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12
H eavy rain in Delhi-NCR on Wednesday resulted in waterlogging, tree uprooting, partial house collapses and traffic jams at various places. According to civic bodies of Delhi, seven trees were uprooted and waterlogging was reported in several areas. A portion of a dilapidated building collapsed due to inces- sant rainfall in Chirag Delhi and a boundary wall of a pub- lic school collapsed in Saket according to South Corporation’s official. Besides, a building situat- ed at Moti Nagar and Jahangirpuri also collapsed, a senior north Corporation offi- cial said. Many areas of the neigh- bouring Gurugram were sub- merged in an average of three feet of water, according to local administration. The worst hit areas being Delhi-Gurugram expressway, service lane near Jharsa Chowk, IffCO Chowk, Sohna Road, Narsinghpur, Basai Chowk, Sohna Chowk, Sector 4-7, Hanuman Chowk, Bilaspur Chowk, Fazilpur Chowk, Vatika Chowk, Subhash Chowk, Baghtawar Chowk, Atul Kataria Chowk, Mahavir Chowk, Dundahera and Jawala Mill. Following the heavy rain- fall, the Delhi Traffic Police issued an advisory for the peo- ple informing them about the routes with heavy jams. The rain flooded many streets across the city, turning them into small rivers, as traf- fic came to a virtual standstill at key stretches. Many parts of the city were completely inun- dated after just a few hours of rain. Pictures and videos of vehicles stuck on waterlogged roads and people wading through waist-deep water were widely shared on social media. According to the Delhi Traffic Police, waterlogging has been reported at BRT near Central School, Badarpur to Ashram, Badarpur flyover underpass, Sarita Vihar under- pass, Dhaula Kuan towards AIIMS carriageway, Moti Bagh flyover underpass, MB Road near Batra Hospital, Palam Flyover and Chhata Rail. Continued on Page 2 T he Supreme Court on Wednesday upheld the Patna Police FIR to probe the alleged abetment to suicide of film star Sushant Singh Rajput and subsequent transfer of the case to the CBI. The verdict came in response to actress Rhea Chakraborty’s plea seek- ing transfer of the Patna Police FIR to Mumbai. The SC said the obstruc- tions for the Bihar Police team in Mumbai while investigating the Patna FIR registered by Rajput’s father should have been avoided as it gave rise to suspicion on the bonafide of the Mumbai Police’s enquiry. “The records of the case produced before this court does not prima facie suggest any wrongdoing by the Mumbai Police. However, their obstruction to the Bihar Police team at Mumbai could have been avoided since it gave rise to suspicion on the bonafide of their enquiry,” the court said. The SC ruling ordering the CBI probe came when a single judge bench exercised the special powers under Article 142 of the Constitution. Justice Hrishikesh Roy cited the Justice LS Panta judg- ment, “Under Article 142 of the Constitution, this court in the exercise of its jurisdiction may pass such decree or make such order as is necessary for doing complete justice in any cause” or “matter” pending before it. The expression “cause” or “mat- ter” would include any pro- ceeding pending in court and it would cover almost every kind of proceeding in court, including civil or criminal.” “This court’s (SC) power under Article 142(1) to do complete justice is entirely of different level and of a differ- ent quality. What would be the need of ‘complete justice’ in a cause or matter would depend upon the facts and circum- stances of each case and while exercising that power the court would take into consideration the express provisions of a substantive statute,” said Justice Roy citing the Panta judg- ment. Justice Roy further said, “The above ratio makes it amply clear that the Supreme Court in a deserving case, can invoke Article 142 powers to render justice. The peculiar cir- cumstances, in this case, require that complete justice is done in this matter. How this is to be achieved must now be decided.” Justice Roy underlined that the Bihar and Maharashtra Governments are making acrimonious allegations of political interference against each other, and the legitimacy of the investigation has come under a cloud. “These devel- opments, unfortunately, have the propensity to delay and misdirect the investigation. In such a situation, there is a rea- sonable apprehension of truth being a casualty and justice becoming a victim,” observed Justice Roy. He asserted that to ensure public confidence in the inves- tigation and to do complete jus- tice in the matter, the court considers it appropriate to invoke the powers conferred by Article 142 of the Constitution. Justice Roy turned down the Maharashtra Government’s arguments that ordinarily, the local police should conduct an investigation into any reported crime and entrustment of the investigation to the CBI must be an exception to meet extra- ordinary exigencies, and the consent given by Bihar Government, was for political exigencies. Continued on Page 2 I n a first-of-its-kind of “hijacking” drama in Uttar Pradesh, a private bus plying from Gurgaon to Madhya Pradesh was stopped by four men who identified themselves as recovery agents of a finance company in Agra, asked the driver and two conductors to get down and then sped away with its 34 passengers. The bus was later found in Jhansi, 250 km from Agra, and all the passengers are safe. According to a report, the incident took place in the Malpura police station area when the bus was en route to Panna in Madhya Pradesh from Gurgaon. Additional Chief Secretary (Home) Awanish Awasthi said the bus driver, staff and passengers are safe. However, the accused are yet to be nabbed. Continued on Page 2 T he Union Cabinet on Wednesday approved leas- ing out Jaipur, Guwahati and Thiruvananthapuram airports to the successful bidder Adani Group. The Gautam Adani-head- ed Group has also won the bid for Lucknow, Ahmadabad and Mangaluru airports under PPP mode. Adani Group lost the new Jewar Airport in Noida to Zurich Airport in the bid. “The Union Cabinet accorded its approval for leas- ing of three AAI airports name- ly, Jaipur, Guwahati and Thiruvananthapuram for Operation, Management and Development to M/s Adani Enterprises Ltd, who is declared as the successful bidder in a Global Competitive Bidding conducted by the Airports Authority of India, for 60 years,” said the Government. W hen Rahul Gandhi stepped down as the Congress president last year, his sister and party general secre- tary Priyanka Gandhi Vadra agreed with his views that a non-Gandhi should lead the party. As per the excerpts of a book, India Tomorrow: Conversations with the Next generation of Political Leaders authored by US academicians Pradeep Chibber and Harsh Shah, Priyanka Gandhi has said that the Congress should have its own path. The Congress dismissed the issue saying it was “the sud- den media interest egged on by BJP” in a “year-old remark” and asserted the Nehru-Gandhi family was never drawn by the trappings of power. Priyanka’s interview refers to her brother’s resignation letter, in which he stressed that the party must search for a new president. The indication was that it should be someone outside the family, which has led the Congress for most of its 134-year-old history. Continued on Page 2 I n a landmark decision to benefit millions of Government job aspirants, the Centre on Wednesday set up a National Recruitment Agency with the mandate to conduct Common Eligibility Test (CET) for selection to non-gazetted non-technical posts in the Central Government and pub- lic sector banks. The NRA CET will be conducted twice a year in about 12 languages the scores of which will be valid for three years within which period the candidate can apply for a job in the department or sector seek- ing recruitment based on a cer- tain score of NRA CET. However, in some of the sectors requiring higher skills like Bank Probationary officers or Railways or technical posts in any PSU, the candidate with NRA CET score will have to apply for another final exams and interview process. The NRA now be respon- sible to conduct “one exam” for bankings services, railways and Government Secretariat ser- vices which was till now con- ducted by three different agen- cies — banking personnel selection agency IBPS, railway recruitment board RRB, and the Staff Selection Commission (SSC). There are more than 20 recruitment agencies in the Central Government and in due course all will come under the ambit of NRA. Prime Minister Narendra Modi said NRA will prove to be a boon for crores of youngsters it will eliminate multiple tests and save precious time as well as resources. “This will also be a big boost to transparency, “ Modi said in a tweet soon after the Union Cabinet approved the NRA. Continued on Page 2 I ndia and China will hold another round of talks on Thursday in an effort to end the more than a three-month-long stalemate. This will be the fifth diplomatic-level talk since the stand-offs started in early May. Even after five military level parleys, China has refused to withdraw its troops from the “friction points.” The talks will be held under the aegis of Working Mechanism for Consultation and Coordination (WMCC) on India and China border. Joint secretary rank officers of the two countries will discuss ways to break the logjam and pave for another episode of military- level talks at a senior level in the coming days, sources said here on Wednesday. After the previous round of Working Mechanism for Consultation and Coordination talks last month, both sides had agreed to withdraw and com- pletely disengage from all the all four friction points includ- ing Galwan valley, Hot Springs, Gogra and Pangong Tso(lake). However, China was yet to pull back its troops from the Pangong Tso and Depsang val- ley thereby leading to height- ened tension in the region. Major General rank offi- cers of the two Armies also met on August 2 to sort out differ- ences over the Depsang valley. However, no positive outcome came out with China station- ing more than 5,000 troops close to the LAC on its side. It forced India also to move its troops forward and deploy heavy armour and guns, offi- cials said. T he second round of the serological survey, con- ducted in the first week of August across Delhi, has sug- gested that 28.35 per cent of the tested people have developed antibodies against Covid-19. It means that they have been exposed to the virus but were asymptomatic and did not fell ill, said sources in the State Government. Delhi’s population is around two crore. It means more than 50 lakh people and every fourth person in Delhi have been infected with the virus one time or another dur- ing the last six months. The highest prevalence has been reported from the central district, said the sources. The first round carried on a sample size of 21,387 had shown that 22.86 per cent of the people surveyed had been exposed to the virus. A sero- logical survey involves collect- ing blood samples and testing it to determine whether a per- son has developed antibodies against the virus. During the second round of survey, more than 15,000 samples were lifted across 11 districts in Delhi to assess the spread of the virus. Of the total samples collected this time, half were from people between the ages of 18 and 49. The samples were processed in 18 authorised labs, said the sources. The data collated by researchers at Maulana Azad Medical College has been submitted to Principal Health Secretary Vikram Dev Dutt. Despite several efforts, Dutt could not be contacted. “The labs have submitted their reports and, after com- piling the data, we have found a prevalence of 28.35 per cent of the disease among people who were tested in the second round. The highest prevalence has been reported from the central district,” said a senior official from the State Health Department. “We have already started the work on the next survey and a meeting is scheduled for August 20 to discuss the sam- ple size,” added the official. Continued on Page 2 T he Delhi Disaster Management Authority (DDMA), headed by Lt Governor Anil Baijal, on Wednesday gave approval for the opening of hotels and weekly markets in the nation- al Capital on trial basis, how- ever gyms will remain shut. The move is expected to help revive the city’s economy which was hit by the coron- avirus pandemic and months of lockdown. Citing Delhi health bul- letin report, Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal said, “The corona situation in Delhi is much better now, the econ- omy of Delhi has to be now brought on track.” The DDMA decision was welcomed by many hotel and restaurant associations as well traders bodies which thanked the CM for his efforts to get the hotels and weekly markets opened in the city. T he BJP and its allies in the National Democratic Alliance on Wednesday wel- comed the Supreme Court order upholding the Bihar Government’s recommenda- tion for a CBI probe in actor Sushant Singh Rajput’s death saying people know that “cover-up” will now not be possible in the case even as Congress pointed out that SC ruling did not cast any asper- sions on the Mumbai Police. The politicians in the poll- bound Bihar had turned the heat on the Mumbai Police and backed the demand for a CBI investigation into the circum- stances leading to the death of 34-year-old Rajput. The Shiv Sena refused to make a “political comment” on the apex court’s ruling but described “State’s justice system one of the best in the country”. But Maharashtra Home Minister Anil Deshmukh said the State Government wel- comes the judgment. “We wel- come the judgment of the Supreme Court and we will provide whatever cooperation is needed by the CBI. It is a matter of pride for Mumbai Police that Supreme Court observed there is no fault found in their investigation,” he said. On whether the Mumbai Police will continue a parallel probe in the matter, Deshmukh added, “State Government will think as per paragraph 34 of the Supreme Court order.” Union Minister Ravi Shankar Prasad, who had also paid a visit to Sushant’s ances- tral house in Patna, said, “The soul of late actor Sushant Singh Rajput will surely now rest in peace with the assurance of a fair investigation by CBI.” Continued on Page 2

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Page 1: 3 ˘˘ ˆ& 4 E&ˆ ˜ +- ˝ %˜ˇ ˘ *5ˇ (F ˜ +˚ ˝ ˛˜ ˝˜(5ˇ (F ...€¦ · Awanish Awasthi said the bus driver, staff and passengers are safe. However, the accused are yet

������������� �������������� ��������

Heavy rain in Delhi-NCRon Wednesday resulted in

waterlogging, tree uprooting,partial house collapses andtraffic jams at various places.

According to civic bodiesof Delhi, seven trees wereuprooted and waterlogging wasreported in several areas.

A portion of a dilapidatedbuilding collapsed due to inces-sant rainfall in Chirag Delhiand a boundary wall of a pub-lic school collapsed in Saketaccording to SouthCorporation’s official.

Besides, a building situat-ed at Moti Nagar andJahangirpuri also collapsed, asenior north Corporation offi-cial said.

Many areas of the neigh-bouring Gurugram were sub-merged in an average of threefeet of water, according to localadministration. The worst hit

areas being Delhi-Gurugramexpressway, service lane nearJharsa Chowk, IffCO Chowk,Sohna Road, Narsinghpur,

Basai Chowk, Sohna Chowk,Sector 4-7, Hanuman Chowk,Bilaspur Chowk, FazilpurChowk, Vatika Chowk,

Subhash Chowk, BaghtawarChowk, Atul Kataria Chowk,Mahavir Chowk, Dundaheraand Jawala Mill.

Following the heavy rain-fall, the Delhi Traffic Policeissued an advisory for the peo-ple informing them about theroutes with heavy jams.

The rain flooded manystreets across the city, turningthem into small rivers, as traf-fic came to a virtual standstillat key stretches. Many parts ofthe city were completely inun-dated after just a few hours ofrain. Pictures and videos ofvehicles stuck on waterloggedroads and people wadingthrough waist-deep water werewidely shared on social media.

According to the DelhiTraffic Police, waterlogging hasbeen reported at BRT nearCentral School, Badarpur toAshram, Badarpur flyoverunderpass, Sarita Vihar under-pass, Dhaula Kuan towardsAIIMS carriageway, Moti Baghflyover underpass, MB Roadnear Batra Hospital, PalamFlyover and Chhata Rail.

Continued on Page 2

��� ��������

The Supreme Court onWednesday upheld the

Patna Police FIR to probe thealleged abetment to suicide offilm star Sushant Singh Rajputand subsequent transfer of thecase to the CBI. The verdictcame in response to actressRhea Chakraborty’s plea seek-ing transfer of the Patna PoliceFIR to Mumbai.

The SC said the obstruc-tions for the Bihar Police teamin Mumbai while investigatingthe Patna FIR registered byRajput’s father should havebeen avoided as it gave rise tosuspicion on the bonafide ofthe Mumbai Police’s enquiry.

“The records of the caseproduced before this courtdoes not prima facie suggestany wrongdoing by theMumbai Police. However, theirobstruction to the Bihar Policeteam at Mumbai could havebeen avoided since it gave riseto suspicion on the bonafide oftheir enquiry,” the court said.

The SC ruling orderingthe CBI probe came when asingle judge bench exercisedthe special powers underArticle 142 of the Constitution.

Justice Hrishikesh Roy

cited the Justice LS Panta judg-ment, “Under Article 142 of theConstitution, this court in theexercise of its jurisdiction maypass such decree or make suchorder as is necessary for doingcomplete justice in any cause”or “matter” pending before it.The expression “cause” or “mat-ter” would include any pro-ceeding pending in court andit would cover almost everykind of proceeding in court,including civil or criminal.”

“This court’s (SC) powerunder Article 142(1) to docomplete justice is entirely ofdifferent level and of a differ-ent quality. What would be theneed of ‘complete justice’ in acause or matter would depend

upon the facts and circum-stances of each case and whileexercising that power the courtwould take into considerationthe express provisions of asubstantive statute,” said JusticeRoy citing the Panta judg-ment.

Justice Roy further said,“The above ratio makes itamply clear that the SupremeCourt in a deserving case, caninvoke Article 142 powers to

render justice. The peculiar cir-cumstances, in this case,require that complete justice isdone in this matter. How thisis to be achieved must now bedecided.”

Justice Roy underlined thatthe Bihar and MaharashtraGovernments are makingacrimonious allegations ofpolitical interference againsteach other, and the legitimacyof the investigation has come

under a cloud. “These devel-opments, unfortunately, havethe propensity to delay andmisdirect the investigation. Insuch a situation, there is a rea-sonable apprehension of truthbeing a casualty and justicebecoming a victim,” observedJustice Roy.

He asserted that to ensurepublic confidence in the inves-tigation and to do complete jus-tice in the matter, the courtconsiders it appropriate toinvoke the powers conferred byArticle 142 of the Constitution.

Justice Roy turned downthe Maharashtra Government’sarguments that ordinarily, thelocal police should conduct aninvestigation into any reportedcrime and entrustment of theinvestigation to the CBI mustbe an exception to meet extra-ordinary exigencies, and theconsent given by BiharGovernment, was for politicalexigencies.

Continued on Page 2

��� ���� �

In a first-of-its-kind of“hijacking” drama in Uttar

Pradesh, a private bus plyingfrom Gurgaon to MadhyaPradesh was stopped by fourmen who identified themselvesas recovery agents of a financecompany in Agra, asked thedriver and two conductors toget down and then sped awaywith its 34 passengers.

The bus was later found inJhansi, 250 km from Agra,and all the passengers are safe.

According to a report, theincident took place in theMalpura police station areawhen the bus was en route toPanna in Madhya Pradeshfrom Gurgaon. AdditionalChief Secretary (Home)Awanish Awasthi said the busdriver, staff and passengers aresafe. However, the accused areyet to be nabbed.

Continued on Page 2

��� ��������

The Union Cabinet onWednesday approved leas-

ing out Jaipur, Guwahati andThiruvananthapuram airportsto the successful bidder AdaniGroup.

The Gautam Adani-head-ed Group has also won the bidfor Lucknow, Ahmadabad andMangaluru airports under PPPmode. Adani Group lost thenew Jewar Airport in Noida toZurich Airport in the bid.

“The Union Cabinetaccorded its approval for leas-ing of three AAI airports name-ly, Jaipur, Guwahati andThiruvananthapuram forOperation, Management andDevelopment to M/s AdaniEnterprises Ltd, who is declaredas the successful bidder in aGlobal Competitive Biddingconducted by the AirportsAuthority of India, for 60years,” said the Government.

��� ��������

When Rahul Gandhistepped down as the

Congress president last year, hissister and party general secre-tary Priyanka Gandhi Vadraagreed with his views that anon-Gandhi should lead theparty.

As per the excerpts of abook, India Tomorrow:Conversations with the Nextgeneration of Political Leadersauthored by US academiciansPradeep Chibber and HarshShah, Priyanka Gandhi hassaid that the Congress should

have its own path.The Congress dismissed

the issue saying it was “the sud-den media interest egged on byBJP” in a “year-old remark” andasserted the Nehru-Gandhifamily was never drawn by thetrappings of power.

Priyanka’s interview refersto her brother’s resignationletter, in which he stressedthat the party must search fora new president. The indicationwas that it should be someoneoutside the family, which hasled the Congress for most of its134-year-old history.

Continued on Page 2

��� ��������

In a landmark decision tobenefit millions of

Government job aspirants, theCentre on Wednesday set up aNational Recruitment Agencywith the mandate to conductCommon Eligibility Test (CET)for selection to non-gazettednon-technical posts in theCentral Government and pub-lic sector banks.

The NRA CET will beconducted twice a year in about12 languages the scores ofwhich will be valid for threeyears within which period thecandidate can apply for a job inthe department or sector seek-ing recruitment based on a cer-tain score of NRA CET.

