesGunjan Saxena: The Kargil Girl aninteresting and must watch.

First, the story itself. A fatherwho wants his daughter to fly highcome what may.

A father who thinks that if hisdaughter wants to give up on herdreams and end up marrying, he haslost the fight. A father, despiteknowing the reality of life, giveswings to his daughter who onlywants one thing is life — to be apilot.

Second, the way the story hasbeen written by Nikhil Mehrotraand Sharan Sharma, it is simple yet

the way it keeps one glued in, is justbrilliant. The director really didn’tneed his characters to shout fromthe roof top to put their pointacross. He does this very subtly yetthe delivery is powerful. In fact, itis the dialogues that are the mainhero of this story.

Third, Janhvi Kapoor as GunjanSaxena suits the role to a T. As thegirl whose sole purpose in life wasto become a pilot after a visit to acockpit of a commercial airplane,she is brilliant. She neither over norunder plays her character. She justglides through it with flying colours.

But the main backbone of thisfilm is Pankaj Trpiathi who playsGunjan’s rather indulgent fatherwho supports his daughter’s dream.Take this dialogue of his: Planeladka udhaaye.. yaa ladki dono kopilot hi bolte hai. It makes one rootfor this guy. One wishes that thereare more such fathers in real life too.The subtle manner in his he delivershis thought-provoking dialogues isamazing. He plays his part withaplomb.

Manav Vij, Vineet Kumar Singhand Chandan K Anand do fulljustice to their roles as well.

.-������-��� ��

;�0����=�8��)�1#�%����3�

�#�0���6)� �4

-� ���8$����8���$��7����0/�/� 8���/�$"��9�</�/� ��$B2 $����"�� �"�����$�/��/"���"���/�$"���/8

/� ���=$�9���&$� $����/70��$��$"$ ).�) $$"�$B2 $��$��8 $��"$����@��$���/7�� �"I������.9�-=$ ����$�2����8$7��/"������$�$�/00���/"����=$�@$$"�2���/"�2���$N�@���"/7����������$��/�@ �")���$�$0/�/� 8����/�$"���@�0&9�

�$�����$�@� &��/�@ �")�@�0&���$�����")�0/�/� ��"�/�/� ���=$���������������$�/� $C�"� /��0$�/� �$�=$���/���$���)�0�/80/�/ ���"���������8/ ��������$���"����$�9

�� �B��@/ "��"�!�$ �0���@ �")��/"$�/8��$��/��$���� $"��")��$0�"�I�$���"���$'"��$��1���$�J���� �#��"��")9���$���)�0�/8�����"$7��$0�"�I�$���������������/7����$

��� ��.������/���$���$� ���"����/�@�$"���)���)�����$���$���.��/�0 $��$�$"��$��2/���@�����$�9���&$��"�� �����N�7������� #��"��")���� � $��$ ��0�"��$�$0��7�$ $��/��$�0/�/� ��/�@$����������$�"$$���/8�$=$ .2$ �/"9���������/���) $���0�/�0$�8/ �0��$"��7�/��/�"/��7�"������)�����"�$"�"0$�//&N���$�2��"�$���//&��������2��/���7$$&��������)���)�����/�"/���/�0�� //��9�����������""/=���=$��$0�"�I�$���� �B@ �")���������$��$����/"�2��$��$�/8�"���L��/���0����$��8/ �����$��7����1/�</�/ <�"�.�</��$0��/"9���$�$��"�I�$�� $"�.����$��/8�0�/0/���$���2������)/�����"� $���� $����C���$�8�=/� ��$���"�"���������$.@�������//����@$����8��������C���$"��/"��0/�/� 9��

:��� ���������04�����8����%��!�%���0��>�03��;�0�����6%)�=�03'�;6#���()�20'��%#%0�60&'��%�0�(%�0'�()��0�;��5�&�'�@�1���:�.�#�.*��&%���A?�+

Agentle but potent drama around the WorldWar comes to you mostly in cepia shadessplashing many lives from Britain to Paris to

Germany and Poland and of course Nazi Germany.A well put together series not heavy on Army

brass, battle ops, or strategies, not even heroicsurvival escapes by gritty Allied soldiers. The beautyof this one is that it soaks in the plight of thecommon men, women and children hit by the War,torn apart in anguish, regret and helplessness of thesituation exploding around them.

Lives of a snobbish elitist mother and her groovyand handsome translator son, an outspoken andbeautiful club singer and a Polish beauty thrown intoa love couple to form a poignant triangle held toransom by circumstances, many emotions punctuatethis gritty drama series which has come to SonyLivfor the Indian territory just when the originalcreators PBS are gearing up for a much awaitedseason 2 of this British series.

It is 1939, the marauding Germans are marching

on, tearing apart Poland and Belgium with ruthlessvigour.

Series writer Peter Bowker has done well to fleshout all the ordinary day to day life stories of ordinarypeople with extraordinary care. His three mainprotagonists are well fleshed out complementing thesituation they are trapped it with a bottle full ofnuanced emotions, making the series very effectiveand very relatable.

The old world charm of the people of the 40sgives an added glow to the poignant proceedingswhich tie up with each other so seamlessly that theseven episodes never really allow you to pause forbreath.

A must see.

'����������&����������

=�� �����@ ��0%4B��&�&�)>�03������46&�;�552�#'������#%%$���C%)��'�006�=�8��)'��������0��&&'�����0��=65)�'��8�0����)5����&%���/ /?�+

This is probably the first time that fans of VidyutJammwal will see the actor not show hismuscles nor take off his shirt to show his six-

pack abs. Interestingly, director Faruk Kabir hasgiven the actor a role where Jammwal underlays whathe is usually known for — go after the baddies withguns blazing or more like showing his martial arts.

Not that one misses him without his shirt orshowing his moves. The story may be a bit datedwhen the director had sat down to write it butgiven the present situation, it is fitting. The falloutof the lockdown has led to many people losingtheir jobs. They may be desperate to take whatevercomes their way. But desperation makes one takewrong decisions. Khuda Hafiz is a case in pointand while this is a movie, there is a lesson here.

Jammwal as the husband looking for his wifewho goes missing has done a good job. Hisperpetual confused look though doesn’t sit too well

on him. We know him as a man who is always incontrol; to see him unable to grasp what ishappening around him is strange. His expressionsduring the near panic attack when he learns thathis wife has wound up in human trafficking findsan emotional connection instantly.

This is what makes this movie retable. Theemotions, the panic and the feeling of helplessnessthat one gets from being in a country wherelanguage is a barrier comes very organically heremaking it real.

Kudos to the director for getting his actor toplay this out well.

.-������-��� ��

!�������������=�����7����

���;������:���%&1#�->�03���;�5�%���--'�;��%8��9�)��0��%��&&'� �5�0�D6%�����C�.$����&%���/ /?�+

The film’s synopsis tells you thatit is a superhero film. But if oneis looking for a Marvel or DC

Comic book like superheroes here, oneis going to be extremely disappointed.If one were to closely look at what asuperhero film should have, this onewill fall short on many counts.

Directors Ariel Schulman andHenry Joost may have tried to give asuperhero spin on the premise thatthere is a pill that gives peoplesuperhuman powers, but the truth iswhat there is very little shown thatactually talks about the superpowersthat this wonder pill is supposed togive.

Also, there is no explanationabout how the whole thing startedexcept for some cryptic references thatare through via a couple of dialoguesright towards the climax.

For the majority of the film, onewonders what the pill is about andwhat the fuss is all about. However,there are a couple of things that will

keep one interested. The actionsequences are really good. Second,Dominique Fishback as a school girlwho gets caught up with things thatare beyond her control plays her rolerather well. She keeps one entertainedall through. Jamie Foxx as a father whois chasing the baddies who have herdaughter shows some great moves.

If one is looking for a movie whichhas some good action, what this one.

.-������-��� ��

*//���0��/"C�� ���$

Page 3: ˘ ˇˆ · 1 day ago · Gujarat 2,765. Gujarat has the worst Case Fatality Ratio at 3.6 per cent. It means for every 100 confirmed ... fauna flora. As per the minutes of its July

����������*������ *������+ ,-.��/0/0

0

�������������� ��������

Aproject to connect India'sover six lakh villages with

optical fibre network wasannounced by the PrimeMinister Narendra Modi onIndependence Day. The PMalso said that the project will becompleted in the next 1,000days.

Besides, a high speed inter-net connectivity via submarineoptical fibre cable will beextended to Lakshadweep inthis period, he said.

In his address to the nationon India's 74th IndependenceDay, he pointed out that onlyfive dozen panchayats in thecountry were connected withoptical fibre cable by 2014, theyear his government came topower for the first time.

In the last five years, 1.5lakh village panchayats havebeen connected with opticalfibre cable, Modi said.

He also announced that anew policy on cyber securitywill be unveiled shortly, sayingthe nation's dependence onthe cyber world has increasedin the changed circumstances,an apparent reference to theupheavals brought in by theCOVID-19 pandemic, and thatthis has spawned its own dan-gers to development and econ-omy.

He said the country is wit-nessing expansion of roadsand internet at unprecedentedand rapid speed, from thepeaks of Himalayas to islandsin the Indian Ocean.

"In the next 1,000 days, allvillages in the country will beconnected with optical fibre,"

he said, adding Lakshadweeptoo would be connected withsubmarine optical fibre cablewithin this period.

Modi recently inauguratedthe first ever undersea opticalfibre cable project forAndaman and Nicobar Islandswhich will provide high speedbroadband connections in theunion territory at par withservices in the mainland.

He had laid the foundationfor 2,312-km Chennai-Andaman and Nicobar Islands(CANI) connecting submarineoptical fibre cable project onDecember 30, 2018.

"Our country has morethan 1300 islands. Work is onto start new development pro-jects in some select islands,considering their geographicallocations and importance in thethe nation's development," hesaid.

“Road network andInternet connectivity is nowexpanding at an unprecedent-ed pace; be it in Himalayas orIndian Ocean islands," he said.

Enhanced digital connec-tivity has proved to be of bighelp, especially in including vil-lages in India's developmentjourney, he said.

Our priority has changedwith circumstances, the primeminister said, outlining hisgovernment's focus to boostcyber connectivity.

Referring to the digitalIndia, he said the importanceof the mission has been realisedduring the COVID-19 pan-demic. “In the last month only,transactions worth about Rs 3lakh crore took place throughBHIM UPI alone," he said.

����������������������

Following the Covid-19 pan-demic, the Red Fort lawns

that were usually filled to thebrim on previous IndependenceDay celebrations, saw manyvacant seats this year with theattendees wearing masks andmaintaining social distancing.

The Independence Dayevent at the historic Red Fort,where Prime Minister unfurlsthe tricolour and delivers aspeech to the nation, was scaleddown this year. Around 4,000invites, a quarter of the usual,were issued to officers, diplo-mats, local leaders and others.Senior-most cabinet ministerswere seated on the upper dais.

Guests, security staff, VIPs,all were sporting masks as pre-scribed under the safety norms.Some guests were even seensporting designer masks to addto the uniqueness of the event

that embraces the 'new normal'brought in by the coronaviruspandemic.

Still, a number of seatsacross all enclosures remainedempty. A security official saidthey expected that a few seatswould remain empty consider-ing the Covid-19 situation.

"The number of inviteeswas one-fourth the normal.Still, lesser number of peopleturned up. Adequate arrange-ments were made to ensurephysical distancing and masks,sanitisers and gloves providedto all the attendees," he said.

A kit containing a mask, asmall bottle of hand sanitiserand a pair of gloves were kepton all chairs which were posi-tioned at a distance of 6 feet tomaintain the prescribed dis-tance. A hand towel was kept onthe back rest of the chairs alongwith the programme pamphlet.

School children, whowould attend the event dressed

in the colours of the nationalflag, were missing this time.Instead, 500 NCC cadets wereinvited to the event.

Prime Minister NarendraModi, who would often ventureamong the schoolchildren andshake hands with them at theend of the event, said, "Today,our children are not here withus. The pandemic has halted allof us."

Colourful carpets in enclo-sure and aisles contrast seatingand walking areas, and postersbearing social distancing normsmessages like 'keep six ft dis-tance', 'wear a mask', dot thevenue.

Delhi has been one of theworst-affected cities in thecountry as far as the spread ofthe virus is concerned. The totalnumber of COVID-19 cases inthe national capital has crossed1.5 lakh, while 4,178 people have died due to theviral infection.

� �4�%�%0&��&��%����)&�#�2�$%4��11��)�2�&��5�04���.�0&��%�&��

/����� ���� ���� �!�������������� ��� 0�1$�������

New Delhi: Prime MinisterNarendra Modi on Saturdayunveiled an ambitious NationalDigital Health Mission underwhich every Indian will get ahealth ID that will ease access tomedical services and alsoannounced that the countryplans to produce COVID-19vaccines on a mass scale oncescientists give a green signal.

In his Independence Dayaddress, Modi said the health IDwill store every individual''smedical records and the mission

will herald a new revolution inthe health sector.

"From today, a major cam-paign is being launched in whichtechnology will play a big role.The National Digital HealthMission is being launched today.This will bring a new revolutionin India''s health sector and itwill help reduce problems in get-ting treatment with the help oftechnology," he said.

"Every Indian will be givena health ID, which will work aseach Indian''s health account,"

Modi said, adding that it wouldease problems faced by citizensin getting healthcare access.

The health mission wasrolled out on a pilot mode in sixunion territories - Chandigarh,Ladakh, Dadra and NagarHaveli and Daman and Diu,Puducherry, Andaman andNicobar Islands andLakshadweep.

The National HealthAuthority (NHA), the apex cen-tral government agency respon-sible for the implementation of

Ayushman Bharat PradhanMantri Jan Arogya Yojana, hasbeen given the mandate by thegovernment to design, build,roll-out and implement the mis-sion in the country.

The health ID will containinformation about medical data,prescriptions and diagnosticreports and summaries of pre-vious discharge from hospitalsfor ailments. The mission isexpected to bring efficiency andtransparency in healthcare ser-vices in the country.

Modi also asserted that the"indomitable will power anddetermination of 130 crorecountrymen will make us winover corona".

He also said the country hasprepared a roadmap to ensurethat a COVID-19 vaccine reach-es everyone in the shortest pos-sible time.

He said three vaccine can-didates are in different stages oftrials in the country.

The prime minister saidwhenever there is talk of

COVID-19, the question thatcomes to everyone''s mind is -when will a vaccine be ready.

"I want to tell people, the tal-ent of our scientists is like thatof ''rishi munis'' and they areworking very hard in laborato-ries. Three vaccines are in var-ious stages of testing. When sci-entists will give us the green sig-nal, it will be produced on amass scale and all preparationshave been made for it," Modisaid in address.

PTI

�������������� ��������

Delhi Chief Minister ArvindKejriwal wished the coun-

try on the occasion of 74thIndependence Day, at an eventcelebrated at the DelhiSecretariat.

Kejriwal first paid tributesto the martyrs and freedomfighters who have sacrificedtheir lives for the freedom of thecountry.

It is the day of remember-ing people who, in the last 73years of freedom since 1947,made huge sacrifices for thenation on the borders to main-tain its sanctity and freedom.”

While also praising the twocrore people of Delhi for theirefforts in controlling Corona,Kejriwal said that it is becauseof the resolve of the people thatthe Delhi Model of battlingcorona is being discussed allover the country and around theworld.

“At the function, he also

announced the provision ofoxygen concentrators for regu-lating the oxygen levels of thepatients. Reiterating his stand onstrengthening the economy ofDelhi,” Kejriwal said, “Delhigovernment has taken and willbe taking various steps to get theeconomy back on track. He saidthat taking the step further, a jobportal was launched, reducedthe diesel prices, while resolv-ing the challenges being facedby industrialists. He also assured

the people that the subsidies ofthe Delhi government on elec-tricity, gas, water, etc will con-tinue in the future as well.

Due to Covid -19Pandemic,Independence Daywas celebrated at the DelhiSecretariat with the chief guestof the program being Kejriwal.Deputy Chief Minister ManishSisodia, Health MinisterSatyendra Jain, and all cabinetministers of the Delhi govern-ment, senior IAS, IPS officers

including MLAs attended theprogram. Besides, the sevenCorona warriors, who haverisked their lives in the line ofhelping virus-infected patients,were also special invitees at theevent.

“We pledge towards build-ing the India of the dreams ofthe freedom fighters who sac-rificed their lives,” Kejriwal said.

Congratulating the peopleon Independence Day, Kejriwalsaid, "Every year, this day, we

celebrate Independence Day,and today is the day of remem-bering the martyrs who sacri-ficed their lives for the freedomof our country. Shaheed-e-Azam Bhagat Singh,Chandrashekhar Azad,Ashfaqullah Khan, SubhashChandra Bose, and thousandsand lakhs of other freedomfighters who sacrificed a lot forthe freedom of the countryfrom Britishers. Today is the dayof remembering those peoplewho have struggled all their livesfor this freedom.

Mahatama Gandhi, BabaSaheb Ambedkar, Sardar Patel,Jawaharlal Nehru, and manyothers who sacrificed theircareers and families for thefreedom of the country.

Today is also the day ofremembering those people who,in the last 73 years of freedomsince 1947, gave huge sacrificesfor the nation on the borders tomaintain its sanctity and free-dom.

1���&������ ���������������������������� ��

�������������� ��������

Wearing a saffron andcream turban with a long

tail, the Prime MinisterNarendra Modi, continued histradition of donning flamboy-ant and colourful turbans onthe 74th Independence Daycelebrations held at the historicRed Fort in National Capital onSaturday.

The prime minister pairedthe 'safa' with a half-sleevekurta and a fitted churidar. Healso wore a white scarf with asaffron border that he used tocover his mouth and nose inview of the COVID-19 pan-demic.

Last year, Modi sported amulti-coloured turban as he

gave his sixth IndependenceDay speech from the rampartsof the Red Fort after returningto power for a second termwith a thumping majority.

For his maidenIndependence Day in 2014,he had opted for a bright redJodhpuri bandhej turban withgreen at the tail.

In 2015, he chose a yellowturban covered with multi-coloured criss-cross lines, anda tie and dye turban in hues ofpink and yellow in 2016.

The prime minister's tur-ban for 2017 was a mix ofbright red and yellow withcriss-crossed golden lines allover. He donned a saffron tur-ban for his appearance at theRed Fort in 2018.

�������������� ��������

On the Independence Day, 32Central Bureau

Investigation (CBI) officers havebeen awarded the President’sPolice Medal for DistinguishedService and Police Medal forMeritorious Service.

President's Police Medal forDistinguished Service has beenawarded to six officers, the PoliceMedal for Meritorious Servicehas gone to 26 officers, it said.

“ASP Prasenjit Roy, DeputySuperintendent of Police (DSP)Surinder Singh Bhullar, andHead Constables VijayGoswami, Vazir Singh, S Raviand Shyambir Singh have beenawarded the President's Medalfor Distinguished Service,”according to statement.

The recipients of PoliceMedal for Meritorious Serviceinclude DSPs Diwas Kumar, K.

Lokho Moses; Inspectors AshokKumar Jha, Manoj Kumar,Rajesh Bhonsle; ASI MaheshVasant Patil.

Head Constables BrijeshKumar Tripathi, ChandraShekhar Pandey, Kanwal KrishanPandith, Pradeep Kumar Dash,Ram Ratan Gurjar, Sanjit KumarRoy, Santosh Pralhad Mahajan,Shyam Chandra, Supriya KumarDutta, T Thirusarvanan,Uttamrao Nagorao Aagle,Budhdeo Oraon have also beengiven the award Police Medal.

“Constables Ajeet KumarSingh, Bhaiya Ranjan KumarSingh, Dalbir Singh, ConstableHem Chander Tiwari, JoginderSingh, Rayapa Raju Mantena,Pop Singh, and Private Secretaryin ACB, Chennai unit of theagency Vasantha Rangacharihave also been awarded PoliceMedal for Meritorious service,”said the statement.

�'������ �2����3���������4��������������5�� ��� ����

�������������� ��������

On the occasion of IndependenceDay, six Delhi Prison personnel

have been awarded service medals.Mohammad Aslam, Head Warder inDelhi Prisons, has been awarded thePresident's Correctional Service

Medal for Distinguished Services.“Deputy Superintendents

Raman Sharma and Prashant KumarVerma, Head Warders SanjayKumar, Ved Prakash and OmPrakash have been awarded theCorrectional Service Medal forMeritorious Services, an official

statement said.“The officials were given the

honour for their outstanding per-formance in reformative and reha-bilitative activities being run for thewelfare of inmates in Delhi Prisons,”according to the statement.

In her career of 24 years, Deputy

Superintendent Raman Sharma rig-orously worked for the reformationand rehabilitation of prisoners. Apartfrom this, she led her team to makethe surroundings clean under theSwachh Bharat Abhiyan. She alsotook an initiative to prepare a dramaclub with the name ‘Mein Saksham

Hoon' and under the banner, sheorganised Nukkar Natak raisingvarious social issues, the statementsaid.

Deputy SuperintendentPrashant Kumar Verma had joinedTihar Jail in 1998 and since then hasbeen working tremendously for the

prisons department. He was also theMember of the Committee consti-tuted by Home Department, GNCTof Delhi for framing long pendingPrisons Rules, which are now knownas Delhi Prisons Rules, 2018. At pre-sent, he is working in the capacity ofOfficer-in charge (Legal), Prisons

Headquarters, it said.Head Warder Ved Prakash, after

recovering from coronavirus, helpedthe administration and offered hisservice to guide and motivateCOVID-19 affected inmates fortheir speedy recovery, the state-ment said.

%#��E��5��%#��1�C�&&#�03�.�)�0������C%.�5%�.��%��&6�4����� ��<(�/88�0$ ��)$��# $Q�#/��0$�$�����

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

����� ����������������������������$��������>��8������������,��%����?�����

, ���'%������ 6��!����� ����� � ��� ����������� "�������� ������ *+���5,��� � ��������$��, ���- �� ��������& !, �����-�� ���� (��6��,����7���� �

.(��6��,����

Page 4: ˘ ˇˆ · 1 day ago · Gujarat 2,765. Gujarat has the worst Case Fatality Ratio at 3.6 per cent. It means for every 100 confirmed ... fauna flora. As per the minutes of its July

������������������*������ *������+ ,-.�/0/0

New Delhi: Jharkhand ChiefMinister Hemant Soren onSaturday appealed to the Boardof Control for Cricket in India(BCCI) to organise a farewellmatch for Mahendra SinghDhoni in Ranchi after the for-mer India captain announcedhis retirement from interna-tional cricket.

In two tweets that he post-ed on Saturday in Hindi, Sorensaid: "MS Dhoni, who hasgiven the country andJharkhand countless momentsto be proud of, today retiredfrom international cricket.

"We will never be able tosee Mahi, our beloved son of

Jharkhand, in the blue jersey ofIndia again. But the people ofthis country have not yet hadtheir heart's fill."I would like tosee a farewell match for ourMahi in Ranchi which will beseen by the entire world. Iappeal to the BCCI to organ-ise one farewell match for Mahiwhich will be hosted byJharkhand.

"While the BCCI paid trib-ute to the 2011 World Cup win-ning former captain after hemade his announcement on hisInstagram handle, it did notspeak of any plans for a farewellmatch."Former India captainMahendra Singh Dhoni has

announced his retirement frominternational cricket. The boyfrom Ranchi, who made hisODI debut in 2004, changedthe face of Indian cricket withhis calm demeanour, sharpunderstanding of the gameand astute leadership qualities,"said BCCI in itsstatement.Dhoni posted a videomontage containing imagesfrom various points of hisinternational career on hisInstagram account. "Thanks alot for ur love and supportthroughout.from 1929 hrs con-sider me as Retired (sic.)," hesaid in his caption to the post.

PTI

��������� ������� ���*�!P!(!�

The GDA has always upliftedits obligations, our employ-

ees and officers have workedvery hard to deal with the dis-aster during Covid 19.

This was expressed by Ms.Kanchan Verma, vice chairmanof the Ghaziabad DevelopmentAuthority. She was addressingstaff and officials after hoistingthe flag at the GDA campus. SHesaid that the way migrant labor-ers had gathered in Ghaziabadduring Covid.

At that time also our officersand employees fulfilled theirresponsibilities with utmost sin-cerity.

Apart from the provision offood and drink to the migrantlaborers, our institution alsomanaged their living. GDA ViceChairperson while wishing theIndependence Day India festivalsaid that it The country is verygreat, its culture is equally great.

On this occasion, keeping inmind the guidelines issued inconnection with Covid-19,Independence Day celebrationswere organized and social dis-tance was followed. In thissequence, GDA SecretarySantosh Rai said that soonCovid-19 will recover our coun-try and the track of developmentwill run as before. Finally, Prasadof Bharat Parv distributed as adessert to all the employees andofficials present in the GDAcampus.

"�$2$"�$"0$��.�0$�$@ ��$�7����) $���Q$���"�*�!

New York: For the first time,the tricolour was hoisted at theiconic Times Square here onSaturday to celebrate India's74th Independence Day. India'sConsul General in New York,Randhir Jaiswal hoisted theIndian flag during a specialcommemoration of theIndependence Day at TimesSquare, organised by theFederation of IndianAssociations (FIA), the leadingumbrella diaspora organisa-tion in the US.

Deputy Consul GeneralShatrughna Sinha, FIAChairman Ankur Vaidya, FIAveteran and prominent Indian-American physician SudhirParikh, renowned entrepre-neur, philanthropist and com-munity leader H R Shah, for-mer FIA Presidents AlokKumar and Srujal Parikh andother senior officials from theorganisation and other com-munity groups were joined bya large number of people fromthe Indian diaspora for the

commemoration.Addressing the gathering,

Jaiswal said Prime MinisterNarendra Modi has outlinedIndia's way forward and theaspirations to build a newIndia, and "we are committedto taking our country forwardon the basis of those aspira-tions."

Jaiswal added that the cel-ebration of India'sIndependence Day "is as mucha celebration of friendship withthis beautiful country."

He lauded the FIA fororganising the "historic event"when the Indian flag wasunfurled for the first time inTimes Square.

Vaidya said with theunfurling of the tricolour atTimes Square, history has beencreated.

A large number of people,dressed in traditional Indianclothes and wearing masks,joined the celebration.

Waving the Indian andAmerican flags, the people

shouted slogans of 'Bharat MataKi Jai', 'Vande Mataram' and 'JaiHind'. The American nationalanthem was sung, followed bythe unfurling of the Indian flagand the singing of the IndianNational Anthem.

The crowd erupted in hugecheers and applause as theIndian tricolour was hoisted inthe heart of Times Square,alongside the American flag,commenting that it was indeeda proud and historic momentfor all.

