9 killed as boulders hit vehicle following Himachal landslip

CMYK

A ND-NDE

monday, july 26, 2021 Delhi

City Edition

14 pages O ₹�10.00

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India, China likely to

reach a deal on Gogra,

Hot Springs soon

Page 9

PM Narendra Modi

calls for a ‘unite India

movement’

Page 10

Bhuvneshwar,

Suryakumar help India

go 1-0 up in T20I series

Page 13

Manika causes an upset;

Sindhu and Mary Kom

register wins

Page 13

EDUCATION PLUS A PAGE 3

Nine tourists were killed after heavy boulders fell ontheir van following a landslipnear Basteri in Kinnaur district of Himachal Pradesh onSunday.

Multiple landslips triggered by recent rain occurred near Basteri on theSanglaChitkul road at 1.25p.m., resulting in a bridgecollapse and damage tosome vehicles, the policesaid. A video of the incident,which has gone viral on social media, shows severalboulders rolling downhilland smashing into thebridge, causing it to collapse.

According to the police,nine persons died and twowere injured after heavyboulders fell on the van. Thepassengers were going toSangla from Chitkul.

In a similar incident, apedestrian was injured inanother landslip in Kinnaurdistrict, they added.

President Ram Nath Kovind and Prime Minister Narendra Modi expressed condolences over the death ofpeople due to the landslipsin Kinnaur.

“Deeply saddened by thenews of the death of manypeople in a landslip in Kin

naur, Himachal Pradesh. Express my deepest condolences to the bereavedfamilies and wish the injuredpeople a speedy recovery,”Mr. Kovind tweeted in Hindi.

Mr. Modi said all arrangements were being made forthe treatment of those injured and announced an exgratia of ₹�2 lakh each for thenext of kin of the deceasedand ₹�50,000 to the injuredfrom the Prime Minister’sNational Relief Fund.

Chief Minister Jai RamThakur also expressed griefover the deaths, and askedthe district administration tocarry out immediate reliefand rescue operations.

9 killed as boulders hit vehiclefollowing Himachal landslipBridge in Kinnaurdistrict collapsesdue to impactPress Trust of India

Shimla

Disaster site: The collapsed bridge seen after multiple boulders hit it during a landslip atBasteri in Kinnaur district of Himachal Pradesh on Sunday. * PTI

The number of “excessdeaths” registered by the Civil Registration System (CRS)in West Bengal ever since theCOVID19 pandemic hit(from April 2020 to May2021) was an estimated1,20,227, which is 11.1 timesthe offi�cial reported fi�gure of10,787 deaths for the sameperiod.

Five districts — Darjeeling, Jhargram, Kalimpong,North 24 Parganas and Paschim Medinipur — were notconsidered for this analysisas either the online registration data was incomplete forall years (Darjeeling and Kalimpong) or for some years,2018, in particular ( Jhargram, North 24 Parganasand Paschim Medinipur).

The high multiple of excess deaths over the COVID19 toll was a characteristic of both the fi�rst wave in2020 and the more lethal second wave in 2021.

The “excess deaths” fi�gure for April to December2020 of 64,520 was 9.4times the COVID19 toll(6,833) while the same for2021 (55,207) was 14.1 timesthe COVID19 toll (10,787).

In April and May 2021alone — a period that coincided with election in theState — there were 51,353“excess deaths”, 14.4 timesthe offi�cial COVID19 death

toll of 5,212 in these districts.The overall COVID19

death toll for all 23 districtstill May 31, 2021, was 15,536,which increased to 18,073 onJuly 25.

The fi�gures were arrivedat from data on deaths registered monthwise in the online Civil Registration System from January 2018 toMay 2021 in West Bengal andaccessed by The Hindu. Datafor Kolkata was added to thetally from the Kolkata Municipal Corporation fi�gures.

As with other States, notall excess deaths could be related to COVID19 but a bulkof them will be during the

pandemic period. The estimated under

count factor of 11.1 for theState (without fi�ve districtsin the analysis) is higherthan the factor for Statessuch as Haryana (7.3), TamilNadu (6.4 adjusted to 4.4 ifCRS COVID19 tally is considered), Karnataka (4.3) andKerala (0.42 based on reconciled COVID19 tally) but islower than that for MadhyaPradesh (23.8) and AndhraPradesh (17.9) if the same baseline is considered (deathsregistered in 2018 and 2019).

Excess deaths in West Bengal11 times offi�cial COVID19 tallyDiff�erence in numbers seen in both fi�rst and second wave

Srinivasan Ramani

Chennai

HIGHER IN RURAL AREAS A PAGE 8

MORE REPORTS A PAGE 10

The Delhi Metro and citybuses will run at ‘100% seating capacity’ from Monday,after the Delhi governmenteased some COVID19 restrictions. However, longqueues outside metro stations and bus stops duringpeak hours are likely to continue as passengers will notbe permitted to stand insidebuses or metro coaches.

Confusion over new rulesThe Delhi Metro on Sundayclarifi�ed that only 50 passengers will be allowed to sit ineach coach and entry to stations would continue to beregulated. Several sectionsof the public are under theimpression that the metrowill be operating at 100% capacity — this is not the case,the Delhi Metro Rail Corporation said in a statement.

“The DMRC would like tomake it clear that from Mon

day, a maximum of 50 passengers per coach are permitted, as against 300 priorto COVID19. As a result,though queues outside stations may slightly reduce,they might still be there during peak hours,” it said.

The DMRC appealed tothe public to travel by metro

only when absolutely necessary and to observe all COVIDrelated travel protocols.

A notifi�cation issued bythe Delhi Disaster Management Authority on Saturdayhad said that metro trainscan operate at “100% seatingcapacity of the coach”, butspecifi�ed that standing travel

is not permitted.Standing travel comprises

around 80% of the total capacity of each coach.

Since the resumption ofmetro services following relaxation of lockdown normsin the Capital, commuterswere permitted to sit on alternate seats and standingtravel was not permitted.

At 50% seating capacity,25 people could travel ineach coach. Under the revised rules, around 50 passengers can sit in one coach.

17-20% coach capacityWith standing travel stillbarred, metro trains will beable to utilise only 1720% oftheir coach capacity.

According to sources, aneightcoach metro train canaccommodate around 2,400passengers. With the revisedguidelines, an eightcoachtrain will be able to accommodate 400 passengers seated next to each other.

Metro, buses to allow only sitting travelDMRC issues clarifi�cation, says only 50 passengers will be allowed in each coach

Special Correspondent

NEW DELHI

A long queue of commuters outside the Adarsh Nagar metrostation in Delhi. * FILE PHOTO: SUSHIL KUMAR VERMA

Readying up: A worker sprays disinfectant to sanitise seats at a cinema hall in Delhi on Sunday. Theatres in the Capital havebeen permitted to reopen at 50% seating capacity from Monday. * R.V. MOORTHY

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It’s showtime!

In a major diplomatictriumph, the 13th centuryRamappa temple inPalampet, Telangana, wasdeclared as a UNESCOWorld Heritage Site onSunday. At the ongoingonline meeting of the WorldHeritage Committee (WHC)in Fuzhou, China, thedecision was reached after aconsensus, with Norwayopposing the inscriptionwhile Russia led an eff�ort forthe immediate inscription ofthe temple at 4.36 p.m. IST.

A consensus with 17countries backing the moveensured the inscription.

The nomination for aWorld Heritage Site for theRamappa and Kakatiyatemples was made in 2014.The site was in thereckoning for inscription in2020 but the WHC meeting

was delayed by theCOVID19 pandemic.

Built by RacherlaSenapati Rudrayya, ageneral of Kakatiya kingGanapatideva, in the 13thcentury, the main temple isfl�anked by the collapsedstructures of theKateshwarayya and

Kameshwarayya temples inPalampet, about 220 kmfrom Hyderabad.

The temple, known for itsexquisite craftsmanship anddelicate relief work, is asavvy blend of technicalknowhow and materials ofits time. The foundation isbuilt with the “sandbox

technique”, the fl�ooring isgranite and the pillars arebasalt. The lower part of thetemple is red sandstonewhile the white gopuram isbuilt with light bricks thatreportedly fl�oat on water.

Earlier, the InternationalCouncil on Monuments andSites (ICOMOS) cited nineshortcomings at the siteafter an initial visit in 2019,but on Sunday a majorityveered round to India’s viewabout the site’s outstandinguniversal value.

Norway was the onlycountry which opposed themove citing ICOMOS’sconclusion.

India mounted adiplomatic off�ensive toensure the World HeritageSite status for the Ramappatemple by reaching out toother countries whoserepresentatives were to voteon the proposal.

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Telangana temple gets World Heritage tag

Serish Nanisetti

Hyderabad

In a diplomatic triumph, 17 countries back India’s proposal despite ICOMOS verdict

Valuable site: The Ramappa temple in Palampet is known forits exquisite craftsmanship. * SPECIAL ARRANGEMENT

Rajya Sabha member JohnBrittas has moved the Supreme Court for a courtmonitored investigation intoallegations of snooping onactivists, politicians, journalists and constitutionalfunctionaries using the Israeli spyware Pegasus.

The parliamentarian saidthe government’s responsein the House to the allegations was “evasive”.

Mr. Brittas, a CommunistParty of India (Marxist) MP,said allegations pointed to a“critical invasion into privacy”. It actually amounted toa “cyberattack” on citizens.He termed Pegasus a “weapon” used to “hack” intoprivate smartphones tocause a chilling eff�ect on free

speech and expression. So far, the MP said the on

ly response from the Centrewas a statement by IT Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw in theRajya Sabha that “timetested processes in our countryare wellestablished to ensure that unauthorised surveillance does not occur”.

Mr. Brittas asked thecourt whether the statementmeant if the surveillancewas authorised by the government. If so, the MPasked, were the proceduresunder the Indian TelegraphAct, Information Technology (Amendment) Act, Section 92 of Code of CriminalProcedure and the IndianTelegraph Rules for “lawfulinterception” followed.

CPI(M) MP moves SC forprobe into snoopingGovt. response evasive, says Brittas

Legal Correspondent

New Delhi

CONTINUED ON A PAGE 8

There is no substitute fordialogue, says FarooqSRINAGAR

National Conference

president Farooq Abdullah on

Sunday said there was no

substitute for dialogue and

called upon India and

Pakistan “to be consistent,

coherent and serious in their

nascent engagement”.

NEWS A PAGE 9

DDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDD

NEARBY

Agencies put on alert fordrone attacks on IDayNEW DELHI

After a recent drone attack in

Jammu and several other

instances of drones entering

prohibited zones, the

Ministry of Home Aff�airs has

instructed all security

agencies to be extra vigilant

about such fl�ying objects

ahead of Independence Day

celebrations.

CITY A PAGE 2


Rajasthan reshuffl�e putoff� as standoff� continuesJAIPUR

The expectations of an early

Cabinet reshuffl�e in Rajasthan

turned out to be a damp squib

with senior Congress leaders

on Sunday leaving the

decision to the party’s central

leadership. AICC members

returned to Delhi as Chief

Minister Ashok Gehlot

refused to act under pressure.

NEWS A PAGE 8


Maharashtra Chief MinisterUddhav Thackeray, who visited fl�ooded Chiplun in theKonkan on Sunday, said hewould request the Centre topermanently station National Disaster Response Force(NDRF) teams in the State’sdisasterprone districts totackle rainrelated calamities.

Amid uncertainty overexact fi�gures, sources esti

mated that the death toll inthe State had risen to nearly130 with the recovery ofnine more bodies in Taliyevillage in Mahad (taking thetoll there to 45) and sevenmore in Posare village ofRatnagiri district. Around80100 persons (includingmore than 30 in Taliye) arestill believed to be missing inthe fl�oodhit districts, including Raigad and Khed.

Uddhav for posting NDRF teams in high-risk areas Staff reporter

Pune


Suspense continued in Karnataka over a possible leadership change in the government, on the eve of theB.S. Yediyurappaled BJPgovernment completingtwo years in power on Monday, as the party high command did not send themuchanticipated “message” till late on Sunday.

Mr. Yediyurappa, meanwhile, reiterated that hewas expecting a messagelatest by Monday and would“work till the last minute”and step down if asked to.

The presence of someChief Ministerhopefuls inDelhi, including MurugeshNirani and Aravind Bellad,added to the air of uncertainty. The Chief Minister’s

son, B.Y. Vijayendra, has also been camping in Delhifor the past three days.

Mr. Yediyurappa meanwhile was away from thecapital Bengaluru, inspecting the fl�oodhit district ofBelagavi.

Suspense continues overKarnataka leadership rowNo message from high command: CM

Karnataka Bureau

Bengaluru

B.S. Yediyurappa


SEERS BACK CM A PAGE 5

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DELHI THE HINDU

MONDAY, JULY 26, 20212EEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE

CMYK

A ND-NDE

“We are not going toleave this place,not until the go

vernment makes an arrangementfor us. We have lost all our savings and now have nowhere togo,” says Vijay Prajapati, 35, a daily wager, staying at Khori Bastifor over a decade.

The local municipal body, following the directions of the Supreme Court a month ago, hasrazed a majority of the houses inthis 170acre colony spreadacross Delhi and Haryana on theforest land. Most of its inhabitants — the migrants from acrossthe country engaged in menialjobs — have covered the remnantsof their partially demolishedhomes with plastic covers to continue to live in them and are reluctant to leave.

Families with elderly members, pregnant women and evennewborns are determined to stayput under the open sky with theintermittent rain leaving theirclothes and beddings drenchedand power and water supplysnapped for almost a month now.

“We have a little choice,” saysRaman Chaudhary, a native of Bihar, who too lost his home in thedemolition drive four days ago,but decided to stay back with hisfamily, including aged parents,wife and two children. He says hehad bought the plot for ₹�1.5 lakhmore than two decades ago, andnow staying in tents on the sameplot.

Chander Shah, a painter, saysthat most of the people in this colony have been jobless for over ayear due to the pandemic and areon the verge of starvation. “Wewould prefer to die here than tomove out. Had we encroachedupon the land, we would nothave felt thepain. But wehad bought itwith our hardearned money,”he adds.

Habiba Parvin, 27, alleges thatthe police did not even allowthem enough time to removetheir belongings and demolishedtheir home and shop. She saysthat her husband, when protested, was arrested on charges ofpreventing the government offi�cials from discharging their duty.Her family has been staying in thecolony for two decades now andrecently bought another 120 sq mplot for ₹�5 lakh.

“My husband isin jail. I have allmy belongings. Iam the most unfortunate,” saysHabiba.

Many haverented rooms

in theneighbouringcoloniesto shift

their expensive belongings, suchas television and refrigerators,but continue to stay in the colonywith bare minimum essentials.

Sitting amid the rubble of herhome with her belongingspushed under a plastic coverhung across a wooden plank toresemble an improvised tent,Bimlesh breaks down and saysthat the trees that they had plant

ed and raised are their only companions in this time of adversity.“No one has come to help us.Neither the administration northe netas [politicians]. Thesetrees are our lone companions offering us shelter and shade,” saysthe 48yearold, adding that theyhad been surviving only on teaand bread for a couple of days.

Her husband Bhola Singh, a

private security guard, adds thatat least one member of the familywould continue to stay at the siteof their demolished home evenafter they move to a rented room.

Rehabilitation policy The couple had gone to the campto apply for the government’srehabilitation policy for the Haryana residents but did not havethe requisite documents. Bimlesh holds a voter identity cardfor Haryana, but her husbandand son have identity proofs forDelhi.

“The staff� at the camp told usthat the entire family should havethe identity cards for Haryana. Idon’t think the government willfi�nd more than 700800 peopleeligible for the policy after thescrutiny,” says Bhola.

But not many seem enthusiastic about the government’s rehabilitation policy for diff�erent rea

sons. Though Bimlesh and herhusband went to apply for thefl�ats off�ered under the policy, thecouple said that it was diffi�cult tofi�nd any work in its neighbourhood.

“The Dabua colony, where thefl�ats are located, is around 15 kmfrom here. There are no jobs fordailywagers in that area. Youneed to have a twowheeler tocommute for work,” says Bhola.

Chander says the rehabilitation policy is nothing but an attempt by the government to“loot” them by off�ering morethan a decade old fl�ats in ruins.He says the government is tryingto “extort” money from the poorby selling off� its fl�ats in the nameof rehabilitation and make themtenants for another 15 years.

“Instead of the fl�ats, we wouldprefer the government to compensate us monetarily for ourloss,” suggests Bhola.

KHORI RESIDENTSSTAY PUT ON THEDEBRIS, WAIT FORGOVERNMENT HELP

Most people in thearea are migrantsfrom across Indiadoing menial jobs

Families in Khori Basti after the local municipal body razed a majorityof their houses in the 170-acre colony. * SHIV KUMAR PUSHPAKAR

Ashok Kumar

FARIDABAD

After a recent drone attack inJammu and several other instances of drones enteringprohibited zones, the Ministry of Home Aff�airs (MHA) instructed all security agenciesto be extra vigilant about suchfl�ying objects ahead of Independence Day celebrations.

The MHA has orderedstricter adherence to theStandard Operating Procedure (SoP) that was framed tohandle threats from SubConventional Aerial Platformslike drones, paragliders, microlight aircraft, hotair balloons etc. The order details aset of preventive measures tobe taken by all district DCPs,precautions while shootingdown any SubConventionalAerial Platforms and if the fl�ying object try to land near therampart of Red Fort.

“We have identifi�ed thebuildings near Red Fortwhere policemen with long

range weapons will be deployed to shoot down any fl�ying object approaching restricted space,” said a policeoffi�cer.

The SoP mentioned shooting the object if it tries to gonear the sensitive area. Itreads that if any object approaches the sensitive area,then wave a red fl�ag to drawits attention and indicate it toland at a safe distance awayfrom the vital installation orsensitive area. Shout on theloud hailer to draw its attention and instruct it to land immediately, failing which it willbe shot down. The orderstates that if it does not followthe instructions, and there isno time to seek instructionsfrom superior offi�cers or seekclarifi�cation from the IndianAir Force agencies, the security personnel may shoot at itwith the intention to decapacitate the individual/aerialvehicle.

In the SoP, DCP of North

District — under whose jurisdiction Red Fort falls — mayidentify building’s rooftopsfrom where the entire aerialview of the district can beseen. Watchers should be deployed on these rooftops.

Trained manpower onrooftops around the sensitivelocations and on the route ofVVIP movements to preventanybody from taking off� fromsuch platforms, read theorder.

These personnel shall beequipped with wireless sets,binoculars, red fl�ag mountedon a stick and a loud hailer.

“Each identifi�ed rooftop

watcher should be accompanied by welltrained policemarksmen equipped with alongrange weapon to bringdown the fl�ying object, if required,” it reads. The otherdistrict DCPs have been instructed for special patrollingparticularly in the rural areasof Delhi, long stretches oflesserused roads and bridges, large grounds to keep awatch on any such attemptsof fl�ying Para Motors.

IAF is responsible to identify between ‘friendly’ and ‘unknown’ airborne objects andinitiate appropriate ‘tacticalaction’ to destroy the object,if it is declared ‘hostile’, theSOP reads.

It instructs district DCPs toactivate human intelligenceas it is the most reliable wayto prevent such an attack.Beat constables should betrained to deal with such objects when they see it in theair or near vital installations/sensitive areas.

Ahead of IDay, MHA orders strictvigilance to prevent drone attackOrder details set of preventive measures to be taken by all district DCPs

SAURABH TRIVEDI

NEW DELHI <> We have identifi�ed

the buildings near

Red Fort where

policemen will be

deployed to shoot

down fl�ying object

approaching

restricted space

Police officer

Nine people have been arrested for allegedly looting a businessman of ₹�30lakh in northwest Delhi’sPitampura, the policesaid on Sunday.

The fi�ve men involvedin the dacoity — Rajat (21),Santosh (24), Deepak(23), Parvez Siddiqui (24)and Sameer (25) — havebeen arrested along withthe four conspirators —Zafar (25), Rakesh (26),Vikas (26) and Sumit (21),they said.

The entire cash hasbeen recovered.

The incident happenedon July 5 when ParveenJain and his two otherstaff�ers were present attheir offi�ce. At 2.30 p.m.,four unknown men entered his offi�ce on the pretext of checking rice samples and took cash andmobile phones fromthem at gunpoint. Next,they sped off� onmotorcycles.

CCTV footageThe incident was captured on CCTV camera.On analysing the CCTVcameras installed at theroutes taken by them, thepolice said they found outthat the accused hadcome from Kirari, Suleman Nagar side.

The police noted theregistration numbers ofthe two motorcycles usedin the commission ofcrime.

Deputy Commissionerof Police (NorthWest)Usha Rangnani saidthrough local intelligence, accused Vikas andSumit were arrested, andthe two motorcycles wererecovered. Next, the restof the accused were held.

The police said fourknives and a countrymade pistol along withtwo live cartridges werealso recovered from theirpossession.

Nine held forlooting man of ₹�30 lakh

STAFF REPORTER

NEW DELHI A call centre racket was busted and 12 people were arrested for allegedly duping over100 job seekers by promisingthem employment in a private airline, the police said onSunday.

Surjeet (24) and his accomplice Sundaram Gupta(25) set up the illegal callcentre on the third fl�oor of acommercial building in Ghazipur village.

They also hired 10 employees on monthly salariesranging from₹�6,000₹�9,000.

The police initiated aprobe following a complaintfrom Indigo that stated manypeople were being cheatedin the name of getting employed in their airline.

The police claimed the accused duped hundreds of people mainly from south India, Bihar, Uttar Pradesh andUttrakhand. The accused also gave them forged appointment letters of Indigo Airlines and collected over ₹�10lakh.

Deputy Commissioner of

Police (East) Priyanka Kashyap said: “A raid was conducted by our team following which Surjeet, Sundaramand 10 others were nabbed.They cheated people by promising them jobs in the Indi

go Airlines.”

Items recoveredSixteen mobile phones andSIM cards, seven computers,₹�26,000 cash along with other incriminating documentshave been seized, she said.

“They posted advertisements on online job portals.Based on the data received,they would call up job aspirants. They would lure thevictims to pay ‘processingfees’ ranging from ₹�1,500 toeven up to ₹�30,000 on thepretext of getting them jobs,”she added.

They duped people on pretext of getting them jobs in airlines

STAFF REPORTER

NEW DELHI

Accused in police custody. * SPECIAL ARRANGEMENT

Illegal call centre busted, 12 held

<> Accused would

lure the victims to

pay a ‘processing

fees’ ranging from

₹�1,500 to ₹�30,000

on the pretext of

getting them jobs...

Priyanka Kashyap

Deputy Commissioner of Police (East)

The Delhi Metro on Sunday said the upcomingDhansa Bus Stand Metrostation on the DwarkaDhansa Bus Stand GreyLine corridor will be a refl�ection of southwest Delhi’s “deep cultural roots”.It said the station will beadorned with artworksand photographs displaying the rich heritage, culture, fl�ora and fauna ofthe suburban locality.

The NajafgarhDhansaregion of southwest Delhi is rich in historical content and is also home to amarshy ecosystem, whichencourages the visit of migratory birds and fl�ourishing of local wildlife.The artworks and photographic displays havetried to capture such unique characteristics of thearea, the DMRC said. Thedecoration of the stationhas been done in linewith DMRC’s eff�orts toutilise its premises as aplatform to showcase therich heritage and cultureof the nation.

The approximately 1kmlong NajafgarhDhansa Bus Stand corridor isready for operations afterreceiving the mandatoryapproval from the Commissioner of Metro RailSafety. The DMRC saidthe exact date for theopening of the corridorshall be intimated shortly.

The artworks on display at the metro stationwill include photographson printed glass panels,showcasing the rich biodiversity of the area andthe various migratorybirds that visit the jheel —waterbody located between Najafgarh andDhansa.

Dhansa metrostation toadorn culturalartwork


NEW DELHI

The Delhi government hasstarted implementing theschemes announced underits ‘Deshbhakti budget’with offi�cials saying up tofi�ve highmast Tricolourswill be installed in the cityby August 15.

The Public Works Department (PWD) has beentasked with the project under which it will install thenational fl�ag on 100feethigh poles at 500 locationsin the city.

The offi�cials said initiallythey will install highmastTricolours at about fi�ve locations in as many constituencies as a sample exer

cise. “To celebrate thecountry’s 75th Independence Day, we are planning to set up highmastTricolours in 45 Assemblyconstituencies includingNew Delhi and Patparganj.We are hoping to set upthese by August 15. In total,the PWD will install 500such fl�ags across the city,”said a senior PWD offi�cial,who wished not to benamed.

₹�45 crore set asideIn March this year, the Delhi government had announced its annual budgetthemed on patriotism andnamed ‘Deshbhakti budget’ under which ₹�45 crore

has been set aside to installhighmast Tricolour at 500locations across the national capital.

The offi�cials said thathighmast fl�ags will be setup on the lines of the oneat the Connaught Place insuch a fashion that at leastone is visible at every twothree kilometres.

A PWD offi�cial said that atender for the project hasalso been fl�oated.

Another senior PWD offi�cial said that initially fi�veassembly constituencieshave been identifi�ed wherethese fl�ags are to be installed by August 15.

These assembly constituencies include New Del

hi, Patparganj, Shakurbasti, Kalkaji and Dwarka.

New Delhi is Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal’s constituency while his DeputyManish Sisodia is electedfrom Patparganj. Shakurbasti is represented in theAssembly by PWD ministerSatyendar Jain.

“The PWD has also beendirected to conduct a survey and identify publicplaces, parks, grounds, bigcommercial buildings complexes, big school premises, residential complexesto install highmast Tricolours. The deadline of installing 500 Tricolours isyet to be fi�xed,” an offi�cialsaid.

PWD to instal national fl�ag on 100foothigh poles at 500 locations in the Capital

Press Trust of India

New Delhi

Delhi could get up to 5 highmast Tricolours by Aug. 15

The Delhi High Court willhear on Monday a plea byseven doctors’ associationsagainst Yoga guru Ramdevfor allegedly spreading misinformation by his statements against allopathyamid the ongoing COVID19pandemic.

The matter will be heardby Justice C. Hari Shankarwho had earlier asked thecounsel for the associationsto place on record the videos pertaining to the allegedmisinformation.

The associations beforecourt are three ResidentDoctors’ Association of theAll India Institute of Medical

Sciences at Rishikesh, Patnaand Bhubaneshwar, Association of Resident Doctors,Post Graduate Institute ofMedical Education & Research, Chandigarh, Unionof Resident Doctors of Punjab (URDP); Resident Doctors’ Association, Lala Lajpat Rai Memorial MedicalCollege, Meerut and Telangana Junior Doctors’ Association, Hyderabad.

They alleged that Ramdev was misleading andmisrepresenting to the public at large that allopathywas responsible for thedeaths of several people infected by COVID19, and insinuating that allopathicdoctors were causing

deaths of the patients.