However, in some of thesectors requiring higher skillslike Bank Probationary officersor Railways or technical postsin any PSU, the candidate withNRA CET score will have toapply for another final examsand interview process.

The NRA now be respon-

sible to conduct “one exam” forbankings services, railways andGovernment Secretariat ser-vices which was till now con-ducted by three different agen-cies — banking personnelselection agency IBPS, railwayrecruitment board RRB, andthe Staff Selection Commission(SSC). There are more than 20recruitment agencies in theCentral Government and indue course all will come underthe ambit of NRA.

Prime Minister NarendraModi said NRA will prove to bea boon for crores of youngstersit will eliminate multiple testsand save precious time as wellas resources.

“This will also be a bigboost to transparency, “ Modisaid in a tweet soon after theUnion Cabinet approved theNRA.

Continued on Page 2

��� ��������

India and China will holdanother round of talks on

Thursday in an effort to end themore than a three-month-longstalemate. This will be the fifthdiplomatic-level talk since thestand-offs started in early May.Even after five military levelparleys, China has refused towithdraw its troops from the“friction points.”

The talks will be heldunder the aegis of WorkingMechanism for Consultationand Coordination (WMCC) on

India and China border. Jointsecretary rank officers of thetwo countries will discuss waysto break the logjam and pavefor another episode of military-level talks at a senior level in thecoming days, sources said hereon Wednesday.

After the previous round ofWorking Mechanism forConsultation and Coordinationtalks last month, both sides hadagreed to withdraw and com-pletely disengage from all theall four friction points includ-ing Galwan valley, Hot Springs,Gogra and Pangong Tso(lake).

However, China was yet to pullback its troops from thePangong Tso and Depsang val-ley thereby leading to height-ened tension in the region.

Major General rank offi-cers of the two Armies also meton August 2 to sort out differ-ences over the Depsang valley.However, no positive outcomecame out with China station-ing more than 5,000 troopsclose to the LAC on its side. Itforced India also to move itstroops forward and deployheavy armour and guns, offi-cials said.

������������� ��������

The second round of theserological survey, con-

ducted in the first week ofAugust across Delhi, has sug-gested that 28.35 per cent of thetested people have developedantibodies against Covid-19. Itmeans that they have beenexposed to the virus but wereasymptomatic and did not fellill, said sources in the StateGovernment.

Delhi’s population isaround two crore. It meansmore than 50 lakh people andevery fourth person in Delhihave been infected with thevirus one time or another dur-ing the last six months.

The highest prevalence hasbeen reported from the centraldistrict, said the sources.

The first round carried ona sample size of 21,387 hadshown that 22.86 per cent ofthe people surveyed had beenexposed to the virus. A sero-logical survey involves collect-ing blood samples and testingit to determine whether a per-son has developed antibodiesagainst the virus.

During the second roundof survey, more than 15,000samples were lifted across 11districts in Delhi to assess thespread of the virus. Of the totalsamples collected this time,

half were from people betweenthe ages of 18 and 49.

The samples wereprocessed in 18 authorisedlabs, said the sources. The datacollated by researchers atMaulana Azad Medical Collegehas been submitted to PrincipalHealth Secretary Vikram Dev

Dutt. Despite several efforts,Dutt could not be contacted.

“The labs have submittedtheir reports and, after com-piling the data, we have founda prevalence of 28.35 per centof the disease among peoplewho were tested in the secondround. The highest prevalencehas been reported from thecentral district,” said a seniorofficial from the State HealthDepartment.

“We have already startedthe work on the next surveyand a meeting is scheduled forAugust 20 to discuss the sam-ple size,” added the official.

Continued on Page 2

�������� ������� ��������

The Delhi DisasterManagement Authority

(DDMA), headed by LtGovernor Anil Baijal, onWednesday gave approval forthe opening of hotels andweekly markets in the nation-al Capital on trial basis, how-ever gyms will remain shut.

The move is expected tohelp revive the city’s economywhich was hit by the coron-avirus pandemic and months

of lockdown.Citing Delhi health bul-

letin report, Delhi ChiefMinister Arvind Kejriwal said,“The corona situation in Delhiis much better now, the econ-omy of Delhi has to be nowbrought on track.”

The DDMA decision waswelcomed by many hotel andrestaurant associations as welltraders bodies which thankedthe CM for his efforts to getthe hotels and weekly marketsopened in the city. ��� ��������

The BJP and its allies in theNational Democratic

Alliance on Wednesday wel-comed the Supreme Courtorder upholding the BiharGovernment’s recommenda-tion for a CBI probe in actorSushant Singh Rajput’s deathsaying people know that“cover-up” will now not bepossible in the case even asCongress pointed out that SCruling did not cast any asper-sions on the Mumbai Police.

The politicians in the poll-bound Bihar had turned theheat on the Mumbai Police andbacked the demand for a CBIinvestigation into the circum-stances leading to the death of34-year-old Rajput.

The Shiv Sena refused to

make a “political comment” onthe apex court’s ruling butdescribed “State’s justice systemone of the best in the country”.But Maharashtra HomeMinister Anil Deshmukh saidthe State Government wel-

comes the judgment. “We wel-come the judgment of theSupreme Court and we willprovide whatever cooperationis needed by the CBI. It is amatter of pride for MumbaiPolice that Supreme Courtobserved there is no fault foundin their investigation,” he said.

On whether the MumbaiPolice will continue a parallelprobe in the matter, Deshmukhadded, “State Government willthink as per paragraph 34 of theSupreme Court order.”

Union Minister RaviShankar Prasad, who had alsopaid a visit to Sushant’s ances-tral house in Patna, said, “Thesoul of late actor Sushant SinghRajput will surely now rest inpeace with the assurance of afair investigation by CBI.”

Continued on Page 2

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Chief Minister ArvindKejriwal on Wednesday

met the family of Late AmitKumar Balyan on Wednesday,a fireman who lost his life inJanuary this year while savingthe people after a building col-lapse in Peeragarhi area ofNorth-West Delhi and offeredthem a cheque of Rs 1 Crore asfinancial assistance.

Earlier this year, Kejriwalhad also said that the DelhiGovernment would provide ajob to a family member of thedeceased fireman. Kejriwal saidthat he hopes the financialassistance will be of aid toAmit’s family in difficult times.

Following the visit,Kejriwal tweeted, “Amit Kumar,who worked in Delhi FireService, lost his life while sav-ing the lives of people bravely.Delhi salutes his sacrifice. Metwith his family today and pro-vided them with the assistanceof Rs 1 crore. I hope that the

family will get some help withthis amount.”

Balyan, a resident of MeetNagar, was posted in the KirtiNagar fire station.

He had joined the DelhiFire Service as a fire operatorafter completing his training inJune 2019.

Being rescued after sixhours of being stuck in thedebris after a portion of thebuilding collapsed while hewas in his line of duty, AmitKumar was taken to BalajiHospital, where he succumbedto his injuries.

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Delhi Chief Minister ArvindKejriwal on Wednesday said

he will soon interact with a largenumber of traders on August 23.According to Kejriwal, the pur-pose of the discussion is tounderstand the challenges facedby the traders in light of theCovid-19 pandemic, and to planmeasures on how to furtherstrengthen Delhi’s economy. Aregistration link of the meeting has been sharedhttp://bit.ly/DigitalSamvaadwithCM. The traders interested inparticipating in the DigitalSamvaad have been asked toregister by August 22, 4 pm andalso pen down their suggestionsto the CM briefly.

Digital Samvaad is part ofa series of initiatives beingundertaken by Kejriwal to kick-start Delhi’s economy and

improve the business. Recently,Kejriwal had interacted withvarious industry associations todiscuss challenges being facedby them and to discuss mea-sures to revamp the post-coro-na economy of Delhi. Themeeting was aimed at dis-cussing the challenges faced byindustrialists, whose factoriesand businesses were shut downdue to the corona lockdown.

Several other decisionshave already been taken toimprove Delhi’s economy suchas substantially reducing thediesel prices in Delhi, de-link-ing hotels from Covid hospitalsso that they can start function-ing normally, allowing streethawkers and weekly bazaars tostart operating, notifying Delhi’sElectric Vehicle Policy, andlaunching of Delhi’s RozgaarBazaar to bridge the gapbetween job-seekers and job-

providers. On July 27, Kejriwalhad launched the online jobportal “Delhi Rozgaar Bazaar”which has over 8.5 lakh activejob vacancies and around 10lakh job seekers on the portal.

The traders’ community ofDelhi is more than 1.5 millionstrong and is the backbone ofthe economic structure of thestate. The effect of lockdown,fear of the virus, and thefinances have affected salesand service at markets andshops. Many shops downsizedtheir staff strength during thelockdown and have been underconsiderable cost pressure withlimited sales and fixed costs.The ‘Digital Samwad’ initiativeensures that all voices of thestakeholders are heard, beforeany policy initiatives areplanned by the Government, inthe true spirit of the DelhiModel.

NEW DELHI: Delhi Metrocommuters will now be able toavail the facility of a new typeof smart card which comeswith an auto top-up feature.This will enable the commutersto recharge the card automat-ically at automatic fare collec-tion gates at the metro stations.

Singh, Managing Director,DMRC, said this initiative is inline with the DMRC’s commit-ment towards supporting thedigital drive to promote cashlesstransactions among the DelhiMetro commuters. “This newfeature or the card empowers a

commuter to get his or hersmart card auto-topped up atAFC gates across the networkwhich will help him or her tohave seamless travel withoutworrying about top-up fromtime to time,” he said.

The new smart cards issuedby ‘Autope’ will offer auto top-up functionality whenever thevalue of the goes below Rs 100and will automatically rechargethe card with Rs 200 at the AFCentry gate itself. “Autope” willauto-debit the topped up valuefrom the customer’s linked cardor bank account the next work-

ing day, the statement said. Toavail the services of ‘Autope’Smart Card, the users will berequired to register by down-loading the “Autope” app (avail-able on Google Play store andsoon on Apple store), officialssaid. They can also register atAutope’s site and link theirbank account or credit card orUPI account to their smartcard as a one-time exercise. Anominal fee (maximum of 1 percent) will be charged as a con-venience fee from the cus-tomer for each transaction, thestatement said. SR

NEW DELHI: At least 1,398fresh cases of coronavirusreported on Sunday, takingthe total tally of persons infect-ed with Covid-19 to 1.56139lakh, while the death toll fromthe disease rose to 4,235.According to the Delhi HealthDepartment bulletin, ninefatalities have been recorded inthe last 24 hours.

The active cases tally was11,137. According to the bul-letin, out of the total number ofbeds in Covid hospitals, 10,527are vacant. According to thereport, 3,561 beds in Covid carecentres are occupied by personsunder quarantine, includingtravelers, who have returned by“Vande Bharat Mission” andbubble flights, it said. Thenumber of tests done per mil-lion, as was 71, 483, it said. Atotal of 1,40,767 patients haverecovered, migrated or beendischarged.

The highest single-day spikeof 3,947 cases was reported inDelhi on June 23. According tothe Indian Council of MedicalResearch, suspected individualswho test negative for Covid-19in rapid-antigen tests shouldundergo RT-PCR to rule out theinfection. Rapid-antigen testingrequires a prescription and anICMR form filled by a registereddoctor, and a Government iden-tity proof, same as that for RT-PCR test. SR

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“Regarding the bus inci-dent in Agra, the finance com-pany had illegally seized thebus. The driver, staff and pas-sengers are safe. The bus ownerdied yesterday (Tuesday) andhis son is conducting the lastrites,” he said in a statement.

However, the statementdid not mention the where-abouts of the bus.

Senior Superintendent ofPolice, Agra, Babloo Kumar,said three people - the bus dri-ver and two conductors- whowere asked to get down -informed the police that rep-resentatives of the finance com-pany had boarded the vehicle.

Preliminary informationreveals the bus has been takenaway by the people from afinance company which hadfinanced the vehicle. A case hasbeen registered and police teamsformed to search for it,” he said.He said it was a finance-related

incident and the action of themen was “audacious”. The reg-istration number of the sleeperbus is UP75M 3516 (Etawah inUP) but it is owned by a privateoperator in Gwalior, MadhyaPradesh.

A total of 34 passengerswere on board the bus, accord-ing to the police.

SSP Kumar said theepisode started around 10:30pm on Tuesday when the buswas near Raibha toll plaza atDakshin bypass and eight tonine young men in two SUVsintercepted it. These menclaimed they were from thefinance company and asked thebus driver to get down but heignored them and continued todrive, he said.

“The men in SUVs thenchased the bus and overtook itat Malpura area. They got intothe bus and forcibly broughtdown the driver and the con-ductor. They also told the pas-sengers to not scream andassured them that no harm will

be done to them,” he added.Later, four of these men

boarded the bus and sped awayon the Delhi-Kanpur highway,Kumar said. He said the driverand the conductor of the buswere taken in one of the SUVsand dropped off in Kuberpurarea on the highway around 4am after which they approachedthe local police for help. Policepersonnel, including the districtpolice chief, then reached thespot and a search operation waslaunched to track the bus, he said.

In the wake of the incident,Opposition parties targetedthe Chief Minister YogiAdityanath-led Governmentover the law and order situationin the state. “The so-calledfinance company hijacking thebus in a filmy manner suggestslawlessness in UP. The incidenthas laid bare the hollow claimsof law and order in the state.Dear government, is this theYogi model of law and order?”Congress State unit chief AjayKumar Lallu said in a tweet inHindi. The Samajwadi Partyasked the Government toensure safe return of all passengers.

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“Perhaps not in the (resig-nation) letter but elsewhere hehas said that none of us shouldbe the president of the party andI am in full agreement with him,”the book quotes PriyankaGandhi as having said in herinterview to the authors. Theauthors had met PriyankaGandhi Vadra in July 2019 forthe interview and they had alsospoken to Rahul Gandhi aroundthe same time. The meeting washeld after Rahul Gandhi hadoffered his resignation from thepresident’s post at a CongressWorking Committee (CWC)meeting on May 25 last year, tak-ing responsibility for the party’scrushing defeat in the 2019 LokSabha elections. The Congresstried to find a non-Gandhi asits chief but failed to do so andthus the party decided to bringback Sonia Gandhi as the inter-im president. She had given upthe post in December 2017when Rahul Gandhi assumedthe reins of the party.

“We appreciate the sudden

media interest in a year-oldremark (Dated 1st July, 2019) ofPriyanka Gandhi Vadra. Thecontext today is to take on thevicious attack on India’s polity byModi-Shah dispensation andfight it fearlessly on front foot,”tweeted Congress spokesper-son Randeep Surjewala. He alsosaid: “Nehru-Gandhi family hasheld together and served theCongress unmindful of the trap-pings of power. In 2004, Soniaset an example by sacrificingpower to serve the party. In2019, Rahul showed the courageof conviction and stepped downas INC president.”

AICC spokespersonShanktisinh Gohil said formerPrime Minister ManmohanSingh had desired to relinquishhis post and pave way forRahul but latter declined givinga message that Gandhis are notpower post hungry. Congressadded millions of Congressworkers and leaders have seenthat Rahul Gandhi has led thefight tirelessly, undaunted bythe setbacks and vile attacks by Modi Government on adaily basis.

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The National RecruitmentAgency (NRA) was first pro-posed by the Government inthe Union Budget 2020.

“The NRA will prove to bea boon for crores of youngsters.Through the CommonEligibility Test, it will eliminatemultiple tests and save precioustime as well as resources. Thiswill also be a big boost to trans-parency,” Modi tweeted.

“The score will be valid forthree years during which can-didate can apply for jobs in dif-ferent sectors depending uponhis/her aptitude and prefer-ences. There will be singleentrance examination for allnon-gazetted posts - Group Band C posts. Candidates whoqualify this Common EntranceTest (CET) can apply to anyrecruitment agencies for high-er level of examination,” said CChandramouli, Secretary,Department of Personnel andTraining (DoPT).

“At present, candidatesseeking Government jobs haveto appear for separate exami-nations conducted by multiplerecruiting agencies for variousposts, for which similar eligi-bility conditions have beenprescribed. Candidates haveto pay fee to multiple recruit-ing agencies and also have totravel long distances for

appearing in various exams,”said Union Minister PrakashJavadekar at the Cabinet brief-ing of the subject.

“These multiple recruit-ment examinations are a bur-den on the candidates, as alsoon the respective recruitmentagencies, involving avoid-able/repetitive expenditure, lawand order/security relatedissues and venue related prob-lems. A common eligibilityTest would enable these candi-dates to appear once and applyto any or all of these recruit-ment agencies for the higherlevel of examination. Thiswould indeed be a boon to allthe candidates,” he said.

On an average, 2.5 crore to3 crore candidates appear ineach of these examinations.Moreover, no limit on thenumbers of attempts will beimposed on the candidatestaking the CET. The score willbe valid for a period of threeyears from the date of declara-tion of the result.

The Government will alsowork towards enhancing exam-ination infrastructure acrossthe country with special focuson 117 aspirational districts.

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Lok Janshakti Party presi-dent Chirag Paswan said theSC’s verdict has “respected”sentiments of crores of people.In a tweet, he expressed confi-dence that the CBI will not onlybring out the truth but also“expose” those who tried tomislead the probe in the caseof the alleged suicide

Reacting to the SC order-ing CBI probe, the Congresssaid the agency should carryout a proper probe into theactor’s death, and asserted justice will not bedelivered by the BJP-JD(U)making statements for “politi-cal gains”.

The Opposition party alsohighlighted that the apex court,in its ruling, has stated thatrecords of the case producedbefore it, do not “prima faciesuggest any wrongdoing bythe Mumbai Police”.

Congress spokesperson

Shaktisinh Gohil accused theNitish Kumar-led BiharGovernment of trying to takepolitical advantage of the issuein view of the upcomingAssembly polls.

Bihar Chief Minister NitishKumar said that he has faiththat the CBI will ensure aspeedy probe in actor SushantSingh Rajput’s death case. “Wehave faith that CBI will conducta quick probe and justice willhappen,” Kumar told a televi-sion channel.

RJD leader Tejashwi Yadavalso welcomed the SupremeCourt verdict into the SSRcase and said, “this is a victo-ry for justice”.

Shiv Sena leader andspokesman Sanjay Raut saidthe “Supreme Court has givenits verdict, it is not right tomake political comments. OurState’s justice system has alwaysbeen one of the best in thecountry, no one is above lawhere & to provide justice to allhas been the norm.”

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“As a court exercising law-ful jurisdiction for the assignedroster, no impediment is seenfor exercise of plenary power inthe present matter,” said JusticeRoy invoking Article 142 totransfer the Sushant SinghRajput death case to the CBI.The top court further noted thatthe Mumbai Police were con-ducting only a limited inquiryinto the cause of unnaturaldeath, under Section 174 CrPCand therefore, it cannot be saidwith certainty at this stage thatthey will not undertake aninvestigation on the otheraspects of the unnatural death,by registering an FIR. TheMumbai Police in an affidavit inthe Supreme Court had deniedthat the quarantine of IPS offi-cer Vinay Tiwary was aimed atobstructing the investigationby the Bihar Police in the case

registered by Sushant’s father inPatna. Clarifying the quarantineof the Bihar Police officer, theMumbai Police said, “In fact,such a step was taken by theMunicipal Corporation forGreater Mumbai and not bypolice authorities.” The SCunderlined that uncertaintyabout the future contingency inMumbai, the father of thedeceased has filed the complaintat Patna, levelling serious alle-gations against RheaChakraborty following which,the FIR was registered and theBihar Police started their inves-tigation. “The case is now takenover by the CBI at the requestof the Bihar Government. Thepetitioner has no objection forinvestigation by the CBI but issceptical about the bonafides ofthe steps taken by the BiharGovernment and the PatnaPolice,” observed Justice Roy.