Former FIA PresidentsAlok Kumar and Srujal Parikhsaid it was a historic momentfor the Indian community thatthe tricolour was unfurled forthe first time in Times Square.

"It is indeed a proudmoment for all of us," they said.

The Federation of IndianAssociations (FIA) of the tri-state area of New York, NewJersey and Connecticut hassaid the Indian IndependenceDay celebrations this year willinclude the flag-hoisting cere-

mony at Times Square and theannual tradition of illuminat-ing the Empire State Buildingin hues of the tricolour -orange, white and green.

"The Times Square flaghoisting ceremony is a testa-ment to the Indian Americancommunity's growing patrio-tism and is a fitting tribute toFIA which is celebrating itsgolden jubilee year," the FIAhas said.

Established in 1970, theFIA is among the largest

umbrella diaspora organisa-tions.

The FIA annually organis-es its flagship event - the IndiaDay Parade to mark India'sIndependence Day in August.

Top US political leaders,lawmakers as well as prominentmembers of the Indian-American community andcelebrities from India haveparticipated in the annualparade that draws a crowd ofthousands in the heart ofManhattan each year. PTI

�)�.�#�6)�����&%���&���5%���D6�)%��0����&�)�.�� �4�.%#%C)�&��0�

8������ ���� ! ����������,������(�����9:��������'����

Melbourne/Beijing/London:Indians across the world onSaturday celebrated India's 74thIndependence Day by hoistingthe tricolour and singing thenational anthem and patrioticsongs while wearing masksand adhering to the social dis-tancing norms amidst theCOVID-19 pandemic.

Thousands of countrymenin New Zealand, Australia,Indonesia, Singapore, China,Bangladesh, Nepal, Pakistan,Sri Lanka, the UAE, Israel andseveral other countries markedthe day with the national flagfluttering high and the nation-al anthem reverberating atIndian missions abroad.

In Beijing, Indian ambas-sador Vikram Misri hoisted thetricolour at India House wherea large number of Beijing-based Indian diaspora attend-ed the Independence Day cel-ebrations.

Addressing the gatheringafter the flag hoisting and read-ing President Kovind's addressto the nation.

The Indian HighCommissioner to the UK,Gaitri Issar Kumar, hailed the"loving bridge" of globalIndians that rallied round dur-ing the coronavirus lockdown

to help fellow Indians in needas she led Independence Daycelebrations in London.

Her message, whichreflected on Prime MinisterNarendra Modi's reference tothe Indian diaspora as a "LivingBridge", also highlighted theimportant role played by peo-ple of Indian origin as well asthe Indian High Commissionin London during the pan-demic.

The envoy, who tookcharge as the Indian envoy tothe UK recently, went on tolead the Independence Daycelebrations with a flag hoist-ing ceremony at India House,broadcast live via Facebookgiven the COVID-19 restric-tions.

She delivered the address ofthe President of India, RamNath Kovind, at an eventattended by a small group ofHigh Commission diplomatsand officials.

Israeli President ReuvenRivlin congratulated India onits 74th Independence Day ina video message, saying, "maythe deep friendship and part-nership between our nationsand people continue to growand flourish".

PTI

�������������� � ���� �5,������������51;

From Page 1In combination with silver,

Ebselen treats five clinically dif-ficult-to-manage antibiotic-resistant Gram-negative bacte-ria. Several clinical trials haveproven its safety for use inhumans.

Juan de Pablo and his stu-dents set out to developdetailed models of the enzymeand the drug. Using thosemodels and sophisticatedsupercomputer simulations,they discovered that the smallEbselen molecule is able todecrease Mpro’s activity in twodifferent ways.

“In addition to binding at

the catalytic site of the enzyme,Ebselen also binds strongly toa distant site, which interfereswith the enzyme’s catalyticfunction by relying on a mech-anism in which information iscarried from one region of alarge molecule to anotherregion far away from it throughsubtle structural reorganisa-tions,” de Pablo said.

The finding is particularlyimportant because it helpedexplain Ebselen’s potential effi-cacy as a repurposed drug, andit revealed a new vulnerabilityin the virus that was previous-ly not known and that could beuseful in developing new ther-apeutic strategies againstCovid-19, according to reports.

From Page 1For instance, it expressed

its displeasure by pointing outthat “reptile Lithobates cates-beianus is listed in the EIA,which, in fact is an AmericanBullFrog that is found in NorthAmerica and invasive in manycountries but not found inIndia.

Similarly, Western RatSnake Pantherophis obsoletusis found exclusively in NorthAmerica. Podarcis muralis(common wall lizard) is foundin Europe and North America

and not in India. A scorpionspecies Typhlochactas mitchel-li listed in the EIA is endemicto Mexico.

Taking exception to suchgoof-ups in the report, thepanel head Dr Apte said, “Suchpoor quality work not onlyreflects poorly on NABETAccreditation process but alsoon NHAI for appointing suchpoor quality consultants.”

It is one of the main rea-sons for delays in consideringprojects, said the panel as itslammed the consultant for itsshoddy job, Dr Apte said.

As per the EIA notification2006, all new national express-ways require environmentalclearance at the Central level.

The area around which thisproject will come up has at least31 water bodies while the align-ment of the lanes will involvecutting of around 4,478 trees.

The project envisagesacquisition of private land(886.26 hectares), Governmentland (72.88 hectares) and diver-sion of 1.53 hectares of forestland.

The Union EnvironmentMinistry is facing criticism forthe Draft EIA Notification2020 which is in the finalstage. Green activists and polit-ical parties like Congress havesought its withdrawal sayingthat it further weakens thepublic consultation processand dilutes the law.

From Page 1On Saturday, once again

Maharashtra led both the num-ber of fatalities and new cases.The State saw 322 deaths,12,614 new cases, and 6,844recoveries, taking the totalnumber of cases in the State to5,84,754 including 1,56,409active cases, 4,08,286 curedcases and 19,749 deaths todate. Tamil Nadu saw 127 per-sons succumbing to Covid-19on Saturday (the highest deathtoll registered in the State in asingle day) while 5,860 newpatients were diagnosed withthe pandemic.

The death toll in the Stateto date reached 5,641 while thenumber of active cases as ondate showed 54,213. A totalnumber of 69,598 persons weresubjected to tests across theState. The day also saw thenumber of patients dischargedfrom hospitals after getting

cured of the pandemic reach-ing 2.72 lakh.

Though there was a feelingamong senior medical profes-sionals in the State on Fridaythat the situation had some-what plateaued in Tamil Nadu,Saturday’s count belied thatobservation.

Chennai, which has beenseeing a drop in the number ofnew patients for at least oneweek in a row, saw the numbersreaching 1,179 on Saturday.Chengalpet (376),Kancheepuram (184) andThiruvallur (422) continuedto be problematic districts.

Cuddalore (340),Coimbatore (290), Ranipet(260), Salem (200), Theni (213)were the other districts thattested a high number of posi-tive patients.

Karnataka biggest single-day hike registering 8,818 newcases (including 3,495 casesfrom Bengaluru Urban), 6,629discharges, and 114 deaths.

Total number of cases now at2,19,926 including 8,1276active cases, 1,34,811 dis-charges, and 114 deaths.

Andhra Pradesh onSaturday reported 8,732 newcases of Covid-19, down fromthe over-10,000 new infectionsthe State had reported for fiveconsecutive days last week andthree consecutive days in theprevious week. A State bulletinput the number of recoveriessince Friday morning at 10,414and deaths due to the diseaseat 87.

West Bengal saw 58 deaths,3,074 new e cases, and 2,647discharges. Total number ofcases rose to 1,31,432 including83,836 discharges, 27,219 activecases and 2,377 deaths.

Delhi reported 10 deaths,1,276 new cases, and 1,143 dis-charges/recoveries on Saturday,taking the total number ofcases to 1,51,928 and 4,188deaths.

In Kerala, seven persons

died of Covid-19 on Saturdayas the State recorded 1,608 newcases (the highest till date ),according to Minister forHealth KK Shylaja, who herselfis under quarantine with ChiefMinister Pinarayi Vijayan andsix other Ministers since Friday.

Out of the 1,608 newpatients, 1,409 contracted thedisease through the socialtransmission. Seven personssuccumbed to Covid-19 duringthe last 24 hours in Kerala.

The forecast made byShylaja that the State wouldexperience an unprecedentedincrease in the number ofCovid-19 patients is comingtrue. Kerala has been experi-encing hike in the number ofCovid afflicted persons withoutany sign of abatement. TheHealth Minister had told lastweek that the daily count ofCovid-19 persons would touch20,000 soon and there would bea corresponding increase in thenumber of fatalities.

From Page 1His last outing in India

colours was during the lostWorld Cup semifinal againstNew Zealand in July last year.

One of the best runnersbetween the wickets was runout following a hard-earned 50in that tense game, shatteringIndian hopes and leaving himin a state of disbelief.

Ever since he went on asabbatical after that match,speculation raged over hisfuture but he stoically avoideda response for over a year.

The reticent man fromRanchi will, however, go downas one of the finest to haveplayed the game for India,turning up for the country ina whopping 350 ODIs, 90 Testsand 98 T20 Internationals.

The last leg of his careerwas, however, marred by adrop in form, prompting sev-eral critics to question hisresolve to continue.

But he nevertheless signsoff as an ODI legend with10,773 runs, averaging morethan 50 despite batting betweenNo.5 and 7 for a major chunkof his career.

In the Test format, fromwhich he retired in 2014,Dhoni accumulated 4876 runsat an average of 38.09 and ledIndia to more wins (27) thananyone else before him.

However, runs are not theparameter on which Dhoni’scareer can be truly judged.

Considered a punter bysome and a master strategist byseveral others, it was Dhoni’scaptaincy, wondrous reading ofmatch situations and the jaw-dropping hand-speed behindstumps that had the cricket

world mesmerised.A leader even after he gave

up the official tag of the leader,Dhoni will be remembered asthe nonconformist, who maderisks look like well thought-outstrategy.

Whether it was handingthe ball to rookie JoginderSharma in the final over of the2007 World T20 or pushinghimself ahead of man-in-formYuvraj Singh in the 2011 50-over World Cup, Dhoni’sinstincts rarely failed him.

For the record, India liftedthe trophy on both occasions,propelling him to cult status ina country which remains hope-lessly in love with all thingscricket.

The IPL was also his happyhunting ground where he wasthe revered ‘Thala’, leading theChennai Super Kings to threetrophies.

The most significant ofthose titles came last seasonwhen the side made its returnto the event after a two-yearsuspension for its officialGurunath Meiyappan’s role inthe 2013 spot-fixing scandal.

CSK CEO KasiVishwanathan recently statedthat the big-hitting batsmanwill continue to play for thefranchise at least till 2022.

Dhoni spent the past yeartraining with his unit in theTerritorial Army, where he is anhonorary lieutenant colonel,trying his hand at organicfarming at his home in Ranchi,and occasionally hitting thenets to send the media and fansinto a tizzy.

His larger than life personawas also brought alive on thecelluloid by the late SushantSingh Rajput-starrer M SDhoni: The Untold Story.

The blockbuster film wasa rare insight into one of thegreatest cricketing minds of alltime.

Rajput was found dead athis Mumbai residence in Juneand his family is currentlydemanding a CBI inquiry intothe tragedy. PTI

From Page 1The 33-year-old is among

the few who made centuriesacross formats, having played18 Tests, 226 ODIs and 78 T20Internationals while scoring768, 5615 and 1605 runsrespectively.

He also has 36 ODI wick-ets to his name and 13 each inTests and T20Is.

One will remember that 34not out against Australia atAhmedabad during the 2011World Cup, an innings that wasbridesmaid to Yuvraj Singh’sall-round heroics.

In the semi-final of thesame tournament, the unbeat-en 36 was pure gold dust butSachin Tendulkar’s scratchy 85still remains in our collectiveconscience.

Some things in life are justmeant to be and Raina, thequintessential supporting actor,was probably one of them.

The 33-year-old left-han-der from Ghaziabad, a meanwhite-ball master in his ownrights, probably knows thatthe train called ‘Team India’ hasleft the station and he will notbe able to add on to his 18Tests, 226 ODIs and 78 T20Internationals.

But he did hold his own ina significant number of match-es as his seven hundreds acrossthree formats (only one amongthree with KL Rahul and RohitSharma being the other two)and nearly 8000 (7988 to beprecise) international runswould suggest.

Add to it 167 catches and

a rough estimate of 1000 runssaved on the field in the pointand cover region, Raina didwell while having serious tech-nical limitations, which pre-vented him from playing morethan 18 Test matches.

But again, if Greg Chappellsaw a raw talent in the boyfrom Lucknow Sports College,Dhoni knew how to use him.Playing for Chennai SuperKings and becoming probablythe most consistent IPL playerssince inception made him abetter India player.

The skipper knew that ifIndia played mostly in thesub-continent, an aggressiveplayer like Raina would be anasset with his running betweenthe wickets and ability to hit thespinners with ease.

There were two signatureshots of Raina which fetchedhim plenty of runs. A whip orlofted on drive in the arcbetween long-on and deepmid-wicket and the inside outlofted shot over extra cover thatwill either be a six or a onebounce four.

One of the better players ofspin bowling, on his day, hecould murder the slow bowlerswith precision footwork.

It helped that he battednumber three at CSK for mostof his career while in theIndian team, it would often benumber five, where either hecame in when the top-ordercollapsed or for a tricky finalfew overs.

The understanding withDhoni grew while batting inthose tough overs and for a bet-ter part with five fielders out-side the 30 yard circle in one-dayers.

From Page 1The former two-time MP

from UP’s Amroha had testedpositive for Covid-19 inLucknow earlier. On Saturday,Chauhan, who has served inthe Delhi & Districts CricketAssociation (DDCA) in variouscapacities, was airlifted fromthe Sanjay Gandhi PGI hospi-tal in Lucknow to the MedantaHospital in Gurugram.

Confirming the develop-ment, the PRO of the MedantaHospital said that Chauhanhas been put on life supportafter being airlifted fromLucknow on Saturday and hiscondition is critical but stable.

0���F�������

��0%#�1#�3�5�7�)

�6)%��

��0���%)

%��������222 � ���222

Page 5: ˘ ˇˆ · 1 day ago · Gujarat 2,765. Gujarat has the worst Case Fatality Ratio at 3.6 per cent. It means for every 100 confirmed ... fauna flora. As per the minutes of its July

����������*������ *������+ ,-.��/0/0

3

���� ��������

Two years after the flagshipAyushman Bharat scheme

was launched, Prime MinisterNarendra Modi on Saturdayrolled out the much ambitiousNational Digital Health Mission(NDHM) from the rampart ofthe Red Fort on Saturday whichwill have four key features —health ID, personal healthrecords, Digi Doctor and healthfacility registry.

This ID will be applicableacross states, hospitals, diagnos-tic laboratories and pharmacies.

The NDHM is a completedigital health ecosystem com-prising personal health IDsfor every Indian, digitisation ofhealth records as well as a reg-istry of doctors and healthfacilities across the country.

At a later stage, the IDs willalso include e-pharmacy andtelemedicine services, regula-tory guidelines for which arebeing framed.

The platform is voluntary

as it will be up to an individ-ual to get enrolled on the appwhile the health records will beshared only after authorisationby the individual. Similarly, itwill be up to hospitals and doc-tors to provide details for theapp, a senior Health Ministryofficial said later on.

The Digi Doctor optionwill allow doctors from acrossthe country to enrol and theirdetails, including their contactnumbers if they want to pro-vide them, will be available.These doctors will also beassigned digital signatures for

free which can be used for writ-ing prescriptions, according tothe official. The Government,however, feels the utility of theapp will ensure widespreadparticipation.

The NHA, the implement-ing agency for AyushmanBharat, has created the plat-form, which will be available inthe form of an app and website.

The Union FinanceMinistry has already approveda budget of Rs 470 crore for theproposal, but the final NHAproposal may not seek morethan Rs 400 crore.

The Government’s NDHMreport outlines the outcomesthat have to be achieved. Keyoutcomes include providingeasy access to electronic healthrecords to citizens, using longi-tudinal health record data, apatient’s health records andstandard protocols to preventunwarranted tests, and ensuringprivacy of personal health dataalong with consent-based accessto electronic health records.

New Delhi: An anti-drone sys-tem developed by the DefenceResearch and DevelopmentOrganisation (DRDO) wasdeployed near the Red Fort onSaturday on the occasion of the74th Independence Day.

The DRDO-developed sys-tem can detect and jam microdrones up to 3 kilometres anduse laser to bring down a tar-get up to 1-2.5 kilometresdepending on the wattage oflaser weapon, officials had ear-lier said. It can be an effectivecounter to increased drone-based activity in the westernand northern sectors of thecountry.

Earlier, Prime MinisterNarendra Modi had urfurledthe national flag and addressed

the nation from the ramparts ofthe Red Fort. He said that it wasan occasion to remember free-dom fighters who laid downtheir lives for the freedom ofthe country.

“Congratulations and bestwishes to all the countrymenon this festival of IndependenceDay. The sacrifice and theresolve to free the country of

lakhs of sons and daughters ofMaa Bharati is the reason for usbeing able to breathe in inde-pendent India today. This is aday to remember the sacrificesof our freedom fighters. This isalso a day to show gratitude tosecurity personnel includingthat of Army, paramilitary andpolice ensuring our safety,”PM Modi said.

The Prime Minister alsoremembered freedom fighterand spiritual guru Sri Aurbindo(Arvind Ghosh), on his birthanniversary. He referred to therestrictions due to Covid-19and said children, the future ofthe country, were not at presentat the celebrations and alsorecalled the tireless contributionsof corona warriors. Agencies

���� ��������

Prime Minister NarendraModi on Saturday said

making the agriculture sectorand farmers self-reliant was akey to make India“Atmanirbhar” (self-reliant).By drawing parallels with soapor cloth manufacturers whowere able to sell their productsanywhere at will, Modi saidthat even after over sevendecades of Independence,farmers did not enjoy the free-dom to trade their commodi-ties beyond local mandis.

Explaining his point whileaddressing the nation on the74th Independence Day fromthe ramparts of the Red Fort,Modi said items like soap,clothes and sugar are sold any-where in the country irrespec-tive of the place of manufac-turing. “Many people are notaware that my farmers were notallowed to sell produce outsidetheir local mandis,” he said,adding that there was a bound-ary defined for farmers to selltheir commodities.

“All those restrictions haveended now. Now, Indian farm-ers can breathe freely aftermany years of the country’sIndependence. They can sellproduce not only in India butalso abroad at own terms,”Modi said.

As part of the relief pack-age to deal with the impact ofthe COVID-19 pandemic, thegovernment amended theEssential Commodities act andintroduced The Farmers(Empowerment andProtection) Agreement onPrice Assurance and FarmServices Ordinance, 2020,allowing farmers to sell theirproduce outside mandis andenter into an agreement withprivate players and processorsfor sale of farm produce. Thesemoves are aimed at enablingfarmers to sell their produceoutside of local mandis.

The Prime Minister added

for “Aatmanirbhar Bharat”, thepriority is to make farmers andthe farming sector self-reliant.Towards this, he said theGovernment has taken sever-al measures including removalof marketing curbs on farmersand setting up of Rs 1 lakh agri-infrastructure fund.

Hailing the efforts of farm-ers in ensuring smooth food sup-plies during the Covid-19 pan-demic, Modi said, “There was atime we imported grains, buttoday our farmers are producingenough not just for India but alsofor those in need across theworld.” However, the Indianfarm sector needs to adapt itselfin line with the requirements ofthe world, he added.

The need of the hour is tomake Indian agriculture mod-ern with good infrastructure inplace for processing, valueaddition and better marketing,the Prime Minister said.Recently, the Rs 1 lakh croreagri-infra fund was created forthe welfare of farmers. “Withthis, farmers will be able to getbetter prices in the market.”

To increase farm income, hesaid the Government was focus-ing on reducing agri input costslike encouraging farmers to shiftfrom diesel pumpset to solarpumps besides promoting alliedfarm activities like beekeeping,fishery, poultry and others.

Modi also said the waySikkim has gained recognition asan organic state, Ladakh will beknown as a carbon neutral placeand the government is workinghard to achieve this goal.

��������������� 5!'

The 74th Independence Daycelebrations passed off

peacefully across Jammu &Kashmir on Saturday with nomajor incident of terrorist relat-ed violence getting reportedfrom anywhere in the region.

The standard Covid-19protection protocols were fol-lowed to ensure safety of all theparticipants and dignitariesacross these venues.

The main function washeld at Sher-i-Kashmir Cricketground in Srinagar where Lt-Governor Manoj Sinha, don-ning a ‘Gandhi cap’ hoisted thenational flag, inspected theparade and took the ceremonial

salute. Elaborate securityarrangements were in place toensure incident free celebra-tions.

In Jammu, Adviser to theLt-Governor KK Sharma hosit-ed the tricolor at the mini sta-dium in Parade ground.

Addressing the gathering,Lt-Governor Manoj Sinhaobserved that 2019Constitutional change has ledto 50 decisions to usher in anew era of normalcy and devel-opment in J&K.

He said, “We want to makedevelopment, peace, progressand social harmony the mostintegral part of the narrative ofJammu & Kashmir’’.

“It is my strongest andcherished belief that Jammu &Kashmir will immensely con-tribute to the realisation of ourdream of ‘Ek Bharat ShreshtaBharat’”, he added.

In his maiden speech, Lt-Gov Sinha also laid 5 principlesof his Government viz trans-parency in governance,empowering grassroots democ-racy, people’s welfare, acceler-ated development and creationof employment opportunities.

Giving details of theGovernment’s initiatives, theLt-Governor said that NewDomicile Rules andReservation Policy shall pro-vide equality and justice to thedeprived sections like WestPakistan Refugees, Pahari-speaking people, Safai-Karamisand women married outsideJ&K. Reservation policy is alsobeing made more effective andinclusive, he added.

He also expressed his grat-itude to J&K Police, CentralParamilitary Forces and theBrave Jawans of Military, whooffered the ultimate sacrifice to

ensure the integrity and free-dom of the nation, and ensurethat the citizens of the countrylive a secure and peaceful life.

Justice Gita Mittal, ChiefJustice of J&K High Court;Judges of the High Court;Advisors to the Lt Governor;Members of Parliament; BVRSubrahmanyam, ChiefSecretary; Dilbag Singh, DGP;former Legislators; senior Civil,Police and Army officers, polit-ical and social activists, promi-nent citizens, media personsattended the main function inSrinagar.

Impressive functions werealso held across different dis-trict headquarters whererespective DeputyCommissioners hoisted the tri-color. Flag hoisting events werealso organised at the tehsillevel, block level across Jammu& Kashmir.

�����0��������� '(!

Amid acute Coronavirus cri-sis in the State,

Maharashtra Chief MinisterUddhav Thackeray said here onSaturday that his Governmentwould accord highest priorityto provide quality healthcareand medical facilities in therural and the remote areas ofthe State.

Speaking at the mainIndependence Day functionafter hoisting the national flagat Mantralaya (State secretari-at) in south Mumbai, Uddhavsaid that the State Governmenthad set up 150 coronavirus test-ing laboratories in the State.

Expressing his gratitudetowards doctors, nurses, othermedical staff and police per-sonnel and also those takingcare of the cleanliness andhygienic needs who have beenworking day and night to curethe Covid-19 patients, theChief Minister said, “Theseare the real Covid warriors.They are serving with a sense

of dedication even during thistime. Citizens who have recov-ered from Corona are alsofighters. I appreciate them”.

“During the Corona peri-od, the police have performedtheir duty of maintaining lawand order. But in doing so,some police officers and staffmembers succumbed to Covid-19,” Uddhav said, while payingtributes to all thoseGovernment servants who suc-cumbed to the pandemic.

Maintaining that the mainobjective of this Governmentwas to make the farmers selfreliant, the Chief Minister said,“Farmers across the State getdebt-rapped constantly. We willmake efforts to rescue the farm-ers from debt traps “Under theMahatma Jotirao PhuleFarmers’ Debt Relief Scheme,nearly 29.5 lakh farmers havebeen made debt-free. We havedeposited Rs 18, 980 crore intheir accounts. This year, theState Government has pur-chased a record 418 lakh quin-tals of cotton, which is unprece-

dented in the last ten years”.Among other things,

Uddhav said that Maharashtrawas the first State in the coun-try to begin online education,the State Government haddecided to implement slumredevelopment schemes in allmajor cities of the State to ful-fil the dream of the poor com-mon man for a home and aspart of the unlocking process,50 to 60,000 industries hadresumed operation.

“In the industry sector,MoUs worth around Rs 16,000crore have been signed withinvestors from 12 countries,” he said.

Meanwhile, GovernorBhagat Singh Koshyari unfurledthe National Flag on the occa-sion of Independence Day at theCouncil Hall in Pune. DeputyChief Minister and GuardianMinister Ajit Pawar was presenton the occasion.

Mumbai Mayor KishoriPednekar hoisted the flag at theBrihanMumbai MunicipalCorporation headquarters in

the presence of BMCCommissioner IS Chahal andother top civic dignitaries.

Flag hoisting ceremoniesheld at the iconic ChhatrapatiShivaji Maharaj Terminus, atthe Konkan Rail Vihar in NaviMumbai, Western Railwayheadquarters, ChhatrapatiShivaji Maharaj InternationalAirport, the Army, Navy andAir Force stations in Mumbai,the Jawaharlal Nehru PortTrust and other parts of thestate, district collector offices,at prominent central and stategovernment institutions, pri-vate companies, villages, socialand cultural organisations.

The Independence dayfunctions were held at variouspolitical party offices, thou-sands of housing societies andresidential complexes acrossthe State.

Landmark public buildingslike the BMC Headquarters, theSiddhivinayak Temple, someGovernment offices, etc, were litup in the colours of the nation-al flag to mark the occasion.

������'��������� 9�����������������������4�� ����5��� ���������6� ���� �$#��������� ���� �������#����#�������� ���� �������� ������

�� ��� ��(��&��������������%�#�� � � ���������� � �� �� ,����(������������������& !, �����-�� ��������� '����� �&�� ����'������/�� 5�� ��� ��/ ������&��� �� ����� � �"�

��$�03��3)�.6#&6)%��%.&�)�%#1�)%#��0&����$%4�&��5�$%0�����&5�0�)C��)'���4����

'������������ �'����� �<�����"���� ����������� ��������������'�����������' ������-�� ���� ���� ������

'������������������������� ������� $� ������������� ���� ����� ��9<�����

%���5���� ���� �� � ��� ���,(,8� ���� �� ��( �)���

New Delhi: This year’s ‘AtHome’ reception at RashtrapatiBhavan was a relatively mutedaffair given the trimmed guestlist. However, all the power cen-tres of Lutyens Delhi were pre-sent. Also present was a selectgroup of corona warriors whoare fighting the pandemic fromthe frontline.

