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I t was a day of high drama in Rajasthan politics, starting with leaking of sensational tapes revealing alleged linkage of two BJP MLAs and a Union Minister in “horse-trading” bid, arrest of two middlemen, filing of FIRs , and ending with a standoff between Rajasthan and Haryana Police in Gurugram where 18 MLAs of the Sachin Pilot groups are camping in two luxurious hotels under police protection. On a day when the Gehlot- Pilot feud reached Rajasthan High Court, Gehlot accused the BJP of attempting to de- estabilise the State Government by poaching on MLAs. The Congress suspended its two MLAs — Bhanwar Lal and Vishwendra Singh — and got an FIR lodged against them. The Rajasthan Police also booked Union Minister Gajendra Shekhawat and BJP leader Sanjay Jain, accusing them of being involved in a conspiracy to topple the 18- month-old Congress Government. The FIRs were registered on the basis of the complaint filed by Mahesh Joshi, the Congress chief whip of the Rajasthan Assembly, after the audio tapes surfaced on Thursday evening and went viral on social media amid the political turmoil in State. They will now have to face the Rajasthan SOG probe which reached the venue they are lodged for last one week. The police swung in action after Congress spokesman Randeep Surjewala demanded an FIR be registered against Shekhawat and Sanjay Jain, accusing them of being involved in a conspiracy to topple the Ashok Gehlot-led Congress Government . “It should also be probed as to who arranged the ‘black money’ to bribe MLAs & who were given the bribe,” Surjewala, who is also one of the Central Congress team member to resolve the Gehlot- Pilot tug of war, stated. Reacting to Congress’ alle- gations of trying to bring down the Rajasthan Government, Rajasthan unit BJP said the Rajasthan CM residence is becoming a centre of fake audio, attempting character assassination of leaders. “What happened today was shameful for the politics of Rajasthan that the Chief Minister’s residence is becom- ing a centre of fake audio and attempting character assassi- nation of leaders. Attempts have been made to drag central ministers in the matter,” Poonia said. Urging the SOG to initiate a detailed probe, Surjewala said a warrant should be issued against Shekhawat and he should be arrested if it is sus- pected that he could influence the investigation. According to reports, audio clips in which Bhanwar Lal, who belongs to the Pilot camp, purportedly conspires to topple Gehlot-led Rajasthan Government under the influ- ence of Pilot. The suspended MLA, however, refuted the allegations and termed the viral audio as “fake”. “The Officer on Special Duty to Chief Minister, Lokesh Sharma is trying to pressurise MLAs by getting fake audios made as Chief Minister Gehlot is in despair,” Sharma stated in his defence. Pilot who has not relented from his stand even after senior party leaders Rahul Gandhi, Priyanka Gandhi, Ahmed Patel asked him to come back “home”, on Friday spoke to senior leader P Chidambaram. C alling for a “reformed United Nations” and an improved UN for “human- centric globalisation”, Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Friday said India was in the world body at “an important time” and seeks to get inte- grated with global economy with its own vision for “self- reliance” and resilience. Addressing the United Nations, Modi said Covid-19 tested resolve of all nations and India made the fight against the coronavirus pandemic as peo- ple’s movement where Government went hand-in- hand with the civil society. The Prime Minister was virtually delivering his address before the UN at the High- Level Segment of the UN Economic and Social Council (ECOSOC), his first since India was overwhelmingly elected as a non-permanent member of the powerful UN Security Council, last month. Modi said as always during the natural or other calamities, India helped 150 nations with “speed” and created SAARC help fund to battle out Covid- 19 in the South Asia region and around. As in India, he said Government reached home of poor and invested three billion dollar to “bring economy back” on the track. “Be it earthquakes, cyclones, Ebola crisis or any other natural or man-made crisis, India has responded with speed and solidarity. In our joint fight against Covid, we have extended medical and other assistance to over 150 countries.” He said India was the first to respond to the Covid-19 crisis and its grass- roots health system helped it the “best recovery rate” adding “other developing countries can learn from India”. The PM said as the UN was born amidst Second World War, “the fury of pandemic should lead to a second birth of the UN. He said India has been elected to UN in “important time” and provide full support to the world body to bring equity in the world. Modi, however, reminded that India has a vision of “self- reliance” and “resilience” with which it seeks to be integrated in global economy. Addressing the UNSC on its 75th anniversary, Prime Minister said India believed in multilateralism but it is through a “reformed multilateralism” that UN would be able to meet the aspirations of the world and that an “improved” UN should be the epicentre of “human centric globalisation”. He said India is very much mindful of its responsibility toward making a better world and referred to India’s 38 mil- lion tonne reduction of carbon emission, electricity in villages and deliverance of clean fuel to 18 million people. He said India also aims to have 450 GB renewal energy by 2030. “With our deep commit- ment to maintaining global harmony, to improving socio- economic equity, and to pre- serving nature’s balance, India will play its role in full support of the UN agenda”, said the Prime Minister. D efence Minister Rajnath Singh on Friday favoured dialogue to defuse tension at the Line of Actual Control (LAC) in Ladakh, but remained skeptical as to what extent the ongoing talks will help resolve the differences. He made this point during his visit to Leh hinting at the “ complex” and “ intricate” process of disengagement by the Armies of India and China. Sounding this note of cau- tion, Rajnath, without naming China, reaffirmed that India is not a weak country and no country in the world can touch even an inch of its land. The tough statement came against the backdrop of more than eight-week stand-off between the two Armies after the Chinese intruded into India at four points. Touring Ladakh for the first time since the face-offs took place, Rajnath said the ongoing negotiations with China at the military and diplo- matic levels should help resolve the border dispute. He, however, said he could not guarantee to what extent the issues will be resolved. Addressing the troops at Lukung near Pangong Tso (lake), one of the four stand-off sites, the Defence Minister said talks were underway to end the face-offs at the earliest “ but to what extent it will be resolved I cannot guarantee.” His sceptic remarks came a day after the Army and the External Affairs Ministry said on Thursday the disengage- ment process is “ intricate” and “ complex” and needs “ con- stant verification” . These observations after the fourth round of Corps Commander level talks between the two countries came in the backdrop of con- tinuing differences between the two Armies on Depsang and Pangong Tso. Though the Chinese have withdrawn from nearly all the friction points, the pace of pull back in Depsang and Pangong is not commensurate with the agreement between the two commanders. Srinagar: Almost half of the inmates at a jail in south Kashmir have tested positive for COVID- 19, but their condition is stable, officials said on Friday, and stressed that spraying, fumigation and other steps to curb the spread of the virus were carried out at a number of prisons. Superintendent of Anantnag District Jail Syroz Ahmad Bhat said, “ Of the 190 inmates at the prison, 86 inmates have tested positive for the coronavirus infection.” “ Measures have been taken to contain the spread of the infection among other prisoners. We have isolated these 86 prisoners. Forty-eight of them have been shifted to a nearby facility at high ground, while the rest have been placed in two separate blocks within the jail complex,” he told PTI. Washington: After the US, which has carried out a record 42 million Covid-19 tests, India has done the second largest number of 12 million coronavirus tests, the White House has said. More than 3.5 million people have tested pos- itive with the coronavirus and 138,000 died in the US. Globally, more than 13.6 million have tested positive and over 586,000 have died. “ With regard to (the coronavirus) testing, we’ve done more than 42 million tests. The sec- ond-highest number is 12 million from India. We’re leading the world in testing,” White House Press Secretary Kayleigh McEnany told reporters at a news conference here on Thursday. R ebel Congress leader Sachin Pilot and 18 other Congress dissident MLAs on Friday got a four-day reprieve from any action by the Assembly Speaker on the dis- qualification notices served on them after the Rajasthan High Court extended its hearing on the issue to next week. The division Bench, hear- ing the dissident MLA peti- tion against the Speaker’s notices, fixed the next hearing for 10 am on Monday. The counsel for the Speaker assured the court that no order shall be passed on the notice till 5.30 pm on Tuesday. Senior counsel Abhishek Manu Singhvi, who is also a Congress leader, represented the Speaker’s office, while Harish Salve and Mukul Rohatgi, are pleading on behalf of the Pilot camp. The Pilot camp has argued that a party whip applies only when the Assembly is in session. In its complaint to the Speaker, the Congress had sought action against Pilot and the other dis- sidents under paragraph 2 (1) (a) of the Tenth Schedule of the Constitution. The provision disqualifies MLAs if they “ voluntarily” give up the membership of the party which they represent in the House. The Congress claimed that this is the infer- ence that can be drawn from the MLAs’ conduct. But the dissident camp said Pilot never indicated any inten- tion to leave the party. Salve said the petitioner has only raised his voice against the “ dictatorship” of the Chief Minister and has nothing to break the party. U nion Minister Gajendra Singh Shekhawat on Friday rubbished allegations that he was part of an alleged conspiracy to topple the Ashok Gehlot Government in Rajasthan. The Rajasthan Police on Friday filed an FIR against Sekhwat and two Congress MLAs on the basis of an audio tape in which they are allegedly heard striking a deal to topple the State Government. Shekhawat said the voice in the purported audio clips did not belong to him and that he was ready for a probe. It is not my voice. I don’t know which Sanjay Jain they are talking about. I know many people by that name. If I had talked to someone, my number should be there. You can conduct a probe. I am ready for an investigation,” Shekhawat said. BJP national spokesperson Sambit Patra too rejected claims made by the Congress W ith no let up in novel coronavirus cases in Punjab, the state on Friday reported a total of 348 fresh cases besides nine deaths sur- faced, pushing the state COVID-19 tally to 9,442, and death toll to 239. Among those who tested positive are 31 BSF (Border Security Force) per- sonnel of the Sub Training Centre Kharkan Camp in Hoshiarpur, besides 13 cops, one Army official, tqo doctors, five jail inmates, one health official, and siz healthcare workers, among others. Registering another spike, the state’s tally is now little short of 9500-mark, that comes a day after it crossed 9000. In fact, the state has recorded 41.02 per- cent of the total positive cases (3874) and 39.74 percent of the total deaths (95) in the month of July alone — reporting, on an average, 228 fresh cases and six deaths every day. Nine more deaths were reported on Friday — one each from Ferozepur, Nawanshahr, Gurdaspur, Tarn Taran and Amritsar, and two each from Ludhiana and Patiala. Among the 21 of the 22 districts that reported fresh cases, Jalandhar reported the maximum at 78 followed by Ludhiana (62), Patiala (56), Hoshiarpur and Amritsar (34 each), Moga (15), SAS Nagar (14), Sangrur (11), seven each in Faridkot and Ropar, six each in Muktsar and Gurdaspur, Fazilka (4), three each in Pathankot and Kapurthala, two each in Bathinda and Mansa, one each in Ferozepur, Fatehgarh Sahib, Tarn Taran and SBS Nagar (Nawanshahr). Of the total fresh cases, 121 have the contact history and 11 have the travel history, while 138 are the “new” cases with no travel or contact history. The state health authorities are yet to compile the details of cases from Jalandhar from where the maximum cases have been reported. Among the new cases are 30 with Influenza-like Illness (ILI); 13 police personnel including four from Ludhiana, two from Faridkot, three from Moga, and two Fazilka; 10 from the out-patient depart- ment (OPD); six healthcare workers, one doctor each from Amritsar and Patiala, one health official from Mansa, one Army official from Amritsar, two mill workers, five jail inmates from Moga, and four with Severe Acute Respiratory Illness (SARI). Meanwhile, 96 more patients were cured and dis- charged include 47 from Sangrur, four from Pathankot, 10 from Moga, one from Muktsar, six from Ferozepur, seven from Kapurthala, two from Barnala, six from Bathinda and 10 from Moga. With this, total 6,373 patients have been cured and dis- charged from various hospitals in the state. Continued on Page 2 W ith 795 fresh Covid-19 cases, Haryana on Friday witnessed its biggest single-day spike in 24 hours. The state’s tally stood at 24979 which included 5752 active cases. The Covid-19 has claimed five more lives in the state. Two deaths each in Gurugram, Nuh and one in Palwal was report- ed in the last 24 hours taking the total toll to 327 in Haryana. Earlier, the state had on July 14 witnessed its biggest single-day spike with 699 COVID-19 cases. In the past one week, the number of pos- itive cases continued to surge in the state with 696 cases reported on July 16, 678 on July 15, 699 on July 14, 689 on July 13 and 648 cases on July 12. “Out of 795 fresh cases, 160 were reported from Faridabad, 156 from Rewari, 133 from Gurugram, 69 from Sonepat, 57 from Mahendragarh, 43 from Nuh, 39 from Hisar, 26 from Panchkula, 25 from Jhajjar, 24 from Karnal among other cases. Continued on Page 2 Detailed report on P3
12