‘Sowing doubts’In their plea, the associations have submitted thatthe yoga guru was sowingdoubts in the minds of general public with respect tothe safety and effi�cacy ofnot only allopathic treatments but also COVID19vaccines.

Being a highly infl�uentialperson, it is apprehendedthat Ramdev’s statementscan infl�uence lakhs of people and divert them from allopathic treatment whichare prescribed as the standard form of care even bythe government, the pleasubmitted.

HC to hear petition against Ramdev for

‘spreading misinformation’ amid COVIDPress Trust of India

New Delhi

CITY

I am pursuing a B.Tech. in CSE

from Bihar Engineering College

and also preparing for the UPSC

exam. I have studied in a Hindi

medium school till Class 10. But

my preparations for the exams

are in English. I understand

what I read but am not able to

write well in English. What can

I do to improve? — Ankit Kumar

Dear Ankit,Here are a few tips that

might help — write a journalevery day. Short, briefsentences that can over timeexpand and become moreelaborate. Brush up on yourgrammar, read as much as youcan, so that drafting, framing,expressing and articulating willnot be a challenge. Try and seeif you can write small blogs /notes / stories / essays onvaried topics and get a mentorwho can give you feedback andhelp clean it up with somesound suggestions andrecommendations. It will helpbuild your confi�dence!

I am doing an UG course in

Economics from SN University

Kerala. I opted for this because I

wanted to enter the civil

services. But now I want to start

a business in aerospace. I am

very confused about what I

should do. — Anoop Kumar U

Dear Anoop,That a huge shift in orbit

both in terms of education andinterest. I would suggest acareer profi�le fi�rst and, then ifyou are still insistent on theaerospace business idea, get ajob in that industry and seewhat it entails — the challengesand the diffi�culties before youcommit to starting a businesswith no knowledge andbacking!

I have fi�nished my Bachelor’s in

Mechanical Engineering. I have a

keen interest in the textile

industry and am considering a

Master’s in Textile Design

.Should I do this in India or

abroad? What are my prospects?

— Akshay Tomar

Dear Akshay,Certainly the U.S. is a step

ahead of other countries inproviding the best textile

engineering courses globally. Isuggest you start doing yourresearch asap to shortlist goodschools and the costs. Textile isa growing industry and TextileEngineering off�ers a brightcareer because the demand andsupply will never diminish.Various job opportunitiesavailable are as a MedicalTextiles Engineer, ProcessEngineer, Operations Supervisor,Quality Control Supervisor,Process Improvement Engineerand so on.

I have fi�nished my graduation

and have completed the CPT

exam. I am stuck at CA inter.

My parents are forcing me to go

for coaching for the banking

exams. They want me to get a

job fi�rst and then do the CA.

What should I do? — Abhishek

Dhotre

DearAbhishek,

What doyou want todo? Howlong do youwant tocrack inter?How many

more attempts have youplanned? What is your Plan B,in case CA takes very long? Ithink your parents are onlylooking at a secure option foryou — to start beingindependent and earn yourown fi�nances. First, spend sometime to get clarity in what you

want and then have an openconversation with yourparents.

Disclaimer: This columnprovides advice, guidanceand suggestions oneducation and careers. It isa guiding voice from apractising career counsellor.

The writer is a practising

counsellor and a trainer. Send your

questions to eduplus.thehindu@

gmail.com with the subject line

‘Off� the edge’.

Career prospects for youUncertain about your career options? Low onselfconfi�dence? This Q&A column by Nandini Raman,practising counsellor and trainer, may help

OFF THE EDGE )NANDINI RAMAN

Global studies have shown thatyoungsters are struggling to copecope with the varied challengesthrown up as a result of the pandemic. Anxiety, elevated stress levels anddepression have been cited as someof the problems.

When it comes to education, interrupted study programmes has beenthe main issue, despite the adoptionof online learning methods.

Academic insuffi�ciencyWith online learning being the modesince March 2020, both teachers andstudents have been experiencing diffi�culties due to connectivity issues.

For economicallychallenged students, the lack of access to devices is

another problem. This means that,despite a teacher’s best eff�orts, thequestion of how many students theyreached remains.

Also innovative and exploratorymodels of assessment and evaluationwould not have been possible duringthis time. Dealing with this requires agreat deal of selflearning bystudents.

Emotional instabilityOver the past year and a half, manystudents have had to deal with theloss of loved ones. While philanthropists and the governments havecome forward to help them continuetheir education, the trauma of theloss has also to be dealt with.

In the case of those whose parentshave lost their jobs, there is a lot of

stress due to having to fi�nd funds topay the fees.

A third aspect is that having tocomplete their education virtuallyhas led to an emotional strain andworry about placements.

This year has also seen many students worry about falling victim tothe virus.

No public gatheringYouth often like to ‘chill’ at beaches,malls, theatres, parks and common

places but this is now prohibited fortheir safety. Neither can they gatherin other public places like places ofworship, which may have off�eredsome measure of solace.

This has led to a lack of fellowshipand social structure. Unfortunately,students are now glued to laptops ormobile phones for hours and theirsocial life is also virtual.

While this situation was unexpected and no one is sure when a degreeof normalcy will be restored, it is important for us to address these issuesso that the youth can come throughto the other side without too muchado.

The writer is Pro ViceChancellor,

Hindustan Institute of Technology &

Science (Deemed to be University)

b R. W. Alexander Jesudasan

WWhheennTTIIMMEESSggeett ttoouugghhHow has thepandemic impactedstudents? A look at thevarious issues

: :::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::

For economically challengedstudents, the lack of access todevices means that, despite ateacher’s best eff�orts, thequestion of how many studentsthey reached remains

₹�75,000Deadline: October 31Application: Online b4s.in/edge/CCSS1

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Prizes and Rewards:

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ISEC BangalorePostDoctoralResearch Programme(PDRP) 2021The Institute for SocialEconomic and Change,Bengaluru invitesapplications for thisfellowship, which is for amaximum of fi�ve years.Eligibility: Open tocandidates who havecompleted the Ph.D.degree in the last 10 yearswith at least twopublications in refereedNational/Internationaljournals.Prizes and Rewards:

Certifi�cate of completion ofthe PDR ProgrammeDeadline: July 31Application: Via post onlyb4s.in/edge/ISEC1

Courtesy: buddy4study.com

HDFC BankParivartan’s COVIDCrisis SupportScholarshipProgramme

This scholarshipprogramme aims tosupport students who havebeen through a COVIDledcrisis to continue theireducation.Eligibility: Indian studentsfrom Class 1 up topostgraduate (professionaland nonprofessional)courses who have eitherlost their parent(s)/earningmembers or whose earningfamily members have losttheir employment (orlivelihood) during thepandemic. They should beenrolled and continuingtheir education. Annualfamily income must be lessthan or equal to ₹�6 lakhfrom all sources.Prizes and Rewards: Up to

sCHOLARSHIPS)

b KL DeemedtobeUniversity opens admissions

KL DeemedtobeUniversity has openedadmissions and startedcounselling process for itsundergraduate andpostgraduate courses. Eligibility: Candidateswho have qualifi�ed KLEngineering EntranceExam (KLEEE) or obtainedrequired scores inintermediate/state/nationalentrance exams. Last date: July29https://bit.ly/3iDSJEub Admissions open at JKLU

JK Lakshmipat University( JKLU), Jaipur, Rajasthan,has opened admissions forall UG programmes for

2021. Students looking forscholarship can apply onhttps://bit.ly/3rwxCbmEligibility: In the absenceof Class 12 Boardexamination marks,consideration will be givento Class 10 scores andperformance incocurricular activities. JEEMains percentile will alsocount for B.TechProgrammes. Last date: August 2.https://bit.ly/3f6zKl9

b Hero Vired Scholarshipsannounced

Hero Vired has announcedHero Vired ScholarshipAdvantage to make itsprogrammes accessible toa broader spectrum oflearners and workingprofessionals in India.

Vired Toppers off�ers up to100% fee waivers tobatchwise toppers basedon performance; ViredAchievers gives up to 50%fee waivers for those withexceptional academic orindustryrelated experience;with Women of Vired:women with outstandingprofessional experience,academic performance andinterest in the domainswill receive up to 50% feewaiver; and those withoutstanding pastperformance and need forfi�nancial assistance will getup to 50% fee waiverswith Vired Winners. Fordetails on eachscholarship, eligibility andprocess, visithttps://herovired.com/scholarship/

save the date)

CMYK

A ND-NDE

www.thehindu.com/education

www.facebook.com/thehinduedge

www.twitter.com/thehinduedge

0

EDUCATION PLUSGET THE EDGE

:::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::

Delhi • monday • july 26, 2021

CMYK

A ND-NDE


DELHI THE HINDU


CITY

Published by N. Ravi at Kasturi Buildings, 859 & 860, Anna Salai, Chennai-600002 and Printed by S. Ramanujam at HT Media Ltd. Plot No. 8, Udyog Vihar, Greater Noida Distt. Gautam Budh Nagar, U.P. 201306, on behalf of THG PUBLISHING PVT LTD., Chennai-600002. Group Editorial Officer: Krishna Prasad. Editor: Suresh Nambath (Responsible for selection of news under the PRB Act).

Regd. DL(ND)-11/6110/2006-07-08 ● RNI No. UPENG/2012/49940 ● ISSN 0971 - 751X ● Vol. 11 ● No. 176

0DISCLAIMER: Readers are requested toverify and make appropriate enquiries tosatisfy themselves about the veracity ofan advertisement before responding toany published in this newspaper. THGPUBLISHING PVT LTD., the Publisher &Owner of this newspaper, does not vouchfor the authenticity of any advertisementor advertiser or for any of the advertiser’sproducts and/or services. In no event canthe Owner, Publisher, Printer, Editor, Director/s, Employees of this newspaper/company be held responsible/liable inany manner whatsoever for any claimsand/or damages for advertisements inthis newspaper.

Timings

DELHI

MONDAY, JUL. 26

RISE 05:40 SET 19:16

RISE 21:17 SET 07:41

TUESDAY, JUL. 27

RISE 05:41 SET 19:16

RISE 21:51 SET 08:42

WEDNESDAY, JUL. 28

RISE 05:41 SET 19:15

RISE 22:22 SET 09:41

1. A couple takes a selfi�eduring their visit to QutubMinar in Mehrauli;2. Shahi Masjid at QudsiaBagh complex; 3. visitorsat the Safdarjung Tomb;4. Humayun’s Tomb atNizamuddin; 5. Rajon KiBaoli at MehrauliArchaeological Park; 6. the historic Red Fort;7. Jamali Kamali Mosquein Mehruli; 8. Agrasen KiBaoli on Hailey Road nearConnaught Place. *

PHOTOS: SHIV KUMAR PUSHPAKAR

3 4

6 7 8

2

5

Historic low

1

Centrally protected monumentsthat reopened on June 16, afterclosure due to the second wave ofthe COVID-19 in Delhi, are seeingjust a fraction of their averagepre-pandemic daily footfall

The Capital recorded 66new COVID19 cases alongwith two deaths, accordingto a health bulletin releasedby the Delhi governmenton Sunday.

The bulletin added that70,756 tests have been conducted with a positivityrate of 0.09%. The numberof active cases now standsat 579, out of which 167 areunder home isolation.

The total number of COVID19 cases now stands at14,35,910 and the total fatalities has gone up to25,043. On Saturday, theCapital recorded zerodeaths due to COVID19.

The bulletin added that69,896 benefi�ciaries hadbeen vaccinated in the past24 hours, out of which

21,256 had been given thefi�rst dose. The total number of people vaccinatedhas reached 96,57,900, outof which 23,84,468 have received both doses.

The government saidthat it had less than oneday’s stock of vaccine left.

As of Sunday morning, thegovernment had with it2,16,140 doses of Covaxinout of which 20% can beused for fi�rst dose. Thestock of Covishield that canonly be used for seconddose till July 31 is 70,900doses.

69,896 inoculated; less than one day’s stock of vaccine left


NEW DELHI

Capital logs 66 cases, 2 deaths

With an eye on the Municipal Corporations of Delhielections, which are duenext year, the Delhi Congress on Sunday started toprepare a roadmap to expand its social media reach.

The party said it was preparing to expand its socialmedia teams at the booth level to expose the “lies andfailures” of the AAP and BJPgovernments.

Social media operationshead for the Delhi CongressRahul Sharma said that theparty would expand the social media outreach to expose the “mismanagement”of the AAP government andthe BJPruled Municipal Corporations at the booth level,besides popularising DelhiCongress’ works.

Delhi Cong. toexpand socialmedia reach


NEW DELHI

The Delhi High Court hasgranted interim protectionto a homebuyer of ‘Shubhkamna City’ residential project in Greater Noida Westagainst a loan recovery proceedings initiated by a bank.

While staying the proceedings pending before theDebt Recovery Tribunal(DRT) in Delhi, initiated byBank of Maharashtra, aBench of Justice Vipin Sanghiand Justice Jasmeet Singhsaid: “In our view, prima facie, it appears that the petitioner [homerbuyer] hasbeen taken for a ride by thebuilder and it is not the petitioner who has received theloan amount.”

“The bank has disbursedthe loan amount to the builder, and in these circumstances, it remains to be seenas to whether or not the petitioner is at all liable,” theBench said.

The court’s direction

came on a plea by HrideshKumar Pathak, who bookeda unit in the ‘ShubhkamnaCity’ project developed byShubhkamna Buildtech Private Limited in 2016. As perthe buyer builder agreementexecuted in October 2016,the possession of the fl�at wasto be delivered within 45months, including a graceperiod of six months, aftercommencement ofconstruction.

Flats not constructed

Advocate Anshul Gupta, representing Mr. Pathak, submitted that the homebuyerand the builder entered intoand executed a tripartiteagreement in January 2017with Bank of Maharashtrafor the sanction of loanamounting to ₹�32.5 lakh inorder to fi�nance the purchase of the fl�at. The bankhas disbursed a total amountof ₹�27,63,000 towards thebuilder. However, the fl�atshave not been constructed.

HC relief to homebuyerfrom loan recovery ‘Bank has disbursed amount to builder’

Staff Reporter

New Delhi

The Delhi High Court hasasked the Director of Enforcement Directorate to explain how the grounds of arrest are informed to anarrested person in terms ofthe guidelines issued by theSupreme Court.

Justice Mukta Gupta gavethe order while hearing ED’splea challenging a trialcourt’s order directing it tosupply a copy of the Enforcement Case InformationReport (ECIR) to RJD RajyaSabha MP Amarendra DhariSingh, arrested in a moneylaundering case related toan alleged fertiliser scam.

The court also issued notice to Mr. Singh on ED’s pleaseeking to set aside the trialcourt’s July 15 order.

Additional Solicitor General S.V. Raju, appearing forED, argued that there is nospecifi�c power with the trialcourt to pass directions tothe agency to supply the co

py of the ECIR. The ASGstated that no prejudice hasbeen caused to Mr. Singh by“nonsupply of the ECIR,which is not like an FIR onthe basis whereof investigation is started”.

The court, however, directed the Director of ED tosubmit whether the ECIR “ismerely a number or recordssome substantive information therein for the petitioner (ED) to start the investigation thereon prior to fi�lingof the complaint case".

The case pertains to an alleged fertiliser scam linkedto the IFFCO and India Potash Limited.

Explain how grounds ofarrest are conveyed: HCIt issues notice to RJD MP on ED’s plea

Staff Reporter

New Delhi

I, E YAMINI, spouse of GP CAPT NA-TESAN ELANGO resident of 247/2, Vi-kram Vihar, Delhi Cantt, New Delhi-110010 have changed my Name fromE YAMINI to YAMINI ELANGO videAffidavit dated 22/07/2021 before No-tary Public Delhi.

UNITED NEWS Of India Registered Of-fice: 9 Rafi Marg, New Delhi − 110001 (Company Registered under Sec-tion 8 of the Company Act, 2013)Invites application for the follow-ing position General Manager (Oper-ations & Marketing): Management po-sition, who should be responsiblefor successful leadership and tostir company’s operations, adminis-trative & marketing. Eligibility:More than 10−15 years of experi-ence in a media/New Agency organi-sation shall be given preference.Remunerations: Shall not be con-straint for the right candidate.Interested candidates should sendtheir CVs at [email protected] 7 days.

PERSONAL

CHANGE OF NAME

EDUCATIONAL

PUBLIC NOTICE

SITUATION VACANT

MARKETING

TENDERS

OBITUARY & REMEMBRANCE

DEATH DEATH ANNIVERSARIES

The authorities issued thefi�rst fl�ood warning for theGodavari in Andhra Pradeshon Sunday as the dischargeof water reached about 10lakh cusecs at the Sir ArthurCotton Barrage in Dowleswaram by 7.30 p.m.

Issuing the warning, G.Srinivasa Rao, Godavari River Flood Conservator andGodavari Head Works Division executive engineer,said, “However, the forecastindicates a fall in fl�ood levelby Monday.”

The fi�rst warning alertwould enable district authorities to gear up for the fl�oodmitigation exercise, particularly downstream Dowleswaram.

Meanwhile, the NationalDisaster Response Force’s(NDRF) 10th Battalion, andState Disaster ResponseForce (SDRF), police, revenue and Integrated TribalDevelopment Agency offi�cials swung into action at thefl�oodaff�ected villages.

The Andhra Pradesh State

Disaster Management Authority (APSDMA) directed offi�cials deployed on fl�ood dutyin West and East Godavaridistricts to evacuate peoplefrom the lowlying areas.

APSDMA CommissionerK. Kanna Babu said that twoNDRF teams had been deployed in Chintoor, while

one team was positioned inV.R. Puram mandal.

Advice to villagers“Villagers are requested tocooperate with offi�cials.They are advised against venturing into the fl�ood watersfor fi�shing, taking a bath ortravelling on small boats as

the fl�ood is heavy,” Mr. Babusaid.

Water level at the Sir Arthur Cotton Barrage was 11.75feet, and the Irrigation offi�cials were releasing 10.08lakh cusecs of water as of7.30 p.m., Mr. Rao told The

Hindu. “We are discharging fl�ood

water into the Bay of Bengalby lifting all the 175 gates. Wehave cautioned offi�cials andvillagers staying in the lowlying areas and on the riverbedto be alert as the discharge isheavy,” Mr. Rao said.

At the Polavaram spillway,the water level was 33metres, offi�cials said.

With Godavari in spate, A.P. issues fi�rst fl�ood alert10 lakh cusecs of water beingdischarged

Staff Reporter

DOWLESWARAM/POLAVARAM

Alert mode: Water gushing through the gates of the Polavaram project in West Godavaridistrict of Andhra Pradesh on Sunday. * SPECIAL ARRANGEMENT

Weather WatchRainfall, temperature & air quality in select metros yesterday

Temperature Data: IMD, Pollution Data: CPCB, Map: INSAT/IMD (Taken at 18.00 Hrs)

Forecast for Monday: Heavy to very heavy rainfall expected atisolated places over Himachal Pradesh, Uttarakhand, eastern Ra-jasthan, Assam and Meghalaya. Heavy rainfall expected at isol-ated places over Uttar Pradesh, Bihar, West Bengal, Gujarat,central Maharashtra, coastal Karnataka and Kerala.

city rain max min city rain max min

Agartala........... 26.8....33.0....27.0 Kozhikode............... 19.0....29.0....25.0

Ahmedabad...... 13.0....30.0....24.0 Kurnool .......................—....34.0....25.0

Aizawl................ 1.2....26.0....19.0 Lucknow......................—....34.0....27.0

Allahabad..............—........ —........ — Madurai .......................—....36.0....25.0

Bengaluru ........ 24.4....29.0....20.0 Mangaluru .............. 32.0....29.0....24.0

Bhopal ............. 40.3....28.0....24.0 Mumbai .......................—....32.0....25.0

Bhubaneswar...... 5.9....34.0....27.0 Mysuru ........................—....29.0....21.0

Chandigarh ...... 19.0....32.0....27.0 New Delhi ...................—....33.0....29.0

Chennai ................—....34.0....27.0 Patna ..........................—....34.0....27.0

Coimbatore ...........—....30.0....23.0 Port Blair.................. 7.0....29.0....26.0

Dehradun ..............—....29.0....24.0 Puducherry ..................—....34.0....28.0

Gangtok............. 6.0....23.0....18.0 Pune......................... 6.2....31.0....22.0

Goa.................. 22.0....31.0....25.0 Raipur ...................... 9.4....32.0....25.0

Guwahati ..............—....33.0....26.0 Ranchi ...................... 3.0....31.0....24.0

Hubballi ................—........ —........ — Shillong.......................—....25.0....18.0

Hyderabad ............—....31.4....23.5 Shimla.........................—....22.0....15.0

Imphal ............... 0.5....30.0....22.0 Srinagar.......................—....32.0....22.0

Jaipur ...................—....34.0....26.0 Thiruvananthapuram.... 12.0....30.0....24.0

Kochi ............... 19.0....30.0....25.0 Tiruchi.........................—....37.0....27.0

Kohima .............. 1.0....26.0....18.0 Vijayawada ..................—........ —........ —

Kolkata .............. 0.5....33.0....29.0 Visakhapatnam .............—....33.0....28.0

(Rainfall data in mm; temperature in Celsius)

Pollutants in the air you are breathing Yesterday

CITIES SO2 NO2 CO PM2.5 PM10 CODEHigh levels of particulatematter pollution recorded inmost cities across thecountry. Going by CentralPollution Control Boarddata, Ambala in Haryanarecorded the worst withPM2.5 pollution levelstouching a moderate 160.Gorakhpur was the leastpolluted with PM10readings of 18.

Ahmedabad..... ..6 ..— ...— ..108 .108 ....*

Bengaluru ....... 11 ...6 .72 ....35 ...48 ....*

Chennai .......... ..4 .22 106 ....28 ...69 ....*

Delhi .............. ..9 .17 .38 ..212 .124 ....*

Hyderabad ...... ..— .62 ...6 ....18 ...36 ....*

Kolkata........... ..9 .18 .18 ....32 ...43 ....*

Lucknow ......... ..6 .13 .63 ....68 .110 ....*

Mumbai .......... 41 .10 ...— ....63 .103 ....*

Pune............... 36 .15 .42 ....19 .139 ....*

Visakhapatnam 14 .51 .34 ....54 .111 ....*

Air Quality Code: * Poor * Moderate * Good (Readings indicate average AQI)

SO2: Sulphur Dioxide. Short-term exposure can harm the respiratory system,

making breathing difficult. It can affect visibility by reacting with other air

particles to form haze and stain culturally important objects such as statues

and monuments.

NO2: Nitrogen Dioxide. Aggravates respiratory illness, causes haze to form by

reacting with other air particles, causes acid rain, pollutes coastal waters.

CO: Carbon monoxide. High concentration in air reduces oxygen supply to

critical organs like the heart and brain. At very high levels, it can cause

dizziness, confusion, unconsciousness and even death.

PM2.5 & PM10: Particulate matter pollution can cause irritation of the eyes,

nose and throat, coughing, chest tightness and shortness of breath, reduced

lung function, irregular heartbeat, asthma attacks, heart attacks and premature

death in people with heart or lung disease

In a show of strength by theLingayat religious maths, acouncil of seers that methere on Sunday urged theBJP high command to continue B.S. Yediyurappa as theChief Minister even as thelatter in Belagavi put theonus on high command forhis continuation.

Mr. Yediyurappa shouldbe allowed to complete histerm since he had beenworking with effi�ciency, theseers said at the councilmeeting here that had beenconvened to discuss the“current crisis”.

They refused to call theevent an attempt at show ofstrength by the Lingayatcommunity. In the light ofspeculations that the meeting had been “engineered”by Mr. Yediyurappa’s campto bring pressure on the highcommand, they also clarifi�ed that they had gathered“voluntarily.”

“We had to come to the

fore since the high command is not taking any action against those casteistpeople within the BJP whohad been conspiring againstMr. Yediyurappa,” BalehosurMath seer DingaleshwaraSwamy claimed. He urgedthe party high command toconsider this.

Stating that Mr. Yediyurappa had given highergrants to maths “to enablesocial, religious and educational service,” the seer saidit was their “duty to showgratitude to the leader.”

Responding to those asking the religious leaders notto interfere in politics, theseer said they were not interfering in politics. He reminded that maths existed evenbefore political parties cameinto existence.

Let Yediyurappa continueat the helm, seers urge BJP CM has beenworking effi�ciently,says council


Bengaluru

Lingayat seers at a gatheringin Bengaluru on Sunday. * PTI

The organisational crisis inthe Indian National League(INL), a constituent of Kerala's ruling Left DemocraticFront, reached a fl�ashpointwith party general secretaryKasim Irrikur being expelledfrom the organisation.

A.P. Abdul Wahab, theState president of the organisation, announced the expulsion of Mr. Irikkur at apress conference here onSunday. He also announcedthe formation of a new organising committee.

At the same time, Mr. Irikkur is said to have the back

ing of party president Muhammed Sulaiman.

Earlier, the two factionsof party workers clashedoutside a hotel in Kochi,where the State committeeand the State secretariat ofthe party was scheduled tomeet. Serious diff�erences ofopinion surfaced at the com

mittee meeting forcing theparty to call off� the State secretariat meet. Ports Minister Ahamed Devarkovil wasalso present at the meeting.The police intervened to disperse the warring factions.

The INL was formed in1994 after a split in the Indian Union Muslim League.

Party sets up new organisingcommittee Special Correspondent

KOCHI

Out in the open: Police personnel dispersing INL workers who clashed in Kochi on Sunday. * SPECIAL ARRANGEMENT

INL factions come to blows;general secretary expelled

Though heavy rain thatbattered the coal belt regionof Telangana last weekabated since Saturday, thedownpour impeded coalproduction in almost all theopencast projects (OCPs) ofSingareni CollieriesCompany Limited spreadacross six districts includingBhadradriKothagudemdistrict.

The Stateowned SCCLreportedly suff�ered a hugeproduction loss of morethan fi�ve lakh tonnes in allthe 21 OCPs together in thecompany’s 11 areas due toheavy last week, sourcessaid.

The average daily coaloutput fell by almost 50%from 1.90 lakh tonnes tolittle over 90,000 tonnes inthe past fi�ve days, sourcesadded.

Staff Reporter

BHADRADRI-KOTHAGUDEM

Coal production hit

DDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDD

CMYK

A ND-NDE


THE HINDU DELHI

MONDAY, JULY 26, 2021 5EEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE

SOUTH



NORTH & EAST

The Orissa High Court ordered the fresh issuance ofnotices in a case upon fi�nding that it was listed onlytwice for hearing in a decade. This case pertained toa lawyer activist movingcourt seeking compensationfor being jailed in a “false” sedition case.

