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K eeping in view of ongoing tensions with China after Doklam and Galvan valley incidents, a sizeable number of Indians said “no” to Chinese products while shopping dur- ing this festive season also. According to the Confederation of All India Traders (CAIT), they are expecting estimated losses to the tune of 50,000 crore on part of Chinese exporters this year due to Indians boycotting products from China in the domestic markets. This is the second consecutive year when consumers in India are boy- cotting Chinese goods. “Like previous year, this year too CAIT has given a call to boycott Chinese goods and it is certain that China is going to suffer a business loss of about 50,000 crore in terms of stoppage of import of Chinese goods by Indian traders,” CAIT stated in the statement. Anti-China rhetoric has reduced the attractiveness of made-in-China products among Indian customers. Earlier, Chinese products were in great demand during the fes- tive season in India, with China-made firecrackers, dec- orative LED lights and Chinese lamps and lanterns selling like hot cakes ahead of Diwali due to their cheaper prices. Another important change, observed recently, is that con- sumers across major cities in the country do not really seem interested in buying Chinese products, which is likely to increase the demand for Indian goods instead. CAIT secretary general Praveen Khandelwal said a recent survey conducted by the body’s research arm in 20 “dis- tribution cities” showed that so far no orders for Diwali goods, firecrackers, or other items have been placed with Chinese exporters by Indian traders or importers. These 20 cities are — New Delhi, Ahmedabad, Mumbai, Nagpur Jaipur, Lucknow, Chandigarh, Raipur, Bhubaneswar, Kolkata, Ranchi, Guwahati, Patna, Chennai, Bengaluru, Hyderabad, Madurai, Pondicherry, Bhopal, and Jammu. P rime Minister Narendra Modi on Saturday interact- ed with world leaders, includ- ing US President Joe Biden, on the sidelines of the G20 Summit, exchanging pleas- antries and showcasing a spir- it of camaraderie. In a series of photos tweet- ed by the PMO India, Prime Minister Modi is seen meeting Biden, French President Emmanuel Macron, UK Prime Minister Boris Johnson and Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau. “On the sidelines of the @g20org Rome Summit, PM @narendramodi interacts with various leaders,” the PMO said in the tweet. In the pictures, Modi is seen walking with Biden in a half embrace, apparently shar- ing a light chitchat. The two leaders are seen happy to be in each other’s company. Biden hosted Modi at the White House on September 24 for their first in-person meet- ing. In other photos, Modi is seen embracing Macron and engaged in an animated dis- cussion with Trudeau and Johnson. Prime Minister Modi also interacted with other leaders, including German Chancellor Angela Merkel, South Korean President Moon Jae-in, UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres and Singapore Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong. Earlier, all the world lead- ers participating in the G20 Summit, including Modi, gath- ered for a “family photo”. “World leaders meet in Rome for the @g20org Summit, an important multilateral forum for global good,” the PMO said in another tweet. Ahead of Prime Minister Modi’s visit to Rome, Foreign Secretary Harsh Vardhan Shringla said that the G20 remains a valuable forum for India’s engagement with major economies in the world and for setting the trends and norms for global economic develop- ment and recovery. The Prime Minister will be participating in the G20 Summit in Rome from October 30-31 at the invitation of Italian Prime Minister Mario Draghi. Italy has been holding the presidency of the G20 since December last year. The G20 is a leading glob- al forum that brings together the world’s major economies. Its members account for more than 80 per cent of the global GDP, 75 per cent of global trade and 60 per cent of the popula- tion of the planet. The forum has met every year since 1999. I n a calculated move to grab hold of the Opposition space in Goa — presently occupied by the Congress — Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee on Saturday launched an attack on the Congress for its “indecisiveness,” towards the BJP and said Janpath’s ten- tativeness against the saffron outfit would further strength- en Prime Minister Narendra Modi. Employing a narrative tact- fully built up all these years by the BJP in an alleged bid to triv- ialise Rahul Gandhi, the TMC supremo asked “why should the country suffer if one can- not make a decision,” alleging how the Congress leadership (read Rahul) “did not take pol- itics seriously”. “Modi is going to be more powerful because of the Congress’ (indecision). They got an opportunity in the past (but) instead of fighting against the BJP, they contested against me in my State,” she said. When asked as to why she was attacking the Congress (instead of the BJP) she said, “They fought against us in Bengal a few months ago and if they attack me there, should they expect sweets from me here.” Blaming the Congress for BJP’s increasing strength, Mamata said, “The Congress and the BJP complement each other which is why they (saf- fron party) are becoming more and more powerful.” P rime Minister Narendra Modi on Saturday said he had a “very warm meeting” with Pope Francis and dis- cussed a wide range of issues, including the Covid-19 pan- demic and the challenges posed by climate change, and also invited him to visit India at an early date. Modi, who is the first Indian Prime Minister to meet Francis since he became Pope in 2013, also tweeted pictures of him embracing the head of the Roman Catholic church. “Had a very warm meeting with Pope Francis. I had the opportunity to discuss a wide range of issues with him and also invited him to visit India,” Modi tweeted after the historic meeting with the 84-year-old Pontiff. Pope Francis received Prime Minister Narendra Modi in a private audience at the Apostolic Palace in the Vatican. S tate Assembly Speaker Rabindra Nath Mahato, Chief Minister Hemant Soren and Parliamentary Affairs Minister Alamgir Alam inau- gurated the two-day first Jharkhand Students Parliament-2021 organized in Jharkhand Legislative Assembly on Saturday by light- ing the lamp. In the first Jharkhand Students Parliament-2021, 24 students selected from the universities of different districts of the State are participating. Speaker Rabindra Nath Mahto in his address said that CM Hemant Soren is one of the youngest Chief Ministers of the country. “Being a young CM, Soren is always serious about how the potential is developed among the youth of the State. Taking this link forward, the first Jharkhand Students Parliament-2021 is being orga- nized in the Jharkhand Legislative Assembly today. The students participating in the first Jharkhand Student Parliament-2021 will work to bring complete information about the legislative, executive and judiciary system to every section of the society. The main objective of this pro- gram is how to reach the ben- efits of parliamentary system to the last line of the society. It is also necessary for the common people to have complete knowl- edge of parliamentary subjects and functions, only then the dream of a developed society can be realized,” he said. On this occasion, CM Hemant Soren said that with the efforts of the Speaker of Jharkhand Legislative Assembly, the first Jharkhand Students Parliament-2021 is being organized here today. To make this program successful, students studying in various universities of the state have been selected and reached here. The subject of the first Jharkhand Students Parliament-2021 is very sensi- tive and important. He said that it is important for everyone to have a better knowledge of the legislature, executive and judi- ciary, whether they are politi- cians, teachers or ordinary people. “I understand that a strong society and a strong country are those where polit- ical, social and parliamentary consciousness is widespread,” he said. The CM said that the direc- tion of the State and the coun- try is given by the Lok Sabha and the Legislative Assemblies of different states, run by the Central Government. For the all-round development of dif- ferent sections of the society, laws are made from here and through this law the wheel of development moves forward. He said that people have their own views on many matters, that is why both the ruling party and the opposition remain active in the Legislative Assembly. Both the parties work together to give a new direction to the State. Addressing the partici- pants, the CM said that today all of you youth will understand the legislative procedures here. “What you will learn or under- stand here I am sure you will share with people in your immediate vicinity. It is your duty to make everyone aware of this important topic. Everyone's responsibility is assured for the economic, edu- cational and social develop- ment of the society, but in the present time there is a need to use that responsibility in prac- tice. You will try to create a healthy tradition of the House, which will inspire the younger generation to come. Social change is possible only through youth. Today, youth in many fields have brought laurels to the state and the country according to their potential and have become a source of inspiration for the people. You can illuminate the society with your important role,” he said. Parliamentary Affairs Minister Alamgir Alam said that Jharkhand Vidhan Sabha is the first Legislative Assembly in the country, where the first Jharkhand Students Parliament-2021 has been held. Here students selected from various universities of the state have got a chance to know and understand the functions of the legislature, executive and judi- ciary. Only youth will take the country forward with good objectives. The youth who have reached here have talent. All of you will be given information about the legislative procedures under the powers given by the constitution here. The basic objective of organizing the first Jharkhand Student Parliament 2021 in the Vidhan Sabha is to create an aware society. On the occasion, Jharkhand Vidhan Sabha Speaker Rabindra Nath Mahto, Chief Minister Hemant Soren and Parliamentary Affairs Minister Alamgir Alam hon- oured the participating stu- dents by putting up batches. On this occasion Minister Banna Gupta, Badal Patralekh, Hafizul Hasan Ansari, Satyanand Bhokta, MLA Saryu Roy, Mathura Mahto, Stephen Marandi, Irfan Ansari, Samrilal, Nalin Soren, Deepika Pandey Singh, Mamta Devi, Purnima Neeraj Singh, Umashankar Akela, Dashrath Gagrai, Savita Mahto, Bhushan Bada and in-charge assembly secretary Mithilesh Kumar Mishra, PRS Legislative Research Head Chashu Rai and Rajat Asthana and other dignitaries were present. S everal thousand doses of Covid-19 vaccines burnt to ashes on Saturday morning at a Community Health Centre (CHC) in Arki block of Khunti district after fire broke out at the cold storage room of the hospital due to suspected short circuit, police said. The fire also damaged medicines worth several thou- sand rupees, sources said. However, no casualties were caused in the incident, and all the hospital staff members were safe, police said. The healthcare workers deployed at the CHC managed to save at least 3000 Covid-19 vaccines from getting dam- aged and doused the fire with the help of locals, sources from the hospital added. Khunti Superintendent of Police Ashutosh Shekhar said that the fire broke out early in the morning and burnt almost everything kept in the cold storage room of the CHC. The police, he said, have asked the electricity depart- ment to inspect the site as the cause of fire seems to be a short circuit as of now. “Prima facie, it looks like an accident caused by a short circuit,” said Shekhar. This is the first incident of fire breaking out at a Covid-19 vaccine store room in Jharkhand. In January this year, fire broke out at the Pune facility of vaccine manufactur- er Serum Institute of India and caused at least five casualties. Covid-19 vaccines are usu- ally stored at a temperature of 2 degrees Celsius to 8 degrees Celsius. According to sources in the health department, the electricity connection in all the vaccine storage points across Jharkhand were exam- ined before the nationwide immunisation drive against Covid-19 was launched back on January 16. Khunti Deputy Commissioner Shashi Ranjan could not be contacted for his remarks on Saturday. However, the officer in-charge of Arki Police Station, Pankaj Kumar said that the deputy commis- sioner has directed a probe into the matter. “It is difficult to estimate the loss. Our team has inspect- ed the site and spoken to the concerned hospital authorities to get an idea of the damage caused,” said Kumar. While none of the hospital authorities were available for their comments on the inci- dent, a source from Arki CHC said that there were limited staff members on duty when the fire broke out, but the few staff members on duty acted spon- taneously and doused the fire with the help of some locals. O n a day TMC leader Mamata Banerjee held the Congress responsible for the BJP’s continuous rise, Shiv Sena MP Sanjay Raut said a coalition Government with the Congress as a major party will come to power in 2024. After addressing the JS Karandikar memorial lecture organised by the Pune Press Club, Raut said, “No Government can be formed without the Congress, which is a major and deeply-rooted party in the country. The Congress is the main Opposition party too. Others are regional parties.” On political strategist Prashant Kishor’s reported statement that the BJP will remain in power for many decades, Raut said the BJP will stay in Indian politics but as an Opposition party. “The BJP claims that it is the world’s biggest party. If the world’s biggest party loses elec- tions they will become an opposition party. For example, in Maharashtra, the BJP is the main opposition party with 105 MLAs,” he said. On the upcoming Assembly elections in BJP- ruled Uttar Pradesh, Raut said, “Presently we are focusing on Dadra, Nagar Haveli, and Goa. There is still time for UP elec- tions. We are a smaller player in UP but we will contest.” Earlier, addressing the lec- ture, Raut underlined various challenges being faced by the media.

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Keeping in view of ongoingtensions with China after

Doklam and Galvan valleyincidents, a sizeable number ofIndians said “no” to Chineseproducts while shopping dur-ing this festive season also.

According to theConfederation of All IndiaTraders (CAIT), they areexpecting estimated losses tothe tune of �50,000 crore onpart of Chinese exporters thisyear due to Indians boycottingproducts from China in thedomestic markets. This is thesecond consecutive year whenconsumers in India are boy-cotting Chinese goods.

“Like previous year, thisyear too CAIT has given a callto boycott Chinese goods andit is certain that China is goingto suffer a business loss ofabout �50,000 crore in terms ofstoppage of import of Chinesegoods by Indian traders,” CAITstated in the statement.

Anti-China rhetoric hasreduced the attractiveness ofmade-in-China productsamong Indian customers.Earlier, Chinese products werein great demand during the fes-tive season in India, withChina-made firecrackers, dec-orative LED lights and Chineselamps and lanterns selling likehot cakes ahead of Diwali dueto their cheaper prices.

Another important change,

observed recently, is that con-sumers across major cities inthe country do not really seeminterested in buying Chineseproducts, which is likely toincrease the demand for Indiangoods instead.

CAIT secretary generalPraveen Khandelwal said arecent survey conducted by thebody’s research arm in 20 “dis-tribution cities” showed that sofar no orders for Diwali goods,

firecrackers, or other itemshave been placed with Chineseexporters by Indian traders orimporters.

These 20 cities are — NewDelhi, Ahmedabad, Mumbai,Nagpur Jaipur, Lucknow,Chandigarh, Raipur,Bhubaneswar, Kolkata, Ranchi,Guwahati, Patna, Chennai,Bengaluru, Hyderabad,Madurai, Pondicherry, Bhopal,and Jammu.

����� ���

Prime Minister NarendraModi on Saturday interact-

ed with world leaders, includ-ing US President Joe Biden, onthe sidelines of the G20Summit, exchanging pleas-antries and showcasing a spir-it of camaraderie.

In a series of photos tweet-ed by the PMO India, PrimeMinister Modi is seen meetingBiden, French PresidentEmmanuel Macron, UK PrimeMinister Boris Johnson andCanadian Prime MinisterJustin Trudeau.

“On the sidelines of the@g20org Rome Summit, PM@narendramodi interacts withvarious leaders,” the PMO saidin the tweet.

In the pictures, Modi isseen walking with Biden in ahalf embrace, apparently shar-ing a light chitchat. The twoleaders are seen happy to be ineach other’s company.

Biden hosted Modi at theWhite House on September 24for their first in-person meet-ing.

In other photos, Modi isseen embracing Macron andengaged in an animated dis-cussion with Trudeau andJohnson.

Prime Minister Modi alsointeracted with other leaders,including German ChancellorAngela Merkel, South Korean

President Moon Jae-in, UNSecretary-General AntonioGuterres and Singapore PrimeMinister Lee Hsien Loong.

Earlier, all the world lead-ers participating in the G20Summit, including Modi, gath-ered for a “family photo”.

“World leaders meet inRome for the @g20org Summit,an important multilateralforum for global good,” thePMO said in another tweet.

Ahead of Prime MinisterModi’s visit to Rome, ForeignSecretary Harsh VardhanShringla said that the G20remains a valuable forum forIndia’s engagement with majoreconomies in the world and forsetting the trends and normsfor global economic develop-ment and recovery.

The Prime Minister will beparticipating in the G20Summit in Rome from October30-31 at the invitation of ItalianPrime Minister Mario Draghi.

Italy has been holding thepresidency of the G20 sinceDecember last year.

The G20 is a leading glob-al forum that brings togetherthe world’s major economies.Its members account for morethan 80 per cent of the globalGDP, 75 per cent of global tradeand 60 per cent of the popula-tion of the planet.

The forum has met everyyear since 1999.

������������� �� ���

In a calculated move to grabhold of the Opposition space

in Goa — presently occupiedby the Congress — BengalChief Minister MamataBanerjee on Saturday launchedan attack on the Congress forits “indecisiveness,” towardsthe BJP and said Janpath’s ten-tativeness against the saffronoutfit would further strength-en Prime Minister NarendraModi.

Employing a narrative tact-fully built up all these years bythe BJP in an alleged bid to triv-ialise Rahul Gandhi, the TMCsupremo asked “why shouldthe country suffer if one can-not make a decision,” alleginghow the Congress leadership(read Rahul) “did not take pol-itics seriously”.