Vice President VenkaiahNaidu, Prime MinisterNarendra Modi and Lok SabhaSpeaker Om Birla, DefenceMinister Rajnath Singh, FinanceMinister Nirmala Sitharaman aswell as External Affairs MinisterS. Jaishankar were also present.

Among the other atten-dees were Chief of Defence StaffGen Bipin Rawat, Army ChiefGeneral Manoj MukundNaravane, Chief of Naval Staff

Admiral Karambir Singh &Indian Air Force chief AirChief Marshal RKS Bhadauria.

Keeping the raging pan-demic in mind, only selectcabinet ministers, dignitariesfrom the judiciary, bureau-crats, diplomats and hand-picked media personnel num-bering less than 100 were invit-ed to this year’s ‘At Home’reception. To put things inperspective, the guest list runsbeyond 1,200 in normal times.The VIPs visiting RashtrapatiBhavan were not allowed tobring their spouses, and thebuffet system was missing fromthe event in view of the Covid-19 pandemic.

Earlier speaking to IANS,a source informed that thefreedom fighters won’t be there

at the ceremony this time andfree interaction with VIPs won’tbe allowed. The event had anarrangement this time for fourpeople at a table in view of thesafety of the VIPs gatheredthere. For everyone, from thePresident and the PrimeMinister down to the help,wearing a mask was compul-sory. President Kovind wore awhite mask while FMSitharaman wore a blue one.Gen Rawat had on an olivegreen mask.

However, in spite of thestrict regulation of the guest list,this time there was a refreshingaddition of around 25 CoronaWarriors — doctors, head con-stables, hospital housekeepingstaff — who were speciallyinvited to the ceremony.IANS

������������������ ���!"��#��!�������

$7#� ������������������������������ �������8�&&��9�/�� &�

=����!��� �! ����� � �� ������ ����� ��������������� ������ � � �� ,��$��-�������$��-�� ����

�"�

���� ���� �� ������

Page 6: ˘ ˇˆ · 1 day ago · Gujarat 2,765. Gujarat has the worst Case Fatality Ratio at 3.6 per cent. It means for every 100 confirmed ... fauna flora. As per the minutes of its July

����������*������ *������+ ,-.��/0/0

���� ���� �� ������

������%�������/������-���� �!��� ��� �� ���%���-����2��� �����������3����� � �� �� ,������� ������� ����� ������ � ���� �������

%������ �!���������������

������%�����������> � ?� ����� � ���� �5,��

��=�����

%�����5@�������� �

( �)���$& !, ���

( �)���$& !, ���

����� ���� �!���������������

%�� !�������>��

%�� !�������>��

Page 7: ˘ ˇˆ · 1 day ago · Gujarat 2,765. Gujarat has the worst Case Fatality Ratio at 3.6 per cent. It means for every 100 confirmed ... fauna flora. As per the minutes of its July

$�%�&��'����������*������ *������+ ,-.�/0/0

London: British PrimeMinister Boris Johnson is pay-ing tribute to veterans of themultinational World War IIcampaign against Japan, whichformally ended 75 years agosome three months after NaziGermany had been vanquishedin Europe.

In an open V-J Dayanniversary letter releasedSaturday and addressed to“Veterans of the Far EastCampaign,” Johnson hailedthe courage of those whofought in Asia and the Pacific.

The six-year campaign costthe lives of some 50,000 Britishand Commonwealth troops,nearly half of whom perishedin brutal prison camps.

“You were the last to comehome but your achievementsare written in the lights of theglittering capitals of the

dynamic region we see today,”he said.

Following the surrender ofthe Nazis on May 8, 1945, V-E Day, Allied troops carried onfighting the Japanese until anarmistice was declared onAugust 15, 1945.

Japan formally surren-dered on September 2, 1945,but many Pacific War veteransfelt their efforts were not fullyrecognised and dubbed them-selves the “forgotten army.”

Johnson acknowledgedtheir war-time experienceshad been “overshadowed inpopular imagination by theconflict in Europe,” but hestressed that their service hadbrought World War II to anend and inaugurated a periodof peace and prosperity acrosssoutheast Asia that remainsintact to this day. AP

Bangkok: A student leader ofThailand’s anti-governmentmovement vowed to continuehis protesting after beingreleased on bail Saturday, a dayafter his arrest on a seditioncharge.

The arrest Friday of Parit“Penguin” Chiwarak came asthe government tries to dealwith a wave of pro-democra-cy protests, mainly consistingof students who have rallied in

schools and on campuses inmany Thai cities.

The students are demand-ing the dissolution of parlia-ment, fresh elections, a newconstitution and an end tointimidation of the govern-ment’s opponents.

Parit was defiant as hespoke to a crowd of journalistsand supporters after beingfreed by the Bangkok CriminalCourt. He had been allowed towalk free on condition he didnot repeat his alleged offenses.

He immediately spoke in

more provocative terms thanhe had at the July 18 protest forwhich he was charged withsedition.

Parit read out a list ofproposals for reforming themonarchy that was f irstlaunched at a university rallyon Monday, rocking the coun-try because public criticism ofthe royal institution is virtual-ly unprecedented and tradi-tionally taboo. It is unclear ifall members of the protestmovement support the pro-posals. AP

Minsk: They emerged dazed,shaken and in tears from thedetention centre in Minsk, to bemet by waiting relatives. Theydisplayed the black-and-bluebruises on their bodies, sayingpolice had beaten them merci-lessly. One teenager asked hisweeping mother to look away.

Authorities in Belarus havefreed at least 2,000 of about7,000 people who had beenpulled off the streets by riotpolice in the days following adisputed election that kept thecountry’s iron-fisted leader,

President AlexanderLukashenko, in power.

As they reunited with lovedones early Friday, they told ofbeing struck repeatedly withtruncheons, being threatenedwith gang rape and held amidharsh conditions and over-crowded cells.

The accounts are fuellingoutrage at home and haveEuropean countries weighingnew sanctions against officialsin Belarus.

“They were beating mewithout mercy,” Alexei

Shchitnikov told The AssociatedPress upon his release, his facedisfigured by bruises.

The 47-year-old companydirector displayed a cross drawnon his back, an apparent mark-ing by police that he should begiven rough treatment.

“They were behaving likebandits and real beasts,” headded. “The people will remem-ber Lukashenko’s ‘victory’ for along time.” Student Sasha Vilksshowed a reporter his legs andhis back deeply bruised fromtruncheon blows, but told his

weeping mother not to look.“They called us terrorists

and beat us severely on our legsand our backs,” the 19-year-oldtold the AP. “They would beatus first and then ask ques-tions.” He said he was kept lyingface down for hours in hand-cuffs and didn’t see the faces ofhis tormentors, who wore bal-aclavas.

Tatyana, a 21-year-oldbookseller who didn’t give herlast name because she fearedpolice reprisals, said she wasthreatened with gang rape. AP

Jacksonville: A Florida sherifffacing a primary contest nextweek was suspended fromoffice on Friday, a day after hisarrest in connection to a sexscandal investigation at hisprevious job, officials said.

Gov Ron DeSantis issuedan executive order removingClay County Sheriff DarrylDaniels from his elected posi-tion. Daniels turned himself into the jail in nearby Jacksonvilleon Thursday on a felony chargeof tampering with evidenceand three misdemeanor countsof giving false information tolaw enforcement.

Daniels previously workedas the Jacksonville Sheriff ’sOffice jails director. He waselected sheriff of Clay County,just southwest of Jacksonville,in 2016.

The Florida Department of

Law Enforcement confirmedan internal investigation lastyear into a corrections officerwho had been Daniels’ mistresswhile he was her supervisor.Officials said Daniels had triedto get the woman arrested inMay 2019 on stalking allega-tions, and investigators toldprosecutors there wasn’tenough evidence. The womanresigned while under investi-gation for misconduct claims.

Daniels posted a video onthe official sheriff ’s officeYouTube channel earlier Fridaycalling the arrest “dirty politics.”Daniels remains on theTuesday ballot, where he facessix Republican challengers.

The suspension does notprevent Daniels from running,but if he wins, the suspensionwill remain in place until thefelony case is resolved. AP

Washington: The US PostalService is warning states coast tocoast that it cannot guarantee allballots cast by mail for theNovember election will arrive intime to be counted, even ifmailed by state deadlines, rais-ing the possibility that millionsof voters could be disenfran-chised.

Voters and lawmakers inseveral states are also com-plaining that some curbsidemail collection boxes are beingremoved. Even as PresidentDonald Trump rails againstwidescale voting by mail, thepost office is bracing for anunprecedented number of mail-in ballots as a result of the coro-navirus pandemic.

The warning letters sent tostates raise the possibility thatmany Americans eligible formail-in ballots this fall will nothave them counted. But that isnot the intent, PostmasterGeneral Louis DeJoy said in hisown letter to Democratic con-gressional leaders.

The post office is merely“asking elected officials and vot-ers to realistically consider howthe mail works, and be mindfulof our delivery standards, in

order to provide voters ampletime to cast ballots through themail,” wrote DeJoy, a prominentTrump political donor who wasrecently appointed.

The back-and-forth comesamid a vigorous campaign byTrump to sow doubts aboutmail-in voting as he faces a dif-ficult fight for reelection againstDemocrat Joe Biden.

Though Trump casts hisown ballots by mail, he’s repeat-edly criticized efforts to allowmore people to do so, which heargues without evidence willlead to increased voter fraud thatcould cost him the election.

Meanwhile, members ofCongress from both partieshave voiced concerns that curb-side mail boxes, which is howmany will cast their ballots,have abruptly been removed insome states. At the same timethat the need for timely deliveryof the mail is peaking, servicehas been curtailed amid cost-cutting and efficiency measuresordered by the DeJoy, the newpostmaster general, who is a for-mer supply-chain CEO and afinancial supporter of Trumpand other Republicans. He hasimplemented measures to elim-

inate overtime pay and hold mailover if distribution centers arerunning late.

Officials in more than adozen states, including the pres-idential election battlegrounds ofMichigan and Pennsylvania, allconfirmed to The AssociatedPress on Friday that they hadreceived the warning letters.

“This is a deeply troublingdevelopment in what is becom-ing a clear pattern of attemptedvoter suppression by the Trumpadministration,” DemocraticVirginia Gov. Ralph Northamsaid in a statement.

“I am committed to makingsure all Virginians have access tothe ballot box, and will contin-ue to work with state and federallawmakers to ensure safe, secureand accessible elections thisfall.” Kim Wyman, theRepublican secretary of state inWashington state, where all vot-ing is by mail, said sending fallballot material to millions of vot-ers there is a “routine operationof the US Postal Service.”“Politicising these administrativeprocesses is dangerous andundermines public confidencein our elections,” she said in astatement. AP

Washington: In yet anotherscathing attack, US PresidentDonald Trump has claimedthat he has “more Indians” thanDemocratic presidential nom-inee Joe Biden’s running mateKamala Harris, who is of Indianand Jamaican heritage.

He made the remarks onFriday while addressing theNew York City law enforcementunion, the Police BenevolentAssociation (PBA), that hasendorsed the President in therace for the White House.

“(If) Sleepy Joe Biden wereto become President, he wouldimmediately pass legislation togut every single police depart-ment in America... And prob-ably she’s a step worse, Kamala.

“She is of Indian heritage.Remember I said I have moreIndians than her... I have morethan she does,” he added.

Referring to Massachusetts’Democratic Senator ElizabethWarren, Trump said: “I was sortof hoping he (Biden) was goingto pick Pocahontas... She’sanother beauty.”

“We got names for all ofthem. What’s better Sleepy Joeor Slow Joe?” the Presidentasked, having his crowd cheerlouder for the nickname theypreferred, reports Fox News.

In his address, Trump alsoattacked New York City MayorBill de Blasio, also a Democrat,and said he “has launched a cru-sade against the police”.

The President describedhow he watched a protestordump a bucket of water on twopolice officers and said, “I wish

they fought back”.Trump’s latest attack on

Harris came a day after he saidthat that the California Senator“doesn’t qualify” to serve as USVice President, while amplify-ing the fringe legal ‘birther’ the-ory that critics decry as racist.

“I just heard it today thatshe doesn’t meet the require-ments and by the way thelawyer that wrote that piece isa very highly qualified, very tal-ented lawyer.

“I have no idea if that’s right.I would have assumed theDemocrats would have checkedthat out before she gets chosento run for Vice President.

“But that’s a very serious...you’re saying that, they’re say-ing that she doesn’t qualifybecause she wasn’t born in thiscountry,” he was quoted as say-ing in a BBC report.

On August 11, Biden pickedHarris to be his running matefor the November 3 election, ina historic move that marked abreakthrough for Indian-Americans in US politics.

����%�5�)%�0���0�&��0�=�5�#����)658

Washington: President DonaldTrump on Friday gave theChinese company ByteDance90 days to divest itself of anyassets used to support the pop-ular TikTok app in the UnitedStates.

Trump’s executive ordersaid there is “credible evidencethat leads me to believe thatByteDance … might takeaction that threatens to impairthe national security of theUnited States.”

Trump last week orderedsweeping but vague bans ondealings with the Chinese own-ers of TikTok and the messag-ing app WeChat, saying theyare a threat to US nationalsecurity, foreign policy andthe economy.

It remains unclear what theTikTok orders mean for theapp’s 100 million US users,many of them teenagers oryoung adults who use it to postand watch short-form videos.

Trump on Friday also

ordered ByteDance to divestitself of “any data obtained orderived” from TikTok users inthe U.S.

Microsoft is in talks tobuy parts of TikTok.

White House press secre-tary Kayleigh McEnanydefended Trump’s earlierTikTok and WeChat ordersThursday, telling reporters hewas exercising his emergencyauthority under a 1977 lawenabling the president to reg-ulate international commerceto address unusual threats.

“The administration iscommitted to protecting theAmerican people from allcyber threats and these appscollect significant amounts ofprivate data on users,” saidMcEnany, adding that theChinese government can accessand use such data. TikTok saidit spent nearly a year trying toengage in “good faith” with theUS government to addressthese concerns. AP

4�&������4��4��������������:(�������

�����;����������(�����������:(�������&���������

Tehran: Iran’s powerfulRevolutionary Guard vowed onSaturday that there would bedangerous consequences forthe United Arab Emirates afterit announced a historic dealwith Israel to open up diplo-matic relations.

The UAE is the first GulfArab state to do so and only thethird Arab nation to establishnormalised relations with Israel,Iran’s regional archenemy.

The Iranian Guard calledthe deal a “shameful” agreementand an “evil action” that wasunderwritten by the US, accord-ing to the group’s statement ona website it runs, Sepah News.

The Guard warned that thedeal with Israel will set back

American influence in theMiddle East, and bring a “dan-gerous future” for the Emiratigovernment.

Iranian president HassanRouhani has also condemnedthe Emirati move. In a televisedspeech Saturday, he warnedthat the United Arab Emirateshas made a “huge mistake” inreaching a deal toward nor-malizing ties with Israel.

Rouhani warned the Gulfstate against allowing Israel tohave a “foothold in the region.”Iran’s foreign minister,Mohammad Javad Zarif, calledthe agreement a painful betray-al of Arab and other countriesin the region, during a trip toLebanon on Friday.

President Donald Trumpannounced Thursday that theUnited Arab Emirates and Israelagreed to establish full diplo-matic ties as part of a deal to haltthe annexation of occupiedland sought by the Palestiniansfor their future state.

The UAE presented its con-troversial decision as a way ofencouraging peace efforts andtaking Israel’s planned annexa-tion of parts of the occupiedWest Bank off the table.

But Israeli Prime MinisterBenjamin Netanyahu swiftlypushed back insisting the pausein annexation was “temporary”.

Trump has presented theUS-brokered agreement as amajor diplomatic achievementand said he expects more Araband Muslim countries to followsuit.

Israel has quietly cultivatedties with the UAE and otherGulf countries for several yearsas they have confronted a sharedenemy in Iran. AP

������� �� ��2���� �� �� � � ����<%A��� ����� �� ��

Washington: Taiwan finalized apurchase of F-16 fighter jetsfrom US aircraft manufacturerLockheed Martin on Friday, asource confirmed to AFP, in a$62 billion, 10-year deal almostcertain to anger Beijing.

The Pentagon announcedthe contract without specifyingthe buyer, but a source familiarwith the matter confirmed toAFP that it was Taiwan.

The self-ruled island —which China considers part of itsterritory — last year obtained thegreen light from Washington forthe purchase, which will allow itto modernize its defenses. AFP

���2�0�&��C64������,�1�3�&%)���5���03��03�&%0���0�2�&�����0����%8�)&

Warsaw: US Secretary of StateMike Pompeo on Saturdaysealed a defence cooperationdeal with Polish officials that willpave the way for the redeploy-ment of American troops fromGermany to Poland.

In Warsaw at the end of afour-nation tour of central andeastern Europe, Pompeo andPolish Defence Minister MariuszBlaszczak signed an EnhancedDefence CooperationAgreement that sets out the legalframework for the additionaltroop presence. “This is going tobe an extended guarantee: aguarantee that in case of a threat

our soldiers are going to standarm-in-arm,” Poland’s PresidentAndrzej Duda said during thesigning ceremony. “It will alsoserve to increase the security ofother countries in our part ofEurope,” Duda said.

The deal would also furtherother aspects of US-Polish coop-eration, he added, citing pri-marily investment and tradeties. The pact supplements anexisting NATO Status of ForcesAgreement and allows for theenhancement and modernisa-tion of existing capabilities andfacilities by allowing US forcesto access additional Polish mil-

itary installations. It also sets outa formula for sharing the logis-tical and infrastructure costs ofan expanded US presence in thecountry. Trump said in a state-ment that the pact was the cul-mination of months of negoti-ations with Poland.

“The agreement willenhance our military coopera-tion and increase the UnitedStates’ military presence inPoland to further strengthenNATO deterrence, bolsterEuropean security, and helpensure democracy, freedom,and sovereignty,” Trump’s state-ment said. AP

��&����������������:(�����&������&�<�&� ���������

)������� �����&����������������=������������������

�0���;� �4'��=���8�4��&)�C6&%�&��::�.�58��30F���%&%)�0�

D/7���/�&$$2��2�2 /�$��

4 ���������������������������

��� (�,'�

Ateam of FBI investigators isdue to arrive in Lebanon

this weekend to take part in theprobe of Beirut’s massive explo-sion, a senior US official saidon Saturday after visiting thelocation of the blast.

David Hale, US undersec-retary of state for politicalaffairs, called for a thoroughand transparent investigation.

�(�&%�5��))��%��&���2%%$%0��&��&�$%8�)&��0�(%�)6&�8)�C%

)� ������ ��� �6����$���� �� ��� �� ��� ������

Page 8: ˘ ˇˆ · 1 day ago · Gujarat 2,765. Gujarat has the worst Case Fatality Ratio at 3.6 per cent. It means for every 100 confirmed ... fauna flora. As per the minutes of its July

���� ��������

Covid-19 patients with car-diovascular comorbidities

or risk factors are more likelyto develop heart related com-plications while hospitalised,and more likely to die from theinfection, according to a newstudy published in the journalPLOS ONE.

For most people, theCovid-19 causes mild illness,however it can generate severepneumonia and lead to deathin others. “It is crucial forclinicians working with car-diovascular patients to under-stand the clinical presentationand risk factors for Covid-19infection in this group,” saidJolanda Sabatino of Universita

degli Studi Magna Graecia diCatanzaro, Italy, and colleagues.

They analysed data from 21published observational studieson a total of 77,317 hospitalisedCovid-19 patients in Asia,Europe and the United States. Atthe time they were admitted tothe hospital, 12.89 per cent of thepatients had cardiovascularcomorbidities, 36.08 per centhad hypertension and 19.45 percent had diabetes.

Cardiovascular complica-tions were documented duringthe hospital stay of 14.09 percent of the Covid-19 patients.The most common of thesecomplications were arrhyth-mias or palpitations; significantnumbers of patients also hadmyocardial injury.

The authors add,“Cardiovascular complicationsare frequent among Covid-19patients and might contribute toadverse clinical events and mor-tality.” “These findings unveiladditional prognostic elementsthat should be taken into account,in addition to age and gender, toinfluence the risk prognosticationand clinical management ofCovid-19 patients. “The associ-ation between the novel coro-navirus and cardiac complica-tions needs further explorationand clinicians should be awareof the potential impact of car-diovascular conditions andcomplications in Covid-19patients, which should requiremore extensive and frequentmonitoring,” said the study.

���� 5!'

Asenior Bharatiya JanataParty (BJP) leader Ashok

Koul on Saturday equated asection of mainstreamKashmiri politicians with“frogs” while observing thatsoon after the announcementof Assembly polls in Jammu &Kashmir these leaders willjump out of their home life‘frogs’ to join the poll arena.

Interacting with the medi-apersons after attending theIndependence Day function atthe party headquarters inSrinagar, BJP General Secretary(Organisation) Ashok Koulsaid, “Prime Minister NarendraModi has announced the elec-tions will be held in J&K andthere will be ministers and

chief minister. We too wantpolls to take place in J&K.Delimitation exercise is already on and when the entireprocess will end, Assemblypolls will be held”.

In response to a directquestion that some of themainstream leaders havealready announced that theydon’t want to contest polls,Koul said they had claimed thesame earlier too when pan-chayat polls were held. “Theydidn’t contest panchayat polls,but joined the poll fray in theParliamentary election. I betwhen the poll bugle for theAssembly will be blown, allthese mainstream leaders willcome out of their homes likefrogs and join the poll fray,”Koul said.

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

- �����:�� �� � B �� �� �������������� ���������������������!���2������

���0������0����� %-�%!�!

Tension ran high, houseswere looted and torched,

public properties were burntdown by rival outfits after a BJPworker was allegedly clubbed todeath by Trinaqmool Congressmen on Saturday in politicallycharged Khanakul block ofArambagh sub-division inHooghly district.

The incident came as anembarrassing coincidence withBengal Governor JagdeepDhankhar called the powersthat be to ensure violence freeelections in the State andpromised that there will be nobloodshed in the next year’sAssembly elections.

Chief Minister MamataBanerjee on the other handappealed for preserving thebasic principles envisaged bythe freedom fighters.

Cut to Hooghly: People leftthe neighbouring villages inhordes expecting more violenceafter the BJP called a dawn-to-

dusk Khanakul bandh onSunday.

Sources said violence start-ed in the politically volatileregion — which has been wit-ness to many a turmoil in thepast — over IndependenceDay celebrations after the twosides clashed with sticks,dag-gers and bombs. In the meleea 40-year-old BJP worker wasclubbed to death, State BJPleader Rahul Sinha alleged.

A dozen of houses weretorched, with two sides peltingbrickbats and bombs at eachother sources said adding twowooden culverts leading to aparticular village over a canalwere burnt down by the rivaloutfits. District Trinamoolleader Dilip Yadav howeversaid the incident was a falloutof a power struggle within thesaffron outfit which was aspir-ing to come to power in 2021Assembly elections.

District Superintendent ofPolice Tathagato Basu made ageneral statement saying, “A

clash broke out in Khanakul.One person has been killed. Aprobe into the incident is on,”adding total about 8 people hadbeen detained. Inside sourceshowever said two groups want-ed to hoist the flag at the sameplace leading to the clash. Alarge posse of police force hasbeen deployed in the area.

Reacting strongly to thesituation Bengal BJP presidentDilip Ghosh said “the TMCgoons are attacking and killingour men every day while thepolice are slapping false cases onthem … but this situation willchange next year as the peoplewill see another Independencefor Bengal coming.”

Elsewhere Dhankhar, whilehoisting the National Flag atGandhi Ghat in Barrackpore inthe northern fringes of Kolkatacalled for shunning violence inthe State.

Appealing to the powersthat be to ensure that democ-ratic values “are not compro-mised” he said “We must abjure

political violence and keepnation always first,” adding hewould ensure that subsequentelections were violence free inthe State.

“I appeal to everyone. Letus generate a climate that willgive an example to the entirecountry that elections in thestate of West Bengal are mostauthentic, genuine and freefrom any kind of violence,” theGovernor said.

“I have been trying for itfrom day one. And I can assurethis will happen. This is boundto happen. This is my consti-tutional obligation. I am work-ing harmoniously with every-one concerned to ensure thatdemocratic fabric is not taint-ed and stained and that it iskept sublime,” he said.

Reacting to his commentsState Minister Bratya Basu said“the Governor must have madesuch comments in reference tothe BJP-ruled States wheredemocratic values and humanrights are disregarded.”

Jammu: The recovery rate ofcoronavirus positive patients inthe Union Territory of Jammu &Kashmir has reached over 73 percent. On Saturday, as 734patients were discharged fromdifferent hospitals, the totalnumber of active positive casesalso fell below the mark of7,000 in the Union territory.

According to the mediabulletin, “Out of 28,021 coron-avirus cases, a total number of20,676 patients have fully recov-ered in Jammu & Kashmir anddischarged from the hospitals.The highest number of activepositive cases are admittedacross different hospitals inSrinagar and Jammu. At present1618 cases are active positive inSrinagar and 750 in Jammu,official sources said.

According to the mediabulletin, 532 new positive casesof coronavirus were detected inJ&K on Saturday. Out of this,108 cases were reported fromJammu division and 424 fromKashmir division, taking thetotal number of positive cases inJammu & Kashmir to 28021.Also 7 Covid-19 deaths havebeen reported; 02 from Jammuand 5 from Kashmir Division.

According to the mediabulletin, out of 28,021 positivecases, 6818 are Active Positive,20676 have recovered and 527have died; 41 in Jammu divisionand 486 in Kashmir division.The Bulletin added out of7,85,475 test results available,7,57,454 samples have been test-ed as negative till August 15,2020. PNS

���� ��������

Alleging that theGovernment’s “honouring

the honest” scheme is yetanother ‘amnesty scheme’ to“honour the dishonest”, theCongress on Saturday said theBJP’s legacy is amnesty schemesfor tax evaders and conversionof black money to white.

A couple of days afterPrime Minister Narendra Modiannounced the new taxationscheme and launched the‘Transparent Taxation -Honouring the Honest’ plat-form among other reforms,Congress spokespersonRandeep Singh Surjewala in astatement said, “Prime MinisterNarendra Modi re-publishedthe speech he delivered onFebruary 14, 2020. Except formanaged news headlines, PM’sannouncements ended upbeing a ‘Zero-Sum Game’.Income Tax arrears under dis-pute have increased by 129 per

cent in the last five years - andthe stark reality of Modi gov-ernment’s ‘TransparentTaxation’ is that income taxarrears have surged many fold.”