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Mar 26, 2023

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It was a day of high drama inRajasthan politics, starting

with leaking of sensationaltapes revealing alleged linkageof two BJP MLAs and a UnionMinister in “horse-trading”

bid, arrest of two middlemen,filing of FIRs , and ending witha standoff between Rajasthanand Haryana Police inGurugram where 18 MLAs ofthe Sachin Pilot groups arecamping in two luxurioushotels under police protection.

On a day when the Gehlot-

Pilot feud reached RajasthanHigh Court, Gehlot accusedthe BJP of attempting to de-estabilise the State Governmentby poaching on MLAs.

The Congress suspendedits two MLAs — Bhanwar Laland Vishwendra Singh — andgot an FIR lodged against

them. The Rajasthan Policealso booked Union MinisterGajendra Shekhawat and BJPleader Sanjay Jain, accusingthem of being involved in aconspiracy to topple the 18-month-old CongressGovernment.

The FIRs were registeredon the basis of the complaintfiled by Mahesh Joshi, theCongress chief whip of theRajasthan Assembly, after theaudio tapes surfaced onThursday evening and wentviral on social media amid thepolitical turmoil in State.

They will now have to facethe Rajasthan SOG probewhich reached the venue theyare lodged for last one week.

The police swung inaction after Congressspokesman RandeepSurjewala demanded an FIRbe registered againstShekhawat and Sanjay Jain,accusing them of beinginvolved in a conspiracy totopple the Ashok Gehlot-ledCongress Government .

“It should also be probedas to who arranged the ‘blackmoney’ to bribe MLAs & whowere given the bribe,”Surjewala, who is also one ofthe Central Congress teammember to resolve the Gehlot-Pilot tug of war, stated.

Reacting to Congress’ alle-gations of trying to bring downthe Rajasthan Government,Rajasthan unit BJP said theRajasthan CM residence is

becoming a centre of fakeaudio, attempting characterassassination of leaders.

“What happened today wasshameful for the politics ofRajasthan that the ChiefMinister’s residence is becom-ing a centre of fake audio andattempting character assassi-nation of leaders. Attemptshave been made to drag centralministers in the matter,” Pooniasaid.

Urging the SOG to initiatea detailed probe, Surjewalasaid a warrant should be issuedagainst Shekhawat and heshould be arrested if it is sus-pected that he could influencethe investigation.

According to reports,audio clips in which BhanwarLal, who belongs to the Pilotcamp, purportedly conspires totopple Gehlot-led RajasthanGovernment under the influ-ence of Pilot. The suspendedMLA, however, refuted theallegations and termed theviral audio as “fake”.