“Modi is going to be morepowerful because of theCongress’ (indecision). Theygot an opportunity in the past(but) instead of fighting againstthe BJP, they contested againstme in my State,” she said.

When asked as to why she

was attacking the Congress(instead of the BJP) she said,“They fought against us inBengal a few months ago andif they attack me there, shouldthey expect sweets from mehere.”

Blaming the Congress forBJP’s increasing strength,Mamata said, “The Congressand the BJP complement eachother which is why they (saf-fron party) are becoming moreand more powerful.”

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Prime Minister NarendraModi on Saturday said he

had a “very warm meeting”with Pope Francis and dis-cussed a wide range of issues,including the Covid-19 pan-demic and the challenges posedby climate change, and alsoinvited him to visit India at anearly date.

Modi, who is the firstIndian Prime Minister to meetFrancis since he became Pope

in 2013, also tweeted picturesof him embracing the head ofthe Roman Catholic church.

“Had a very warm meetingwith Pope Francis. I had theopportunity to discuss a widerange of issues with him andalso invited him to visit India,”Modi tweeted after the historicmeeting with the 84-year-oldPontiff. Pope Francis receivedPrime Minister Narendra Modiin a private audience at theApostolic Palace in the Vatican.

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State Assembly SpeakerRabindra Nath Mahato,

Chief Minister Hemant Sorenand Parliamentary AffairsMinister Alamgir Alam inau-gurated the two-day firstJharkhand StudentsParliament-2021 organized inJharkhand LegislativeAssembly on Saturday by light-ing the lamp. In the firstJharkhand StudentsParliament-2021, 24 studentsselected from the universities ofdifferent districts of the State

are participating.Speaker Rabindra Nath

Mahto in his address said thatCM Hemant Soren is one of theyoungest Chief Ministers of thecountry. “Being a young CM,Soren is always serious abouthow the potential is developedamong the youth of the State.Taking this link forward, thefirst Jharkhand StudentsParliament-2021 is being orga-nized in the JharkhandLegislative Assembly today.The students participating inthe first Jharkhand StudentParliament-2021 will work tobring complete informationabout the legislative, executiveand judiciary system to everysection of the society. Themain objective of this pro-gram is how to reach the ben-efits of parliamentary system tothe last line of the society. It isalso necessary for the commonpeople to have complete knowl-edge of parliamentary subjects

and functions, only then thedream of a developed societycan be realized,” he said.

On this occasion, CMHemant Soren said that withthe efforts of the Speaker ofJharkhand LegislativeAssembly, the first JharkhandStudents Parliament-2021 isbeing organized here today. Tomake this program successful,students studying in variousuniversities of the state havebeen selected and reached here.The subject of the firstJharkhand StudentsParliament-2021 is very sensi-tive and important. He said thatit is important for everyone tohave a better knowledge of thelegislature, executive and judi-ciary, whether they are politi-cians, teachers or ordinarypeople. “I understand that astrong society and a strongcountry are those where polit-ical, social and parliamentaryconsciousness is widespread,”

he said.The CM said that the direc-

tion of the State and the coun-try is given by the Lok Sabhaand the Legislative Assembliesof different states, run by theCentral Government. For the

all-round development of dif-ferent sections of the society,laws are made from here andthrough this law the wheel ofdevelopment moves forward.He said that people have theirown views on many matters,

that is why both the ruling partyand the opposition remainactive in the LegislativeAssembly. Both the partieswork together to give a newdirection to the State.

Addressing the partici-pants, the CM said that todayall of you youth will understandthe legislative procedures here.“What you will learn or under-stand here I am sure you willshare with people in yourimmediate vicinity. It is yourduty to make everyone awareof this important topic.Everyone's responsibility isassured for the economic, edu-cational and social develop-ment of the society, but in thepresent time there is a need touse that responsibility in prac-tice. You will try to create ahealthy tradition of the House,which will inspire the youngergeneration to come. Socialchange is possible only throughyouth. Today, youth in many

fields have brought laurels tothe state and the countryaccording to their potentialand have become a source ofinspiration for the people. Youcan illuminate the society withyour important role,” he said.

Parliamentary AffairsMinister Alamgir Alam saidthat Jharkhand Vidhan Sabha isthe first Legislative Assembly inthe country, where the firstJharkhand StudentsParliament-2021 has been held.Here students selected fromvarious universities of the statehave got a chance to know andunderstand the functions of thelegislature, executive and judi-ciary. Only youth will take thecountry forward with goodobjectives. The youth who havereached here have talent. All ofyou will be given informationabout the legislative proceduresunder the powers given by theconstitution here. The basicobjective of organizing the first

Jharkhand Student Parliament2021 in the Vidhan Sabha is tocreate an aware society.

On the occasion,Jharkhand Vidhan SabhaSpeaker Rabindra Nath Mahto,Chief Minister Hemant Sorenand Parliamentary AffairsMinister Alamgir Alam hon-oured the participating stu-dents by putting up batches.

On this occasion MinisterBanna Gupta, Badal Patralekh,Hafizul Hasan Ansari,Satyanand Bhokta, MLA SaryuRoy, Mathura Mahto, StephenMarandi, Irfan Ansari,Samrilal, Nalin Soren, DeepikaPandey Singh, Mamta Devi,Purnima Neeraj Singh,Umashankar Akela, DashrathGagrai, Savita Mahto, BhushanBada and in-charge assemblysecretary Mithilesh KumarMishra, PRS LegislativeResearch Head Chashu Raiand Rajat Asthana and otherdignitaries were present.

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Several thousand doses ofCovid-19 vaccines burnt to

ashes on Saturday morning ata Community Health Centre(CHC) in Arki block of Khuntidistrict after fire broke out atthe cold storage room of thehospital due to suspected shortcircuit, police said.

The fire also damagedmedicines worth several thou-sand rupees, sources said.However, no casualties werecaused in the incident, and allthe hospital staff memberswere safe, police said.

The healthcare workersdeployed at the CHC managedto save at least 3000 Covid-19vaccines from getting dam-aged and doused the fire withthe help of locals, sources fromthe hospital added.

Khunti Superintendent ofPolice Ashutosh Shekhar saidthat the fire broke out early inthe morning and burnt almosteverything kept in the coldstorage room of the CHC.

The police, he said, haveasked the electricity depart-ment to inspect the site as thecause of fire seems to be a shortcircuit as of now. “Prima facie,it looks like an accident caused

by a short circuit,” said Shekhar.This is the first incident of

fire breaking out at a Covid-19vaccine store room inJharkhand. In January thisyear, fire broke out at the Punefacility of vaccine manufactur-er Serum Institute of Indiaand caused at least five casualties.

Covid-19 vaccines are usu-ally stored at a temperature of2 degrees Celsius to 8 degreesCelsius. According to sourcesin the health department, theelectricity connection in allthe vaccine storage pointsacross Jharkhand were exam-ined before the nationwideimmunisation drive againstCovid-19 was launched backon January 16.

Khunti DeputyCommissioner Shashi Ranjan

could not be contacted for hisremarks on Saturday. However,the officer in-charge of ArkiPolice Station, Pankaj Kumarsaid that the deputy commis-sioner has directed a probe intothe matter.

“It is difficult to estimatethe loss. Our team has inspect-ed the site and spoken to theconcerned hospital authoritiesto get an idea of the damagecaused,” said Kumar.

While none of the hospitalauthorities were available fortheir comments on the inci-dent, a source from Arki CHCsaid that there were limited staffmembers on duty when the firebroke out, but the few staffmembers on duty acted spon-taneously and doused the firewith the help of some locals.

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On a day TMC leaderMamata Banerjee held the

Congress responsible for theBJP’s continuous rise, ShivSena MP Sanjay Raut said acoalition Government with theCongress as a major party willcome to power in 2024.

After addressing the JSKarandikar memorial lectureorganised by the Pune PressClub, Raut said, “NoGovernment can be formedwithout the Congress, which is

a major and deeply-rootedparty in the country. TheCongress is the mainOpposition party too. Othersare regional parties.”

On political strategistPrashant Kishor’s reportedstatement that the BJP willremain in power for manydecades, Raut said the BJP willstay in Indian politics but as anOpposition party.

“The BJP claims that it isthe world’s biggest party. If theworld’s biggest party loses elec-tions they will become an

opposition party. For example,in Maharashtra, the BJP is themain opposition party with 105MLAs,” he said.

On the upcomingAssembly elections in BJP-ruled Uttar Pradesh, Raut said,“Presently we are focusing onDadra, Nagar Haveli, and Goa.There is still time for UP elec-tions. We are a smaller playerin UP but we will contest.”

Earlier, addressing the lec-ture, Raut underlined variouschallenges being faced by themedia.

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�What is your role??Lucky is very frustrated by the

errands that his seniors in the policekeep giving him and he just wants togrow out of it and change the system.He wants to end corruption in hisdepartment. He is always ready to doanything and is a very sharp cop whojust wants to do his job loyally. Forhim, everything is either black orwhite, there is no grey shade inbetween.

�How was shooting besides your costars? Tell us something aboutthem?

The whole experience was funand shooting with Pavan sir was likemy dream come true. I have been agreat fan of him and his work. Theway he plays and performs with hiseyes and his intense body language,I am a fan of that. I was very nervouswhen I got to know that I’d beworking with him and SupriyaPathak. But when I met them, Pavansir made all of us youngsters feel socomfortable that we felt we could evencry on his shoulders. That’s the bondhe made at the very first day and thesame was with Supriya ji.

There is a scene where I go to aperson for the investigation but weweren’t getting the desired reactionfrom the actor. Even Ajit sir wasn’thappy with it, so he came to me andtold me to slap him. I asked him if Ishould tell the actor beforehand, buthe told me to just do it whileperforming, and it is visible in theshow that the reaction that came afterthat was so well, he recalls, adding thatdonning the uniform had its perks.People used to treat me like a real copat times, so much so that they wouldpull out chairs for me if I wasstanding and even pull up theirmasks. I really did get the experienceof being an actual cop.

�Tell us about your journey as a

model?I did model for a year in Delhi

and won Mister India 2016 there. Postthat my journey started in themodelling world. We always heardthat modelling is a stepping stonetowards Bollywood, so I did that toobut I didn’t get that kick frommodelling. At the back of my head, Ialways knew I wanted to act. I wasalso doing LLB from Punjab so Icouldn’t move to Mumbaipermanently at that time, so moving

to Delhi was easier and even my fatheragreed to that, which was a bigthing.

�You have also been a part ofpunjabi music videos. Tell us aboutyour experience?

This happened even beforeMister Punjab. People approached mesince I had a good face and height. Idid one music video before thepageant, and after Mister Punjab I gota lot of offers as my fan following had

increased not just in Punjab but alsooverseas in Canada and UK. Fromthat experience, I got a little morecamera friendly but after a point oftime I consciously decided to stopdoing the music videos as I felt it wastime for me to take the next step.

�You were a lead actor in Zee TVsshow Kaleerein. What would youlike to tell about the show?

Kaleerein just happened to me. Ifeel that you should never stop andjust keep working hard. It always bearsfruit. I never settled and whenKaleerein came to me, it was a big dealas I was the main antagonist in theseries and these renowned faces likeArjit Taneja and Aditi Sharma weremy co-stars. It was a very differentexperience and the fan following I gotfrom it was much more. Even mycharacter’s journey clicked with theaudience and when it turned negativepeople even abused me and I foundit fascinating. After that, I got work

at irregular intervals but when Iactually felt that I was ready for theindustry, that’s when Tabbarhappened to me.

�How did acting happen? Acting just happened. It was

never a set plan but circumstancesbecame so and opportunities keptcoming. I didn’t leave them and justgrabbed them all. In college, there wasa fashion show taking place. I was 6’2so one of my designer friends askedme to walk for him on the ramp. I didthat and surprisingly even won a title.Post that, I participated in MisterPunjab 2015, shifted to Delhi and didsome fashion assignments. In Delhi,I also got that push and validation thathelped me make a transition toacting. People there told me that thatI have more of a commercial face thana model one, so I should go toMumbai as I would have a betterscope there. So, I did,

�Your instagram bio says 'LawGraduate'. Are you practicing? If yes,how do you manage to jugglebetween work? ?

I am a law graduate but I don’tpractise it. My father is a lawyerhimself and he told me that the linethat I was choosing isn’t secure, so Ishould have a back-up plan and hesuggested LLB for that.

I had planned to go abroad tostudy after my BBA but my father’smind changed and he didn’t want tosend me away and wanted me topursue LLB here, so I put thiscondition in front of him that I wantto go to Mumbai after LLB. I told himthat if it wouldn’t work out, I wouldcome back, but I needed to give it ashot. While doing LLB my interestgrew in that. Above that, by doingLLB I gave joy to my father and thatmakes me happy too. I am veryconnected to my family and ourhappiness is interlinked.

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Funds to the tune of Rs.18crore have been allocated by

the Urban DevelopmentDepartment for construction ofroads in areas falling underRanchi Municipal Corporation(RMC), officials from the civicbody said on Saturday

Ranchi Deputy MayorSanjeev Vijaywargia said thatthe funds have been distributedamong all the 53 ward coun-cillors for constructing roads inareas under their respectivewards. The Mayor and DeputyMayor have also been allocat-ed funds for construction ofroads where they find neces-sary, he added.

Each of the ward council-lors in Ranchi have received afund of at least Rs.5 lakh forconstructing roads whereverthey find necessary. The fundwill also be used for repair ofexisting roads and laying ofdrainage systems.

“Distributing the fundsamong ward councillors decen-tralizes the process of road con-struction. It also ensures thatevery ward of the city gets atleast one new road,” saidVijaywargia, adding that roadconstruction will improve

accessibility to many areaswithin the city limits.

Several roads in the Statecapital were left in dilapidatedcondition after monsoon, andwere in dire need of repair,RMC officials said. Thedrainage system also needs tobe improved in some areas ofthe city that witnessed water-logging during monsoon.

Owing to poor drainagesystem, many roads in the city,especially the part of VIP roadconnecting Argora Chowk toShehjanand Chowk, witnessedsevere waterlogging. Someparts of the road connectingArgora Chowk to Kathal Morealso witnessed waterloggingthat disrupted daily life of res-idents.

A majority of road con-struction works under this ini-tiative will begin within the nextsix months, sources said.According to RMC sources,

tenders have also been floatedfor construction of roads inArgora, Pundag and areas closeto the Pahadi Mandir premises.

However, there was no fixedlength of roads that had to beconstructed within the city lim-its. An RMC official, requestinganonymity, said that the ideawas to improve road connec-tivity in areas that are in needof new roads, and there is noproject aimed at constructing aset length of roads in the city.

The RMC recently distrib-uted laptops among all theward councillors in the city toencourage use of digital meansin approving projects and shar-ing updates related to the sta-tus of various works doneunder RMC. Details of all theroad construction projectsundertaken in the city willalso be shared online withconcerned authorities by theward councillors.

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The Special InvestigationTeam (SIT) of Uttar Pradesh

government has indicted ProfGangadhar Panda, the Vicechancellor of Kolhan Universityin Chaibasa for his alleged rolein the irregularities and fakedegree scam involving Varanasi-based Sampurnanand SanskritVishwavidyalaya.

The SIT has also namedProf Rajneesh Kumar Shukla ofthe central government-runMahatma GandhiAntarrashtriya HindiVishwavidyalaya in Wardha,Maharashtra and 17 others fortheir alleged role in the fakedegree scam that took placebetween 2004 and 2014. Bothhad served at SampurnanandSanskrit Vishwavidyalaya duringthis period. The SIT hasnamed them for their allegedrole in a fake degrees scam thathelped thousands to fraudu-lently grab posts of primaryschool teachers and other gov-ernment jobs in Uttar Pradesh.

Panda was appointed as VCin May 2020. The YogiAdityanath government hadordered a probe when it wasrevealed that a large number ofsuccessful candidates of the gov-erment job had obtained fakedegrees and most of these were

released from SampurnanandSanskrit Vishwavidyalaya comesunder the UP government. Inthe report, running over 100pages was submitted onNovember 18, 2020. The SITsaid there was whosoever wasthe registrars, exam controllers,system managers ofSampurnanand SanskritUniversity between 2004-2014had committed lapses and dere-liction of duty.

The report had namedPanda and Shukla among nineregistrars/exam controllers,deputy registrars, and assistantregistrars at the university andsaid that they had not per-formed their duties in a propermanner. "As a result the verifi-cation department carried out itswork fraudulently and records ofthe exam department were tam-pered with at a large scale," thereport reads. Panda held the postof registrar between February 11,2009 and August 6, 2010.