Citing the Budget 2020, theCongress said Rs 9,40,000 croreworth of ‘direct tax’ amount isunder dispute. Of this,demands related to corporatetax amount to Rs 4,88,000crore while taxes on incomeand other heads amount to Rs4,50,000 crore. In contrastthereto, direct tax arrears as onMarch 2014 were only Rs4,10,000 Crore, total increase of129 percent in five years.

The party said the demandsrelating to “indirect taxes” ofcommodities/services amountto Rs 1,69,000 crore, taking totaloutstanding to Rs 11,09,000cores. Is this “transparent taxa-tion” or “insurmountable taxa-tion”? asked Surjewala. Theparty in a statement said “targetbased” tax collection is the new“tax terrorism”. Due to the tar-

get based tax collection system,Income Tax Receivables (ITR)that are under dispute havereached Rs 6,23,539 crore(according to the documents ofthe interim budget 2019-20). Ofthese, taxes due by companiesor corporation tax, havetouched nearly Rs 4,00,000crore.

Questioning the govern-ment’s intention, Surjewalasaid, “Is announcing ‘threeamnesty schemes’ back to backhonouring the honest?Repeated voluntary disclosureschemes are only meant toserve the ‘dishonest’ at the costof the ‘honest’. These are con-vert “black money into white”schemes.”

The Congress said forGovernment that came topower promising to bring backRs 80,00,000 crore worth of‘black money’ from abroad,these ‘amnesty schemes’ exposethe jumlas sold to the people,he added.

�����0��������� '(!

In a significant development,Pune city-district with

1,27,518 Covid-19 infections –despite being smaller thanMumbai –on Saturday inchedcloser to Mumbai with total1,27,716 infections in terms ofthe spread of the virus, even asCoronavirus claimed 322 livesand left 12614 others infected.

In effect, the differencebetween Mumbai and Pune byway of infections was just 198cases on Saturday evening.

The number of daily infec-tions and deaths in Pune hasincreased substantially morethan a week now. So much thatPune with 73 deaths on Saturdayonce again topped the fatalist listin Maharashtra, followed by 60

deaths in Thane and 48 inMumbai in the higher bracket.In terms of infections, Punelogged total 127,518 infections,while the death toll in the west-ern Maharashtrian city rosefrom 3,057 to 3,130 during thelast 24 hours.

Mumbai, where the dailyfatality tally dropped below 50mark to touch 48, saw anincrease in the total deathsfrom 7,038 to 7,086 and thenumber of infected casesincreased by 1,254 to touch127,716.

With fresh infections, thepositive cases in Thane --where there has been substan-tial number of infections anddeaths since the beginning –rose to 112,638 cases onSaturday, while the Covid-19

toll increased from 3,240 to3,300 in 24 hours.

In terms of fatalities in othercities, there were 19 deaths inNagpur, 18 in Palghar, 13 inKolhapur, 10 each in Nashik andJalna, in the middle range. Onthe lower side, there were 9deaths in Raigad, 8 each inJalgaon and Sangli, 5 each inDhule and Beed, 4 each inSolapur, Ratnagiri, Aurangabad,Latur and Osmanabad, 3 inSatara, 2 each in Nandurbar,Sindhudurg, Akola andBuldhana and each inAhmednagar, Amravati,Bhandara and Chandrapur. Inaddition, one person fromanother state died inMaharashtra.

Meanwhile, with 322 freshdeaths reported on Saturday,

the daily pandemic toll eithertouched or crossed 300 markon the tenth occasion duringthe month of August inMaharashtra.

The average 300-plus dailydeath tally in ten days out of the15 days of August has come inshock for the state healthauthorities.

The month of Augustbegan with 322 deaths onAugust 1, which was followedby 300 deaths on August 4, 334deaths on august 5, 316 deathson August 16, 300 deaths onAugust 7, 390 deaths onAugust 9, 344 deaths on August12,413 deaths on August 13,364 deaths on August 14 and322 deaths on August 15.

������ ��������� %-<�

On Independence Day,1,608 new persons (the

highest till date in the State)were diagnosed with Covid-19in Kerala, according to Ministerfor Health KK Shylaja, whoherself is under quarantinewith Chief Minister PinarayiVijayan and six other ministerssince Friday. Out of the 1,608new patients, 1,409 contract-ed the disease through socialtransmission. Seven personssuccumbed to Covid-19 duringthe last 24 hours in Kerala. Theforecast made by Shylaja thatthe State would experience anunprecedented increase in thenumber of Covid-19 patients iscoming true.

�������(

���)*

����������*������ *������+ ,-.�/0/0

������ ��������� %-<�

Tamil Nadu saw 127 personssuccumbing to Covid-19

on Saturday (the highest deathtoll registered in the State in asingle day) while 5,860 newpatients were diagnosed withthe pandemic. The death toll inthe State till date reached 5,641while the number of activecases as on date showed 54,213.A total number of 69, 598 per-sons were subjected to testsacross the State. The day alsosaw the number of patients dis-charged from hospitals aftergetting cured of the pandemicreaching 2.72 lakh.

Though there was a feelingamong senior medical profes-sionals in the State on Friday thatthe situation had somewhatplateaued in Tamil Nadu,Saturday’s information beliesthat observation. Chennai,which has been seeing a drop inthe number of new patients forat least one week in a row, sawthe numbers reaching 1,179 onSaturday. Chengalpet (376),Kancheepuram ( 184) andThiruvallur ( 422) continued tobe problematic districts.

�%.��%)4�)�&%��1�.�)�0��8���&��%8�&�%0&���0�;G=�)%�.�%����%)�!HI

&�� � ���������� ���� ������1$C�D6������������� ���

��11)�0�5�0�.#6CC%��&��%�&���0�(;������.#���

>%*<'"�<:+�1;�$(%(+$;"%*�%)1%%��;""(

'&��� ��� �&��������=�������>8��������� ?�����

�"!��%�&����0���

�60%�2�&���'"!'/�A�.��%���0.�%��.#��%)&���65C���2�&���'"!'!�,��01%.&��0�

� !���88$ $"0$�/8�����0��$�@$�7$$"���@����#�"$����� $0/ ��� ����$�������������"8$0��/"�

� �/����1���$�8������.�����.��/�"���/����������/�����"8$0��/"�+��2$���/���������

New Delhi: Reliance Jio’s four-year-old telecom spectrumsharing deal with RelianceCommunications (RCom) isnot connected with the latter’spast statutory dues that pertainto the period prior to 2016when Jio wasn’t even in opera-tion, sources close to the com-pany said.

A Supreme Court benchhad on Friday sought to knowwhy Reliance Jio InfocommLtd (RJIL) must not pay adjust-ed gross revenue (AGR) dues ofReliance Communicationssince it has been using the lat-ter’s spectrum since 2016.

A source, refusing to bequoted as the matter is sub-judice, said RJIL in April 2016entered into a pact to share apart of the spectrum held byRCom and its unit RelianceTelecom Ltd (RTL).

The shared spectrum waslimited to the 800 MHz bandand was strictly in accordancewith the Department ofTelecom’s (DoT) spectrumsharing guidelines. RCom’s 2G,3G and 4G spectrum in 1,800MHz band are not beingshared.

The AGR dues of RComand RTL are in no manner con-nected with this shared spec-trum, the source said, adding

that the AGR has been paid byboth RCom/RTL and RJIL onthe revenue generated fromthe shared spectrum.

The AGR dues related to2G/3G business of RCom/RTLwhich it was carrying out priorto 2016, the time when RJILwas not even operational, thesource said.

Not just RJIL, even Airtelhad bought Aircel’s 4G airwavesin the 2,300 MHz band andVideocon’s 4G spectrum in the1,800 MHz band through thespectrum trading route in 2016.

The source said the quan-tum of spectrum used by RJILis around 38 per cent of the totalspectrum currently held byRCom. RCom continues tohold spectrum in 900 MHzband, 1,800 MHz band, and2100 MHz, which is not beingshared with RJIL.

Over 85 per cent of thevalue of the shared spectrumhas been already fully paid andrealised by the government.

Moreover, the right to use85 per cent of the shared spec-trum value is expiring in July2021.

Both RJIL and RCom con-tinue to discharge in full theirstatutory liabilities in respect ofrevenue from the shared spec-trum. PTI

-� �� �9:��5(���� ��� ��������� ��������� �� �!���%>(���������

New Delhi: State-owned PunjabNational Bank on Saturdaylaunched a campaign to encour-age customers to use digitalbanking channels.

Under the campaign ‘DIG-ITAL APNAYEN’, the bank willcontribute

Rs 5 towards the PMCARES Fund on behalf of eachcustomer conducting the firstfinancial transaction to activatetheir RuPay Debit card either onpoint of sale (PoS) or e-com-merce platform, PNB said in astatement.

The campaign launched bythe bank’s Managing Director SS Mallikarjuna Rao on the occa-sion of Independence Day is tillMarch 31, 2021.

It envisages to encouragecustomers to use digital chan-nels and participate in the noblecause of donating to the PMCARES Fund for COVID-19 byPNB, it said.

Highlighting the increasingimportance of self-dependenceon the occasion of theIndependence Day, Rao saidPNB would continue to play anintegral and indispensable partin the country’s journey towardseconomic progress and urged allemployees to help fulfil thedreams of an economicallyvibrant and inclusive India. PTI

��(�#�60.�%�.�58��30�&�8)�5�&%���3�&�#C�0$�03

��).)�1&��%��30%��0�)��1&�8�.#%�)����&�8���%�1�&%�&�1#�3�&Mumbai: An aircraft, whichwas developed on rooftop of aflat, has “successfully” per-formed the first phase of testflight, its designer and developerclaimed.

The aircraft would nowhave to prove a flight at a heightof 2000 feet in the next phase,Captain Amol Yadav, who hasbeen working for a fully ‘made-in-India’ plane for the past twodecades, said.

Yadav has designed anddeveloped the aircraft on therooftop of his house in the west-ern suburb of Kandivali inMaharashtra.

“I along with a technicianperformed the first phase of thetest flight of our aircraft and theplane made a balance flight.And it was a fantastic one,” hesaid.

In the first phase of theflight, the aircraft’s movementon the ground at a slow and afast speed, its capability to maketurns on ground for taxiwaysand bays, and proper applica-tion of brakes were checked.

“It was also checkedwhether the aircraft can main-tain a balance flight after tak-ing off the ground,” Yadavsaid. Aviation regulator DGCAhad granted the permission forthe first phase of the flight latelast year. PTI

Page 9: ˘ ˇˆ · 1 day ago · Gujarat 2,765. Gujarat has the worst Case Fatality Ratio at 3.6 per cent. It means for every 100 confirmed ... fauna flora. As per the minutes of its July

+),����-�����������*������ *������+ ,-.�/0/0

Fear is a state of mind thatcan be overcome, say thetwo staffers Harendra andPappu at the Nigambodhelectric crematorium in

New Delhi. For the duo, while thelast four months have been toughgiven the risk they take every daywhen it comes to handling the bod-ies of the COVID-19 patients thatcome to the ghat but the dead needa proper send off even if the bagsin which they come wrapped incan’t be opened as per theGovernment guidelines.

“How will we do our work if weget scared and fear the virus? Westare at death all the time. Yes, theCoronavirus has put fear in theminds of the people but not inmine. I was a bit apprehensive butthen I had to move past that fast.I got rid of it by burning it with theCOVId-19 bodies. The dead com-ing to the ghat needed a propersend-off. How would that have gotthat if we shirked our work ordecided not to do it?” 55-year-oldHarendra asks who hails fromBalia, in Uttar Pradesh.

He had come to the Capital in1990 on the behest of his father-in-law with a promise of a job. Formany years he worked making cal-enders with God and Goddess. Butthe work took toll on his health anddecided to work elsewhere. This iswhen his brother-in-law told himabout working at the crematorium.

“I took this job because it wassafer. At the calender making, I wasending up inhaling fumes and itaffected my health. I have two sonsand had to think about themdecided to work elsewhere. That ishow I ended up here. I like this job.Yes, some people give us strangelooks and think that what we do isweird, but each person on earth hasbeen chosen to do certain kind ofwork. This is what I have been cho-sen to do,” Harendra says who stayswith his family in Rohini andcommutes on his bike.

He gets �16,000 as salary.“Besides this, sometimes peoplegive us �100 or �200. But some-times, there are people who are sopoor that they can’t afford a prop-er cremation for their loved one. In

that case, a few of us at the crema-torium pitch and do the needful.Just because a person is poor does-n’t mean that their dead need to bediscarded,” Harendra tells you.

For a long time, the duo con-tinued to work without PPE kits.“We protected ourselves with whatwe had — a mask. There are somedays when we end up with noPPEs. But I don’t let that scare. I amdoing God’s work and I believe thatHe will protect me. Death is theonly thing that is certain when weare born. Why should one fear it?We are born, we will all die. Thatis the truth,” Harendra says.

For thirty-nine-year-oldPappu, fear was very real. “I wasscared and didn’t want to touch theCOVID-19 bodies that came ini-tially. The scare was what if I spreadthe disease to my family. I have amother, wife and three small chil-dren. What will happen to them ifI test positive or if they test posi-

tive? But humans are resilient. Wehave learnt to live with the virusand the fear that comes with it. Ihave done the same,” Pappu sayswho is paid �12,000 as salary.

There is a silver lining thatinvolves his work, he says. Lastweek he had got to know that hisname had been nominated for anhonour for this service during thelockdown period. However, hetells you that he has not got any let-ter stating the same. “It is goodenough for me to know at least myname was nominated,” he says, whohas kept soap and an antisepticsolution at the ghat. I take a bathhere before I leave for home. OnceI reach home, I take a bath onceagain,” Pappu says.

“Yes, the work that I do is risky,but how many people are honouredfor their work by the Presidenthimself? I am lucky that I have beenchosen for this honour,” Pappusays.

He used to drive a taxiin the Capital.However, a few yearsback, he had to take atough call when his

father who used to be the caretak-er at the Jadid Qabrastan Ahle Islamin ITO, could no longer carry outhis duties due to old age — whetherhe wanted to step into his fathersshoes. Meet Mohammad Shamim,the present caretaker who has tillnow buried over 550 people in the50-acres of the graveyard since theoutbreak of COVID-19.

His wife was not happy with hisdecision and did try to persuadehim otherwise given that they havefour school-going daughters. ButShamim was adamant. “I just feltthat this was the right thing to do.We are third generation caretakers.Mere dada karte thhe, phir merevalid aur ab main. When my fatherbecame too old to do the work him-self I had a choice. But I felt it wasmy calling. Not everyone gets theopportunity to ensure that man onhis final journey is sent with dig-nity and respect that he deserves.I like the work that I do. It bringsme peace. Every person deserves asend-off; I am just glad that I havebeen chosen to do so,” Shamimsays.

He tells you that the qabrastanwhere he works belongs to a privatecommittee and he is paid �100 foreach body that he helps bury. Butfor the COVID-19 bodies, he ispaid �1000 per day. Though theamount his not much, he says buthe gets by since there is other workthat he does at the graveyard.

While his committee doesn’tprovide PPE kits, it was muchlater that some journalists, somehospitals and even actor VidyaBalan after coming to know thatShamim was burying the deadwith no PPE kit provided him withthe necessary cover. But he tells youthat it is not easy to wear the kitfrom 9 am in the morning till lateevening.

“The doctors and staff workingin the hospital have better, theywork in an air-conditioned environ-

ment. My work entails me to be outthe whole day in the blazing sun. Itis not easy to wear the kit, the twomasks, gloves and a face shield anddig a grave when the temperaturesare touching 46° Celsius. First, it isextremely uncomfortable. Second,one can’t breath properly. It wasvery tough. But I had to get used toit,” he tells you.

When he didn’t have the kit, hehad to ensure that he kept his fam-ily safe. So he quarantined himselffrom his family in the house theylive given to them by the commit-tee. He shifted in a room that wasa few yards away. His meals wouldbe delivered to him and kept out-side the room.

“With no protection, I had toensure that my family was safe. Iwas a bit apprehensive to being withbut someone has to do this job andthat too with dignity and respect forthe dead. I did what I had to do formy family and did my work. Iensured that the grave was dug tospecification of three feet. I ensuredthat the body was lowered accord-ing to the specifications; I wouldthen place a stone on the body andthen the soil to finally cover thegrave properly. Sometimes, thereare people who don’t want to touchthe body and don’t know what todo. In that case, I do the work for

them while the maulvi reads the ,”the 38-year old says.

For the COVID-19 bodies, hetells you there is a different proto-col altogether. One can’t remove thebag in which they come in, nor canone clothe them or wash thembefore burying. “In such a scenario,we have to ensure that the other rit-uals are followed to a T,” Shamimtells you.

Though, it has been toughgoing but now that the deathshave reduced, he is thankful to Godfor his mercy. But he is unhappywith the way the administration hastreated him. “We are a privatecommittee. When I was told that Iwould be getting bodies fromGovernment hospital, I told themI needed extra benefit. But theydeclined and said it was theGovernment’s decision. The leastthey could have done was provideus with health insurance. But no,there is nothing for us. Here we arerisking our lives; we are warriorstoo. Has anyone besides a half adozen people done anything forthose who are giving the dead theirdue? No. But it will not stop mefrom doing my work. Now, I justpray to God that I never get to seewhat I have seen in the last fourmonths ever in my life again,”Shamim says.

���������� ��������� ����������

��$� �7/ &�����".���")�@���/ ��"� .��$"�� �")��������"�����$"��/"�����8�"���+/� "$.�7������)"��.��"�� $�2$0�9�(��<-D�C���0��")$������������"��7���$���$� $���/8���$�7/ �������0� $��/8������=� ������$�$��$"�0/"��"�$��/�7/ &�8/ ��/")�/� �� ��&�")���$��$�=$�9�1�!�� 1!%1��!�0��0�$���2�7�����/�$�/8���$�7� �/ ��7�/�8�0$��$����$=$ .���.

����$���".�/8����� $����������.�")�"�// ���"�/ �$ ��/�2 /�$0��/� �$�=$�8 /����$�2�"�$��0����������0����$�

�9�����&����=$��)�/@���.����$ $�� $��/�$�2$/2�$7�/�� $�2����")���$� ���=$���"����$� ��8�����$���� ��&������$.�8$ .�<-D�C���2���$"����/�/�2������/ ���$��$���8 /����$��/ ��� .��/��$�0 $����/"�) /�"���/ �) �=$.� ��9/�������1��������� $"� ���"��#�22�� $�"/����$�/"�.�/"$��7�/�� $�2����")���$� ��=$����� ��&9

!@����$&�1�� ����"������� �=$ �2� �"$ !"�/��1�� ������$��7/���@���"0$��"��$� �$�� �=$ ����=$�@$$"�7/ &�")�8/ ��/")�/� �����7$��9�

!@����$&�7�/�����@$$"�� �=�")���$

��@���"0$�8/ ���$�������7/�.$� ���$����./�������"��&$���/�$�7/ &�")������$�0 $���/ ������"�) �=$.� ����7�/����"L����=$�##����/�@$)�"7�������$.����������@���@$��$ ��"��7$ $2 /=��$����$�&����@.���$� �$�2�/.$ �9

3��$ $�7���"/�7�.������7$�7/������=$@$$"��@�$��/��/�/� �+/@�2 /2$ �.��"��"/���00��@��/���$�=� ����8�7$�7$ $�"/��7$� �")��$�##��9�-� �$�2�/.$ ��,�"��!�@���"0$1$ =�0$���)�=$��������/���9���$�/"�.�2 /@�$���������7$���=$��/�7$� ����8 /����$����$�/� ����.��� �����������$"��9�1/�$���$���7$�)$���@ $���$ �8/ ��"��/� �/ ��/���"��7$���&$����/88�4!@����$&���.�9

��&$�1��������$��//������I�� �"��"$�����$�8�8 /������8����.9����=$���/"$C.$� C/��

0�"6�� ��&��.�8����.9�-"0$������/�$��� $�� $�"�/�/"$� //����7�.�8 /���.�8����.9���/"6�7�"���/�)�=$��2��.�+/@�$=$"���/�)����$� ��&���"=/�=$�9���)�=$���$����$"�$�/8�2 ��$����������/�")�7����/��$ ����.�0/"���$ ��// ��&.9�:/ ����������7����")��/�2�.�2 �0$�N���.�")��7�.�8 /���.�@�@.��"���.�8 �$"��&$$2�")���$� ������"0$���$��/���$�"��� $�/8��.7/ &�N������=$ .�������2 �0$����������7����")�/�2�.�4���$���C.$� C/���7�/�)$����������������� .��$����./�9

����7/ &���$��$����./���$2$"���/"���$0������$�)$���8 /������$�2�/.$ �7�/�������$�C�2�7����=� �/����/�2�������"��$���C�<,931/�$���$���7$�� �=$���$���@���"0$��/�$���$����$��$� �$9������/���$2$"���/"

/� ����.��"�����8�9�-� �2� �"$ ��&$$20��")�")9�/�����.��������!"�/����$$2�&��"��$9�1/�$���$�����$����.�0��")$��4���$�<����R 2����/�����.�9

!"�/��1�� ������<�����R�2����/�����7$����0��$��/�&"/7��@/��������+/@�8 /���8 �$"��7�/�������/��"���@���"0$�� �=$ ��"���&$����$�+/@�2 /8��$��"���22��$��8/ ���$����$9�$�����"/7�@$$"�7������$�0/�2�".�8/ ��.$� C�"�C�C���89�����$���$�����"/��I�� �"��"$�����$�8���$�$"�� $��������$���&$��@����@$8/ $�$��$$����"./"$9��$�$=$"�7���$������0�/��$�����$�89

3��/"6��7�"���"./"$��"��.�8����.��/7�����.�0�/��$�9�������8��7���0� .�")���$=� ��M��� �=$�<-D�C���2/����=$�2$/2�$��"�

�$���@/��$��/8�2$/2�$�7������$����$��$9����&$�.�+/@��"���/"6��7�"���/�)�=$�����29�(��������/$�"6���$�"�������7/"6��2 /�$0���.�8����.�1�� �����.�9

'"��&$�!@����$&������8 �$"�����=$�"/�)�=$"��2�/"������"���/"6����=$���2 /@�$�7������$�7/ &�������$��/$�9�3.�8 �$"����"�8����.�� $�8�"$�7�����.�+/@9���$.�2 /@�@�.�8$$��"�����"&���$�7�.���/9������7/ &�@ �")���$���$"�$�/8�2$�0$��"��+/.9����&$��/�")�7������/9;$�����$�7/ &�����/�)���"����$ $�� $� ��&��"=/�=$�9�(����/�$@/�.������/�)$������/"$9��)�"$�7����7������22$"��8�7$� $8��$��/��/7����7$��/M������7������$�8�����$��/8���$�$���/ ���$�2���$"����/M�4�1�� �����&�9

3��������7�$ $��0/�$��"�4��$���.�9

5 ������� ��������

J�����&��D6�)�0&�0%�54�%#1&��8)�&%.&�54�1�5�#4F

1�� �")�����/ �����.�$=$ .��.

��!��;����!11<!,��9���!D��!

-���,���:��!����,���<���,��9

��!�������!##���-�����:����1�

#-1�D��-,�:����;�-M�('���-�����

�!D����!,����-��D���������D,'1�!��

����:�!,9���!D��-�������1!�

N�#!##'

'�������--�����

'�������-�������������5!��� ��� ��� ����! ��� �������� :����E��������%�� �����$�"8��������� �� ��! �������A����������4���� ���#�� ��������� ��� �8/�,51;�������� � ��������� ������ ���&��������>���$& !, ��� ������������ ����������������

���� ���#�� ����

, ������%����� �-�����

Page 10: ˘ ˇˆ · 1 day ago · Gujarat 2,765. Gujarat has the worst Case Fatality Ratio at 3.6 per cent. It means for every 100 confirmed ... fauna flora. As per the minutes of its July

��� �1(-��

Bayern Munich inflicted on Barcelonathe most humiliating defeat of theLionel Messi era and among the

worst in team history by 8-2 to reach theChampions League semifinals.

Bayern’s stunning start to the standoutquarterfinal between the only past champi-ons in the last eight saw Thomas Müllerscore twice and Ivan Perišic and SergeGnabry add on in the first half hour onFriday.

Barcelona conceded eight for the firsttime since 1946 after Joshua Kimmich,Robert Lewandowski and Philippe Coutinho(twice) piled on in the second half.

Barcelona tallied only sevenshots on target in the wholegame, getting on the boardwith an own-goal by DavidAlaba in the first half andthrough Luis Suárez inthe second.

“It’s a disastrousresult. An embar-r a s s m e n t ,”B a r c e l o n ad e f e n d e rGerard Piquésaid.

“ This,today, isu n a c c e p t -able.”

Seeking itsfirst title since2013, Bayern willnext face eitherManchester City orLyon, who meet onSaturday in the last quarter-final.

Paris Saint-Germain andLeipzig are in the other semifinal ofthe mini-tournament being stagedwithout fans in Lisbon.

“Brutal,” Kimmich said.“It’s hard to comprehend beating

Barcelona 8-2. We were so focusedfrom the first minute, we wanted to getforward with intent. An incredibleresult in the end, but we’re not doneyet.”

Bayern’s biggest victory in

Champions League history kept alive itsquest for a sixth title, which would move itahead of Barcelona. The German club hasthe most wins against Barcelona in the tour-nament’s history.

“We knew that if we put them underpressure, we would get chances,”Bayern coach Hansi Flick said.

“We have such quality andintensity in this team, now we needto recharge and focus on the nextgame, where we start again fromzero.”

The humbling loss ended aforgettable season for Barcelona, one thatincluded a coaching change and pub-lic disputes between players and teamofficials. It is the first time since 2008the club has finished a season with-out a significant title. It hasn’t lift-

ed the European trophy since2015.

This loss recalled previousBarcelona defeats almost for-gotten:

— Eight conceded for thefirst time since 1946 in losing

to Sevilla 8-0 in the final of theequivalent to the Copa del Rey.

— Largest margin of defeatsince 1951 in losing to Espanyol 6-0 in theSpanish league.

— Only second time it conceded fivegoals in a European match, after the 5-4 sec-ond-leg loss at Levski Sofia in the 1975-76UEFA Cup quarterfinals.

Quique Setién’s remaining time ascoach is expected to be counted in hours.He was already under fire after Barcelonarelinquished the Spanish league lead — andtitle — to Real Madrid after the competitionresumed following the pandemic break.

“Right now it’s too soon to be talkingabout whether I stay at the club or not,”Setién said.

“The reality is that it doesn’t depend onme. It’s worth all of us working out what’simportant and considering a wide range ofthings which correspond to a defeat of thisimportance and which is so painful.”