“The Officer on SpecialDuty to Chief Minister, LokeshSharma is trying to pressuriseMLAs by getting fake audiosmade as Chief Minister Gehlotis in despair,” Sharma stated inhis defence.

Pilot who has not relentedfrom his stand even after seniorparty leaders Rahul Gandhi,Priyanka Gandhi, Ahmed Patelasked him to come back“home”, on Friday spoke tosenior leader P Chidambaram.

(���� �B&��BC)7

Calling for a “reformedUnited Nations” and an

improved UN for “human-centric globalisation”, PrimeMinister Narendra Modi onFriday said India was in theworld body at “an importanttime” and seeks to get inte-grated with global economywith its own vision for “self-reliance” and resilience.

Addressing the UnitedNations, Modi said Covid-19tested resolve of all nations andIndia made the fight against thecoronavirus pandemic as peo-ple’s movement whereGovernment went hand-in-hand with the civil society.

The Prime Minister wasvirtually delivering his addressbefore the UN at the High-Level Segment of the UNEconomic and Social Council(ECOSOC), his first since Indiawas overwhelmingly electedas a non-permanent memberof the powerful UN SecurityCouncil, last month.

Modi said as always duringthe natural or other calamities,India helped 150 nations with“speed” and created SAARChelp fund to battle out Covid-19 in the South Asia region andaround. As in India, he saidGovernment reached home ofpoor and invested three billiondollar to “bring economy back”on the track.

“Be it earthquakes,cyclones, Ebola crisis or anyother natural or man-madecrisis, India has respondedwith speed and solidarity. In

our joint fight against Covid,we have extended medical andother assistance to over 150countries.” He said India wasthe first to respond to theCovid-19 crisis and its grass-roots health system helped itthe “best recovery rate” adding“other developing countriescan learn from India”.

The PM said as the UNwas born amidst Second WorldWar, “the fury of pandemicshould lead to a second birth ofthe UN. He said India has beenelected to UN in “importanttime” and provide full supportto the world body to bringequity in the world.

Modi, however, remindedthat India has a vision of “self-reliance” and “resilience” withwhich it seeks to be integratedin global economy.

Addressing the UNSC onits 75th anniversary, Prime

Minister said India believed inmultilateralism but it is througha “reformed multilateralism”that UN would be able to meetthe aspirations of the world andthat an “improved” UN shouldbe the epicentre of “humancentric globalisation”.

He said India is very muchmindful of its responsibilitytoward making a better worldand referred to India’s 38 mil-lion tonne reduction of carbonemission, electricity in villagesand deliverance of clean fuel to18 million people. He saidIndia also aims to have 450 GBrenewal energy by 2030.

“With our deep commit-ment to maintaining globalharmony, to improving socio-economic equity, and to pre-serving nature’s balance, Indiawill play its role in full supportof the UN agenda”, said thePrime Minister.

(���� �B&��BC)7ECB)

Defence Minister RajnathSingh on Friday favoured

dialogue to defuse tension atthe Line of Actual Control(LAC) in Ladakh, but remainedskeptical as to what extent theongoing talks will help resolvethe differences.

He made this point duringhis visit to Leh hinting at the“ complex” and “ intricate”process of disengagement bythe Armies of India andChina.

Sounding this note of cau-tion, Rajnath, without namingChina, reaffirmed that India isnot a weak country and nocountry in the world can toucheven an inch of its land.

The tough statement cameagainst the backdrop of morethan eight-week stand-offbetween the two Armies afterthe Chinese intruded into Indiaat four points.

Touring Ladakh for the

first time since the face-offstook place, Rajnath said theongoing negotiations withChina at the military and diplo-matic levels should help resolvethe border dispute.

He, however, said he couldnot guarantee to what extentthe issues will be resolved.

Addressing the troops atLukung near Pangong Tso(lake), one of the four stand-offsites, the Defence Minister said

talks were underway to end theface-offs at the earliest “ but towhat extent it will be resolvedI cannot guarantee.”

His sceptic remarks camea day after the Army and theExternal Affairs Ministry saidon Thursday the disengage-ment process is “ intricate” and“ complex” and needs “ con-stant verification” .

These observations afterthe fourth round of Corps

Commander level talksbetween the two countriescame in the backdrop of con-tinuing differences betweenthe two Armies on Depsangand Pangong Tso.

Though the Chinese havewithdrawn from nearly all thefriction points, the pace ofpull back in Depsang andPangong is not commensuratewith the agreement betweenthe two commanders.

Srinagar: Almost half of the inmates at a jail insouth Kashmir have tested positive for COVID-19, but their condition is stable, officials said onFriday, and stressed that spraying, fumigationand other steps to curb the spread of the viruswere carried out at a number of prisons.

Superintendent of Anantnag District JailSyroz Ahmad Bhat said, “ Of the 190 inmatesat the prison, 86 inmates have tested positive forthe coronavirus infection.”

“ Measures have been taken to contain thespread of the infection among other prisoners.We have isolated these 86 prisoners. Forty-eightof them have been shifted to a nearby facility athigh ground, while the rest have been placed intwo separate blocks within the jail complex,” hetold PTI.

Washington: After the US, which has carriedout a record 42 million Covid-19 tests, India hasdone the second largest number of 12 millioncoronavirus tests, the White House has said.More than 3.5 million people have tested pos-itive with the coronavirus and 138,000 died inthe US. Globally, more than 13.6 million havetested positive and over 586,000 have died.

“ With regard to (the coronavirus) testing,we’ve done more than 42 million tests. The sec-ond-highest number is 12 million from India.We’re leading the world in testing,” White HousePress Secretary Kayleigh McEnany told reportersat a news conference here on Thursday.

(���� �B&��BC)7D,%7#"(

Rebel Congress leaderSachin Pilot and 18 other

Congress dissident MLAs onFriday got a four-day reprievefrom any action by theAssembly Speaker on the dis-qualification notices served onthem after the Rajasthan HighCourt extended its hearing onthe issue to next week.

The division Bench, hear-ing the dissident MLA peti-tion against the Speaker’snotices, fixed the next hearingfor 10 am on Monday.

The counsel for theSpeaker assured the courtthat no order shall be passedon the notice till 5.30 pm onTuesday.

Senior counsel AbhishekManu Singhvi, who is also a

Congress leader, representedthe Speaker’s office, whileHarish Salve and MukulRohatgi, are pleading onbehalf of the Pilot camp.

The Pilot camp hasargued that a party whipapplies only when theAssembly is in session. In itscomplaint to the Speaker, theCongress had sought actionagainst Pilot and the other dis-sidents under paragraph 2(1) (a) of the Tenth Scheduleof the Constitution.

The provision disqualifiesMLAs if they “ voluntarily”give up the membership of theparty which they represent inthe House. The Congressclaimed that this is the infer-ence that can be drawn fromthe MLAs’ conduct. But thedissident camp said Pilotnever indicated any inten-tion to leave the party.

Salve said the petitionerhas only raised his voiceagainst the “ dictatorship” ofthe Chief Minister and hasnothing to break the party.

(���� �B&��BC)7

Union Minister GajendraSingh Shekhawat on

Friday rubbished allegationsthat he was part of an allegedconspiracy to topple the AshokGehlot Government inRajasthan. The RajasthanPolice on Friday filed an FIRagainst Sekhwat and twoCongress MLAs on the basis ofan audio tape in which they areallegedly heard striking a dealto topple the StateGovernment.

Shekhawat said the voice inthe purported audio clips didnot belong to him and that hewas ready for a probe.