In March this year, the UPgovernment decided to initiateaction against those named inthe report under the UPGovernment Servant (Disciplineand Appeal) Rules, 1999. Therule prescribed penalties likewithholding increments, dis-missal from service and also dis-qualifying a person from futureemployment.

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Rajya Sabha member andState BJP president Deepak

Prakash has slammed HenantSoren led coalition govern-ment on different issues here,while addressing the partyworkers here on Saturday.Prakash is on a two day tour ofDhànbad, during which hewould be holding meetingsand participating in other pro-grammes.

Addressing the party work-ers Prakash held the govern-ment responsible for poor lawand order, rising crime in gen-eral and violence and rapeagainst women, extortion casesbesides others. The govern-ment has failed in all spheresthat is mainly because of allodds faced by the people herein the State, he said.

He alleged that the coali-tion government has madetransfer posting government abusiness, and since it came topower, has made more than7,500 transfers and postings.More surprising is that theofficers are being asked to payfor postings and even after thatto retain the post. It’s just likerecharging a mobile phonethat if you fail to get rechargedafter a particular period thephone is dead similarly in theincumbent government theofficers have to pay rechargeamount on periodic intervals toretain post, alleged Prakash.

He also condemned thegovernment for withdrawingHindi from the State though itsnational language.Governmenthas also failed in generatingemployment as it has assuredduring elections, he said.

Prakash alleged that thegovernment withdrew partybased civic polls out of fear ofBJP. Senior party leaders includ-ing MP PN Singh, MLA RajSinha , District president CSSingh besides others too werepresent during the meeting .

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Kisan Credit Card (KCC)has proved to be a boon for

the farmers of the State.Through KCC, farmers arebeing provided loans at easyrates for farming. Till the firstweek of October, Rs 68,516lakh was sanctioned for theloans of 20,1687 beneficiariesof the State. Along with agri-culture, loans are also beingprovided for fisheries and milkproduction.

Director Agriculture, NishaOraon informed that the farm-ers are buying seeds, fertilizersand necessary equipment forfarming by this loan. Withthis, not only farmers are get-ting help in farming, but alsothey are getting freedom fromthe clutches of moneylenders.

Chief Minister (CM), HemantSoren has been very sensitiveabout the farmers. He haddirected that more and morefarmers of the State should belinked with KCC.

Following the CM’s order,KCC is being provided to thefarmers on a war footing.Krishak Mitras, ATMs, BTMsand VLWs are roaming fromvillage to village and gettingKCC forms filled by farmers.As a result, a maximum num-ber of KCC applications havebeen filled. If the bank rejectssome applications due to someerror, then the employees of theAgriculture Department arealso rectifying these applica-tions and re-submitting themto the bank.

It can be understoodthrough examples how KCC

has proved to be helpful forfarmers of Jharkhand.

Anu Oraon is a resident ofKumharia village located inKanke's Pithoria. He says that

the big problem of farmers is toraise capital for farming, due tolack of capital, they are not ableto buy fertilizers, seeds and oth-ers on time. He got informationfrom the Block office aboutKCC after which applied for it.He used the loan for drip irri-gation and other farmingworks. Cucumbers, tomatoes,and cabbage were planted intwo and a half acres. Afterdeducting all the expenses,there is a savings of up to Rs 1.5lakh. He said that the biggestadvantage of KCC is that onecan get a loan as per require-ments at very low interest rates.

Prakash Bhagat is a resi-dent of Chundri Nawantolivillage located in Ghaghrablock of Gumla district. His vil-lage head informed him aboutKCC. He said that earlier one

had to take a loan from money-lenders for farming, but due toKCC he got freedom from theclutches of moneylenders. Hehad taken a loan of Rs 46,000from KCC. He used it in thecultivation of wheat and mus-tard. Prakash says that afterdeducting all the expenses, hemade a profit of Rs. 40,000.They have cleared their KCCloan and are now preparing forwheat cultivation.

Naresh Mahto, a resident ofManho Siladon village ofKhunti got information aboutKCC only a month ago afterthat he applied for it. Mahto gota loan of Rs 50,000. He hasabout five acres of land for agri-culture, however, some of thisland cannot be cultivated. Hehas cultivated potatoes on 40decimals of land.

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Chairman-cum-ManagingDirector, Central

Coalfields Limited, PM Prasadand Director (Tech/Oprns),VK Srivastava and ChiefVigilance Officer, SK Sinhainaugurated EmergencyMedical Unit (EMU) at CentralHospital Gandhinagar,Gandhinagar Colony of theState Capital on Saturday.

CMS CCL Dr DKLChowhan along with CMSGandhinagar, Dr Ratnesh Jainand other doctors were presentto grace the occasion.

The emergency ward willbe a 10 bedded facility withadvanced facilities likeOperation Theatre and others.Each bed will have an advancedsupport system with directoxygen supply to the needypatients.

Speaking on the occasionPrasad said that the companyis committed to improve thefacility for the stakeholdersincluding employees.

CCL Gandhinagar hospitalhas been at the forefront in thefight against Covid-19 withover 1700 patients successful-ly treated, he added.

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Speaking in a live webinar onWorld Stroke day, Dr Sanjay

Kumar detailed out many valu-able insights on Stroke and its

prevention. From medicalempowerment of common manto having thrombolysis facilityin the hospitals to not over-looking the sudden symptoms,Dr Sanjay mentioned that 80per cent of stroke cases can beprevented and lives save if thepatient receives the treatmentwithin three and a half hours.Answering questions on widemeasures required on a societylevel especially the rural base Dr

Sanjay stressed on training ofthe community health workersat a war level by the differentstakeholders.

Dr Nitin Madan Kulkarni,speaking at the webinar host-ed by Aapkilath, called out theneed for awareness at a masslevel required including the ter-tiary care management to dealwith Stroke. Being a fitnessenthusiast himself Dr. Kulkarnitalked on how important and

crucial is healthy lifestyle andthe fact that 90 per cent of thestroke cases can be prevented.

Binay Jha the co- founderand Ceo of Aapkilathi, whilesharing his personal experiencestressed upon the fact thatwhile Time is essence,Awareness holds the key instroke prevention. Binay talkedabout democratising Elder carewith the products and servicesbeing accessible, available andaffordable. Reiterating its com-mitment to build this demo-graphic dividend, Binay saidthe company is guided by 3E'sprinciple - Empower, Empathyand Engage. With its Actage (Elder care ) services live inRanchi, Aapkilathi is soonlaunching its own mobile App.Binay also mentioned why hechose Ranchi to be the thinktank of Aapkilathi andbestowed his confidence inthis city becoming the innova-tion hub for East.

Aapkilathi is a startupbased out of Mumbai and hav-ing its established presence inRanchi and London.

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Retirement function for sixsuperannuating employees

from Central Coalfield Limited(CCL) was organized at thecompany’s headquarter in theState Capital on Saturday.CMD, CCL, PM Prasad,Director (Pers), CCL, PVKRMallikarjuna Rao, CVO, SKSinha along with GeneralManagers Head of Departmentof various departments andother employees graced theoccasion.

Director Technical(Operations), CCL, VKSrivastava along with five otheremployees superannuated fromCCL HQ. A total of 76 employ-ees retired from the Companyin October. They will keepworking in CCL till midnightof 31st October, 2021.

A short film in which thesuperannuating employeesexpressed their opinions andrecounted their journey in thecompany was aired. Theemployees said that they willcarry their fond memories oflong association with the com-pany and all of them wishedthat the company keeps achiev-ing new benchmarks in future.

Speaking on the occasion

Prasad congratulated theemployees on their successfulcareer and acknowledged theirsustained contribution thatyielded continuous growth ofthe company. Talking aboutpersonal experience withDirector Technical(Oprns),Prasad said that Srivastava is avery simple, dedicated andgood human being and at per-sonal level he was extendingsupport and guidance to needypersons.

The CMD wished for thebright future and healthy life ofthe retired employees.

Rao thanked the superan-nuating employees for theirservice and said that theyplayed an important role in thegrowth of the company.

CVO CCL, Sinha said thatretirement is an importantphase in a person’s life andwished everybody a healthypost retirement life.

Speaking at the endDirector Tech (Op), Srivastavaexpressed his gratitude toeverybody and said that he willbe always available for anyconsultation in any matter.

All the safety protocols relat-ing to Covid Pandemic were fol-lowed. Everybody wore masksand practiced social distance.

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South Eastern Railway hasdecided to run a special

train between Durg andPatna.The special train willrun via various stations inRanchi and Chakradharpurdivisions. The train will leaveDurg on November 7 while thereturn train will leave Patna onNovember 8.The 08893 Durg-

Patna Special will leave Durg at8.50 am and will reach Patna at5 am , the next day.

In the return journey,08894 Patna-Durg Special willleave Patna at 7 am and willarrive Durg at 5 am, the nextday.The special train will com-prise two composite coaches(2AC-cum-3 AC), four sleep-er class and ten general secondclass coaches and will have

stoppages at Jharsuguda,Rourkela, Hatia, Ranchi, Muriand Bokaro Steel City.

A Tatanagar station officialsaid that they are taking extracare this time to provide reliefto the commuters travelling ingeneral coaches as they are theones who have to bear thebrunt of the menace created bysome anti-social elements.

“Chhath is an important

festival for the people of Bihar,Jharkhand and Uttar Pradesh.Every year people in largenumbers visit their nativeplaces. We will make sure thatwe provide a comfortable jour-ney to the commuters. We willalso ensure that the commutersdo not face any problem due tounwarranted behaviour of anyanti-social elements,” notedthe official.

U K Srivastava, a seniorfunctionary, ChotanagpurPassengers Association, said thatthousands of people from thesteel city and other places visitBihar during this time to cele-brate Chhath with their familiesthere, and as a result, gettingreservations becomes difficult.

The Tatanagar railway sta-tion is the only A1-categoryrailway station under

Chakradharpur division ofSouth Eastern Railway ( SER).The footfall at the station isgradually on the rise because ofthe increasing number of trainsand also because of the fact thatTatanagar falls on the Howrah-Mumbai main line. Severalimportant trains travel viaTatanagar, including the high-profile Rajdhani Express andDuronto Express.

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Thirty-seven years after the1984 anti-Sikh riots, the

National Commission forMinorities on Friday issuednotices to nine states includingJharkhand over delay in pro-viding compensation and justiceto victims and their families.

Taking cognizance of sev-eral representations made tothe Commission regarding lax-ity on the part of the StateGovernments, NCM PresidentIqbal Singh Lalpura todayissued notices to Delhi,Jharkhand, Odisha, WestBengal, Bihar. , Haryana,Jammu and Kashmir andHimachal Pradesh asked themto submit a report providinginformation and details to theCommission about the com-pensation provided so far to thefamilies of the victims and theaction taken against the per-petrators in every registeredcase of riots.

President of All India SikhStudents Federation SatnamSingh Gambhir said that "wewelcome the notice to theJharkhand government by theNational Commission forMinorities. At Jharkhand aone member Commission wasformed but step was taken toprovide relief to the victims.

The 1984 anti-Sikh riots isa black spot in the country'shistory, in which thousands ofinnocent persons from theSikh community were brutal-ly massacred, displaced andphysically, emotionally andfinancially destroyed. Althoughseveral relief packages wereannounced by the Governmentof India and StateGovernments, there areinstances where the announcedrelief measures have notreached those families. Eventhough 37 years have elapsedsince the riots that started onOctober 31, 1984, matters arestill pending.

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The Second DirectorIncharge Trophy for Young

Manager Competition wasorganized at Human ResourceDevelopment Center of BSL.In the competition, five teamsof young managers of BSL pre-sented their presentation to thejury members on “BSL-2030:The Roadmap and Vision” .ED(Personnel andAdministration) SameerSwarup, Former Director(Personnel) Hindustan Copper

Limited Anupam Anand,CGM (Hot Strip Mills) AlokVerma and CGM (HRD)Niranjan Kumar as members ofthe jury in the program werepresent.

In the competition, theteam of Senior Manager(C&IT) Chandan Kumar,Deputy Manager (MaterialManagement) Sharad Piyushand Deputy Manager (MaterialManagement) Tanu Priyabecame the winner. The teamof DGM (I&A) R Krishna andAGM (I&A) HK Pal stood

second. AGM (CRM-3) CSKumar, AGM (Coke Oven)Lalit Mohan and SeniorManager (HRD) Amit Anandstood third.

These three teams selectedin the competition will berewarded by the Director-in-Charge. Trophies, certificatesand cash prizes will also begiven to the winning teams.

The program was coordi-nated by the General Manager(HRD) Neeta Ba and the SeniorManager (HRD) DK Singh.

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In the series of VigilanceAwareness Week, workshop

and quiz program on PurchaseContract Procedure-2020 wasorganized at Ispat Bhawan ofBSL. Executive Director(Materials Management) VKPandey, General Manager(Vigilance) and ACVO ArunKumar, General Manager(Materials Management) U KSingh, General Manager(Vigilance) MK Dubey werepresent during the workshop.

In the program, UK Singhmade the participants aware ofvarious aspects of PurchaseContract Procedure-20-20through a presentation.

Thereafter, a quiz onPurchase Contract Procedurewas organized by the VigilanceDepartment. AGM (Vigilance)AS Bisen, Senior Manager(Vigilance) S. Ranjan andManager (Vigilance) PrernaKumari contributed signifi-cantly in organizing the quiz.

At the end of the pro-gram, the vote of thanks wasgiven by the General Manager(Vigilance) and ACVO ArunKumar.

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The court of Chief JudicialMagistrate( CJM) Dhanbad

has ordered to lodge a caseagainst Union Minister of Statefor education Annapurna Devi,who had conducted JanAshirwad yatra in August thisyear.The order has been passedon a petition of MD Kalam Azadresident of Bhuli, who in his peti-tion, has claimed that the yatrahas caused fear among peopleof Dhanbad of spreading Coronaonce again. Even the districtadministration failed to takeappropriate action in this regardhe claimed in his petition.

The yatra was conducted onAugust 19 and the ministerallegedly had visited severallocations violating Covid proto-col with a large number of peo-ple. The complaint was filed inAugust by him with the courtand after hearing today it direct-ed to file a case againstAnnapurna Devi under rele-vant sections. HN Singh, advo-cate, who appeared on behalf ofAzad said , the court took cog-nizance under section 279 and217 of IPC and has forwardedthe petition to Dhanbad policefor filing case against UnionMinister.

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Aadvanced life supportambulance worth �63 lakh

was handed down to the MPPalamu V D Ram by the GM

Rajhara area CCL, ChandwaBasab Choudhuri on Thursdaynight in Daltonganj. Choudhurisaid the advanced life supportambulance was in fact procuredunder corporate social respon-sibility of the Coal India Limited.

He said the chairman of theCoal India Limited PramodAgrawal and chief managingdirector CCL P M Prasad direct-ed him to get in touch with theMP Palamu V D Ram to launchthis advanced life support ambu-lance.

Choudhuri said this ambu-lance has �33 lakh worth ofmedical and life support systemin the ambulance and the cost ofthe ambulance itself is separately30 lakhs. On Friday evening theMP Palamu V D Ram and for-mer chief minister BabulalMarandi jointly dedicated thisadvanced life support ambu-lance to the society.

The Red Cross SocietyDaltonganj has been entrustedto run this ambulance, said thesecretary Dr Satyajit Gupta. Gupta said the ambu-lance will be parked on thepremises of the official residenceof the civil surgeon PalamuAnil Kumar right now.

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Prime Minister NarendraModi on Friday held the

first in-person meeting with hisItalian counterpart MarioDraghi on the sidelines of theG20 Summit here duringwhich the two leaders hadextensive talks on diversifyingthe bilateral ties and to worktogether towards a more envi-ronment-friendly planet.

Prime Minister Modi, whoarrived here earlier in the dayat the invitation of his Italiancounterpart, was received byDraghi upon his arrival atPalazzo Chigi, the seat of theCouncil of Ministers and theofficial residence of the PrimeMinister of Italy, for the meet-ing.

“Glad to have met PM

Mario Draghi in Rome. Wetalked about ways to strength-en the friendship between Indiaand Italy. There is great poten-tial to further scale up eco-nomic linkages, cultural coop-eration and for us to worktogether towards a more envi-ronment friendly planet,”Prime Minister Modi tweetedafter the meeting.