The lawyer activist, Pratima Das, was arrested on August 12, 2008, on allegations

of participating in subversiveactivities of the banned organisation CPI (Maoist). Shewas chargesheeted in twocases under various charges,including murder, dacoityand sedition. Ms. Das had tostay in jails for over two yearsbefore the courts acquittedher. After her acquittal, shemoved the HC seeking compensation and punishmentfor the offi�cers involved inthe cases that caused her tosuff�er mental trauma and pu

blic humiliation. “In neitherof the two cases was the prosecution able to substantiateits case against the petitioner. But she suff�ered humiliation and harassment in jailfor two years, three monthsand fi�ve days,” said PrashantJena, her lawyer.

Counters not receivedMr. Jena said notices were issued to the State Home Department, three IPS offi�cersand other police offi�cers, for

the “malicious cases”. However, the counters to thenotices were never received.

When it came up for hearing on July 22, a DivisionBench comprising Chief Justice Dr. S. Muralidhar andJustice B.P. Routray observed, “Although this petition was fi�led in 2011, in thelast 10 years, it was listed only twice — on February 23,2012, and September 6, 2012,— for hearing.”

Stating that the serving of

notices was not complete,and the report of the servingof notices to opposite partieswas not available, the Benchdirected the Home Department to provide the presentaddresses of the oppositeparties within four weeks.

Ms. Das said, “The casesbadly impacted my life. Media outlets presented mycase going by the police’s version. I was branded a terrorist, apart from my painfuldays in jail.”

Petitioner had sought compensation for her arrest in a ‘false’ murder, dacoity and sedition case

Satyasundar Barik

BHUBANESWAR

Issue fresh notice in decadeold case, says Orissa HC

Three persons have died after drinking suspected spurious liquor at a village inMandsaur district of Madhya Pradesh, while onemore person is undergoingtreatment at a hospital, offi�cials said on Sunday.

Following the incident, asubinspector of the Excisedepartment was suspended,they said.

The Opposition Congresssaid the deaths reportedfrom Khakhrai village inMandsaur district werecaused due to spurious liquor, while the police said theexact reason could beknown only after the postmortem reports come.

The police have arrestedone person for illegally selling liquor and demolished apart of the house used forthis work on Sunday night.

District Collector ManojPushp and Superintendentof Police (SP) SiddharthChoudhary visited the village after the incident.

Sub Divisional Offi�cer ofPolice of the area, Trilokchand Pawar, said three persons, identifi�ed as ModiramMeghwal (41), GhanshyamMogia and Manohar Bagri(both 35) died in Khakhraivillage under Piplia Mandipolice station area. According to him, postmortemwas being carried out. “Oneperson is undergoing treatment in district hospital.”

Three dead after drinking‘spurious’ liquor in M.P. One person is undergoing treatment


Mandsaur

The monsoon session of theBihar Assembly, which willbegin on Monday, is likely towitness noisy scenes as theruckus during the last meeting of the House over a special armed police Bill maycast a shadow on the upcoming proceedings.

Chaos in budget sessionUnprecedented chaos haderupted on March 23 in thebudget session when policewas called to assist the marshals in evicting unruly Opposition members who triedto physically prevent Speaker Vijay Kumar Sinha fromtaking his chair.

The bone of contentionwas Bihar Special ArmedPolice Bill, 2021, which theNitish Kumar governmenthad introduced in a bid togive its police more teeth.

The Opposition hadtermed it “black” legislation, taking strong exception to the provisions that

empower the Special ArmedPolice, previously known asthe Bihar Military Police, toconduct searches and arrests without producing awarrant.

The Bill was passed, amida “walkout” by the Opposition MLAs who had squatted outside the building andraised slogans, slighted bythe manner in which theywere ousted from the Hallon that day.

RJD leader Tejashwi Yadav has already written tothe Speaker, saying the Opposition legislators werescared to enter the House.“Let us know the result ofthe investigation on theMarch 23 incident. That wasa black day,” Mr. Yadavwrote in his letter.

2 policemen suspendedTwo policemen were recently suspended after theywere found guilty of assaulting Opposition MLAs in theAssembly on March 23.

The Opposition partieshave also chalked out a strategy to corner the State government on issues such asrising prices of fuel, cookinggas, fertilizers and edibleoil.

Bihar Assembly monsoonsession likely to be stormyOppn. plans tocorner State govt.on armed policeBill, fuel pricesPress Trust of India

Patna More than two years afterthe Haryana government ordered the consolidation of3,184 acres of land in Kot village in Faridabad amidstrong opposition from thelocals and the environmentalists, the controversial orders have now beenwithdrawn.

Those opposed to theconsolidation then had argued that it was illegal andaimed at benefi�ting an infl�uential yoga guru owninglarge chunks of “Gair Mum-

kin Pahaar” (noncultivableland) in the village.

It is for the fourth time over the past nine years thatthe government ordered theconsolidation of the Kot village land, but then withdrew the orders.

Withdrawing the latestorders for consolidation issued on February 1, 2019,the Director, Consolidationof Holdings, Haryana, saidthat “in case the consolidation exercise... is carried

out, it would wrongly benefi�t certain infl�uential outsider purchasers.

‘Non-cultivable land’Of the total 3,184 acres notifi�ed for consolidation in village, an area of 2,565 acresis “Gair Mumkin Pahaar”.

“The aim of the Consolidation Act is to consolidatethe agricultural holdings forthe betterment of agriculture, for prevention of thefragmentation of agricultural holdings and for the reservation of land for common purposes of the village.The object of the Consolidation Act would be defeated

in case “Gair Mumkin Pa-

haar” is included,” said theorder issued on July 23.

‘Usurping forest land’Welcoming the withdrawal,Kot Sarpanch Mundresh Devi’s husband Kesar, in the forefront of the fi�ght againstthe consolidation process,said the villagers had written to the Prime Minister’sOffi�ce, Union Home Minister and Chief Justice of India, among others, over thepast two years seeking tostop the consolidation andwere “happy” that theywere heard.

“The consolidation was

aimed at benefi�ting the yogaguru to usurp the forestland. Most of the villagersrear cattle and need forestland for the grazing of theanimals. The consolidationwould have hit us hard. Nowwe demand that the illegalstructures and boundariesconstructed in the forestland be demolished to free itfrom encroachment,” saidMr. Kesar.

Chetan Agarwal, a forestanalyst, said this was for thefourth time the consolidation process was stopped ongrounds of misuse to createplots in the Aravalis and forests. He expressed hopethat it was also for the “fi�naltime” that the orders werewithdrawn.

Lt. Colonel (retd,) Sarvadaman Singh Oberoi, an environmentalist, said theconsolidation process hadbeen misused in Aravali villages like Mangar, Bandhwari, Ankhir, Mewla and Maharajpur etc. to create privateplots and must be rolledback.

Haryana withdraws order onland consolidation in Kot villageIt’s for the 4th time in 9 years that consolidation orders were given, rolled back

Ashok Kumar

GURUGRAM

A view of Kot village. * ASHOK KUMAR

CMYK

A ND-NDE


DELHI THE HINDU


EDITORIAL

Vaccination driveCommerce and IndustryMinister Piyush Goyal isspot on when he says thatthe private sector is laggingbehind in the vaccinationdrive. This is a nationalhealth emergency, with theresponsibility resting withone and all. A giganticprocess needs totalcommitment and a strongdetermined focus. Theprivate sector would dowell in assisting the nationin vaccination. ThoughDecember is still some

distance away, allouteff�orts in vaccination arethe only ray of hope.Balasubramaniam Pavani,

Secunderabad

Pass percentage rateShould we feel elated overthe astronomicalexamination passpercentage rate, especiallyin the Kerala school fi�nalexaminations and also inthe ISCE and ISC exams? Inthe 1980s, the passpercentage for Class 10 wasbetween 40% and 50%, and

for the predegree anddegree examinations it waseven less. Are we tosurmise that present daystudents are moreintelligent and far smarterthan their counterparts ofthose days? Or is it just thatthe valuation process islargely liberal?The stupendous rate of passpercentage may help theweaker students but onewonders how the studentswith calibre will feel.Sanath Kumar T.S.,

Thrissur, Kerala

A reckless standThe protests in some partsof the West and also inAustralia against lockdownrestrictions are baffl�ing. Docitizens in these countriesnot know that the novelcoronavirus is still there?And that the respectivegovernments have theirwellbeing as top priority?Back in India, lockdownmeasures have certainlybeen taken by the people intheir stride. K. Pradeep,

Chennai

Malleswari won a bronze,this is indeed a greatachievement by anyyardstick.C.V. Aravind,

Bengaluru

Silver at TokyoMirabai Chanu’s silvermedal in the weightliftingevent at Tokyo Olympics isworth its weight in gold.Considering the fact that amedal in weightlifting hascome years after Karnam

LETTERS TO THE EDITOR Letters emailed to [email protected] must carry the full postal address and the full name or the name with initials.

To read more lettersonline, scan the QR code

G. Prakash

The Chief of Defence Staff�General Bipin Rawat’s recentdescription of the Indian Air

Force (IAF) as a supporting arm —in an interview on July 2 — and theIAF chief Air Chief Marshal R.K.S.Bhadauria’s rebuttal, is the newestbump in the turbulent journeymarking the reorganisation process of the armed forces. Unfortunately, this bump, probablycaused by misinterpretation of anoversimplifi�cation by the Chief ofDefence Staff�, comes just when theprocess appears to be touchingdown after being airborne forlong. Whatever the cause, the differences do not speak well of theintellectual underpinnings of thereorganisation process. Is there aproblem with air power? Whatabout the IAF warning againstsplitting it into ‘penny packets’? Isair power an adjunct?

Armies and navies will see airpower as an adjunct, history beingthe reason. Analysing the experience of the United States, thegreatest exponent of air power inhistory, the air power theorist Tami Davis Biddle wrote in 2019 that‘aerial bombing cannot controlthe ground. It is fundamentally acoercive activity in which an attacker seeks to structure the ene

my’s incentives — using threatsand actions to shape and constrainthe enemy’s options, both perceived and real. It is an importantand muchutilized military instrument for both deterrence andcompellence. However, its abilityto produce results varies, and students of strategy must understandthe circumstances under which itis more or less likely to achieveparticular results or political ends’(https://bit.ly/3iHHrza). Holdingand controlling land or water is essential in confl�ict. From Vietnamto Afghanistan, air power failed todeliver the promised results to theU.S. But everyone acknowledgeshow greatly air power can aid victories though.

Issues before the IAFMedia reports suggest that counting even ageing aircraft, the IAF is25% short on fi�ghter squadrons. Apan service shortage of about 400pilots, almost 10% of their authorised strength, further aggravatesthis. Therefore, the IAF has a pointwhen it warns against splitting assets, for, there may be nothingmuch to split. Whether now, or inany future joint arrangement, theservice chief is responsible for theoperational availability of assets.He alone will be blamed for failures. So he must protest with allhis might. Vulnerabilities shouldbe known to all stakeholders.When the U.S. Navy faced a budgetcut in 2015, Admiral Jonathan W.Greenert, Chief of Naval Operations told the Senate that ‘(if thebudget gets cut) more ships and

aircraft (will be) out of actionwhen in battle, more sailors, Marines and merchant mariners (willbe) killed, and (there will be) lesscredibility, to deter adversariesand to assure allies in the future’(https://bit.ly/2TxL1TJ). But shortage alone is not at the core of theIAF’s objections. It is also the prospect of operational plans for theIAF being made outside theservice.

Finding common groundA common understanding of thenuances of military air power isthe key. Towards this, it has to beaccepted that others too understand air power. The 67yearoldnaval air arm fi�gures among thetop 10 air forces of the world. Withthe experience of operating almost every kind of aircraft the IAFoperates, and with the benefi�ts ofthe operational wisdom borne ofthe harsh integrity of the supremely tough aircraft carrier and othersmall deck operations, the navalleadership understands air power.This applies to the Indian Armytoo, in its own way. Confi�denceneeds to be developed that rightlystaff�ed apex joint organisations

can draw up professional operational plans for air power. This willneed some eff�ort in the short termtowards enhancing professionalmilitary education though, at thestaff� level.

Synergy and hurdlesWith dwindling budgets, a steadilydeteriorating security situationand the march of technology, thearmed forces understand the needto synergise. But natural humanfaults interfere. For instance, diff�erent services do not coexist wellwhere they are colocated. Bitterfi�ghts over land, buildings, facilities, etc. mar optimal operationalsynergising. Then there is the issue of giving each other the best,or of wanting to be with each other. The Andaman and NicobarCommand suff�ered from the lackof a substantial operational charter, and the services not positioning appropriate personnel or resources there. Moreover, as a jointtenure did not benefi�t career, noone strove for it. The U.S., whenfaced with the same problem,made joint tenures mandatory forpromotions. Steamrolling with decrees is useful in such areas.

Major reorganisations muststrictly follow the sequence ofwritten concepts, their refi�nementthrough consultation, simulationor table top war gaming, fi�eld evaluation and fi�nal analysis beforeimplementation. This would helpaddress command and control, asset adequacy, individual serviceroles, operational planning undernew circumstances and the ade

quacy of joint structures. Who getsto lead what also matters. TheWestern Command between theIndian Army and the IAF, theNorthern Command with the Indian Army, Maritime Commandwith the Indian Navy and the AirDefence Command with the IAFmay be an acceptable formula.

What is neededAs we hurtle towards inevitable reorganisation, some specifi�cs arerequired. The first is the need for acomprehensive National SecurityStrategy to guide the services develop capacities required in theirrespective domains. The second isthe need to transform professionaleducation and interservice employment to nurture genuine respect for others. The third is thatthe armed forces must resolvetheir diff�erences among themselves, as the politicians or bureaucrats cannot do it. The fourthis to ensure good quality staff�, inadequate numbers, at apex jointorganisations, to reassure individual services and those in the fi�eldthat they are in safe hands. Thefifth is the acceptance of the factthat what works for other countries need not work for us. We mayneed tailormade solutions whichmay need more genuine thinking.For genuine military jointness, agenuine convergence of minds iscritical. Decrees have limitations.

Commodore G. Prakash, a Nau Sena

Medal recipient, served the Indian Navy

for 35 years. He is a specialist in aviation

and anti-submarine warfare

Getting India’s military convergence formula rightFor genuine military jointness, a blending of minds and tailormade solutions are critical

PT

I

Pegasus is not a stranger toour shores. It fi�rst surfacedin our public discourse to

wards the end of 2019. Researchers from University of Toronto’sCitizen Lab called up some telephone numbers in our countryand informed them that theirWhatsApp chats were compromised. There were some stirrings,but the controversy died out quietly and disappeared from our public discourse. The attention thenwas predominantly on the issue ofhow secure WhatsApp was andhow weak its claims of endtoendencryption were. WhatsApp’s public relations exercise to reassureits customers of its safety and privacy grabbed disproportionate attention. All these defl�ected the public’s attention from ourGovernment’s involvement in theugly saga and the misuse of NSO ofIsrael’s spyware to snoop on itsown citizens. Parliament and civilsociety let the Government off� easily. Perhaps, the impression thatthe surveillance then was largelyconfi�ned to the BhimaKoregaonhappenings also contributed to itslimited appeal.

Signs of a surveillance stateMost of us failed to connect thedots. The frequent and prolongedinstances of Internet shutdowns;use of the sedition law on critics ofthe Government’s policies; use ofthe Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act (UAPA) ; rushing of crucial pieces of legislation aff�ectingcore sectors of our economythrough the Houses of Parliament;consigning the data privacy Bill toa select committee; the framing ofrules to rein in digital news platforms, and the demonic effi�ciencywith which State governmentswere toppled appeared less dramatic and had no shock value asunconnected events. But if connected with each other, and thePegasus spyware running in the

background, they present a picture of India’s descent into a surveillance state.

Treated separately, each one ofthose incidents, caused little morethan a few days of screaming headlines, reprimanding editorials,raucous primetime television debates, weak and shortlived protests by political parties and rightsactivists. The probability that thesecond coming of Pegasus into ourpolitical discourse will not be verydiff�erent from its fi�rst appears veryreal, if this too is treated as a separate and isolated event. Fortunately, this time it came with two major diff�erences.

The targets nowThis time the attention is exclusively on the Government’s roleand there are no red herrings inthe form of questions about the safety of encryptions off�ered by service providers. The people involved in the revelations are notjust little known activists. Theyrange from the Leader of the Opposition, a constitutional authority, a number of journalists, humanrights activists, Ministers in theGovernment, ruling party leaders,several political leaders, serving orretired offi�cers. The list also revealed that the government agencies made no distinction betweenstate interests and the interests ofthe ruling party. The expansiveness of the global list of peoplenamed as intended targets of thespyware and the prestige of publications involved in crossbordercollaboration are indeed arresting.

Pegasus’s second coming hasyet another distinction. It foregrounds the collusion between government and weapons grade surveillance tech that has nointermediary functions to confuseus. The episodes that were hitherto played out as government versus tech in our country allowedthe combatants to compete for oursupport. The government and thetech companies claimed to fi�ghtone another on our behalf. However, they were actually fi�ghts between tech and government forpossession and control of our data. Government sought its possession to control society, to eliminate dissent and opposition. But it

tried to portray to us that it soughtto tame the tech companies to protect our interests, privacy, and thesecurity of the realm. Tech companies sought to possess our datasets to make prediction productsout of them and sell them to advertisers. Both the Government andtech companies vied for surveillance over us. One for control andthe other for profi�ts. However,there is always the undetectedpossibility of their interests coalescing. In the case of Pegasus thecollusion is evident. The NSOGroup does not compete with theGovernment for the possession ofdata surplus of its application. It isa pure and simple provider of surveillanceasaservice to the Government. In the event, Pegasusthis time shines a light on the Government for civil society to see itas a clear accountable entity.

Government stonewallingIt is evident that the Indian government till now is acting out of astandard play book. It is stonewalling. It has so far evaded the essential questions that are raised by therevelations. Ministers and representatives of the ruling party arequestioning the credibility ofclaims made by the global consortium of media organisations thatannounced the startling revelations. They are accusing the publications of acting with ulterior motives to undermine India’sdemocratic institutions. Supporters of the Government’s narrativecharge the publications with attempting to defame the country.The Government’s, and its supporters’, defence so far is essentiallysemantic quibble and based onraising doubts on the source of thetelephone numbers that the mediaconsortium says is from a leakedlist accessed by media portal Forbidden Stories.

The uncommonly cautiouswording of the preface to the consortium’s admittedly limitedclaims to their fi�ndings is sought tobe used to undermine the extraordinary signifi�cance of its revelations. The consortium desistedfrom making sweeping claims. Itsaid, the leaked list of 50,000numbers “are believed to havebeen selected as those of people ofinterest by government clients ofNSO Group”. The consortium alsosaid that the list “indicates the potential targets” identifi�ed in advance by the NSO’s clients for“possible surveillance”. The list isonly “an indication of intent” andthe appearance of a number in itdoes not reveal “whether therewas an attempt to infect thephone” or “whether any attemptsucceeded”.

But amidst all this extraordinary caution is this devastating revelation which the Indian government chooses to deliberatelyignore to indulge in semanticwrangling: “However, forensic examination of a small sample of mobile phones with numbers on thelist found tight correlations between the time and date of a number in the data and the start of Pegasus activity — in some cases in aslittle as a few seconds.” AmnestyInternational’s forensic lab foundthat of the 67 phones examined,23 were infected and 14 showedsigns of attempts to penetrate. Therest were cases of possible changeof devices or those using the Android operating system that didnot keep record of logs needed forforensic work. By any standardthis is considered an overwhelming basis for further investigation.It establishes an unquestionablebasis for subjecting all the rest ofthe numbers from the list of50,000 numbers for investigation.And in India’s case, all the 300numbers from the country thatwere found in the list. Already, over 10 of them were forensically examined and found to be either successfully infected by Pegasus orattempted to be penetrated. Thatis enough of a case for a comprehensive investigation into theclaims of the media consortium.But the Government narrativeharps on words such as ‘indica

tive,’ ‘possible’ and ‘potential’ asbeing too general and dismissessnooping charges.

The Indian government’s defence that rests on questioning thesource of the list has little merit.Investigative journalism is underno obligation to reveal its sources.In fact, it is ethically bound to notreveal in order to protect the identity of its sources.

As important as the questionsthat the Government forcefully articulates is its remorseless stonewalling of the most importantquestion repeatedly asked of it. Itdoes not tell us in unequivocalterms whether it has or has notpurchased the Pegasus spyware. Itdid not answer that question during the country’s fi�rst brush withthe spyware in 2019 too. Even today it seems to be fi�rm in its resolve not to answer. It hopes towear down the political opposition, activists, human rightsgroups, and civil society. It evidently thinks that it can wait outthe news cycles to run theircourse. It probably can. Civil society and the media, cannot,beyond a point, keep the pressureon. A government with brazen determination, brute majority in thelegislature, and as yet unchallenged political capital, can aff�ordto wait out the limited fi�repower ofits political opponents’ artillery.

Judiciary as bulwarkThe only institution in the presentsituation that can make the Government accountable is the judiciary. The track record of our topcourt on major issues of defi�ningimportance to our national life isat best mixed in the recent past.What it chooses to do or not donow can make a diff�erence to India. The options before it are clearas they are stark. To allow the present government a free run inturning India into a surveillancestate is one. The other is to stopthe Government in its tracks, restore to its people the gift of a freeand liberal state that the foundingfathers of the Republic gave them.The country has very little time.

Parakala Prabhakar is a political

economist and heads RightFOLIO, a

Hyderabad-based knowledge enterprise

Joining the dots in the second coming of PegasusThis time, Pegasus shines a light on the Government for civil society to see it as a clear accountable entity

Parakala Prabhakar

GE

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AG

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The monsoon is nearing its halfway mark and July,

which is among the rainiest months, began with a

rainfall defi�cit but has since seen a revival. For

most of last week, allIndia rainfall has been over 50%

more than what is normal for this time of the year. Ma

ny regions in the Konkan coast and the southern penin

sula have been seeing instances of extreme rainfall. Ac

cording to India Meteorological Department (IMD) data

on the regional distribution, the ‘South Peninsula’ has

seen 29% more rain from June 1July 25 than what is nor

mal for this period. Rainfall in Mahabaleshwar, Maha

rashtra, was torrential enough to beat its alltime re

cord, according to the IMD. The monsoon is

characterised by unexpected variability that forecast

models can capture only in a limited way. However,

much evidence is accumulating that there is a distinc

tive change in climate patterns. The frequency and the

strength of cyclones over the Arabian Sea have in

creased in the last two decades. There has been a 52%

increase in the frequency of cyclones over the Arabian

Sea from 20012019 and an 8% decrease over the Bay of

Bengal compared to 19822002, when, historically,

most cyclones have been in the Bay of Bengal, accord

ing to a new study in Climate Dynamics.

Even the duration of these cyclones has increased by

80%. More cyclones are bringing in more moisture

from the Arabian Sea and contributing to extreme rain

fall events over the western coast, the most recent ex

ample being cyclone Tauktae in May, which at 185 kilo

metres per hour was among the strongest cyclones to

approach Mumbai. They drive storm surges that fl�ood

the coast. Studies show that a heating globe has in

creased atmospheric moisture levels, contributing to

short, intense spells of rains. The interaction between

warming, rainfall and temperature is complex and va

riables such as aerosol emissions, particulate matter

pollution, agriculture and forestry patterns must be ac

counted for. However, the broader picture is that ex

treme events — bursts of torrential localised rainfall and

prolonged droughts and heatwaves — are likely to in

crease, making the role of accurate forecasts that are

able to warn of such events at least three to fi�ve days

ahead even more important. But the bigger challenge is

to undertake socalled climateproofi�ng of the most vul

nerable regions and taking warnings of scientifi�c risk as

sessment seriously. Evacuations ahead of a fl�ood or a

cyclone are not always eff�ective and what is needed is li

mited construction in places that have been marked

vulnerable. Just as it is possible to plan earthquakeresi

lient structures and site them scientifi�cally, but hard to

anticipate a major quake, similarly, proper planning

can insure against the inevitable extremities of nature.

International climate change agreements to limit green

house gas emissions will yield benefi�ts only in the very

long term but what is done in the near future will mean

the diff�erence between surviving and thriving.

A climate riskOnly proper planning can insure against

the inevitable extremities of nature

In contrast to India’s continued ambiguity over the le

gality of cryptocurrencies, its stance on introducing

an offi�cial digital currency has been reassuringly

clear and consistent over time. And, four years after an

interministerial committee recommended that India

launch fi�at money in digital form, the Reserve Bank of

India has indicated that pilot projects to fi�gure out its

viability are likely to be launched soon. In a speech a

few days ago, T. Rabi Sankar, Deputy Governor, RBI,

said, “RBI is currently working towards a phased imple

mentation strategy and examining use cases which

could be implemented with little or no disruption.” The

clarity is welcome, given that the muchawaited Crypto

currency and Regulation of Offi�cial Digital Currency

Bill, 2021, is yet to be introduced. In recent years, the

signifi�cant rise of private cryptocurrencies such as Bit

coin and Ether has spooked central banks throughout

the world, and pushed the case for offi�cial digital cur

rencies. Mr. Rabi Sankar himself cited a 2021 BIS survey

of central banks, which found that 86% were actively re

searching the potential for such currencies, 60% were

experimenting with the technology, and 14% were de

ploying pilot projects. China, having already engaged in

pilot projects for its digital RMB, is in fact planning a

major rollout soon. There has been little doubt, there

fore, that India needs a digital rupee. The important

questions are about the details and the timeline.

There are crucial decisions to be made about the de

sign of the currency with regards to how it will be is

sued, the degree of anonymity it will have, the kind of

technology that is to be used, and so on. It is possible

that the question of the degree of anonymity, especial

ly, will be quite a challenging one. While offi�cial digital

currencies can borrow the underlying technology fea

ture of private cryptocurrencies, they signifi�cantly diff�

er from the latter in their philosophy and goals. Also to

be considered are possible impacts of the introduction

of an offi�cial digital currency on people, the monetary

policy, and the banking system. There are risks to be

considered as well, not the least of which will be those

emerging from cyberattacks. What is more, many laws

need to be amended to make the digital rupee a reality.

So, while India might have done exceedingly well in dig

ital payments in recent years — the Deputy Governor

said they have grown at a compounded annual growth

rate of 55% over the last fi�ve years — the digital rupee

will be something else altogether. Notwithstanding all

these challenges, it would seem that the answer to Mr.

Rabi Sankar’s speech title, ‘Central Bank Digital Curren

cy – Is This the Future of Money’, is a yes.

Money changerIndia needs to move forward on

introducing an offi�cial digital currency

corrections & clarifications:

The reference to Taliye village in Satara district, in the picturecaption of the frontpage story on Maharashtra rain disaster ( July24, 2021), should be corrected to Taliye village in Raigad district.