“ It is not my voice. I don’tknow which Sanjay Jain theyare talking about. I know manypeople by that name. If I hadtalked to someone, my numbershould be there.

You can conduct a probe.I am ready for an investigation,”Shekhawat said.

BJP national spokespersonSambit Patra too rejectedclaims made by the Congress

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With no let up in novelcoronavirus cases in

Punjab, the state on Fridayreported a total of 348 freshcases besides nine deaths sur-faced, pushing the stateCOVID-19 tally to 9,442, anddeath toll to 239. Among thosewho tested positive are 31 BSF(Border Security Force) per-sonnel of the Sub TrainingCentre Kharkan Camp inHoshiarpur, besides 13 cops,one Army official, tqo doctors,five jail inmates, one healthofficial, and siz healthcareworkers, among others.

Registering another spike,the state’s tally is now little shortof 9500-mark, that comes a dayafter it crossed 9000. In fact, thestate has recorded 41.02 per-cent of the total positive cases(3874) and 39.74 percent of thetotal deaths (95) in the monthof July alone — reporting, on

an average, 228 fresh casesand six deaths every day.

Nine more deaths werereported on Friday — oneeach from Ferozepur,Nawanshahr, Gurdaspur, TarnTaran and Amritsar, and twoeach from Ludhiana andPatiala.

Among the 21 of the 22districts that reported freshcases, Jalandhar reported themaximum at 78 followed byLudhiana (62), Patiala (56),Hoshiarpur and Amritsar (34each), Moga (15), SAS Nagar(14), Sangrur (11), seven eachin Faridkot and Ropar, sixeach in Muktsar andGurdaspur, Fazilka (4), threeeach in Pathankot andKapurthala, two each inBathinda and Mansa, one eachin Ferozepur, Fatehgarh Sahib,Tarn Taran and SBS Nagar(Nawanshahr).

Of the total fresh cases, 121have the contact history and 11

have the travel history, while138 are the “new” cases with notravel or contact history. Thestate health authorities are yetto compile the details of casesfrom Jalandhar from wherethe maximum cases have beenreported.

Among the new cases are30 with Influenza-like Illness(ILI); 13 police personnelincluding four from Ludhiana,two from Faridkot, three fromMoga, and two Fazilka; 10from the out-patient depart-ment (OPD); six healthcareworkers, one doctor each fromAmritsar and Patiala, onehealth official from Mansa,

one Army official fromAmritsar, two mill workers, fivejail inmates from Moga, andfour with Severe AcuteRespiratory Illness (SARI).

Meanwhile, 96 morepatients were cured and dis-charged include 47 fromSangrur, four from Pathankot,10 from Moga, one fromMuktsar, six from Ferozepur,seven from Kapurthala, twofrom Barnala, six fromBathinda and 10 from Moga.With this, total 6,373 patientshave been cured and dis-charged from various hospitalsin the state.

Continued on Page 2

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With 795 fresh Covid-19cases, Haryana on Friday

witnessed its biggest single-dayspike in 24 hours. The state’stally stood at 24979 whichincluded 5752 active cases.

The Covid-19 has claimedfive more lives in the state. Twodeaths each in Gurugram, Nuhand one in Palwal was report-ed in the last 24 hours takingthe total toll to 327 in Haryana.

Earlier, the state had onJuly 14 witnessed its biggestsingle-day spike with 699COVID-19 cases. In the pastone week, the number of pos-itive cases continued to surgein the state with 696 casesreported on July 16, 678 on July15, 699 on July 14, 689 on July13 and 648 cases on July 12.

“Out of 795 fresh cases, 160were reported from Faridabad,156 from Rewari, 133 fromGurugram, 69 from Sonepat,57 from Mahendragarh, 43from Nuh, 39 from Hisar, 26from Panchkula, 25 fromJhajjar, 24 from Karnal amongother cases.

Continued on Page 2Detailed report on P3

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Buoyed with the success ofonline grievance redressal

portal- CM Window, HaryanaChief Minister Manohar Lal onFriday directed to set up addi-tional Windows of this facilityat places having large numberof footfall in the state so thatpeople could register theirgrievances nearer to theirhomes.

The CM Window which ispresently functional at 110places in the state includingevery sub division for the dis-posal of grievances pertainingto different departments has aresolution period of just 30days.

Manohar Lal presided overa meeting to review the func-tioning of online grievanceportals – CM Window,Centralized Public GrievanceRedressal and MonitoringSystem (CPGRAMS) andSocial Media GrievancesTracker (SMGT) here.

The Chief Minister had

launched theCM Window inDecember 2014 as a centralizedsystem to address citizen griev-ances at a minimum possibletime.

In order to further improvethe functioning of the CMWindow, he directed therestructuring of the eminentcitizen process on ground tomake it more effective.

He said that eminent citi-zens should be selected con-stituency wise from those70,000 volunteers who havebeen registered on the portallaunched by the StateGovernment for taking theirservices during the COVID-19crisis.He also directed that theeminent citizens, who assessthe situation and give theirfeedback, should also be givenunique IDs for their identifi-cation. Apart from this, anadditional column of com-plaint against CM Windowshould also be created to pre-vent the misuse of this portal,he directed. It was informedthat in order to take feedback

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From page 1

The state now has 2,830active cases of which 61patientsare on oxygen support, and sevenare critical and on ventilator sup-port.

Of the 9,442 cases, the max-imum number of cases have beenreported from Ludhiana (1,695)followed by Jalandhar (1,545),Amritsar (1,194), Patiala (832),Sangrur (698), SAS Nagar (492),Gurdaspur (303), Pathankot

(267), SBS Nagar (255),Hoshiarpur (246), Tarn Taran(222), Ferozepur (200), FatehgarhSahib (192), Faridkot (190), Moga(184), Bathinda (173), Muktsar(168), Ropar (151), Kapurthala(148), Fazilka (142), Barnala (79)and Mansa (66).

Of the total deaths, Ludhianahas reported 41, Jalandhar (33),Amritsar (60), Sangrur (21s),Patiala (15), SAS Nager (9),Gurdaspur (10), Pathankot (9),Tarn Taran (6), Hoshiarpur (7),SBS Nagar (2), Ferozepur (4),Faridkot (0), Muktsar (1),Fatehgarh Sahib (2), Moga (4),Bathinda (4), Kapurthala (7),Ropar (1), Fazilka (1), Barnala (2)and Mansa (0).

Meanwhile, Punjab CabinetMinister Brahm Mohindra, hisfamily, six IAS officers, officials ofthe state Information and PublicRelations Department, and theChief Minister’s media team havebeen tested negative for theCOVID-19.

They have given their sam-ples for testing at a special campat Punjab Bhawan.

IAS officers, who have testednegative include A Venu Prasad,Hussan Lal, Vikas Pratap, AnuragVerma, Jaspreet Talwar and KSiva Prasad. Among PR officialsteam are Opinder Singh Lamba,Ajit Kanwal Singh, NavdeepSingh Gill, Iqbal Singh, GagneetSingh and Kuljit Mianpuri.

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From page 1Among critical COVID-19

patients, 59 patients are on oxy-gen support while 17 were onventilator in the state,” statedHaryana Health Department’sevening bulletin.

Till date, 18,718 patientsincluding 533 in the last 24hours have recovered and havebeen discharged from hospitalsin the state. With 327 COVID-19 related fatalities so far, thefatality rate is recorded at 1.32percent in Haryana. The case-doubling rate in Haryana stoodat 22 days, COVID positive rateat 5.93 per cent, recovery rate

recorded at 75.48 percent,according to the health bulletin.The bulletin stated, “The totalnumber of cases in the worst-affected Gurugram districtstood at 7483 and 112 fatalitieshave been reported till Friday.Faridabad has recorded 6211cases and 104 deaths whileSonepat with 2298 cases hasrecorded 24 deaths. As manyas 4.24 lakh samples have beentested till date in Haryana.The report of 6268 samples isawaited, it added.