Earlier, the PrimeMinister's Office tweeted thatthe two leaders held extensivetalks on diversifying India-Italy ties.

Modi was also accorded aguard of honour.

Foreign Secretary HarshVardhan Shringla toldreporters at a briefing that thetwo leaders discussed the chal-lenges posed by climate changeand the COP26 ClimateSummit.

They also discussed the sit-uation in Afghanistan afterthe Taliban seized power inKabul as well as the develop-ments in the Indo-Pacificregion.

Shringla said the issue ofmutual vaccination certifica-tion was discussed.

The issue of easier accesstravel with normalisation that isincreasingly seen as countriesrecover from the Covid pan-demic was certainly discussed.

“There was a conversationon mutual recognition of vac-cines. “I think there is a sensethat this is one very, I would say,doable mechanism throughwhich we can facilitate easierinternational travel,” the foriegnsecretary said. “We have pro-posed a mutual recognition ofvaccination certification even atthe G20.

But as we speak, discussionson an outcome document arestill on. So I think most coun-tries are quite happy with theidea of facilitating smootherinternational travel,” he said

But the fact of the matter isthat a number of countries feelthat easier access and easiertravel is something that weneed to collectively work on.“And that point that the PrimeMinister made, I think hasbeen received and noted,”Shringla said.

During the meeting, thetwo prime ministers looked atother areas of cooperationbetween India and Italy. To provide fresh impetus to thebilateral cooperation in renew-able and clean energy, India andItaly issued a joint statementannouncing a strategic part-nership on energy transition,and agreed to explore partner-ships in areas such as large sizegreen corridor project smartgrids, energy storage solutions,gas transportation, integratedwaste management, develop-ment and deployment of greenhydrogen and promotion ofbiofuels.

India and Italy also signedan agreement statement ofintent on textiles cooperationduring the meeting. There wasa very good discussion on two-way investments, particularly inthe clean energy and renewablesector were Italy has a lot ofexpertise. “I think this is some-thing that both prime ministersagreed to see how we can takeforward, the foreign secretarysaid.

Earlier, the spokesperson ofthe Ministry of External AffairsArindam Bagchi tweeted thatthe two prime ministersreviewed the 2020-2025 ActionPlan of India-Italy bilateral part-nership, and reiterated the com-mitment to further expandingtrade and investment linkages.

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Areport ‘BRICS joint statis-tical publication’ by the

ministry of statistics and pro-gramme implementationshowed India lags behind mostof the BRICS Countries (Brazil,Russia, India, China, and SouthAfrica) on many social andeconomic parameters includinghealth, education, infant mor-tality, electricity consumptionand other indicators.

The report showed thatIndia is at the bottom in thegroup of five countries includ-ing Brazil, Russia, India,China, and South Africa whenthe public expenditure onhealth and education is con-cerned. India spends 3.5 % ofits GDP on education and1.8% on health, the lowestamong the five Countries.While South Africa was at thetop with regard to expenditureon education spending 6.9 %of its GDP, China led the packin health expenditure spend-ing 7.1 % of its GDP onhealth-related needs.

Data regarding hospitalbeds per 1,000 persons in thecountry has reflected a grimpicture of the Country. WhileIndia has 0.61 beds per 1000persons, Russia is at the topwith 8 beds per 1,000 persons.India’s poor status of publichealth infrastructure was quiteevident during first and sec-ond wave of Covid-19.According to report, share ofpublic expenditure on health

to GDP in India is 1.8 while itis 4.8 in Brazil, 4.6 in Russia,7.1 in China and 4.2 in SouthAfrica.

Similarly, the reportshowed a higher infant mor-tality rate in India as it was atthe second position with therate 23 after South Africa withthe rate 23.6.

So far as per capita con-sumption of electricity is con-cerned India is far behindother counterparts. Russia ledthe group with 7563-kilowatthours while India was at thebottom with 1208 kilowatt-hours. The economic growthof a country depends a lotupon the ability to provideaffordable, reliable and sus-tainable energy to citizens.Lower consumption alsopoints towards the shortage ofaffordable electricity.

Similarly, India lagsbehind its other counterpartson the availability of roadinfrastructure. While India isat the bottom with 313,000 kmof highways, China tops with5158,000 Kms of highways. Awide network of highways isan important indicator of theeconomic development of aCountry.

India scored lower even inthe per capita GDP of 1945 USdollar. On the other side,China was at the top with theper capita GDP of 10438 USdollars showing the wide gapbetween the two countries sofar as the prime economicindicator is concerned.

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Prime Minister NarendraModi's meeting with Pope

Francis in the Vatican hasenhanced the prestige of thenation, BJP's ideological men-tor Rashtriya SwayamsevakSangh (RSS) said on Saturday.

“What is wrong if the headof the government meets any-one in the existing civil systemin the world? We welcome itbecause we believe in“Vasudhaiva Kutumbakam”(the world is one family). Werespect all religions,” the RSSgeneral secretary Dattatreya

Hosabale told reporters.He was talking to

reporters on the last day of thethree-day Akhil BharatiyaKaryakari Mandal (ABKM)meeting.

“It is a matter of pleasurethat the Prime Minister ismeeting the heads of othernations and is increasing theprestige of our nation,” MrHosabale said.

He also maintained that itwas for the head of the gov-ernment to meet another headof the Government and it isupto the government to decidewhom they want to meet.

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The EnforcementDirectorate (ED) on

Saturday said it has attachedland worth �74 crore situatedat Dehradun owned by formerUttar Pradesh BSP MLCMohammad. Iqbal and hisfamily members under theprovisions of the Prevention ofMoney Laundering Act,.

The ED had initiatedmoney laundering investiga-tion on the basis of investiga-tion conducted by SeriousFraud Investigation Office(SFIO), Ministry of CorporateAffairs, Delhi relating to acqui-sition of assets through ille-gitimate means in 2010-2011by Iqbal, former MLCSaharanpur and others.

“Namrata Marketing P Ltdand Giriasho Company P Ltd.,shell companies under thecontrol of Mohd. Iqbal andfamily members participatedin the bidding process of dis-investment of sugar mills of

the UP government during2010-11 and acquired sevensugar mills across UP throughlaundering of illegitimatemoney through various shellcompanies having dummydirectors and sham transac-tions.

These seven sugar millswere attached under PMLAearlier in March, 2021. ED hastaken possession of all theseseven sugar mills for furtherproceedings under PMLA,”the agency said in a statement.

In continuation of inves-tigations, earlier the ED hadalso conducted search opera-tions in premises relating toIqbal in Saharanpur and Delhi.Further, under PMLA investigations, it has beenfound that Iqbal and his fam-ily members acquired land atSaharanpur in the name of thecompany BSS Associates in2015 through staged transac-tions and commission ofoffence of fraud underCompanies Act, it said.

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The Centre has received aproposal from the Delhi

University for the setting upnew colleges, study centresand chairs, in the name of free-dom fighter Veer Savarkar,Swami Vivekanand, formerPrime Minister Atal BihariVajpayee, former UnionMinister and BJP stalwart lateSushma Swaraj, Savitri BaiPhule, Arun Jaitley, ChoudharyBrahm Prakash and CDDeshmukh.

Sources in the Ministry ofEducation on Saturday said tobegin with, the DU ExecutiveCouncil has discussed settingup of new colleges in the Delhidehat area as no new collegesfully funded by the CentralGovernment has come up inthe last 25 years in the NCTDelhi.

“The academic council ofthe university, in its meetingdecided that few colleges/cen-tre may be named afterSushma Swaraj, SwamiVivekananda, Veer Savarkarand Sardar Patel. The councilalso suggested names of AtalBihari Vajpayee, Savitri BaiPhule, Arun Jaitley, Choudhary

Brahm Prakash and CDDeshmukh,” sources in theMoE said.

The further decision onthis subject was held at theexecutive council meeting ofthe university where it was alsoinformed that the MoE has noobjection sources said. Thecouncil has now authorised thevice-chancellor to finalise thenames.

Sources in the DU saidthat it has decided to set up thefirst two colleges in Delhiouter in name of Savarkar andSwaraj.

“It will be a good decisionto name or construct new col-leges in name of great histori-cal luminaries, unsung heroes.I welcome the proposal of theDU and when it finally comesup it will be a great contributiontowards the enhancement of thenew education policy whichcomes after 1986. A women col-lege in the name of a greatlyrespected leader Sushma Swarajwill keep motivating country torealise the goal of Beti Bachao,Beti Bachao,” said Prof A KBhagi, dormer DU EC Memberand presently President, NDTF(National Democratic TeachersFront).

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Children who are exposed toa certain type of environ-

mental air pollution are morelikely to contract community-acquired pneumonia or CAP,and to be hospitalised forlonger periods of time, said anew study led by researchers inthe Louisiana State UniversitySuperfund Research Program.

Social factors, includingrace and socioeconomic status,were also found to be associ-ated with living in high-riskareas for CAP, said the studypublished in the scientific jour-nal Experimental Biology &Medicine.

“This research contributesto the body of evidence link-ing poor respiratory health toexposure to environmental airpollution, especially combus-tion-derived particulate mat-ter,” said study co-authorStephania Cormier, who leads

the LSU Superfund ResearchProgram. Research conductedby LSU Superfund ResearchProgram scientists has shownsimilar patterns for other res-piratory diseases includingasthma, and recent data sug-gest implications for COVID-19.

Using data from a Centersfor Disease Control surveil-lance study of pediatric pneu-monia and geographic infor-mation systems, the investi-

gators identified high- andlow-risk areas for CAP in themetropolitan area of Memphis,Tennessee.

They collected informa-tion including the cause of thechild’s pneumonia, such as abacterial or viral infection,public versus private healthinsurance, age, race and expo-sure to particulate matter pol-lution less than 2.5 microme-ters in diameter, or PM2.5.These tiny particles in the air

are released by industrial com-bustion, car exhaust and for-est fires. PM2.5 is one of thesix air pollutants regulated bythe Environmental ProtectionAgency, or EPA, and is linkedto higher rates of respiratorytract infections and a pletho-ra of other health problems,including cardiovascular dis-ease.

When analysed indepen-dently, race, type of insuranceand exposure to PM2.5 wereall identified as significantrisk factors associated withresidence in areas with high-er-than-expected CAP.However, race was the mostsignificant factor associatedwith living in a high-risk area.In the Memphis metropolitanarea, Hispanic and non-Hispanic Black children werehospitalized for pneumoniaat significantly higher ratescompared with white chil-dren.

Another important find-ing from this study is that thehealth risk associated withhigh PM2.5 occurred at levelsbelow the current regulatorymaximum standard set by theEPA.

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The EnforcementDirectorate (ED) has pro-

visionally attached twoImmovable properties worth �2.62 crore situated at Ranchi,Jharkhand belonging toPatliputra Builders Limitedunder the provisions of thePrevention of MoneyLaundering Act (PMLA).

The ED had initiated amoney-laundering investiga-tion on the basis of the FIRsand charge-sheet filed by PatnaPolice under the Indian PenalCode (IPC) sections againstAnil Kumar Singh, ManagingDirector of Patliputra BuildersLimited, Patna, and others.

Anil Kumar alias AnilKumar Singh, being the MD ofPatliputra Builder Limited andother companies, was involvedin the commission of offenceslike cheating, fraud, dishonestyand grabbing of public money,the ED said in a statement.

As per the FIR, AnilKumar embezzled the amountof �5.82 crore payable to theemployees of “The Newspapers& Publications Ltd” and uti-lized the money for the acqui-sition of properties in the name

of his company PatliputraBuilders Limited.

During the course of theinvestigation, Kumar was non-cooperative and deliberatelyavoided the summons issuedunder PMLA. Non-appear-ance and non-submission ofdocuments called for clearlyshow his malafide intention, itsaid.

The ED had arrested themain suspect Kumar onSeptember 7 and the SpecialPMLA Court, Patna sent himto judicial custody.

Proceeds of crime gener-ated in cash have been layeredthrough acquisition of proper-ties in the name of his compa-ny and use of banking channelsin order to conceal the actualorigin of tainted money.

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The EnforcementDirectorate has frozen a

Bell 214 Helicopter of HameedIbrahim and Abdulla ofMarilog Avion Services Co.Ltd., Bangkok located at JMatadee Free Trade WarehouseZone, Chennai under the pro-visions of the Prevention ofMoney Laundering Act.

The subject Bell 214Helicopter has been underinvestigation owing to a caseregistered by the USDepartment of HomelandSecurity over its alleged end usein a prohibited country.

The ED said the USDepartment of Justice hadmade a request for assistance inexecuting the Warrant forArrest in Rem on the saidhelicopter located in Chennaiissued by the United StatesDistrict Court, Columbia.

The rem jurisdiction refersto the power a court mayexercise over property, eitherreal or personal.

“The ED action is in

accordance with the MutualLegal Assistance Treatyentered with the USA. Thesubject helicopter has beenimported by Hameed Ibrahimand Abdulla of Marilog AvionServices Co. Ltd., Bangkokfrom AAR Corporation, USAand it was shipped to Indiathrough Thailand in 2019 andstored in the premises of aChennai based company’s FreeTrade Warehouse Zone(FTWZ) at Chennai,” theagency said in its statement.

Consequently, searchoperation was carried out atvarious premises includingChennai FTWZ and residen-tial premises of the Directorsof Marilog Avion Services PvtLtd., which happens to be theimporter of the Helicopter toChennai FTWZ from the USAthrough Thailand, it said.

It was found that the heli-copter was kept at a warehouseof a Chennai-based companyon a monthly rental basis.During the search proceed-ings, the helicopter has beenfound in dismantled condi-tion.

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The Karnataka Governmenthas told the Supreme Court

that it would “scrupulously”follow the orders to be passedon a PIL seeking a direction tothe Centre and States to “iden-tify, detain and deport” illegalmigrants includingBangladeshis and Rohingyasfrom the country.

A few days ago, theKarnataka government hadtold the apex court that it hasno immediate plan to deport 72Rohingyas, living in Bengaluru,and had sought dismissal of thePIL field by BJP leader andlawyer Ashwini Upadhyay onthe issue.

Vanaja K N, the UnderSecretary of the HomeDepartment of Karnataka, hasfiled the fresh affidavit saying,“I humbly state that theKarnataka state police havenot housed Rohingyas in anycamp or detention centre with-in its jurisdiction.”“However, 126 Rohingyas havebeen identified in Karnatakastate... This respondent under-takes that whatever orderwould be passed by thishon'ble court will be scrupu-lously adhered and followed inletter and spirit,” the affidavitsaid.

Upadhyay, in his PIL, hassought directions to the Centreand the states to identify,detain and deport all the ille-gal migrants and infiltratorsincluding Bangladeshis andRohingyas.

The plea has sought a

direction to the Centre and thestates to “amend respectivelaws to make illegal immigra-tion and infiltration a cogniz-able, non-bailable and con-compoundable offence”.

“The large-scale illegalmigrants, particularly fromMyanmar and Bangladesh,have not only threatened thedemographic structure of bor-dering districts but seriouslyimpaired security and nation-al integration,” the plea said.

Upadhyay's plea allegedthere was an organised influxof illegal migrants fromMyanmar through agents andtouts via West Bengal, Tripura,and Guwahati.

“This situation is serious-ly harming the national secu-rity of the country,” the pleasaid. Earlier, theapex court, on April 8, hadmade it clear that Rohingyas,who have been detained inJammu, shall not be deportedto Myanmar unless the pro-cedure prescribed for suchdeportation is followed by theauthorities.

The bench had said it istrue that rights guaranteedunder Articles 14 and 21 of theConstitution are available to allthe persons who may or maynot be citizens but the rightnot to be deported, is “ancil-lary or concomitant” to theright to reside or settle in anypart of India.

While Article 14 dealswith equality before law,Article 21 deals with protec-tion of life and personal lib-erty.

The order was passed onan application seeking releaseof detained Rohingya refugeesand also a direction to theCentre not to deport thosewho have been detained in thesub-jail in Jammu.

The Centre had earlieropposed the plea saying thecountry cannot be the “capital”for illegal immigrants.Violent attacks allegedly byMyanmar army have led to anexodus of Rohingya tribalsfrom the western Rakhinestate in that country to Indiaand Bangladesh.