However, Justice Roy notedthat the incidents referred to inthe complaint do indicate thatthe Mumbai Police also possessthe jurisdiction to undertakeinvestigation. “Therefore, in theevent of a case being registeredalso at Mumbai, the consent forthe investigation by the CBIunder Section 6 of the DSPE Actcan be competently given byMaharashtra Government”,noted the top court.

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In July, Delhi HealthMinister Satyendar Jain hadannounced that district healthofficials will carry out a sero-survey across the nationalCapital from the 1st till the 5thof every month. He had saidthe exercise will help theGovernment to identify thespread of the disease and to for-mulate policies for containmentand management of the dis-ease. The national Capital hasrecorded 1,398 fresh Covid-19cases in the last 24 hours, tak-ing the total number of coro-navirus cases to 1,56,139,according to the health bulletinof the Delhi Government.

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“Mayur Vihar Phase-2,Sarai Kale Khan to DND, SashiGarden to Kotla, Seemapuri toDilshad Garden underpass,MB Road at Maidan Garhi, MBRoad at Anuvrat Marg, ApsaraBorder were also reported tohave waterlogging,” said police.

According to the datareleased by the Gurugramadministration, the Gurugramcity — recorded a rainfall of 95mm, Manesar 75 mm,Wazirabad 50 mm, and Pataudi21 from 8.30 am to 11.00 am.

Apart from these areasWazirabad road, CRPF Chowk,Sheetla Mata Road, PalamVihar Road, Kartepuri Chowkand Hero Honda Chowk werealso badly affected by thewaterlogging. Besides, vehi-cles also crawl at connectingroads to these points.

The rain water not onlysubmerged the city’s mainstretches and connecting roadsbut also accumulated at theoffices of MunicipalCorporation Gurugram(MCG), Haryana Shahari VikasPradhikaran (HSVP) and theGurugram MLA office locatednear civil hospital.Waterlogging was also report-ed from areas like the OldDelhi road in front of MarutiGate-1, Unitech Cyber Park,Sector 4 and 5 roundabouts,Jawala Mill Road and GolfCourse Road in Gurugram.

Jammu: The joint teams ofsecurity forces on Wednesdaygunned down three more ter-rorists, including another LeTcommander, in two separateencounters in Handwara andShopian. Kashmir Zone policelate wednesday tweeted, “LeTCommander identified asNaseer-u-din Lone responsi-ble for the killings of threeCRPF jawans at Sopore onApril 18 and three CRPFjawans at Handwara on 4 Maythis year was gunned downalong with one accompliceduring the joint operation inKralgund area of Handwara.

In another operation, thejoint teams neutralised anoth-er terrorist in Shopian onWednesday. The search oper-ations were still going on in thearea till the time of filing thereport. PNS

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The EnforcementDirectorate (ED) on

Wednesday conducted search-es in multiple cities in connec-tion with a money launderingcase against Tablighi Jamaatleader Maulana SaadKandhalvi, trusts linked to theJamaat and others.

Premises in Mumbai,Hyderabad and Delhi inlcud-ing the Markaz of the outfit atNizamuddin here besides afew other locations weresearched to gather evidence,officials said.

The operation was con-ducted under the Prevention ofMoney Laundering Act(PMLA), the ED said.

The agency had filed amoney laundering case inApril against Maulana Saadand others after it took cog-nisance of a Delhi Police FIRagainst these entities.

The Crime Branch of theDelhi Police had on March 31lodged an FIR against sevenpeople, including the cleric,on a complaint by the stationhouse off icer (SHO) ofNizamuddin police station forholding a congregation ofTablighi Jamaat followers inalleged violation of the ordersagainst large gatherings tocontain the spread of coron-avirus.

Saad was alleged to haveorganised the religious gath-ering in March at NizamuddinMarkaz in violation of socialdistancing protocol imposedby the Centre to curb thespread of Covid-19.

Before the congregation atNizamuddin, the TablighiJamaat had organised anIjtema in Malaysia whereinthe members had widelypropagated against followingthe protocol to check thespread of the coronavirus.

As part of the probe, theED is looking into the per-sonal finances and charges ofalleged money launderingagainst Maulana Saad andsome other office bearers andassociates of the TablighiJamaat.

Donations received by theIslamic organisation from for-eign and domestic sourceswithout due authorisationsare also being probed by theagency.

The police FIR registeredagainst the Tablighi Jamaatevent said Delhi Police con-tacted authorit ies ofNizamuddin Markaz here onMarch 21 and reminded themof the government order pro-hibiting any political or reli-gious gathering of more than50 people.

Despite repeated efforts,the event organisers failed to

inform the health departmentor any other Governmentagency about the huge gath-ering inside the Markaz anddeliberately disobeyedGovernment orders, says theFIR.

More than 25,500 Tablighimembers and their contactshave been quarantined in thecountry after the Centre andthe state governments con-ducted a “mega operation” toidentify them, the govern-ment had said.

At least 9,000 people par-ticipated in the ijtema (reli-gious congregation) atNizamuddin. Later, many ofthe Tanlighis travelled to var-ious parts of the countryostensibly to spread the virus.

Some of the accused for-eign nationals of the Jamaatwho participated in the con-gregation have been recentlyallowed to walk free andreturn to their countries bylocal courts on payment ofvarying fines, after theyaccepted mild charges underthe plea bargain process.

However, a number ofthem could not fly back totheir countries due to thependency of some other policeFIRs lodged against them forthe same offence or otherswho sought trial in the pend-ing cases and did not resort tothe plea bargain.

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The face-off between theBJP and the Congress over

controversy related toFacebook allegedly showingfavours to the ruling party hasspilled over in the standingcommittee for Information andTechnology where both theparties have moved privilegemotion against each other.

The Department RelatedStanding Committee forInformation and Technology ischaired by Congress MP ShashiTharoor.

While Tharoor has moveda privilege motion noticeagainst BJP Lok Sabha MPNishikant Dubey, the latter hasalso moved a privilege motionnotice against Tharoor as wellas former Congress presidentRahul Gandhi.

According to sources,Tharoor on Tuesday filed aprivilege motion notice againstthe BJP MP from Jharkhandand soon after this, Dubeytook to Twitter to announce abreach of privilege motionnotice against both Tharoorand Rahul for casting asper-sions on the BJP as a party.

The row started whenTrinamool Congress MPMahua Moitra attacked onher Twitter handle a BJP law-maker citing political agendafrom the ruling party by

being critical of Tharoor forsummoning Facebook beforethe committee.

Tharoor added to Moitra’stweet, saying the BJP was con-stantly undermining the pow-ers of the committee and alsotalking about the rules androle of the chairman of thebody.

Dubey lashed out at both,reminding them of the com-mittee rules and how Tharoorhad passed off his party’spolitical agenda as committeepriority.

Dubey in his letter hasunderstood to have said thatTharoor had “never consulted”the agenda of summoningFacebook and/or WhatsApp inany of the meetings of theParliamentary Committee onInformation Technology.

It is, therefore, accordingto BJP MP is “a clear case, ofbreach of privilege by ShashiTharoor in the capacity ofHonourable Chairperson ofthe Departmentally RelatedStanding Committee onInformation Technology.”

Dubey’s notice also refersto a “breach of privilege” byMP Rahul who had tweetedthat the “BJP and RSS controlFacebook and WhatsApp inIndia, they spread fake newsand hatred thorough it and useit to inf luence the electorate”.

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The Navy top brass onWednesday commenced a

three-day meet to review itsoperational readiness in thebackdrop of stand-offs at theLine of Actual Control(LAC)even as Defence MinisterRajnath Singh lauded the ser-vice for deploying its warshipsin a “proactive” manner and itsreadiness to face any chal-lenge. Singh, however,refrained from naming China.

These remarks fromRajnath at the inauguration ofthe Navy Commanders’ confer-ence came at a time when theNavy has deployed most of itsfrontline warships in the strate-gically important Indian Oceanregion. These mission-baseddeployments were undertakento deny China any advantage inthat region. Moreover, theIndian warships and maritimereconnaissance aircraft weremaintaining round the clockvigil and keeping an eye on themovement of the Chinese ships.

Addressing the comman-ders, Rajnath also compliment-ed the men and women of theIndian Navy for their role in pro-tecting the maritime interests ofthe nation and expressed confi-dence in the Indian Navy’s pre-paredness to meet any challengethrough a proactive response indeploying its ships and aircraft.

Speaking on the unprece-dented challenge posed byCovid-19 pandemic, he con-gratulated the Navy, on the con-duct of the biggest ever repatri-ation operation “Operation

Samudra Setu”, which has con-tributed extensively to thenational interest.

Despite the difficult seaconditions and the challenges ofdealing with an unseen enemyin the form of the Corona virus,the Navy was instrumental inbringing home almost 4,000people from neighbouringcountries in the Indian OceanRegion (IOR). Also, under‘Mission Sagar’, medical aid wasprovided to the countries ofSouth West Indian OceanRegion (Maldives, Mauritius,Comoros, Seychelles andMadagascar). He also lauded theefforts of all Naval Commandsin setting up of the quarantinefacilities to aid the civil admin-istration in managing Covid-19.

Referring to the dynamicchanges taking place in thearmed forces, the minister rihighlighted the creation of thepost of Chief of DefenceStaff(CDS) and Department ofMilitary Affairs as major mile-stones in bringing more syner-gy amongst the three services,especially in training, procure-ment and staffing and bringingjointness in operations.

Rajnath said accepting thechallenges arising out of theCovid 19 situation in the currentfinancial year, the Navy hascontinued to progress the operational, administrative andmodernisation efforts.Notwithstanding these fiscalchallenges, the Government hasinvoked the Emergency Powersto meet the emergent requirements of the services, headded.

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The India MeteorologicalDepartment (IMD) on

Wednesday predicted intenserainfall over central parts of thecountry during the next fivedays. Due to favourable con-ditions, widespread rain, withisolated heavy to very heavyspells, is very likely overGujarat, Maharashtra, Goa,Madhya Pradesh (MP),Chhattisgarh, Jharkhand,Odisha, and Vidarbha duringthe next four-five days.Extremely heavy rain is alsolikely over south-west Odishaon Wednesday; Vidarbha andChhattisgarh on Thursday andGujarat on Saturday.

According to the IMD, themonsoon trough is active andlies south of its normal position(from Ganganagar to the Bay ofBengal). It is very likely to beactive and near-normal/southof its normal position duringthe next five days.

The convergence of strongmoist southwesterly windsfrom the Arabian Sea overplains of Northwest India andCentral India at lower levelsvery likely to continue duringnext two days.

“The monsoon trough isactive and lies close to its nor-mal position. It is very likely toshift southwards during thenext 24 hours and remainactive during the next fivedays. There is a convergence ofstrong moist southwesterlywinds from the Arabian Seaover plains of north-west Indiaand Central India at lower lev-els and likely to continue dur-ing the next three-four days,”IMD said.

Fairly widespread andheavy rain is likely over north-west India, including theWestern Himalayan region,until Thursday. Very heavyrain is likely over Jammu &Kashmir, Ladakh onWednesday and Uttarakhandand Punjab on Thursday; west-ern Uttar Pradesh onWednesday; eastern Rajasthanfrom Thursday until Saturday;and very heavy rain is likelyalso over northeastern states,except for Arunachal Pradesh,during the next three-fourdays, the IMD said.

Monsoon rain over thecountry since June 1 is 4.4%excess; 25.6% excess over thesouthern peninsula; 6.9%excess over central India; 5.8%excess over eastern and north-eastern India and 17.9% defi-ciency over north-west India.

New Delhi: A group of 772lawyers have written to ChiefJustice of India SA Bobde,raising concerns about anemerging trend to “browbeatand intimidate the judiciary”.

“India has witnessed aseries of attacks by institu-tional disruptors against judgeswho are unwilling to agreewith them and toe the linedrawn by them. It is unfortu-nate that when political ends oflawyers are not served by adecision of the court, they vil-ify the court by making scan-dalising remarks. The SupremeCourt of India, as well as thejudges, are subject to bothscurrilous language, maliciousattacks and scandalisingremarks,” the lawyers said inthe letter which comes againstthe backdrop of the PrashantBhushan case.

On August 14, theSupreme Court held senior

advocate Prashant Bhushanguilty of contempt of court andfixed the date of hearing for hissentencing on August 20.

A statement was issued by

“Campaign for JudicialAccountability and Reforms”(CJAR) on August 15, con-demning the judgment andfurther calling upon theSupreme Court, and every

judge, to reconsider their deci-sion. CJAR includes a retiredjudge, Justice P.B. Sawant, for-mer Union Law Minister andsenior advocate ShantiBhushan, among others as their

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Former Supreme Courtjudge Justice Kurian

Joseph Wednesday came outin support of lawyer PrashantBhushan and said contemptcases against him raised sub-stantial questions of lawwhich should be heard by aconstitution bench. JusticeJoseph also said that a personconvicted by the top court ina suo-motu case should getan opportunity for an intra-

court appeal. “Under Article145 (3) of the Constitution ofIndia, there shall be a quo-rum of minimum five Judgesfor deciding any case involv-ing substantial questions oflaw as to the interpretation ofthe Constitution,” Joseph saidin a statement. The formerjudge said a three-judgebench of the Supreme Courthas decided to hear a fewserious questions on thescope and extent of the con-tempt of Court.

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Aday before the scheduledhearing on quantum of

sentence, activist-lawyerPrashant Bhushan who hasbeen held guilty of criminalcontempt for his two deroga-tory tweets, moved theSupreme Court seeking defer-ment of the proceedings till areview petition is filed andconsidered. A contemnor can

be punished with simpleimprisonment of up to sixmonths or with a fine of up to�2,000 or with both.

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The Supreme CourtWednesday refused to

entertain a plea challengingthe Jharkhand government’’sdecision to appoint M V Raoas the acting Director Generalof Police (DGP) saying a PILcannot be accepted in a servicematter.

A bench of Chief Justice SA Bobde and Justices A SBopanna and VRamasubramanian, dismissedthe plea filed by a Jharkhandresident.

During the hearing, senioradvocates Fali S Nariman andNeeraj Kishan Kaul, appearing

for the JharkhandGovernment, said that it isproxy litigation and the courtcannot interfere in the servicematter under Article 32 juris-diction.

Senior advocate RVenkataramani, appearing forthe petitioner Prahlad NarayanSingh, said that he is a residentof the state and wants to knowas to how was the incumbentDGP (Rao) appointed as act-ing DGP despite the verdict oftop court in the Prakash Singhcase (2006) on police reforms.

The bench toldVenkataramani that it is notgoing to entertain this petition.

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Covid-19 patients may losetheir sense of smell and

cannot detect bitter or sweettastes but they can breathefreely and do not tend to havea runny or blocked nose as inthe case of a bad cold, as per astudy.

Published in the journalRhinology, the study is a firstof its kind to compare how peo-ple with Covid-19 smell andtaste disorders differ fromthose with other causes ofupper respiratory tract infec-tions.

According to theresearchers, including thosefrom the University of EastAnglia (UEA) in the UK, theirwork could help develop smelland taste tests for fast Covid-19 screening - in primary careand emergency departments.

The findings lend weight to

the theory that Covid-19infects the brain and centralnervous system.

“The loss of smell andtaste is a prominent symptomof Covid-19, however it is alsoa common symptom of havinga bad cold,” said lead researcherCarl Philpott, a professor atUEA’s Norwich MedicalSchool.

“We wanted to find outexactly what differentiatesCOVID -19 smell loss with thekind of smell loss you mighthave with a cold and blocked-up nose,” Philpott said.

The research team carriedout smell and taste tests on 10COVID-19 patients, 10 peoplewith bad colds and a controlgroup of 10 healthy people --all matched for age and sex.

“We wanted to see if theirsmell and taste test scorescould help discriminatebetween COVID-19 patients

and those with a heavy cold,”Philpott said.

The researchers noted thatCOVID-19 behaves different-ly to other respiratory viruses,for example by causing thebody’s immune system toover-react, known as acytokine storm, and by affect-ing the nervous system.

They found that smell losswas much more profound inthe COVID-19 patents, andthey were less able to identifysmells, and were not able toidentify bitter or sweet tastes.

The researchers said itwas this loss of true tastewhich seemed to be present in

the COVID-19 patients com-pared to those with a cold.

“This is very excitingbecause it means that smelland taste tests could be used todiscriminate between Covid-19 patients and people with aregular cold or flu,” Philpottsaid.

“Although such tests couldnot replace formal diagnostictools such as throat swabs,they could provide an alter-native when conventional testsare not available or whenrapid screening is needed --particularly at the level of pri-mary care, in emergencydepartments or at airports,” headded.

The study also shows thatthere are altogether differentthings going on when it comesto smell and taste loss forCovid-19 patients, comparedto those with a bad cold, theresearchers said.

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As countries adopt-ed prevention and

control measures tocontain Covid-19,many vital violenceprevention andresponse services weresuspended or inter-rupted, leaving manychildren at the receiv-ing end as they sufferedviolence and exploita-tion at homes.

Sample this :Nearly 10,000 out of 4.6lakh calls that theUnicef received in 21days from March 20 toApril 10, 2020 duringthe Covid-19 pandem-ic, needed interventionfrom the childline staff

of the global agency toprotect the childrenvictims of abuse andexploitation.

Of these, 30 percent were related toCovid-19 and with aneed for protectionfrom abuse andexploitation.

“The Covid-19pandemic has causeddisruptions to childprotection services inmore than 100 coun-tries, leaving a largenumber of children atincreased risk of vio-lence, exploitation andabuse,” according to aglobal survey byUnicef, details of whichwere released onWednesday.

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Page 5: 3 ˘˘ ˆ& 4 E&ˆ ˜ +- ˝ %˜ˇ ˘ *5ˇ (F ˜ +˚ ˝ ˛˜ ˝˜(5ˇ (F ...€¦ · Awanish Awasthi said the bus driver, staff and passengers are safe. However, the accused are yet

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There were 53, 155 active Covid-19 cases in Tamil Nadu as on

Wednesday evening. While 116 per-sons succumbed to the pandemic onWednesday, 5,785 new persons werediagnosed with Covid-19.

The total number of patients test-ed positive till date reached the fig-ure of 3.55 lakh while 2.96 lakh per-sons recovered from the pandemic tilldate.

The State health department stafftested 65,592 persons across theState as part of aggressive testing toidentify and isolate the covid-19virus.

The metropolis of Chennai saw1, 186 patients testing positive onWednesday. Situation in the threeneighboring districts of Chengalpet(315) , Kancheepuram (257) andThiruvallur ( 393) continued to beunabated.

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The loss of police resources inthe district during the CAA-

NRC violence will now be recov-ered by force in Meerut. The StateGovernment has constituted theProperty Damage ClaimsTribunal in Lucknow and Meerutdistricts of the State. It has madeMeerut the headquarters ofAligarh district. After the forma-tion of this authority, now therecovery work will be accelerat-ed. The district police-adminis-tration will stake a claim to recov-er �1.83 lakh for the damages.

During the opposition to theCitizenship Amendment Act, itwas decided to compensate theloss of police resources that weredamaged in AMU on the night of15 December and during theviolence that took place on 20December in Shahzamal andCharkhawalan. The rebels dam-

aged six police vehicles withstones. 12 chairs and 4 CCTVcameras installed in public placeswere broken. The loss for vehicleswas estimated to be �1.15 lakh. Atthe same time, the loss of chairand CCTV cameras was estimat-ed as �68,000. In this way, theentire amount was fixed as �1.83lakh. A report has been submit-ted by the police administrationto the district administration tomake up for the loss. The districtadministration referred it to thegovernment. Now YogiAdityanath, the head of the stategovernment, will look upon thecompensation of the loss of gov-ernment property due to suchriots and crimes.