Meanwhile, HaryanaHome-cum-Health MinisterAnil Vij on Friday announcedthat clinical trials to fightCOVID-19 with Covaxin havestarted at Post GraduateInstitute of Medical Sciences,Rohtak. “Three subjects wereenrolled for this purpose today(Friday). All three have toler-ated the vaccine very well.There were no adverse effects,”Vij said. Covaxin is an indige-nous COVID-19 vaccine,which is being developed byBharat Biotech and the ICMR’sNational Institute of Virology,Pune. It is one of the twoIndian vaccine candidates thathave received the DrugController General of India’snod to proceed with the phase1 and phase 2 human clinicaltrials.

(More reports on Pg 3)

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Page 3: CR[ TcZdZd XVed ^fc\ZVc - Daily Pioneer

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With Haryana recordingits biggest single-day

spike on Friday, the ChiefMinister Manohar Lal directedthe officers concerned to starta special campaign to motivatepeople to wear face masks out-doors.

The Chief Minister alsoinstructed the PoliceDepartment to take strictaction against people withoutmasks by challaning them onthe spot and directed to givethem at least five masks.

“Traffic intersections, vehi-cles of the Department ofUrban Local Bodies and pub-licity vehicles of Department ofInformation, Public Relationsand Languages should also beused to spread awarenessregarding COVID-19,” theChief Minister said while pre-siding over a meeting of theCrisis Management Group ofvarious departments whichwas constituted during

COVID-19.Haryana reported 795 fresh

COVID-19 positive cases tak-ing the state’s total tally to24797.

After reviewing the situa-tion in four worst-affected dis-tricts of Gurugram, Faridabad,Sonipat and Rewari districts,the State Government decidednot to impose any fresh restric-tions in these districts.

During the meeting, it wasinformed that in some stateslike Karnataka, Assam,Meghalaya, Uttarakhand,Jammu & Kashmir andMaharashtra lockdown wasimposed for varying durationspanning from a day to a weekin different areas. Other thanGurugram, Faridabad, Sonipatand Rewari districts, the posi-tion of Coronavirus positivepatients is stable in remainingdistricts of Haryana.

Additional Chief SecretaryHealth Department, RajeevArora apprised the testing rateper day has been improved. In

Gurugram 2,400 tests are beingconducted while in Sonipatand Faridabad 880 each and inAmbala 472 tests are beingconducted.

In all, around 9,110 testshave been conducted everyday in Haryana which will beincreased to 12,000 tests a day.The facility of mobile testingwill also be provided, he said.

On this, the Chief Ministerinstructed the officers to pro-vide free ambulance facility fortravel to patients who have tocome for testing after beingquarantined or after testingpositive.

It was also informed in themeeting that recently the statehas recently received 100 ven-tilators from Bharat HeavyElectricals, Bangalore, whichhas enhanced the number ofventilators available to over1,000. The new ventilators willbe distributed in the state'smedical colleges and hospitals.

In addition, plasma banksare also being opened in

Panchkula, Rohtak, Gurugam.People are also being encour-aged to donate the plasma.Similarly, kits to boost immu-nity are also being distributedby the AYUSH Department.

The Chief Minister saidthat maximum immunityAyush Kits should be distrib-

uted. Additional amount fromthe Chief Minister’s CoronaRelief Fund can also be givenif required for this purpose, hesaid.It also came to light in themeeting that at present 60buses of Haryana Roadways areplying to Rajasthan and 40buses to Uttar Pradesh.

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Punjab Police State CyberCrime Cell has warned cit-

izens against downloading anyAPK files that mimic the ser-vices of TikTok or any otherpopular apps banned by theCentral Government as thesecan be sources of malwarespread.

The warning has beenissued amid reports of a mes-sage being circulated viainstant messaging services,SMS or WhatsApp, that thebanned Chinese app TikTokis now available as TikTokPro in India. A URL is pro-vided with the message forthe users to download theapp, a police spokespersonsaid.

Pointing out that TikTok,along with 58 other popularmobile apps, have beenbanned by the Government ofIndia for engaging in activitiesprejudicial to India’s sover-

eignty and integrity, defence,security and public order, thespokesperson said that theCyber Crime Cell has foundthat the malware called‘TikTok Pro’ is a fake App witha logo that is closely replicat-ed the real app.

However, the fact that thisfake app is not available fordownload either on GooglePlay Store or App Store clear-ly indicates it is a fraud.

Further, the URL —http://tiny.cciTiktokPro — pro-vided as download link, doesnot follow basic security pro-tocol as the site starts with httpbut not https.

Also, clicking on the fileimmediately installs an APKfile Tiktok_pro.apk (size 2.2MB) on the system and the filespecifies the source ashttps://githubusercontent.com/legitprime/10gb/master/Tiktok_pro.apk. When clicked on thelink a message ‘This site can'tbe reached’ is displayed.

“The department hasurged citizens to be extremelycautious in this regard and notclick on suspicious links. If theycome across any such messageregarding the fake app, throughany social media platform,they should not forward it toothers but should immediate-ly delete it,” said the spokesper-son.

“Clicking on such linkspose high risks because it couldbe malware which could redi-rect you to other fraudulentsites to lead to financial loss tothe user,” the State Cyber CrimeInvestigation Centre, Bureau ofInvestigation, Punjab, has fur-ther warned.

Any information in thisregard can be shared with theCentre on email ID [email protected] to enable theDepartment to take suitablelegal action against the crimi-nals indulging in such fraudu-lent acts.

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Haryana Government isplanning to link govern-

ment colleges in the state withthe e-libraries of Universities sothat students can get moreand more quality books for freeof cost.Taking steps in thisdirection, Higher EducationDepartment has started hold-ing talks with several agencies,said Haryana EducationMinister Kanwar Pal on Friday.

He said that the StateGovernment has a plan to linke-library of Universities includ-ing Kurukshetra University,Kurukshetra, MaharshiDayanand University, Rohtak,Chaudhary Devi Lal University,Sirsa, Bhagat Phool SinghWomen's University, Sonipat,Chaudhary Ranbir SinghUniversity, Jind, ChaudharyBansi Lal University Bhiwani,Indira Gandhi UniversityMeerpur, Rewari, National LawUniversity Sonipat, GurugramUniversity, Gurugram andMaharishi Valmiki Sanskrit

University, Kaithal with theirrespective colleges.

The Education Ministersaid that students studying inthe government universitiesand colleges of the state candownload the subject booksrequired by them from the e-library as a result of which theyare not required to purchasebooks from the market. Thiswill save thousands of rupeesfor each student.

He informed that the e-

library of colleges will be linkedwith the University's e-libraryso that students can study anybook of his favorite publisherfrom among the available pub-lishers. Besides this, StateGovt also aims to ensure avail-ability of journals of topUniversities from all over theworld in these e-libraries sothat the students of Haryanaremain updated about newresearch and technology in theworld, he added.

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To check the spread ofCOVID-19 in pregnant

women, Punjab Health andFamily Welfare Departmenthas set up separate labourrooms in all district hospitalsfor the deliveries of pregnantwomen tested positive for thecontagion.

“To ensure safety of preg-nant women, COVID-19 test ismade mandatory during thethird trimester of pregnancyunder which total 12,479 preg-nant women tested for thevirus since April, of which 118were found positive. As many56 deliveries were conductedsuccessfully in governmentfacilities, including 20 normaland 36 LSCS (lower segmentCaesarean section) in pastthree months,” said the stateHealth and Family WelfareMinister Balbir Singh Sidhu.