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The Supreme Court has setaside sentence and convic-

tion of a shopkeeper for foodadulteration, saying theaccused has the right to sendthe sample to the Central FoodLaboratory for analysis. A bench of Justices AjayRastogi and Abhay S Oka saidit is mandatory under section13 of the Prevention of FoodAdulteration Act, 1954 for theLocal (Health) Authority to for-ward a copy of the report of thePublic Analyst to the personfrom whom the sample of thefood has been taken.The apex court said mandate ofsub-section (2) of Section 13 isthat a person to whom thereport is forwarded should beinformed that if it is so desired,he can make an application tothe court within a period of 10days from the date of receipt ofthe copy of the report to get thesample analysed by the CentralFood Laboratory.

“The report is required tobe forwarded after institutionof prosecution against the per-son from whom the sample ofthe article of food was taken.“Apart from the right of theaccused to contend that thereport is not correct, he has theright to exercise an option ofsending the sample to theCentral Food Laboratory foranalysis by making an applica-tion to the court within 10 daysfrom the date of receipt of thereport,” the bench said.

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President Joe Biden and atrio of European allies

strategised on Saturday overways to achieve a diplomaticsolution as Iran continues tomake troubling advances withits nuclear programme.

Biden’s meeting with theleaders of Germany, Franceand Britain, a group known asthe E3, comes at a pivotal timeas Iran continues to enrichuranium to near-weapons-grade levels.

The president is trying torevive the 2015 nuclear dealand bring Iran back into com-pliance with the pact thatwould have kept the Islamicrepublic at least one year awayfrom the potential to field anuclear weapon.

As Biden and Germany’sAngela Merkel, France’sEmmanuel Macron andBritain’s Boris Johnson posedfor a group photo before their

closed-door talks, Biden wasasked when he would likestalled negotiations with Iran toresume.

“They’re scheduled toresume,” he said.

Iran has yet to commit to

a date to return to nuclear talksbeing held in Vienna but hassignalled it will do so next weekwith a target of late Novemberfor resuming the negotiations.

The US and others haveexpressed scepticism about

Iranian intentions. US nation-al security adviser Jake Sullivansaid earlier in the week thatSaturday’s meeting would fea-ture the leaders “all singingfrom the same song sheet onthis issue.”

He called it a “study in con-trast with the previous admin-istration” since Iran was one ofthe areas of most profounddivergence between the Trumpadministration and theEuropeans. The UN’s atomicwatchdog has said Iran isincreasingly in violation of thedeal, known as the JointComprehensive Plan of Action.

President Donald Trumpwithdrew the US from the2015 nuclear deal and the UShas participated indirectly intalks aimed at bringing bothWashington and Tehran backinto compliance.

Those talks in Vienna havebeen on hiatus since June,when Iranian PresidentEbrahim Raisi took power.

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The UN humanitarian chiefhad a dire message for

leaders of the world’s 20 largesteconomies meeting this week-end: Worry about Afghanistanbecause its economy is col-lapsing and half the populationrisks not having enough foodto eat as the snows have alreadystarted to fall.

Martin Griffiths said in aninterview on Friday with TheAssociated Press that “the needsin Afghanistan are skyrocketing.”

Half the Afghan childrenunder age five are at risk ofacute malnutrition and there isan outbreak of measles in everysingle province which is “a redlight” and “the canary in themine” for what’s happening insociety, he said.

Griffiths warned that foodinsecurity leads to malnutri-tion, then disease and death,and “absent corrective action”the world will be seeing deathsin Afghanistan.

He said the World FoodProgram is feeding 4 million

people in Afghanistan now,but the UN predicts thatbecause of the dire winter con-ditions and the economic col-lapse it is going to have to pro-vide food to triple that number— 12 million Afghans — “andthat’s massive.”

WFP appealed this weekfor $200 million to finance itsoperations until the end of theyear, and Griffiths urged coun-tries that suspended develop-ment assistance forAfghanistan after the Taliban

takeover on Aug. 15, includingthe United States and Europeancountries, to transfer thatmoney for desperately neededhumanitarian aid. He notedthat the European Unionalready shifted about 100 mil-lion euros to humanitarianwork, and the US announcedmore than $144 million inhumanitarian aid on Thursday,raising its total aid to Afghansin the country and refugees inthe region to nearly $474 million in 2021.

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The French presidency saysEuropean Union leaders

will meet with African leadersin efforts to further support the continent’s pooresteconomies in the wake of the Covid-19 pandemic.

The informal meeting laterSaturday will be hosted byFrench President EmmanuelMacron at France’s embassy inRome on the sidelines of the G-20 summit.

Macron told reporters onFriday he expects the G-20 toconfirm an additional $100 billion to support Africa’s economies.

The money would be pro-vided via the reallocation toAfrican nations of some specialdrawing rights, a foreignexchange tool used to help finance imports issued by the InternationalMonetary Fund and initially meant to go to advanced economies.

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Britain and France facedcalls on Saturday to sort out

their post-Brexit spat over fish-ing rights in the EnglishChannel, which threatens toescalate within days into adamaging French blockade ofBritish boats and trucks.

French PresidentEmmanuel Macron warnedthat the dispute is testing theUK’s international credibility,while each countries accused

the other of being in breach ofthe post-Brexit trade agreementthat Britain’s governmentsigned with the EuropeanUnion before it left the bloc.

As the war of words inten-sified, Britain said it was “active-ly considering” launching legalaction if France goes throughwith threats to bar UK fishingboats from its ports and slapstrict checks on British catches.

“If there is a breach of the(Brexit) treaty or we think thereis a breach of the treaty then we

will do what is necessary to pro-tect British interests,” PrimeMinister Boris Johnson toldBritish broadcasters in Rome,where he and Macron are bothattending a Group of 20 summit.

At stake is fishing — a tinyindustry economically thatlooms large symbolically formaritime nations like Britainand France. Britain’s exit fromthe economic rules of the 27-nation bloc at the start of thisyear means the UK now con-trols who fishes in its waters.

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The Chinese military is stillin the dark over what dam-

aged the US nuclear submarinewhen it was on the prowl in thedisputed South China Sea earlythis month, while satellite pho-tos of the moored vessel showedthat the sub may have had ahead-on collision, rendering it“deaf and blind”, according to amedia report on Saturday.

A recent satellite imagesuggests that the damage to theAmerican submarine, the USSConnecticut may have beencaused by a head-on collisionwith a pint-sized submergedobject in the South China Sea(SCS), according to Chinesemilitary experts.

The incident four weeksago may have occurred inwaters near the disputedParacel Islands in the SCS con-trolled by China, indicating theChinese Navy could havedetected the American sub onits way to Guam but was notaware of its damaged condition,the Hong Kong-based SouthChina Morning Post reported.

Earlier this month, mediareports said that the USnuclear-powered submarinewas damaged after it struck anobject underwater in the SCS.

Eleven sailors on boardthe USS Connecticut wereinjured in the accident. None ofthe injuries were life-threaten-ing, an announcement by theUS Pacific Fleet said.

Beirut: Saudi Arabia on Friday ordered theLebanese ambassador to the kingdom to leavethe country within 48 hours and stopped allimports from Lebanon, a response to commentsby a Lebanese minister who described the warin Yemen as Saudi “aggression.”

Hours later, the Kingdom of Bahrain orderedthe Lebanese ambassador to leave the countrywithin two days for the same reason, Bahrain’sforeign ministry said.

Lebanon’s Prime Minister and president dis-cussed the Saudi decision and asked the coun-try’s information minister to take the “appropriatedecision,” an apparent call for him to resign inhopes it will ease the tension. AP

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Sudanese security forces shot deadtwo people on Saturday during

mass protests against the country’srecent military coup, a doctors’ unionsaid. The shootings came despiterepeated appeals by the West to Sudan’snew military rulers to show restraintand allow peaceful protests.

During the protests, thousands ofSudanese marched into the streets,chanting “revolution, revolution” to thesound of whistles and drums, to protestagainst the coup that is threatening toderail the country’s fitful transition to democracy.

Pro-democracy groups had called

for protests across the country to pressdemands for re-instating a deposedtransitional government and releasingsenior political figures from detention.Lahore: Security officials in

Pakistan are shocked after itemerged that members of thebanned Tehreek-i-LabbaikPakistan party reportedly usedsub-machine guns (SMGs)against policemen during anti-government protests, promptingthe authorities to conclude thatthe hardline Islamists had beenturned into a “militant group”,a media report said on Saturday.

A mobile phone footage,which showed members of theparty firing 80 rounds of SMGsat policemen in Kamoke, inPakistan’s Punjab province, onThursday, was presented dur-ing a high-level security meet-ing, the Dawn newspaperreported.

Other incidents of attackswere also recorded, whichshowed two policemen suc-cumbing to bullet wounds, while16 others sustaining injuriesfrom the shots fired by TLPmembers, the report said. PTI

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Kuwait followed Saudi Arabia and Bahrain byordering the Lebanese charge d’affaires on

Saturday to leave the emirate within two days overcomments made by a Lebanese minister regard-ing the war in Yemen. Kuwait also recalled itsambassador from Beirut.

Later Saturday, the United Arab Emirates’state-run WAM news agency said on Twitter thatit would withdraw its diplomats from Lebanonin solidarity with Saudi Arabia.

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Cairo: The United Nations and theUnited States urged Sudan’s top gener-als to allow pro-democracy protestsand avoid confrontations in the wakeof a military coup earlier this week. Pro-democracy groups have called for massmarches across the country on Saturdayto press demands for re-instating adeposed transitional government. AP

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Italy’s Premier Mario Draghiopened a conference of the

world’s powerhouse economieswith a sharp call to pick up thepace in getting vaccines topoor countries, calling the gap-ing global Covid-19 vaccinegap “morally unacceptable.” Draghi, the host for the two-day Group of 20 summit inRome, said Saturday that only3% of people in the world’spoorest countries are vacci-nated, while 70% in rich coun-tries have had at least oneshot.

The call for more collectivehelp for low-income countriessounded a theme runningthrough the summit, whichfaces a global economy recov-ering at different speeds.Climate change, vaccines, therecovery, international taxa-tion are all themes occupyingleaders holding their first in-person summit since the pan-demic took hold.

Draghi welcomed theGroup of 20 heads of state toRome’s Nuvola cloud-like con-vention center in the Fascist-era

EUR neighborhood, which wassealed off from the rest of thecapital. Saturday’s opening ses-sion was focused on globalhealth and the economy.

Rich countries have usedvaccines and stimulus spendingto restart economic activity,leaving the risk that developingcountries that account formuch of global growth willremain behind due to low vac-cinations and financing diffi-culties.

European Union leaderswill meet off-site with Africanleaders in efforts to further sup-

port the continent’s pooresteconomies in the wake of theCovid-19 pandemic.

French PresidentEmmanuel Macron toldreporters on Friday he expectsthe G-20 to confirm an addi-tional $100 billion to supportAfrica’s economies.

The money would be pro-vided via the reallocation ofpart of $650 billion worth ofspecial drawing rights, a foreignexchange tool used to helpfinance imports issued by theInternational MonetaryFund.

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The Cotton Association ofIndia (CAI) on Saturday

estimated cotton output at360.13 lakh bales for the cropyear (October-September)2021-22, due to expectation ofbetter yield.

The total cotton produc-tion in the last season is esti-mated at 353 lakh bales, whichis 7.13 lakh bales less than thecurrent season, the CAI said ina statement. “The cotton yieldis estimated to be excellent andthe farmers are expected to gofor the third and fourth pick-ings due to good availability ofwater following a good mon-soon,” CAI president AtulGanatra told PTI. The totalestimated cotton supply tillend of the 2021-22 season,that is up to September 30,2022, was at 445.13 lakh bales,which consists of the openingstock of 75 lakh bales at thebeginning of the season, cropfor the season estimated at360.13 lakh bales and importsfor estimated at the same levelas in the last year at 10 lakhbales.

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Coal Minister Pralhad Joshion Saturday complimented

coal companies, includingstate-owned CIL, for recordsupply of 22 lakh tonnes of thedry fuel to thermal powerplants.

This comes amid thermalpower plants facing coal short-ages.

Joshi has expressed hap-piness over coal ministry’sremarkable achievement ofattaining 22 lakh tonnes coaldispatch to thermal powerplants on Thursday (October28), the Ministry said in a state-ment.

In a tweet, the Ministersaid out the above quantity, 18lakh tonnes have been suppliedby Coal India Ltd (CIL).

Congratulating all coalcompanies for this feat, Joshiurged them to keep increasingcoal production and offtake.

Joshi had on Thursdaysaid CIL has stepped up fuelsupply to meet the increaseddemand of the power sectorand arrest shortages at thermalpower plants caused due to ris-ing cost of imported coal.

The government had onThursday said supply of coal tothermal power plants (TPPs)has been rising consistently,which is evident from the risein stock at power plants.

Average rise during the lastone week is more than 2 lakhtonnes per day.

“Coal supply to powerplants has indicated steadyincrease for the last manydays,” the coal ministry hadsaid in a statement.

Supplies to TPPs havebeen increasing consistently“which is evident from the risein stock at the power plant endwhich has started rising andaverage increase during lastone week is more than twolakh tonnes per day,” it hadadded.

As per a Central ElectricityAuthority (CEA) report, thecoal stock with power plantsstood at 9.028 million tonnes(MT) as on October 26, 2021.

With daily increase incoal stock for the last nine days,five days’ stock is available atthermal power plants. Inaround a week’s time, it is like-ly to reach six days’ bufferstock.

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The leaders of the world’seconomic powerhouses

gathered Saturday for the firstin-person summit since thecoronavirus pandemic, withclimate change, Covid-19 eco-nomic recovery and the glob-al minimum corporate tax rateon the agenda.Italian PremierMario Draghi welcomed theGroup of 20 heads of state toRome’s Nuvola cloud-like con-vention center in the Fascist-eraEUR neighborhood, which was

sealed off from the rest of thecapital. Saturday’s opening ses-sion was focused on globalhealth and the economy, witha meeting on the sidelines forkey leaders to discuss nextsteps on Iran’s nuclear pro-gram.Italy is hoping the G-20will secure key commitmentsfrom countries representing80% of the global economy —and responsible for around thesame amount of global carbonemissions — ahead of the U.N.Climate conference that beginsSunday in Glasgow, Scotland.

IANS:ITC’s 2Q FY22 was aheadof estimates with EBITDA andPBT growing 13 per cent year-on-year (YoY), Credit Suissesaid in a report. Net cigaretterevenue grew 10.3 per centYoY as the recovery post thesecond Covid-19 wave has beenrapid. Cigarette volumes wereback to near pre-Covid levelstowards the end of the quarter.Cigarette EBIT also grew 10.4per cent YoY as margins werestable. FMCG business had avery high base due the surge inpackaged foods in 2Q FY21, andthus revenue growth was mutedat 3 per cent YoY.

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Healthy demand hasrestored India Inc’s busi-

ness confidence in Q3 of 2021,according to the GlobalEconomic Conditions Survey(GECS) report.

This is the largest regulareconomic survey of accoun-tants and finance professionalsaround the world jointly car-ried out quarterly by theAssociation of CharteredCertified Accountants (ACCA)and the Institute ofManagement Accountants(IMA).According to the surveyreport, outlook for the SouthAsian region has risen mainlydue to better prospects inIndia.

In contrast, the global con-fidence fell by nine points inQ3, with the largest fall inNorth America followed byWestern Europe.

However, both the regionsshowed “relatively” high levelsof confidence, as is the caseglobally.

Furthermore, the surveycited that global economic

growth connected to pandem-ic recovery weakened in Q3,2021.It found that when look-ing at new orders, there was asplit between advanced regionsand emerging markets.”Therewere falls in orders affectingNorth America and WesternEurope contrasted with mod-est improvements in emergingmarkets,” the report said.

“However, the wider eco-nomic prospects in developedeconomies remain brighterthan in emerging markets,where low vaccination ratescontinue to drag on economicrecovery.”Apart from Africa,the survey pointed out that allmajor regions reported orderlevels above their pre-pan-demic level, indicating a con-tinued global recovery.

“Another positive indica-tion from the survey are thetwo ‘fear indices’ which mea-sure concern that customersand suppliers may go out ofbusiness. Both declined againin Q3 and are now back in linewith their long-run averagelevels after spiking around Q22020.”

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In 2021, prices of the preciousmetal have been trading

between �47,000 and 49,000mark per 10 grams.

However, gold prices hadseen a surge during 2019 52 percent and 25 per cent in 2020.