In a hectic start at Benfica’s Stadiumof Light, Barcelona paid for defensive

mistakes against Bayern’s potent attack,which reached 39 goals in nine

games in this Champions League.Just four minutes in, Müller scored from

inside the area after a breakaway that start-ed when Barcelona midfielder SergioBusquets gave the ball away at midfield.

Barcelona equalized three minutes laterwhen Alaba found his own netwhile trying to intercept a pass byJordi Alba to Suárez.

Barcelona had a couple ofgreat chances shortly after, withSuárez’s close-range strike beingsaved by Manuel Neuer and Messi’scurling cross shot hitting the far

post.Messi also missed after a run into the

area, and Bayern went back in front withPerišic’s powerful shot past goalkeeperMarc-André ter Stegen in the 22nd.

Bayern added the third and fourthgoals three minutes apart after Gnabrybeat Gerard Piqué to a pass into the areain the 28th, and Müller completed a crossinto the area in the 31st after Barcelonaright back Nelson Semedo concededpossession.

Suárez pulled Barcelona closer in the57th, but Kimmich added the fifth goalin the 63rd after Alphonso Davies cruised

+�%��.�����������*������ *������+ ,-.�/0/0

@(�.$ "��"�0��� $���$�8� ����$����/��0/ $�$�)��)/�����"���<���2�/"���$�)�$�&"/0&/������0�

@,/@$ ���$7�"�/7�&�������$�8� ���2��.$ ��"(�.$ "��"�0������/ .��"��8�8���/=$ �����/��0/ $�"�$�)���0/"�$0���=$�)��$���"���+/ ��� /2$�"

0/�2$����/"

@(� 0$�/"��0/"0$�$��$�)���)/�����"���)��$�8/ ��$�8� ������$���"0$��/��")��C���/�1$=������"���$</2���$��,$.����������"�����

A0��/����S��$ �����"/7��0/ $��� �)/����"���$�<���2�/"���$�)�$�&"/0&/�����)$�����$���� �C�/���/8��".�2��.$

@$��"��< �����"/�,/"���/�>��?��"����/"$��$����>��?

3��/����S��$ ������0/ $��8�=$�)/�����"�8�=$�22$� �"0$���)��"���(� 0$�/"���"���$<���2�/"���$�)�$�N /"�.�!"� �.�1�$=0�$"&/

�����0/ $�������".�)/�����)��"�����$���"���$0/�2$����/"�>���/�8�=$?

@(�.$ "��"�0����=$��0/ $���/ $�)/����>�?���"�(� 0$�/"����=$�������/���>�?��"��/"�)��L�)��$

3B,/@$ ���$7�"�/7�&�������0/ $����������<���2�/"���$�)�$�)/���8/ �(�.$ "��"�0��"�����������22$� �"0$�8/ ���$���"���$

0/�2$����/"�N /"�.�< �����"/�,/"���/����� $�0�$�������/�����"�8$7$ �)��$��8/ �����")�$����$�>����22�8/ �,$����� ��?

@(�.$ "��"�0����=$�7/"���$� �$�)���'�:!<���2�/"���$�)�$����0�$��������$��/"��7���/"�.�(� 0$�/"���"�����F� �7�""�")���$� �8� ��

"�"$��"���0��2��)"�2 $=�/���.

B����C���7����@$���$�8� ���<���2�/"���$�)�$$����/"���"0$�����C���7���/������2�"�����$���"���$��$��C8�"�����"��+������$���� �����$��"���$

�����<$"�� .

FIGURATIVELY

�� �-����-

Lewis Hamilton roaredto a record-increasing

92nd Formula One pole position of his career onSaturday when he outpaced Mercedes team-mateValtteri Bottas in a sizzling qualifying session for theSpanish Grand Prix.

The championship leader and six-time worldchampion clocked a best lap of one minute and15.584 seconds to take the prime starting slot aheadof title rival Bottas by 0.059 seconds.

It was Hamilton’s fourth pole of the year andfifth in Spain and brought with it his 150th frontrow start from a session that may have seenMercedes enjoying their ‘party’ qualifying enginemode for the final time.

“I couldn’t go quicker on my second lap, whichI thought I could, but the first lap was a good jobthankfully,” said Hamilton.

“I was here with my guys until 10 O’clock lastnight just looking all the details and how to improvebecause the Red Bull guys are super fast.”

Bottas said: “I knew it was going to be close withLewis — as always. The start will be my best chance.”

Red Bull’s Max Verstappen, who is second inthe overall standing 30 pointsbehind Hamilton, was 0.708secback in third.

The Dutchman was aheadof the two Racing Points ofSergio Perez, back in actionafter missing two races withcoronavirus, and Lance Stroll.Alex Albon took sixth place inthe second Red Bull.

“This is our max-imum, but I hope wecan do better in therace. Tomorrow is adifferent day again!”Verstappen said.

Carlos Sainzwas seventh aheadof hisM c L a r e nteam-mateL a n d oNor r i s ,Ferrari'sCharlesLeclerca n dP i e r r eGasly ofAlpha Tauri.

��� �'11���-,:�

There’s one way to find out ifa team deserves to win the

Europa League. Play Sevilla.Manchester United takes on

the ultimate Europa Leagueexperts on Sunday when itfaces five-time championSevilla in the semifinals. Everytime Sevilla has got to thequarterfinal stage, it’s gone onto win the competition, andSevilla has never lost a EuropaLeague game to an English club.

United midfielder NemanjaMatic believes mental strengthwill be key in Cologne.

“We’re in good condition. Ofcourse, the season was long butwe knew it before, what we canexpect. And the most importantnow is mentally to be ready,”Matic said after the quarterfinalwin over Copenhagen.

“I think that mental point willdecide (the) semifinal and final.”

Semifinals have been a prob-lem for United.

Manchester City knockedUnited out of the EFL Cup at thesemifinal stage in January andChelsea did the same in the FA

Cup last month.United finished the Premier

League season in style but needsto replicate that form on theEuropean stage. AgainstCopenhagen, Europa League topscorer Bruno Fernandes eventu-ally won the game 1-0 with a

penalty, but only after the Danishclub had forced United to extratime — more physical strain inthe longest of seasons.

Sevilla narrowly avoidedextra time in its 1-0 win overWolverhampton thanks to Lucas

Ocampos’ win-ning goal in the88th minute.Sevilla is unbeat-en in 19 gamesin all competi-

tions and coach Julen Lopeteguisays the players are fired up.

“(United) are obviously a topteam with great strength, butthese are the semifinals of theEuropa League, and the onlything that will help us throughany difficulty or situation that wecome across at this high level isambition, excitement and thedesire to compete,” Lopeteguisaid.

��0��� Romanian top seedSimona Halep advanced to theWTA Prague Open final afterbeating her compatriot Irina-Camelia Begu in straight sets onSaturday.

Halep won 7-6 (7/2), 6-3 inan hour and a half to set up a finalclash against 23rd-ranked BelgianElise Mertens, who beat CzechKristyna Pliskova 7-5, 7-6 (7/4) inthe other semi-final on Saturday.

World number two andreigning Wimbledon championHalep took a while to warm upagainst the 82nd-ranked Beguwho had played her quarter-finalmatch — a three-setter — earli-er on Saturday morning.

After a two-hour break, Beguwas back on court and took a 5-3 lead in the first set as Halepstruggled for pace.

Halep drew level and Beguthen took a medical break toreceive treatment for calluses onthe palm of her right hand.

Halep won the set in tie-break, but Begu kept fighting inthe second before Halep finallyprevailed.

Halep said the medical breakhad helped her as Begu “was play-ing really well at that point and shewas kind of dominating thematch”. “I didn’t play my best ten-nis but... probably she was a littlebit more tired than me in the sec-ond set,” Halep said. AFP

���� ��R�*�-�

Serena Williams suffered her firstloss since 2012 to a rival outside

the WTA’s top 100, falling to fellowAmerican Shelby Rogers in a Friday

quarter-final at the Top SeedOpen.

Rogers, ranked 116th,outlasted ninth-rankedWilliams 1-6, 6-4, 7-6 (7/5)after two hours and sevenminutes, finishing the 23-time Grand Slam champi-on with a service winner.

“It’s every kid’sdream growing up to be

able to do something likethat,” Rogers said. “Weird

circumstances. Weird surround-ings. But a win is a win.”

The US Open hardcourt tune-up event at Lexington, Kentucky, isbeing staged in a quarantine bub-ble due to the Covid-19 pandemicthat had kept Williams idle since aFebruary Fed Cup appearance.

Top seed Williams had not lostto a player outside the top 100 sincefalling to France’s Virginie Razzanoin the first round of the 2012French Open.

Williams, who ousted sisterVenus on Thursday, was playing

matches to prepare for the USOpen, which starts August 31. Shewill seek a seventh title on the NewYork hardcourts to match MargaretCourt’s all-time record of 24 GrandSlam crowns.

“I have only good things totake,” Williams said. “I can play a lotbetter.”

Rogers reached her first WTAsemi-final since Rio in 2016. She’llface 63rd-ranked Swiss left-handerJil Teichmann, who oustedAmerican Catherine Bellis 6-2, 6-4.

The other semi-final will sendAmerican Jen Brady — who oust-ed Czech Marie Bouzkova 6-1, 6-2— against US teen Coco Gauff, whowon 10 of the last 11 games to rallypast Tunisian eighth seed OnsJabeur 4-6, 6-4, 6-1.

Rogers, who will return to theWTA top 100 next week, was in herfirst quarter-final since May 2017,due in part to a long absence aftera 2018 left knee injury.

���� �D�,#--�

Jurgen Klopp has been namedPremier League manager of the

season after guiding the club to theirfirst league title in three decades.

The 53-year-old German beatChelsea’s Frank Lampard, LeicesterCity's Brendan Rodgers, who Kloppreplaced at Liverpool in 2015, andSheffield United’s Chris Wilder.

Liverpool coasted to the title,they narrowly lost out on toManchester City in the previouscampaign.

They garnered 99 points, win-ning 32 of their 38 league games, tofinish 18 points clear of ManchesterCity. Klopp — who coachedLiverpool to the Champions Leaguetrophy in the 2018/19 season —picked up in July the LeagueManager’s Association manager of

the year award.The Premier League award —

Liverpool defender TrentAlexander-Arnold won the youngplayer gong on Friday — is acumulation of votes from the pub-lic combined with those of a panelof football experts.

Buenos Aires: The fatherof Gonzalo Higuain hasdenied speculation that theArgentinian striker couldleave Juventus this sum-mer.

The 32-year-old has ayear left on his contract butmedia reports have linkedhim with a move to his for-mer club River Plate fol-lowing a disappointing2019-20 season in which hescored just 11 goals in 44matches.

“He is not going togive up his contract to goto any team,” Jorge Higuaintold Buenos Aires radiostation Planeta 947. “Ithink he will fulfill hiscurrent contract and onlythen will he think aboutgoing to River or any otherclub. Right now it’s almostimpossible for Gonzalo togo to River.” AP

!� ���0��/���(� 0����88$ $�����@�))$����C���$8$���"��� /2$��$"��")

�����$"��@�$�$��/"�7���/����� /2�.�8/ ���$�8� �����$��"����.$� �

)����� � ��������� ����� �������� ���� ��� ������������= �� B ��� �5�������������������� ��' ����������� ������)����� %�

���5C�#�.���5C�#�.

3�6���������� /�� $����9�!"$�@� ����$"�������6���$�7/ �9��$���=$���� /0&�@/��/�9��������

"/����$�8� ����"/ ���$��$0/"��"/ ���$���� �����$9��$�� $�"/��/"��$� �)���2���9��/"�)���7���"�00$2��@�$�8/ �(� 0$�/"�9���7�������) �0$4

— GERARD PIQUE

3�$������/���0��8�"�/��.9�-8�0/� �$�(� 0$�/"��� $��2$0�����/�7$������/�@$�$=$"�/ $��)) $���=$��"��0/�$@�0&��)��"��"���)��"9�;/��0�"���)�"$�7$�8$$��)//���8�$ ��������0��@���7$���=$��/�@$�I��$���"� $)$"$ ��$4

— THOMAS MULLER

3�$�&"$7�������"$=$ $��.��)��"��(� 0$�/"���@�����������"��"@$��$=�@�$� $����9

�6���� ���/�0/�2 $�$"�9'"@$��$=�@�$4

— JOSHUA KIMMICH

3�/��.���/7$�������7$��=$����/��/8�2 /@�$���"���$��$��9��$�&"/77$���=$��/���&$����/��/80��")$�9��6����88�0�����/��&$����/�8/ ���$�8�"�9�1/ .��/��$�4

— FRENKIE DE JONG

3�6����=$ .���88�0���"�)������$��$8$�����=$ .��� ��8/ ���$��22/ �$ �����$�2��.$ �

999��$�� $��/ .�8/ $=$ ./"$9��$���=$�"/����=$���2��/��$�0��@������7$�� $9���7����������$ 4

— JOSEP MARIA BARTOMEU

3"���$�$"���� $���.�����2�.���$��$�������)$0/�2���$"�������$�7�.��$.�2��.$�����$��������$����/29��/����"���"������2� ���8/ ������"��$������2 $���=$4

— HANSI FLICK

��2���6&�0���)6CC%����#&��0&��(�).�F��2�60��

Philippe Coutinho’s late two-goal cameoagainst Barcelona in Bayern Munich’s

jaw-dropping 8-2 Champions Leaguequarter-final victory on Friday inflicted fur-ther misery on a club that splashed out arecord 160 million euros ($189.5 million)to sign the Brazilian in January 2018.

Coutinho set up Robert Lewandowskiand then netted the final two goals him-self to put the seal on a remarkableBayern display which saw them become thefirst team in the modern ChampionsLeague era to score eight goals in aknockout match.

Albeit against a dispirited Barcadefence, Coutinho’s thrilling 15-minuteperformance will be all the more gallingfor his parent club after a disappointing 18months in Catalonia following his trum-

peted move from Liverpool.An underwhelming return of 21 goals

in 76 games prompted Barca to shipCoutinho, the club’s record transfer, out onloan to Bayern this season as the forwardsought to reboot a floundering career.

And without a clause to prevent himfrom playing against his parent club,

Coutinho turned a forgettable night forBarcelona into a nightmare. He did not cel-ebrate his goals with fervour, as modernfootballers do, but the damage was done.

With regards to Coutinho, thingscould go from bad to worse for Barcelona.If Bayern Munich go on to win theChampions League, Barca might have topay Liverpool £4.5m ($5.8 million), accord-ing to a report by mirror.co.uk.

One of the clauses when Barcelonasigned Coutinho from Liverpool was thatthe La Liga giants would have to pay someof this money to the Premier League win-ners if the Brazilian won the ChampionsLeague in either the 2018-19 or 2019-20season. However, the contract does notspecify whether Coutinho had to win thetitle with Barcelona or any other club.

"� ���?������� �� �$!��!���� ������F1D;������������������G�1D$������������� ��' ����

.�&�����������(���� �����

���������$������2���������������� ��������

,$���$=������&$�/"��C���$�0���2�/"�

,�%�����%� ?���@��2�%�������:#A����,'

���������"����:��=

#�� �$' �� ����0�������� ��)���"�"/��2��""�")�/��$�=$�5�=$"��������*��CC�������(���

,����� �6�����$��*2�%�������#A����,'�������������������"

past the Barcelona defense.Lewandowski scored with a header in the

82nd, and Coutinho — on loan from Barcelona— closed the scoring with goals in the 85th and89th minutes and didn’t celebrate.

Bayern’s eight goals tied the record for mostby a club in a match in the Champions Leagueera. Borussia Dortmund beat Legia Warsaw 8-4in the 2016-17 group stage. It is the most by a clubin a Champions League era knockout stage.

With his double, Müller reached six goals infive matches against Barcelona on the occasionof becoming the German player with the mostappearances in the Champions League at 113.

Barcelona’s demise means no Spanish club hasreached the semifinals for the first time since 2007.

Page 11: ˘ ˇˆ · 1 day ago · Gujarat 2,765. Gujarat has the worst Case Fatality Ratio at 3.6 per cent. It means for every 100 confirmed ... fauna flora. As per the minutes of its July

+�%��..����������*������ *������+ ,-.�/0/0

The retirement of MSDhoni was not anunexpected mid careershocker. It was some-

thing waiting to happen. Yet,when the cool dude announcedit on Instagram on Saturdaynight, it was an end of an era ofcricket which saw only the riseand rise of a brown nation inthe echelons of a white world.

Dhoni was a revered figurein those corridors of powerboth in India where his wordwas final in team selections andother issues, and abroad wherehis always ticking brain was thecentre of even mid pitch discus-sions among players.

He had the uncanny abili-ty to plot the downfall of rivalstalwarts and often engineeredcatches and leg befores just ashe would planned.

From behind the wicket hewas the keenest eye on Indiancricket. He would often walk upto the bowler and tell himwhere exactly to bowl so thatthe ricochet would go straightinto the hands of a fielder hewould set for the game plan tofructify.

More than 8 out of 10 timesthis would work, stunning notjust the player who wouldinevitably walk into his trap andresultantly out of the field, butalso the people in the standswho would marvel at this crick-eting genius.

He was a master plotterand his detailed blueprint oftaking the match to the win-ning Indian dressing roomexactly as he would want andat his pace would make for aninteresting book read.

Such cool and calculatingminds are a rarity in the gameand Dhoni was one whobrought this rare combinationof physical and mental energyto the middle, inspiring con-spiring and generally walkingaway with standing ovations,the kind that Sachin wouldcommand.

Dhoni’s cricketing math,the planning, the executionand the deliverance got himgreat applause from globalgreats.

People talked about him as

Captain Cool but in reality hiswas the most explosive think-ing brain to have ever visitedthe game. It is to his credit thathe could harness and clothe thisrarest of rare combustible ener-gy levels under Bjorn Borg kindof iceberg demeanour.

As a captain he was in thehall of fame. But as a player theone and only No 7, he was noless. The ultimate finisher who

(�������� ������ ������� ���

����������� � '�� ����-����,��������!��������0� �����@���� �G�11������������-��=������%����G$G�11

December 2004: Dhoni makes his international debut againstBangladesh in an ODI at Chittagong.October 2005: Promoted up the orderto accelerate scoring, Dhoni smashes anunbeaten 183 off 145 balls, the thenrecord of the highest individual score inODI cricket in the second innings. December 2005: Dhoni makes his Testdebut against Sri Lanka in Chennai.September 2007: Dhoni takes over thereins of ODI captaincy from RahulDravid.

September 2007: Dhoni equalsAdam Gilchrist’s internationalrecord for most dismissals (6) inan innings in ODIs. Dhoni alsobecomes captain of the Indiansquad for the inaugural ICC WorldTwenty20 in South Africa. He leadsa young Indian side to victoryagainst Pakistan in the final. Hetakes the risk of picking an inex-perienced pacer Joginder Sharmainstead of Harbhajan Singh to bowlthe last over that eventually paysoff.August 2008: Dhoni leads India toits first-ever bilateral ODI series

victory in Sri Lanka.August 2008: Dhoni wins the Rajiv Gandhi Khel Ratna award.November 2008: Dhoni makes his debut as full-time Test cap-tain of India during the fourth and final Test against Australiaat Nagpur, replaces Anil Kumble who retired after third Testat Feroz Shah Kotla.December 2008: Dhoni wins the ICC ODI Player of the Yearhonour.March 2009: Dhoni leads India to its first bilateral ODI seriesvictory in New Zealand.April 2009: Dhoni honoured with the Padma Shri, India’sfourth highest civilian honour.December 2009: Under Dhoni’s captaincy, India tops the ICCTest cricket rankings for the first time.December 2009: Dhoni retains his ICC ODI Player of the yearaward, becomes the first player to win it twice.May 2010: Dhoni leads Chennai Super Kings to their maid-en Indian Premier League title. CSK beat Mumbai Indians by

22 runs in Mumbai.April 2011: Dhoni plays hismost memorable match-win-ning unbeaten knock — 91 off79 — balls against Sri Lanka inthe World Cup final to helpIndia lift the trophy after 28years. He finishes the matchwith a huge six over long-on offNuwan Kulasekara and winsthe Man of the Match award.May 2011: With Dhoni as cap-tain, Chennai Super Kingsretain the IPL, beat RoyalChallengers Banglore by 58runs in the final in Bengaluru.

November 2011: The Indian Territorial Army confers the hon-orary rank of Lieutenant Colonel on Dhoni.March 2013: Dhoni becomes the most successful Indian Testcaptain, eclipses Sourav Ganguly’s record of 21 victories from49 Tests.June 2013: India wins the ICC Champions Trophy underDhoni’s captaincy, beats England by five runs in the final. Dhonibecomes the first captain to win all three ICC trophies.February 2013: Dhoni powers his way to his first double hun-dred in Tests. He scores 224 off 365 balls, most runs by anIndian wicketkeeper in an innings surpassing Budhi Kunderan’s192.March 2013: Under Dhoni’s captaincy, India beats Australia4-0 at home for the first time in a Test series.April 2018: Dhoni receives the Padma Bhushan, India’s thirdhighest civillian honour.May 2018: Under Dhoni’s captaincy, Chennai Super Kings wintheir third IPL title by defeating Sunrisers Hyderabad by eightwickets.

!����$"� ��1�")����/"��@�������$���/�"�$ "���/"���0 �0&$����$ $�������//&������$0� $$ ���)���)����/8�"���6���/����00$��8���0�2���"��7�/��$����$�0/�"� .�/��7/��/ ���<�2�� /2��$�

���,�%))%

'- ,������� ��������� � �� ����������� �8,� ����������������� ��

-��������'- ,����H� ����� - � ��(������� �!�����=������

=� � �������� �,����� � �� �������� ���������������� ��� ��(��&���������� ������ � ������(�������������������% � ��G�1D

��������� ��� � ���� ��� ��"G�@���� �!����- ��G��*

�� � ��������

Michael Jordan needed a ScottiePippen, so did Lionel Messi with

an Andres Iniesta by his side andSuresh Raina is that glue thatadmirably stuck around withMahendra Singh Dhoni in highs,lows, and from Saturday, in retire-ment.

On Saturday, following in thefootsteps of his favourite captain andmentor, Raina announced his retire-ment from international cricket.

The 33-year-old is among the fewwho made centuries across formats,having played 18 Tests, 226 ODIs and78 T20 Internationals while scoring768, 5615 and 1605 runs respective-ly.

He also has 36 ODI wickets to hisname and 13 each in Tests and T20Is.

One will remember that 34 notout against Australia at Ahmedabadduring the 2011 World Cup, aninnings that was bridesmaid to YuvrajSingh’s all-round heroics.

In the semi-final of the same tour-nament, the unbeaten 36 was puregold dust but Sachin Tendulkar’sscratchy 85 still remains in our col-lective conscience.

Some things in life are just meantto be and Raina, the quintessentialsupporting actor, was probably one ofthem.

The 33-year-old left-hander fromGhaziabad, a mean white-ball masterin his own rights, probably knows thatthe train called ‘Team India’ has leftthe station and he will not be able toadd on to his 18 Tests, 226 ODIs and78 T20 Internationals.

But he did hold his own in a sig-nificant number of matches as hisseven hundreds across three formats

(only one among three with KLRahul and Rohit Sharma being theother two) and nearly 8000 (7988 tobe precise) international runs wouldsuggest.

Add to it 167 catches and arough estimate of 1000 runs saved onthe field in the point and coverregion, Raina did well while havingserious technical limitations, whichprevented him from playing morethan 18 Test matches.

But again, if Greg Chappell sawa raw talent in the boy from LucknowSports College, Dhoni knew how touse him.

Playing for Chennai Super Kingsand becoming probably the most con-sistent IPL players since inceptionmade him a better India player.

The skipper knew that if Indiaplayed mostly in the sub-continent, anaggressive player like Raina would bean asset with his running between thewickets and ability to hit the spinnerswith ease.

There were two signature shots ofRaina which fetched him plenty ofruns. A whip or lofted on drive in thearc between long-on and deep mid-wicket and the inside out lofted shotover extra cover that will either be asix or a one bounce four.

One of the better players of spinbowling, on his day, he could murderthe slow bowlers with precision foot-work.

It helped that he batted numberthree at CSK for most of his careerwhile in the Indian team, it wouldoften be number five, where either hecame in when the top-order collapsedor for a tricky final few overs.

The understanding with Dhonigrew while batting in those toughovers and for a better part with five

fielders outside the 30 yard circle inone-dayers.

But the post 2010 era was ViratKohli’s where he did all the heavy lift-ing and Raina, most of the times, wasleft with precious little to do.

He did, at times, come out ofKohli’s shadow, once against SriLanka in an absolute rubbish pitch inDhaka and against Zimbabwe in a2015 World Cup game in Auckland.

A game where, for a change, heplayed the short ball well, somethingthat hurt his career dearly and prob-ably led to his international retirementat a fairly young age of 33.

The international bowlers foundout that Raina is susceptible whenbowled short in the rib cage area,which he would fend awkwardly,and the gully or short leg will be inbusiness. It ended his Test career pre-maturely and certainly cut short hiswhite-ball run for India.

He knew the problem but for thelongest time, didn’t have the solutionas he started losing form after the2015 World Cup.

A failed YoYo test in 2017 addedto his miseries, although he did fea-ture in the 2018 limited overs seriesin England with a 46 at Lord’s in hissecond last match.

The irony is that his 46 off 63 ballswas a decent effort but MahendraSingh Dhoni’s 37 off 59 balls becamethe talking point and he lost out eventhere.

He remains a Dhoni loyalist asChinna Thala, for the umpteenthtime, decided to follow in his Thala’sfootsteps.

It was a good career but it’sIndian cricket’s misfortune thatRaina’s full potential couldn’t berealised.

1� $���,��"�J���$�$�$ "�����22/ ��")��0�/ �@�������$�

had saved and pocketed many amatch with his death over surgewith the willow is stuff forfables. So it was heart wrench-ing when he took the long lone-ly walk to the pavilion atManchester after the Kiwi cor-don asphyxiated his naturalstrength and squeezed out headbent tears from his eyes.

That was the last interna-tional match he played before

receding into the recesses of thepublic jungle much like a Tigeron his last leg going away intothe unknown areas of the forestto breathe his last.

Dhoni disliked the mediabut there is very little the mediacould fault him for, except for thefact that his reticent, often sar-castic banter with touring jour-nalists out down spirits. Thesewere the only moments when

)��� ��������������-�����" �� �������� �� ������������� �/����������������� � ��'�� ����-����,������� ��� ���� ������������������ �� ����� ��� � ����-�� ����

-� �������'- ,��������� ���� ����%��������% � ��1+$G�G������������� ��� ����- � ������������ ��������� ������������ �� �= ��

'- ,����� ��� �5� �� ������������8,� ��������������& !I �������: ��1�$G�1;

his veneer of being cool wouldcrack and behaviour otherwisealien to him would emerge as anoutburst that he never wouldhave on the field.