The caption of a frontpage picture titled “Let the Games begin!” (some editions, July 24, 2021) misidentifi�ed the fl�agbeareras Harmanpreet Singh. He is Manpreet Singh.

The Readers’ Editor’s office can be contacted by Telephone: +91-44-28418297/28576300;

E-mail:[email protected]

CMYK

A ND-NDE


THE HINDU DELHI


OPED

As a sequel to the Rajahmundry currencynotes forgery case, proceedings under Sections 489 A, 489 B, 489 C and 489 D of I.P.C.were started against Mula Subbayya, the alleged approver in the currency notes forgerycase. It will be remembered that after the acquittal of the accused in the Sessions Courtin the main case, the case against the approver was withdrawn by the District Superintendent of Police, Godavari, and a petition was fi�led in August last in the High Courtfor sanction to prosecute him for perjury.While this petition is still pending judgment,the main case once withdrawn was againlaunched. It is being inquired into by the Cocanada SubMagistrate. Dewan BahadurVenkatachelam Pantulu is conducting theprosecution while the accused is defendedby P.V. Subbarao of the Rajahmundry bar.Eight witnesses for the prosecution have sofar been examined and the case is proceeding.

A HUNDRED YEARS AGO JULY 26, 1921

Notes forgery case

With a reduction in COVID19 infections as the second wave weakens inIndia, it is important to focus on thepandemic’s disruptive impact on thefood security and livelihoods of thepoor and marginalised.

The deadly virus has been aroundfor two years and it is not clear as tohow and when it will end. However,we do have enough in terms of ahindsight analysis of policies and interventions that promise food and livelihood security, along with thestrengthening of health support, formillions facing the wrath of thepandemic.

It is imperative to also note analarming escalation in the globalhunger that is unfolding right now.There was a ‘dramatic worsening’ ofworld hunger in 2020, much of itlikely related to the fallout of COVID19. While the pandemic’s impacthas yet to be fully mapped, a multiagency report, ‘The State of Food Security and Nutrition in the World’,estimates that around a tenth of theglobal population – up to 81.1 crorepersons – were undernourished lastyear.

India has made enormous progress in food production over theyears, with an inspiring journey towards selfsuffi�ciency in food production marked by the Green Revolution. In 2020, India produced over30 crore tonnes of cereals and hadbuilt up a food stock of 10 croretonnes. The country has registeredrecord harvests over the last fewyears. India exported a record 1.98crore tonnes of rice and wheat inFY21.

Pivoting safety netsComing to the impact of COVID19’sfallout, vulnerable and marginalisedfamilies in India continued to be buffered against the food crisis by its robust Targeted Public DistributionSystem (TPDS).

Key measures initiated by the Union government included allowingthe States to lift their allocations forsix months in one go, in anticipation

of a surge in demand for foodgrainsthrough the public distribution system. As data shows, there was an unprecedented spike in the uptake ofsubsidised and free foodgrains during the lockdown. The public distribution system became a lifeline formillions hit by the pandemic.

Increase entitlements A dynamic analysis of the food security scenario and feedback from diff�erent stakeholders allowed the Government of India to increaseentitlements given to National FoodSafety Act (NFSA) benefi�ciaries in2020. For instance, under the Pradhan Mantri Garib Kalyan Anna Yojana (PMGKAY), 81.3 crore NFSA beneficiaries received an additional 5 kg offoodgrains per person per monthand 1 kg of pulses per family permonth, free of cost, for eight monthsfrom April to November 2020. Underthe Atmanirbhar Bharat package, 8crore migrants were provided 5 kg offoodgrains per month, free of cost.

The government also allowedNGOs/civil society organisations tobuy rice and wheat at subsidisedprices directly from nearby FoodCorporation of India (FCI) warehouses. Rice was sold at ₹�22 per kg (market price is ₹�35 per kg) and wheat at₹�21 per kg (market price is ₹�27 per kg)last year.

The PMGKAY was introduced in

2020 for eight months to provide relief to 80 crore benefi�ciaries coveredunder NFSA from COVIDinducedeconomic hardships. The schemewas reintroduced this year for thethird phase implementation for twomonths till June, and later extendedtill November under the fourthphase.

During the third phase ofPMGKAY, about 89% of the allocatedfoodgrains were distributed to beneficiaries. The distribution reached94% in May. Implemented for eightmonths last year and for sevenmonths this year, the PMGKAY outlaywill add up to a total expenditure of₹�2,28,000 crore over 15 months.

Addressing challengesThe COVID19 pandemic has onceagain drawn attention to addressingthe aspects of access and portabilityof food entitlements. It is critical toleave no one behind in times such asthese and crucial for states to fi�nd solutions so that no one goes hungry.

Ensuring that food support focuses on atrisk groups, including persons with disabilities, the elderly, single womenled households,transgender persons, HIVaff�ectedpersons, displaced persons, refugeesand orphan children, is at the heartof ‘Leave No One Behind’.

The scale of India’s public fooddistribution systems is immense and

has gone through constant navigation and improvement, which iscommendable. But more needs tostill be done to improve access andinclusion among the missing vulnerable population.

Way aheadFirst, the introduction of the One Nation One Ration Card (ONORC)scheme is an innovation that can be agame changer, allowing benefi�ciariesto access their food entitlementsfrom anywhere in the country. Thisis especially important for a countrylike India with a massive mobile population and migration betweenStates. The scheme takes the massivedigitisation of the supply chain, distribution and access to the next step,ensuring anyone benefi�ts fromanywhere in India.

Second, climate change will continue to aff�ect agriculture and food security, and the impact on the poorand vulnerable can be devastating.Massive eff�orts are needed towardsprogrammes that focus on buildingresilient agriculture that is adaptiveto changing weather and needsthrough the introduction of newervarieties of crops, effi�cient irrigationsystems, and the promotion of cropsas per the agroclimate zones.

Thirdly, a third of all food produced is wasted. There should be enhanced eff�orts to prevent losses. Lostor wasted energy used for food production accounts for about 10% ofthe world’s total energy consumption, and annual greenhouse gasemissions associated with food losses and food waste reaches to around3.5 gigatonnes of the CO2 equivalent.

Finally, 2021 off�ers a unique opportunity for advancing food security and nutrition through transforming food systems with the upcomingUN Food Systems Summit, the Nutrition for Growth Summit and theCOP26 on climate change. The outcomes of these events will certainlyshape the actions of the second halfof the UN Decade of Action on Nutrition. India has a central role to playin this transformation and off�eringexperiences and solutions to addressthe thought processes and modelsfor a resilient, equitable, and foodsecure world.

Bishow Parajuli is UN World Food

Programme Representative and Country

Director for India

Government measures to tackle the food crisis during the COVID19 pandemic were eff�ective

Lessons from India’s food security response

Bishow Parajuli

In less than two months, my tenure as theReaders’ Editor will come to an end. Afterbeing a journalist for nearly four decades,which includes the past nine years as a newsombudsman, I am moving on to pursue research on a range of subjects that are close tomy heart. I would like to use this interregnum to look at the changing nature of thenews industry, and the challenges it poses toa news ombudsman. Along with my personalrefl�ections, I would like to hear and share theviews of the readers about how they assessthis institution in general, and within TheHindu in particular.

First, we need to contextualise the role ofa news ombudsman and how it is diff�erentfrom all other journalistic assignments.While every journalistic assignment goes onto create a body of public information, theevaluation by an ombudsman is clearly apost facto act.

Autopsies help to understand the factorsthat led to the death of an individual — whichis a signifi�cant contribution. The role of anombudsman is not only to identify whatwent wrong but also to work on a visiblemending process. The idea of a visible mending process is to ensure that the societymakes its choices based on right informationrather than a faulty one.

‘Required revolution’ Joshua Benton, founder of the Nieman Lab atHarvard University, in his article “From public to publics” has argued that “a strong,proactive public editor can be part of thiscurrent reckoning in journalism that is looking increasingly like a required revolution injournalism culture”.

Over the course of next few weeks, I willalso be touching upon some of the crucialquestions about the role of a news ombudsman raised by Kathy English, who was To-ronto Star’s public editor for thirteen longyears and my fellow board member at theOrganisation of News Ombudsmen and Standards Editor.

What is the need for this extended refl�ection and engagement? Is it an attempt to understand digital disruption? Is it an attempt

to locate the elements of journalism withinthe changing contours of the news media industry? The answer is yes to all these questions and much more. I earnestly hope thisextended engagement will deepen the compact between the newspaper and its readers.

Integral for self-regulation A news ombudsman is an integral part ofselfregulation for news media. According toa UNESCO framework, “Selfregulation is acombination of standards setting out the appropriate codes of behaviour for the mediathat are necessary to support freedom of expression, and process how those behaviourswill be monitored or held to account.”

The framework further states that “selfregulation preserves independence of themedia and protects it from partisan government interference. It could be more effi�cientas a system of regulation as the media understand their own environment better than government”. The framework also alerts citizens that this approach may be used by thenews industry to further its “commercial interests rather than the public interest”.

While the Terms of Reference that governthis offi�ce give general guiding principles, individual Readers’ Editors evolve their ownapproach to eff�ectively ensure that the newspaper does not stray from its core principles and editorial values. In my fi�rst columnon September 24, 2012, I spelt out my approach: “The Terms of Reference defi�nes myrole and the Code of Editorial Values defi�nesthe role of the editorial team. Readers’ concerns, complaints and suggestions shall notbe evaluated in an arbitrary fashion, butwithin a rigorous framework set out in thesetwo documents, as they provide for an institutional framework for a mutual dialoguebetween The Hindu and its millions of readers. My job is to see that this dialogue takesplace for mutual benefi�t.”

The fulcrum of my ombuds universe is avalue system that is deeply embedded in thenotion of the commons and common good,where the central concern is to eff�ect coursecorrection and not to be punitive.

I have both boundaries and possibilities,and I respect the prerogative of editorialfreedom. The perimeter is set by the Termsof Reference and it would be unfair to breachthis. Respecting the welldefi�ned perimeteris an enabling quality as it opens up manyavenues to look at the best practices of journalism. This debate is crucial to preserve public interest in journalism.

[email protected]

Time to refl�ectThe role of an ombudsman is not only to identify what went wrong but also to work on a visible mending process

FROM THE READERS’ EDITOR

a.s. panneerselvan

Fake news and its associated socialproblems have been a major concernand the Indian government has beenattempting to bring in several legalamendments to deal with its creation, propagation and eff�ects. Socialmedia companies, too, are investingbillions of dollars into technologicalsolutions such as Artifi�cial Intelligence (AI) to identify fake news andits proliferation. Are these the bestsolutions to solve a problem as old ashumanity or is there any other eff�ective solution?

Looking at statistics on the justicedelivery system in India, the legal system needs to become more robustbefore it can be considered an eff�ective solution. Further, the formulation of laws in themself do not prevent a wrong action.

When Timnit Gebru, former colead of Google’s ethical AI team,made an unceremonious exit, theMIT Technology Review identifi�edthe key aspects of her unpublishedpaper that had caused a stir withinGoogle. In summary, to train large AImodels, massive computing powerand energy is required and this hasbeen expanding since 2017, alongwith an everincreasing carbon footprint. The Technology Review statedthat the ‘Transformer’ model, as onJanuary 2019, used 6,56,347 kilowatthour (kWh), producing a carbonfootprint of 6,26,155 lbs of CO2 equivalent at a cloud computing cost between $9,42,973 and $32,01,722 for asingle training of the AI model.Further, since the models tend to usetext already present on the Internet,there is a tendency for the AI to refl�ect strong negative human biases.

Fake news is disinformation thathas no basis in reality, but is presented as fact. Being designed to manipulate both the intellect and emotionsof a person, it can evoke strong emotional reactions in its reader, whichcould sometimes result in violence.

In an experimental study conducted among fi�rstyear undergraduateHistory students, who were givensome historical content, it was foundthat novice learners made claims that

did not have supporting evidence,were either inaccurate or unrelated.

India’s diversity is its strength, butalso the source for numerous confl�icts that have persisted over the decades. These confl�icts, being rootedin historical claims around politics,culture and religion, will intensify ifthe historical assumptions and databehind related fake news are not contextually analysed. The problem isaggravated with the decline in history learning programmes worldwide.While the National Council of Educational Research and Training(NCERT) curriculum has elements ofhistorical thinking, State boards areprimarily focused on the memorisation of content.

The Constitution of India providesa longterm solution under Article51A (h), which says, “It shall be theduty of every citizen to develop thescientifi�c temper, humanism and thespirit of inquiry and reform.” Whilethe National Education Policy, 2020,captures the needs of the nation, itmisses out on historical thinking.

Historical thinking is the set ofthinking skills required for learninghistory. It consists of concepts likepoints of view, evidence, validity andreliability of the source, contextualisation, and corroboration, apartfrom other skills. Historical thinkingskills can also be applied to law, forensic science, politics and research,and dealing with ‘fake news’.

In the case of fake news, a personwould have to be able to read a pieceof news, examine the source for biasand ascertain whether the claims being made are factual or whether theyconstitute deliberate misinformation. Since fake news is designed toappeal to emotion, it becomes all themore important that a person isskilled at interrogating evidence,contextualising the information andcorroborating it with alternate sources. If historical thinking has such widespread application, why is it missing from active public discourse andin the education system?

Vikram Vincent has a Ph.D in Educational

Technology from IIT Bombay

Are law and technology a solution to fake news?Stakeholders are attempting to fi�nd a robust and eff�ective solution to sift fact from fi�ction

Vikram Vincent

For nearly 12 minutes after the Apollo 15 astronauts leave earth on their 12day roundtrip to the moon, Major Kenneth Aisler willhave his fi�nger poised over a switch thatcould end it all abruptly. That fi�nger againstthe Red “Destruct” switch would start a series of events resulting in the jettisoning ofthe command module containing the threeApollo 15 astronauts, the destruction of theSaturn 5 booster rocket, and the ultimatedescent to earth of the Apollo spacecraftfrom its recovery parachutes. From that moment on, it would be up to “Beach Boss” Col.Robert A. Van Arsdall and his air, land andsea forces standing by for just such a disaster. These two Air Force offi�cers have in theirhands the fate of astronauts David R. Scott,James B. Irwin and Alfred M. Worden. Theyalso are responsible for other life and property should the Saturn rocket stray from itsprogrammed path. Although all of America’s24 manned space fl�ights have made it safelythrough those tenuous early minutes, safetycrews are never sure. They constantly areworking to perfect techniques and fi�nd newequipment. More than one million peopleare expected at the Cape area to watch thegiant Saturn 5 blastoff�. The weather is expected to be good for launch time. Scott andIrwin are scheduled to land on the moon at3.45 I.S.T. on July 31 and return to earth,north of Hawaii, on August 8 at 2.16 I.S.T.

FIFTY YEARS AGO JULY 26, 1971

A switch to save astronauts

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FROM THE ARCHIVES

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DATA POINT

rence between the registered deaths in the pandemic period and the averagenumber of deaths registeredin 2018 and 2019 for thesame months.

A districtwise look at the excess deaths in West Bengaland their multiple over theCOVID19 toll showed thatrural districts such as PurbaBardhaman (7,556 excessdeaths — 60.4 times the offi�cial toll of 125), Puruliya(6,224 and a multiple of58.7), Cooch Behar (4,429and 52.7), Malda (5,859 and32.7), Bankura (6,986 and31.9) and Murshidabad(8,378 and 30.4) had highnumber of “excess deaths”and multiples.

Only Paschim Bardhaman(home to Asansol and Durgapur) with 9,652 deaths — 32.6times the offi�cial COVID19toll of 296 — had a high mul

tiple among urban districtsin the State.

Kolkata had an estimated12,708 excess deaths, butthey were only 2.9 times theoffi�cial toll of 4,456 whichsignifi�ed a relatively bettermonitoring of COVID19 related deaths in the State capital relative to other parts ofthe largely rural and agrarian State.

The online data for the 18districts showed that3,68,477 and 4,10,503 deathswere registered in West Bengal in the CRS, which wereclose to 94.4% and 90% ofthe deaths reported by theAnnual Report on Vital Statistics based on CRS 2019 forthese years. Excess deathswere calculated as the diff�e

The CRS annual report for2019 notes that death registration in the State improvedfrom an estimated 91.8% in2018 to 100% in 2019. An estimated 91.7% of all deaths

were also registered within21 days of the occurrence according to the same report,which is relatively high compared to other States.

“During the second wave,in West Bengal, there wasmarked defi�ciency in COVIDtesting facilities, in ruralareas and even in towns andcities. In many places, people had to travel a lot to gettested. As a result, many patients with COVIDlike symptoms could not get testedand diagnosed. Therefore, acertain section of deaths wasnot included as COVIDdeaths. Also, patients dyingfrom post COVID complications were not counted inCOVID deaths,” renownedpublic health expert Punya

brata Gun said on the excessCOVID deaths in WestBengal.

Dr. Gun added that lack oftesting and lack of infrastructure for COVID19 relatedhealthcare could be reasonsfor higher deaths than whatwas offi�cially reported.

Sajal Biswas, general secretary of Service Doctors'Forum in West Bengal saidthe high excess deaths countwas due to multiple reasonsincluding deliberate suppression and inadequatetesting facilities, resulting ina large number of deathswithout diagnosis.

(Data compiled and ag-gregated by Pratap Vard-han. With inputs from ShivSahay Singh in Kolkata)

Excess deaths much higher in rural West BengalPublic health experts point to lack of adequate testing facilities during the second wave, and post-COVID complications

Srinivasan Ramani

Chennai

CMYK

A ND-NDE


DELHI THE HINDU


NEWS

FROM PAGE ONE

Rescue operations continued in full swing amid abrief respite in the rains. TheChief Minister, who touredrainbattered Chiplun onSunday, said while the Stategovernment and local administration was currently focusing on providing immediate relief in form of food,clothes and medicines, hewould offi�cially announce arelief package once a comprehensive survey of all theaff�ected districts in westernMaharashtra and the Konkanwas completed over the nextfew days.

“I am not announcing anypackage just to make peoplefeel better. This is not merelylimited to Chiplun, but Raigad and other parts of theState also. The estimatesfrom Kolhapur, Sangli andSatara have yet to come in…The damage to property hasbeen enormous with shops,establishments, infrastructure be they roads, bridges,power lines destroyed by thefury of the fl�oodwaters… So,let the fi�nancial review becompleted and only thenwill we be announcing apackage,” Mr. Thackeraysaid. Griefstricken residentsaccosted Mr. Thackeray andhis entourage the momenthe entered Chiplun, plead

ing for provide immediaterelief.

Reassuring them of everyaid possible, Mr. Thackeraysaid he would be touringwestern Maharashtra tomorrow to take stock of the destruction in Satara, Sangli andKolhapur.

Responding to allegationsthat no help was given tostricken residents for morethan 17 hours after the waters rose, Mr. Thackeray saidthe intensity of the rains hadnot left anybody with anychance to plan or warn of thedangers ahead.

“Hence, we will be requesting the Centre to keepan NDRF team in such districts. So, at least operationscan commence at the earliest at local levels,” he said.

“We have now started experiencing the eff�ects of climate change…areas wherevillages had nestled comfortably in the mountains foryears, unaff�ected by vagariesof nature, are now being buried by landslides in an instant. This is not merely excess rain, but a far moreterrible phenomenon,” hesaid. He informed that doctors from other civic bodieswere being brought in the affl�icted areas to help stave off�any epidemic.

Uddhav for NDRF teamsin highrisk districts

As the State was keenlywatching the moves by theBJP high command, partynational president J.P. Nadda, breaking his silence onthe leadership issue, praisedMr. Yediyurappa, saying hehad done “good work” andKarnataka was doing well.When quizzed about the leadership crisis in the State, hesaid, “That is what you feel.We don’t feel so.” He addedthat Mr. Yediyurappa wastaking care of things in hisown way.

Following the remarks,the Chief Minister thankedthe party president for appreciating his government’swork.

Mr. Nadda’s remarks aresignifi�cant as Mr. Yediyurappa had said two days agothat he expected directionsfrom the party high command on July 25 and hewould abide by theirdecision.

In a diff�erent tenor, C.T.Ravi, said to be a CM hope

ful, said the party had given“all opportunities” to Mr. Yediyurappa, making himChief Minister four times,subtly hinting he now has tomake way for others.

Meanwhile, in Bengaluru,a convention of VeerashaivaLingayat seers urged the BJPhigh command to continuewith Mr. Yediyurappa asChief Minister. However, theChief Minister sought to distance himself from theconvention.

Later in the evening, theCM said, “I have not got anydirections from the highcommand yet. If they ask meto continue, I will do so. Ifthey ask me to resign, I willtender my resignation andwork for the party.”

Multiple sources said theBJP leadership is yet to takea fi�nal decision on Mr. Yediyurappa’s replacement as onSunday night. Meanwhile,Governor Thawar ChandGehlot returned to Bengaluru on Sunday evening.

Suspense continues overKarnataka leadership

The expectations of an earlyCabinet reshuffl�e in Rajasthan turned out to be adamp squib with senior Congress leaders on Sundayleaving the decision to theparty’s central leadership.Two emissaries from NewDelhi could not convinceChief Minister Ashok Gehlotin favour of making an immediate power sharing arrangement with the rivalfaction.

AICC general secretariesAjay Maken and K.C. Venugopal, who arrived here onSaturday to bring about a reconciliation within the ruling party, left on Sunday afternoon after meeting thePradesh Congress Committee offi�cebearers. In their interaction with Mr. Gehlotearlier, the latter reportedlyrefused to act under anypressure while making thepolitical appointments.

An uneasy Mr. Maken toldpresspersons outside thePCC headquarters that therewas “no confl�ict” among theCongress leaders in the Stateand all of them had left the fi�nal decision about the Cabi

net expansion to the partyhigh command.

Mr. Maken is scheduled toreturn to Jaipur on July 28 fora twoday meeting with party MLAs on the functioningof the government as well asthe party organisation.

Pilot’s meetingFormer Deputy Chief Minister Sachin Pilot, who alongwith 18 MLAs staged a rebellion against Mr. Gehlot in July last year, was among theleaders who met the twoAICC general secretaries atthe PCC headquarters.

A large number of Mr. Pilot’s supporters gatheredoutside the building andraised slogans in his sup

port, besides demandingthat the MLAs loyal to him beaccommodated in thegovernment.

The Pilot camp has beenissuing statements demanding power sharing betweenMr. Gehlot and the disgruntled group of MLAs.

According to Congress insiders, Mr. Gehlot suggestedto the two emissaries thatthey seek the opinion of allMLAs through a “broad consultation” about new appointments to the Council ofMinisters and nominationsto various boards andcorporations.

Mr. Maken and Mr. Venugopal are members of a committee appointed by the

AICC last year to address theissues raised by Mr. Pilot andevolve a compromise in theparty’s State unit. Mr. Venugopal is also a Rajya Sabhamember elected from Rajasthan.

Mr. Pilot left for his Assembly constituency, Tonk,after meeting the two leaders and met a cross sectionof people in the town, 100km from Jaipur. He refusedto comment on a possibleCabinet expansion.

Nine vacanciesMr. Pilot, who was sackedboth as the Deputy CM andthe PCC president during thepolitical crisis, had recentlyindicated that he was intouch with the central leadership and was hopefulthat the Congress wouldshortly take steps to addressthe issues raised by him. TheMLAs of his camp have alsobeen demanding that theparty fulfi�l the promisesmade to him.

The State can have a maximum of 30 Ministers. Thereare at present 21 members inthe Council of Ministers, including the Chief Minister,and nine slots are vacant.

Rajasthan reshuffl�e put off� asCongress standoff� continuesAICC members return to Delhi after CM refuses to act under pressure


JAIPUR

On a mission: Congress leaders Ajay Maken and K.C.Venugopal speaking to the media in Jaipur on Sunday. * PTI

The resolution of infi�ghtingin Punjab has not onlyprompted the Congress toaddress the issue of factionalism in Rajasthan but alsoresolve some of the longpending issues with regardto other States.

In Rajasthan, the peaceformula to bring the warringfactions of former DeputyChief Minister Sachin Pilotand Chief Minister AshokGehlot is in its fi�nal stages.While some of Mr. Pilot’ssupporters will fi�nd a placein the Gehlot cabinet, Mr. Pilot himself is likely to bedrafted as a general secretary in the All India Congress Committee (AICC).

Party president SoniaGandhi is learnt to have spoken to Mr. Gehlot to speedup the process of expandinghis Cabinet to accommodatethe diff�erent sections.

Conveying a sense of urgency, the Congress president has also met seniorleaders like Ghulam NabiAzad, Kamal Nath andAnand Sharma to discuss organisational issues.

Gujarat is one State that isa priority for the high command as the Assembly elec

tion is due in the latter partof 2022. The party needs toappoint a new State leadership as well as a new AICCincharge. Feedback for theprocess is currently on, saida source.

While the former incharge Rajeev Satav passedaway earlier this year, thePradesh Congress Committee (PCC) chief had resignedlast year after the party’srout in the byelections.

Another State where theCongress is keen to put up aunited front is Karnatakaamid reports of a leadershiptussle between PCC chiefD.K. Shivkumar and formerChief Minister Siddaramaiah, who is also leader ofthe party in the Assembly.

“To ensure that the partytakes this up unitedly, Rahulji had long deliberationswith Shri Siddaramaiah andShri D.K. Shivakumar. Letme assure the Congress party is united and there is nodiff�erence of leadership,”AICC general secretary forKarnataka Randeep Surjewala said after the meetinglast Tuesday. The party hasrevamped its unit in pollbound Uttarakhand andtried a course correction inAssam with a new team.

After Punjab, Congressto focus on Rajasthan

More organisational changes on anvil


New Delhi


On the draw

The Delhi High Court hassaid that the Foreigners Regional Registration Offi�ce(FRRO) cannot insist on thephysical or virtual presenceof both the spouses for processing Overseas Citizenship of India (OCI) card applications for one of them.

The High Court’s ordercame while asking the FRROto accept the OCI card application of an Iranian woman,who has been living separately in Bengaluru after herrelationship with her husband, an Indian citizen,turned sour.

The woman submittedthat once her marriage withan Indian citizen since 2009has been proved and is anundisputed fact, the sameshould be enough to merit

grant of an OCI card in hername.

On the other hand, theCentre’s counsel arguedthat unless her spousecomes forward at the timeof making the OCI card application, the FRRO cannoteven consider the same.

Justice Palli, however,pointed out that the provision in the Visa Manual“merely makes it requisitefor all OCI applicants to bepresent for a personal interview, either physically orthrough videoconferencing”.

“...Given that there is norule or guideline whichmandates the presence ofboth the spouses , it is surprising that the checklistwas formulated in a mannerto impose such a condition,”Justice Palli observed.