Sidhu said that Patiala dis-trict performed best by con-ducting 1715 tests of pregnantwomen, out of which 61 test-ed positive and 16 deliveries are

conducted safely so far.Besides setting up the sep-

arate labour rooms, the ChiefMinister Captain AmarinderSingh led Punjab Governmenthas also instructed CivilSurgeons to establish one ded-icated Operation Theater foraffected patients at district hos-pitals as per SOPs issued in thisregard, he said.

The Minister said that theentire teams of Health andFamily Welfare Departmenthave been working day andnight to ensure the adequatearrangements such as ClinicalManagement, screening, trac-ing and testing etc.

The State Government hasfixed the rates of private hos-pitals those providing the treat-

ment facilities to the coronapatients. “No stone would beleft unturned to save the livesof COVID-19 patients duringthis tough time.

As several strict preventivemeasures have been taken bythe government, Punjab is ableto curtail the number of coro-na virus cases comparativelyour neighboring states,” headded.

Sidhu said that if everyonewears a mask at public places,it is easily possible to controlthe community spread. “Apartfrom lockdown, Punjab is thefirst state where wearing maskhas been made mandatory soas to control the communityspread among the high densi-ty population,” he added.

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In order to deal with locustattack in the state, Haryana

Chief Minister Manohar Lal onFriday directed the officersconcerned to make adequatearrangements for chemicalsand pesticides to deal to savecrops from the locust swarms.

He also directed the offi-cers to purchase drones andother necessary equipment totackle this at the earliest.

The Chief Minister, whilepresiding over a review meet-ing regarding monitoring andcontrol of locust in Haryanasaid that the locust swarmsshould be constantly moni-tored till their presence in thestate is eliminated completely.Administration along with theAgriculture Departmentshould keep 24X7 vigil on theswarms and should furtherensure availability of adequatestock of all the resourcesrequired to deal with the insectattack, he said.

During the meeting,Additional Chief Secretary,Agriculture and Farmers’Welfare Department, SanjeevKaushal, apprised the ChiefMinister that since the invasionof locust swarm attack, specialsupervision teams have beenconstituted to tackle the situa-tion and to spread awarenessabout the same across the state.

He shared that in view ofwarning regarding potentialintense attacks in several dis-tricts after July 22, ‘standingteams’ of four departmentsnamely Panchayat, Police,Revenue and Agriculture havebeen made at district, sub-divisional, block and villagelevel. Besides this, a special taskforce has also been constitut-ed in every district along withsetting up an independentstand alone system to monitorall the arrangements to controllocust swarms and preventlosses due to crop damage, heinformed.

Kaushal said that special

training is being imparted tothese teams to remain vigilantabout locusts. Arrangementsare being made to stock 20,000litres of Lamda Cyhalothrin inaddition to existing stocks ofpesticide. Drones are also beingpurchased for aerial spray ofpesticide, he said.

Kaushal further said thatalong with activation of trac-tor mounted spraying facility,the Deputy Commissionershave been asked to coordinateand hold daily meetings withthe response teams, for quickmobilization, he added.Various WhatsApp groupshave been formed for timelysharing of the information, headded.

Notably, the LocustWarning Organisation haswarned of more high-intensi-ty attacks in the districts Nuh,Rewari, Mahendragarh,Bhiwani, Charkhi Dadri afterJuly 22, after large-scale locustbreeding was observed in dis-trict Jhunjhunu in Rajasthan.

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Haryana Home MinisterAnil Vij on Friday said

that the Special InvestigationTeam (SIT) constituted tocheck illegal immigrants hasreceived 309 complaints incases pertaining to peopledeported from abroad.

Of these 138 persons werearrested and an amount of Rs56 lakh has been recoveredfrom them by the police, Vijsaid.

SIT chief and InspectorGeneral of Police (IGP),Karnal, Bharti Arora said thatalmost all the illegal offices ofimmigration firms have beenclosed in the state.

The investigation of thecases related to immigrationfraud is being done by ourteam. During the investigation,some cases pertaining tomoney transactions have alsocome to light. The concerned

district police have been askedto conduct investigation insuch cases and a report regard-ing this will be submitted soon,she said.

Arora also said that 109cases were registered in the year2018-2019 and a total of 74cases have been registered inthe year 2020, in which moneytransactions were found. Suchcases are being investigatedthoroughly.

Appealing to the youthand parents, she said thatwhenever the parents sendtheir children abroad, theyshould send them only throughlegitimate agents.

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Amidst rising number ofCOVID-19 cases in

Punjab, the State Governmenthas decided to log on to tech-nology for not only impartingeducation but also for provid-ing jobs and justice to its peo-ple.

Already imparting educa-tion to government school stu-dents through online mode orvia Doordarshan, the stateEducation Department hasnow launched a new initiativeusing animation videos aslearning aids.In addition, theEmployment Generation, SkillDevelopment and TrainingDepartment has also decided togo online for providing coun-seling to the job aspirantsbesides providing onlineplacement opportunities to thestate’s youth.

If that is not enough, thePunjab State Commission ofWomen has also decided to ini-tiate hearing of cases on virtu-al platform from July 23.

The extended lockdownsand restricted movements dueto coronavirus outbreak have

increased the people’s depen-dency on the technology andthe virtual world. As of now,most of the services are beingprovided online.

As traditional teaching-learning activities remain sus-pended due to the COVID-19pandemic, the SchoolEducation Dept has launchedan initiative to educate studentsusing animation videos.

“The aim is to entertain thestudents as well as draw theirbetter attention to the study sothat they do not get bored whilestudying,” said the spokesper-son. Spokesperson said thatafter the success of impartingthe idea of online education,the Department has now start-ed its efforts to impart bettereducation to the studentsthrough animation videosbeing prepared by the teachers.

“The largest contribution isbeing given by the IT teachersin this campaign. They not onlyentertain the children but alsokeep them connected with thesubject...These videos are beinghighly praised by the studentsand their parents,” said thespokesperson.

Notably, the stateEducation Secretary KrishanKumar had suggested andinspired the teachers, throughonline meetings. “Acceptingthe same as a challenge, theteachers started working onanimation techniques and wereceived this positive resultdue to the encouragementreceived from the Departmentand the teachers’ thought ofdoing something unique toteach the students from home,”said the spokesperson.

GOVT GOES ONLINE FORCOUNSELLING, PROVID-ING JOBS

All set to expedite andmake alternate arrangementsfor providing jobs to the state’syouth under the ‘Ghar GahrRozgar’ flagship scheme despiteCOVID-19 pandemic, thestate’s Employment Generation,Skill Development andTraining Department hasdecided to go online for pro-viding counseling to the jobaspirants besides providingonline placement opportunitiesto the state’s youth.

“The Chief Minister Capt

Amarinder Singh has directedthe Department to take allnecessary steps to providecounselling and jobs to theyouth of the State in the privatesector across the globe,” said thespokesperson.

“To begin with, theDepartment is organizing awebinar on “EmergingDynamics in Employment ofYouth Post Covid-19 —Challenges and Opportunities”on July 24 to create awarenessamongst the youth regardingchanged scenario of employ-ment, emerging sectors andemployment opportunities, sothat they can prepare them-selves to meet the require-ments of the industry andother establishments and getemployed,” added thespokesperson.

About 25,000 students orprofessionals with backgroundslike Engineering, Management,Medicine, Pharmacy,Humanities, General gradu-ates like BCA, BBA, BCom etcare expected to attend thewebinar which would beaddressed by the eminent pan-elists from renowned compa-

nies like Microsoft, Ansys,Walmart, Pepsico, Dell,Amazon and Beauty andWellness Sector Skill Council(B&WSSC).