According to SSP Muniraj ji,thr report of damage caused dur-ing the CAA-NRC violence willbe sent to the authorities,once thefull guide lines from the state gov-ernment are sentto stake claims.

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The BJP's Muslim leader, Ruby AsifKhan is being threatened for

praising Ram at home and sendingRakhi on Rakshabandhan at the timeof foundation ceremony of Ram tem-ple. She is recieving threats of killingand rejecting her from Islam. Postershave also been pasted. BJP leader hasfiled a complain at Dehli Gate policestation. Ruby Asif Khan, wife of AsifKhan, is a resident of ADA ColonyShah Jamal of Dehli Gate and is thepresident of Mahavir Ganj MandalMahila Morcha of the BharatiyaJanata Party.

Ruby Asif Khan sent a rakhi toShreeRam on 30 July. On 5 August,when the foundation ceremony of the

Sri Ram Temple was performed inAyodhya, she performed aarti andworshiped Ram with other women ather home. A check of �5,100 was alsosent to the Ram Temple Trust by her.

Ruby Asif Khan alleges that nowsome people are threatening to burnher alive and kill her. They are threat-ening to reject me from Islam. Thesepeople have pasted posters in thelocality and in the area. Threat pam-phlets are also being distributed.

Ashish Kumar, in-charge of PoliceStation Dehli Gate, told that the BJPleader has filed a complain. Police isinvestigating the matter, posters thathave been pasted have been asked tobe removed. Action will be taken asper the law against whosoever is guiltyin this case.

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Aperusal of the 815 pageverdict delivered by the

Madras High Court onTuesday dismissing the peti-tions filed by Vedanta Groupseeking an order for reopen-ing the Sterlite CopperSmeltering plant atThoothukudi show that boththe DKM and the AIADMKdo not have anything to rejoiceabout the court’s decision.

Industrialists and entre-preneurs may not get enam-ored by invitations made bythe AIADMK and the DMK toset up factories in the State, say

industrialists and research sci-entists.

“Copper smelter plantspollute and they pollute heav-ily. One is at a loss to under-stand why the thenGovernment gave permissionto the Vedanta Group to set upa heavily polluting plant inThoothukudi,” said K NChandrasekharan, former topscientist in the Department ofAtomic Energy who is a met-allurgical engineer.

According to the series ofevents chronicled by theMadras High Court in its ver-dict, Sterlite Industries gotthe permission to set up the

plant in 1997 while the DMKwas in power. It was theAIADMK government thathad given 102.5 hectares ofland in Thoothukudi to thegroup in 1994.

The environmentalClearance was accorded by theCentre in 1995 while P VNarasimha Rao was the PrimeMinister and the AIADMKwas an alliance partner of theCongress.

This was followed by theTamil Nadu Government’sclearance to the plant for pro-ducing 234 tons/day copperand 638 tons per day sulphuricacid.

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BJP leader Nishit Sharmahas objected to the AMU

invite to Professor Hilal Sahinof Turkish University ofGiresun in a webinar at AMU.The matter is now heating up.He has asked the HumanResource DevelopmentMinister to investigate the mat-ter and punish the organizers ofthe webinar and question theVice Chancellor. Other BJPleaders have also taken a dig inthis matter.

Dr. Nishit Sharma says thatthe webinar was organized byAMU on August 13, in whicha Turkish professor was invit-ed. The theme of the webinarwas 'Turkey, India andMahatma Gandhi: In the lightof the Khilafat Movement'. Inthis, AMU VC Prof. TariqMansoor was also present.

Dr. Nishit Sharma says thatTurkey supported the Islamicterrorist organization ISIS.Opposed the removal of Article370 and supported Pakistan.

The BJP leader says that theKhilafat movement that wasdiscussed is known for geno-cide in the history of India andthe world. Riots erupted inKolabar and Armenia etc. ofKerala and massacre of non-Muslims. According to him, aturkish professor should not beinvited in the webinar.

He has demanded theHuman Resource DevelopmentMinister to investigate this andpunish the organizers of thewebinar.

A case of treason should befiled against the organizers:Dr. Manvendra.

Dr. Manvendra PratapSingh, Vice President of BJPBraj Region and Member ofNational Minority EducationMonitoring Committee, saidthat it is a matter of greatregret to provide the TurkishProfessor an opportunity tospeak in a webinar. Everyoneknows that the President ofTurkey is running an anti-India campaign. Attempting torekindle the Khilafat is a crimelike treason. It is a matter ofshame that the AMU's VC waspresiding over that webinar. Acase under treason should befiled on organizers . The districtadministration should imme-diately file an FIR against suchpeople. Questioning Turkishuniversity professor is baseless:AMU Aligarh MuslimUniversity has said that theobjection of some BJP leadersfor inviting Turkish Professor HHilal Sain in the webinar isbaseless.

The university administra-tion has said that MahatmaGandhi openly supported theKhilafat Movement started inTurkey in 1920.

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The charm of Onam festival season in Kerala is all setto be washed away by the coronavirus as 2,333 new

persons were tested positive for Covid-19 on Wednesday.This is the highest number of persons diagnosed on a sin-gle day with Covid-19 and the total number of patientsin the State reached 50, 231.

The day also saw seven deaths taking the total fatal-ities till date in Kerala to 182, said a release by theDepartment of Health.

That the State has become unsafe for travelers andtourists has been proved by the number of persons get-ting contracted with Covid-19 through community trans-mission.

Out of the 2,333 patients tested positive onWednesday, 2,151 were victims of community trans-mission. 53 patients failed to furnish details like how andfrom where they contracted the pandemic.

Seven personnel belonging to the Southern NavalCommand head quarters at Kochi and 17 health work-ers too were afflicted with the pandemic on Wednesday.The release further stated that 1,780 persons were hos-pitalized in the State while 1,217 were cured of the pan-demic.

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An 'illustrious' journey of ayoung Wushu player from

Jammu & Kashmir, whichstarted from the North Easternstate of Mizoram in 1995,Tuesday hit another milestoneafter Kuldeep Handoo's namefigured in the list of 13 coach-es recommended for this year'sDronacharya award by theSports Ministry's selectioncommittee.

Handoo, currently servingas the National Chief Coach,himself struck gold for thefirst time at the 6th NationalWushu Championship atMizoram in 1995. Since thenhe never looked back.

Before donning the cap ofa national coach, the lanky ladfrom Rainawari went on to cre-ate history and won 11 goldmedals in the National cham-pionships and 6 Internationalmedals in his eventful career.

Even after winning sever-al championships and groom-ing hundreds of young playershe is not ready to hang hisboots.

Speaking to The PioneerKuldeep Handoo said, “ myeyes are now set on winning agold medal in the 2022 AsianGames. I am working hard tofulfill my dream and groomingyoungsters for the same”.

Before participating in theAsian Games, “we are going toparticipate in the WorldChampionships scheduled tobe held in 2021 in the USA andAustralia”.

Due to nationwide lock-down in the wake of Covid-19pandemic, Handoo could notattend outstation training ses-sions but he is regularly coach-ing his players using socialmedia tools.

Reliving his long journey,Kuldeep Handoo said, “I havecome a long way from mynative place-Rainawari inSrinagar”.

He said despite sufferingpangs of migration my parentsalways supported me and moti-vated me to dream big.

Handoo said, “when i wasa kid i loved playing cricket in

my neighborhood inRainawari, a kashmiri panditlocality”.

He said, “at the peak of mil-itancy as the situation wors-ened my family was also forcedto migrate from the Kashmirvalley. I still remember beforestepping out of the house, forthe last time, I could not lay myhand on my cricket bat”. InJammu, “I stopped playing. Ialmost lost touch with myfavorite game. I was disen-chanted and remained silent.Tochannelise my energies a fam-ily friend motivated me to takeup any other sports activity”.

A die hard fan of Bruce Leemovies Kuldeep said, “I start-ed playing Taekwondo. Afterattending some practice ses-sions he said, I started enjoyingthe sport and gave vent to myanger by ruthlessly knockingdown my opponents”. In1995, my mentor and coachVishal Sharma convinced me totry my hand at Wushu as well.Rest is history, he added.

In recognition of his vasttalent and contribution to thepromotion of martial arts inJammu and Kashmir TheWushu Association of Indiaabsorbed him as Nationalcoach for the TEAM INDIA.Under his leadership, TeamIndia had won two gold medalsin world Championships andone in world cup, 28 silvermedals and 57 Bronze medalsin different championships.

In recognition of his ser-vices, the Jammu and Kashmirgovernment appointed him asInspector in the police depart-ment and conferred on him theprestigious state award, Sher-i-Kashmir award, Parshuramaward etc.

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In what the BJP leaders called a pol-itics of vendetta resorted to by the

Mamata Banerjee Government, theofficials of Bengal Police onWednesday raided the house of saffronstrongman and MP from BarrackporeArjun Singh.

The search was in connection of anold said Singh quoted the officials assaying but sources in the police saidthey were looking for documentsrelated to transactions from a localcooperative bank of which Singh wasthe chairman before he became an MP.

“There are reports of financialirregularities worth �12 crore,” sourcessaid on conditions of anonymityadding names of two close relatives of

the BJP MP were also involved.Singh, a former four-time

Trinamool Congress MLA consid-ered close to the Chief Minister left theparty in 2019 after his demand for aparliamentary ticket from Barrackporewas turned by the leadership. In sub-sequent elections he defeated the thensitting Trinamool MP Dinesh Trivedi.

The parliamentary polls saw mas-sive violence following which the BJPcandidate managed to scrape throughby little more than 10,000 votes.

Crying “vendetta politics”— anallegation Banerjee has always leveledagainst the BJP Government every timeher party functionaries were arrestedby the CBI in connection of chit fundscams —Singh said the Chief Minister“has singled me out because I havebeen giving her a tough political fightin Barrackpore … I snatched the MP

seat, then the BJP wrested the BhatparaMLA seat too from the TMC … thisis why she is angry on me and is send-ing police forces after leveling falsecharges against me.” Singh’s son andbrother-in-law are also sitting legisla-tors of the BJP.

Singh also said that “the TMC gov-ernment has framed 93 cases againstme so as to harass me after MamataBanerjee and her nephew (AbhishekBanerjee) failed to counter me politi-cally … Her nephew had said that hewill leave politics if he would not winhis seat by 2 lakh votes. But that wasnot to be. Though he won by wafer thinmargin he has notkept his words.”

Barrackpore has often been in thenews of late with repeated political-gang wars and public shootouts takingplace mostly involving goons fromboth sides.

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In the erstwhile State ofJammu & Kashmir, a 262

metre long bridge over riverJhelum at Jetty area ofKhawajabagh in NorthKashmir's Baramulla districtcould not be completed byfive Chief Ministers, twoGovernors and one Lt-Governor between 2002- tillJuly 2020.

Reason- adequate fundswere not made available atdifferent intervals to the projectexecuting agency leading tocost escalation and unwar-ranted delay in its completion.

On Wednesday, Lt-Governor Manoj Sinha duringhis visit to the Baramulla dis-trict headquarters approvedfunds to the tune of �21 crore

under Jammu & KashmirInfrastructure DevelopmentCorporation for completingthe construction work of theJetty bridge within a span of 2years

LG also e-inaugurated var-ious developmental projects atBaramulla. According to offi-cial sources, Jetty bridge wasenvisaged in 1998 but actualwork on ground zero was start-ed in the year 2002.

Jammu and KashmirProjects ConstructionCorporation (JKPCC) wasallotted the construction workof the bridge.

Between 2002 and June2018, five Chief Ministersnamely Mufti Mohd Sayeed,Ghulam Nabi Azad, OmarAbdullah, Mufti Mohd Sayeed(second term) and Mehbooba

Mufti remained in office butnone of them could ensure itscompletion.

Local residents in the areaoften blamed lack of funds forfrequent suspension of work onthe project.

The 262-meter bridge wassupposed to connectKhawajabagh and Janbazporaareas, and Rafiabad areas withSrinagar-Baramulla road high-way to ease load on the trafficpassing through Baramullatown.

A local resident in the areaclaimed, “work on the projectwas started when i was study-ing in the degree college. Aftercompleting me studies i gotmarried and now my childrenare going to school but thebridge is hanging in balanceover river Jhelum”.

According to officialsources, work on the bridgewas moving at snails pace fromthe very beginning. It was sus-pended in 2014 and later it wasresumed in 2017.

According to the pressstatement issued by theDepartment of Informationand Public Relations in January2017, Minister for R&B andParliamentary Affairs AbdulRehman Veeri while respond-ing to a question by GhulamNabi Monga in the UpperHouse had stated that con-struction work of Jetty Bridgein Baramulla on river Jhelumwas awarded to JKPCC in theyear 2001-02.

According to him, theGovernment had released�6.18 Crore to JKPCC for con-struction of the bridge.

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Ahmedabad: The Election Commission ofIndia (ECI) told the Gujarat High Court onWednesday that it will assess the coronavirus sit-uation and decide whether bypolls to eightAssembly seats in the State should be deferred.

The poll panel was responding to a PublicInterest Litigation seeking indefinite postpone-ment of the byelections.

The ECI will also frame broad guidelineswithin three days on holding of general andbyelections during the COVID-19 pandemicbased on guidelines issued by the UnionMinistry of Home Affairs and Ministry ofHealth, it had said in a press release issued onTuesday.

The release was submitted to the high courtalong with an affidavit-in-reply.

Petitioner Farsu Goklani sought indefinitepostponement of byelections to eight Assemblyseats -- which fell vacant after Congress MLAsresigned -- in view of the coronavirus outbreak.

“....The ECI is assessing the situation includ-ing the pandemic and so far not announceddates for the by-elections in the state of Gujaratas well as those in other states,” the poll bodysaid.

“The Election Commission will take appro-priate decision as to whether to announce elec-tions at an appropriate time or if required todefer holding of elections after following dueprocedure as prescribed in law,” said Joint ChiefElectoral Officer, Gujarat, Ajay Bhatt.

On the basis of the guidelines it is going toform, Chief Electoral Officers of states whereelections are due shall prepare a comprehensiveplan of COVID-19 related measures during theconduct of elections, the ECI's Tuesday releasesaid.

Bhatt also cited two Supreme Court judg-ments where it was held that the ultimate deci-sion on “whether it is possible and expedient tohold the elections” must rest with the ECI.PTI

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Maharashtra witnessed thehighest-ever infection tally

of 13,165 on Wednesday, even thetotal Covid 19 toll –with fresh 346deaths – breached 21,000 mark totouch 21,033.

Eleven days after the dailyinfections touched a new high12,822 (on August 8), theCoronavirus reared its ugly head,as 13,165 tested positive for thepandemic in various parts of thestate.

With fresh infections, thetotal infected cases in the statejumped to a staggering 6,28,642.

Pune with 1,37,601 freshcases continued to race ahead ofMumbai with 1,31,542 in terms ofthe total infections.

Of the 346 deaths reported onWednesday, Pune accounted for ahighest of 86 deaths, followed by46 deaths in Mumbai, 42 in Thaneand 26 in Nagpur.

Similarly, there were 18 deathsin Sangli, 15 each in Solapur andKolhapur, 14 deaths in Palghar, 13in Ahmednagar and 10 inYavatmal.

On the lower side, there were9 deaths each in Jalgaon andSatara, 7 in Raigad, 6 each inNashik and Osmanabad, 4 inBhandara, 3 each in Dhule,Parbhani and Latur, 2 each inSindhudurg, Beed and Akola, 1each in Aurangabad, Hingoli,Wardha and Gondiya. In addition,one person from another statedied in Maharashtra.

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In a world of rapid revolution in theknowledge landscape, dramaticadvances in science and researchtechnology, evolution in entrepre-neurial aspirations, changing

employment paradigm, growing digiti-sation of learning process and risingneeds of innovation to address spirallingglobal challenges, the NationalEducation Policy (NEP), 2020, is a pio-neering initiative. It will help transformIndia’s educational system into a holis-tic, multi-disciplinary, flexible, synergis-tic, equitable, pluralistic, responsible andinnovative learning ecosystem.

NEP 2020 is like a déjà vu of theparadigm ingrained in the ancientIndian educational system, one thatentrenched the highest standards ofmulti-disciplinary teaching and researchin world-class universities such asTakshashila, Nalanda, Vikramshila andVallabhi. These universities nurturedthousands of students from India andabroad, focussing on multi-discipli-nary research and innovation to buildwell-rounded and innovative individu-als, who had the capability to lead andemancipate society through their knowl-edge and wisdom. Famous intellectualsof India such as Chanakya, Panini,Charaka, Vishnu Sharma and Jivaka,who were the students of the TakshashilaUniversity, left an indelible mark inworld history for possessing deeperknowledge in their respective fields ofstudy.

Now, the time is opportune to ini-tiate a complete overhaul of the Indianeducational system by infusing the pastglory and at the same time, keeping inmind the contemporary context as thekey driver of the mission. The 21st cen-tury world demands a holistic and multi-disciplinary educational system that candeliver integrated skills and capacities tothe students, making them not onlygreat professionals but also transform-ing them as global leaders who can leadthe Government, enterprise, politics,economy, society and human progresswith greater efficacy.

The key differentiator of NEP 2020is the synergy in curriculum across alllevels of education — from early child-hood care to primary education toschool education and higher education.This will help the students learn andgrow in an ecosystem where learning isnot just limited to examinations and cer-tificates, but goes beyond that, helpingthem develop critical thinking, ethicalvalues, the spirit of service and inculcatelife skills such as communication, coop-eration, teamwork and resilience. Thecornerstone of NEP 2020 is the inclu-sion of students from all social strataacross the educational system throughvarious supportive policies. This will

help the students — irrespectiveof their gender, caste, religion,language, socio-economic con-ditions and region — avail high-quality education for their over-all growth and contributetowards nation-building.

Pivoted on multi-discipli-nary learning in higher educa-tion, NEP 2020 will empowerstudents to adapt the demands ofthe 21st century in a more effec-tive way. For example, a studentlearning AI as a major with eco-nomics as a minor can build abetter AI system for economicdevelopment than a studentwhose focus is only on AI. As theworld is changing, it’s imperativefor a country like India to adaptto the multi-disciplinary form oflearning so as to address theglobal challenges in energy,healthcare, water, food and san-itation among others. Forinstance, the challenges thrownby the COVID-19 pandemiccan only be addressed througha multi-disciplinary approach.

NEP 2020 has articulated aparadigm shift from NEP 1986by urging higher educationalinstitutes to have a greater focuson research and innovation byestablishing centres for start-upincubation, technological devel-opment, in frontier areas ofresearch, greater industry-acad-emia collaboration and inter-dis-ciplinary research, includinghumanities, social sciences, sci-ence and technological research.This approach will strengthentranslatory research, innovation,

IP creation and entrepreneurshipin the country. The studentspassing through such education-al system will be tomorrow’s jobcreators, innovators, leaders andinstitution builders. Globally, it’san established fact that a multi-disciplinary approach to educa-tion is good for the economicprogress of a country.

Global higher educationalinstitutes such as MIT, Stanford,Harvard, Caltech, Oxford,Cambridge and Princeton havesignificantly contributed toresearch, innovation, IP cre-ation and economic progress.Countries like the US and theUK have leveraged such multi-disciplinary educational systemsto become industrially and tech-nologically developed nations.

One of the most laudablefeatures of NEP 2020 is theextensive use of technology inthe teaching and learningprocess. Technology can reducethe barriers, enhance access,increase affordability and ensureinclusion. As India is a globalleader in IT and emerging tech-nology domains, NEP 2020 canleverage the robust digital infra-structure established by theGovernment and the industry.