‘Spouses’ presence notmandatory for OCI card’HC upholds separated woman’s plea

Staff Reporter

New Delhi

The second week of themonsoon session of Parliament could once again starton a stormy note on Mondayas a section of the Opposition is keen to keep the pressure on the government overthe Pegasus snooping controversy.

The Lok Sabha strategygroup of the Congress virtually met on Sunday to discuss the week ahead, said asource.

Senior Congress leadersindicated that the sessioncould be their “2G moment,”referring to the washout ofthe winter session of Parliament in 2010 by the BJPledOpposition over allegationsof corruption in allocation of2G spectrum.

A fi�nal decision on a jointOpposition strategy, however, is likely to be taken onMonday morning after Leader of the Opposition in theRajya Sabha MallikarjunKharge discusses the issue

with other fl�oor leaders.“Our demand for a judi

cial inquiry still exists as thegovernment statement onthe Pegasus issue didn’t haveanything. Kharge ji will meetleaders tomorrow morning,”Congress leader in the LokSabha Adhir Ranjan Chowdhury told The Hindu.

On Friday, speaking to reporters, Rahul Gandhi said,“Pegasus is classifi�ed by theIsraeli State as a weapon andthat weapon is supposed tobe used against terrorists.

The Prime Minister and theHome Minister have usedthis weapon against the Indian State.”

However, there is also aview among some partiesthat there should not be continued disruptions of theParliament.

They argue that thereshould be a structured debate around “issues” such asfuel price hike, farm laws,pace of vaccination and preparedness for the COVID19third wave among others.

Congress leaders say the monsoon session could be their ‘2G moment’


New Delhi

Opposition to persist on Pegasus row

Priyanka Surana and RiyaChandak emerged winnersin the CMA National OnlineBusiness Quiz 2021 organised by The Institute of CostAccountants of India (ICAI)and The Hindu.

From nearly 10,000 participants, 263 were shortlisted and eight were chosen toparticipate in the fi�nals.

While Sanvedi Rane camesecond, Bhagyashri Tapariagot the third place.

The preliminary roundturned out to be edgeoftheseat when six of theeight participants had thesame score.

Quiz master Debasish Mitra, chairman, Board of Advanced Studies and Research, had to conduct fourtiebreaker sessions tochoose the four fi�nalists.

From “Who became thefi�rst woman chairperson ofNASSCOM?” to “Who is

known as the ‘Oracle ofOmaha’?”, the participantshad to answer a host ofquestions.

The fi�nalists wentthrough fi�ve rounds of questions from which the twowinners were chosen in astiff� competition.

Balwinder Singh, chairman, Training and Educational Facilities and Placement Committee of theICAI, said such contests notonly evaluate the knowledge of the participants butalso help students learnwithin and beyond academics.

Suresh Balakrishna, chiefrevenue offi�cer of The Hin-du, said there had been atremendous response forthe quiz. “We at The Hinduare always committed toeducation and also for furthering the cause of health,education and fi�tness. Weare also planning to conducta virtual marathon soon.”

CMA National OnlineBusiness Quiz 2021 heldFinalists chosen through tie-breakers

Staff Reporter

CHENNAI

“Hence, the governmentneeds to appraise the reasons for the interceptionsmade to the gadgets of itsown Ministers, staff�, constitutional authorities, including Election Commissionersand judges, CBI offi�cers, aSupreme Court staff�er, activists, scientists and journalists,” Mr. Brittas argued.

On the other hand, if itwas an unauthorised snooping exercise by a foreignpower, it would amount toan act of external aggres

sion. “The government hasnot cared to investigate intothe allegations but made only a hopeful hope that thetimetested processes in ourcountry are wellestablishedto ensure that unauthorisedsurveillance does not occur.This statement is as emptyas making a hope that therewill not be any crimes in India because the Indian Penal Code is there,” Mr. Brittas, represented byadvocate Resmitha R. Chandran, submitted.

CPI(M) MP moves SCfor probe into snooping

National Conference president Farooq Abdullah onSunday said there was nosubstitute for dialogue andcalled upon India and Pakistan “to be consistent, coherent and serious in their nascent engagement”.

“There is no substitute fordialogue. The moves and themessages indicating a thawin relations between theneighbouring countries didput brakes on the escalatingtensions. Both the countriesshould ensure that people ofJammu and Kashmir and Ladakh live a life free from unending miseries,” Dr. Abdullah, who was addressingparty workers in Kulgam,said.

He emphasised that hisparty had all along been astrong votary of IndoPak.dialogue, and underlinedthat the dialogue should result in J&Kcentric confi�dence building measures, including resumption ofcrossLoC trade through aproper banking mechanismand doing away with the present barter system.

“It will indeed help thetwo countries solve their disagreements amicably and inan objective manner for thegreater good of the people ofJ&K, Ladakh and the entireregion,” he said.

The fi�veparty amalgamGupkar alliance president

Dr. Abdullah’s statementcomes one month after thealliance’s engagement withthe Centre “failed to bringany change on the ground orsaw any push on Kashmirspecifi�c CBMs”.

It is Dr. Abdullah’s fi�rstmajor political statementsince he met Prime MinisterNarendra Modi on June 24 inNew Delhi.

He stressed that a resultoriented dialogue betweenIndia and Pakistan will benefi�t the people of J&K themost. “Both the nations, Ihave maintained all along,have to live side by side. It isup to them, if they want tolive as enemies or supportivefriends and partners in development. Both countries canachieve much by joininghands in progress,” he added. He said if the ties between the two nations wereto improve then they have tocome out of their shells andnarrow down the space oftheir diff�erences and sourceof confl�ict.

No substitute fordialogue, says Farooq‘India, Pakistan should be consistent’

special correspondent

Srinagar

Farooq Abdullah *

Tamil Nadu will sooncreate a digital databank ofmigrant workers employedin industries, particularlythe Micro, Small & MediumEnterprises and hospitalitysectors, Minister for Industries Thangam Thennarasusaid on Sunday.

“There are a few lakhs oflabourers from variousStates engaged in industries across Tamil Nadu. Amajority of them wenthome during the peak ofCOVID19. We need to havea clear record on how many returned to work, theirvaccination status and other identifi�cation details,”Mr. Thennarasu told TheHindu.

Major industries rely ona few labour contractors.Each contractor has about50,000 workers fromStates such as Bihar, Jharkhand, Chhattisgarh, Odisha and West Bengal.

T.N. to createdatabankof migrantworkersS. Vijay Kumar

CHENNAI

CMYK

A ND-NDE


THE HINDU DELHI


NEWS

India and China are set tohold the 12th round of CorpsCommanderlevel talksaimed at resolving the standoff� in eastern Ladakh soon,and an agreement for disengagement at Gogra and HotSprings is likely to bereached.

China had suggested July26 as a possible date for thetalks, but the Indian sideconveyed that the day beingKargil Vijay Diwas, it wouldnot be convenient. Freshdates are expected to beagreed upon soon.

“The situation on theground is stable. There havebeen no attempts to reoccupy the peaks vacated. Thesense is they (China) are ready to disengage from all places. We got positive inputsand it will happen,” a seniordefence offi�cial said. “Wecontinue to talk at all levels.”

The two sides are alsolooking at a Major Generallevel talks to be held after the12th round of talks, a second

offi�cial said. Since the standoff� began, the two sides haveheld 10 Major Generalleveltalks, 55 Brigadierlevel talksand around 1,450 calls overthe two hotlines. India andChina have two hotlines forcommunication at Chushuland Daulat Beg Oldi.

Friction pointsWhile disengagement wascompleted on both banks ofPangong Tso in February,the other friction points that

remain to be resolved areGogra and Hot Springs, Demchok and Depsang. The buff�er zones established in someplaces as part of earlier talksremain in place. “Buff�erzone varies from place toplace,” the fi�rst offi�cial said.

In eastern Ladakh, Indiaand China have two mutuallyagreed disputed areas — TrigHeights and Demchok — and10 areas of diff�ering perception. Offi�cials said since thestandoff� last year, additional

fi�ve friction points haveemerged. These are Km 120in the Galwan area, Patrolling Points 15 and 17, and Rechin La and Rezang La onthe south Bank of the Pangong Tso, the second offi�cialsaid.

“China wants deescalation fi�rst and disengagementlater which is not acceptableto India as they can bringback troops and equipmentmuch faster then we can do,”the second offi�cial said.Some of the People’s Liberation Army’s (PLA) peace locations are located as far as3,000 km from the LAC, butthey can mobilise much faster, the offi�cial said.

Access issuesFor India, the area is cut off�for several months a yearwhich is not the case withChina. Both the Zoji La andRohtang passes were keptopen longer than usual lastyear due to the standoff� andare available for seven oreight months. Constructionwork on several tunnels is

under way on a priority basis, including at Baralacha Laand Tanglang La, among others, the offi�cials said.

Stating that they have aclear picture of what the PLAis doing and they have vacated and gone back in someplaces, the offi�cial said Chinahas not increased its trooplevels since the standoff� began but has rotated itstroops. The PLA, too, isclosely watching the movements of the Indian military.“We have about 1,000 vehicles going up and down theRohtang axis everyday,” theoffi�cial added.

However, at least two offi�cials said the Line of ActualControl (LAC) will not become like the Line of Control(LoC) with Pakistan with very close deployments byboth sides. “The LAC will notbecome like the LoC. But theforce levels have gone up asthe trust is lost. All agreements are broken,” the fi�rstoffi�cial stated. New protocolshave to be worked out,another offi�cial stated

Deal on Gogra, Hot Springs likely soonIndia, China could reach an agreement for disengagement at the next round of military talks, say offi�cials

Dinakar Peri

NEW DELHI

Fresh deployment: An Army convoy travelling towards Lehthrough the Zoji La pass. * GETTY IMAGES

BJP president J.P. Nadda onSunday termed as baselessthe Pegasus snooping allegations, and hit out at the Opposition parties for disrupting Parliament.

“It is baseless… It is issueless. The Opposition partiesled by the Congress do nothave any issue which theywant to raise for people.That is why they raise thiskind of issue,” he told reporters here.

‘Ready for talks’Mr. Nadda said although theCentre was ready to holdtalks over diff�erent issues,the Opposition parties, led

by the Congress, were disrupting the proceedings ofParliament.

“The Congress, alongwith other Opposition parties, has become disappointed and issueless andhence resorts to such disruptions…They do not knowwhat to do. They want tostop Parliament over issueless things.”

“But people know thatdespite all their eff�orts, theproductivity of Parliamenthas broken all the recordsunder the dynamic leadership of Prime Minister Narendra Modi. In Lok Sabhaand Rajya Sabha, the business has broken all the records,” he added.


Panaji

Snooping allegationsbaseless, says Nadda

President Ram Nath Kovindon Sunday completed fouryears in offi�ce, the Rashtrapati Bhavan said on Twitterand shared an ebook highlighting activities of thefourth year of his presidency. Apart from giving assentto 43 Bills of the Union government and 20 Bills of different States, the ebooknoted that the President hadinvited frontline COVID19warriors for the “At Home”reception on IndependenceDay.

He also celebratedRaksha Bandhan with nurses of the Trained Nurses’ Association of India, MilitaryNursing Service and the President’s Estate Clinic, theRashtrapati Bhavan said.

Mr. Kovind, 76, who tookoath as the 14th President ofIndia on July 25, 2017, administered oath of offi�ce andsecrecy to the members ofthe Council of Ministers andthe Chief Justice of India andaccepted credentials from

23 foreign Heads of Missionvia videoconference, the ebook said.

As “Everyone’s President”, Mr. Kovind visited 13States and two Union Territories and met 780 peopleduring these visits, it said.

As the Supreme Commander of the armed forces,he visited the National WarMemorial and paid tributesto those who made the supreme sacrifi�ce while defending the nation, inaugurated the General ThimayyaMuseum at Madikeri in Kodagu (Karnataka), and witnessed Joint Services Operational demonstrations bythe Andaman and NicobarCommand at Swaraj Dweep.

The ebook also noted thePresident’s convocation addresses to various universities. He also presented national awards to teachers viavideoconference and attended a Governor’s Conference on the ‘Role of National Education Policy 2020 inTransforming Higher Education’ in the virtual mode.

President Ram Nath Kovindcompletes 4 years in offi�ceHe gave assent to 63 Union, State Bills

SPECIAL CORRESPONDENT

NEW DELHI Amid a tight security blanket, President Ram Nath Kovind on Sunday arrived inSrinagar on a fourday visitto the Union Territories ofJammu and Kashmir, and Ladakh, as the country prepares to observe the 22ndanniversary of the 1999 Kargil War.

J&K LieutenantGovernorManoj Sinha received thePresident at the Srinagar airport around 11.15 a.m. Mr.Kovind was accorded aguard of honour.

Offi�cials said Mr. Kovindinteracted with the Army’stop brass in Srinagar. In theevening, he attended a function at the SheriKashmir International ConventionCentre located on the banksof the Dal Lake.

A thick security blankethas been put in place in Srinagar. Several stretches onthe access to the venue havebeen closed to civilian traffi�cfor the next three days.

This has evoked sharpreactions from locals as well

as tourists. Scores of touristswere stranded at the famousboulevard near the lake dueto barricades erected at multiple points. The Presidentwill leave for Ladakh on July26, and will pay homage atthe Kargil War Memorial inDrass. He will return to Srinagar to address the 19thconvocation of the University of Kashmir on July 27.

Ahead of the President’sKargil visit, Kargil Vijay Diwas celebrations werekicked off� on Sunday.

An offi�cial said senior Army offi�cers met war veteransand “veer naaris (brave women) at the LahmochanView Point, and remembered the soldiers who laiddown their lives fi�ghting Pakistani intruders.

Indian soldiers recaptured peaks, including TigerHill, Tololing Top, ThreePimples and Trishul HT, andDrass town.

General Offi�cer Commanding, 16 Corps, Lt. Gen.M.V. Suchindra Kumar participated in the interactionwith retired Army personnel, war veterans and “veernaaris, offi�cials said.

President on fourday visit to J&KOn 22nd anniversary of Kargil War, he will pay homage at Drass war memorial

Warm welcome: Jammu and Kashmir Lieutenant-Governor Manoj Sinha greeting PresidentRam Nath Kovind, left, in Srinagar on Sunday. * NISSAR AHMAD

Peerzada Ashiq

Srinagar

Prime Minister NarendraModi played a decisive rolein solving the northeast’sproblems of extremismand restoring peace in theregion, Union Home Minister Amit Shah said here onSunday.

He underscored the resolution of longpending issues such as the rehabilitation of the internallydisplaced Brus and bringing Bodo extremist groupsto the talks table. “Peaceeluded the northeast because of a slew of irritatingproblems. Modiji has beensolving the problems oneby one. I have seen the process closely after becomingthe Home Minister.”

‘PM played keyrole in solvingNE problems’


GUWAHATI

India on Sunday stressedthat issues such as humanrights and democracy wereuniversal in nature, and saidthese values were not limited by “national or culturalperspectives”.

Informed sources hereelaborated on the current Indian perspective on humanrights as it is likely to featureprominently during the visitof U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken this week. Offi�cials said India would placePakistan’s alleged links withfi�nancing of terrorists on theagenda of talks with Mr. Blinken.

“Issues such as humanrights and democracy areuniversal and extend beyond

a particular national or cultural perspective. India isproud of its achievements inboth domains and is alwaysglad to share experiences. Asa longstanding pluralisticsociety, India is open to engaging those who now recognise the value of diversity,”said a source. The statementindicates that India prefers ageneral conversation on human rights instead of bringing its own record on thatfront to the table.

The argument about thecondition of human rightsand democratic values in India appears to have beenmade in clear response tothe comments by DeanThompson, Acting AssistantSecretary of State for Southand Central Asian Aff�airs.

Mr. Thompson on Saturdaylaid out the agenda of Mr.Blinken’s tour and said,“With respect to the humanrights and democracy question, yes, we will raise it, andwe will continue that conversation, because we fi�rmly believe that we have more values in common on thosefronts than we don’t.”

The alleged use of Pegasus

spyware to track journalistsand activists in India is alsoexpected to be taken up byMr. Blinken. “Undemocraticuses of tech/Internet are amajor concern for Mr. Biden.His administration has already been critical of Internetbans in India and Mr. Blinken will likely bring up Pegasus,” said Michael Kugelman,South Asia Senior Associateat the Wilson Center.

“On the regional situation, implications of withdrawal of the U.S. forcesfrom Afghanistan, and theneed for sustained pressureon Pakistan on terror fi�nancing and terror havens will bepart of the agenda,” said thesource on growing Indianconcern about the evolvingsituation in Afghanistan.

Ready to engage on rights, says India Proud of achievements in domains of democracy, human rights, say offi�cials

Kallol Bhattacherjee

NEW DELHI

Antony Blinken

The condition of Thuingaleng Muivah, the generalsecretary of the IsakMuivah faction of the NationalSocialist Council of Nagaland, is stable, the extremist group said on Sunday.

The 87yearold NSCN(IM) leader was rushed to aprivate hospital in Nagaland’s commercial hub Dimapur on Saturday evening after he complained of“uneasiness”. Doctors atthe hospital said he was admitted in the intensive careunit after a drop in the oxygen saturation level.

Mr. Muivah had reportedly tested positive for COVID19 a day after a meeting with the members ofthe Core Committee on Naga Political Issue led by Nagaland Chief Minister Neiphiu Rio on July 21. Hetested negative on July 23,a spokesperson of the outfi�t said. “His condition isnot serious as of now,” thespokesperson told journalists in Nagaland. Five otherNSCN (IM) leaders whohad attended the meetinghad tested negative.

Condition ofMuivah stable,says NSCN(IM)


Guwahati

The Union government owesmore than ₹�147 crore to various print media outlets aspayment for advertisements,according to a recent response to a Right to Information (RTI) query made by lawstudent Aniket Gaurav.

There are more than76,000 outstanding bills forprint media campaignspending with the Directorateof Advertising and Visual Publicity (DAVP), the oldest ofwhich dates as far back as

2004. For electronic media,the pending amount is ₹�67crore, while the unpaid billsfor outdoor publicityamount to almost ₹�18 crore.

Gaurav, a fi�rst year lawstudent at Meerut University,said he had sent the query ashe was concerned about thenumber of newspaperswhich were being shutdown. “As a reader, I feel thatthe major reason for anynewspaper shutting downwould be because of loss ofrevenue. As government adsconstitute a large part of re

venue, so I thought I shouldfi�nd out whether the government is paying for its ads ontime, and which Ministrieshave unpaid bills,” he said. “Iwas shocked to fi�nd thatthere are ads which have notbeen paid for 17 years.”

Defence Ministry duesThe RTI response from theMinistry of Information andBroadcasting provided dataon the outstanding bills thatCentral Ministries owed tothe DAVP, which in turn paysmedia organisations for run

ning advertising campaigns.The largest pendingamounts for print mediacome from the Defence Ministry, which has 12,271 unpaid bills worth more than₹�16 crore, followed by the Finance Ministry, with 6,668unpaid bills worth ₹�13 crore.The information is updateduntil June 21, 2021.

With regard to electronicmedia, the Ministry said afull list of the number of outstanding bills was not readilyavailable, nor were recordsmaintained regarding the

date of the bills. However,the information available indicated that more than ₹�67crore is yet to be paid to TVchannels.

For context, the totalpending amount of ₹�147crore is higher than the ₹�118crore “commitment” madeby the government to allnewspapers during 202021,as well as the ₹�65 crore actually paid out as “expenditure” for print ad campaignsduring the same period, according to data available onthe DAVP website.

Union Ministries owe ₹�147 crore to newspapersOldest unpaid bill for advertisement dates back to 2004, reveals RTI query by law student

Priscilla Jebaraj

New Delhi

CMYK

A ND-NDE


DELHI THE HINDU


NEWS

(set by Bruno)

Display keystrokes of genius.

Type your answers into our online grids.

@ https://qrgo.page.link/jjpTn

■ ACROSS

7 Highspeed show’s a failure (8)

9 Change hands during dismount correctly (6)

10 Emperor’s fi�nal letter found in coach (4)

11 Group that supports women wears rose dhotis (10)

12 Fat man inwardly turning around for support (6)

14 Rain and smog affected every single living thing (8)

15 Must beards be trimmed often over mouth to be a useful accessory?

(13)

17 European noodle variant essentially causes great wellbeing (8)

19 Taking a couple of layers off — heard amour can fi�nd passion (6)

21 Film on King’s fi�ne new weapon (5,5)

22 Skip meals and pass away over time (4)

23 Second gentleman takes hand — pirouettes for dance (6)

24 Make English bank lose pounds (8)

■ DOWN

1 Zinfandel lacking body bottled in mass makes hissing sound (6)

2 Lightshow? (4)

3 Satisfi�ed subs fi�ll dugout (8)

4 Horse ordered to lead black sheep (3,3)

5 EU marine facilities taskforce starts releasing thermodiffusing

plastic that can be used to catch food (7,3)

6 After opening session, member of parliament makes noise, gets raise

and takes drugs (6,2)

8 Recovering mailman? (13)

13 Drug dealer has 3 drugs in a car at the end of driveway (10)

15 Kitchen worker’s turn to take out second layer in onion (8)

16 Wise to control speed these days? (5,3)

18 Dissolute artist’s drunk kiss? (6)

20 Messaging system seen hacked in Utah (6)

22 Study at the end of lobby has counter (4)

SCAN TO PLAY

+ 13309SUDOKU

Solution to puzzle 13308 Solution to yesterday’s Sudoku

DDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDD

Most of us who are involved in worldly concerns are said tobe in Pravritti Marga. This kind of preoccupation ties usdown to samsara, the cycle of birth. Vedanta vichara showsthat there is also another marga, Nivritti, which leads us torelease from this cycle. Tremendous eff�ort is needed to travel in this path and realise the subtle self as the abode ofeverlasting peace and bliss.

In the Ashtavakra Gita, the preceptor Ashtavakra impartsto Janaka this highest knowledge of the self, praised in theGita as Raja Vidya and Brahma Vidya, in clear cut terms,pointed out Sri R. Rajagopala Sarma in a discourse. At theoutset itself, Janaka is taught to diff�erentiate between the body and the self. Understanding this dichotomy can bringabout equanimity in any individual, a most diffi�cult ideal toattain even for realised souls. We can say and feel the self asdistinct and as the essence of consciousness. But the bondage caused by the body is also very real and makes a greatimpact on us all the while. We are constantly aware of thelimitations of the body, birth, old age, disease, death, andwe cannot escape all kinds of misery that life plunges us in.

But once one is able to leave aside the bodily concerns, hecan sense the freedom and joy of being only conscious of theself and not the body. The thought that ‘I am the doer’ is thegreatest hurdle to be overcome in this quest. Instead oneshould repeatedly evoke the thought that ‘I am the consciousness and the one and only self, existing eternally andalways apart from the created universe.’ Listening to suchexplanations of Ashtavakra, Janaka, the disciple, who is already well versed in Vedanta and is also a ruler par excellence, is overwhelmed with the awareness felt within and isgrateful to his preceptor.

FAITH

Steps to realisation

Prime Minister NarendraModi has urged Indians toparticipate in the “Amrit Mahotsav” launched to markthe 75th year of Independence, asking citizens toforge a unity of purpose or“Bharat Jodo Andolan” in thesame manner as MahatmaGandhi’s “Quit India” or“Bharat Chhodo Andolan”.

“Just like Bapu [MahatmaGandhi] led the ‘BharatChhodo Andolan’ [Quit Indiamovement], every Indianmust lead the ‘Bharat Jodo

Andolan [unite India movement]’. It is our responsibility that we do our work insuch a manner that it helpsin uniting our country whichis full of diversities,” Mr. Mo

di said, adding, “We have tomove forward with ‘Nationfi�rst, Always fi�rst’.”

Many programmes in connection with Amrit Mahotsavwere being run, the Prime

Minister said, adding that theMinistry of Culture had started an initiative to have maximum number of Indians singthe national anthem together. For this, a website too hasbeen created.

Cautions on COVID

While greeting citizens onthe upcoming festival season, he cautioned that thethreat of COVID19 stillloomed large and that allprecautions must be taken toprevent its spread.

Noting that on July 26 thenation would mark Kargil Vi

jay Diwas, the Prime Ministerasked the people of thecountry to pay tributes tothose who made the nationproud in 1999.

In the broadcast, he alsocited a study done by MyGovto highlight that out of thosesending messages and suggestions for Mann Ki Baat,close to 75% were below 35years. “I view this as a verygood indicator. Mann Ki

Baat is a medium which haspositivity, sensitivity. InMann Ki Baat, we talk aboutpositive things; its characteris collective,” he said.

PM calls for a ‘unite India movement’Participate in ‘Amrit Mahotsav’ to mark the 75th year of Independence, says Modi


NEW DELHI

On a day when Prime Minister Narendra Modi delivered his monthly radiobroadcast, Mann Ki Baat,

former Congress presidentRahul Gandhi took a dig atthe government by questioning the pace of COVID19 vaccination.

“Had you understoodthe country’s Mann ki

Baat, such would not havebeen the state of vaccinations,” Mr. Gandhi tweeted.

The Congress leader also posted a video highlighting the reported slow rateof vaccination, and mediareports on people not being able to get vaccines. Agraph highlighted that therequired vaccination rate is93 lakh per day but the actual average vaccinationsper day in the last sevendays is 36 lakh per day.

Rahul slamsslow pace ofvaccination


NEW DELHI

Fourteenth Finance Commission Chairman Y.V. Reddy said on Sunday that theCentre did not supportStates enough at the onsetof the COVID19 pandemic,resorting to “burdensharing” instead, and questioned the move to abandonthe existing inoculation system of the Centre providingfree vaccines and the Statesusing their resources to deliver the shots.

Warning against a growing tendency towards centralisation even on Statesubjects under the Constitution, Dr. Reddy said the ideaof diff�erent developmentmodels adopted by States isno longer on the table underthe Narendra Modi government and there is a worrying asymmetry between theresponsibilities of States andthe resources available tothem.

“There is an impressiongained that the Central government feels it can do abetter job in regard to various activities even if theyare in the State list. On fi�scalfederalism too, the FifteenthFinance Commission recommendations were accepted but not fully implemented and its terms ofreferences were controversial,” he said, adding thatthe States’ borrowing limitshave also been made conditional which is a “real problem”.

“There is a rebalancinggoing on between the Stateand the market and also between the Centre and Statesin India, but in the processof rebalancing, we shouldnot underestimate the

strong subnational sentiment within loyalty to thecountry,” he averred in atalk on CentreState relations hosted by the ManthanFoundation.

The United ProgressiveAlliance (UPA) government’s decade in offi�ce sawthe emergence of diff�erentdevelopment modelsamong States, as their governance capabilities matured and policies unique totheir needs were adopted,Dr. Reddy recalled.

“Prime Minister Narendra Modi, however, hasbeen able to project a national agenda, and the ideaof diff�erent States having different models is not verymuch on the table now. Andthere are some tensions also,” he said, stressing thatpressures and tensions between the Centre and Statesmay be counterproductive.