WOMEN PANEL TO STARTE-COURT SERVICE FROMJULY 23

Punjab State Commissionfor Women has decided to set-tle the pending cases throughe-Court. “At present, no courtis being set up at the WomenCommission for private hear-ings. In view of the com-plaints being lodged bywomen with the Commissionand the increasing number ofcomplaints, Commission hasdecided to start e-Court fromJuly 23,” said theCommission’s chairpersonManisha Gulati.

Gulati informed that e-Court would be set up throughZoom app and DCP, ACP, SPor DSP (Crime againstWomen) of the concerned dis-tricts would be present duringthe hearing of cases on virtualplatform so that the decisiontaken by the Commission canbe implemented.

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On Shivratri, HaryanaGovernment has decided

to give permission to offerGangajal in the temples,except for the containmentzones.

The permission will begiven as per the guidelinesissued by the Union HomeMinistry regarding worship-ping in temples.

Two to five persons may

be allowed to enter the tem-ples through the token systemat an interval of 30 minutes,said an official spokesman.

At present, the curfew isimposed from 10 pm to 5 amin the country. The time forprayers for Shivratri will befrom July 19 at 7.19 pm to July20 at 5.30 am. People shouldbe allowed to go to the tem-ples accordingly, thespokesman added.

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In yet another spike ofCOVID-19 positive cases,

Chandigarh on Friday report-ed 25 fresh cases taking thetotal tally to 660. The freshcases were reported fromSector 20, 29, 30, 35, 44, 45, 46,63, Bapu Dham colony inSector 26, Dhanas, Ramdarbarand Burail.

“Of 25 new cases, 14 arecontacts of already tested pos-itive patients. The total numberof positive cases stood at 660including 169 active cases,”stated Chandigarh HealthDepartment’s evening bulletin.

Giving details of freshcases, the bulletin stated, “8cases were reported from

Dhanas. Seven members of afamily including five femalesaged 21, 35, 45, 48, 57 andmales aged 59 and 62 were test-ed positive. They all are fami-ly members of a person testedpositive earlier. Another maleresident aged 65 from Dhanaswas tested positive. He haseight family members.”

In Sector 63, two femalesaged 20, 43 and a 14 years oldmale, all family contacts of pre-viously positive tested patientwere found infected.

Three cases were reportedfrom Sector 45 including a 28years old male, 29 years oldfemale and 53 years old male,all from separate households.

A 52 years old male fromSector 20, 32 years old malefrom Sector 30, 65 years oldmale from Sector 35, 45 yearsold male from Burail, 29 yearsold female from Sector 45, 23years old female and 60 yearsold male from Sector 29, 55years old male from Sector 46were also tested positive, thebulletin added.

According to the bulletin,“With four fresh recoveries, 480patients have so far recoveredfrom COVID-19 in the city.”10457 samples have been test-ed till now.

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Punjab School EducationMinister Vijay Inder Singla

on Friday said that the StateGovernment has taken initia-tive to construct as many as 364rooms in 304 governmentschools across the State and �10.92 crore has been approvedby the National Bank forAgriculture and RuralDevelopment (NABARD) forthe purpose.

“Punjab Government hasbeen working tirelessly toimprove the infrastructure andstandard of education of stategovernment schools,” he saidadding that the EducationDepartment will ensure thequality of material being usedfor the construction of these

rooms and every single pennywill be used in a transparentmanner.

Elaborating, Singla saidthat in view of the lack of spacein these schools, the proposalof construction of rooms underRural InfrastructureDevelopment Fund (RIDF)-XXV project of NABARD wassent to the Finance Departmentwhich was positively addressed.

“The schools will be given�3 lakh for construction of eachroom and specifications of therooms have already been sentto the District EducationOfficers,” he said.

The Minister said thatbesides improving the basicinfrastructure, the StateGovernment has also focusedupon conversion of ordinaryschools into smart schools.“The new e-learning tech-niques have also helped toimprove the quality of educa-tion due to which results havealso been improved,” he said.

Singla added that despiteCOVID-19 pandemic, theGovernment school teachersare also putting their best toreach out maximum studentsthrough e-learning techniques.

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The motorists in Chandigarhwill now be able to pay on-

the-spot fines using cashlessmeans and from homes usingonline payment gateway withPunjab Governor and UTAdministrator VP SinghBadnore inaugurating the state-of-the-art e-challan system here.

“Chandigarh is one of thefirst few states and UTs in thecountry that have introducedthis modern traffic enforce-ment system. With e-challan,motorists can pay fine at-the-spot using cashless means andfrom their homes using anonline payment gateway.Chandigarh Traffic Police hasmade certain unique additionsthat have added immense value

to this system. These add-onshave made the system morerobust by keeping a tab onhabitual offenders, initiatingonline process for suspension oflicense of erring drivers and dig-itally linking the courts,” said anofficial spokesman.

On the occasion,Chandigarh Traffic Police hassent bulk SMS to over 60,000motorists informing them aboutonline payment gateway forpayment against their pendingpostal challans.

“The e-challan project hasbeen implemented inChandigarh with zero cost tothe Department in associationwith NIC, SPIC and Axis Bank.Axis Bank has provided 200handheld e-Challan devices,the spokesman said.

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Amid a demand by theOpposition, and also a rul-

ing alliance partner, to defer theimpending Bihar Assemblypolls, the Election Commissionon Friday held a virtual meet-ing with the non-NationalDemocratic Alliance (NDA)parties, including the Congress,Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD),CPI (M), Hindustan AwamMorcha (HAM), CPI, CPI (M)and CPI(ML) to discuss theconduct of Assembly polls inthe State.

Sources in EC said that themeeting was convened withpolitical parties of Bihar to dis-cuss the conduct of comingAssembly polls. “It’s a routineprocess to discuss with allstakeholders including police,political parties, para militaryforces before taking the finaldecision on the conduct ofpolls,” sources added.

“Even though the poll bodyhas already geared up its prepa-ration for the Bihar Assemblypolls, they may find it difficultto hold elections in these test-ing times, till the infectionscurve is flattened in the State.A large number of officials arerequired to hold elections,which may also be a chal-lenge,” said an officer of EC onthe condition of anonymity.

The Bihar Assembly willcomplete its current term onNovember 29. After the expiryof the term, the State will gounder President’s Rule if elec-tions are not held on time.

The Opposition partieshave demanded that theAssembly polls be postponed

for safety and security in viewof the COVID-19 pandemic.They questioned why the rul-ing party wants to conduct thepolls when people are dyingand elections will become thesuper spreader event in theState.

While the BJP has said theOpposition wants the electionto be postponed as it’s scared oflosing. NDA ally in Bihar, LokJanshakti Party (LJP), alsojoined the Opposition chorusand wants to postpone theelections.

Experts feel elections willbecome a super-spreader ofcoronavirus infections in theState and October-Novemberwill be the peak of Covid-19.The Nitish Kumar Governmenthas imposed complete lock-down in the State till July 31after a massive surge in coro-navirus infections. Taking noteof it, the Centre has decided tosend a special team to assess the

situation.Before the virtual meeting

with the poll body, the oppo-sition parties in the State wroteto Chief ElectionCommissioner Sunil Aroraurging him to reassess conducting the upcomingBihar Assembly polls.Contending that the COVID-19 situation in Bihar is “rapid-ly worsening”, the parties calledfor an informed decisionregarding holding the elec-tions.

They requested the CEC toevolve a mechanism that pro-tects the health of democracyas well as that of people.According to them, there wasa possibility of Bihar havingmore than a million novelcoronavirus cases by October-November, when the election isscheduled to take place.