Online and digital educationwill also help divyang studentsaccess the learning ecosystem ina seamless manner. The forma-tion of the National EducationalTechnology Forum (NETF), asproposed by the new NEP, is apioneering idea to promote thefree exchange of ideas across

higher learning institutes to fos-ter innovation across the board.

India is now at the cusp ofdigital transformation and itsimpact is benefitting the societyat large. Further, a strong foun-dation of the IT industry haspaved the way for tech start-upsto leverage emerging technolo-gies such as AI, machine learn-ing, IoT, big data, blockchain androbotics. Such dynamism in theecosystem has also resulted inbuilding a start-up culture in thecountry. To further strengthenthis start-up culture and enableit to become an enormous massmovement across industry ver-ticals, NEP, 2020, will play acolossal role by supplying profes-sionals, who are inherently dri-ven by the spirit of innovationand entrepreneurship.

The new education policyalso envisions a comprehensiveapproach to transform the qual-ity and quantity of research inIndia in an integrated manner. Asignificant shift in school educa-tion system to encourage a moreplay and discovery-based style oflearning, with an emphasis onscientific method and criticalthinking, will further foster inno-vation early in the life of students.In extension, the establishmentof a National ResearchFoundation (NRF), as envi-sioned by NEP, 2020, will pro-mote a culture of research andinnovation of higher order acrossall disciplines.

NRF will also play a catalyt-ic role in propelling the growth

of IPRs and patents in variousdomains. Research and innova-tion will further promote start-up culture in the country todevelop path-breaking productsand solutions to address localand global challenges.

NEP 2020 also proposes asignificant rise in the allocationof funding for education fromthe current 4.43 per cent of theGDP to six per cent. As fundingis critical for any national mis-sion, public-private-partnershipwill play a transformative role indeveloping a modern, advancededucational ecosystem to achievea high-quality and equitableeducation system, one that cansteer India’s future economic,social, cultural, intellectual andtechnological progress andgrowth.

NEP 2020 is a pioneeringstep towards building thebedrock for a self-reliant India.The principles, objectives,visions, missions and directiveswill enable us to have a knowl-edge-driven economy. A knowl-edge-based educational ecosys-tem will promote innovation-ledentrepreneurship, encourageyouth of the nation to becomejob creators, bolster industrialproductivity and rev up inclusivedevelopment. This will eventu-ally accelerate the growth of theeconomy, increase per capitaincome and transform Indiainto a global technology leaderin the times to come.

(The writer is DirectorGeneral, STPI, Govt of India)

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Sir — There can be no doubt thatwith the Supreme Court’s deci-sion to hold advocate PrashantBhushan guilty of criminal con-tempt for his two “false and mali-cious” tweets, the space forbonafide criticism of the judicia-ry has become more restricted.This is also apparent from theBench’s assertion that Bhushan’scase needs to be tackled with an“iron hand” lest quips like these “affect the national honour andprestige in the comity of nations.”

Many liberal democracieshave decriminalised the “scan-dalising” of the courts based onthe ideal that criticism is neces-sary to make the judicial systemstronger and foolproof. As such,it is disappointing that the topcourt of India has taken a differ-ent stand.

Further, it should not be for-gotten that only in 2018, fourSupreme Court judges had comeout in the open to speak againstthe then Chief Justice of India ina Press meet. Was any con-tempt case filed or action initi-ated against them?

It was expected that theapex court’s verdict will be advi-

sory in nature. The decision ofthe Bench to come down heav-ily on Bhushan in view of his dis-sent could shake the trust of thecommon man in the institutionwhich he considers to be his lastresort and rescuer.

Tharcius S FernandoChennai

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Sir — This refers to the article,“The Indian connection” (August19) by Kalyani Shankar. Indiansare rightly on cloud nine after theelection of Kamala Harris as JoeBiden’s running mate in the

upcoming US presidential elec-tions. In Harris, India will havea strong supporter who can argueits cause. Intriguingly, Biden,too, has an Indian connection.One of his forefathers, GeorgeBiden, had settled in India dur-ing the East India Companyregime and had married an

Indian woman. Harris has grownup with a tinge of Indian culturebut has simultaneously lived aproudly African-American life.Biden has expressed his intentionto stand by India regarding bor-der issues. On the other hand,Prime Minister Narendra Modiand US President Donald Trumpenjoy an excellent rapport. Bidenor Trump, India will not be loserin either case.

Azhar Ali KhanRampur

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Sir — This refers to the editor-ial, “Thanks for the memories”(August 18). Dhoni’s decision toretire from international crick-et has come at the right time. Asthe captain of the men’s cricketteam, he has shown the way toremain cool in tense situationsand win the game. This is whyhe is respected by all quarters.Though we will miss Dhoni, welook forward to his “helicoptershot” in the IPL.

Sweta SankrityanVia email

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The Coronavirus pandemic has caused eco-nomic disruptions and shutdowns in manycountries across the world. Imposition of

nationwide lockdowns, layoffs in the workforce andrestrictions on non-essential travel have minimisedmarket output and affected foreign trade signifi-cantly. The lurking threat to all vital elements ofhuman life has also become prominent in the formof job losses, disruption in water supply and access,dwindling food production and distribution, andthreats to health and well-being. The COVID-19outbreak is not just an economic but a humanitar-ian and environmental crisis. This has impededIndia’s contribution towards the 17 SustainableDevelopment Goals (SDGs) that were put forth in2015 with an objective to eradicate poverty, safe-guard the planet and ensure peace and prosperi-ty for all by 2030. Moreover, the response to cli-mate change has also lost traction globally with thepostponement of the Conference of Parties(COP26) to 2021.

While India continues to grapple with thesechallenges, the contagion has offered two key learn-ings that can be leveraged for addressing climatechange domestically in coherence with our SDGcommitments. First, the COVID-19 responsemechanisms provide an exemplary account of therole of cooperative and collective action betweennational and sub-national governments for contain-ing the spread of the epidemic. Second, it show-cases how proactive structural changes —includ-ing the creation of health infrastructure, enforce-ment of guidelines and regulatory actions — canenhance the resilience of a system to effectivelyrespond to a crisis situation.

Third, the pandemic shows that society canadjust fast in the face of a crisis. Thus far, climatechange is not seen as a crisis. While the COVID-19 curve is likely to flatten eventually, the impactsof climate change will continue to rattle differentparts of the country through severe hydro-mete-orological events, ranging from the deadly cycloneAmphan to the wrecking floods in Assam and Biharbeing witnessed this year. The aforementionedlearnings likewise reinforce the need to adopt a bot-tom-up approach, involving sub-national entities,including State and local governments to step upstringent action for mitigating the impacts of cli-mate change in harmony with the CentralGovernment’s commitments at the domestic andglobal milieu. As the key lever of climate action inthe States, the State Action Plan on Climate Change(SAPCC), nears completion of the first phase of itsimplementation, this year invigorates hope forStates to ratchet up their SAPCC ambition underthe direction of the Ministry of Environment, Forestand Climate Change. Taking cognisance of the con-vergent nature of issues and the associated socialimpacts unveiled by the contagion, countriesaround the world are rallying towards “green recov-ery” — a road not taken earlier.

The ongoing revision of SAPCC offers a uniqueopportunity to States to experience “green recov-ery” that addresses multiple threats synergistical-ly through the integration of strategies (to absorbshocks from the pandemic), by enhancing climateresilience (impacts of climate change) and safe-guarding sustainable development (threat to peo-ple and inclusive action). This is critical to ensurethat incremental actions towards greening the post-COVID recovery as well as the economy are notjust reactive to the immediate crisis but are sus-tained well beyond the revival of the State’s econ-

omy. The SAPCCs inherently cater to amyriad SDGs, most noteworthy of whichwould be SDG 13 on Climate Action. TheSDGs have passed the baton of enforc-ing sustainable and inclusive develop-mental trajectories to all countries andunder this ambit there is enormouspotential for States to incorporate theSDGs within their SAPCC narratives andvice-versa. Through their sectoral inter-ventions that navigate across agriculture,energy, industries, health, employmentand resource conservation strategiescatering to water, forestry, biodiversityand so on, the SAPCCs can be potential-ly linked to several SDGs.

The recent TERI study, based oncontent analysis and rapid assessmenttechnique, mapped out the linkages thatexisted between all the 33 SAPCCs andthe 17 SDGs. As anticipated, the promi-nent linkages witnessed between SAPCCstrategies and the SDGs corresponded tosustainable agriculture (zero hunger,SDG two), renewable and efficient ener-gy (affordable and clean energy, SDGseven), sustainable urban landscapes(austainable cities and communities,SDG 11) and capacity-building (partner-ship for the goals, SDG 17) followed bycomplementarities with other SDGs.These include good health and well-being, clean water and sanitation, indus-try innovation and infrastructure,responsible consumption and productionand life on land.

Interestingly, linkages with targetsresonating with other crucial SDGs suchas quality education, gender equality,decent work and economic growth, jus-tice and strong institutions, were infre-quent and exceptional for a limitednumber of SAPCCs. Specific congruen-cies with SDG 4, which included integrat-ing the climate change module in theeducation curriculum, were witnessed inthe States of Chhattisgarh, Puducherry

and Tamil Nadu (TN), while States suchas Andhra Pradesh, Telangana, Rajasthanand the Union Territory of Lakshadweepunderlined SDG 4 as necessary forbuilding adaptation capacities, resilienceand public awareness.

With respect to gender equality, theSAPCC of Himachal Pradesh identifiedthe gender component of climate actionstrategies and missions, such as in theGreen India Mission. Kerala was anoth-er State, which in its SAPCC, took cog-nisance of the indispensable role ofwomenfolk in forest and resource man-agement. Tripura’s SAPCC demarcatedthe role which women play in promot-ing social capital and resilience-buildingof communities through their Self-HelpGroups. SDG 8 (decent work and eco-nomic growth) has immense potential tocontribute towards a greener economythrough green jobs under climate actionstrategies within the SAPCCs.

Gujarat’s SAPCC has advanced onthis goal for creating green jobs throughactivities pertaining to afforestation,renewable energy-installation, waste tobio-fuel programmes, to name a few.Other SAPCCs, such as those of UttarPradesh, Andaman & Nicobar Island andMadhya Pradesh, have iterated the needto bolster employment under the sectorsof fisheries, industries and forestry to fos-ter sustainable growth and develop-ment. SDG 14 (Life below water) andSDG 16 (Peace, justice and strong insti-tutions) have seen limited linkages as onlycoastal SAPCCs would correspond to theformer and the need to build institution-al effectiveness and accountability wasunderscored only in Andhra Pradesh andTamil Nadu.

Further, the SDG India Index 2019rankings have classified States based ontheir performance. The NationalIndicator Framework (NIF), prepared bythe Ministry of Statistics and Programme

Implementation (MoSPI), is the back-bone of SDG rankings and elucidates howthe climate action agenda can beupscaled. The NIF spans over enhancingadaptive capacity of States, morbidity dueto climate extremes, reduction in emis-sions, meeting the Nationally DeterminedContributions (NDC) targets and inte-grating climate change module in theeducation curricula. Therefore, persist-ing congruencies between the two agen-da and the NIF overlap the aspiration ofa green economy, where an integratedframework of mutually co-benefittinggovernance for planning and imple-mentation is a requisite.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi, inhis recent address at the India GlobalWeek 2020, reiterated the need for reviv-ing an India which is sustainable. He alsomentioned his vision of an AtmanirbharBharat that is self-sustaining and self-gen-erating and which reinforces the need forgreening the recovery as well as the econ-omy. Following suit, UP has already start-ed a “One District, One Product” initia-tive to harness local traditions, art andenterprise; reiterating the need to go local.This, if successful, will have a positiveeffect and encourage SDG commitments.States must endorse a holistic approachto include strategies in the SAPCCwherein green recovery measures areplanned in consonance with their abili-ty to mitigate climate change and achieveSDGs.

Strategies need to be devised acrosssectors that will make India’s economicrecovery sustainable and climate-proof.However, devising such effective greenstrategies as the economy recovers wouldalso demand one to assess how “green-ness” is defined and measured, as that remains woefully unaddressed at pre-sent.

(Pruthi and Raj are ResearchAssociates and Pahuja is, Fellow, TERI)

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Recently somebody shared a videolink of an old television debatein which I had featured. Then

came the query, “Why aren’t youdebating on television these days?” Ireplied that since I am out of sync withthe style of the debate, which is invogue now, I opt out of the few offersthat come my way, especially whenthey need a dozen people peeping outof the tiny windows on the televisionscreen. However, the other person wasnot convinced by my explanation. Hesaid that it was just “a case of sourgrapes” as I was “outdated.” Thatremark stung me a bit but it also gotme thinking. Have I become outdat-ed? I had been mulling over this con-

versation for some time. Hence, I wasshaken when the news of Congressspokesperson Rajiv Tyagi collapsingafter a “toxic” television debate camein.

In hindsight, I thought, it had beena wise decision for a hypertensive andpre-diabetic person like me to opt outof these cantankerous shows of abu-sive persons baying for each other’sblood, spurred by an unscrupulouscheerleader christened as anchor.With no political fortune to seek andthe channels increasingly tighteningtheir purse strings when it comes topaying the panelists, I think it has beena wise decision to not put one’s life atrisk.

Many years ago, when I had justmoved from being a relative junior inthe profession to a middle leadershipposition in The Pioneer, a tempting joboffer had come my way from a televi-sion channel. In those days, televisionchannels were popping up a dime adozen as a Supreme Court order hadended Doordarshan’s monopoly onairtime. There were many whothought, and rightly so in many cases

(especially those with poor writing andediting skills) that television was theplatform to be in. When I entered ThePioneer Editor Dr Chandan Mitra’soffice with the offer letter in my handand asked for his permission to resign,he asked me to sit down and ordereda cup of coffee. He then told me thatsomeone with good writing skillsshould never seek to make a career asa television reporter. I thought this tobe a stratagem to retain me in theorganisation because in those days DrMitra himself would frequent televi-sion studios and was a celebrity in hisown right.

My doubts got cleared when hesaid, while sipping his piping hot cupof coffee, that television was a greatplace to be, if one was invited as a pan-elist for inputs beyond the bare news.That is what television debates oughtto be and to be fair it remained thatway for a very long time. It is justunfortunate that this has now beenturned on its head.

I must share that I was introducedas a television panelist on the recom-mendation of Dr Mitra on a news item

which I had penned and which hadcreated quite a stir. However, myappearances on television remainedinfrequent as I neither enjoyed thepolitical and social station of DrMitra, nor did I have the liberty of anEditor to leave office early for a tele-vision talk show. I, however, had along-run as a television panelistbetween 2008 and 2017 when the erst-while STAR News and later ABP Newsunder the stewardship of Shazi Zamanplanned pre-recorded talk show-basedcontent. The guest would be present-ed before a group of people fromacross the social spectrum and a fewjournalists, who would grill the per-sonality. But the lines of civility werenever crossed in those days.

The shows were planned in sucha manner that for the panelists, quickwit and intelligence became the mostimportant tools for creating an impactand surviving the scrutiny of theaudience. It was very clear that shout-ing, running down and abusing co-panelists were not part of the shows’grammar or the channels’ culture.

Appearances at these shows also

gave me the opportunity to rub shoul-ders and meaningfully interact withmany a veteran of the profession, spe-cially from language papers. Theybrought with them sagacious knowl-edge not earned by way of appendinga foreign degree but by years spent inthe field witnessing the evolution ofIndian society and politics and remain-ing its consistent student.

The recording sessions, whichwould expand over three to fourhours, always included space for infor-mal interaction with the guest of theday. These sessions were actually greatsittings in scholarship. Today I see onscreen such “scholars”, by the way ofholding a professorial position, gestic-ulating, pointing fingers and spewingvenom, which would make even themost wayward student cower with fear.

A media platform’s essential occu-pation should be dissemination ofwell-argued information rather thandebates which could pass off as a goator cock fight in a village marketplace.The late Rajiv Tyagi had the reputationof being a “forceful” spokesperson forthe Congress Party. Congress scion

Rahul Gandhi in his condolence mes-sage called him a “babbar sher (lion).”

However, one should not forget,that at the end of the day Tyagi, too,was another gladiator, in the ring fora bloody bout set up by channels everyevening. The world of professionalboxing and wrestling is full of tales offighters getting fatally injured anddying early. Are we now seeing a sim-ilar trend emerging in televisiondebates, which today are a euphemismfor sessions of shouting, aggressivebehaviour and abusing with physicalassault thankfully being avoided dueto the Corona protocols being inplace?

Given the untimely demise ofTyagi and the humiliation which isheaped on many in the name of tele-vision debates, personally for me sourgrapes are preferable over being linedin a row to be caned by a hectoringanchor.

(The writer is a senior journalistand Professor-ChairpersonVivekananda School of Journalism andMass Communication, VIPS, GGSIPU,Delhi)

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Facebook Chief OperatingOfficer Sheryl Sandberg has

said that posts uploaded by USPresident Donald would betaken down if they violate thesocial media company’s policieson hate speech and false infor-mation. Ahead of theNovember 3 presidential pollsin the US, Facebook has takena series of steps to check thespread of misinformationthrough its platform.

Kabul: Bomb attacks in Kabuland in northern Afghanistan,as well as an ambush in thecountry’s south killed at leastfive people on Wednesday andwounded 15, officials said.

Two sticky bombs target-ed government employees inthe Afghan capital, killingtwo people, including a policeofficer, and wounding twoothers, police said.

Meanwhile in PuliKhumri, the capital of north-ern Baghlan province, a bombtargeted a vehicle belonging to

the provincial intelligencedepartment, killing two ser-vice members and wounding11 people, including both mil-itary and civilians, said NazirNajem, the provincial gover-nor’s spokesman.

In southern Urozganprovince, gunmen ambushedthe vehicle of the intelligencechief in the city of Tarin Kowt,killing him and woundingtwo other service members,said Zelgay Ebadi, thespokesman for the provincialgovernor. AP

Washington: Democrats haveofficially named Joe Biden astheir presidential candidateafter several elder statesmenlauded the former US vicepresident’s leadership skills tochallenge incumbentRepublican President DonaldTrump in November.

Two Democratic formerpresidents, Bill Clinton andJimmy Carter, and former sec-retary of state John Kerryendorsed Biden on Tuesday, thesecond day of the DemocraticNational Convention (DNC).Former secretary of state Colin

Powell, a Republican, alsobacked Biden’s candidacy.

Biden, 77, became theDemocratic Party’s nomineefor the November 3 presiden-tial election on Tuesday nightin a pre-recorded roll call votefrom delegates in all 50 states.

He said the nomination“means the world to me andmy family, and I’ll see you onThursday,” referring to hisspeech accepting the nomina-tion on the final night of thefour-day convention which islargely virtual, amid the coro-navirus pandemic. PTI

Gaza City (Gaza Strip):Hundreds of Palestinians in theGaza Strip on Wednesday ral-lied against the US-brokereddeal to normalise ties betweenIsrael and the United ArabEmirates.

Protesters burned Israeliand American flags, trampledon posters of Israeli PrimeMinister Benjamin Netanyahuand President Donald Trump,and chanted “normalisation isbetrayal to Jerusalem andPalestine.”

Unlike Palestinian protest-

ers last Friday near the AlAqsa Mosque compound inJerusalem’s Old City who alsoburned posters of the Emiraticrown prince, the Gaza demon-strators stopped short of burn-ing symbols of the UAE —apparently not to antagonisethe Gulf Arab country, wheretens of thousands ofPalestinians work and live.