“The basic problem iscentralisation in a diversecountry can produce riskswhich are not worth taking,” he said, stressing thatthe underlying logic for India’s federal structure is torecognise the diversity ofStates in order to strengthennational unity.

‘Centralisation not arisk worth taking’ Y.V. Reddy fl�ags worrying asymmetry


NEW DELHI

Y.V. Reddy

More than 3.29 crore(3,29,38,559) unutilised COVID19 vaccine doses are stillavailable with the States andthe Union Territories andprivate hospitals, the UnionHealth Ministry said in a release on Sunday.

“India’s COVID19 vaccination coverage crossed thelandmark of 43 crore yesterday [Saturday],” the releasesaid.

It said more than 45.37crore (45,37,70,580) vaccinedoses had been provided tothe States and the Union Territories so far through allsources, and a further11,79,010 doses were in thepipeline. Of this, the totalconsumption, includingwastage, was 42,08,32,021doses (according to dataavailable at 8 a.m. onSunday).

The Ministry said

51,18,210 vaccine doses wereadministered in the 24 hoursfor which latest fi�gures were

available. With substantiallyrampedup testing capacity,17,18,756 tests were conduct

ed in the 24 hours. Cumulatively, India has conductedover 45.62 crore tests so far.

‘Over 3 crore doses with States’Over 42 crore vaccine doses have been administered, says Health Ministry

Reaching out: A man getting vaccinated during a mega COVID-19 vaccination drive inAhmedabad on Sunday. * VIJAY SONEJI


NEW DELHI

The Central governmenthas written to all States andUnion Territories urgingthem to ensure identifi�cation of COVID19 orphansand their registration onthe online portal set up byit within 15 days.

The government haslaunched www.pmcareforchildren.in for enrolmentof benefi�ciaries of thescheme under the PMCARES Fund announcedfor children who have lostboth parents, or the lonesurviving parent or the legal guardian or the adoptive parent.

The scheme provides₹�10 lakh to each child onreaching 23 years of age,apart from assistance withschool education andhealth insurance. Thescheme came into eff�ectfrom March 11.

‘IdentifyCOVID19orphans’


NEW DELHI

Over a third of governmentschools and anganwadis stilldo not have tap water accesseven 10 months after the JalJeevan Mission ( JJM)launched a 100day campaign to provide the facility.There has been minimal progress since a ParliamentaryStanding Committee pulledup the JJM in a March report,pointing out the importanceof repeated washing ofhands as part of COVID19 safety protocols for schools toreopen.

However, the Jal Shakti Ministry considers the currentprogress an achievement.“Big boost to children’shealth & hygiene in the country!” said a tweet from JalShakti Minister GajendraSingh Shekhawat on Sunday,linking to an offi�cial statement from the Ministry. “PM

@narendramodi ji’s desire tosee all centres of learningprovided with clean waterhas resulted in 66% schools& 60% anganwadi centersacross the nation gettingFHTC [Functional Household Tap Connections]through the #JalJeevanMission in just 10 months,” headded.

The 100day campaign to

achieve 100% coverage, andprovide potable piped watersupply for drinking andcooking purposes as well astap water for hand washingand in toilets in every school,anganwadi and ashramshalaor residential tribal school,was launched on October 2,2020. At the time, about 40%of schools and anganwadisalready had tap water ac

cess. From 4.1 lakh beforethe campaign started, thenumber of schools with tapsrose to 6.35 lakh by February, according to the JJMdashboard. For anganwadis,the increase was from 4.3lakh to 6.3 lakh.

In its report on the demand for grants submitted tothe Lok Sabha in earlyMarch, the ParliamentaryStanding Committee for Water Resources deplored theslow rate of progress, pointing out that “children aremore susceptible to waterborne diseases, more so,when there is also a need forrepeated washing of handsas a precautionary measureduring the COVID19 pandemic”. The Jal Shakti Ministry told the panel that “someStates/ UTs have indicatedthat they need more time tocomplete the task and sustain the eff�orts” and said the

campaign had been extended till March 31, 2021.

Almost four months afterthat extended deadline, theJJM is yet to achieve its goals.In fact, it has only added tapwater access in about50,000 schools and 40,000anganwadis since that time.In its statement on Sunday,the Ministry said the progress came “despite Covid19pandemic and lockdown”.

In fact, there is widespread disparity amongStates, with a few laggardspulling down the national average, despite the fact thatnine States and Union Territories have already achieved100% coverage. In Jharkhandand West Bengal, less than15% of schools and less than10% of anganwadis have tapwater access. On the otherhand, 80% of the schools inUttar Pradesh have access totap water.

35% of govt. schools, anganwadis have no tap water Jal Jeevan Mission fails to meet goals 10 months after 100day campaign was launched

Of the 2,146 anganwadi centres, only 247 have access to tapwater under the JJM in Kalaburagi district of Karnataka.


NEW DELHI

When farmers return to Jantar Mantar to continue theirparallel parliament proteston Monday, the participantswill look diff�erent from theircounterparts inside Parliament as well as the delegatesof previous Kisan Sansads inone major way: they will allbe women.

“The Mahila Kisan Sansadwill refl�ect the key role thatwomen play in Indian agriculture, and their criticalrole in the ongoing movement too. Convoys of women farmers from variousdistricts are reaching themorchas for the Mahila Kisan Sansad,” said a statement from the Samyukt Kisan Morcha (SKM) jointplatform of farm unions

coordinating the protest.According to Census data,

30% of all cultivators and43% of all agricultural labourers are women, thoughfew of them have land rightsin their own names. At theheight of the ongoing agitation against the three farmreform laws in January, 1520% of protesters were women, according to KavithaKuruganti of the Mahila Kisan Adhikaar Manch, an alliance of women farmers organisations and supporters.

However, few womenhave been in the leadershipof the movement. None ofthe SKM’s nine core committee members are women,nor are the leaders of the individual unions that makeup the platform. Ms. Kuruganti herself was the only

woman among the 30odddelegates sent by the farmunions to negotiate with theCentral government earlierin the year. On July 22, thefi�rst day of the Kisan Sansad,only seven of the 200 protesters allowed each day werewomen.

As the women take overthe stage at Jantar Mantar onMonday, most of the SKMleadership will head forLucknow, where they willlaunch ‘Mission U.P.’ to outline their plans for nextyear’s Assembly election. “Inthe panchayat elections heldearlier this year, the farmers’movement left its mark, withthe BJP candidates punishedin many places and Independents gaining most numberof seats,” said the SKMstatement.

Today’s Kisan Sansad at JantarMantar will be allwoman aff�air Samyukt Kisan Morcha to launch ‘Mission U.P.’ in Lucknow


NEW DELHI

Nasir Kamal, a 1986 batchIPS offi�cer of Uttar Pradeshcadre, has been appointedas the Director General ofBureau of Civil Aviation Security (BCAS) in the Ministry of Civil Aviation till hissuperannuation on July 31,2022. BCAS is a wing of theCivil Aviation Ministrylooking after civil aviationsecurity. His appointmentwas cleared by the Appointments Committee ofthe Cabinet headed by thePrime Minister.

Civil AviationSecurity getsnew chief

Staff Reporter

AHMEDABAD

CMYK

A ND-NDE


THE HINDU DELHI


WORLD

China’s assertive new diplomatic approach in the Xi Jinpingera has come to be dubbed “wolf warrior diplomacy”, markedby a muscular posture in pursuing China’s interests. Peter

Martin, author of the new book “China’s Civilian Army: TheMaking of Wolf Warrior Diplomacy” and previously a foreigncorrespondent in China, says the approach is not exactly newand is rooted in the Communist Party’s history. The currentstate of relations with India, he says, is “the best example” ofhow it has often backfi�red although, he argues, wolf warriordiplomacy is likely here to stay. Excerpts from an interview:

Where does the idea of ‘wolf

warrior’ diplomacy come

from?

■ There was this blockbustermovie that came out in 2017about this Chinese action hero fi�ghting foreign bad guyson the continent of Africaand avenging China’s ene

mies. It was this unexpectedcommercial success, thehighest grossing movie everat the Chinese box offi�ce. Itcame to symbolise this newmood in Beijing.

How much of this new

approach is down to Xi

Jinping, and how much is

shaped by broader trends?

■ I think of Xi Jinping as botha cause and a consequenceof changes that have takenplace in China. The new assertive turn in Chinese diplomacy really started in 200809 in the wake of the globalfi�nancial crisis. China hadjust hosted the Olympics.The West’s response to the fi�nancial crisis was sluggishand China’s was very, verydecisive. In the ensuingyears, China watched Western political systems dealwith gridlock at home whileits own economic growthcontinued. There are thesetrends taking place in Chinathat are quite independent ofXi Jinping. But I think whatXi did was take a more confi�

dent and assertive tone, andaccelerate it and make itmore decisive and morepermanent.

At the time of Xi taking over,

there was a debate on

whether China should

continue with the Deng

Xiaoping era approach of

“hiding brightness, biding

time”. Has that debate been

resolved now?

■ I think the debate is still ongoing beneath the surface,although, in public, Xi Jinping, and those who want tocontinue this very brash, assertive tone, have certainlywon out. There are largeparts of China’s scholarlycommunity on foreign affairs, and in fact some peoplein the Foreign Ministry, whowould still like China to takea quieter, more humble approach to foreign policy. Idon’t know that those people

necessarily think that returning to the policy of the 1990sis realistic. There’s a refrain Iheard quite a lot in Beijingthat you can’t hide an elephant. The idea is China hasgotten too big to really takethat kind of low profi�le that ithad in the past. But I thinkthere are a lot of people whoare very uncomfortable withthis trend of picking apparently unnecessary fi�ghtsand insulting foreigncounterparts.

How are domestic changes

in China shaping its current

diplomacy?

■ In Chinese diplomacy,domestic politics is alwaysking. We look on with bewilderment sometimes and

ble decline in global perceptions of China in Pew pollingthat you’ll have seen recently. In my mind, India is perhaps the best example ofwhere this approach haskind of backfi�red. Wolf warrior tactics, combined with,of course, great military assertiveness on the ChinaIndia border, has ended uppushing India much closer tothe U.S., and alienating a billion plusperson economy,an emerging power on theglobal stage with good relations with the United States,and that shares a border withChina. To me, there’s no better example of that kind ofcounterproductive approachthan what’s going on there.(Read the full interview athttps://bit.ly/XiDiplomacy)

think, why are they possiblydoing this because these arethe people who are chargedwith improving China’s reputation? In truth, we’re notthe audience. They’re doingthis to signal to people inBeijing that they are loyal tothe regime, they’re loyal toMao or Xi Jinping or whoeveris in charge. Foreign audiences are really a kind of byproduct there.

How successful has this

approach been on the

whole?

■ In the grand scheme ofthings, I fi�nd it really hard tocome up with any kind of netpositive assessment of it. It’sone of the factors which hascontributed to this incredi

INTERVIEW | PETER MARTIN

‘China’s wolf warrior approach is here to stay’India is perhaps the best example of how this approach has backfi�red by pushing it much closer to the U.S., and alienating a billion plusperson economy, says the author

Ananth Krishnan

<> I think there are a lot

of people who are

very uncomfortable

with this trend of

picking apparently

unnecessary fi�ghts

and insulting foreign

counterparts

China and Pakistan on Saturday said they would moreclosely cooperate and worktogether in Afghanistanamid the changing situationin the country, as their Foreign Ministers proposedbuilding the China PakistanEconomic Corridor (CPEC)into “a hub of regionalconnectivity”.

Meeting in the Chinese city of Chengdu at the thirdstrategic dialogue, China’sForeign Minister Wang Yiand his counterpart ShahMahmood Qureshi outlineda fi�vepoint joint plan onworking in Afghanistan, theChinese Foreign Ministrysaid in a statement.

Mr. Wang described thecurrent situation as arriving“at an important juncture”as he criticised “the hastyU.S. withdrawal of troops”for having “neither fulfi�lledthe purpose of fi�ghting terrorism nor brought peace toAfghanistan but created anew security black hole,” thestatement said.

He said “both China andPakistan are most directly affected by the situation in Afghanistan” as its neighboursand it was “necessary forboth sides to strengthencooperation to cope with thechange”, which he described as one of the focusesof the dialogue.

Mr. Wang outlined “jointactions” in fi�ve areas, starting with “the immediatepriority of avoiding the expansion of war and preventing Afghanistan from fallinginto a fullscale civil war.”The second focus would beto promote the intraAfghannegotiations between Kabuland the Taliban and establish “a broad and inclusivepolitical structure”.

He said the third joint action would be “to resolutelycombat terrorist forces”. Mr.

Wang only named the EastTurkestan Islamic Movement, which China hasblamed for attacks in itswestern Xinjiang region, underlining China’s concernthat instability in Afghanistan could spill over into Xinjiang.

There do, however, appear to be stark diff�erencesin how both countries appear to view the terror issueand the role of other outfi�tsin Afghanistan. Earlier thismonth, Mr. Wang said in ameeting with his Afghancounterpart Mohammed Haneef Atmar in Dushanbe thatthe “Taliban should standclear of any and all terroristforces.” At the same summiton connectivity, Afghan President Ashraf Ghani publiclyslammed Pakistan for failingto take actions to stop foreign terrorists from entering the country amid “an infl�ux of over 10,000 jihadifi�ghters”.

The fourth joint actionwould be to “promote cooperation among Afghanistan’sneighbours” and “explorethe construction of a platform for cooperation amongthem”. Both would alsomore closely work on international fora on the Afghanissue, Mr. Wang said.

Terror attack in Pakistan

Both sides, in a “joint pressrelease” issued after the

talks that was put out by Pakistan’s Ministry of ForeignAff�airs, “reaffi�rmed theircommitment to facilitate andsupport ‘Afghanled and Afghanowned’ peace and reconciliation process” and“their support for the peaceful reconstruction ofAfghanistan”.

Both also “vehementlycondemned” the recent terrorist attack in Pakistan inwhich nine Chinese engineers working on the Dasuhydropower plant werekilled, along with four Pakistani nationals. Both sides“expressed their fi�rm resolveto expose the culprits andtheir reprehensible designsthrough the ongoing joint investigation, give exemplarypunishment to the perpetrators, ensure comprehensivesafety and security of theChinese projects, nationalsand institutions, and preventrecurrence of such incidents”, the statement said.

The joint release also carried the now customary reference to Kashmir, saying thePakistani side “briefed theChinese side on the deteriorating situation in Jammu &Kashmir” while China “reiterated” its stand that it “opposes any unilateral actionsthat complicate the situation”, a position it has repeated in the wake of India’s2019 reorganisation.

The Chinese side “reiter

ated its fi�rm support to Pakistan in safeguarding its territorial integrity, sovereigntyand independence” and“striving for a better externalsecurity environment,” thejoint release said, addingthat both sides had agreed topush forward the CPEC“with the aim to continuously unleash the great potentialof CPEC to make it a hub ofregional connectivity.”

On CPEC

China’s Foreign Ministry saidin May both countries hadbeen in communication withAfghanistan over extendingthe corridor. “Afghanistanhas imported and exportedrelated goods through theGwadar Port and KarachiPort. China, Pakistan and Afghanistan are discussing issues related to extendingroads and expressways in Pakistan to Afghanistan,” spokesperson Zhao Lijian said,adding that “the CPEC is aneconomic initiative that isnot aimed at third parties,and has nothing to do withterritorial sovereignty disputes… and won’t aff�ect ourprincipled position on theKashmir issue.”

India has opposed theCPEC, which passes throughPakistanoccupied Kashmir,although China has pushedahead with projects andstepped up its investmentsin PoK.

China, Pak. outline ‘joint action’ to align Afghanistan strategiesFocus on preventing escalation of war, resolutely combating terrorist forces

Common ground: Shah Mahmood Qureshi with Wang Yi,right, in Beijing, in this fi�le photo. * AP

Ananth Krishnan

House Speaker Nancy Pelosion Sunday said she plans toappoint additional Republicans, including a staunchTrump critic, to the committee probing the January 6U.S. Capitol insurrection,amid a fi�erce partisan showdown over who will serve onthe body.

Asked whether she wouldappoint a new set of Republicans, including lawmakerAdam Kinzinger, who votedto impeach former president Donald Trump, Ms. Pelosi told ABC “that would bemy plan.”

Earlier this week HouseMinority Leader KevinMcCarthy withdrew thenames of the fi�ve Republicans he had appointed to

serve on the select committee, after Ms. Pelosi took therare step of rejecting two ofthem, congressmen Jim Jordan and Jim Banks, out ofwhat she said was concernfor the investigation’sintegrity.

Hours after the Capitol insurrection, both wereamong several Republicanswho voted against certifyingelection results in somestates. “The two that I wouldnot appoint are people whowould jeopardise the integrity of the investigation andthere’s no way I would tolerate their antics as we seekthe truth,” Ms. Pelosi said onSunday.

The titfortat moves represent the latest bickeringover what many were hoping would be a united eff�ort:

investigating the riot in thecitadel of Americandemocracy.

Ms. Pelosi’s Democratshad sought to create a bipartisan, independent 9/11stylecommission to investigatethe Capitol insurrection.

Ms. Pelosi said that Republicans including Mr. Kinzinger, a strong Trump criticand sixterm congressmanfrom Illinois, “have expressed an interest to serveon the select committee.”

Ms. Pelosi herself had already appointed to the committee Republican congresswoman Liz Cheney, who wasalso among the 10 Republicans who voted to impeachMr. Trump in January.

The fi�rst hearing of thecommission is scheduled forTuesday.

Pelosi plans to appoint Trumpcritic to Capitol probe panelShe had earlier rejected two of fi�ve Republican nominees

Agence France-Presse

Washington

Bandits who abducted 121students at a high school innorthwestern Nigeria inearly July have releasedanother 28 teenagers, aschool offi�cial said onSunday.

The attackers stormedthe Bethel Baptist HighSchool in northwestern Kaduna state on July 5, abducting 121 students sleeping in their dorms.

“The bandits releasedthem yesterday (Saturday),” Joseph Hayab, a senior offi�cial of the school,said. Mr. Hayab said 34children were now free,while 87 were still beingheld. “Five children escaped on July 21 but onlytwo were found by the police. The other three madeit to the school on theirown,” he said.

28 abductedstudents freedin Nigeria

Agence France-Presse

Kano

Thousands of Afghanfamilies flee fighting KANDAHAR

More than 22,000 Afghan

families have fled from their

homes to escape fighting in the

former Taliban bastion of

Kandahar, officials said on

Sunday, as authorities arrested

four suspected insurgents over

this week’s rocket attack on

Kabul. Four camps have been

set up for about 1,54,000

displaced people. AFP

Crews from multiple Statesare battling wildfi�res inMontana, where fi�ve fi�refi�ghters were injured combatting blazes that have ravaged lands and destroyedhomes across the U.S. West.

The nation's largest wildfi�re, southern Oregon’sBootleg fi�re, was over 40%

contained on Saturday asmore than 2,200 crewmembers worked to corralit, fi�re offi�cials said.

California has declared astate of emergency for fournorthern counties.

In northcentral Washington, fi�refi�ghters battled twoblazes in Okanogan Countythat threatened hundreds ofhomes.

States come together aswildfi�res rage in the U.S.

Associated Press

Oregon

Extreme peril: A fi�refi�ghter spraying water on a propane tankas a house burns in California. * AFP

Pakistan has banned thedomestic air travel for unvaccinated people as theCOVID19 cases crossed the 1millionmark in the countryon Sunday, according tooffi�cials.

The travel restriction, imposed by the National Command and OperationCentre, will be applicablefrom August 1 on unvaccinated people of over 18years of age. “Restriction isfor domestic air travel andpeople travelling from Pakistan to abroad or fromabroad to Pakistan are exempted from restriction. Itis also not applicable on linkfl�ights if these are within 72hours of arrival or departure,” according to an NCOCdocument.

Partially vaccinated people, foreign nationals, Pakistani nationals having documentary proof ofvaccination abroad and patients with clinical conditions will be exempted fromthe restriction, it said.

Meanwhile, the Ministryof National Health Servicessaid that 45 people died inthe last 24 hours due to theCOVID19, taking the deathtoll to 23,016.

It said that 2,819 new cases were reported, taking thenational tally to 10,04,694.

The positivity ratereached 6.32% which is thehighest during the fourthwave of the pandemic whichhit the country this month.

Minister for PlanningAsad Umar, who is also thechief of the NCOC, urged people to get vaccinated.

Pak. bans domestic airtravel for unvaccinatedCOVID19 cases cross 1 million mark


Islamabad

DDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDD

Its nice to have a wise andfriendly uncle who will sort outmisunderstandings betweenyou and your parents or siblings! When you have a problem with your insurance company, the InsuranceOmbudsman is such an uncle.There are 17 of them across thecountry; their only job is to listen to your complaints and sortthe issue out with your insurance fi�rm. The advantage isthat the ombudsman knows allabout insurance and his quasijudicial orders are binding onthe insurance company. You,however, have furtherrecourse.

If you have a grievance, youshould approach the InsuranceOmbudsman of your jurisdiction, depending on your placeof residence. You can fi�nd thelist of 17 ombudsmen and theircontact and jurisdiction detailson the website of the Councilfor Insurance Ombudsman setup by the government.

Firstly, the ombudsman en

tertains only complaints wherethe amount under dispute isless than ₹�30 lakh. It shouldpertain to policies issued underpersonal lines of insurance,group insurance policies, andpolicies issued to sole proprietorships and microenterprises.

Any individual withan unresolved grievance against his insurance company canapproach an ombudsman. The complaintcan pertain to anypolicy purchased inhis individual capacity like life, health, motor or property insurance, which aretermed personal linesof business.

Proprietors of microenterprises can alsoapproach the ombudsman with their insurance grievances. Microenterprises aredefi�ned as manufacturing units whereinvestment in plantand machinery is

Complaints can relate toclaim settlement delay, partialor total repudiation of claims bythe insurer, dispute over thepremium paid or payable, misrepresentation of policy termsand conditions in the policydocument or policy contract,any dispute on the legal con

struction of the policies in sofar as such disputes relateto claims, grievances relating to policy servicing byinsurers and their agentsand intermediaries, issuance of life, general orhealth insurance policynot in conformity withthe proposal form submitted by the proposerand nonissue of life,general or health insurance policy after receipt of premium.

You have to makethe complaint in writ

ing duly signed and withsupporting documents. Youcan send it by fax or emailbut you need to send thehard copy too. A precondition is that you should

have gone through the processof making a written representation to the insurer about yourgrievance.

When to complainYou can complain to the ombudsman within a year of theinsurer either rejecting the representation or sending his fi�nal reply to it. In case the insurer fails to reply to yourrepresentation within a monthof receiving it, you can approach the ombudsman amonth after that. You cannottake a matter that is already before a court or consumer forumto the ombudsman and there isno provision for you to involvea lawyer in ombudsman complaints and there is no fee youhave to pay anywhere in theprocess. What happens afteryou make a complaint?

If both you and the insureragree for mediation, the ombudsman goes through the matter, conducts hearings of bothparties if necessary, and makesa recommendation within amonth of receiving all docu

ments from you. If not, he willpass an award in three months.If the terms of the award are acceptable to you, it is binding onthe insurance company whichhas to comply within 30 days.

The recommendation oraward will be based on the principles of natural justice and thecompensation can be up to theloss you have suff�ered becauseof the action of the insurer andcannot exceed ₹�30 lakh, including expenses.

However, if you don’t fi�ndthe award satisfactory you havethe right to take recourse to thenormal legal processes by approaching a consumer court orregular courts. The process hasbeen constructed in such a wayso as to put back some balanceof power in favour of the individual consumer at odds with alarge corporation to whom hehas already paid premium, andfrom whom he is expecting succour at his time of need as promised by the insurance policy.

(The writer is a businessjournalist specialising in insurance and corporate history)

There are 17 ombudsmen across the country to listen to your grievances and sort the issue out

K. Nitya Kalyani

COVER NOTE: INSURANCE OMBUDSMAN

A shoulder to lean on when your insurer lets you down

These days, a lot of opinions are being voiced onhow high infl�ation is eating into your returns oninvestments, and hownetofinfl�ation return,particularly from debt investments, is negative.Those arguments havemerit. However, there is acounter to that, too.

The fact that you have adisease and medicines areavailable does not meanyou take the medicines —they should be appropriate for your symptomsand suitable for you.

How do you determinewhat is appropriate orsuitable?

Investment objectivesThe primary aspects onwhich your investmentportfolio should be basedare your investment objectives, fi�nancial goals,time horizon, risk appetite and the riskreturnprofi�le of the investments.

While your netofinfl�ation real return ought tobe positive, your portfolioallocation should not bedistorted when infl�ation ishigh. As an illustration, ifyour appropriate portfolio allocation is 60% equity and 40% debt, it shouldnot be 100% equity wheninfl�ation is high. If you

have the risk appetite for100% equity in your portfolio, it should have been100% even when infl�ationwas low. It is generallyagreed that for retired senior citizens, equity allocation should be on thelower side. If that is dis

torted when infl�ation ishigh, it means goingagainst the grain.

When infl�ation rate ishigh, the relevance foryou is that prices of goodsand services you consumeare rising and that shouldbe compensated for byyour investments. If thereturn on investments(RoI) is lower than infl�ation, then at the end of theperiod, the worth of yourprincipal will be less thanearlier as it can help buyfewer goods and servicesthan it could before. Ifyour returns are higherthan infl�ation, then it enhances value.

For example, if infl�ation is 5% and your RoI is10%, you are well off�. Ifyour RoI is 5%, your investment is not makingyou any better off�. Now, if

your RoI is 5% and infl�ation is 6%, your principalis worth less than earlier.In such a situation, whatshould you do? Nothingmuch. If you increase theequity allocation in yourportfolio just to beat infl�ation, it may not suit yourrisk profi�le. If you takelowercreditrated, higheryielding debt, it wouldraise the credit risk inyour portfolio and that also may not be suitable.

Pace of rising pricesInfl�ation is the pace of rising prices. Of what? If youare basing the allocationin your investment portfolio on infl�ation, it shouldbe on the basket of goodsand services you consume. But that is not thecase. The infl�ation datawe see monthly, announced by the Centre, isthe infl�ation for a givenbasket of goods across thecountry. But every individual’s lifestyle is diff�erent.

Consumption basketsvary across profession,age, location, gender,taste, preference and thelike. Hence, the infl�ationnumber is at best an approximation of trends inthe economy.

Then how would youknow what part of the infl�ation number is re

levant for you i.e. yourconsumption basket? Unfortunately, in a countryof 138 crore people, it isnot possible to measure asmany unique infl�ationrates.

What does the consumer price infl�ation basket inIndia comprise? Almosthalf the basket constitutesfood and food products.