Dhoni will continue to playfor Chennai Super Kings asskipper, hitter and the team’s firstand last link to victory.

Men, players and skipperslike him come by only once ina while. That he chose to retireon Insta shows he is still youngat heart will a lot of cricketingengagements left in him.

So, see you soon Mahi andthank you for making cricketworth everyone’s while.

'- ,������� �!���@���� �������

Page 12: ˘ ˇˆ · 1 day ago · Gujarat 2,765. Gujarat has the worst Case Fatality Ratio at 3.6 per cent. It means for every 100 confirmed ... fauna flora. As per the minutes of its July

�Your song Fursat Hai Aaj Bhi already crossed 10 million views.How does that feel?*

It feels surreal. I’m so glad and grateful for all the love thissong has received. It’s a song very special to my heart and I’m justvery happy about the response and how widely it’s been accept-ed and loved by all my fans. I’m lucky and grateful for each oneof you.�Any memories related to the song?

The song is about being with somebody across space andtime. But it was actually inspired by my father, who passed awayafter battling cancer, in April this year. When I wrote the song,I knew it is a love song, but it was a lot about what my father wasgoing through that time. A lot of lines sort of reverberate withme because of the situation I was going through then. It wasn’teasy for me to pen this song. It’s difficult when one is trying tobare a part of their soul. It’s almost like you don’t want people tosee your vulnerable side. But, I realised that the more honest youare with your music, the better it will be. Now, I’m going to bemore honest with my music in future.�How has the journey been while making the song?

It has been an amazing experience. However, there were sev-eral challenges while shooting the song. We were sure we want-ed to finish as much as possible while the lockdown was still on.It was a long shoot. We didn’t have camera people. I think oneday we did, because after lockdown was lifted Sonal, the crew andI were able to get together. Before that there were four-five daysof shoot when we were not together. Basically it was my girlfriendshooting this side and Sonal’s sister shooting at her house, andthe director of photography was on Zoom call to tell us what todo. There was a lot of frustration because it was difficult.�What kind of songs do you listen to?

There are many songs that are close to me. Most of the songsthat I listen to are the ones that I’ve been listening throughoutmy teenage life. Because I think that is the time when you formemotional attachment with songs. To name a few, the whole albumof Tu Hi Re, Tum Saath Ho from Tamasha and a lot of AR Rehmansongs influenced me a lot. �Is it hard to survive in the industry because of the increas-ing competition?

If you’re talented, no. You just have to find your own niche.My niche is non-film music. It has been for

the last five years. I believe it’s growingcategory in India. And now people arefinally giving it the respect it deserves,especially in the lockdown. During thattime, only non-film musicians werereleasing music and people are realisingits value. It’s important to stick to one

thing and do it well. You can always do filmslater in life. It’s not something that you have

to do when you’re young. Non-film musicis more about youth and pop culture.

So, you know, you have to be in it. Youhave to be young. You have to have

that understanding of what youngpeople want to listen to. So Idon’t think it’s difficult. It’s justabout finding your niche and

sticking to it.�What does music mean

to you?Music is every-

thing. I think my liferevolves around music.I’ve dedicated my lastdecade to it. If I had tochoose between act-ing and singing rightnow, I would defi-nitely choosesinging. But in thefuture, that mightchange. It depends.But right now my

focus is on music.�What is there in the

pipeline?I am all set to make

my Bollywood debutopposite Salman Khanin the film Radhe. Alsothere are few more sin-gles in the pipelinewhich I will be releasingsoon.

����L��0 $��.���$��0�/�����"��+����7����")��/@$����$���/�����./� �8�=/� ��$��"�0&�M

����L�� �)�������"���(���$ �����)/��������9��L�$��.��/�2 $2� $��"��8��=/� $��"��� ���.���/���0�$0&��������$�"�� ���/"�@/B$��8/ �./� �"�0&�")�)/���9������=$ �����$��2 $��������$2$ 8$0���/22�")�8/ ��/������"��2�"0�&$��/ ��) $�����2�7����./� �8�=/� ��$��22$���$ 9

1/��$"+/.���$�)//�"$���/8�7��"�����"��

�����$ �@���$ .�8/ ��@.2 $2� �")����� )$�@��0���"��$������"��� �.���"��$���"��$"+/.�./� �"$7�8�=/� ��$�"�0&�N�����7$$&��/")9

!"��7�.�������./� �$�8�7�$"����0/�$��/�7��"���@���$ M�� .�/�����$�$�7��"��@���$ � $0�2$���"�=� �$�.�/8��7$$���"���=/� .�2/���@�����$��@.�)�=�")���$0�����0� $0�2$���8��=/� 8����7���9

�(%,5� !)$6(7%$!� !)%+'�8+'',7 �%&7,.$,%'"����0�2��<���8/ "���7��"��������@�$�2//"��/"$.����$��2//"�0�""��/"����F���$��2//"�=�"�����$B� �0�����$��2//"�7��"���/ �=$)$��@�$�/���>/ ����"$$�$�?

�1�����/�����$

7,9!7!'$(%"��# $�$���/=$"��/������$) $$��<9

#��0$�7��"����/"���������@�&�")���$$��"���/����8/ ������"��$�O��$��0//�9

�� �"�8$ ��/���8//��2 /0$��/ ��"�2 /0$����"���������0&�2���$�8/ ��9�!�� $���"�")��") $��$"����"��2 /0$���"������//��9

�$�������� �������&��������&���������������� �����How did you get into the industry?

William Shakespeare is responsiblefor this. I am so enamoured with his

work that I have travelled to Henley Streetin Stratford-upon-Avon, UK as a pilgrim-age. In my boarding school, we had a greatatmosphere for performing arts and thetheatre scene was vibrant. But the journeyfrom there to Mumbai was not so smooth.

I got to know through a friend of afriend of a friend that Santosh Sivan

was making Ashoka. I walked intothe office and got myself a job.

I was asked to study since I was just18. But I said I would study and work.�What is Khuda Hafiz about?

The movie is based on a true-lifenewspaper article that I had read. I feltconnected and compelled to tell that storyat an emotional level. I did three-oddmonths of research, read similar articles,spoke with some journalists and met aperson who revealed a lot about such inci-dents that had happened. It has not beenan easy film to make. I have had to strug-gle to put out the film especially when youare in a foreign country which is not nec-essarily shooting equipped that too underinhabitable locations.�Where is the film shot?

It has been shot in Uzbekistanand Lucknow. Uzbekistan in the

film represents a Middle-easterncountry on which the film hasbeen modeled. A lot of othercountries were wary of allowingshooting due to the edgy con-tent. Finally, Uzbekistan turnedout to be in our favour. Thecountry has an old civilisation

with an old culture vibe to it. Itlended itself to some interesting

architecture too.�Why choose Uzbekistan?

It was important for me to capture

the background that the country has tooffer. It makes the telling unique. My char-acter had reached one of the Middle-eastcountries in search of his wife. The back-drop became important because one of thebarriers that he encountered was languageand his inability to communicate —nobody spoke English, it was all Arabic. Itwas important to capture that sense ofhelplessness.�How did you zero in on VidyutJammwal and Aahana Kumra?

Apart from working with a goodactor, one needs to work with a goodhuman being. The first connection that Ihad with Vidyut was that we were able torelate with each other as people. The jour-ney of an actor and a director in an inti-mate one, at least it is for me, especiallywhen it comes to Vidyut’s character, Samir.The entire charge of the film is throughthis character. I needed to make sure thatwhoever I am collaborating with, theycompletely surrender to play this role inhonesty. Nowhere in the movie will yousee Vidyut doing any action and nowhereare his six-pack abs showing. We didn’twant to dilute the content due to commer-cial compulsions.�What are some of the challenges thatcome when you are a director and awriter?

The challenging part is to not suc-cumb to makings and trying to make afilm. For me, what is imperative is that tillI have fully fleshed out the screenplay andI am absolutely satisfied, I don’t step out toconnect with anyone. This takes seven tonine months. Patience is a virtue and as awriter I have developed this. Once youhave written your material, directing is notso challenging, it is a bonus because thenas a storyteller you have your teeth moresunk into the narrative. �Is that why there is a gap between yourfilms, because you are a perfectionist?

It is just the opposite. I don’t makefilms to survive. I make a lot of ad films. Imake web series. At present, I am produc-ing web series that are on four differentplatforms. Last year, I made 377 AbNormal that was released on ZEE5. I wantto make films organically; I don’t want tostruggle to make them. I want to have funwhen I make them.�What made you direct a horror webseries?

In all humility, I made the first horrorweb series, Shockers for Hotstar as an orig-inal even before Netflix and AmazonPrime came in the country. Horror is abad word in the industry since we associ-ate it with Ramsay Brothers. But it wasgood then. Now, there is a different lan-

guage for telling stories. I didn’t treat theseries as horror but as unusual supernat-ural stories. Hence, they are subtle andunderstated.�You have directed music videos as well.Is it different as opposed to directingfilms?

Absolutely. Irrespective of what peoplesay, there is a huge difference betweenworking on a shorter format as opposed toa longer one. My professional journeyhappened gradually —from documen-taries to music videos to ad films to filmsto web series and then back to ad films. Ifeel fortunate that I have directed in everyformat.�Is the actor in you ever in conflict withthe director in Allah Ke Banday?

There is a reason how I ended up act-ing in the movie. The person who was toplay Yakub backed out last minute.Everything was a go so my producerpushed me into acting. The only conflictwas I didn’t know myself as an actor.When I saw myself on the monitor for thefirst time, I didn’t recognise my voice.While directing, I used to mentally tick offthat the others had spoken their dialoguescorrectly and now it was my turn. But inthe process, I realised that I was not doingjustice to Yakub. Overall, it was a learningcurve.

/�,0+�,0�.������������*������ *������+ ,-.�/0/0

�:(>'�.'(.�$�� ����������7��&����7����'18:*�/'*:*<;������ ���������������)�����.���'�!> ���&�&�������� �� ������������&�����!����

More often than not we all haveheard of the word Vlogging,infact by the time the lock-

down got over, many of us havealready started calling ourselves proudVloggers. But some people don'tbelieve in going the traditional way.They want to do something different.Meet Ripu Daman Bevli, a 31-year-oldathlete, fitness enthusiast and mostimportantly the Plogging Ambassadorof India.

He is the man behind makingplogging (picking up trash while jog-ging) as common as vlogging in India,if not more. Bevli took up the causeback in 2017 after recovering from ahamstring injury.

“I have been a sportsman and a fit-ness enthusiast all my life. But both ofthem took a back seat in 2013 when Isuffered a hamstring injury and wasbed-ridden. That was the toughestphase of my life as I had to give up onmy goals. It took me four years torecover. By the time I was better, I hadput on so much weight. Then to get mylife back on track, I started jogging.One day, while I was busy jogging, Irealised the amount of trash that wegenerate. At every nook and corner, Ican see wrappers, cans and plastic bot-tles lying. However, everyone wasbusy running and jogging without pay-ing any attention to all the trash. Thisgot me thinking. That’s when I decid-ed why not encourage people to pick-up trash while they are out for theirusual jogging routine,” he tells you.

Bevli's idea was not to preach any-thing to anyone. Because this, he says,wouldn’t have solved the purpose. “Myidea was to make picking up garbagea cool thing. Because for a lot of peo-ple cleaning other’s garbage is a mat-ter of disgust. The ones who cleaneverything are called kachra walas. Iwant to ask people how they are evenkachra walas when they are the onesresponsible for cleaning our trash? Infact, we are the real kachra walas. Iwanted to change this mindset. Andinstead of going the conventional wayand teaching people, I wanted tomake it cool and trendy so that morepeople are attracted towards it,” he says.

Bevli worked towards the cause, allalone. Later, his friends joined in too.“I started by cleaning about 4km

stretch daily after my run in Delhi-NCR. After cleaning theareas, I took to socialmedia to post the beforeand after pictures of thearea. This is how peoplegot to know aboutplogging. Soonafter some of myfriends showedinterest in joiningme,” he explains.

Not every-thing wentsmooth inBevli's journey.He had to facehis fair shareof challenges.“The firstchallenge wasto brave allthe weirdstares from people.Whenever I startedcleaning an area, oneperson or the otherwould walk up to meto ask why am Idoing it and if every-thing is fine with me.This bothered me alot. Hence, I toldthem that whensomeone litters an

area none of us have the courage toshame them or even tell them not to,but when someone is cleaning up anarea we go and ask them what'swrong. Some people got my pointwhile others just walked away. Thesecond challenge that I faced was I was

chased by monkeys and dogs manytimes and then I had to run for mylife. Third, cleaning trash all thetime was exhaustive not only

physically, but mentally too.There were times when I

used to wake up puking. Ifelt nauseous most of thetime. All the harmful

fumes and gases weretaking a toll on myhealth. I felt sick and

sometimes disgustedtoo,” he recalls.

What gives the 31-year-old motivationto keep going is peo-ple’s active partici-pation and encour-agement from theG ov e r n m e nt .“When I startedLitter FreeIndia, I want-ed people totake charge

of it, that’s why I calledit a movement. Then when I came up

with Run To Make India Litter Freelast year, on day one I started all alonein Kochi. But by the end of the cam-paign, in Delhi, we saw a participationof more than 50 lakh people. Witheach city, the number kept growingand it was encouraging. It felt goodthat without having to insist and invitepeople, they were there. Then afterthis, to my surprise, I was appointedas the Plogging Ambassador of Indiaby Kiren Rijeju in December, 2019.That was a proud moment for me. So,all this love keeps me going,” Bevlisays.

To work towards the cause fulltime, he even left his corporate job. “Ittook me a year to figure out my loveand passion for the environment andI realised if I continue my work thenI won’t be able to dedicate my timetowards the cause. Hence, I decidedto call it quit. It was definitely a bolddecision since I had no financialsupport. But my mother supported meand I decided to go with the flow.Today, when I see people actively par-ticipating in the cleanliness drives, Ifeel proud of my decision,” he says.

He recalls an incident when hewas with a group of people agedbetween 60 and 80, who were tooworking towards the same cause:“After our cleaning drive, we all sat forlunch. Once everyone was done with

it, most of them pulled a tissue fromthe tissue box kept on every table. Iwas offered one too, but I refused.They asked that I am against plasticthen what’s wrong with a tissue paper.Then I told them that I am not onlyagainst using plastic but every one-time use thing and tissue papers areone of them. They understood mypoint and all of them took a pledge tonever use a tissue paper again. Thistouched my heart and I realised thatpeople are now actually understand-ing the cause.”

Bevli adds and points out howduring and after the lockdown, thedemand of single-time use items, beit the plastic PPE kits or masks hasincreased manifold.

“A pandemic can’t be an excuse toexploit nature. In fact, we should learnfrom it and start respecting MotherNature more than ever. I have seenhow the demand of one-time usemasks, gloves and PPE kits hasincreased. This is biohazard waste andwill take years to decompose. This willdo more harm than good. Hence,people should be encouraged tomake cotton masks at home. Thereare hundreds of thousands of videoson social media that can teach youhow. If not, then buy reusable cottonmasks only,” he insists.

A lesson that Bevli has learnt inhis life is to respect the environment.“Since I was 8, I used to travel a lotwith my mother, who worked in theArchaeological Department.Therefore, I have spent most of thetime visiting historical monumentsand what I saw there was carbon foot-prints of people. I was always told topreserve the history for our futuregenerations. Therefore, our focusshould be on leaving footprints andnot carbon footprints,” Bevli, who wasbrought up by a single mother, says.

Bevli’s efforts was lauded by thePrime Minister Narendra Modi andhe was also featured in Mann Ki Baat.Now with PM Modi’s announce-ment of Garbage free week, a week-long cleanliness drive has culminat-ed on August 15, it would be sounfair to not give Bevli a special mention on the

occasion.

'<-�%#%-#'��� ���!���(��<,%'%&�A/=�$�� ��������%������������������� ��� =��� �)� �������� � ��$!������ ������ ��� �� � ����� ����� �� �������� !�����

��.������������������ BC����������� ����������������.

�What is Haadse about?It is a track about reality, motivation and above

everything its just a song you’ll relate to.�How did you come up with the track?

I had it in my mind to do something like this fora long time and when producer Basshole sent me thebeat, I loved it so much that I wrote the whole trackwithin 60 minutes. I was in the vibe so much thatthe pen kept flowing and Haadse was born.�You are known for your Chopper flow ability.What all did it take to reach the stage?

I won’t use all those fancy words, it’s just becauseof hard work and practice over the years.�You began rapping at 14. What got you inter-ested?

I heard Nas’ album Illmatic and I was blown away.That’s when I thought I should do the same and tellpeople the problems that we face in our society inour own language. That’s how it happened. �What do you think the future holds for the indus-try?

It is going to be bigger and better than ever. AndI am honoured to be a part of it since the beginning.

J��� �:��=��� ����������=��F

,!�'���&��%�1�-���$����'1(!��!1���@/����������$���� �0&������$���/7��$@$)�"� �22�")������$��)$�/8�����"��������$����&"/7"�8/ �����<�/22$ �8�/7��@����.

TalktimeFARUK KABIR

Actor-director Kabir, who has directed filmslike Allah Ke Banday and Khuda Hafiz,

speaks with Shalini Saksena about hislatest film and how he got into

acting, among other things

3@''412�8�D@,

Page 13: ˘ ˇˆ · 1 day ago · Gujarat 2,765. Gujarat has the worst Case Fatality Ratio at 3.6 per cent. It means for every 100 confirmed ... fauna flora. As per the minutes of its July

��������E���

���%��&�&��%��&�##0%��1 2 " � � ! � � � � � � �

��1��(2�1�%&�#��(% �3 &��)% �1�

)�� %1�1����3�.�)%���1�(�1�&�4��1

51��%��6���% ��7�+� �(

���03%�1�)���C%&&%)�16&6)%

)������ ���!����������:�:�

,�%,,.�'(�:,,9�9!;,�<$'#�'#,(%&($%&�;#!%&,*�'#,7<$",��<,�=!5-,�),6'�-,#$%.�$%�'#,�7+%�(6�'$=,

The whole world celebrated 2020 with a bang andeveryone had exciting plans for their personaland professional endeavour. Came March 2020,Covid-19 changed life for everyone starting witha sudden complete lockdown forcing everyone

stay at home but ensuring that they work from home anddeliver the best despite pandemic and challenges of operat-ing from home.

While every business had a “so called” BusinessContinuity or Disaster Recovery plan in place but Covid-19lockdown was the father of all. A situation never happened,never thought about in 100 years. Everyone was sitting athome trying to figure out how to maintain sanity of work-ing while at home connecting with colleagues, vendors, sup-pliers, employees, manager etc.

������������������In the current pandemic scenario, it means every busi-

ness process of an organisation requires immediate conver-sion to digital mode to stay in business. Say for example, ifbanking transaction were done through visiting banks, inCovid-19 situation banking transactions needs to be doneusing net-banking. Or if the business was preparing invoicesphysically and sending it by courier to clients, during covidlockdown all invoices required to be prepared using digitalsolution, digital signature and sending it through emails.Take another example, if business meetings with clients,vendors, internal team which were happening physically,come pandemic, physical meetings are no more an option,so use of digital meeting options is only way out.

���������� ��������������That’s an interesting topic. Struggling with lockdown,

the CEO gives target to all business heads and CIO to digi-tise everything. That can be really disastrous. I would alsolike to caution here that digitisation has to be done in verysystematic and gradual way. It is just not possible to digitiseeverything by approving a financial budget and giving man-date to all functions. Many companies burn their fingerslosing lot of money, efforts and drive due to failed digitisa-tion attempts. One must start with non-critical processes,function and implementation also to be done only for oneor two division to start with instead of going across.Companies also make the mistake of building software in-house. Now, that’s a terrible mistake. Now-a-days there aremany good Enterprise Product SaaS companies havingproducts very much in line of specific business need whichcomes at almost at 5% of cost of building in-house. In addi-tion, Enterprise Product companies are very focussed andcome with best practices, innovative solutions, state-of-arttechnology, seamless product support and feature upgradeswhich is not possible for in building in-house or makingtailor made product. It’s important to be very careful whileselecting technology partner so one can do a referencecheck from existing client and ensure security certification(like ISO). It definitely helps in building trust.

While it is always good to subscribe to readily availableSaaS solutions in the market, however, just to test thewaters, there are free tools available for basic digital solu-tions which allow users to get a feel of the solution andwhether it would really solve the problem. Many a times, alot of businesses purchase a technology solution or buildsolutions, however, they end up not using the solution

either due to the choice of wrong partner, notbeen able to spend enough time in scoping thetechnology solution or clear intent issue whichmeans resistance to change.

�������������������Some businesses use technology firms to

build customised solutions like InvoicingSolution, CRM Solutions, ContractManagement Solution which comes with its ownperils like you end up spending 20 times moneyand ultimately realising the product which gotbuild has taken into consideration an idealisticscenario with advance level of digitisation. Lifedoes not really move that way. It is critical that astrategic initiative group should be formed fordigitisation purposes with clear agenda,roadmap and responsibilities fixed. At times ithappens that Strategy and Innovation along withCIO decides on one technology for a businessfunction which do not take into account real lifesituation resulting in complete waste of moneyspent.

�����������������������������Digitisation & Technology deployment in

business can not be done by one person. Takingall stakeholders on-board and ensuring theproduct meets expectation makes a lot of differ-ence. In any business, normally CIO, CFO,Business Head and Strategy & Innovation Headare relevant stakeholders for a high level deci-sion making process. Once the business decidesto go for technology solution, the real stakehold-ers are business users, technology team toensure that the product is in line with businessexpectation and it gets installed within theorganisation without any major change manage-ment. The whole process has to be coordinatedand require acceptance from all stakeholder.

Another important thing is digitisationshould also be done based on level of readiness.Say for example, if you plan for digitisation ofinvoicing function, it’s ideal and simple toremove print, sign and despatch steps. So youcan make invoice as per normal process, use anyof digital signing functionality using DigitalSignature (Dongle) or Aadhar Sign feature tosign and email the Invoice from your officialemail ID. This is very basic process but will helpthe organisation reduce at least five days of timeand cost of despatch and invoice printing to zeroand improve collection time.

�� ��������Globally, digitisation and using technology

solution has been a way of life. For example,while in India many businesses still do not usetechnology for invoicing, contract management,CRM and business operations work-flow, incountries like US, UK, Europe and Australia, thelevel of digitisation has been very high. The rea-son for this is high cost labour, availability of

skilled labour, value for technology and longterm business vision. Globally, businesses go forready SaaS products for CRM, ContractManagement Software, HRM Software and ERPunless the business is fairly big and has complexprocesses, which require specialised technologysolution. Even for those companies, they firststart with basic level of technology solution andgradually move to moderate and advance levelautomation.

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

The COVID-19 pandemic has completelytransformed how businesses carry out their day-to-day tasks. Every aspect of business is gettingdigitised and digital channels have become thesole media of communication for some. Everybusiness was seemingly forced to accelerate itselfas the digital strategy was still a part of the cor-porate world that had the potential to become aprimary in the future. Businesses that werealready thriving seemed to have seamlessly con-verted their channels of communication onlineafter a point of time, yet most businesses are stillstruggling to keep up with the pace. Digitalworkplace has become the new normal.

This digital transformation in the coronialera caused businesses in almost all industries toleap over several hurdles in a short time. Itdemanded business owners familiarise them-selves with the digital world as quickly as possi-ble and forced them and their employees tolearn new skills on an alien medium. This on-going process has led to several changes in thework culture and team collaboration of busi-nesses.

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

It is important for businesses to make surethat the working of the business can continuesmoothly. So certain ready solution which areuseful for key business function and easy todeploy can work really wonders. For example,board meeting management software havingvideo-conference facility in-built, provide sever-al benefits to the company and help it to flaw-lessly communicating amongst one another.Using these services could prove useful to com-panies in these uncertain times and can alsoallow people to support other upcoming busi-nesses. Same solution can be used to conductsenior management meeting or collaborativemeeting with stakeholders from multiple busi-nesses across geographies. These solutions canbe customised according to the company’s spe-cific needs, which can further improve the effi-ciency of the business.

Similarly, concerning the issue of physicaldocuments and digital documents, digitising thepaperwork is unavoidable. Replacing physicaldocuments has been an issue for a while now,

however, this is the perfect time for companiesto shift to electronic documents. Using digitaldocuments also help reduce the spread of covidand ensure a safer working environment.

To improve efficiency in this aspect as well,companies can use solutions such as ContractLifecycle Management (CLM) as they can becustomised to fit the business and can greatlyimprove the working of the business by alertingthe business for any risks in the contract. ACLM software allows an organisation to manageall its contracts on cloud and easily communi-cate with all its stakeholders in one place. Suchsoftware are not only necessary in this coronialera, but can improve productivity and profitabil-ity of a business.

Digitisation of businesses has significantpositive outcomes for businesses. Digital busi-nesses empower employees through transparen-cy, learning opportunities, and open communi-cation. If the communication channels are wellorganised and are familiarised with the work-force, it can allow everyone involved in the com-pany to be informed about the decision with justone click.

Unlike the usage of emails as we did pre-corona, a communication channel allow infor-mation to be without any disruption. Employeescan be anywhere in terms of location but theycan collaborate and discuss using meeting toolslike Zoom, Microsoft Team or Google Meet.The concept of office is slowly fading away. Thecost elements have changed and spending ismore into digital assets like software solution forbusiness function, cloud storage, cyber security,data protection insurance cost is being replacedfor earlier cost elements such as infrastructurecosts, rental, office maintenance cost, travel costetc.

Usage of the previously mentioned servicesinvolving board meeting management can alsoensure that all members are kept up to date withthe workings of the business. Moreover, toreplace the informal interactions that took placein the workplace, workers can virtually talk inthe middle of meetings to discuss their achieve-ments and how they have been adjusting to theworld after the pandemic. Since they are not inthe physical workplace, they can also take breaksto interact with their family, which could easetheir mental stress in between meetings.

The whole concept of digitisation has to beimbibed into the DNA of the organisation andshould be embraced across. If senior manage-ment does not get accustomed to digital plat-forms and expects the whole organisation toadopt digital platforms to perform office work, itwill be highly inefficient and ineffective. If busi-nesses are successfully able to implement thesechanges and utilise this digital transformation, itcan help them improve team collaboration andsupport the work culture.