According to MotilalOswal Financial Services note,bullion have been in a consol-idation mode from last Diwalito this Diwali, and in the pastfew months have witnessedsome choppiness amidst

volatility in US Dollar andbond yields.

Nevertheless, during thefirst half of the year, better thanexpected economic data andhawkish outlook from the USFederal Reserve have kept mostmarket participants on theedge.

On the other hand, thesecond half has witnessedweaker data set and change inUS Fed’s approach “whichcould get the gold bulls excit-ed once again”.

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Jos Buttler hammered a bru-tal 32-ball 71 not out tocomplement a superlative

performance from the bowlersas England crushed Australiaby eight wickets in their Super12 match to inch closer to asemifinal spot at the T20 WorldCup here on Saturday.

It was a thoroughly profes-sional display by the ODI worldchampions as they bundledout Australia for 125 and thenreturned to overhaul the targetof 126 in 11.4 overs to consol-idate their top position in theGroup 1 points table.

Buttler and Jason Roy (22)hammered the Australianbowlers all around the park toamass 66 runs for no loss in thepowerplay, the highest by anyteam so far in the tournament.

Buttler was the most dan-gerous of the England batters ashe slammed five fours and asmany sixes during his unbeat-en knock, which is the fastestfifty in the tournament till now.

Australia managed to getrid of Roy and Dawid Malan(8) but it made no difference asJonny Bairstow joined Buttlerin sending their opponents on

a leather hunt.Bairstow smashed two

sixes off Adam Zampa duringhis unbeaten 10-ball 16 runinnings as England reached 126for 2 to win the match with 50balls to spare.

England thus completed ahat-trick of wins, whileAustralia suffered their first lossof the tournament after beating

South Africa and Sri Lanka intheir previous two games.

Earlier, Chris Woakes(2/23) and Chris Jordan (3/17)rattled Australia’s top-order byremoving opener DavidWarner (1), Steve Smith (1) andGlenn Maxwell (6) in the firstfour overs before skipper AaronFinch (44 off 49 balls) resur-rected the innings.

Ashton Agar (20), PatCummins (12) and MitchellStarc (13) then hit some lustyblows at the death to givesome respectability to theAustralian total.

Woakes was in action earlyon as he induced a nick fromWarner to deal the first blow andthen pulled off a sensationalcatch at mid-on to remove Steve

Smith off Jordan’s bowling.Woakes then trapped Maxwellin front of wicket as Australiaslumped to 15 for 3 in 4 overs.

Leg-spinner Adil Rashid(1/19), who had opened thebowling for England, thenreturned to trap Marcus StoinisLBW with a googly as Australiawere tottering at 21 for 4 in 6.1overs. Matthew Wade (18) thenjoined skipper Finch, takingAustralia to 41 for four in 10overs. Wade, however, per-ished in the 12th over after hol-ing out at long-on to Jason Royoff Liam Livingstone.

Finch smashed back-to-back boundaries to cream 10runs off Tymal Mills, beforepicking up another boundaryoff Jordan in the next over.

Agar then exploded in the17th over as he pulled one fromWoakes over deep backwardsquare leg before wallopinghim for another six over deepmidwicket to score 20 runs ofthe over. He was back to thepavilion after being caught byLivingstone (1/15).

Cummins then clobberedthe first two balls he faced formaximums to give Australiamomentum.But Jordanreturned to remove Finch andCummins in successive balls.

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Fast bowler Tim Southee feelscoming off losses in their

respective tournament open-ers, both India and New Zealandwould be desperate to outwiteach other in what promises tobe an exciting T20 World CupSuper 12 game between thetwo “very good sides.”

Both India and New

Zealand were handed defeats byPakistan in their tournamentopeners. While Virat Kohli’smen were drubbed by 10 wick-ets in their first Group 2 match,the Black Caps lost by five wick-ets. And the Kiwi pacer saidcome Sunday, both the wound-ed sides would be eager to opentheir tally in the showpiece.

“They (India) are a qualityside. They have shown that for

many years and for them as wellcoming off a loss, they will beeager to win as well. So, itshould be a great contest againsttwo very good sides,” Southeesaid after a practice session onFriday. “It’s always tight in thefirst game. We went far offagainst a quality Pakistan sidebut we need to look forward insuch a short tournament. Thereare no easy games so it’s now

about focus shifting towardsIndia.” Southee, who claimed his100th T20 wicket in the lossagainst Pakistan, said adaptingto the conditions and wickets isthe need of the hour.

New Zealand will be play-ing at the Dubai InternationalCricket Stadium for the firsttime during the competition,while India lost at the sameground in their opener. “We

knew coming here is different tohow we play in New Zealand. So,you have to adapt to those con-ditions, you also have to adaptto all three grounds as well.

“They offer different assis-tance for the seamers. We saw inSharjah slower balls and back ofthe length worked. In Dubai, thewicket has little more pace in itand seems to be a better wick-et,” he observed.

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David Miller’s two last-oversixes powered South Africa

to a four-wicket victory over SriLanka despite a hat-trick byWanindu Hasaranga in athrilling Super 12 match of theICC T20 World Cup here onSaturday.

Miller’s 23-run unbeatencameo off just 13 balls ensuredSouth Africa knock off therequired 25 runs in the last twoovers, including 15 in the finalsix deliveries. The Proteas did sowith a ball to spare.

In a match where the pen-dulum swung till the very end,Kasigo Rabada (13 not out off 7balls) took a single in the firstball of the last over. Then Millersmashed two back-to back sixesoff pacer Lahiri Kumura to sealthe game in his team’s favour.

Rabada completed the chaseby hitting the winning runs -- aboundary to the third manfence -- as the Proteas continuedtheir fine run to stay afloat in thetournament.

First left-arm spinnerTabraiz Shamsi (3/17) ranthrough the Sri Lankan battersas South Africa bundled themout for 142 despite openerPathum Nissanka’s whirlwind 72and then chased the tricky tar-get. Thus, the efforts of youngleg-spinner Hasaranga (3/20),who scalped two wickets in the18th over, went in vain.

Skipper Temba Bavuma(46) played his part to perfectionas he took the game deep andthen Miller justified his finish-er’s tag. Chasing 143, SouthAfrican lost Reeza Hendricks(11), Quinton de Kock (12) andRassie van der Dussen (16)cheaply.

Bavuma and AidenMarkram (19) took the gamedeep with their crucial 47-runstand, which played a role in theside’s win.

Earlier, left-arm wrist spin-ner Shamsi spun his web aroundthe Sri Lankan batters as SouthAfrica bowled their opponentsout.

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Eating out is a part of life, be it forleisure or due to travel. However, themore frequently you eat out, themore calories you ingest, gettingheavier in the bargain. You don’t

need me to tell you that, you know it already.While both Sanjeev and Rajesh hailed

from the INT, it was the language that hadseparated them. Sanjeev mainly performed inGujarati plays, while Kaka performed inHindi. Due to the paucity of Gujarati theatreartists of Sanjeev’s calibre in Bombay, directorswere eager to work with him. Rajesh Khanna,on the other hand, was one of many Hindi-speaking actors desperate for a break. At onetime, while Sanjeev was acting in five differentplays simultaneously, Rajesh barely had one.Reduced to playing small roles, like that of adoorman in V.K. Sharma’s Mere Desh Ke Gaon,Kaka had watched from the sidelines asSanjeev walked away with meatier roles andawards. It took numerous attempts for RajeshKhanna to finally lay his hands on a collegefestival award for his role in Aur Diya BujhJaye. When he won this award, he organized aparty to celebrate, and invited Sanjeev Kumar.The latter did not bother to even respond tothe invitation, let alone show up.

Notably, although Sanjeev received offersfor film roles before Rajesh Khanna did, hehad also been struggling for longer. It hadtaken Sanjeev five years to make the movefrom theatre to cinema, while Kaka was onstage for barely two years before shifting to thesilver screen, according to the director RameshTalwar.

Perhaps the two came from worlds so farapart that they could never reconcile their dif-ferences. A dishevelled Hari in his raggedkurta pyjamas might have seemed to RajeshKhanna the very antithesis to the glamorousworld of cinema they both were aspiring toenter. Rajesh Khanna, meanwhile, flittingbetween auditions in his expensive car, wouldhave presented the picture of privilege to thestruggling Sanjeev Kumar.

While still a stage actor, Rajesh Khannawas a reticent man, only interacting with hisfellow actor Anju Mahendru. He would cometo meet her while she was working in B.S.Thapa’s Mehenga Sauda, but remained alooffrom all the other actors present on set,including Sanjeev Kumar. Many assumed thathis attitude implied an arrogant belief that hewas made for bigger, better things than theHindi stage.

Anju Mahendru, meanwhile, was goodfriends with Sanjeev Kumar as well. RajeshKhanna was often suspicious of their friend-ship, their easy camaraderie making himbelieve that they shared a romantic relation-ship. Although Anju tried to convince him ofthe contrary, he continued to harbour his sus-picions. Sanjeev Kumar had often warnedAnju to steer clear of Rajesh Khanna, clearly a

man given to jealous fits of passion. He didnot believe it would be possible for her to finda stable life with such a fickle man.

In 1969, setting personal differences aside,Rajesh Khanna and Sanjeev Kumar cametogether to work with G.P. Sippy for Bandhan.Anju Mahendru also acted in the film. Despitethe friction, however, they behaved profession-ally and the movie was completed without anyuntoward incidents. As time passed, RajeshKhanna delivered hit after hit, and soon cameto be known as the first superstar of Hindicinema. Sanjeev had made considerable stridesas well and was offered roles in numerous crit-ically acclaimed movies. Known for his sensi-tive, visceral portrayals, he came to play avariety of roles, while Rajesh Khanna carved aniche for himself in the romantic genre.

Towards the end of the 1960s, HrishikeshMukherjee had started planning his ambitiousproject Anand (1970) with N.C. Sippy. Basedon Raj Kapoor and Hrishikesh Mukherjee’sfriendship, the film was initially slated to starKishore Kumar and Mehmood. The title rolewould go to Kishore Kumar, while Mehmoodwould play Babu Moshai. Unfortunately,Hrishikesh Mukherjee and Kishore Kumar hada tiff and fell out. Consequently, Kishore leftthe film and Mehmood followed his friend,although he was unaware of what had tran-spired. In his biography Mehmood: A Man ofMany Moods, Mehmood says:

If I had known what had happened withHrishi-da at that time, I would have spoken toKishore and sorted the matter.

When Rajesh Khanna heard of Anand, heapproached the director for the titular role.Delighted at the opportunity to cast the super-star, N.C. Sippy and Hrishikesh Mukherjeereadily agreed.

The role of Babu Moshai was still availableand Mukherjee decided to approach SanjeevKumar, who had already worked with him inSatyakam (1969) and Aashirwad (1968).Sanjeev, as always, spotted the potential of thescript and agreed to do the film.Unfortunately, when Rajesh Khanna wasinformed of Sanjeev’s casting, he grew inse-cure about his role. Although he had the titu-lar role, the development of Babu Moshai’scharacter was crucial to the plotline. Khannadid not want to share the limelight withSanjeev. Ultimately, Amitabh Bachchan wascast in the role that Mukherjee had reservedfor Sanjeev. This was the first of the two timesthat Sanjeev Kumar lost a role to Bachchan;the second being for Rajshri Productions’acclaimed project Saudagar (1973).

As Anju Mahendru remembers, RajeshKhanna always remained insecure about hisacting prowess in comparison to Sanjeev’s.Every time she went to meet Sanjeev, Rajeshwould get upset. Sagar Sarhadi remembers thisas well. Almost everyone knew the two actorscould not stand each other.

The writer duo Salim-Javed was very closeto Rajesh Khanna, having written a screenplayfor his film Haathi Mere Saathi (1971). SalimKhan and Rajesh Khanna would meet everyday at Aashirwad, Khanna’s Carter Road resi-dence. On one occasion, when Salim metRajesh, he was sitting on the bonnet of his car,holding a film magazine. He asked Khan if hehad indeed hailed Sanjeev Kumar as one of thebest actors of his time in an interview featuredtherein. A straightforward man, Salim repliedthat he had. Visibly upset, Rajesh Khannaasked him if he thought Sanjeev was the betteractor. Taken aback, Salim Khan explained thathis praise for Sanjeev Kumar had been in thecontext of a specific role, and if he was inter-viewed about Rajesh Khanna’s role, he wouldhave appropriate praise for him as well. RajeshKhanna was not to be comforted. Brooding, hetook off for another shoot, leaving Khandumbfounded. The incident stayed with SalimKhan for a long time. Chintamani quotes him,saying that Kaka was extremely insecure andpossessive. Later, when Salim-Javed startedworking with other actors, he took it as abetrayal of sorts. As Chintamani writes: “Bynow, Khanna’s insecurity had started taking atoll on him. As a person who by nature washighly insecure and continually sought posi-tive reinforcement, he had surrounded himselfyes-men . . .”

Since a palpable tension existed betweenSanjeev and Rajesh, very few film-makers werekeen on taking on the task of working withthem together. However, J. Om Prakash madethe surprising choice to cast them both in hisdirectorial debut, Aap Ki Kasam (1974), aremake of the Malayalam film Vazhve Mayam(1970).

For the lead role, Rajesh Khanna was hisfirst choice. He was a star who could pull hugecrowds to the theatre, and following the suc-cess of Anand, audiences knew him as a capa-ble actor as well. Having decided to cast him,Om Prakash made a small change to thescript-an ending similar to that in Anand.Armed with his script, Om Prakash metKhanna and narrated the film to him. Awareof Om Prakash’s impressive track record,Rajesh Khanna accepted the role eagerly. Hewas then informed that Sanjeev Kumar wouldbe cast as the second lead. He seemed acquies-cent, and Om Prakash went to meet SanjeevKumar.

By this time, Sanjeev had started playinglead roles in acclaimed films like Khilona(1970), and Om Prakash was worried hewould not accept the role. Upon meetingSanjeev Kumar, however, Om Prakash wasimpressed with his humility. Before he narrat-ed the script to him, he warned him that hewanted to cast him in the second lead. Sanjeevagreed to the role. Om Prakash signed him onfor two other films as well, Aakraman (1975)and Aandhi (1975). According to one of

Kumar’s friends, Sanjeev supposedly signedthe film seeing it as an opportunity to sort outhis differences with Khanna. Om Prakash wasdetermined to complete his film on time.

He went through every detail with histechnicians to ensure that the shoots ransmoothly and with minimal interruptions. Thefirst shoot was held at Mehboob Studios.Prakash decided to begin shooting with themost crucial and tricky scene-where RajeshKhanna was to slap Sanjeev Kumar. OmPrakash wanted to see whether the actorswould be able to work together. Before hestarted the shoot, he warned the cast and crewthat while he was open to suggestions, hewould not tolerate interference or indisciplineon his sets. He explained the scene in detail toboth actors together, then ordered the camerasto roll. The scene was shot without a hitch,and the actors shared the stage effortlessly.Although a first-time director, Om Prakashhandled the shoot so well that Sanjeev Kumarlater congratulated him for it.

Om Prakash remembered Sanjeev Kumaras a flawless actor — fluent in Hindi despitebeing Gujarati, with proper diction and dia-logue delivery. The only problem with Kumarwas his perpetual tardiness. Prakash got soused to Sanjeev being late that, to save time,he would complete scenes with other actorsbefore Sanjeev arrived.

The climax of the film was shot withRajesh Khanna’s character dying in SanjeevKumar’s lap. Khanna was sure he would walkaway with the laurels for the scene as thedying hero, but Sanjeev’s dialogues were sopowerful that they stole the show. His screenpresence, coupled with the haunting song‘Zindagi Ke Safar Mein’ enchanted the audi-ences.

Aap Ki Kasam was completed in tenmonths and released within a year. It was asuperhit at the box office, and Prakash workedwith Khanna and Kumar again in Aakraman.Unfortunately, Aakraman did not do very well.Although Sanjeev claimed that he had noproblem working with Khanna, putting hiscraft before petty rivalries, this was the lastfilm in which they would work together. Longafter this, Prakash worked with Sanjeev Kumaragain for Apnapan (1977). His memories ofthe actor were summed up best, according tothe film-maker himself, by the song ‘AadmiMusafir Hai’.

Over twenty-five years in the industry,Sanjeev Kumar and Rajesh Khanna never visit-ed each other at their homes. However, inNovember 1985, when Sanjeev Kumarbreathed his last, Rajesh Khanna visited to payhis respects, his eyes brimming with tears.