While food is the majorchunk of expenses for many people, it is not so foreverybody, particularly inupperincome brackets.

Services are missing inthe CPI basket, except forhouse rent and certain aspects of transport / communication. We consumeservices such as doctorconsultation, dining atrestaurants, haircuts at salons, appbased cab services, data/wifi�, education/coaching, driver anddomestic help. Netnet, ifthe headline infl�ation datafor the month, as wesee in the media, issay, 5%, then the infl�ation for your unique individual consumptionbasket may be, say 7%or even 3%, which isnot evident to us. So, itmay not be appropriate tobuild your investment

portfolio based on a variable that may not apply toyou. What does it all boildown to? The issue athand is negative real returns in debt investments.Infl�ation is high, but doesnot typically remain ashigh forever. In 2020, CPIinfl�ation averaged 6.6%.

The forecast for FY22from the RBI, in the lastpolicy review on June 4,was 5.1%. The projectioncan go wrong as there arecertain pressures on infl�ation such as high crude oilprices, high metal prices,money circulation in theeconomy being higherthan earlier or lockdowninduced supply constraints. These pressures could meanthat even if infl�ation is higher than5.1%, it could belower than 6.6%.If you changeyour allocation,

e.g. from debtto a more volatile asset class orhighyielding debt,you are reacting to something not in yourcontrol. Infl�ationand its measurementvia a generic basket ofgoods is notin your control. Marketmovement,i.e. equity pricelevels or interest rate levels arenot in your control. What is, isyour investmentportfolio. Thatshould be based onproper, logical criteria about whichyou must be clear.

(The writer is acorporate trainerand author)

Infl�ation isn’t in your control,

so worry notJoydeep Sen

If prices are rising quickly, your investmentsshould compensate for the trend; but that does not mean changing your portfolio allocation strategy

CMYK

A ND-NDE


DELHI THE HINDU


MONEYWISE

Readers can send in queries on personal fi�nance and

investing to [email protected]. Our experts

who write on personal fi�nance will answer these

queries. Moneywise will not give specifi�c

recommendations for investment in a particular

mutual fund scheme, share or fi�xed deposit.

Q. I am a central government pensioner aged79. I have recently received ₹�6,00,000 aspart of a share (one among four survivingheirs) on sale of our old house. The house, asper records, was purchased by my deceasedparents in 1937 for a sum of ₹�2,650 only. I want to know the amount of tax withsurcharge to be paid on this transaction.Secondly, in January, I also received a sum of₹�30,000 on account of sale of shares. Taxliability on this also may kindly be stated.

K. NATARAJAN

A. Proceeds from sale of ancestral property(immovable in nature) is taxable and it fallsunder the head ‘capital gains’. The amount of₹�6,00,000 received by you as part of yourshare will be considered the full value ofconsideration, you may deduct any directlyrelated expenses to the transfer such asbrokerage paid to this value. As the propertywas acquired by your parents prior to 2001,you can adopt the fair market value of theproperty as on 1.4.2001 as the cost ofacquisition.

You may enquire about the fair marketvalue with the respective Registrar. Theproperty being a longterm capital asset, youare to adjust the fair market value by usingthe cost infl�ation index (CII) to arrive at theindexed cost of acquisition. In case anycapital expenditure was incurred post1.4.2001, it will be considered as cost ofimprovement and will have to adjusted byusing the CII if it is older than 2 years. Thediff�erence between the full value ofconsideration, expenses and indexed cost ofacquisition, indexed cost/cost ofimprovement will either be the long termcapital gains/loss.

In case of long term capital gains, 20%plus surcharge (surcharge depends on newand old tax regime) plus cess of 4% will bethe tax liability.

In case of sale of shares, wherein theshares are listed and STT was paid both atthe time of purchase and sale, long termcapital gains (listed shares held for morethan 1 year) under ₹�1 lakh will not be taxedand in your case the receipt is ₹�30,000whereby the capital gains should be lowerthan that. In case of short term capital gainsit will be taxed at 15% plus surcharge(surcharge depends on new and old taxregime) plus cess of 4%.

Q. I am a retired bank employee aged 84years. My wife and I are covered under agroup medical insurance scheme of my bank.During [FY21], I had paid around ₹�30,000towards insurance premium. I had also spentaround ₹�10,000 for purchase of medicineand lab investigations. Kindly advisewhether I can claim both the above amountsunder section 80D.

T.K. KANNAN

A. For senior citizens, under Section 80D ofthe Income Tax Act, 1961, deduction can beclaimed up to ₹�50,000 for self anddependents towards payment of healthinsurance premium. Amounts paid towardspreventive health checkups can also beclaimed up to ₹�5,000 provided that the limitof ₹�50,000 has not been exceeded.

In your case, the total deduction will be₹�30,000 towards health insurance premiumand ₹�5,000 (if the cost of preventive healthcheckups are greater than ₹�5,000 of the₹�10,000 spent by you) or if the amountpertaining to preventive health checkups areless than ₹�5,000 the actual amount spenttowards preventive health checkups can beclaimed.

Q. I had opened a PPF account a couple ofyears ago for 80C tax savings. However, nowI have got myself an LIC policy and the totalannual premium of LIC policy and my EPFcontribution together exceed ₹�1.5 lakh.Should I continue to invest in PPF in FY2122,given I would not be having any tax savingsunder 80C? If yes, any recommendedpercentage or amount? Do we have somebetter alternatives to PPF?

ASHISH

A. Deposit into PPF account is to be doneevery year for the fi�rst 15year block.Minimum investment that is to be done intoPPF is ₹�500. By investing this amount, thePPF account will be active. Investment in PPFis to be looked beyond tax deductions asinvesting in PPF has multiple advantagessuch as interest rates being one of thehighest riskfree returns that are available forinvestment in India, guaranteed by theGovernment of India and is free fromattachment in case of default of any kind ofloans borrowed.

Q. I’m working in BHEL, a centralgovernment undertaking. I have earnedleave (EL) of 170 and half pay leave (HPL) of260 and my basic pay plus dearnessallowance will be ₹�89,500 per month. I willbe retiring in September 2021, I need toknow how much I would get at the time ofretirement and whether it is tax exempt ornot. If not, what will be the tax amount?

CHIDANAND

A. Employees of Public Sector Undertakingscannot be treated on a par with governmentemployees for the purposes of Section10(10AA) of the Income Tax Act, 1961. Inyour case, the leave salary that would be paidto you at the time of your retirement will notbe completely exempt. The exemption thatwill be available to you at the time of receiptof leave salary at your retirement will be theleast of ₹�3,00,000, leave salary actuallyreceived, 10 months’ salary (basic plus DA),cash equivalent of leave to the credit of theemployee at the time of retirement.

The cash equivalent of leave to the creditof the employee at the time of retirement iscalculated in the following manner((AxB)C)xD where A is the number ofcompleted years of service, B is the numberof days’ leave credited each year (maximum30 per year), C is the number of days’ leavetaken or leave encashed during the period ofemployment and D is the average salary ofthe past 10 months.

(N. Sree Kanth is partner, GSS & Associates,Chartered Accountants, Chennai)

ASK US

N. Sree Kanth

PERSONAL LOAN - RATES AND CHARGES

Name of LenderInterest rate

(%)

EMI (Rs)

Loan amount

5 lakh

Tenure - 5 years

EMI (Rs)

Loan amount

1 lakh

Tenure - 5 years

Processing fee

(% of loan amount)

HDFC Bank 10.50-21.00 10,747-13,527 2,149-2,705 Upto 2.5% (Max Rs 25,000)

ICICI Bank 10.50-19.00 10,747-12,970 2,149-2,594 Upto 2.50%

Bank of Baroda 10.00-15.60 10,624-12,053 2,125-2,411 Rs 1,000-10,000

State Bank of India 9.60-13.85 10,525-11,595 2,105-2,319 Upto 1.5% (Max Rs 15,000)

Kotak Mahindra Bank 10.75-24.00* 10,809-14,384 2,162-2,877 Upto 2.5%

Punjab National Bank^ 8.95-14.50 10,367-11,764 2,073-2,353 Upto 1%

Federal Bank 10.49-17.99 10,744-12,694 2,149-2,539 Upto 3%

South Indian Bank 10.15-14.45 10,660-11,751 2,132-2,350 2%

Bank of Maharashtra 9.55-12.90^^ 10,513-11,351 2,103-2,270 Upto 1%

Indian Overseas Bank 12.05 11,135 2,227 Upto 0.75%

Indian Bank 9.05-13.65 10.391-11,544 2,078-2,309 1%**

Dhanlaxmi Bank 11.90-15.70 11,097-12,079 2,219-2,416 Upto 2.5% (Min Rs 1,250)

*Digital Personal loan starting at 10.50% p.a.

**For pensioners, NIL processing fees for loan upto Rs 25,000, and fees of Rs 250 for loan above Rs 25,000.

^0.10% additional concession in applicable interest rate to customers who opt for coverage under Credit Life

Insurance.

^^ Interest rate of 8.55% p.a. offered to BPCL (Bharat Petroleum Corporation Ltd ) employees

Rates and charges as on July 22 Source: Paisabazaar.com

NEW CAR LOAN-RATES AND CHARGES

Name of Bank Interest rate (%)

EMI (Rs)

Loan amt 5 lakh

Tenure 5 years

Processing fee

(% of loan amount)

Bank of Baroda 7.00-10.25 9,901-10,685 0.50% (Rs 2,500-10,000)

Union Bank of India 7.15-7.50 9,936-10,019 Rs 1,000

Punjab National Bank 7.15-7.65 9,936-10,055 Up to Rs 1,500

Canara Bank 7.30-9.90 9,972-10,599 0.25% (Rs 1,000-5,000)

Bank of India 7.35-8.55 9,983-10,270Up to 0.25% (Max: 5,000)

For Rural Areas: Rs 1,500-20,000

UCO Bank 7.45-7.70 10,007-10,067 1% (Max: Rs 1,500)

State Bank of India* 7.50-8.45 10,019-10,246 Up to 0.40%

IDBI Bank 7.50-8.10 10,019-10,162 Rs 2,500

Bank of Maharashtra** 7.55-10.40 10,031-10,722

Up to Rs 25,000 (No processing

charges for women borrowers under

Maha Combo Scheme)

Indian Overseas Bank 7.55 10,031 Rs 500-Rs 10,000

ICICI Bank 7.90-9.85 10,114-10,587 Rs 3,500-Rs 8,500

HDFC Bank 7.95-8.30 10,126-10,210 0.5%(Rs 3,500-Rs 8,000)

Karnataka Bank 7.95-10.00 10,126-10,624 0.5%(Rs 2,500-Rs 10,000)

Dhanlaxmi Bank 8.10-9.20 10,162-10,428 1%

Federal Bank 8.50 10,258 Rs 2,000-4,500

Axis Bank 8.65-10.90 10,294-10,846 Rs 3,500-Rs 5,500

South Indian Bank 9.05-10.50 10,391-10,747 1% (Max: Rs 10,000)

*Further interest rate concession of 0.20% on purchase of electric vehicle(Green Car Loan)

**0.25% interest rate concession for existing housing loan borrowers and corporate salary account holder

0.05% concession on interest rate to women & armed forces personnel subject to minimum fl�oor ceiling of RLLR

Rates and charges as on July 23 Source: Paisabazaar.com

<>If you have the

risk appetite for

100% equity in your

portfolio, it should have

been 100% even when

infl�ation was low

* GETTYIMAGES

not more than ₹�25 lakh or service providers where the investment in equipment is not morethan ₹�10 lakh.

In both cases, the nominees,legal heirs or assignees of thepolicyholder can also approachthe ombudsman.

CMYK

A ND-NDE


THE HINDU DELHI


SPORT

Manika Batra stunned20th seed Margaryta

Pesotska of Ukraine to storminto the women’s singlesthird round while G. Sathiyan was beaten by Lam SiuHang of Hong Kong in amen’s second round contestof the table tennis event onSunday.

On Saturday, Manika hadrefused to let National coachSoumyadeep Roy advise herduring her fi�rst round matchafter personal coach SanmayParanjape was denied accessto the competition area. Thisled to table tennis team leader M.P. Singh publicly rebuking her.

On Sunday, however, Manika did not let the controversy aff�ect her.

Not only was Pesotska

ranked 43 spots above Manika, the Ukrainian was also renowned for doing wellagainst players with longpimples, like Manika.

That showed as Pesotskawon the fi�rst two games inquick time. Stung by the losses, Manika changed tacticsand started playing deep.

She also began unleashingforehand winners on a consistent basis.

Manika's tactics and newfound confi�dence helped herpull level 22. However, shecouldn’t withstand her opponent’s onslaught in thefi�fth.

In the doordie sixth

game, the lanky Indian wasdown 25 when she opted fora timeout. It proved a masterstroke as she returnedwith renewed vigour andconfi�dence.

She started fi�ring on all cylinders, rattling Pesotskawith a series of winners andgoing on to win the game

115. The decider was a seesaw aff�air before Manika prevailed 117. The fi�nal scoreline: 411, 411, 117, 1210, 811,115, 117.

Tough test awaitsManika will now face 10thseed Sofi�a Polcanova of Australia for a place in theprequarterfi�nals.

While Manika survived atough test , Sathiyan, themost consistent Indian paddler for the last few years,fell to a lowerranked Hang.The World No. 95 had lostboth his previous matchesagainst Sathiyan.

Brilliant fi�ghtbackThe Hong Kong player stageda stupendous comeback after being on the verge of defeat at 13 games down.

While Hang had every reason to celebrate, Sathiyan —whose personal coach S. Raman wasn’t allowed to travelto Tokyo — would have feltdisheartened to see hisOlympic debut end in a 711,117, 114, 115, 911, 1012, 611loss in the round of 64 afterbeing a game away from progressing.

Manika causes an upset, Sathiyan exitsThe former stuns World No. 20 Pesotska while the latter yields ground from the verge of victory

Amol Karhadkar

Eye on the ball: Manika rallied brilliantly to beat the higherranked Pesotska. * REUTERS

World champion P. V.Sindhu warmed up for

the tougher battles with aneasy 217, 2110 victory overIsrael’s Ksenia Polikarpovain her opening Group ‘J’badminton match at the Tokyo Olympics.

Sindhu’s 29minute oncourt ‘workout’ on Sundaysaw her break away from 55to win the next 14 points inthe fi�rst game.

In the second, from 43,Sindhu won seven straightpoints to assert her superiority before convertingher fourth match point.

Polikarpova, ranked58th, was often foxed bySindhu’s deft placements atthe net. The Indian oftenfi�nished points by settingthem up through powerfulsmashes and forcing feebleresponses.

In the second leaguematch on Tuesday, sixthseed Sindhu faces HongKong’s Cheung Ngan Yi.

Sindhu hardly breakssweat in openerThe World champion takes just 29

minutes to beat her Israeli opponent

RAKESH RAO

BADMINTON

Swift and agile: Sindhu was on top of game in her fi�rst roundmatch against Polikarpova. * PTI

21 Gold medals are on off�erat the Games on MondayArchery: Men’s teamArtistic gymnastics: Men’steamCanoe Slalom: MenCycling Mountain bike: Men’scrosscountryDiving: Men’s synchronised10m platformFencing: Men’s foil, Women’ssabreJudo: Women’s 57kg, Men’s73kgShooting: Skeet men, SkeetwomenSkateboarding: Women’sstreetSwimming: Women’s 400mfreestyle, Women’s 100mbutterfl�y, Men’s 100m breaststroke, Men’s 4x100mfreestyleTable tennis: Mixed doublesTaekwondo: Men’s 80kg,Women’s 67kgTriathlon: MenWeightlifting: Women’s 55kg

MEDAL EVENTS

Archery: Men's team: AtanuDas, Pravin Jadhav, Tarundeep Rai vs Ilfat Abdullin, Denis Gankin, Sanzhar Mussayev(Kaz), 1/8 eliminations, 6a.m.; quarterfi�nals, 10.15a.m.; semifi�nals, 11.45 a.m.;bronze medal match, 12.45p.m.; gold medal match, 1.10p.m.Badminton: Men’s doubles(group stage): SatwiksairajRankireddy & Chirag Shetty vsMarcus Fernaldi Gideon & Kevin Sanjaya Sukamuljo (Ina),9.10 a.m.Boxing: Men’s middleweight(round of 32): Ashish Kumarvs Tuoheta Erbieke (Chn),3.05 p.m.Fencing: Women’s Sabre individual: Bhavani Devi vs Nadia Ben Azizi (Tun), table of64, 5.30 a.m.; table of 32,6.25 a.m.; table of 16, 10.05a.m.; quarterfi�nals, 11.55a.m.; semifi�nals, 2.30 p.m.;bronze medal bout, 4.20p.m.; gold medal bout, 5.15p.m.Hockey: Women (Pool A): vsGermany, 5:45 p.m.Sailing: Men: Laser (from8.35 a.m.): Vishnu Saravanan;Women: Laser Radial (from11.05 a.m.): Nethra Kumanan.Shooting: Men's skeet: Angad Vir Singh Bajwa, MairajAhmad Khan, Qualifi�cationDay 2, 6.30 a.m.; Final, 12.20p.m.Swimming: Men’s 200m Butterfl�y (Heat 2): Sajan Prakash,3.50 p.m.Table tennis: Men's singles(second round): Sharath Kamal vs Tiago Apolonia (Por),6.30 a.m.Women's singles: Secondround: Sutirtha Mukherjee vsFu Yu (Por), 8.30 a.m.; Thirdround: Manika Batra vs Sofi�aPolcanova (Aut), Noon.Tennis (from 7.30 a.m.):Men's singles, second round:Sumit Nagal vs Daniil Medvedev (ROC).

Live on Sony Ten 2, 3 & Sony Six (SD & HD). All times IST.

INDIANS IN ACTION

India had a mixed day inthe boxing ring on Sunday

as sixtime World championand 2012 London Olympicsbronze medallist M.C. MaryKom won her fi�rst roundmatch, while World Championships bronze medallistManish Kaushik exited aftera valiant show.

Beginning her quest for asecond Olympics medal,Mary warded off� a strongchallenge from DominicanRepublic’s Miguliena Garciato record a 41 win and reachthe women’s 51kgprequarterfi�nals.

Mary will take on Olympic Games bronze medallistand third seed Ingrit Valencia of Colombia.

Competing against an opponent 15 years younger toher, 38yearold Mary boxedfrom a distance and movedaround nicely to land somehead shots. Miguliena replied by delivering a fewstraight punches in the fi�rstround.

After staying ahead withan identical 32 verdict intwo rounds, Mary connected some clean shots, including a few right ones, to havea clear advantage in thethird. Miguel gave her bestbefore bowing out of theOlympics.

Manish went down fi�ghting 41 against European silver medallist and Commonwealth Games bronzemedallist Luke McCormackof Great Britain in a 63kgopening round match.

The Britain boxer wonthe duel after a closelyfought fi�nal round.

Gritty Mary survivesManish goes down fi�ghting

Y.B. Sarangi

Mary Kom. * PTI

BOXING

Suryakumar Yadav’s goldenrun with the bat was complemented by the Indian bowling unit led by BhuvneshwarKumar, as the visitors defeated Sri Lanka by 38 runs inthe fi�rst T20I on Sunday.

If Suryakumar’s secondT20I halfcentury — an attractive 50 off� 34 balls withfi�ve fours and two sixes — ensured a decent total of 164 forfi�ve, Yuzvendra Chahal (40191) was niggardly. DeepakChahar (two for 24 in three

overs) and Bhuvneshwar(four for 22 in 3.3 overs)struck when it matteredmost, bowling the hosts outfor 126 in 18.3 overs. From 111for four in the 16th over, SriLanka lost its last six wicketsfor 15 runs.

After the hosts’ whirlwindstart in the fi�rst two overs,skipper Shikhar Dhawan introduced Krunal Pandya,who quickly removed MinodBhanuka. Chahal bowledperhaps the delivery of thematch — a fl�ighted ball thatcompletely foxed Dhananjaya de Silva. Opener AvishkaFernando paid for the slow

ness of the track when hetried to pull Bhuvneshwar.

However, debutant Charith Asalanka (44, 26b, 3x4,3x6) kept Sri Lanka in contention. He waded into Varun Chakravarthy, also making his debut, and smashedhim for two sixes. Asalankawas dismissed by Chahar,caught in the deep going foranother maximum. Thehosts slid from there.

Earlier, Suryakumar wassupported by contributionsfrom Dhawan (46, 36b, 4x4,1x6), Sanju Samson (27, 20b,2x4, 1x6) and Ishan Kishan(20 n.o., 14b, 1x4, 1x6).

Suryakumar’s knock, Bhuvneshwar’s spell help India take 10 leadFormer scores a halfcentury while latter claims a fourfor

PRESS TRUST OF INDIA

COLOMBO

Swing factor: Bhuvneshwar put the skids on Sri Lanka’s chase,striking at crucial junctures. * TWITTER/BCCI

INDIA IN LANKA

South Korea: Archery: Women’steamAnna Kiesenhofer (Aut): Cycling: Women’s road raceShi Tingmao & Wang Han(Chn): Diving: Women’s synchronised 3m springboardLee Kiefer (USA): Fencing: Women’s foil individualRomain Cannone (Fra): Fencing: Men’s epee individualUta Abe (Jon): Judo: Women’s52kgHifumi Abe (Jpn): Judo: Men’s66kgWilliam Shaner (USA): Shooting: Men’s 10m air rifl�eVitalina Batsarashkina (ROC):Shooting: Women’s 10m air pistolYuto Horigome (Jpn): Skateboarding: Men’s skeetYui Ohashi (Jpn): Swimming:Women’s 400m ind. medleyAustralia: Swimming: Women’s4x100m freestyle relayAhmed Hafnaoui (Tun): Swim

ming: Men’s 400m freestyleChase Kalisz (USA): Swimming:Men’s 400m ind. medleyUlugbek Rashitov: Taekwondo:Men’s 68kgAnastasija Zolotic (USA): Taekwondo: Women’s 57kgLi Fabin: Weightlifting: Men’s61kgLijun Chen (Chn): Weightlifting:Men’s 67kg

GOLDIES

Badminton: Women's singles(group stage): P.V. Sindhu btKsenia Polikarpova (Isr) 217,2110.

Boxing (round of 32): Women's fl�yweight: Mary Kom btMiguelina Hernandez (Dom);Men's lightweight: ManishKaushik lost to Luke McCormack (GBR).

Gymnastics: Women's artisticallround: Pranati Nayak, DidNot Qualify (DNQ) for fi�nal.

Hockey: Men (Pool A): lost toAustralia 17.

Rowing: Men’s lightweightdouble sculls (Repechage 2):3. Arjun Jat and Arvind Singh(qualifi�ed for the semifi�nals).

Shooting: Women: 10m airpistol: Qualifi�cation: 12. ManuBhaker, 13. Yashaswini SinghDeswal. DNQ for fi�nal.

Men: 10m air rifl�e: Qualifi�cation: 26. Deepak Kumar, 32. Di

vyansh Singh Panwar. DNQ forfi�nal.

Skeet: Qualifi�cation: Day 1: 11.Angad Vir Singh Bajwa, 25.Mairaj Ahmad Khan.

Sailing: Women: Laser Radial:Nethra Kumanan (27th overallafter two races); Men: Laser:Vishnu Saravanan (14th in Race1).

Swimming: 100m backstroke:Men: Srihari Nataraj (27th overall), DNQ for the semifi�nals;Women: Maana Patel (39th overall), DNQ for the semifi�nals.

Table tennis (second round):Women's singles: Manika Batrabt Margaryta Pesotska (Ukr)43; Men’s singles: G. Sathiyanlost to Lam Siu Hang (Hkg) 34.

Tennis: Women’s doubles(fi�rst round): Sania Mirza & Ankita Raina lost to Liudmyla Kichenok & Nadiia Kichenok (Ukr)60, 6(0)7, [810].

INDIAN ODYSSEY

India's women's tennis duoof Sania Mirza and AnkitaRaina suff�ered a disappointing defeat in the fi�rst roundhere on Sunday.

Ukrainians Lyudmyla Viktorivna Kichenok and NadiiaViktorivna Kichenokknocked out the Indian pair06, 76(0), [108] in onehour and 33 minutes.

The Indian duo beganwith a bang, handing the Ukrainians a bagel inside 21 minutes, before losing its way.

Meanwhile, World No. 1Ashleigh Barty crashed outlosing 64, 63 to Spain's48thranked Sara SorribesTormo.

Also, Japan's Naomi Osakawon her highlyanticipatedreturn to the court. Osaka,the star of the opening ceremony, defeated China'sZheng Saisai 61, 64.

Sania-Ankita duo crashes outBarty loses in fi�rst round; Osaka returns to the court in style

ANI

Tokyo

TENNIS

Osaka. * GETTY IMAGES

The Indian men’s hockeyteam was no match for Australia as the world No. 1 sidestomped to a 71 win in theirPool A match at the 2020 Tokyo Olympics on Sunday.

The result steadied Australia’s seat at the top withtwo consecutive wins, whileIndia slipped to fourth spot.The top four teams from thesixmember Pool will advance to the quarterfi�nals.

Australia romped aheadin the 10th minute throughJames Daniel Beale, who cleverly guided Jacob Whetton’s fl�ick into the back of

the net. India had chances torestore parity within fi�ve minutes, but Ravinder PalSingh was denied by a sublime goalline block from Andrew Ogilvie. India will rue

that missed opportunity asthe Aussies snatched thegame away in the secondquarter with three goals infi�ve minutes. Jeremy Hayward struck a thumping drag

fl�ick, while Ogilvie scoredtwo minutes later with a sublime nolook fi�nish. The Indian defence, battered, hadno time to recuperate asJoshua Beltz joined the party. Tim Brand bombed downthe left byline, cut inside andcrafted a neat tomahawk towards the centre. Amit Rohidas could have cleared butwas not quick enough andOgilvie hammered it home.

While the Indians werewasteful up front, the defensive shape also took a beating and the backline was susceptible to long passes — atactic that the Australians relied on to create numerousoneonone chances withgoalkeeper P.R. Sreejesh.

Australia steamrollers insipid India

Shyam Vasudevan

TOKYO

HOCKEY

Powering on: Blake Govers, second right, celebrates afterslotting in the team’s sixth goal. * GETTY IMAGES

France shocks Durant’s USAA USA team led by 11time NBA

AllStar Kevin Durant was beaten

8376 by France, containing NBA

players including Rudy Gobert

and Evan Fournier, in a huge

Olympic basketball upset on

Sunday. AFP

TOKYO TITBITS

Arjun and Arvind make rowing historyRowers Arjun Jat and Arvind Singh were out of contention for a

medal, but created history on Sunday by becoming the first

Indian double sculls pair to make it to the semifinals of the

Olympics. “This is the greatest day of my coaching career... our

first target was to finish between 10th and 14th, and we are close

to finishing 12th now,” said coach Ismail Baig. India’s previous

best was 18th by Manjeet SinghSandeep Kumar in London 2012.