The demonstrators in GazaCity also voiced support forPalestinian PresidentMahmoud Abbas for his rejec-tion of President Donald

Trump’s Mideast plan, whichthe Palestinians say unfairlyfavours Israel.

The protest was organisedby the militant Hamas group,which rules the Gaza Strip, andother factions.

Khalil al-Hayya, a seniorHamas official, denounced theIsraeli-Emirati deal.“Normalisation with the occu-pation harms us and doesn’tserve us,” he said. “Instead, itserves and promotes the occu-pation in its projects that targetPalestine and the region.” AP

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New Zealand appears to begaining control over a coro-

navirus outbreak in Aucklandafter just five new communityinfections were reportedWednesday amid record levelsof testing and contact tracing.

A sixth infection was foundin a quarantined traveler whohad returned from Qatar.

Prime Minister JacindaArdern says 500 more militarypersonnel would be deployed toquarantine hotels.

Bamako (Mali): The Maliansoldiers who forced PresidentIbrahim Boubacar Keita toresign in a coup promised earlyWednesday to organise newelections after their takeoverwas swiftly condemned by theinternational community.

In a statement carriedovernight on state broadcasterORTM, the mutinous soldierswho staged Tuesday’s militarycoup identified themselves asthe National Committee for the

Salvation of the People led byCol. Maj. Ismael Wagué.

“With you, standing asone, we can restore this coun-try to its former greatness,”Wagué said, announcing thatborders were closed and that acurfew was going into effectfrom 9 p.M. To 5 a.M.

The news of Keita’s depar-ture was met with jubilation byanti-government demonstra-tors in the capital, Bamako, andalarm by former colonial rulerFrance, and other allies and for-eign nations.

The UN Security Councilscheduled a closed meetingWednesday afternoon to discussthe unfolding situation in Mali,where the U.N. Has a 15,600-strong peacekeeping mission.

Keita, who was democra-tically elected in a 2013 land-slide and re-elected five yearslater, still had three years leftin his term. AP

Brussels: European Unionleaders on Wednesday saidthey stand beside the peopleprotesting for democratic rightsin Belarus, underlining thatthe EU rejects the electionresults that kept the country’sleader of 26 years in power andis preparing a list of Belarusianswho face sanctions over votefraud and a brutal crackdownon protesters.

The message of supportcame as the leading oppositioncandidate urged the Europeans

to support “the awakening ofBelarus,” and as authorities inthe country began again detain-ing protesters, who took to thestreets of Minsk for an 11th dayto demand that PresidentAlexander Lukashenko resign.

“The European Unionstands in solidarity with thepeople of Belarus, and we don’taccept impunity,” EuropeanCouncil President CharlesMichel told reporters afterchairing an emergency tele-conference.

“We don’t recognize theresults presented by the Belarusauthorities” Michel said theEU will impose sanctions on “asubstantial number” of peoplelinked to election fraud and vio-lence.

He declined to name any ofthose who might be listed. Healso said that the 27-nation blocfully supports mediating effortsbetween the Belarusian gov-ernment and opposition over-seen by the Organisation forSecurity and Cooperation inEurope. AP

Cairo: Sudan on Wednesdayfired the spokesman for theforeign ministry, a day after heremarked that the Africancountry was looking forwardto making a peace deal withIsrael.

The development comesafter last week’s bombshellannouncement of a dealbetween the United ArabEmirates and Israel to normal-ize relations, which will makethe UAE only the third Arabnation, after Egypt and Jordan,to have full ties with Israel.

Sudan’s acting ForeignMinister Omar Qamar al-Dinsaid he dismissed AmbassadorHaidar Badawi from his postafter Badawi said Tuesday thatSudan was “looking forward toconcluding a peace agreementwith Israel.” AP

Berlin: Saudi Arabia’s foreignminister on Wednesday cau-tiously welcomed an agreementbetween its close ally the UnitedArab Emirates and Israel toestablish full ties and exchangeembassies.

Prince Faisal bin Farhansaid the deal, which also haltedunilateral annexation by Israelof West Bank territory sought bythe Palestinians, “could beviewed as positive.”

But he refrained from out-right backing the move andstressed Saudi Arabia is open toestablishing similar relationson condition that a peace agree-ment is reached between Israeland the Palestinians.

His remarks during a newsconference with GermanForeign Minister Heiko Maaswere the first public commentby Saudi Arabia on Thursday’ssurprise announcement by USPresident Donald Trump thathis administration helped bro-ker the UAE-Israel agreement.

Bahrain, Oman and Egyptissued official statements wel-coming the agreement. The

kingdom did not issue similarstatements and did no-t respond to requests for com-ment until Wednesday’s newsconference in Berlin.The UAEframed its agreement as a suc-cessful measure that haltedIsraeli plans to annex WestBank territory. Israeli PrimeMinister Benjamin Netanyahu,however, has said the suspen-sion is only temporary.

The Palestinians haveissued scathing statements say-ing the UAE undermined Arabconsensus and describing themove as a “betrayal ofJerusalem, Al-Aqsa Mosqueand the Palestinian cause.” SaudiArabia, like other Arab Gulfstates, has built quiet ties withIsrael over the years, in partbecause of shared concernsover Iran and its policies in theregion. Prince Faisal reiteratedduring the press conference thekingdom’s long-stated publicstance of support for the ArabPeace Initiative which promis-es Israel full ties with Arab statesif a peace settlement is reachedwith the Palestinians. AP

Taipei: Chinese hackers infil-trated at least 10 Taiwan gov-ernment agencies and gainedaccess to around 6,000 emailaccounts in an attempt to stealdata, officials said Wednesday.

The damage done was “notsmall”, according to a topTaiwan cyber official, who saidthe full impact was still beingassessed.

Taipei has accused Beijingof stepping up a cyber cam-paign since 2016 when Taiwanelected President Tsai Ing-wen,who refuses to acknowledgeBeijing’s insistence that theself-ruled democratic island ispart of “one China”.

Tsai, who views Taiwan asde facto independent, won re-

election by a landslide inJanuary in what was seen as astrong rebuke to Beijing’s cam-paign to influence the island.

According to the TaiwanInvestigation Bureau’s CyberSecurity Investigation Office,two well-known Chinese hack-ing groups — Blacktech andTaidoor — have been targetinggovernment departments andinformation service providerssince 2018.

“We know for sure thatthese 6,000 emails have beencompromised. We are stillassessing the extent of thedamage,” the office’s deputydirector, Liu Chia-zung, toldAFP.

“As far as we know, the

damage done by this infiltra-tion is not small,” Liu added.

“We are making this pub-lic because we want to alerteveryone of the threat andstop further damage.”

The announcement comesa week after US health secretaryAlex Azar wrapped up a his-toric trip to the self-ruledisland as China warnedWashington not to “play withfire”.

Beijing has ramped updiplomatic and economic pres-sure on Taiwan as well asincreasing military drills nearthe island, including its jetsbreaching Taiwan’s air defencezone with unprecedented fre-quency in recent weeks.

Washington: No new high-level trade talks have beenscheduled between the UnitedStates and China but the twosides remain in touch aboutimplementing a Phase 1 deal,White House Chief of StaffMark Meadows told reportersaboard Air Force One onTuesday.

US President DonaldTrump earlier told reportersduring a visit to Yuma,Arizona, that he had post-poned an August 15 review ofthe trade agreement signedwith China in January given hisfrustration over Beijing’s han-dling of the coronavirus pan-demic.

“I postponed talks withChina. You know why? I don’twant to deal with them now,”Trump said during a briefingon construction of a borderwall with Mexico. “What Chinadid to the world was not eventhinkable. They could havestopped (the virus).”

Meadows said the review,mandated as part of the tradeagreement with China, hadnot been rescheduled, but USrade Representative RobertLighthizer remained in regularcontact with his counterparts in

China about fulfilling its com-mitments.

“There are no rescheduledtalks ... at this point,” Meadowstold reporters.

“Ambassador Lighthizercontinues to have discussionswith his Chinese counterpartsinvolving purchases and ful-filling their agreements.”

Trump struck a non-com-mittal tone when asked if hewould pull out of the trade dealwith China, saying, “We’ll seewhat happens.”

During visits to Arizonaand Iowa on Tuesday, Trumpexpressed frustration aboutChina’s handling of the healthcrisis and its failure to containthe disease, but he also laudedrecord purchases by Beijing ofUS farm products.

China’s imports of US farmand manufactured goods, ener-gy and services are well behindthe pace needed to meet a first-year target increase of $77 bil-lion over 2017 purchases. Butits purchases have increased asChina’s economy recovers froma coronavirus lockdown earli-er this year. AGENCY

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The GST Council is likely tomeet on August 27 to dis-

cuss the compensation payoutto states and the opinion of theAttorney General on the legal-ity of market borrowing tomeet revenue shortfall.

Sources said the 41stmeeting of the Goods andServices Tax (GST) Councilwould be a single agenda meet-ing on states’ compensation tobe held via video conferencing.

Besides, a full-fledgedmeeting of the Council wouldbe held on September 19, agen-da for which is to be decided indue course, they added.

The Attorney General-who is the chief legal officer ofthe government - has opinedthat the Centre has no statuto-ry obligation to make up forany shortfall in GST revenuesof states from its coffers ,

sources had said.They had earlier indicated

that following the AG’s opinion,states may now have to look atmarket borrowings to meetthe revenue shortfall and theGST Council will take a finalcall. The Centre had in Marchsought views from AttorneyGeneral KK Venugopal on thelegality of market borrowing bythe GST Council to make upfor any shortfall in compensa-tion fund - a corpus createdfrom levy of additional tax onluxury and sin goods to com-pensate states for revenueshortfall arising from theirtaxes being subsumed intoGST.

The AG had also opinedthat the Council has to decideon meeting the shortfall in theGST compensation fund byproviding the sufficient amountto be credited to the fund.

Sources said the options

before the Council for meetingthe shortfall could be to ratio-nalize GST rates, cover moreitems under the compensa-tion cess or increase the com-pensation cess, or recommendhigher borrowing by states tobe repaid by the future collec-tion into the compensationfund.

Since raising tax or cessrates might not be feasible inthe current pandemic situation,the option that remains is eachstate borrowing from marketagainst the consolidated fundof the state. Under theGST law, states were guaran-teed to be compensated bi-monthly for any loss of revenuein the first five years of the GSTimplementation from July 1,2017. The shortfall is calculat-ed assuming a 14 per centannual growth in GST collec-tions by states over the baseyear of 2015-16.

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The Centre on Wednesdayapproved a proposal to give

one-time relaxation in workingcapital limit norm for discomsunder the Ujwal DISCOMAssurance Yojana (UDAY) toget loans as part of the �90,000crore liquidity infusionscheme.After the Cabinetmeeting, Union MinisterPrakash Javadekar in a pressconference said, “Power sectorhas a problem. There is aslump in power consumption.The bills are not being collect-ed by them. PFC and REC havebeen allowed to give loansabove the limit...(of) more than25 per cent working capitallimit. This will increase liq-uidity of the state discoms”.

“The working capital limitis 25 per cent of last year’s rev-

enue. Now, the limit is relaxed,”

he further said. According to anofficial statement, the CabinetCommittee on EconomicAffairs, chaired by PrimeMinister Narendra Modi, hasapproved a one-time relax-ation to Power FinanceCorporation (PFC) and RECLtd for extending loans to dis-coms above limits of workingcapital cap of 25 per cent of lastyear’s revenues under UDAY.

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Markets regulator Sebi onWednesday proposed

relaxation in norms pertainingto 25 per cent minimum pub-lic shareholding for companieswhich undergo corporate insol-vency resolution and seekrelisting following the process.

Besides, it proposedenhanced disclosure for suchcompanies. Sebi said it is pos-sible that pursuant to imple-mentation of the resolutionplan, the public shareholding insuch companies may drop toabysmally low levels.

In fact, in one recent caseit was observed that post cor-porate insolvency resolutionprocess (CIRP), the publicholding decreased to 0.97 percent, and it showed 8,764 percent jump in share price in spiteof additional preventive sur-veillance actions, includingreduction in price band andmoving the scrip into trade fortrade segment.

According to Sebi, suchlow public shareholding raisesmultiple concerns like failure offair discovery of price of thescrip and need for increasedsurveillance measures and maytherefore be a red flag forfuture cases.

Low float also prohibitshealthy participation in tradingof such companies majorly dueto issues related to demand andsupply gap of shares, the regu-lator added.

Accordingly, the regulatorhas proposed recalibration ofthreshold for minimum publicshareholding (MPS) norms incompanies which undergoCIRP and seek relisting ofshares pursuant to implemen-tation of the approved resolu-tion plan.

It has sought views of pub-lic and market intermediariestill September 18 in this regard.

It has been suggested thatpost-CIRP companies may bemandated to achieve at least 10per cent public shareholdingwithin six months and 25 percent within three years fromthe date of breach of MPSnorm. Currently, the normsmandate that in case publicholding of such company fallsbelow 10 per cent, then thesame will be increased to atleast 10 per cent within 18months and 25 per cent with-in three years. Another optionwhich has been suggested isthat post-CIRP companies maybe mandated to have at least 5per cent public shareholding atthe time of relisting.

New Delhi: The Government’snew Affordable Rental HousingComplexes (ARHC) policy willboost supply of rental accom-modations besides opening theprospects of launching resi-dential REIT in the country,according to Savills report.

India has seen two suc-cessful launches and listing ofthe Real Estate InvestmentTrust so far with fund raisingof more than �9,000 crore, butboth were for rent-yieldingcommercial assets mainly officeparks.The consultant launcheda research report titled - ‘Rentalhousing in India: A study of theupcoming wave’ at an eventorganised by FICCI.

“Rental housing is anoth-er market that is yet to betapped, especially in the urbanareas which have seen prices ofhomes go beyond the cusp ofmost of the city dwellers.

“The recently releasedoperational guidelines onARHC are a long-awaited giantleap in the right direction,” saidAnurag Mathur, ChiefExecutive Officer, SavillsIndia.The property consultantsaid that rental housing inIndia could possibly see aboom in the next two yearsbacked by the recent reformsannounced by the government.

Rapid urbanization, migra-tion to cities and the rising costof home ownership are thethree key demand drivers foraffordable rental housing inIndia.

As per the 2011 census,urban households on rentstood at over 21 million, whichis around 20 per cent of thetotal number of houses inurban India. Almost 80 percent of the rental housing mar-ket in the country is concen-trated in urban centres, thereport said.

While India’s urban popu-lation share has grown morethan threefold in over a centu-ry at around 10 per cent in the1900s to current levels of morethan 34 per cent, annual inter-state migration is estimated tobe growing at around 9-10million annually. Meanwhile,the cost of house ownershipacross India has shown aCAGR of around 5 per cent inthe past few years, as per thereport. The policy initiativesover the last few years - includ-ing the establishment of RERA,PMAY, Model Tenancy Law,and others - gave the founda-tion for the development ofrental housing.

However, the ARHCsOperational Guidelines July2020 has now laid a roadmap.

“Operational Guidelinesfor ARHCs has laid down twomodels - while the first model(M-1) envisages the operationof vacant government fundedhouses as ARHCs by a conces-sionaire for 25 years, the secondmodel (M-2) provides for pub-lic & private entities to createARHCs on their own vacantlands,” the report said. PTI

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In yet another exodus, GoAirhas seen the exit of half-a-

dozen senior executives inrecent weeks amid the budgetairline struggling to pay salariesand keeping a significant chunkof staff on leave without pay,according to two sources.

The Wadia group-pro-moted carrier has around 6,700employees and around as muchas 4,000-4,500 of them are onleave without pay (LWP), oneof the sources said.

When contacted for com-ments on quitting of seniorexecutives, a GoAir spokesper-son neither denied nor con-firmed the resignations.Theairline “continues to assess thecurrent market situation andwill align its cost structureswith the current flight opera-tions. These are planned fur-loughs in order to minimisecash burn so that the staffcount is aligned to the currentscale of operations”, thespokesperson said in a state-ment.The airlines industry hasbeen grappling with strongheadwinds due to the coron-avirus pandemic, with many ofthe carriers laying off people as

part of cost-cutting measures.GoAir has also been severelyhit by suspension of flight ser-vices to curb the spread ofcoronavirus. Besides announc-ing paycuts for most of itsemployees in March, GoAirhad also announced the LWPscheme for 60-70 per cent ofthe staff in April.

The sources quoted abovesaid salary payments to theremaining 30 per cent of theworkforce is also not regular.

Earlier this month, the air-line gave three options to theemployees -- voluntary resig-nation, termination and con-tinue on LWP for an indefiniteperiod. Subsequently, morethan half-a-dozen senior exec-utives left the airline whilesome others mulling variousoptions, the sources told PTI.

“The top deck at GoAir isnow almost empty. In the lastfew weeks, the airline’s com-pany secretary, vice-presidentsfor international operations,cargo, procurement, customerservices, inflight services, andcorporate communication quitthe carrier as these peoplewere not getting paid sinceApril on account of LWP,” oneof the sources said.

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Market benchmarks tickedhigher for the third

straight session on Wednesday,propped up by RelianceIndustries, HDFC Bank andICICI Bank amid a bullishtrend in global equities.

The BSE Sensex toucheda high of 38,788.51 during theday but succumbed to profit-booking at the fag-end of thesession. It finally closed at38,614.79, up 86.47 points or0.22 per cent.

On similar lines, the NSENifty rose 23.05 points or 0.20per cent to 11,408.40.

Market behemoth RelianceIndustries climbed 0.68 percent after announcing acquisi-tion of 60 per cent stake in e-pharmacy Netmeds for �620crore. Tech Mahindra was thetop gainer in the Sensex pack,rising 1.91 per cent, followed byBharti Airtel, Maruti, ICICIBank, HDFC Bank, SBI, RILand , Asian Paints.

On the other hand, BajajAuto, ONGC, Nestle India,

HUL and Kotak Bank wereamong the laggards, slipping upto 1.42 per cent.

According totraders, domestic bourses fol-lowed positive cues from

global markets after USequities hit record highs inovernight session.

“Ever present fears regard-ing the Covid-19 impact oneconomic recovery broughtabout volatility in the globalmarkets, despite US marketssurging to record highs. Indianindices also exhibited thisvolatility before closing theday with a positive bias.Banking index again led thegains.

“The gains in the Indianmarket, as in the global mar-kets, have been driven by ampleliquidity and the expectation ofnormalisation of business sup-ported by government mea-

sures, in a post Covid-19 sce-nario.

However, investors mustcontinue to remain stock spe-cific and use the accumulationstrategy for the time being,”said Vinod Nair, Head ofResearch at Geojit FinancialServices.

BSE telecom, realty,industrials, basic materials,utilities and finance indicesjumped up to 1.49 per cent,while IT, FMCG, healthcareand teck indices ended in thered.

Broader BSE mid-cap andsmall-cap indices rallied asmuch as 1.16 per cent.Persistent foreign fund inflowstoo buoyed investor sentiment,traders said. Foreign institu-tional investors bought equitiesworth a net Rs 1,134.57 croreon Tuesday, provisionalexchange data showed.

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India’s general Governmentdebt-to-GDP ratio is set to

surge, with a World Bankreport projecting the ratio atrising to its peak of 89 per centin the financial year 2022-23,before gradually declining.

The report titled ‘IndiaDevelopment Update’ for July2020, noted that with the rev-enue outlook seriously dented,and new expenditure impera-tives, the fiscal deficit and debtof the central and state gov-ernments are likely to increasesharply over the next two years.

“India’s debt-to-GDP ratiois projected to increase signif-icantly in the short term,reflecting the expected con-traction in GDP growth andincrease in the primary deficit.While there is a significant levelof uncertainty around the pro-jections, the general govern-ment debt-to-GDP ratio is pro-jected to peak at around 89 percent in FY22/23 before gradu-ally declining thereafter,” itsaid.