The writer is CEO & Founder, Volody

�"�$"�'#,�;!",�<$'#�!))�!+'#,%'$;�6(7="(6�"9$7$'+!)�",)63<(7:��",)63$%'7("9,;'$(%$"�!'�'#,�#,!7'�(6�=,.$'!'$>,�"'$))%,""

������-���<-�<�#�-:��*�1!�-���!1�-�(��((�����-

������!�-:����-,*!�1!�-��!��

1�-'���(��(,!<���!<,-119

:�1��-,!�!*������-�1

�-��*��!<<'1�-����-

�*�!��#�!�:-,1!����R#�<�1����

��-��-,*!�1!�-���-

!�-#���*�!�#�!�:-,1��-

#�,:-,�-::<��-,%��������(�

�*��;���::<���!�����::�<�D�

��$�<-D�C���2�"�$��0����0/�2�$�$�.�� �"�8/ �$���/7

@���"$��$��0� .�/�����$� ���.C�/C��.����&���7 ��$��

���1��1�!,!� ����$�$B2���"��/7���)������ �"�8/ ����/"��"0/ 2/ ��$�8� ���0�"���22/ ���$�7/ &�0���� $��"���$��

0/���@/ ���/"��� �")������2$ �/�

BE THE WAY FORWARD

Page 14: ˘ ˇˆ · 1 day ago · Gujarat 2,765. Gujarat has the worst Case Fatality Ratio at 3.6 per cent. It means for every 100 confirmed ... fauna flora. As per the minutes of its July

��������E���

������������)������ ���!����������:�:�

�-D��1�-:�!���#!11-�1����1�,-�*�1���:-,���!��!<%11'��!��-'1�;�������!��������!,��!�������1��1�1

N��!-��P'

!����������#,!-��#!��!%

Lord Ram is not only a religious symbol. He today epit-omises a cultural renaissance that was long overdue. TheIndian subcontinent, the Aaryavrat, has been one of the

most invaded lands in the history of the world. The resultwas a civilisation battered, a culture desecrated and a psy-che bruised. Ancient India was a prosperous society and anacclaimed seat of learning. But the many onslaughts by for-eign invaders impoverished the rich Indian land and cul-ture. The continued subjugation of the country at the handsof Mongols and Moguls and subsequently the Europeans,particularly the British ingrained a deep rooted inferioritycomplex in the Indian minds. Centuries of alien ruledestroyed the richness of the civilisation to such an extentthat most Indians considered themselves to be a second ratecitizenry born only to be ruled. There was a deliberate designin the plundering and destruction of the places of religiousworship by the alien Islamic invaders. They wanted to estab-lish the superiority of their own religion over that of theIndians and demoralise the people. The temples of India notonly possessed huge wealth, they also stood for the civilisa-tional and cultural pride. The later British conquest of India,though largely for economic and commercial purposes, fur-ther accentuated this trend, even if it was perpetrated far moresystematically and cleverly. They wanted a thoroughly demor-alised India for tightening the British strangle hold and con-tinued hegemony. All these alien rules left a lasting impacton the Indian psyche. For those who have reasons to agree,the elaborate account given by American Historian WillDurant as early as 1930 may suffice. The Case for India isan eye opener in which he describes the cruel and schem-ing British rule as a conscious and deliberate bleeding of India.Freedom from the colonial yolk did mark the birth of an inde-pendent nation but it did not heal the wounded psyche whichcontinued to carry the baggage of centuries old alien rule.Certain sections of the western press were also adding to thispsychological loading with their myopic stories. The indeli-ble mark of inferiority in their minds needed a strong cul-tural symbol to wipe this and boost the morale. After men-tal struggle of several decades post independence, the Indianpride could find a succor in Lord Ram. Restoring the nation-al pride is what leads to a cultural renaissance and Ram sym-bolises that. Ram and Ram Temple signify many things today.It is not about a Hindu God, it is a sustaining force, a meansto strengthen the Indian psyche that was awaiting a realisa-tion for a long time. However, it is important to understandthat Ram stood for universal values that are relevant not onlyto all generations but also to people across ethnic, social andeconomic backgrounds. Ram’s life was an example of ethicsin practice. Truth, compassion and love, and most impor-tantly, values driven leadership. Ram was an embodimentof Raj Dharma, a virtue that is almost non existent today. Itis important to understand what was Dharma in the eyesof Ram. Succinctly stated in Ram Charit Manas by GoswamiTulsidas, it is — par hit sarasi dharam nahi bhai. Which meansthe greatest religion is to serve others.

������������� ����������� � ��$!��� �$������������ �� ������ �� ��# ���� � ��� ��������������J���������

Whether we admit or not, welive mainly to get pleasures.Pleasures are classified main-

ly in two ways. These are in the threemodes or beyond and whether gross orsubtle or superior. I will begin with theclassification according to the threemodes. These are: goodness passion anddarkness. Examples of pleasures underthese modes will clarify their differencesand advisability quite adequately.Beginning with the mode of goodness,these are my favourite activities? I loveto appreciate others, especially mygrandchildren; I look for any goodexcuse. Eating tasty foods and listeningto good music comes next. In these daysof forced isolation, I enjoy the rich greenthe nature has blessed us with due toreduced pollution levels. Playing sportswas my favourite activity. I found theexperience very satisfying.

The mode of passion allows ussome pleasures. Creatively is high on mylist. As I spend a lot of time alone withonly God for my company, I try to man-age my life with small innovations.Reading literature is next on my list. Inmy case, I love The Gita. Good sleepmakes me feel very good. Feeding birdsin my balcony by leaving biscuit piecesin an earthen pot makes me feel verygood. I enjoy the company of the birds.

The pleasures, which are in themode of darkness, should be keptaway from self; I will not go anywherenear them. Illicit sex destroys families;the momentary pleasure exacts a veryheavy price. Eating meats, which is verymuch in news because of the possibil-ity of some meat being the origin of theCoronavirus pandemic, should berestricted in any case if we wish to saveour forests. Growing grains in order toobtain one fifth its weight in meat makes

zero sense to me. Gambling is a plea-sure best avoided. Are we not trying tograb someone’s money? Cruelty is abehaviour not fit for human beings. Andthe last example is drinking, which ruinsfamily finances and health; covers theconscience temporarily.

Now let me turn to examples ofgross and subtle pleasures. Starting withgross ones, preaching to devotees pleas-es the Lord greatly. (The Gita 18.68-69)Doing ‘satsang’ in the company of spir-itually-minded people is highly bene-ficial. Lots of what I have learned is inthe company of my learned friend Mr.Jha. Making sacrifice like parents do allthe time; don’t they put the needs oftheir children about theirs? Similarly,‘paropakar’, which is doing good deedskeeps the world going. The last exam-ple is personal, that is selling our bookin World Book-Fairs. I have picked outfive examples of subtle pleasures. Theseare: the feeling of purity, pride in beingdutiful/useful, control over the mindand the senses, love from others andtrust of others.

Let me end the article with five

examples of beyond the modes orsuperior pleasures. At the top of the listare responses from God, which devo-tees receive. It will be almost impossi-ble to go on the ‘tapasya’ path withoutadequate encouragement from God. Heis extremely kind to me; invariably, I getdaily communication from my master.Similar is my Lord’s mercy in empow-ering me to write spiritual texts; I fre-quently get surprised by what has beenwritten after I finish. Peacefulness mustbe part of the superior pleasures,because without peace there is no bliss— the ultimate ‘sukha’ (pleasures).(2.66) The last example is of makingprogress of the spiritual kind, whichcontinues in future lives. (6.43-45)

I hope this covering of wide spec-trum of pleasures will bring clarity aboutthem, and the false nation that sensepleasures are the only ones can be givenup. Superior pleasures are available andof many kinds. Then, why seek lowerones, many of them whom bring neg-ative results?���������������� ��!��� �������� � ��� �

�������� ��J�6�������������

Meditation allows us tothink of our past withpeace, our present withpassion, and our futurewith prayerfulness. It’s a

daily sanctuary, wherein we can makesincere efforts, to allow the mostauthentic version of our Self to unrav-el. It’s the authenticity of this Self thatmakes its strength and ingenuity effort-less. Beyond the Self, it’s not just aboutcoming home to the Cosmos, theSource, but about making the journeyinspirational for others around us,too.

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

It helps with a significant aspect ofdaily practice — that of being able toassimilate a thought, idea, and/ormemory without an emotional ‘charge’attached to it. This is easier said thandone. But, it is doable, one step at a time.Then, one day, we find that we’re ableto adopt meditative stillness as a wayof being, when the situation calls for it,quite effortlessly.

����������������������������������

The experience: Samsara — TheWorld Within is a tranquil fountain-head of guided meditation practicesentwined with skills-based learning.Founder-enabler Shikha Puri’s endeav-our is to bring awareness to one’s ownjourney, that one decides to embark

upon. She says, “Stillness is a momentthat can last a few seconds, minutes oreven longer. It’s a moment of realisation,and we can call it our oneness with thepower of the Universe. It helps us realisethat there is so much more than us andthere’s so much more over us. All of this— Nature’s abundance, and its ownpowers — humbles us. That way, evenin nothingness, there is something.”

Shikha describes meditation not asthe end, but the journey, the process,leading us. She elaborates: “In amoment, even for a second, when wecan feel the oneness with the Source,meditation happens itself and there isstillness.”

The approach: Assimilating athought, experience, and/or relatedmemory, without the emotional ‘charge,’is not about forceful detachment.Rather, it entails reconciling with theemotional ‘charge.’ Here’s a brief anec-dote to explain: I drew Tarot cards fora friend recently. He called me wise forthe manner in which I interpretedthem. I said, “wisdom comes from hav-ing been a fool for a very long time.”

It’s the same with meditative still-ness! Attempting it is easier, when weaccept, and embrace, the high-octanechaos of our existence. In doing so, we’reable to segregate what we need as a life-lesson, from what we need to let go of,because it may have run its course.

The process at work: As is the casewith all authentic forms of spiritual self-work, we find self-introspection at the

heart of meditation, and meditative still-ness. The subsequent mental chatter,though potentially excruciating, helpsus familiarise ourselves with the poten-cy of the emotional ‘charge.’ And,while this ‘charge’ is going through us,it teaches us many things about who weare, who we thought we were, and whowe can be. This combination of aware-ness and remembrance that makesmeditation personal, and sacred.

The ease or difficulty in arrivingat meditative stillness: Zorian Cross(the ‘modern Merlin,’ as I call him) isa tarot reader, astrologer, numerologist,and psychic channel. He’s also a certi-fied ashtanga/vinyasa yoga instructor.

Zorian asserts that stillness isn’t forthe unethical anarchists of chaos, andhe further explains union with the Self,through the practice of Asanas andPranayama: “The body is constantlyabuzz with trillions of cells and sub-atomic particles that are beaming withlife, while the mind is bombarded byinfinite thoughts on a conscious andsubconscious level. Perhaps that’s whyto achieve stillness, Patanjali laid out theeight limbs — Ashtanga — the first twobeing Yamas and Niyamas that containfive personal ethics to follow strictly,along with five societal rules to abideby. To get the body to be seated in still-ness, a regular Asana practice is a must.Only once that’s achieved, can wepractice the art of Pranayama to still themind. Some say that it takes five timeslonger to still the mind through

Pranayama than it takes to still the bodywith Asana.”

Practice that focuses on the powerof meditative stillness: Mini Shastri,founder of Om Yoga Shala Delhi, witha teaching experience of over twodecades, is also a wellness consultantand columnist. Her teachings areshaped by her vast travel and study withMasters from Kerala, Bengaluru,Mysuru, Chennai, and U.S.A. You canstudy and teach with Mini on herretreats. The focus is on living tech-niques — with daily Yoga, Pranayam,Meditation, cleansing Kriyas, along withcurated diets.

She explains the daily strength andnourishment we can derive from sin-cere practice succinctly, and so beau-tifully. “Your mat, your sadhna, andyour tapas will be your guru always,”she always reminds, gently.

On the subject of recommendedmethods she says, “Some easy medita-tion practices like So Ham breathmantra, Tratak, Om Japa meditation,and Kaya Stairam (cultivating stillnesswith presence in the body) are a greatway to pull in a fragmented mind(vikshepa) or distractions towardsmeditative stillness.”

Mini shares that striving to attainmeditative stillness is about workingtowards and creating a correct innerenvironment, to enter internal practicesfor the mind (Antaranga Sadhna) thatare more helpful to meditation, so ourmind/body lends itself naturally tomake meditation more spontaneousand joyous.

Choosing a suitable time to prac-tice stillness in meditation: Miniadvises, “It’s best to take advantage ofthe shifting qualities of the morningsor sunsets. According to Ayurveda andour body’s clock, we need to adjust ouractions to counteract the innate qual-ities of this time. Dawn and dusk are anatural time of change — transforma-tional, with shifting energies, resultingin fruitful meditation. The quiet stabil-ity of a meditation practice may alsoserve to counteract the potentiallyanxiety-producing aspect of change, ofthis time of day.”

����� �����������������We are all spiritual seekers in our

own ways, and no doubt, we all haveour own definition of meditative still-ness that resonates with us. Whateverthis definition is, based on my person-al experience, I’d like to say: In our spe-cial space of meditative stillness, maywe all reunite with, resurrect, and rein-vigorate who we truly are. May our new‘once upon a time,’ begin now."� !��� �������� ���� ����!���� ���� � ��

��� ����������� ������������ ��������$���������������������! ��� ���� �

( &�����&���"���1�&�

�������������������������#�$��� $�����$8�"$���"��$=$ ���7�.���@���/"�.�/"$������������$�����$�/88$$��")�������@$�8$���@.�����/�@$�� ��.���22.��7 ��$��!5��%'!,�(1��-

������"�/� ���"�������7$���=$�/� ���=$�9�!�)//����"�������$�/"�.�7�.��/���3)//���8$4��"���������"��"$$���0� $8���0����=���/"����.��#!,��-���!�*

�$�� $������2� �������$$&$ ����"��7$�������=$�/� �/7"��$8�"���/"�/8��$������=$�����"$�������� $�/"��$��7��������7 ��$��1',!��!��!!,!�%!1�;!#

It is possibly right that “the happiest peo-ple we find today live on Facebook”. Thepleasure-filled acts, and the smiles on

every face, had made this social media plat-form a place to take shelter when every-thing around seems to be crumbling. Trueor not, humans seek happiness and pursueit all the time. It’s a state when one fulfillsone’s expectations, and craving is satisfied.Humans have linked happiness to pleasureand all efforts are being directed towardderiving pleasure to achieve this elusivehappiness.

Unfortunately, this happiness neverlasts. Probably because “perpetual blisswould completely undermine our will toaccomplish anything at all — that’s why per-fect contentment has probably been evolvedout of us”. Maybe, we are programmed to bedissatisfied all the time, and this may betrue as even after thousands of discoursesand hundreds of books with the goal ofincreasing well-being, we aren’t happier.

Does this mean we do not have trulyhappy people or communities around us?Take the example Amish people. A commu-nity living in parts of the United States andCanada and following a traditionalChristian church which dictates all aspectsof their day-to-day living, including prohi-bitions or limitations on the use of power-line electricity, television, telephones andautomobiles, as well as regulations on cloth-ing. The Amish value rural life, manuallabour, and humility, all under the auspicesof living what they interpret to be theirGod’s word. This group, by sheer willpower, has resisted the global culture. Theymarry in their own community and contin-ue to have six to seven children. Between1992 and 2017, the Amish populationincreased by 149 percent, a figure notrecorded in any society in modern history.While the population of indigenous tribesin all continents are on a drastic decline.

Amish children are found to be “obedient,content and remarkably happy”, and the rea-son was solely the way these children werebrought up holding on to certain values. Itseems simple life cues, just like in the goodold days, seemed to work in their commu-nities. They are taught to practice forgive-ness by understanding that “making a mis-take is not the end of the world”, and to usetheir own creativity to amuse themselves toavoid boredom.

Probably withdrawing membershipfrom the modern world is one good way toopen a path toward happiness. Talks on giv-ing it all up and heading to the mountainsseem a way out. It is true modernity hassent us into a depressive state, but whyblame modernity? In fact, modernity hasalso opened countless routes to happiness. Ithas laid more choices in front of us thanever before. Though the drive to attainmaterial wealth and physical pleasureremain a predominant activity for the mass-es as a way to happiness, a growing list ofindividuals are giving up their fortune andfuture to take to alternative living, new

careers, and expressing alternative behaviorto seek happiness.

Choosing to travel in car pools, living incommunes, in remoteness, living as a virtu-al being, expressing homosexual prefer-ences, accepting a pet as family, using cryp-to-currency, and thinking of life on anotherplanet are a growing trend. Modernity pro-vides such possibilities and opportunitieswith reversibility, a point toward an alterna-tive way to happiness. In fact, individuals orcommunities can be happy and free fromtussle if they set a boundary to their desiresand guard it mindfully. Modernity is nevera stumbling block in this.

Our natural state may not be mere seek-ing of happiness. Our natural state is possi-bly “being awake, aware, and feeling ourfeelings in their fullness”. To be in this state,it requires the willingness to feel everything,at maximum intensity. This they call it “joyof living”.

"� !��� ������������� �5��� ���������� �����$ ��� �� � �����!��� ��# �������� � ��������

����9����������������������������������������������������������

����� !""��"���"#�#!�$%�&� '

1�,D�*��-�!��!����!�D�1�����11�1

!(-'���-,%�*�-�!,�1�!��<,�!��*�!

<-,,�<�����,��D,-�������-����,����,�!�

#,!<�<�1�:-,�������>���������������?���!��!,�-,�����#:'���-���!�-���1--',���F(-�;����1��1��:�!�',!��;��-

!%�����!�-�-,�

1#-��!��-'1�!��5-;-'1

8���+�+�!���+�������

Page 15: ˘ ˇˆ · 1 day ago · Gujarat 2,765. Gujarat has the worst Case Fatality Ratio at 3.6 per cent. It means for every 100 confirmed ... fauna flora. As per the minutes of its July

��������E���

���� ���)������ ���!����������:�:�

��2������3�

'"����������"���6����/7�/0�����"��$0/"/��0) /7������$����� $�$=�"��"���$�)�/@����0$"� �/�/��$ ����"������ $0�2�$"�/8�8�"�"0��������8 /��/��$ "���/"�9�(����/��.��$���")"���/"��=�$7�"��������2/�$"�������2$ 2/7$ 9-"0$���0/�"� .����������/� $@��������$�8�8 /���0 ��0���"����"/7������$���� �C�� )$���*�#�"���$�7/ ����"�2� 0����")2/7$ �2� ��.��$ ��

�(%:A-#��<'%(""�@%(�

1=�����"����&��"/��&�.�6�0����$")$��/�!�$B�"�$ ��&���$"&/�0�"�2 /=$���� "�")�2/�"���"���$2/����0�������/ .�/8($�� ��������$�� ���@��Q$ 7/��"�����)/��/2$"��22/ ��8 /��� ��%/�$�"�&/=���"�D$ /"�&����$2&��/��/�$�� /"$���$�/"�.��0���/ �/8��� /2$

'%�#%&--%���%

�)�65��)�&%F��.�##�1�)�0%2��%5�.)�&�.�(%#�)6�The people of Belarus have

once again votedAlexander Lukashenko topower for the sixth consecutiveterm. He has created a historyof sort by probably being thelast dictator of Europe. He hasbeen ruling the country since1994. For more than a quarterof a century, Lukashenko hasmade Belarus his fiefdom,largely keeping all his rivals andopposition members, eitherlocked in jails or orderingstrong criminal investigationsagainst them.

The latest election resultsshow that Lukashenko, who hasbeen ruling the country for last26 years, obtained 80.23 percent of the votes. His rivalcandidate, SviatlanaTsikhanouskaya, received only9.9 per cent of the votes. It’sworth knowing a woman, amother and a teacher of Englishwho have dared to take onLukashenko. She was forced tocontest in the presidential elec-tion when her husband SergeiTikhanovsky, a popularYouTube blogger, was jailed andbarred from running the elec-tion. In fact, Sergei was arrest-ed in May this year after tryingto register as a candidate in thepresidential race againstLukashenko. Later, he wascharged with “organisation andpreparation of a grave breach ofpublic order”. After this,Svetlana had to move her chil-dren outside the country, fear-ing for their lives. Her husbandwas always critical of Belarusianauthorities. He had been mobil-ising people and building anaudience both by touring thecountry and through hisspeeches in YouTube. Theseplatforms were supporting himfor providing an outlet to hiscountrymen to ventilate theirgrievances against theLukashenko administrationand his quarter-century regime.

Her message to theBelarusian people during theelection is clear: “I don’t wantpower. I want to get my chil-dren and husband (back) andI want to keep frying my cut-lets. When you vote forTsikhanouskaya, you vote forme not as for a politician, butyou vote for upcoming changesand a new fair election”. Whileaddressing the voters in the cityof Gomel, she urged her coun-trymen to fight for change.

Unlike her husband,Tsikhanouskaya was a novice inpolitics. However, she was ableto register as a presidential can-didate against Lukashenko.This is indeed a huge success.

Maybe it was allowed as thestrongman knew very well thather political ignorance and thecurrent Covid-19 pandemicwill rarely offer her an oppor-tunity to mobilise the masses.On the other hand, what wastrue was that she managed tostay safe till the date of the elec-tion as she was accompanied bya large number of supporters.

What is more interestingand largely gone unnoticed isthat along with Tsikhanouskaya,there were two other womenwho also spearheaded the cam-paign against Lukashenko. Thetrailblazer woman was openlysupported by MariaKolesnikova and VeronikaTsepkalo. Unfortunately,Kolesnikova was the campaignmanager for Victor Babariko, abanker-turned politician, whowas initially expected to be themain contender in the presi-dential poll. However, thingsturned out otherwise. Babarikowas arrested in June over accu-sations of bribery and moneylaundering. But Kolesnikovacontinued her work on the

campaign trail and joined thecampaign for Tsikhanouskaya.The third woman, Tsepkalo,represents her husband, ValeryTsepkalo, a former Belarusianambassador to the UnitedStates. Her husband was forcedto flee to Russia just before theelection because of concernsover his security and his chil-dren. Simply speaking, this tri-umvirate has electrified thecampaign and politics ofBelarus. Lukashenko may havenever thought that there couldbe a female challenge to his rule.

Once the election resultswere declared, bothTsikhanouskaya and Tsepkalohad to leave the country, fear-ing for extreme actions fromthe Belarusian authorities.Tsikhanouskaya has left forLithuania. Since then she hasbeen releasing short videos forthe protesters in her country.But surprisingly, one of her lat-est videos, released in the pro-Government Telegram chan-nel, called on her supporters tocease all protests. Whatemboldens the anti-govern-

ment demonstrators in Minskand in the rest of Belarus isKolesnikova. Unlike the othertwo women, she has remainedin Belarus.

Lukashenko’s claims of vic-tory sparked massive and vio-lent protests across Belarus.But why? Is it so that theBelarusians are simply tired ofhim seating in power for anindefinite timeline? Or is it sothat people are yearning forpopular democracy? It seemsthe populace is both tired andlooking for an outlet to estab-lish democracy in this erstwhileSoviet satellite state. May bemany of them are fearing aPutin-style rule that may com-pletely root out the element ofopposition and civil resistancemovements across Belarus. Theprotesters in the capital city ofMinsk came out in thousands,shouting “Leave”. However pro-testers fight with the securityagencies have come from at least20 other cities, includingVitebsk and Gomel. After policeviolence against the demon-strators, what Tsikhanouskaya

said meant a lot for both thecivilians of her country and thedemocracy lovers of the world:“I want to ask the militia and thetroops to remember that theyare part of the people. Pleasestop the violence.”

This highlights the factthat for ages the uniformedmen in many countries havebeen either forced or directedto pound on the ordinary peo-ple on the street. Her openappeal to the military is trulysymbolic because authoritarianleader Lukashenko has beenmanipulating the support ofthem for decades in the nameof maintaining stability in thecountry. The opposition inBelarus has stated that thiselection is full of malpractices.Many election and politicalobservers consider the recordnumber of early voters inBelarus as a major sign ofheavy “ballot stuffing”. Around40 per cent people voting beforethe polls started on August 9clearly signaled serious mal-practices in the election. On theother hand, many polling

booths ran out of ballot paperson the day of the election.

For now, political observersand experts say that this is thebiggest ever protest Belarusianshave ever staged againstLukashenko since his arrival topower. Probably, John Dalberg-Acton, the 19th centuryEnglish philosopher, politicianand historian, known as the“magistrate of history”, wasvery right, when he said,“Power tends to corrupt,absolute power corruptsabsolutely”. His iconic wordsremind all of us the corridorsof power wherein a few hun-dreds muster, manoeuvre andgrab the public resources andenjoy the same at the cost of themajority.

Meanwhile, Belarus hasencountered the Covid-19 pan-demic with a death of more than548 and recorded more than67,000 people as positive cases.But instead of offering cautionand medical care, Lukashenko,in a televised speech claimedthat 97 per cent of theBelarusians who contracted the

virus recovered without show-ing any symptoms. He laughedoff the pandemic and refused tolock down the country andfinally advised people to drinkvodka to ward off the illness.Such bizarre leaders still exist onthis planet!

Even Belarus’s first leader,Stanislav Shushkevich, whotook over the country just afterindependence from the USSRin 1991, voices concern over thefuture of his country. To him,Lukashenko can only offer stateadministration methods thatare good for a collective farmand that is what he has beendoing all those years. He hastermed him as an ignoramusand rude person.

The writing on the wall inMinsk and around is clear: It’stime for Lukashenko to go.Making mincemeat ofTsikhanouskaya and the othertwo women contenders by himno way signals victory and win-ning a popular mandate inBelarus. Though technically, hehas won a clear majority overhis opponents, it’s always bet-ter to leave gracefully, withouta rebellion or a massive socialunrest. Such a scenario cer-tainly helps a country likeBelarus to sustain the currentlevel of sustainability andpeace. But leaders likeLukashenko may not heed thesignal reverberating around. Ina country like Belarus andmany other nations thosewhich are under the iron fist ofdemagogues, such civil upris-ings can rightly be called asnone other than a “waitinggame”. It all depends how theTsikhanouskaya-led call couldbe taken forward and sus-tained on the face of brutal mil-itary pressure. It’s just a pro-logue. And her one big step forleadership change would cer-tainly go down in the politicalhistory of Belarus as a turningpoint. It’s the same people thatwill finally decide the fate ofLukashenko. He must remem-ber the famous Latin adage:“Vox populi, vox dei” (voice ofthe people is the voice of God).

Politics is all about freedomand rights by engaging com-moners at the centre of it. If itis not rightly pursued by anyleader, how powerful he or shemay be, political landscapewould offer no space to him orher in the days to come. Hopethe movement launched bythe triumvirate does not passonto oblivion!