Pranati fails to qualify for allaround finalIndian artistic gymnast Pranati Nayak failed to qualify for the

allaround final on Sunday. Pranati came 12th in subdivision 1

after recording a total score of 42.565 over four categories. The

26yearold registered a score of 10.633 in the Floor exercise and

completed a perfect vault for a score of 13.466. She then

registered a score of 9.033 and 9.433 in the Uneven Bars and

Balance Beam categories respectively.

The Indian shooting contingent continued to suff�erheartbreak at Tokyo 2020 asthe 19yearold Manu Bhaker — troubled by a brokenpistol — battled valiantly butfailed to qualify for the 10mair pistol fi�nal on Sunday.

The biggest disappointment on Sunday was Bhakerwho struggled with her gun,costing her crucial time anda spot in the fi�nal. She started strong and was third atthe end of the fi�rst series,but a freak incident midwaythrough the second disrupted her rhythm.

The metal cocking lever,which has to be retracted toplace a pellet in the gunprior to each shot, had broken. It was something hercoach Ronak Pandit defi�nedas a “neverseenbefore”scenario.

While Manu fi�nished 12th.Yashaswini Singh Deswalended a spot below her.

In 10m air rifl�e, Dipak Kumar shot a belowpar 624.7to place 26th, while Divyansh Singh Panwar totalled 622.8 to fi�nish 32nd.

In men’s skeet, Asianchampion and world recordholder Angad Vir Singh Bajwa shot 73 following roundsof 24, 25 and 24 to stay inthe race for a fi�nal berth after three rounds. However,Olympian Mairaj AhmadKhan spoilt his chances witha third round of 22 after having shot 25 and 24 in the fi�rsttwo.

Broken pistol scuttlesManu Bhaker’s chancesAngad stays in contention in skeet

Shyam Vasudevan

TOKYO

SHOOTING

Manu Bhaker. * PTI

India: Prithvi Shaw c Minod bChameera 0 (1b), ShikharDhawan c Bandara b Karunaratne 46 (36b, 4x4, 1x6), SanjuSamson lbw b Hasaranga 27(20b, 2x4, 1x6), Suryakumar Yadav c sub (Mendis) b Hasaranga50 (34b, 5x4, 2x6), HardikPandya c Minod b Chameera 10(12b), Ishan Kishan (not out) 20(14b, 1x4, 1x6), Krunal Pandya(not out) 3 (3b); Extras (lb2,w6): 8; Total (for five wkts. in20 overs): 164.

Fall of wickets: 10 (Shaw, 0.1ov), 251 (Samson, 6.1), 3113(Dhawan, 14.1), 4127 (Suryakumar, 15.2), 5153 (Hardik, 18.4).

Sri Lanka bowling: Chameera 40242, Karunaratne 40341,Akila 30400, Udana 40

320, Hasaranga 40282,Shanaka 1040.

Sri Lanka: Avishka Fernando cSamson b Bhuvneshwar 26(23b, 3x4), Minod Bhanuka cSuryakumar b Krunal 10 (7b,2x4), Dhananjaya de Silva bChahal 9 (10b, 1x4), Charith Asalanka c Shaw b Deepak Chahar44 (26b, 3x4, 3x6), AshenBandara b Hardik 9 (19b), DasunShanaka st. Ishan b Varun 16(14b, 1x6), Wanindu Hasarangab Deepak Chahar 0 (2b),Chamika Karunaratne bBhuvneshwar 3 (4b), IsuruUdana c Suryakumar bBhuvneshwar 1 (2b), Dushmantha Chameera c Krunal bBhuvneshwar 1 (3b), AkilaDananjaya (not out) 1 (1b); Ex

tras (w6): 6; Total (in 18.3overs): 126.Fall of wickets: 123 (Minod,2.3), 248 (Dhananjaya, 6.2), 350 (Avishka, 7.1), 490(Bandara, 12.6), 5111 (Asalanka,15.3), 6111 (Hasaranga, 15.5), 7122 (Karunaratne, 16.6), 8124(Shanaka, 17.4), 9125 (Udana,18.1).India bowling: Bhuvneshwar3.30224, Deepak Chahar 30242, Krunal 20161, Varun40281, Chahal 40191,Hardik 20171.Toss: Sri Lanka; ManoftheMatch: Bhuvneshwar.

India won by 38 runs and tooka 10 lead in threematch series.Second T20I: July 27, Colombo,8 p.m. IST.

SCOREBOARD

CMYK

A ND-NDE


DELHI THE HINDU


SPORT

HYDERABAD: Ashwa Bravo shouldscore over his rivals in the ThreeWishes Plate, the chief event ofthe opening day’s races of themonsoon season on Monday.There will be no false rails.

1 CON AMORE PLATE (DIV. II)(1,200m), (Terms) Maiden, 3

yo only (Cat. II), 1.05 p.m.: 1. Epsom (12) Kuldeep Singh 56, 2. Indian Glory (4) Md. Ismail 56, 3. NR I Sport (15) Uday Kiran P 56, 4.One More Time (1) C.P. Bopanna56, 5. Sorrento (14) B.R. Kumar56, 6. Starwalt (5) Surya Prakash56, 7. Angelita (11) R. Manish 54.5,8. Ashwa Pushkin (7) Ashad Asbar54.5, 9. By The Bay (9) P.S.Chouhan 54.5, 10. Furious Fun (2)Kiran Naidu 54.5, 11. Golden Lady(10) B. Nikhil 54.5, 12. Good Tidings (3) Ajeeth Kumar 54.5, 13.Maximum Glamour (13) Akshay54.5, 14. Neffereti (16) P. Sai Kumar 54.5, 15. Racing Rani (8) G.Naresh 54.5 and Total Darc (6)Afroz 54.5.1. BY THE BAY, 2. ASHWA PUSHKIN,3. MAXIMUM GLAMOUR

2 TENACITY PLATE (DIV. II)(1,400m) rated 20 to 45 (Cat.

III), 1.35: 1. Mark My Day (10) B.R.Kumar 62, 2. Cheltenham (5) N.B.Kuldeep 59, 3. Fire Power (6) Trevor 59, 4. Umatched (2) P. Sai Kumar 58, 5. Explosive (11) GauravSingh 57.5, 6. Fatuma (8) AshadAsbar 57.5, 7. Royal Pal (1) Nakhat56.5, 8. Fashion Universe (4) Akshay 54, 9. Polonsky (3) R. Ajinkya54, 10. Sun Dancer (9) Afroz 53.5and 11. Bedazzled (7) Abhay 52.1. FIRE POWER, 2. FASHION UNI-VERSE, 3. FATUMA

3 CON AMORE PLATE (DIV. I)(1,200m), (Terms) Maiden, 3

yo only (Cat. II), 2.05: 1. DreamJewel (11) Koushik 56, 2. First InLine (9) Surya Prakash 56, 3. MyMaster (14) Nakhat 56, 4. Paladino(10) Kuldeep Singh 56, 5. Siyavash(8) Ashad Asbar 56, 6. Star Cruise(6) Kiran Naidu 56, 7. Tenth Attraction (16) G. Naresh 56, 8.Zamazenta (2) B. Nikhil 56, 9.Able Love (5) Gaurav Singh 54.5,10. City Of Bliss (3) Ajeeth Kumar54.5, 11. Hard To Toss (1) B.R. Kumar 54.5, 12. Hot Seat (15) Md. Ismail 54.5, 13. Moonlight Ruby (7)Akshay 54.5, 14. Muaser (4) Afroz54.5, 15. Secret Circle (12) SantoshRaj N R 54.5 and 16. SpectacularCruise (13) P. Sai Kumar 54.5.1. MOONLIGHT RUBY, 2. SIYAVASH,3. CITY OF BLISS

4 TENACITY PLATE (DIV. I)(1,400m), rated 20 to 45

(Cat.III), 2.40: 1. Miss Marvellous(11) N.B. Kuldeep 62.5, 2. Just Incredible (4) Ajeeth Kumar 60.5, 3.Dillon (3) B. Nikhil 59, 4. PedroPlanet (2) Kiran 59, 5. SweetMelody (6) B.R. Kumar 59, 6.Ashwa Arjun (7) Rafique Sk 58, 7.King Roger (1) Koushik 57.5, 8.Flamingo Fame (8) G. Naresh 55.5,9. Francis Bacon (12) Trevor 55.5,10. Team Player (9) Nakhat54, 11.Win Vision (5) R. Ajinkya 53.5 and12. Lightning Pearl (10) SuryaPrakash 50.1. JUST INCREDIBLE, 2. TEAMPLAYER, 3. FRANCIS BACON

5 SCARLET PRINCE PLATE (DIV.I) (1,100m) 4yo & upward,

rated 20 to 45 (Cat. III), 3.15: 1.

Hidden Hope (15) Santosh Raj N R62, 2. Bedford (6) Kiran 61.5, 3.Mind Reader (12) B.R. Kumar 61.5,4. Four One Four (10) KuldeepSingh 60, 5. Flying Jet (Ex: Beautiful Luv) (8) Afroz 59.5, 6. Sublime(4) Ajit Singh 58.5, 7. Look Of Love(1) Rafique Sk 57.5, 8. Blink Of AnEye (7) N.B. Kuldeep 57, 9. BeautyOn Parade (3) Md. Ismail 56, 10.Appenzelle (2) Akshay 55.5, 11.Star Racer (9) Ajeeth Kumar 55,12. Hashtag (13) Praveen Gaddam54, 13. Red River (11) R.S. Jodha54, 14. Moringa (16) Surya Prakash53, 15. Hurricane (14) Abhay 52.5and 16. Berkeley (5) B. Nikhil 51.1. HIDDEN HOPE, 2. APPENZELLE,3. HURRICANE

6 THREE WISHES PLATE(1,200m), rated 40 to 65 (Cat.

II), 3.50: 1. Ashwa Bravo (3) Trevor 60.5, 2. Sporting Smile (8) R.S.Jodha 59.5, 3. Lagos (12) A.A.Vikrant 59, 4. Southern Legacy (6)S.S. Tanwar 58.5, 5. Vijays Simha(10) P.S. Chouhan 57, 6. House OfDiamonds (2) Akshay 56, 7. Incredulous (7) R. Manish 55.5, 8.Rapid Fire (4) Ajeeth Kumar 55, 9.Chuckit (11) B. Nikhil 54, 10. BigBrave (5) Santosh Raj N R 50, 11.Loch Stella (1) Nakhat 50 and 12.Proud (9) Surya Prakash 50.1. ASHWA BRAVO, 2. HOUSE OFDIAMONDS, 3. SPORTING SMILE

7 RANDOM HARVEST PLATE(1,400m) 5yo & upward,

rated 40 to 65 (Cat. II), 4.25: 1.Mark My Word (13) C.P. Bopanna60.5, 2. Blazer (8) Kuldeep Singh56.5, 3. Full Volume (Ex: Marinetti) (10) P.S. Chouhan 56.5, 4.Shaquille (3) Md. Ismail 56.5, 5.Kesariya Balam (2) Akshay 56, 6.Balius (7) P. Sai Kumar 55.5, 7.Dandy Man (1) Trevor 55.5, 8.Ashwa Yashobali (5) Gaurav Singh55, 9. Red Snaper (6) N.B. Kuldeep54.5, 10. The Special One (4)Abhay Singh 54.5, 11. Maxwell (14)Ajeeth Kumar 54, 12. Once More(15) Nakhat 52, 13. Mystery (11) G.Naresh 51, 14. King Maker (12)Surya Prakash 50 and 15. RhythmSelection (9) Afroz 50.1. KESARIYA BALAM, 2. DANDYMAN, 3. ASHWA YASHOBALI

8 SCARLET PRINCE PLATE (DIV.II) (1,100m) 4yo & upward,

rated 20 to 45 (Cat. III), 5.00: 1.Amyra (13) N.B. Kuldeep 61.5, 2.Kamyar (12) Santosh Raj N R 61.5,3. N R I Magic (15) Uday Kiran P61.5, 4. Dancing Doll (5) PraveenGaddam 59.5, 5. Gusty Note (3)A.A. Vikrant 59, 6. Colachel Battle(6) Trevor 57.5, 7. Gazebo (7) B.R.Kumar 57.5, 8. Star Dancer (8)Kiran 56.5, 9. Art In Motion (2)Afroz 56, 10. Thunder Road (10)Kuldeep Singh 55.5, 11. Destine ToBe (4) Rafique Sk 55, 12. ClassyDame (1) Nakhat 54, 13.Healthandhappiness (9) Ajit Singh53, 14. Elmira (11) B. Nikhil 52.5,15. La Lady (14) P. Sai Kumar 52and 16. Jo Malone (16) R. Manish51.1. COLACHEL BATTLE, 2. AMYRA,3. STAR DANCER

Day’s best: ASHWA BRAVO

Jackpot: 4, 5, 6, 7 & 8; Mini Jackpot: (i) 2, 3, 4 & 5. (ii) 5, 6, 7 & 8;Treble: (i) 1, 2 & 3. (ii) 3, 4 & 5; (iii)6, 7 & 8; Tanala: All races.

Ashwa Bravo for feature

TNPL 2021: Star Sports 2(SD & HD), 7.30 p.m.Tokyo 2020: Sony Ten 2, 3 &Sony Six (SD & HD), 3 a.m.onwards (Tuesday).

TV PICKS

Katie Ledecky can become asixtimes Olympic gold medallist on Monday if theAmerican wins her longawaited 400m freestyleshowdown with Australia’sWorld champion AriarneTitmus.

The big duel of the Tokyopool will be one highlight ofa morning that is also likelyto see Adam Peaty take the100m breaststroke gold andmake history as the fi�rstBritish swimmer to defendan Olympic title.

“It’s going to be a greatrace with Ariarne. I’m reallyexcited to be in that fi�rst fi�nal tomorrow,” said Ledecky, who won four of hergolds in Rio in 2016 and theother in London in 2012.The American is the defending 400m champion andworld record holder andgoes into the fi�nal with thefastest time from the heats.

Ready for challengeTitmus, 20, also won herheat comfortably enoughand said: “I’d like to thinkI’ve got a bit more in thetank for the fi�nal.”

Ledecky would once havebeen the day’s nailedoncertainty for gold but thatrole has been taken byworld record holder Peaty,

whose times so far havebeen faster than any otherswimmer has ever managedin the event.

USA will again be in themedal hunt later in themorning after qualifying second fastest behind Italy forthe 4x100 freestyle relay,with Australia third.

The women’s 100m butterfl�y could be a big moment for China’s top medalhope Zhang Yufei, fastest inthe semifi�nals, but France’sMarie Wattel and AustralianEmma McKeon will be pushing hard.

Test for SjostromSweden’s world record holder and reigning championSarah Sjostrom, AmericanTorri Huske and CanadianMaggie MacNeil are also very much in contention.

Sjostrom had surgery fora broken elbow after slipping on ice in February anda medal would be a remarkable turnaround in herfourth Games.

“When I started swimming again after my surgery,I was like, ‘I’m never, evergoing to be able to swimagain.’ I couldn’t physicallytake a stroke in the water,”she said after Saturday’sheats. “I couldn’t do anything. So, I am super proud todo this comeback.”

Ledecky, Titmus to faceoff� in 400m freestyleAdam Peaty on course to defend

100m breaststroke title

ReutersTOKYO

Phenomenal: American Katie Ledecky would be aiming forher sixth gold medal on Monday. * AFP

Halfcenturies from NicholasPooran and Jason Holderguided the West Indies to aserieslevelling fourwicketwin in the second ODI againstAustralia on Saturday.

Replying to the visitors'187, the home side slipped to72 for fi�ve before ManoftheMatch Pooran and formercaptain Holder, who contributed an invaluable 52, puton 93 for the seventh wicket.

West Indies reached thetarget with four wickets and12 overs to spare.

Australians had to recoverfrom an even more desperatesituation. With the decisionto bat made on Thursday before the match was suspended due to a positive COVID19test returned by a member ofthe West Indies staff�, Australia slumped to 45 for six.

Matthew Wade and Mitchell Starc put on 51 for the seventh wicket. Then, AdamZampa and Wes Agar put on59 for the ninth wicket.The scores: Australia 187 in 47.1overs (Matthew Wade 36,

Adam Zampa 36, Wes Agar 41;Alzarri Joseph 3/39, Akeal Ho-sein 3/30) lost to West Indies191/6 in 38 overs (Shai Hope38, Nicholas Pooran 59 n.o., Ja-

son Holder 52; Mitchell Starc 3/26). Toss: Australia: MoM: Poo-ran; West Indies won match byfour wickets, threematch series11.

Holder, Joseph and Hosein play their part in levelling series

AUSTRALIA IN WI

Agence France-PresseBridgetown

Hand on the tiller: Nicholas Pooran charted his team’s courseto victory from troubled waters on Saturday. * AFP

Pooran powers Windies’ victory

American gymnastics superstar Simone Biles got off� to ashaky start in her quest forfi�ve gold medals and Olympic history in Tokyo on Sunday, as an Uzbeki motherofone bid a poignant farewellafter a remarkable careerspanning eight Games.

At 46 years old, OksanaChusovitina, gold medallistat her debut Olympics inBarcelona in 1992, hasearned the right to occupyher time in more sedateways than exploding up a 25metre runway and somersaulting backwards over avault against competitorsyounger than her son.

She received a hugely affectionate ovation from herteam, rivals, media and photographers when she narrowly failed to qualify for thevault at her eighth and lastOlympics.

Born in 1976, Chusovitina’s Olympic odyssey beganin Barcelona in 1992, whereshe won team gold, addingsilver in the vault in Beijing2008.

Biles, who kept thewheels on her bid to level

Soviet great Larisa Latynina’s record of nine gymnastics gold medals, but herqualifying performanceswere peppered with rareimperfections.

On the fl�oor, Biles overrotated after one series of mesmerising tumbles and wentoff� the mat, drawing a gaspfrom at least one onlooker inthe neardeserted AriakeCentre.

DisbeliefShe rolled her eyes afteranother unsteady landingover on the vault, and herperformance director TomForster expressed disbeliefafter an untidy end to her

beam routine. Biles qualifi�edtop in the allaround andvault, and was second on thefl�oor, with the USA occupying the same position behind the Russians for Tuesday’s team fi�nal.

But in the beam standingsshe paid for her fl�awed ending to lie sixth of the eightprogressing. Biles alsobooked a place for the uneven bars fi�nal, though,which the 19time Worldchampion missed at Rio2016, as the eighth qualifi�er.

Another gold medallist,but from much further backthan Rio, departing Tokyowas the evergreenChusovitina.

Biles makes a fl�awed entranceVeteran Chusovitina departs after a remarkable career

GYMNASTICS

Agence France-PresseTOKYO

A champion exits: Uzbekistan’s Oksana Chusovitina, who hasan Olympic gold and silver in a career spanning eight Games,bid a poignant farewell on Sunday. * AFP

Captain Temba Bavuma andReeza Hendricks were thestars as South Africa overpowered Ireland in the thirdand fi�nal T20 Internationalat Stormont on Saturday toseal a 30 series win.

The pair's fi�rstwicketpartnership of 127 set up a

49run victory. Bavumamade 72 off� 51 balls with six4s and two 6s, while Hendricks added 69 off� 48.

David Miller chipped inwith an unbeaten 36 asSouth Africs posted 189 fortwo from its 20 overs.

Big totalIt was a total that was toomuch for Ireland, which fi�nished at 140 for nine.

Ireland captain Andy Bal

birnie topscored with 27while George Linde, WiaanMulder and Lizaad Williamstwo wickets each for SouthAfrica.

The scores: South Africa 189/2in 20 overs (Temba Bavuma 72,Reeza Hendricks 69, David Mill-er 36) bt Ireland 140/9 in 20overs (Andy Balbirnie 27).

Toss: South Africa; MoM: Bavu-ma; MoS: Miller; South Africawon the match by 49 runs andthe threematch series 30.

Bavuma leads SA to series sweepProteas cruise to 49run win in fi�nal T20I

IRELAND VS SA

Agence France-PresseBelfast

Opener Soumya Sarkar topscored with 68 as Bangladesh won a thrilling runchase to defeat Zimbabwe byfi�ve wickets and win a T20Iseries 21 in Harare on Sunday.

Set a challenging target of194 to triumph, the touristsreached the target with fourballs to spare.

Inspired by Wesley Madhevere (54 runs) and RegisChakabva (48), Zimbabwe

posted 193/5 as it sought afi�rst success in a twonationT20 series.

A sweepBut allrounder Sarkar, whowon the ‘Playerofthematch’ and the ‘Playeroftheseries’ awards, set thetone for a brilliant run chasethat gave Bangladesh an allformat sweep in the southern Africa nation.

Not only did he top score,but his rightarm mediumfast deliveries yielded 2/19,

the most impressive fi�guresamong the six Bangladeshbowlers. The scores: Zimbabwe 193/5 in20 overs (Wessley Madhevere54, Regis Chakabva 48, SoumyaSarkar 2/19) lost to Bangladesh194/5 in 19.2 overs (SoumyaSarkar 68, Mahmudullah 34,Shamim Hossain 31 n.o., Bless-ing Muzarabani 2/27, LukeJongwe 2/42). Toss: Zim-babwe. MoM & MoS: Sarkar.

Bangladesh won by fi�vewickets with four balls remaining to clinch threematch series21.

Sarkar stars as Bangladesh wins seriesSets the tone for a brilliant run chase against ZimbabweAgence France-PresseHarare

Vidit Gujrathi drew withAzerbaijan’s Vasif Durarbayli in 56 moves in thefi�rst game of the fi�fth roundin the chess World Cup inSochi on Sunday. On Monday, Vidit will play withblack pieces in the secondgame of the minimatch.

Vidit drawswith Vasif

RAKESH RAONEW DELHI

Los Cabos (Mexico): Cameron Norrie collected hisfi�rst ATP tour title when hedefeated American teenager Brandon Nakashima 62,62 to win the Mifel Openon Saturday.

The 25yearold Briton,ranked 30 in the world, didnot drop a set en route tothe trophy and lost just 10games in his fi�nal threematches. But he still needed four championshippoints before he could secure the title.

“It was always a goal ofmine to get my fi�rst title,"said Norrie. "Obviously I'dlost three fi�nals this year,so it was very nice to get over the line today.” AFP

Norrie winsfi�rst ATP title

CARY (USA): Eighth seedRamkumar Ramanathandefeated Stefan Kozlov ofthe USA 16, 63, 61 in thesemifi�nals of the $52,080

Challenger tennis tournament here.

In the fi�nal, Ramkumarwill face sixth seed MitchellKrueger of the USA.

Ramkumar in fi�nal

While it was a disappointing day for Australia in themen’s events, the women seta world record of 3:29.69s inthe 4x100m freestyle relay,with Canada taking silver,3:09 behind the winners,and the United States inbronze position.

The quartet of sistersBronte and Cate Campbell,Meg Harris and EmmaMcKeon ensured a thirdstraight gold in the event forAustralia, taking 0.36 off� theprevious record of 3:30.05.

Maana, Srihari outMeanwhile, Indian swimmers Maana Patel and Srihari Nataraj made their debutin the 100m backstrokeheats. However, neithercould progress to semifi�nals.

Maana and Nataraj, to

Tunisia and Japan celebrated unexpected golds on theopening day of swimmingevents before normal service was resumed with theAustralian women’s 4x100mfreestyle relay team smashing its own world record onthe way to the title in Tokyo.

Chase Kalisz settledAmerican nerves by delivering the country’s fi�rst gold ofthese Games, winning themen’s 400m medley as partof a US onetwo with JayLitherland.

On a day of surprises, Tunisian teenager Ahmed Hafnaoui pulled off� the biggestshock of all with a stunningvictory in the men’s 400mfreestyle.

The 18yearold, the slowest qualifi�er, produced a blistering fi�nish to pip Australia’s Jack McLoughlin to goldwith a time of 3:43.36s,American Kieran Smith taking bronze. Hafnaoui’s goldis only the fi�fth by a Tunisianathlete at the Olympics, butits third in swimming.

Japan’s Yui Ohashi wonthe women’s 400m medleyin 4:32.08s. American Emma Weyant took the silver0.68s behind and compatriot Hali Flickinger took thebronze.

gether with Sajan Prakash inthe 200m freestyle, 100mand 200m butterfl�y, makeup the largest Indian swimming contingent since 2008,when four swimmersqualifi�ed.

Maana swam a time of1:05.20 in the 100m backstroke. “I am pretty happybecause it was my best time.Going into the heat I wasreally fi�dgety and shivering.All the emotions piled upand I was overwhelmed,”the 21year old said.

Srihari placed fi�fth in hisheat in a time of 54.31s. “Itwas fi�ne and not so great atthe same time. I felt readyfor the race but I didn’t feellike it clicked. Maybe I let thepressure get to me. I am disappointed but I can live withit,” he said after his race.

Hafnaoui strikes goldAustralian women set world record in 4x100m freestyle

TOKYO OLYMPICS

ReutersTokyo

Roar of triumph: Ahmed Hafnaoui of Tunisia celebrateswinning the men's 400m freestyle gold. * GETTY IMAGES

Having passed Mission Tokyo with fl�ying colours, Mirabai Chanu entered a newmission on Saturday evening: Mission Pizza. Thiswould be the tastiest pizza ofher life — one that is garnished with the glee ofachieving her life’s dream ofwinning an Olympic medal.

The 26yearold weightlifter, who carved her name inhistory with a silver in the49kg category, wanted to celebrate it with a big cheesypizza.

She had, in fact, beenbuilding her appetite bykeeping an eye on the pizzacounter at the Games Villagehere.

“Among all the varieties ofjunk food, I like pizza themost. And I’ve noticed sincewe got here that they havebeen serving pizzas at theGames Village. I’ve beeneyeing the pizzas all alongand I can fi�nally eat onenow!” she said.

Her yearning for a pizzabecame the talk of the townand Domino’s India joinedthe party by throwing asmall pizza party with her family back in Imphal. Mira

bai, who has not been homein nearly two years, is expected to land in New Delhion Monday and travel homea few days later.

The 49kg section is a particularly tough one as the lifters have to eat clean andstay within a certain weightlimit throughout the year.The Manipuri weighed 51 ki

los and had to cut down to49kg by reducing her carbohydrate and fat intake twodays before her event.

The pizza she ate —topped with cherry tomatoes, basil and cheese —would surely make up for allthose weight cuts she's hashad to endure during her remarkable journey.

Mirabai realises another dream:Mission Pizza!Shyam VasudevanTokyo

Mirabai Chanu... devouring her favourite. * SPECIAL ARRANGEMENT

9 killed as boulders hit vehicle following Himachal landslip

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