General government debt

refers to the overall liabilities ofboth the Union Governmentand states.It, however, notedthat the country’s public debt isexpected to remain sustainablebecause it is mostly denomi-nated in domestic currency, oflong or medium-term maturi-ty, and is predominantly heldby residents.In a baseline sce-nario, which takes into accountrevised growth projections,lower-than-expected divest-ment proceeds, and newexpenditure commitments, thefiscal deficit of the central gov-ernment is projected toincrease to 6.6 per cent ofGDP in FY 2020-21 andremain at a high of 5.5 per centin the following year.

“Assuming that, the states’deficit is contained within 3.5-4.5 per cent of GDP, the deficitof the general government mayrise to around 11 per cent in FY2020-21,” it said. Further, thereport also said that the WorldBank may project a steepercontraction of the Indian econ-omy for the current financialyear, revised from the previousestimate of 3.2 per cent.

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Gold prices fell by �640 to�54,269 per 10 gram in

the national capital onWednesday following declinein international prices of theprecious metal, according toHDFC Securities.

The yellow metal hadclosed at �54,909 per 10gram in the previous trade.Silver prices also faced sellingpressure and declined by�3,112 to �69,450 per kgfrom �72,562 per kg in theprevious trade. In the globalmarket, gold was quotinglower at USD 1,988 perounce, while silver was trad-ing flat at USD 27.43 perounce. “Gold prices paredprevious gains on dollarrecovery as dollar index wit-nessed recovery onWednesday ahead of the USFederal Open MarketCommittee (FOMC) min-utes,” HDFC Securities SeniorAnalyst (Commodities)Tapan Patel said.

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The rupee pared its initialgains to settle 6 paise

lower at 74.82 against the USdollar on Wednesday due tosuspected RBI interventionand uncertainty ahead of therelease of minutes of the USFederal Reserve meeting.

At the interbank forexmarket, the domestic unitopened at 74.71 against theUS dollar, but lost ground andfinally settled at 74.82 against,down 6 paise over its previ-ous close of 74.76. During thesession, the local unit wit-nessed an intra-day high of74.67 and a low of 74.93against the greenback.Meanwhile, the dollar index,which gauges the greenback’sstrength against a basket of sixcurrencies, fell 0.04 per centto 92.23. The market focus ison Fed minutes, Rahul Gupta,Head of Research- Currency,Emkay Global FinancialServices said.

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New Delhi: With an aim toupskill 1000 tyre mechanics intyre repair, mounting ordemounting in the country,Rubber Skill DevelopmentCouncil, in partnership withBridgestone, has launched TyreCarewala project, whose pilotphase has been launched fromKanpur to train 500 mechan-ics there.

“These tyre mechanicswill undergo training and thenwill be certified once they clearthe assessment,” said ShewaniNagpal, COO, Rubber SkillDevelopment Council.

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New Delhi: SLR Metaliks Ltdstrategically used the lock-down period to enhance its fur-nace capacity from 0.3milliontonnes to 0.4 million tonnesannually.

It has truly been anAtmanirbhar phase for a com-pany like ours which has beenable to make a phenomenalleap, said Rajkumar Goel, MD,SLR Metaliks.

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The Delhi Disaster ManagementAuthority (DDMA) allowedhotels and weekly markets to

open on a trial basis in the national cap-ital, complying with the COVID-19 pro-tocols. However, fitness centres andgyms have not been given permissionto open. The meeting, chaired by LGAnil Baijal, happened on August 18 andresulted in favour of the hoteliers, whowelcomed the decision of the govern-ment.

The Hotel Association of India(HAI), which represents 300 hotelsacross categories, also supported themove. A spokesperson of HAI said,“The Hotel Association of India wel-comes the move by the StateGovernment to allow the hotel and hos-pitality sector to start operations again

in New Delhi. Indian HospitalityIndustry holds immense potential to bea global leader and we believe this movewill slowly help this capital-intensive,people-centric sector to gradually inchtowards revival. While the opening ofhotels in Delhi will help in aiding theresurgence of the sector, there is a lotmore support required to keep the ‘sur-vival and revival’ of the industry inmind.”

“We have been aggressively pursu-ing the government — both State andCentral — to allow an extension on loanmoratorium, relief towards PropertyTax, Excise Duty, Fixed Electricity andPower Costs. Our vision is to provideall the necessary elements that will pro-pel the sector towards heightenedgrowth in the years to come. Extending

support to the government, we have alsoproposed to bring in an inter-state taskforce to share the load in reviving thesector,” the spokesperson added.

Dr Jyotsna Suri, ExecutiveCommittee Member, Hotel Associationof India and Chairperson and MD,Bharat Hotels Limited, said, “We wel-come the move of the Government forreopening of hotels in Delhi. We arethankful to LG Anil Baijal, Chief Ministerof Delhi, Arvind Kejriwal, and Ministerof State for Tourism and Culture, PrahladSingh Patel, for this initiative. This deci-sion will enable the revival of the indus-try and help sustain the livelihood ofmany employees affected by the lock-down. We look forward to resumingoperations as per new norms and withstrict hygiene and sanitisation protocols.”

The Wallace Collection in Londonhosts Forgotten Masters: IndianPaintings for the East India

Company, curated by award-winninghistorian, William Dalrymple. Theexhibition, which roughly spans theyears between 1770 and 1840, is dedi-cated to the Indian artists who werecommissioned by British patrons asso-ciated with the East India Company(EIC). These artists (whose many workswere destined for export to Europe)have been generally grouped, by art his-torians and curators under the umbrel-la term ‘Company Painting’ ratherthan credited to individuals.

The exhibition aims to point outthat these individuals deserve a placein the history of Indian art more thanthey merit a place in the history of colo-nialism. Dalrymple, who calls himselfMehrauli goat herd, steps out of hisorbit and does India a huge favour incalling a spade a spade and giving iden-tities to these unknown artists.

‘Kampani Qalam’, the Urdu namefor the rich, hybrid art style associat-ed with commissions for the EIC, hasbeen split into six rooms of absolutenostalgia and brilliance in composition-al character.

�����������������Bengali-speaking artists and

Calcutta feature in this epic sojournsince the city was the headquarters ofthe EIC. Story goes that Elijah Impey,chief justice of Calcutta’s SupremeCourt, and his wife, Mary, had amenagerie of pets — animals andbirds. Mary commissioned the giftedMuslim painter Shaikh Zain-ud-din ofPatna to create an album documentingtheir exotica between 1777 and 1783.Zain-ud-din was then supported by apair of Hindu painters from Patna. Thethree did the lion’s share of the workwhile Zain-ud-din executed or oversawmore than 300 stunning sheets. Allthree natives of Patna spoke Bengali.

Critics have called this show of 100works, fascinating and delightful. TheBengali-speaking trio was master in the

Mughal miniature style of painting butunder their new aegis would createworks that were a new hybrid artform. Birds, animals and botanicalsformed the beauty of composition andnatural history.

The master, Shaikh Zain-ud-din,and his assistants, Ram Das andBhawani Das, were the core team forImpey. The latter’s, specialised in botan-ical drawings, Spray of Green Mangoes(1775) is a delightful showcase of all fer-tile greens in the spectrum and thefruit’s luscious deep tones contrastingwith the lime bending branches.Bhawani Das excelled at drawing ani-mals too, perhaps as shown in his MaleFruit Bat (1772-82). Painting throughwatercolours on paper in the Europeantradition, Das captured the form of thefruit bat using the Mughal practice of

prataj — a meticulous shading fromlight to dark to define shape.

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Combing a wide variety of Indiantraditions, curator Dalrymple alsoshifts the limelight from EIC commis-sioners towards the brilliance of theIndian artists. He belatedly honoursthese historically-overlooked artistsincluding Shaikh Zain-ud-din, BhawaniDas, Shaikh Mohammad Amir ofKarriah, Sita Ram and Ghulam AliKhan. He brings out a forgottenmoment in the Anglo-Indian history.These dazzling, surprising artworksoffer a rare glimpse of the culturalfusion between British and Indian artstyles as they reflect the beauty of thenatural world as well as the social real-

ity of those times.

����������� �����The Wallace Collection also high-

lights the conversation between tradi-tional Indian, Islamic and Westernschools and features works fromMughal, Marathi, Punjabi, Pahari,Tamil and Telugu artists. They werecommissioned by a diverse cross-sec-tion of EIC officials, ranging frombotanists and surgeons to the membersof the East India Company civil service,diplomats, governors and judges, theirwives, as well as some more itinerantBritish artists and intellectuals passingthrough India for pleasure and instruc-tion. What they all had in common wasa scholarly interest in, and enthusiasmfor, India’s rich culture, history and eco-logical biodiversity.

The exhibition highlights the maincentres of ‘Company School’ painting— Calcutta and Lucknow, whereprovincial Mughal painters fromMurshidabad, Patna and Faizabad wereemployed; Madras and Tanjore, whereartists from the South Indian traditionsreceived patronage; and Delhi, whereImperial Mughal artists created someof the finest works of this period. Theirpaintings represent one of the great andforgotten moments of Indian art dur-ing a period of cultural exchangebetween the artists and their EICpatrons.

Xavier Bray, director, WallaceCollection, hopes that the show will“highlight the long history of culturalco-operation between the UK andIndia and help foster partnershipsbetween Indian donors and UK insti-tutions. To this end, the exhibition issponsored by DAG, a commercialgallery with locations in India and NewYork.”

Dalrymple puts the spotlight onForgotten Masters, gives them an identitylong overdue and proves that the KampaniQalam was not a relic of the EIC but anunbroken tradition of Indian art before theadvent of conspicuous colonialism andimperial photography.

(The exhibition runs till September 13.)

After the departure of TikTok, Instagram Reels has

become the most popular appfor young Indians as seven in 10(18 to 29 age group) said theywould like to use Reels as a plat-form for video sharing, a newreport said.

In the absence of theChinese short-video-makingapp Tik Tok, nearly two-thirdsof urban Indians (65 per cent)said they are likely to turn toalternatives or start using videoapps that are either Indian ornon-Chinese in origin, accord-ing to data provided by YouGov,an Internet-based marketresearch and data analytics firm.

Millennials (69 per cent)were most likely to show theirreadiness to switch to Tik-Tok’salternatives, as compared toGenZ (54 per cent). Likewise,men were more likely thanwomen to hold a similar view(70 per cent vs 59 per cent).

“The government’s decisionto ban Tik Tok along with otherChinese apps has presented an

opportunity for homegrownplayers who are gearing up totake advantage of this situation,”said Deepa Bhatia, GeneralManager, YouGov India. “It is,therefore, imperative to gaugethe needs of the audience andunderstand their preferences inthis space,” she added.

Nearly 68 per cent TikTokcontent creators said they arelikely to switch to Indian ornon-Chinese versions of videosharing apps. On being present-

ed with a list of alternatives,Instagram Reels topped the listof apps most likely to be used bypeople in the future.

The platform, which isFacebook’s answer to TikTok, iswelcomed by more than six in10 (62 per cent ) urban Indianswho claim to have tried it andare likely to continue using it.

“Nearly as many have asimilar view about Singapore-based app Cheez (59 per cent),which has a higher appealamong tier-2 users as com-pared to tier-1 city residents,”said the survey.

Apart from these foreignapps, more than half claimed tohave tried the homegrown appRoposo and are likely to use itin the future (54 per cent).

Other regional social mediaapps such as Moj (47 per cent),Gana Hotshot (44 per cent),Josh (42 per cent), Taka Tak (42per cent), Mitron (40 per cent)and Chingari (36 per cent) alsoappear to have gained ground,the survey revealed.

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The 74th Independence Day was cel-ebrated in Chittaranjan

Locomotive Works (CLW). The cele-bration was conducted adhering to thesafety norms of COVID-19. PraveenKumar Mishra, General Manager/CLWunfurled the National Flag in the mainfunction at Oval Ground followed byNational Anthem presented by CLWcultural association. Sunita Mishra,President, CLW Women’s WelfareOrganisation was present at the occa-sion. Keeping in view the social distanc-ing norms, a small number of staff,supervisors, officers and members ofstaff council along with their familymembers and members of CLW-WWO, representative of media werepresent. General Manager inspected theParade contingent consisting of RPF,Civil Defence, St John’s AmbulanceBrigade and Scouts & Guides of CLWin the ground.

During the function, a short filmdepicting the 70 years of CLW and thedigital version of a Coffee Table BookEngines of Change were digitally inau-gurated by the General Manager. Thefilm covered the journey of CLW fromits starting production, on the day Indiabecame republic to becoming largestelectric locomotive manufacturer. CLWhas transformed itself to diesel locomo-tives and finally to modern, highpower, electric locomotives.

On the occasion, Mishra paidrespect and remembered the sacrificesmade by the freedom fighters in mak-ing India free. While discussing thenotable achievements of CLW he saidthat despite COVID-19 related restric-tions, they produced 62 electrical loco-motives and five locomotives from theDankuni Unit, upto July. CLW has sur-passed the production of 10000 loco-motives so far by producing 2351steam locomotives, 842 diesel and

7274 electric locomotives.He expressed his satisfaction while

mentioning that CLW ushered in newera of electric loco production andbecame the largest electric loco produc-er in the world. He further elaboratedthat first WAP-7 locomotive withincreased serviced speed potentialfrom 140 kmph to 160 kmph has beendesigned indigenously and tested suc-cessfully upto speed of 180 kmph.Locomotives to haul long distancegoods trains and locomotives for TEJAShas been modified with aerodynamicre-profiling and are likely to bedespatched soon.

Mishra appreciated the efforts of allthe departments, doctors, paramedicalstaff and inhabitants of Chittaranjan. Healso mentioned that CLW has con-tributed �1,39,11,058 towards PMCares Fund.

The tricolour was also unfurled atSishu Vihar, Asha Kiran-the SpasticCentre, various units of CLW-WWOand RPF ground by adhering the safe-ty norms of COVID-19.

HMD Global, the home of Nokiaphones, launched the Nokia 5310

across leading mobile retail stores ofIndia. Reimagining the original Nokia5310 Xpress Music, the Nokia 5310brings with it an MP3 player and FMradio (which can be played wired orwireless), combined with powerful, dualfront-facing speakers letting you carryyour favourite tunes with you on the go.The phone remixes classic design witha slick new feel and battery that’s builtto last, keeping you connected dayafter day.

Sanmeet Singh, Vice President,HMD Global, said, “The originals havealways had a special place in our port-folio, as much as in our and our fanshearts. Nokia 3310 and Nokia 8110together have millions of users in thecountry. We’re excited to be able to keepthe trend going with the Nokia 5310,which has received a warm welcome.With this phone, we’ve brought acrossIndia, a unique proposition, which isdelightful not just for feature phoneusers but also to smartphone userswho will want to own the phone as theircompanion device.”

Stay tuned all day with a dedicated FMRadio and MP3 player

Keep the music f lowing bothindoors and outdoors with the Nokia5310. Mix up the beat, anytime, any-where, thanks to the MP3 player andwireless FM radio. Carry your favouritetunes with you on the go with theexpandable storage. The dual front-fac-ing speakers get as loud as 105 phons,enough sound to fill the room. Thephone also comes with dedicated musicbuttons, meaning you can adjust the vol-ume and shuffle through tracks withease.

Classic design with more power to con-nect

Celebrating this Nokia with a freshnew take, as it comes in a distinctivetwo-tone colourway, with a beautifullyrounded design, curved display glass andan elegant key mat for the perfect fit inyour hand. It has an ergonomic andclean numeric keypad, with a five-waynavigation key and comes with the clas-sic and familiar Nokia feature phone OSto deliver an easy to use and feature richexperience.

Its battery life lasts up to 22 days instandby mode.

AvailabilityIt will be available in White/Red and

Black/Red at best buy price of �3,399 forthe dual SIM variant.

SRM Institute of Science andTechnology (SRMIST),

Kattankulathur has found apodium finish in AtalRankings of Institutions onInnovation Achievements(ARIIA) 2020.

The ranking wasannounced virtually by VicePresident, M Venkaiah Naiduand SRMIST secured secondplace in the Private or Self-Financed universities category.A total of 674 institutions tookpart.

ARIIA is an initiative ofthe Ministry of HRD, imple-mented by AICTE andMinistry’s Innovation Cell,GOI to systematically rankhigher education institutionsand universities on indicatorsrelated to Innovation, Startupand EntrepreneurshipDevelopment amongst stu-dents and faculty.

The major parameters onwhich ARIIA is based are

Programs and Activities onIPR, Innovation, Start-up andEntrepreneurship, Pre-Incubation & IncubationInfrastructure & Facilities toSupport I&E, Annual BudgetSpent on Promoting andSupporting I&E Activities,Courses on Innovation, IPRand EntrepreneurshipDevelopment, IntellectualProperty (IP), TechnologyTransfer andCommercialisation, SuccessfulInnovation and Start-ups &Funding Innovation & start-ups.

The 74th Independence Day wascelebrated at Western Railway

with the National Flag hoisted byAlok Kansal, General Manager,Western Railway. On this occasion,he inspected the ceremonial paradeof RPF and extended his greetings toall railwaymen and their families.Eight Corona Warriors from themedical fraternity of W Rly includ-ing two RPF personnel who havedonated their blood plasma to saveother’s lives were invited as specialguests. Alok Kumar, AdditionalGeneral Manager, W Rly & PrincipalHeads of Departments along withDivisional Railway Manager ofMumbai Central were also present onthe occasion. The ceremony wasanchored by Gajanan Mahatpurkar,Senior Public Relations Officer andvote of thanks was offered byParikshit Mohanpuria, Dy GeneralManager (G) of W Rly. P C Sinha,Principal Chief SecurityCommissioner, Western Railwaywelcomed the General Manager onhis arrival.

According to a press releaseissued by Sumit Thakur, Chief PublicRelations Officer of Western Railway,Kansal in his address said that, thisyear due to the pandemic, the econ-omy has been affected. Never ever inthe history of Indian Railways, thepassenger services came to a haltwhich proves the severity of the sit-uation. In spite of such difficulttimes, Western Railway played a pro-tagonist in India’s fight againstCOVID-19 by running 1234 ShramikSpecial trains. More than 26 lakh

food packets were provided free ofcost to the passengers of the trainsand almost six lakh food packets weredistributed to the needy in associa-tion with IRCTC during the lock-down.

WR has converted challengesinto opportunities. Taking advantageof the lockdown, with minimal traf-fic, many major infrastructure bot-tlenecks and maintenance backlogworks, which required long blockduration have been completed. Re-girdering of six spans of steel girdersand replacement of channel sleepersacross Mithi river on Mahim-Bandrasection has been completed. Sixabandoned FOBs in Mumbai subur-ban section were dismantled. A 66metre open web girder on ROB, inlieu of level crossing, was launchedin Ahmedabad Division.

Kansal said that safety is theprime concern of WR and various

special safety drives were run for staff,as well as the public. He took thisopportunity to congratulate WR’steam of officers and staff who rose tothe occasion and came up with var-ious innovations to deal with thegrave situation. He commended theworkshops for making inhouse PPESuits which was approved by DRDO,besides, masks and sanitisers.

General Manager endorsedthat all the achievements have beenpossible because of dedicated workby the staff. He also lauded the roleof the recognised Trade Unionsand Associations and thanked themfor fostering cordial industrial rela-tions between the administrationand the railwaymen. He added thatWR will continue with the fightagainst COVID-19 and bounce backwith full force to make good the loss-es in the revenues and achieve thetargets.