Excerpted with permission from An Actor’sActor: An Authorized Biography of

Sanjeev Kumar by Hanif Zaveri & SumantBatra, Rupa, �599

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There is an inherent tendency amongcriminals and other dubious oper-ators to conceal income generated

from illegal activities such as smuggling,drug trafficking, proceeds of corruptionin public offices etc from the eyes of theGovernment and its agencies whomthey have reason to fear. However, peo-ple tend to hide even income earned fromlegitimate sources with the sole intent ofavoiding payment of tax or any otherlevies such as stamp duty, registrationcharges, market fee etc. The income con-cealed from the public eye is blackincome.

Black income has the effect of deny-ing the Government access to resources,be it by way of taxes foregone or fundssiphoned off from the welfare schemes orinflated payments made to private con-tractors in lieu of bribe received by cor-rupt officials and their political bosses etc.This in turn, affects the pace of buildinginfrastructure, funding other develop-ment activities and provides incomesupport to the weaker sections of the soci-ety.

It impacts economic growth and sta-bility in a variety of other ways. Thecolour of currency note — irrespective ofwhether it is under regulatory oversightor not — being the same and accumu-lated in plenty by the dubious operators,these holders can cause prices to rise andmay even use the money to hoard essen-tial commodities, in the process createmiseries for majority of the low incomeearners. They siphon off money to safehavens thereby seriously impacting India’sbalance of payments (BoP) and foreignexchange reserves.

The reverse flow of this money —after doing several rounds in trade cir-cuits also termed as ‘round tripping’ —back to India in the guise of foreign directinvestment (FDI) or foreign portfolioinvestment (FPI) or even infused into‘Start - ups’ can have a destabilising effecton the economy.

The author lucidly deals with thenuances of black income; how it is gen-erated; how it is moved within nationalboundaries and globally across jurisdic-tions; how it gets integrated with the‘legitimate’ economy to camouflage itstrue character; how it gets converted into‘white money’ and the modus operandiused to achieve their (read: offenders)nefarious goal and how it impacts themacro-economy.

For decades, successive regimes —

prior to the incumbent Government ledby Narendra Modi — had remained coolto the dire need for taking measures tocheck the proliferation of black money.This is amply demonstrated by absenceof any action on the Benami Law for yearsdespite the recommendation of LawCommission in 1973 and even after thelaw was enacted in 1988, the rules werenot framed (sans these, the law has nomeaning) until 2016 when Modi did it.

Also, look at the Double TaxAvoidance Agreement (DTAA) signed byIndia with Mauritius in 1982. Despite itspersistent misuse and evidence of Indianresidents moving money to that jurisdic-tion only to come back as FDI — solelywith the aim of avoiding payment of taxin either jurisdiction — the Governmentof the day never bothered to take a re-look at agreement. It was only in 2017 thatModi-regime has made necessarychanges.

Far from making an assault on the

black money, the ruling dispensation inthose times did things to legitimise it. Forinstance, the Voluntary Disclosure ofIncome Scheme (VDIS) brought out bythe then Finance Minister, PChidambaram (1997) enticed hoarders todeclare their undisclosed income, pay tax@30% with an assurance that they won’tface any penalty or prosecution. It liter-ally gave them a clean chit for all theirwrongs done in the past.

Shshank has touched upon all suchlackluster actions of the past regimes. Hehas also recognized the moves by Modigovernment to tackle black money andrelated malpractices. Apart from theBenami Law (2016) and revision inDTAA (2017), other reform measuresimplemented by it includeDemonetization (November 8, 2016); theGoods and Services Tax (GST) (July 1,2017); Black Money law (2015);Insolvency and Bankruptcy Code (IBC)(2016) etc.

While, the above measures werepretty tough on hoarders, at the sametime, Modi treated them with a kid gloveby coming out with a flurry of amnestyschemes such as ‘Sabka Vishwas’ Scheme(SVS) (Sept 1, 2019); Income DeclarationScheme (IDS - I) (June 1-Sept 30, 2016);IDS - II (Dec 16, 2016 to March 31, 2017);and ‘Vivad se Vishwas’ (VSV) (Feb 1 -June 30, 2020). To a great extent, theseoffers took the sting out of the far reach-ing reforms such as demonetisation andundermined their effectiveness.

Another area wherein Modi govern-ment has taken innovative steps relatesto use of information technology (IT),data analytics and coordination betweenits various wings such as the CentralBoard of Direct Taxes (CBDT), CentralBoard of Indirect Taxes and Customs(CBIC), Financial Intelligence Unit (FIU)etc and financial institutions and banksto identify mis-matches between theincome as per IT return filed by the

assesses and his actual income therebypreventing tax evasion and short pay-ments. It has also extensively used directbenefit transfer (DBT) for transferringmoney to the beneficiaries under welfareschemes thus reining in leakage.

The author has also touched upon theefforts being made at the internationallevel especially under the aegis of OECD(Organisation for Economic Co-opera-tion and Development) and G-20 to reinin MNCs — including digital giants —which are depriving ‘source’ countries bil-lions of dollars in tax revenue as alsothose involved in financial crimes andfugitive offenders. At the same time, hecandidly recognizes as to how theseefforts are undermined by abetment of‘tax havens’ even by the very countries(say, USA) who claim to be victims.

The book is a good read for all thosewho want to get a sense of how cheats aredefrauding India of its limited resourceswithout getting lost in financial jargons(illustrating complex modus operandiwith simple examples will keep even a lay-man engrossed). The policy makers andregulators can also benefit a lot from thesuggestions in the Chapter “Way forward”to handle the increasingly tech-savvy eco-nomic offenders and tax evaders.

The reviewer is a policy analyst

Famous British writer CS Lewis saidthis of literature. “Literature addsto reality, it does not simplydescribe it. It enriches the neces-sary competencies that daily life

requires and provides; and in this respect,it irrigates the deserts that our lives havealready become.” He famously goes on tosay, “We read to know that we are not alone.”Reading, as they say, is a dying art. Andgiven our hectic lifestyles and the increas-ing love for “instant gratification” where theworld is at our “fingertips”, it is indeed achallenge to find the time to pick up a book.Hence, in today’s world, where more andmore people are veering away from theprinted word and preferring to opt for pod-casts and videos instead, it is books like‘Escape from Pakistan’ that remind us of thepleasures of reading and the treasures thatthe printed word hides within itself.

I am not equating the first-time authorDeborah Ann Shea, to the greats of contem-porary non-fiction literature. Far from it!But the fact that she, in her first-effort ever,has churned out a book that is gripping aswell as unputdownable, is a feat that few canaccomplish.

What makes this book so compellingis the fact that it is a labour of love. In theeyes of the author, it is the story of anunsung hero that needed to be told to theworld. It is the first-hand account of a lov-ing daughter’s view of her late father,whom she sees as a hero and the dangersher father Commodore Garnet Milton Sheaor ‘Jack Shea’ as he was more popularlyknown as, faced while deputed in Karachi,Pakistan as Naval Attaché in the IndianHigh Commission in his youth.

It is a fact that India has retained itsindependent state and our military has got-ten the image of being one of the best inthe world, owing to the hard work, intelli-gence, diligence, discipline and sacrifices ofmany officers over the decades. Sadly, savefor a few like Sam ‘Bahadur’ Manekshaw,General Cariappa, 2nd Lieutenant ArunKhetrapal, Captain Vijayant Thapar andCaptain Vikram Batra, our military histo-ry has been an endless saga of one unknownhero after another, just fading into obliv-ion, despite sterling service to the nation.So, it comes as a breath of fresh air thatthrough the efforts of a loving daughter whorefused to let the feat performed by an intre-pid mariner die out, a legendary figure has

emerged. His is a tale that just had to be told.Author Debora Ann Shea has made a

remarkable effort to right the wrongs of thepast and ensure that the hitherto unpubli-cized exploits of Commodore Shea arebrought to life through her book ‘Escapefrom Pakistan.’

“My inspiration for the book came frommy early life. One that was filled withmoments of pure terror! I first thought ofwriting the book as a tribute to my father.Over the years, the book evolved in mymind. When I finally put pen to paper, Iknew that I wanted the book to serve as areminder for all Indians to know andacknowledge the price of freedom that ispaid by our men in uniform, then and now,”Debora told The Pioneer.

The book begins with the personalprice that Captain Shea has to pay for serv-ing his country, when, in infringement ofall diplomatic conventions and treaties,Pakistani hit-men enter the Indian HighCommission in Karachi to jump themariner at a party and leave him for dead.The writer then begins the narrative of whythe attack took place. As the name of thebook suggests, the main plot of the storyrevolves around the daring escape of FrankDewars, the First Secretary in the IndianHigh Commission in Karachi who actual-ly belonged to the Indian Police Service. Hewas crucial in collecting information thatkept the Indian security forces a step aheadof Pakistan throughout the 1965 war.Naturally, the Pakistanis wised up to the factthat someone had helped the Indian mili-tary trounce them by passing sensitiveinformation.

They zeroed in on Frank Dewars andan arrest warrant was issued in his name.However, the Indians got wind of that andthey would have none of it. They decidedto “repatriate” Frank and his family back toIndia before the Pakistanis laid hands onthem.

Everyone knew that the job was fraughtwith risk and the whole operation wouldhave to be meticulously planned else pre-cious lives would be lost or Dewars and hisfamily would be incarcerated in Pakistan.It would also result in a major diplomaticspat between the two neighbours, whoserelations can at best be termed as tenuous.

The Indian High Commissionerordered the mariner to execute the daring‘Escape from Pakistan.’

Shea, who was a Captain back then,outlined an extremely complex and daringoperation and set it in motion with preci-sion and care.

Consequently, Pakistani security guardsfailed to notice Dewars when he left theIndian Mission in Karachi crouchedbetween the back and front seats of a carcovered with a blanket. Relying on

Pakistanis who worked for the Indian intel-ligence, Dewars got into a jeep driven byan Indian, who could pass for a Pathan andspoke Urdu and Punjabi well enough toreach a village close to the Indian border,a distance of 200 km, without arousing sus-picion. If nothing went wrong, the journeywould consume about six hours.

The rest of the book details the daring

attempt at escape and how Dewars ultimate-ly reached India and how Captain Shea thenexecutes the second part of the plan to sendthe entire Dewars family home.

Though it is a well-written and well-researched book, one cannot help but won-der how the writer has revealed it all with-out ruffling many feathers in the PakistaniIntelligence, Defence and diplomatic com-

munity. Because, make no mistake, this isone chapter in their history that thePakistanis would not like to be madeknown.

Deborah recounts: “The difficulty ofwriting the book was to talk about andreveal sensitive information about a neigh-bouring country with whom we do not havegood relations. It comes with a lot of chal-lenges. There is a very uneasy peacebetween our two countries, and both theGovernments are trying to walk a tightrope.So sometimes, silence is the best solution.But on the other hand, the attack and trau-ma that my father underwent in Pakistanshould not go unheard and unrecognised.The people of India must know about thesacrifice made by my father to protect andsave a diplomat and his family. In the finalanalysis, I believe that the truth will alwaysprevail. And I should do the rightful thingby my father. This book is a tribute to him,and for his bravery and courage in the faceof great danger to his life.”

In the final analysis, ‘Escape fromPakistan’ is not just a great story filled withthrill and romance, it is a golden chapterin India’s military history.

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%������#������������&��������������Impact investing has been

constructed around a legiti-mate logic based on a combi-nation of various goals apartfrom the financial ones. Theseare social and environmentalchallenges coupled with per-sonal values. Needless to say,the problems of depletingresources and a plethora ofsocial issues form strong under-pinnings for growing concen-tration in responsible investing.The impact investing ecosystemis a novel innovation across thefinancial world. It has alwaysbeen contemplated if there isthe willingness of acceptinglower returns in exchange forthe larger interest of society, andthe investment decisions oscil-late between negative and pos-itive selections based on envi-ronmental, social, and gover-nance criteria on one side andfinancial returns on the other.This binary view on the trade-off between profit and purpose,however, is misleading asimpact investing adds bothintrinsic and instrumentalvalue. One key tenet is theintroduction of newer actors,most notably private equityfunds/VC funds to invest inresponsible business.

As an expected startingpoint, it may be pointed thatnearly 80% of global investorsaccept their increased focus onsustainability in the last fiveyears. Beyond the buzz ofimpact investing in the recentyears, a look at data also veri-fies the statement. Private equi-ty investors have shown a spe-cial interest in the impactinvesting area in India. Privateequity companies have suc-cessfully built the buy-to-sellmodel. The investors contributemoney to provide strategic aswell as financial input and exitafter making a return of 20-25%in a period of 5-7 years.

With the Governmentannouncing a target of 450 GWof non-fossil energy, there hasbeen the infusion of investorsfocusing on impact investing inIndia. Conventionally investorsworked on a model of risk andreturn which has been replacedby a model of risk, return andimpact. Impact investments dif-fer from pure philanthropy,which implied creating impactwithout expectation of anyreturn.

The focus is now on sus-tainable investments whichwould help to achieve theSustainable DevelopmentGoals (SDGs) by 2030. The UNestimates that for the same,there has to be an investment

of $3.9 trillion annually bydeveloping nations and $1.4trillion by public and privatesectors. The gap of $2.5 trillionis expected to be filled by theimpact investments.

The sector has been inIndia since 2000, but it pickedup after 2005 on the success offinancial inclusion. With themicrofinance crisis in 2010, thesector suffered a setback butsince then it has grown by 8times annually.

Agriculture, education, andhealthcare have seen the high-est number of investments byimpact investors and return fol-lowed by financial services,housing, and skilling sectors.Agriculture employs 70% ofIndia’s rural households out ofwhich around 80% are smallfarmers and impact investmenthas helped to create sustainablebusiness models for farmershelping them to increase theiryields, reduce costs, and havingbetter market linkages. Theagri supply chain has become aprominent area for entrepre-neurship and innovation. In2019, the sector saw a 110%increase in deal amount to $10mn. The healthcare sector haswitnessed investments of $1.1bn with a 173% increase in 2020due to the pandemic and entryof online pharmacy and spe-cialty clinics as well.

The majority of invest-ments in the case of theBanking, Financial Services,and Insurance sector (BFSI)have been in microfinance,payment services, and NBFCsworking in the areas of cleanenergy, financial services, rick-shaw loans, and SME loans.The education industry hasseen large investments in skilldevelopment, vocational train-ing in the English language,financial services offered bycompanies such as ImarticusLearning, etc. Additionally,tutoring, coaching, and equip-ment, which include educa-tional kits for maths and sci-ences, are also popular desti-nations for impact investments.In education, 43 mn youths aregetting affordable and high-quality education from 93 star-tups. With online mode ofeducation that offers a rapidincrease in technology with theability to move to more stu-dents at a low cost, the ed-techsector saw a 225% increase in2018 and 80% in 2019. Therehas been an equal contributionfrom the impact and the com-mercial investors in educa-tion. Waste management andwater treatment are sought-

after avenues in engineeringand construction sector. Withthe plethora of IT-enabled ser-vices coming to the forefront,online services such as motel,B2B marketing portals specif-ically related to HR training,CSR management, logisticsand online marketplace relat-ed to agri commodities, insur-ance, handicrafts consumerand educational loans havebecome popular with investors.

Venture capital has con-tributed to 75% of capital in thehealthcare sector. Impactinvestors have focused on cre-ating quality products in theabove sectors to bring a sus-tainable impact to society.Though the investments havebeen small but high level of busi-ness and technological innova-tion has started and scaled by theimpact investors to help thedevelopment challenges of India.

The above Table 1 showsthe total contribution fromthe impact investors. In edu-cation, impact investors focuson filling the learning level gapsand improving the learninglevels. Due to the change in theonline mode of education in2020, there have been 102deals amounting to $ 515.99million by impact investors.

The average deal size hasincreased from $ 5 million in2010 to $ 17 million in 2019and there have been follow-uprounds of financing for sectorsthat were initially funded byimpact investors. Out of thecomplete $10.8 billion invest-ment in this area, $3.5 billionof private equity and venturecapital investment has beendone, implying the success ofimpact investors in attractingcommercial capital.

Impact investment hasattracted venture capital whichdiffers region-wise in India. Inthe southern region of India,there are a large number ofdeals but with less enterprisevalue. High enterprise valuedeals are less as the plot tapesat the top. Companies havinghigh enterprise value are morein the west and the north com-pared to the south and the east.