(The writer is an expert oninternational affairs)

� ��� �������� ��� ����&������������������� ����� ���� !� � %� 0��� �"������������ ������� ����� ����� ������� � ������ � ���$� ������������� � �����'����$� ��� �$��-�� ���� %�

� ���������������$��������& ?�CD5E7ABABThe famous words of the first

Prime Minister of India, PanditJawaharlal Nehru, “A moment comes,which comes but rarely in history,when we step out from the old to thenew, when an age ends, and when thesoul of a nation, long suppressed, findsutterance” still hold true today asIndia marches onto the global eco-nomic scene and is striving hard eachday to establish itself as an emergingglobal economic power.

15th August 1947, a day cele-brated by the entire country asIndependence Day, didn’t mark theend of a struggle but the beginningof a mammoth task of rebuilding anentire country and its economy.

This year as we complete 73 glo-rious years of being an independentnation, let’s reflect on some of theremarkable accomplishments of oneof the world’s fastest growingeconomies over the years. India’sIndependence in 1947 was thebiggest turning point in its economichistory. Because of various attacksand deindustrialisation by theBritishers, the country was left mis-erably poor and highly demoralised.

During the cold war, it wasNehru’s strategy to keep India non-aligned to either of the sides thathelped in giving India’s economicdevelopment a much-needed boost.India received sizeable aid fromboth sides during the Cold War; theSoviet Union and Eastern Europemade up for almost as much in com-modities and technical assistance asdid the United States, Great Britainand West Germany.

In spite of attaining

Independence in 1947, Indian lead-ers were concerned that foreign rulewould make a comeback on the pre-text of economic control throughtrade and investments. To preventsuch a situation, India adopted eco-nomic independence and workedtowards economic sufficiency, alongwith formulating five-year plans toachieve set out goals.

The five-year plans were nation-al economic and social growth ini-tiatives formulated after those exist-ing in the USSR. India’s first five-yearplan, launched in 1951, focused pri-marily on agriculture, price stabili-ty, power and transport. It was basedon the Harrod-Domar model thatsought to give impetus to India’s eco-nomic growth through increase insavings and investments.

The plan was a success, with theeconomy growing at an annual rateof 3.6 per cent, surpassing the targetof 2.1 per cent. The second five-yearplan also called the MahalanobisPlan after Professor PC Mahalanobisfocussed on rapid industrialisation.The Mahalanobis Plan in a way laidthe foundation of the spirit of self-reliance or Aatmanirbhar Bharat.

On June 9, 1964, Lal BahadurShastri succeeded Nehru as PrimeMinister and was the man instru-mental in giving impetus to theGreen Revolution and the WhiteRevolution. The war with China hadled to acute food shortage and risingprice and convinced him that Indianeeded to renew focus on agricultureand allow leeway for private enter-prises and foreign investments. TheGreen Revolution resulted in a

record grain output of 131 milliontonnes in 1978/79.

This established India as one ofthe world’s biggest agricultural pro-ducers. Shastri in his tenure alsodecided that India had both the cap-ital and the competence to beginexporting chemical and engineeringproducts and agricultural com-modities such as tea and rubber andhas been ever since.

The 1960s ushered in a decadeof various economic and growthchallenges for India. The consecutivedeaths of Nehru and Shastri had cre-ated a situation of political unrest andIndira Gandhi’s rupee devaluationhad led to prices rising in general. OnJuly 19, 1969, Indira, the then PrimeMinister and Finance Minister,decided to nationalise 14 largestbanks of the country with the aim ofincreasing the credit given by banksto the agricultural sector as opposedto big businesses alone.

When PV Narasimha Rao took

over as Prime Minister in 1991 heannounced a new industrial policywhich marked a sharp departurefrom the earlier policy of 1956. The new industrial policy laidemphasis on liberalisation, privati-sation and globalisation therebyincreasing India’s GDP growth rate,increase in foreign direct investmentand increase in the per capita income.

Ten years of economic liberali-sation saw Indian companies flour-ishing and the first decade of the 21stcentury bore witness to this chang-ing tide. November 8, 2016, a red-let-ter day in the history of India’s econ-omy, saw Prime Minister NarendraModi make history as he said, “Tobreak the grip of corruption andblack money, we have decided thatthe five hundred rupee and thou-sand-rupee currency notes present-ly in use will no longer be legal ten-der from midnight tonight.”

To usher in a new era of eco-

nomic progress, Modi replaced thePlanning Commission with NITIAayog (NITI stands for NationalInstitute for Transforming India).NITI Aayog is a state-of-the-artresource centre that acts as theGovernment’s think tank with thenecessary resources, knowledge andskills, that enables it to act with speed,promote research and innovation.

After implementing “Make inIndia” and “Skill India” mission inJuly 2017, Modi announced theimplementation of the Goods &Services Tax, making India one of thefew countries to have a tax law thatunifies various Central and State taxlaws, thereby facilitating inclusivegrowth of the nation. Years aftermaking commendable progress interms of economic growth anddevelopment, the pandemic we facetoday has yet again pushed theeconomy several years back. In orderto combat this and for the economyto overcome the hurdles caused by

the pandemic as well as to marchtowards an Atmanirbhar Bharat,Modi announced a Rs 20 lakh crorepackage, amounting to about 10 percent of the gross domestic productor GDP.

Until 1991, India’s slow socialand economic growth made it irrel-evant in the global scenario, otherthan as a recipient of financial aidfrom other nations. But today lead-ing nations view India as a potentialsuperpower. Once a country that hadto rebuild itself from ground zero,India now has the third-largest GDPin the world in purchasing powerparity terms and an environmentthat is conducive for the growth of budding entrepreneurs and indus-tries alike.

(The writer is Associate Professor, Atal Bihari Vajpayee School of Management andEntrepreneurship, Jawaharlal NehruUniversity, New Delhi)

Page 16: ˘ ˇˆ · 1 day ago · Gujarat 2,765. Gujarat has the worst Case Fatality Ratio at 3.6 per cent. It means for every 100 confirmed ... fauna flora. As per the minutes of its July

�����7$$&�./� ������"���"��$"$ ).�7����@$�)//�9�/7$=$ ���8�./���/�8�0$��$�����0����$")$�����$"��8/��/7��"��� /2����0�/ ����/�$/2����0��22 /�0���"�./� �$����� $)��$9�<����@� ���8/ ���/�$�7�/�� $���$����/"��$�0� ��9�-"���$�7/ &�8 /"������")����.�"/����22$"���2$ �./� �$B2$0����/"�9�8�./��� $�"/����22.�7����./� +/@�/ �� $�8�0�")�2 /@�$������7/ &��&"/7��������$ $������/�������./��0�"��/��/���2 /=$�./� �0� $"�$"=� /"�$"�9�:/ �/"$��� .��/���/2����2/����=$���"��$�@$8/ $���&�")��".��$0���/"9�-��$ ����.�/22/�$�./��@����������/����"/���$�$ �./��8 /���/=�")�8/ 7� �����./����=$�0�/�0$���=����@�$9��6�����/=�")����$�8/ �./���"./� � $����/"���29�;/���"��./� �2� �"$ �7����0/""$0�7$��9

�+;:5�%+=-,7 ���+;:5�;()(+7 ��=$�+;:5�.!5 /"��.

���� 8% )��/,9�' ���,:

;/��7����@$� $I�� $���/�@���"0$�./� ��$�����$88/ ���7���./� �2$ �/"����"��2 /8$���/"��� $�2/"��@�����$�9�;/��� $�/=�")��"�/���2���$�7�$ $�"�./��"$$���/�@$�2���$"���"���$ �����./��"$$���/�+�))�$�@$�7$$"�������2$0���/8�./� ��8$9�($��� $�./��� $���&�")����$�/���8/ �./� ��$���")��"� $��B���/"9�����������=$ .�2 /����")����$�8/ �./���"�./� 0� $$ 9�;/� ��$"�����@�����$���"���"�$���)$"0$����./� �) $���� $")��9�;/��7����8�"���.�@$��0&"/7�$�)$��8/ �./� $88/ ���@.�/��$ ���"��@$���00$��8����"��0��$=�")�./� )/���9���$���00$���7�����"��������$"�$�0/"8��$"0$��"�./� �@�����$�9��"�� $������./���/"6��@$0/�$�� /)�"����$��/����9���$�) $������$�/8��/=$��"���/���� ��.����/"���$�0� ��9;/� � $����/"���2�7������ $")��$"��/ $��"���/�$�/8�./�� $���&$�.��/�)$���"�/������)$�/8�8��� $�0/�����$"�9

�+;:5�%+=-,7����+;:5�;()(+7 1��=$ �+;:5�.!5 �$�"$���.

��������' ���/098%&�/0

;/� ��$��������)//�������7$$&9�;/��� $��"����� /")$ 2/����/"�"/7��"��0�"�0/"� /��7������22$"��� /�"�./�9�!".�$88/ ��������./��2����/7� �����$���2 /=$�$"�/8�./� ��$����� �)���"/7�7����@$� �8 ���9���$�/"�.����")�����./��"$$���/�@$�0� $8����@/�������/����$�2���/�� .���$ "���=$�7�.���/�� $����"���$���7�����$����0����$")$����8��".9�;/��"$$���/�2�����2�./� ���$$=$��/"��$�0� $$ �8 /"�9�1/�$�/8�./��� $�)/�")��/�$B2$ �$"0$��"$7�@$)�""�")9���/�$��//&�")�8/ �$�2�/.�$"��7����@$�� $���"�/���"$7�2/����/"��7��0��7�����$���./� �9�($�/"./� ��/$���"��&$$2�7/ &�")��� �9������0�"�@$���2$ �/�/8�0��/���"���"0$ ���"�.��"��$ ���/8��� $����/"���29($��$=$��"���&�")����/����8/�"����/"��7�$��$ ��������/=$/ ��� �������8$9

�+;:5�%+=-,7 ���+;:5�;()(+7 * $$"�+;:5�.!5 1��� ��.

9����8%&�/,9"�(�/0

;/��"$$���/�&$$2�./� �@���"0$��"�$=$ .�7�.9���/�$8�0�")��$�����0����$")$���&"/7���������")��7����)$�@$��$ 9�;/��� $��"����� /")��"�����@�$�8 ��$�/8���"��7�$ $�"�./��&"/7�7����./����/�����/������������$9;/����.�@$�8�0$��7���������$����/ ����������/"���./� �7/ &2��0$�7��0�� $I�� $�����$����$��0��/"�/ �$0���/"9�����.�@$�/8���2/ ��"0$��"����".�/2��/"�� $��=����@�$��/�./�9��/7$=$ ��./����/�����"��.�$������$��=����@�$��"8/ ����/"�8� ���@$8/ $�./��8�"���.�0/�$�/���0/"0����/"9���/��/"������./��� $��./��� $�8���$�7����8/ 0$8���$"$ ).�7��0���/�$�2$/2�$�8�"���@ ���=$9($7� $���$���2���$��/�@$��//�8/ 0$8��9�;/� ��/��$ �/ ���/��$ C��&$�8�)� $���.��"�$ 8$ $��"�./� � $����/"���2�7�$��$ ���$��$�"���/�/ �"/�9

�+;:5�%+=-,7 ���+;:5�;()(+7 #$�0��+;:5�.!5 ��$���.

�������"�(�/,9"��&�//

!"��"0 $��$��"�./� ��$������"��=������.�����$$"9���/�$�$���")�7�����$ �/������"$������"$7��"����2 /=$���$���")�/�����.�7����0/�$��"�/�./� ���8$9�;/��� $�)$"$ /����"���=$�0/"0$ "�8/ �/��$ ���@����/"6��0/�2 /���$�/"���$�$�����8 /"�9��/� ����./� �@/�.��"����"�9�����������)//����$��/�)���$ ��"8/ ����/"�/"�"�� ���/"��"��$B$ 0��$9<����$")$���"��/22/����/"���)���@$�8�0$�������7$$&�$�2$0����.�/"���$�8�"�"0����8 /"�9�8�./��� $�"/��&$$2�")� �0&�/8�./� �8�"�"0$����"��$B2$"���� $�����������&$�.�����./� �@��)$����.�0 /�����$������9��������������$�7�$"�./�7����8$$�������./� ��/")C�$ ��0/�����$�� $����/"���2����0/�$���8����0� 0�$9�!���� $��������$ $�������$"�$�/8�0�/�� $�"��8��8���$"��/8�7����./���$�� $�9�/ $��/=$��"�) ������$�7����&$$2�./� �)//��8/ ��"$�)/�")9

�+;:5�%+=-,7 ���+;:5�;()(+7 * $$"�+;:5�.!5 ��� ���.

��9����5�/;9�'�//

��$"����0/�$���/��$������2���$"0$������$�&$.9���$$B2$"��=$��$�����"�����)"/�$��.��$���������=$��/�"�$ ��&$���.�0���$���@�)��/�$��"���$�2/0&$���8�./� �$���������@$$"�/���/8�@���"0$����$"�./��"$$���/��0��7���) $��$ �8/ $��)����"��7���/�9�8�./��� $��7����")��$�� $��������/"6��+��2��/�0/"0����/"���"��2�"�09���������/��7����0/� �)$9�-"���$�0� $$ �8 /"����� ���$��"�./� �2�.�/ ��@$��$ �2/����/"���.�0/�$��/�./�������������$9�1/�$�/8�./����/�8$$�����$"�$�/8��00/�2�����$"�����./����=$�@$$"��@�$�/������"�./� �)/�����8�$ ��$�@�0&�9�;/����.�8�"������/��$ ���//&��2��/�./��8/ �)����"0$�$=$"�@$8/ $�./��� $0���$���2/"��/��$�����2 /+$0��/ �/=$ �$$���2� ��0��� �0��=��.9�8�./��� $�0/�����$���./��7�����/=$��/���$�"$B��$=$�9�

�+;:5�%+=-,7 ��+;:5�;()(+7 #� 2�$�+;:5�.!5 : ���.

�(����'�/;9�)1�//

8�./��8$$��������/�$���")����������7����./� �@/�.����$"./��"$$���/�2�.����$"��/"��/�./� �0/"0$ "�9���������"/���$����$��/�2�"�0��"���/�8$$�������./��0�"6���/��".���")�@/�����9�� ����./� ��"�����/"��"���//&�8/ �/��$ �7�.��8/ �$�29���&$�0� $�/8�./� �$�8�7����2 /2$ ���$��� $����"�$B$ 0��$9�-"���$�0� $$ �8 /"�����$�$"��/8�/"$����")��/@$)�"�7����"$7�����"��0��$�9����")����.�"/��@$�)/�")���2$ �./� �$B2$0����/"�������������$9�1/�$�/8�./����.��=$�8�0$��/ �� $�8�0�")�0����$")$��7�����/�$���") $���$���/�./� �7/ &9�;/��"$$���/���&$���@ $���$ �8 /���$�0��/��� /�"��./��@$0���$�0����$")$��7���� $�� "����//"����./��� $� $��.��/�8�0$���$�9�����������2���$7�$ $�"�./����=$��"�/22/ ��"��.��/���2 /=$�./� $����/"���2�7����./� �2� �"$ 9

�+;:5�%+=-,7 ���+;:5�;()(+7 1&.�(��$�+;:5�.!5 ��� ���.

��������)1�/;9��3�/,

;/� �=������.����I���$��� /")9����������"�$B0$��$"�����$��/��&$�0��")$���"�./� �8��"$���2��"����./��7������&$�/ $�2 /) $������"����)�"$�9�;/��"$$���/���&$�0� $�/80��""$����")������$"$ ).��"���$� �)�����""$ 9�!0��")�/"�"���2���$�/8��".��/ ����.�0 $��$��$�����2 /@�$���8/ ./�9�# /8$���/"���.��./��� $�8���$��7�����"��.��0��$"$ )�$����/7�./���2$�&�./� ���"���"��0/"��0�./� �$�8������2/ ��"�����./� �7/ &2��0$9�;/����.�8�"�./� �$�8��"�0/"8��0���"������) $$�")�7����/��$ �9�<�//�$./� �@����$��7��$�.� ���$ ����"�2�0&�")��2/"�$=$ .����) $$�$"�9��/"6���$���".�$�/��/"����� ��/8���$�2����88$0��./� � $����/"���2�7����./� �@$�/=$�9�%"/7�������$ $�������/��/8��/=$��"�./� ���8$��"��./�������22 $0���$����/��$ 7��$����7�������2��7�.9

�+;:5�%+=-,7 � �+;:5�;()(+7 ( /7"�+;:5�.!5 1��� ��.

�K����� "%(�/09���,<

-"���$��$�����8 /"���./� �$88/ ���� $���&$�.��/�@$� �8 ���9;/��� $��"���2/����/"��/�0/"� /��7������22$"��� /�"��./�9!"/��$ �2����2/�"����������./��0�"���&$����/")��$ ��=�$7/8����")���"���//&��"�/���$�8��� $9������7����"/��/"�.��$�2./���/���2 /=$�./� �2 $�$"���$������������/"�@������/���.���� /")�8/�"����/"�8/ �����/�@$� /@�����"���$�8��� $����7$��9�����./���/����./� �7/ &2��0$�����0/"�$I�$"0$�9�;/���)���@$�8�0$��7���������$�����"�����$0���/"��/���&$9� .��/�@$��=$���� $��/"�@�$����./��0�"��"��0/"���$ 7����/��$ ��7�"��@$8/ $�./����&$���0�/�0$9�����������$�/80��")$�/"���$� $����/"���2�8 /"�9�8�./��� $�0/�����$��"��� $�$B2$ �$"0�")�2 /@�$���7����./� �2� �"$ ���$"��=$��"��/"$������0����/"��/������$�0��/8�./��0�"�7/ &/"�0��")�")�0$ ���"���2$0����/�&$$2����)/�")9

�+;:5�%+=-,7 ���+;:5�;()(+7 ($�)$�+;:5�.!5 1�"��.

���������,:98% )��/0

-"���$��$�����8 /"���./��"$$���/�2�.�0�/�$����$"��/"��/./� �$�/��/"�9���$ $�� $�0��"0$�������./��� $�"/����@$���7�$"��$���")�7����0����$")$�9�8�./����=$�8/�"��/�������./����=$��"�����$"��/ �� $�+�����7����")��$��� $�������$"���"��$���/8�@$0/��")�"$)���=$�)$���$�2�@.����&�")��/�/�$/"$9���$ $���.�@$��"8/ ����/"������./���/"6��&"/7�@/��9�-"���$�7/ &�8 /"����/�$�/8�./����=$�00/�2����$�����/��/8�./� �)/�����"����=$������"$��) $�����$ ����7$������"���$�2 /0$��9�;/����.�@$�8�"�"0����.���@�$������$��/�$"�9�1/�$�/8�./����.���=$����� �����$���./� �7/ &2��0$9��������.���$��/�./� ��"8�$B�@�$�������$�7�$ $�"�./��� $� $�����"���/�0��")$�./� �7�.�/87/ &�")9�"�./� � $����/"���2���./����/����@$�0�$� ��@/��7����./��7�"���"��7����./� ��/2$���"��� $����� $9

�+;:5�%+=-,7 ��+;:5�;()(+7 �)$"���+;:5�.!5 : ���.

����������)�//9"%(�,:

;/����)���8�0$��/�$��$�����0����$")$�9��/ .�")�""$0$��� ��.����"/��)/�")��/��$�29��=$"��"���$�8�0$�/8�$ �/���2 /@�$����./��"$$���/��/���./� �) /�"�9�!2/����=$��������$�7����)�=$�./����$��/��=���/"��/��/���$ �)������")�8/ �./� ��$����9�8���$��������/"� $I�� $��./���/��&$��$��0����$�������$"�)/�/����"��)$����$���/"$�8 /���� ���$��2 �0����/"$ 9�/"$.������&$�.��/�0/�$�./� �7�.91/�$�/8�./����.�)$���� 2 ��$��7�����"��"0 $��$��"�./� 0� $"��2�.�/ �)$���")���2 /�/��/"9��������.�@$���$��/������$��� ��7/ &�./����=$�2����"��7�""�")�/=$ �������$0����$")$��8�0$���"���00/�2�����")�./� �)/���9��6���/=$8/ �./�������7$$&9�#/����=$�$�/��/"���$"$ ).�7����@$0 $��$��@$�7$$"�./���"��./� �2� �"$ ��7��0��7�����$�=$./��8$$��")�)//���@/���./� �$�8��"����8$��"�)$"$ ��9

�+;:5�%+=-,7 �+;:5�;()(+7 #�"&�+;:5�.!5 1�"��.

��� "��&�/;9��5�//�

-"���$��$�����8 /"�����$�2$ �/������"$)���=$���"���/ $�8/ ./�9���/�$���88$ �")�8 /���$� ������$"����"��(�//�# $��� $���.�$B2$ �$"0$�����+/ ��2�$�=����"��$�����7��0��7�������&$�./���29������������$�2/�$"������/��88$0�./���2� ������.���$"����.��"��2�.��0���.9�1/�2�.����$"��/"�/�7����./��� $��/�")�8/ �./� �@/�.9�1��.�2/����=$��"�0�����@/�����$��������/"9�1� $����"���"B�$�.�7����/�$���")� $����")��/�7/ &�� $���&$�.��/��88$0��./��"/79;/���$"���/�8$� ��@/�����$�/��0/�$�/8�./� �0� $$ ��"���$8��� $9�< �����/8�$�2�/.�$"���8�"�"0$��0/����@$�8�0$��@.�/�$�/8�./�9�1��.�������2��@�$��"��8�$B�@�$��/��$���7�����9��������.�@$��"�$�/��/"������$��"�./� � $����/"���29���")��� $�"/��7������$.��22$� ��/�@$9���&$���@ $�&��8./��"$$����9�� $���./� �2� �"$ ����./� �8 �$"�9

�+;:5�%+=-,7 ���+;:5�;()(+7 ����$�+;:5�.!5 ��$���.

��9���������3�//9�)�/,

�"�24��5

�!���!��'�%-�;!

��������E���

��� �������-��;��::�,��<��(����������1!���!�������1���,�1��!���D�,;�1!����!1�!�#!1��

!����D�,;�1���,��!1�!�:'�',�N�-1<!,����� )������ ���!����������:�:�

The world is subject to continuedchange. Every moment, energydynamics of the cosmos keeps

varying widely, and with related bearingon life cycle on earth. The callings ofevery moment, thus, keeps changing. Weare witness to continued change in thesocietal dynamics, confronting us withfresh challenges, also unfolding freshopportunities. Accordingly, we need tokeep pace with the ongoing change —intelligently combat the challenges andtry to grab opportunities arising.Otherwise, we may be left behind in therun of time. The irony, however, is thatordinarily, we remain fixated to ourdream perceptions, habits and attitudes.So, we try to resist change, carryingassumed fear of its future ramifications.

We also need to be conscious aboutchanging ourselves at individual level.For, we are born with an inherent urge toevolve, expand our vision in order tovisualise things in the right perspective.Accordingly, articulate ways and meansto work towards a better tomorrow. This,however, would not be forthcomingunless we identify and acknowledge ourindividualistic limitations — mental andemotional, habits and attitudes — and

address them through fresh educativeinputs. Also identify our indwellingpotential, hone it and then make the mostout of it.

Many a times, we remain unaware ofour inlaid potential, and so it remainsuntapped. A couple of years back a younglad came seeking guidance on his careerprospects. He was advised to take upmedia related work as his strength pointwas communicative abilities and flair forlanguage. He immediately retorted: “Sir,you have read me wrong. My languageskill is not good and I wish to go for amanagerial assignment. So, I am trying toget into a business school to acquire thenecessary skill set required.” I could makeout that his preconditioned mind is notable to digest my advice. I then suggested:“Well, it is your prerogative what profes-sion to opt for. But in any discipline, youwill need language skill to conduct well.Together with your preparations for nextentrance test for admission into a busi-ness school, why not work on your lan-guage skills also.” That got registered inhis mind. He immediately joined a mediaorganisation as an intern, with the intentto improve his language skill. Withinthree months, the young man realised

that he could write well, and soon aftergot into journalism.

A couple of years back, a gentlemanin his early forties came seeking guidanceon two issues: “Sir, my domestic atmos-phere is not good. Suggest me some pujaso that our family life improves. What ismy growth potential in the present job?”

In so far as your wish to improvedomestic atmosphere is concerned, youneed to work upon your attitude, playingspoil sport with you so far. Pujas con-ducted by pundits can’t bring about anychange. “Is it possible to change myinborn nature?” He asked. “Remember,human beings enjoy the exclusive privi-lege to guide their actions by choice anddiscrimination. Your discriminatory abili-ty helps you identify and acknowledgeinherent infirmities. Following which,you can make a conscientious choice tobring about the desired change throughfresh educative inputs.” I responded.

About your career prospect, I see achange coming around 2019-20 underunforeseen circumstances. Better be onthe lookout for alternative options avail-able so that you land up in the rightplace. Otherwise, you may have to leaveyour job in a state of desperation. Heagain countered: “I am very comfortable

in my present organisation. My seniorsappreciate my work, and I have beengrowing. Why should I think of movingaway from such a comfortable workatmosphere?” “Well, time ahead willprove. The problem with you is yourstubbornness and the wish to live on ownexclusive terms. But the world doesn’talways move to anybody’s asking.” Iresponded. No wonder, during the ongo-ing pandemic, his company becamebankrupt, and he is without job. Havingthus been proven right, he has againsought guidance.

Let us now look at the man’s astrolog-ical pointers to his personality trends.Both the luminaries the Sun and Moonare in fixed signs making him stubborn.Mars in the 4th house conjunct Moonmakes him irritable, in fact, ‘My way orhigh way’ is his attitude. Mercury placedadverse to Neptune holds the key to hisinsensible judgment. The result is there tosee. The man’s indwelling potential too isimmense. It is still not late to address hisinherent infirmities. Following which, hislife may turn into a pleasant experience.

"� !!��� ���������������� �$����� ����� ��������������� ����� �� �������� ��!!����������

" �9;;151115;;D1D�K*G*KL;D*1�K*G*GA����9��������� ���������� �J���������

���2"����(�!,!��(�'1�!��#!�!��-

'��� ������������������� �� �$������ ��� �� �$���)� �� �$'-� ?��������� � ��"�������,����������������� �����9���� J��������������$!!!���������������$'9;D*KGDKKK1

� ��������������������

������0���� �����T��!D���� ���,!��!��<-�1'���*����-,�U ★ ��/�����������0� T 1!�1��<�!��,!�5!%�-�!��1��-,����-,�><,�!�D�?

)����������������������������� �������������F���� ��