Union Minister of MinorityAffairs Mukhtar Abbas Naqvi

said that the Modi Government’sresolute for “promotion andprogress” of meritorious youthsfrom Minority communities haveresulted in selection of 22 youthsfrom such communities in theCivil Services with the assistanceof free coaching being run by theMinistry of Minority Affairs.

While felicitating youths atAntyodaya Bhawan Naqvi saidthat that there is no dearth of tal-ent in minority communities. Butearlier, no such efforts had beenmade to create an environmentwhich recognises potential amongthe minority youths.

He further said that Modi’sgovernment has given a positiveatmosphere where capabilities ofyouths from such communities areprotected and promoted. This pos-itive atmosphere of “InclusiveEmpowerment” has ensured that alarge number of youths are select-ed in the top administrative ser-vices. This year also, 145 peoplebelonging to minority communi-ties have been selected in the CivilServices. The last three years havewitnessed similar encouragingresults.

Naqvi said that these youthsare a role model for other youthsfrom the similar communities andother weaker sections of the soci-ety. He also said that the Ministryof Minority Affairs is implement-ing a large scale free-coachingprogramme for meritorious youthsbelonging to notified minority

communities preparing for UPSCexaminations. The Ministry is alsoproviding free coaching underNai Udaan, Naya Savera to minor-ity youths preparing for CivilServices, other UPSC examina-tions, medical, engineering, bank-ing, administrative examinationsand other competitive examsthrough various institutions andorganisations.

Naqvi further said that only2,94,000,00 minority students hadbeen given scholarships before2014; while the ModiGovernment’s commitment hasensured scholarships to 4,60,000minority students during the lastsix years.

He shared that under the

Pradhanmantri Jan VikasKarykram (PMJVK), more than34,000 infrastructure projectsincluding school, college, hospital,community centre, common ser-vice centre, ITI, polytechnic, girlshostel, Sadbhavna Mandap, HunarHub have been developed in back-ward and deprived minority con-centrated areas across the countryin the last 6 years.

Union Minister of State(Independent Charge) forDevelopment of North EasternRegion & MoS in PM’s Office DrJitendra Singh and Union Ministerof State (Independent Charge) forYouth Affairs & Sports and MoS,Minority Affairs Kiren Rijiju werealso present on the occasion.

Coronavirus is said to be secularand egalitarian. It seems so awk-ward to say so for the disaster

that it epitomises. Despite all evils, thevirus marks its presence by not mak-ing distinction in race, caste, faith,creed and economic status. However,can we say the same about its impactbeing gender neutral in terms ofemployment? Definitely not in thecase of women as recent reports, sur-veys and experiences suggest that itaffects women more than men work-force.

.All over the world, female labourforce participation, which is one of themajor factors of women empower-ment, stands distressingly low. InIndia, it’s much worse, even lower thanwhat the global average of participa-tion rate is and what some of theneighbouring countries have. LatestInternational Labour Organisation(ILO) data shows that female partic-ipation rate in the labour force in Indiawas 21 per cent in 2019, which hasbeen continuously on decline since thelast 15 years, when it had touched thepeak of 32 per cent. Global average fig-ure is 47 per cent. As compared tomany other countries, India’s score inthis regard is abysmally lower.Neighbouring countries in South Asiasuch as Bangladesh (36 per cent),Bhutan (59 per cent), China (60 percent), Sri Lanka (35 per cent) are wayahead. Even Pakistan is one notchhigher, though just at 22 per cent. Inthe middle east, where most countries

are doing bad, Saudi Arabia is doingmuch better at 32 per cent. Such dis-mal figures do not mean that Indianwomen are sitting idle and doing noth-ing. These figures clearly indicate thatwomen in India are mostly engaged inunpaid works.

COVID containment strategy,which entailed prolonged lockdown inApril, May and then semi-lockdownin subsequent months, has affected theeconomy adversely. It brought devas-tation to sectors such as entertainment,hospitality, eateries, apparel, tourismand travel, where the presence ofwomen in the workforce has been sig-nificantly higher. Recent study con-ducted by McKinsey Global Institute,US based research arm of McKinsey& Co, shows that women are experi-encing greater job loss than men dueto the pandemic. In the case of India,the report shows that the pandemic isdisproportionately affecting women interms of employment. The obviousreason is that the sectors of the econ-omy which have better share of

women participation are the onesworse affected by the COVID crisis.The only exceptions are health careand to some extent, teaching.

With Coronavirus playing havocwith the economy and not sparingeven the most technologicallyadvanced countries, the sustainabledevelopment goal on gender equali-ty is going to be an uphill task for

India. Niti Aayog in its report in 2019,much before the pandemic hit us,rated the country's performance at 42on a scale of 100. All the states withexceptions of Himachal Pradesh,Kerala and pre-divided J & K are inthe red zone on the performance chartand far behind on the path to genderequality mandated in SDG 5. WithCOVID not abating and still hamper-ing economic activities, parity withmen in employment will be the keyfactor to decide whether performancefor SDG 5 will take a turn. It's a para-dox that while India impressed theworld with economic growth over thelast fifteen years, the trajectory ofwomen participation in the labourforce continues to roll downhill overthe same period.

In times of crisis, especially whenthere is existential threat from thevirus, what has been enforced is thatwomen are made to sacrifice forbeing saviour for the family wellbeing and men tend to be the earner,a role distinction that is borne of tra-

dition and culture laced with patri-archy. As a result of the lockdown,women are substantially more likelyto perform many of the unpaid careand domestic tasks. This crisis has putthem with an additional load ofwatching the children, caring for theelderly and sick, cleaning, cooking andserving meals due to the lockdown.

Along with the other pandemicsof the past, COVID-19 has also beenwritten in the pages of history, allthanks to human ingenuity. Whatimminently seems to have lastingimpact on women emancipation needto be handled now for timely interven-tion will contain its deleterious effect.There is a dire need to identify sectorsand roles which can be meaningfuland remunerative for women.

(The author is an IAS officer serv-ing Government of NCT of Delhi as aDirector in the Department of Womenand Child Development. He is also aNational Awardee for ElectionManagement given by the President ofIndia.)

Standing Conference ofPublic Enterprises

(SCOPE), apex body ofPublic Sector Enterprises(PSEs) and InternationalLabour Organisation (ILO),a tripartite UN agency signed an understanding for a joint studyon Women Empowerment — Adoption of Work from HomeModel. Atul Sobti, Director General, SCOPE and DagamerWalter, Director, ILO Decent Work Team for South Asia andcountry Office for India signed the understanding virtually.

The key objective of the study is to analyse and train womenin public sector in order to empower and motivate them to aspireto positions of leadership by addressing challenges faced by themat work. The study succeeds an earlier study of SCOPE & ILOwhereby a team of network of champions was developed to trainwomen in public sector on different aspects.

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Pakistan head coachMisbah-ul-Haq has praised

his side’s commitment andbelief in the second Test againstEngland following a heart-breaking defeat in the seriesopener.

“It was always going to bedifficult to fight back afterwhat happened in Manchesterbut the players’ commitmentand belief was outstanding.

“We have the belief that wecan come back in the final Testand it’s so important to us thatPakistan supporters back homeand around the world sharethat belief with us,” Misbahwrote in his column for thePakistan Cricket Board website.

Pakistan recovered from158 for six to 236 all out andthen had England reeling at110 for four when the rain-affected match ended.

“It was another brave deci-sion to bat first in the secondTest given the conditions but

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The wait is finally over forParis Saint-Germain.After 110 Champions

League matches, the Frenchpowerhouse has made it to thefinal of Europe’s top club com-petition.

And there was no need forlate drama for PSG this time asÁngel Di María scored a goaland set up two others in a com-fortable 3-0 win over Leipzig inthe semifinals on Tuesday.

PSG became the firstFrench league club to reach theChampions League final sinceMonaco in 2004, and it canbecome the second Frenchteam to win the title afterMarseille in 1993.

PSG will face either five-time champion Bayern Munichor fellow French club Lyon.They meet on Wednesday inthe other semifinal.

Marquinhos and JuanBernat also scored as theQatari-owned French club

moved a win away from final-ly capturing an elusiveEuropean crown.

Neymar, who set upone of the goals with aneat backheel flick insidethe area, is also a stepcloser to fulfilling hisgoal of winning theChampions League awayfrom former club Barcelona.

The result ended a surpris-ing run for the Red Bull-backedLeipzig, the young Germanclub that was making only its

second Champions Leagueappearance.

PSG looked in control fromthe start at Benfica’sStadium of Light, withMarquinhos and Di Maríascoring in the first halfand Bernat adding to thelead in the second.

PSG has been domi-nant in France but the maingoal for its Qatari owner hasbeen to win the ChampionsLeague title and earn its placeamong Europe’s elite. The club

was eliminated in the tourna-ment’s round of 16 in the lastthree seasons, and in the quar-terfinals four straight timesbefore that.

PSG was back at fullstrength in attack with KylianMbappé and Di María return-ing to the starting lineup.Mbappé didn’t play from thestart in the quarterfinals as herecovered from injury, while DiMaría was suspended on accu-mulation of yellow cards.

Di María delivered a per-fect free kick into the area forMarquinhos to open the scor-ing in the 13th minute with aheader into the far corner. TheBrazilian midfielder also scoredthe crucial 90th-minute equal-izer against Atalanta.

Di María added the second

from inside the area in the 42ndafter a nice flick by Neymar ina buildup that began withLeipzig goalkeeper PéterGulácsi making a bad pass. DiMaría’s second assist set up JuanBernat close-range goal in the56th.

PSG was denied by thewoodwork three times in thefirst half alone, with Neymar,Mbappé and Di María comingclose to scoring. It also had agoal disallowed for a handball.

PSG has scored in its last 34Champions League games,matching the record set byReal Madrid from 2011-2014.

��� � ���&��

Kolkata Knight Riders headcoach Brendon McCullum

wants to delegate some “leader-ship responsibility” to youngShubman Gill during theupcoming IPL in the UAE.

During last season,Shubman batted way lowerdown the order which got thefranchise lot of flak.

“What a talent, and what agood guy as well. He is going tobe a part of our leadershipgroup this year as well, at leastin some capacity,” the formerKiwi skipper said of Gill in aninterview in KKR website.

“Even though he is young,I am a big believer that it’s notnecessarily true that you havingplayed for a long time makes you

a good leader,”the formerBlack Capsskipper said.

A p a r tfrom the star

Windies all-r o u n d e r

A n d r eRussell, the2 0 - y e a r-old Gillp l a y e ds o m eresponsibleknocks in

2019 edition but his battinglower down the order hurt theteam’s cause.

“It’s about you exhibiting thebehaviours of a leader. It’s alwaysgood to have a cross-section ofleadership within your group. Tous, Shubman is one of those guyswe would look to lean on forsome leadership throughoutthis season,” McCullum said.

Dinesh Karthik took overthe captaincy from their mostsuccessful skipper GautamGambhir in 2018 when theymade the play-off for the lasttime.

Backing Karthik as the oneof the best wicketkeepers ofIndia, McCullum said: “You’vegot to break DK down a little bitinto different parts to under-stand this. I think first andforemost, wicketkeeping. He’s upthere with the very best wicket-keepers in India.”

On Karthik’s batting, theNew Zealand great said: “He’s as

good and asadaptable inany role. He

doesn’t comewith perhaps, the

stardom that someguys do and that’s just

DK’s personality.“But he’s a big star

within the KKR franchise,he’s now been at the helm

for a couple of years and he’shad some success.”

McCullum believes thatKarthik has now matured as

a leader.“The team hasn’t quite got

over the line, but I think DK isin that stage in his leadershipwhere he’s almost ready to real-ly mature and to really take own-ership of the Knight Riders setup and back his judgement.”

With the addition of PatCummins and Eoin Morgan totheir leadership group,McCullum felt that Karthikwould also get some support tobring out his best.

�������� Seven monthsafter dominating Australia’sTest summer , MarnusLabuschagne is hoping tocement his place in thenation’s limited overs sideson the white-ball tour ofEngland.

Labuschagne, whomade his ODI debut inIndia in January, averagesover 50 from seven match-es in the format but is yet towin selection in AaronFinch’s T20 side.

“It doesn’t matter whatthe format is, I want to getbetter,” Labuschagne toldreporters in Brisbane onWednesday.

“Definitely some areasin one-day cricket I’m con-

tinuing to develop are mybowling, making sure I geta bit more consistent andbecome a better option forthe skipper with the ball inthose middle overs. “I alsowant to keep working onmy batting at the death.”

Covid-19 scuppered hisplans to play for Englishcounty side Glamorgan butLabuschagne kept himselfbusy at Cricket Australia’straining centre in Brisbane.

“It’s been good to havefive months to work on(short format) skills —whereas if I was playingcounty cricket then youmight not have the oppor-tunity to work on those spe-cific skills,” added the 26-

year-old righthander.Boasting an average of

63.43 from his 14 Tests,Labuschagne has alreadybeen touted as a futureleader of the Australianteam by former captainRicky Ponting.

However, Labuschagnesaid he is not thinkingabout leadership roles andis happy for his bat to do thetalking.

“I love being a leaderbut I don’t think that meansyou need a title,” he said.

“It’s just about ... enjoy-ing my cricket and makingsure that I keep stayingconsistent scoring runs forAustralia — because that’smy job.” Agencies

��� /��0 )��

Delhi Capitals head coachRicky Ponting says he will

not allow senior India off-spinner Ravichandran Ashwinto employ the controversial‘Mankading’ dismissal duringthe upcoming IPL as “it’s notwithin the spirit of the game”.

Last IPL, Rajasthan Royalsbatsman Jos Buttler was runout on 69 while backing up atthe non-striker’s end, withAshwin, then captaining KingsXI Punjab, whipping off thebails after the batsman steppedout of the crease before the ballwas bowled. Ashwin will playfor Delhi Capitals this year.

“I’ll be having a chat with

him about (Mankading), that’sthe first thing I’ll do. That isgoing to be a hard conversationI will have with him. I think,even him, looking back now,

probably he’d say it was with-in the rules and he’s right to doit,” Ponting said while speakingon The Grade CricketerPodcast.

“...Watching that last sea-son, as soon as it happened, Iactually sat our boys down andsaid ‘Look, I know he’s done it,there’ll be others around thetournament who’ll think aboutdoing this well but that’s notgoing to be the way that we playour cricket. We won’t be doingthat’.”

The senior Indian bowlerhad defended his act at thattime, saying it was within therules of the game.

But Ponting feels the con-troversial mode of dismissal isagainst the spirit of the game.

“But this is not within thespirit of the game, not in theway I want, at least with theDelhi Capitals anyway,” he said.

� �� 0�)��� ��

Barcelona will try to end oneof the worst crises in club

history with Ronald Koeman asits coach.

Barcelona officiallyannounced a deal with Koemanon Wednesday, a day after clubpresident Josep Bartomeu hadsaid the Dutchman accepted thecoaching offer.

The official announce-ment comes five days afterthe team’s humiliating 8-2 loss to Bayern Munichin the Champions Leaguequarterfinals.

Barcelona said theformer defender’sdeal runsthrough June2022.

Koemanr e p l a c e sthe fired

Quique Setién, who stayed only25 matches on the job after tak-ing over from Ernesto Valverdein January.

“The Dutchman bringsmore than 20 years of experi-ence as manager and eight tro-phies on his CV,” the club said.

Koeman had been coachingthe Dutch national team since2018, and previously coached inthe Premier League, the Spanishleague, the Dutch league and

the Portuguese league.As a player, Koeman

helped Barcelona clinch itsfirst European title by scor-ing an extra-time winner in

a final againstSampdoria at

W e m b l e yS t a d i u mn e a r l yt w odecadesago.

��� � �� ��

Former Pakistan all-rounderAzhar Mahmood is set to

play a crucial role in scripting hisnative country’s downfall in thethree-match T20 series againstEngland after the hosts includedhim in the coaching staff for theupcoming contest, startingAugust 28.

The England and WalesCricket Board (ECB) on Tuesdaysaid that Mahmood, 45, willsupport England bowling coachJon Lewis during the series to beplayed in a bio-secure environ-ment at Old Trafford.

Mahmood, who is now aBritish citizen, was a member ofPakistan’s coaching staff underMickey Arthur till last year.

England assistant coachGraham Thorpe will assume thehead coach’s role for the three-match series in place of ChrisSilverwood. He will be support-ed by assistant coach PaulCollingwood.

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�� �����%�$(������&�+��#�7%�&�%����&����Lisbon: Paris Saint-Germainforward Kylian Mbappe hasbacked teammate Neymar tobe named world’s best playerby FIFA this year.

Neymar has struck a richvein of form in 2020, guidingPSG to a domestic treble andto within one victory of theirfirst UEFA Champions Leaguetriumph.

“It’s very enjoyable to playwith a guy like Neymar. He isone of the best in the world,”Mbappe told reporters.

“If we win the ChampionsLeague, he will certainly be ina position to win the award. Heis destined to win this type oftrophy.”

Despite not being on thescoresheet in PSG’s past twomatches, Neymar has shone ina playmaker role that hasshowcased his fine passingskills. His back flick to set upAngel Di Maria’s first-half goalon Tuesday put in him in thetop 10 for all-time ChampionsLeague assists.

PSG captain and fellowBrazilian Thiago Silva alsosaid Neymar deserved to berecognised as the world’s pre-eminent player.

“Whether we win the finalor not, I believe he can win it,”Silva said. “We know it’s hisgoal. He is an excellent playerand this year he has doneincredible things. He has beenmotivated since we came backfrom the pandemic. I think histime will come. He just has tokeep working hard like he’sdoing.” AP

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everybody took on the challenge. Overall I’mreally happy with the way the team batted.Everybody just tried to hang in and score runs.

“The partnerships involving Abid Ali,

Azhar Ali and Babar Azamat the top of the order werereally pleasing and encour-aging, in testing conditions,”wrote Pakistan’s most suc-cessful Test captain.

Misbah opined thebowlers’ performance inEngland’s short first inningswould give his side therequire momentum going inthe third Test, which willcommence at Ageas Bowl inSouthampton on Friday.

“We expected the pitchto deteriorate towards theend of the match and it did.Even with just a couple ofhours of sun at the end of thematch, Yasir Shah was able tochallenge the England bats-men,” he said.

“The seamers alsobowled really well and I wasreally happy with the way wefinished the match. That lastsession, even as the gamedrifted towards a draw, givesus a lot of confidence goinginto the last Test.”

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The coronavirus-forcedbreak has helped Australia’s

limited overs skipper AaronFinch to re-assess his career ashe aims to extend his career tillthe 2023 ODI World Cup inIndia.

Finch said he is target-ting to end his career ona high with a WorldCup final appearancein 2023.

“My end date atthis stage is theWorld Cup final ofthe 2023 WorldCup in India.That’s my goal andI’m sticking to it,”Finch was quoted as say-

ing by SEN radio network.“That’s what I had my

mind set on a fair while (ago),but I think this period has justconfirmed it. That’ll see me

through to 36 (years old),obviously with form andeverything permitting,and injuries.”

The 33-year-oldright-handed batsmansaid the five month-long forced break hasrejuvenated himand he now desiresto lead Australia in

next three majorICC events — the T20

World Cups in 2021and 2022 followed bythe ODI World Cup in2023.

“Having this break, as dif-ficult as it’s been for so manypeople, for athletes and espe-cially ones that are travellingnonstop and playing for 10 or11 months of the year, it’s beenthat mental freshen up thatpeople probably needed buthaven’t had the opportunity todo.

“If I thought I was going tobe pushing it to get to that date,this break has confirmed thatI’ll be ready to go right throughto that period,” he said.

Finch and Australia willresume competitive cricketafter six months when theytour England next month forthree T20Is and as many ODIs,starting September 4 atSouthampton.

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