Investments made partic-ularly in the core impact areassuch as agribusiness and BFSIhappen primarily at the earlystage and are a popular havenfor investment even for foreigninvestors as well. MaximumIndia dedicated investmentshappen in the education sectorat all stages -- early, growth andlate. Another popular impactarea for foreign investors isenergy where the majority offinancing happens at a laterstage rather than early.

Several private equity fundshave started purchasing impactinvestment platforms or havestarted their own impact invest-ment arms. From 2011-2021,there have been private equityinvestments of $8700.67 millionacross 526 companies in India.Microfinance and NBFCs havebeen popular with investors forextending micro-credit to ser-vice a large chunk of rural com-munities and people in lower-income groups without collat-erals. It sweeps the highestinvestment of nearly �29,187crore among all the industries.In the decade of mushroomingE-commerce websites and anever-increasing pool of digitaltalent, the country’s core com-petencies have strengthenedresulting in higher investmentin the ITES industry.

Successful exits are animportant component of a pri-vate equity deal. For impactinvestors, it is important tosafeguard the company post theexit. When a private equitycompany exits, there are severalrisks associated like driftingfrom the mission and businessfailure. To mitigate these risks,the investors must exit respon-sibly. Impact investors incor-porate various methodsthroughout the lifecycle tocontinue their impact evenafter they exit the investment.At the time of investment,aligning with the co-investorson the growth strategy ofimpact and usage of languageemphasising impact should beincorporated in the legal doc-uments. Instilling positive poli-cies and practices like those of

sourcing raw materials, cus-tomer service and governingemployment should be takencare of. At the time of exit, it isimportant to select the rightbuyer so that the companycan have continued access tothe network, knowledge, andthe right resources and keepgrowing along with a sustainedimpact. Every exit made by animpact investor is a steptowards improving the impactinvestor model. In the lastdecade, microfinance saw themaximum exits demonstratingthat it is possible to have attrac-tive exits outside the financialservices sector. Post-Covid era,technology-led impact invest-ing has provided healthy finan-cial returns. Though the sectorhas seen promising newerinvestments, the global Covid19 pandemic saw a slump inthe number of exits in 2020.Impact investors contributethe “patience capital” whichcan have an exit period morethan the traditional PrivateEquity and Venture Capitalinvestment. Exits saw a pauseas valuations, projections, andassumptions during this peri-od were questionable as com-panies had to exit at lesser mul-tiples. Though the pandemichas given considerable value tocore areas of impact invest-ments like technology enable-ment, digital health, onlineeducation but the benefitswould be seen in the form ofrevenue multiples in the next 4-5 years. Post-Covid, impactinvesting is expected to becomemainstream, and more tech-nology-led. Private Equityand Venture Capital investorshave $5trillion of dry powderwhich would be deployed inimpact investments as well.

As a promising tool forphilanthropists and investors,impact investing intends togenerate social and financial

returns. Impact investing hasbecome an important compo-nent towards the area ofresearch in management,finance, human resources, etc.

The sustainable develop-ment goals launched in 2015were a successor to theMillennium development goalsto determine the social andenvironmental impact of aninvestment. The UnitedNations invited companies andfinancial institutions to con-tribute to achieving these goals.Impact investments supportthe SDG in providing socialoutcomes (reduction of envi-ronmental degradation,employee engagement, etc) andhelping in the reduction ofpoverty and climate change.

Impact investing wouldhelp India in exporting itssocial enterprise models tocountries that are developing aswell help in poverty reductionand provide inclusive growth inan environmentally sustain-able manner. An organisationcan measure its impact invest-ing status based on the outputimpact on the planet (envi-ronmental sustainability),impact on people (suppliersand customers), and if thepurpose has been fulfilled.

Further, one of the com-ponents of impact investingcan be investing and empow-ering women. Studies havefound out that women-ledcompanies find difficulty inhaving access to a traditionalform of finances as well as gath-ering funds from venture cap-italists. Impact investing canhelp women look for moreopportunities to differentiatethemselves by getting a goodamount of finance. Impactinvesting not only helps in thereduction of poverty, impactinvesting model helps in train-ing rural women in soft skillsso that they can earn an income

and live life with more confi-dence.This outlines the bene-fit of impact investing in reduc-ing gender diversity and help-ing women to live a better life.

There are ethical dimen-sions to impact inveting as well.Impact investing has also givenrise to a new concept “impactwashing” where the investorsdoubt the integrity of theclaims that are being made.Transparency, measurement,and impact are important con-cepts to establish the growth ofimpact investing. As manyinvestment managers are mak-ing impact investing and ESGas an acronym to make poten-tial financial returns than socialreturns. Another side is theimportance of impact investingto fill the fund requirement gapcreated during the Covid 19pandemic.

In the last ten years, Indiahas raised $10.8 bn impacting586 enterprises and 490 millionpeople. There has been a jumpof 26% CAGR from $32 million.to $2.7 bn. The average deal sizefor the impact investing areatripled from $5million to $17million. India needs $2.64 tril-lion by 2030 to meet the targetsof Sustainable DevelopmentGoals (SDGs). The pool ofassets globally having impactinvesting funding is $35 trillion.Government, philanthropiccapital is not enough to meet theneed for funds so private equi-ty and venture capital investorshave to become an integralpart to provide the requisite cap-ital to such firms.

(Sakshi Sharma is AssistantProfessor, Atal Bihari VajpayeeSchool of Management andEntrepreneurship, JawaharlalNehru University, New Delhi;and Kunjana Malik is AssistantProfessor of Finance, Vijay PatilSchool of Management, DYPatil University, Mumbai)

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The military in Sudan hasorchestrated a quiet coup.

It took control of the countryfrom the transitionalGovernment of Prime MinisterAbdalla Hamdok and arrestedhim on the early hours ofOctober 25, dissolving theCabinet by announcing a stateof emergency.

Meanwhile, the military-civilian Sovereignty Council, atemporary government, hasbecome dysfunctional. Franklyspeaking, the coup is the latestto have struck the poverty-stricken country that has expe-rienced only rare democraticinterludes since itsIndependence in 1956.

Sudan is no stranger tosuch military coups. Its formermilitary ruler Omar Hassan al-Bashir led a quiet coup in1989 and ruled the countrysince then till 2019 for almostthree decades when he wasousted by a similar coup.

After the exit of Bashir andhis party called NationalCongress Party (NCP) in 2019,since then Sudan has been ruledby the Sovereignty Council untilthe very recent coup orches-trated by current Army ChiefAbdel Fattah al-Burhan.

The transitional govern-ment had been sluggish inenacting reforms and showedlittle concern about basic rightsand freedoms. The securityagents and cronies of the Bashirera have always remained influ-ential in the last two years.Violence involving the armedforces, gangs and rival ethnicgroups persist in many parts of

the country. In 2020, the coun-try suffered serious chaos andemerged from the Covid-19. ByOctober last year, theTransitional Government head-ed by the Transitional SovereignCouncil (TSC) signed the his-toric Juba Peace Agreementwith an alliance of rival groups.The deal included provisions forthe integration of rebel fightersinto the security forces, powersharing allocations and com-mitments to address economicmarginalisation.

It also postponed nationalelections till 2024. It could bea great opportunity for the cur-rent military dispensation todeepen its influence and ruleeven beyond 2024.

What surprised the inter-national community was thatin February 2020, the TSCmade it clear that formerPresident Bashir should facecharges of genocide and warcrimes. Afterwards, in Julythat year the transitional gov-ernment replaced several mil-itary governors with civilianemployees. Further, it replacedmany repressive laws that hadparticularly affected the rightsof women and members of reli-gious minority groups.

Citizens across Sudan havecontinued their protests over arange of issues, including slowpace of reforms, and brutalityof the security forces particu-

larly the use of live ammuni-tions in many areas. But it hasto be noted that the rate of vio-lence had been much lowerthan it used to be in the imme-diate aftermath of the removalof dictator Bashir in 2019.

And the year 2021 has notbeen peaceful and the civiliangroups have continued theirstruggle so as to revive thedemand for a democratic gov-ernment in the country.

Ironically, Burhan - whowas the head of the SovereigntyCouncil - is justifying the mil-itary takeover of Sudan.

To him, the country inNortheast Africa - the thirdlargest country in the Africancontinent only after Algeriaand the Democratic Republicof the Congo, and the sixteenthlargest nation in the world -was headed for a civil war andhence the army interventionwas needed to save it from falling into chaos anddestruction.

Sudan’s just deposed fledg-ling civilian military govern-ment was the last hope both forAfrica and the Arab worldsince the ouster of Bashir.Indeed, last month saw anunsuccessful coup attempt bythe supporters of Bashir. Eventhe first sign of the coup cameto public when Prime MinisterHamdok suddenly disap-peared. The military first asked

him to endorse the coup andwhen he refused, he was takento an undisclosed destination.

The coup came just weeksbefore the military was sup-posed to hand over power tothe civilian government.According to the originalagreement signed with theForces of Freedom and Changein August 2019, Burhan wasnamed the TSC’s chair for a 21-month period, after which acivilian head would lead theCouncil for 18-months.

Interestingly, when thetime of civilian takeover came,the military swung into action.The saddest part of the deal isthat the army has always had anedge over the civilian func-tionaries of the TSC. Andfinally, the army has takenover by citing the security rea-sons and impending civil warin the country. Washingtontried to avert the chaos inKhartoum by sending a specialenvoy Jeffrey Feltman.

Today, the populardemand is that the militaryshould transfer power back tothe democratic government.Meanwhile, Sudan’s mainopposition coalition, the Forcesof Freedom and Change pressed for civil dis-obedience and protests acrossthe country.

The current military couphas invited criticism from dif-

ferent quarters of the world.UN Secretary General AntonioGuterres called for immediaterelease of Hamdok and otherofficials deposed by the army.He said, “I condemn the mili-tary coup in Sudan. PrimeMinister Hamdok and all otherofficials must be releasedimmediately. There must be fullrespect for the constitutionalcharter to protect the hard-wonpolitical transition. The UNwill continue to stand with thepeople of Sudan.”

It shows his concern butthere is hardly any possibilitythat the military will listen tohis appeal. Again the US StateDepartment spokesperson Ned Price urged the Sudanesearmy to restore the civilian government.

But the worst what thepeople of Sudan will face in apandemic hit economy is thecancellation of USD 700 mil-lion meant for economic sup-port to the country. In fact, thisfund was made available tosupport the democratic transi-tion of Sudan in the post-Bashir removal.

The UN Security Council(UNSC) has called on the mil-itary to restore the civilian gov-ernment. After the UNSC state-ment, US President Biden saidhis nation stood with thedemonstrators. He said,“Together, our message to mil-

itary authorities is overwhelm-ing and clear: the Sudanesepeople must be allowed toprotest peacefully and the civil-ian-led transitional govern-ment must be restored.”

At this moment, America’ssolidarity with the street pro-testers have made it clear thatit would be really difficult forthe military to continue itsunabated rule for a longerperiod of time.

EU foreign policy chiefJoseph Borrell said in a state-ment that violence and blood-shed should be avoided at allcosts in Sudan. The UnitedKingdom said the militarycoup in Sudan was an unac-ceptable betrayal of theSudanese people and calledon security forces there torelease Hamdok. The SecretaryGeneral of the Arab Leagueurged all parties to fully abideby the constitutional declara-tion signed in August 2019 thathad aimed to pave the way fora transition to civilian rule anddemocratic elections.

The African Union hasfinally suspended Sudan’smembership from the elitebody over what the organisa-tion termed it as unconstitu-tional takeover.

Sudan’s future is bleak.Only constant in the country’srecent history is internecineviolence. The common

Sudanese feel that thegrimmest days are ahead. Theprotesters in the capital cityKhartoum are demanding therestoration of the civilian gov-ernment of Hamdok though itwas not very effective. Butwith him about to take over asthe head of the TSC, peoplewere expecting a permanentrelief from the military rulethat continued in the countrysince 1989.

The role of the civilianleaders in the TSC has longreceded much before the coup.This is how the generals havemaintained their long-heldgrip over administration inthe country.

The bottom-line is thatSudan’s challenge to authori-tarianism should continue. Theglobal governance institutionsshould do more than just issu-ing statements. Else, GeneralBurhan may turn out to beanother Bashir.

(Dr Makhan Saikia hastaught political science andinternational relations for overa decade in institutions ofnational and internationalrepute after specialisation inglobalisation and governancefrom Tata Institute of SocialSciences, Mumbai. He is thechief editor of the Journal ofGlobal Studies, an internation-al research journal)

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Iwish the readers a very happy Diwaliand a prosperous year ahead. On thissolemn occasion, people in most

parts of India offer prayers to MotherGoddess Lakshmi, the one personified ofwealth and prosperity. The purpose is tobe well geared up to rekindle the creativespirit to not simply meet one’s existentialneeds but also for fulfilment of aspira-tional urges. Bear in mind, nothingcomes without intelligently and spiritedlyputting in efforts, nor would it happenwithout meeting challenges in the way.Accordingly, one needs to be alertenough to grab opportunities comingour way well in time. Also, visualise andnegotiate challenges faced and with easeand comfort.

As the legend runs, Lord Shri Ramdefeated Ravana and his demonic forceson Vijaya Dashami day. Following which,he reached Ayodhya on Diwali day aftercompletion of his 14 years of exile. Togreet Shri Rama and his entourage, thecitizens of Ayodhya lighted the darkestnight of the year with earthen lamps.Apart from commemorating that event,this solemn occasion has a symbolic sig-nificance. We need to transgress theignorance of mind and get enlightened

through conscious endeavour.In Bengal, and the adjoining parts of

Eastern India, however, people worshipGoddess Kali on this occasion. She isperceived in a cremation ground in arunning mode, having one leg set onLord Shiva’s body lying in a corpse pose,and the other behind. She is shownnaked and dark like a threatening raincloud, which means she is beyond ourcomprehension, with the space as Herapparel. She is presented sporting a gar-land made of 50 chopped human heads,with lower parts covered by humanhands stringed together. Lord Shiva heresymbolises the primordial source carry-ing the seeds of creation, originally in astate of rest. It is as if Kali gets goingpicking up the essence of life from LordSiva, to manifest into the phenomenalworld with all its enormity and diversity.

In Fact, Shiva and Kali are nothingbut the twin aspects of one and the same(a Singularity) — He as the RadicalPotential and She as His projection, thekinetic side. She, as the carrier of thetranscendental consciousness (yet not inactive play) — the seed, the cause andsource of all creation — is the“Immanent” aspect of Consciousness,

who transforms the seeds into fruits.It is something like the Sea, which by

itself is still and changeless, out of whichemerge self-caused tidal waves with all itsfury. Once the tidal waves revert back tothe primary source, the sea surface onceagain becomes calm and clearly visible.The waves though seemingly lookingseparated from the sea, have actually noidentity of their own, differentiated fromthe ocean. Similarly, Kali’s identity is notto be seen differentiated from Shiva. Nordo the manifest live existences have iden-tity, independent of the two modes ofconsciousness either.

The whole scene set in a cremationground means closure of all Karmicduties and obligations, as would thechopped hands symbolise. There thenremains no scope for the sense of desiresand ego to exist, as is symbolised by thechopped heads forming Her garland.Similarly, the Universe in motion is sup-posed to close up one day bringing toend the world play of names and forms,when Kali withdraws the life forces untoHerself. With that obviously Kala (therun of time) too comes to the end of itscycle. The fact that She the Creatress,also the Devourest, withdraws Kala unto

Herself, is thus named Kali. Again, out ofthe seeds of creation left behind, a newuniverse emerges. Life cycle, thus, keepsrunning in succession.

It is interesting to note here thatwhen the primordial source, originally inan equilibrated state gets stirred upbecause of the causal stress, the corre-sponding sound arising thereto is O?That is followed by secondary waves ofenergy trinity — Sata, Rajasa andTamasa. Further as a sequel to randommutation of the three, multiple energy-streams emerge. Out of them, supposedly50 sound notes corresponding to the var-ied energy streams, are audible to humanears, that are symbolised by the garlandmade of 50 chopped heads that Kalisports. These sound notes which in spo-ken and written terms, are symbolised by50 alphabets of Sanskrit language. So,even the language in use, in terms ofIndian philosophic perception, owes itsgenesis to that very Singularity, whichremains the source and effective cause ofthe manifest plural world.

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