Pointing out that theCOVID-19 pandemic hasaffected Bihar badly, the political parties highlightedthe existence of 89 containmentzones in Patna and lockdownbeing re-imposed in 16 districtsof the State.

Currently, there are 21,764confirmed novel coronaviruscases in Bihar out of which14,018 patients have been dis-charged while 197 fatalitieshave been reported. Moreover,they claimed that there aremany more infected peoplewho haven’t been tested.

The Opposition parties,wondered how the poll panelwill ensure physical distancingof at least two yards in a statewith a population of around 13crore and electorate of 7.5crore.

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Former Congress chief RahulGandhi on Friday renewed

his attack on the ModiGovernment saying the PrimeMinister’s constant blundershave fundamentally weakenedIndia.

Rahul also dissected intothe reasons that, he claimed,prompted China to take suchan aggressive stance againstIndia over the past few months.The Gandhi scion who did alecture series with few topworld experts on economicand health fields, started avideo campaign to highlightthe failures of the NDAGovernment.

From India’s foreign poli-cies to the economy and rela-tions with its neighbours, Rahultouched upon several aspectsthat, he said, the ModiGovernment has destroyedover the past six years, result-ing in the Chinese action now.

“Since 2014, the PM’s con-stant blunders and indiscre-tions have fundamentallyweakened India and left us vul-nerable. Empty words don’tsuffice in the world of geopol-itics,” Rahul stated.

In the video, Rahul asks,“What is it about India’s situa-tion that has made China act insuch an aggressive way? Whatis it about this moment in timethat allowed China to takesuch an aggressive standagainst a country like India?”

Rahul has been tweetingregularly criticising the gov-ernment over the deadly face-off with China in the GalwanValley area, in which 20 Indiansoldiers were killed in the lineof duty and 76 were injured.

“A country is protected byits foreign relationships, itseconomy, neighbourhood andthe feeling people have. Over

the past 6 years, India hasbeen disturbed and disruptedin each of these sectors. Earlier,India could maneuver ingeopolitics with the help ofthese relations but now Indiadoesn’t enjoy these partner-ships anymore,” he said.

The Congress leader thenwent on to talk about India’scurrent relations with its neigh-bours and said that the Modigovernment has managed toanger Nepal, Bhutan and evenSri Lanka, who used to befriends of the country earlier.He also talked about econom-ic aspects. “Our economy wassomething that we could boastabout going to the world. Wehave seen the worst economicgrowth in 50 years.

Unemployment is highest in 40years. The economy is anabsolute disaster,” he asserted.

He said the Chineseaggression along the Line ofActual Control can be attrib-uted to the “trouble” India haswith its foreign policy, econo-my and the relationship with itsneighbours in the last six years.

He said India’s relationshipwith other countries hasbecome “transactional”. Wehave a transactional relation-ship with the US, and we havedisturbed our relationship withthe Russians. We have a trans-actional relationship withEurope,” he said.

“Earlier, Nepal was afriend. Bhutan was a friend, SriLanka was a friend. Our neigh-

bourhood, other than Pakistan,was working with India andsaw itself as being partneredwith India. Today, Nepal isangry with us. If you go toNepal and speak to the Nepalipeople, they are furious withwhat has happened,” Rahulsaid. “Sri Lankans have given aport to the Chinese... So we’vedisrupted our foreign part-ners, we’ve disrupted ourneighbourhood.”

“So today, you have a coun-try which is economically introuble, trouble as far as foreignpolicy is concerned, in troublewith its neighbours and that’swhy the Chinese have decidedthat this is possibly this time toact. And that is why they haveacted,” the Congress MP said.

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External Affairs Minister SJaishankar on Friday came

out strongly yet again to hit outat Congress MP Rahul Gandhifor questioning the ModiGovernment’s foreign and eco-nomic policies saying India’spartnerships with other nationsare stronger, the country’sinternational standing is high-er than ever and New Delhiengages Beijing on more equalterms politically.

In a series of tweets, whileJaishankar came out with anelaborate response to Rahul’sattack, he also advised the for-mer Congress chief to “ask theanalysts”.

A month ago, Jaishankarhad asked Rahul to “get thefacts straight” on the fact thatall troops on border dutyalways carry arms, especially

when leaving post. “Those atGalwan on 15 June did so,”Jaishankar had tweeted afterRahul had criticised theGovernment asking who hadordered unarmed soldiers to goto the stand-off point.

On Rahul’s latest attack,Jaishankar said India’s majorpartnerships with UnitedStates, Russia, Japan, Europe,etc. are stronger and interna-tional standing higher. “Indiaengages China on more equalterms politically,” he said.

Jaishankar said India nowspeaks her mind more openlyon contentious issues like theChina-Pakistan EconomicCorridor (CPEC) that violatesIndian sovereignty, on Beijing’sBelt and Road Initiative (BRI),on maritime disputes in the South ChinaSea, and on United Nations-s a n c t i o n e dterrorists who are harboured inPakistan. “Ask the media,” hesuggested Gandhi validate.

He said the Governmenthas addressed the border infra-structure imbalance legacy.“Compare 2014-20 with 2008-

14. Budget up by 280%, roadbuilding by 32%, bridges by99% and tunnels by 6 times.Ask the jawans,” wroteJaishankar.

Jaishankar also pointed outto Rahul ‘skipping’ the topic ofPakistan and said Islamabadsurely notes the differencebetween Balakot and Uri (the air and surgical strikesagainst terror launch pads inPOK) on the one hand andSharm-el-Sheikh, Havana and26/11 Mumbai terror attackson the other.

Further, he listed outIndia’s the Hambantota Portagreement between Sri Lankaand China that was concludedin 2008 (under UPA).Colombo couldn’t pay back thedebt owed to Beijing and hadto lease out the strategicallylocated port to China for 99years. “Ask those who dealtwith it,” said Jaishankar even ashe listed a series of shortcom-ings of the erstwhile Congress-led UPAGovernment on dealing withMaldives, Afghanistan andBhutan.

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The police party escortinggangster Vikas Dubey from

Ujjain in Madhya Pradesh toKanpur had to “fire back inself-defence” as he tried toescape and was killed, the UttarPradesh Government has saidin an affidavit filed in theSupreme Court.

The UP Government hasconstituted a 3-member SIT,headed by UP additional chiefsecretary Sanjay Bhoosreddyon July 11, to look into thecrimes committed by thedreaded gangster and thealleged collusion betweenDubey, police and politicians,the affidavit said.

Dubey was killed in theencounter on July 10.

“The only option availableto the escort party, under thecircumstances was to fire backin self-defence,”Uttar PradeshDirector General of PoliceHitesh Chandra Awasthy, in theaffidavit filed on behalf of thestate, on a plea seeking a court-monitored probe by the CBI orthe NIA into the encounterkilling.

The top police officerdenied that Dubey had sur-rendered at Ujjain and said thatthe accused who was on therun was identified at theMahakaal Temple by the Samitiauthorities as well as the police-men at the temple premises.

The DGP also dealt withthe question as to why Dubeywas not handcuffed and said,“There were 15 police person-nel and 3 vehicles to escort theaccused directly to the court atKanpur. He had to be producedat Kanpur within 24 hoursbefore court”

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The hopes of a 20-year-oldboy from Osmanabad in

Maharashtra to meet his “girl-friend” in Shah Faisal, Karachi,dashed to the ground when hewas apprehended by the alertBSF just 1.5 km short of theIndo-Pak border in the Rann ofKutch in Gujarat before hecould illegally cross over to the

other side of the internationalboundary between the twocountries.

The boy, SiddiquiMohammad Zishan, hadbefriended the Pakistani girlthrough Facebook andWhatsApp and travelled fromOsmanabad to Rann of Kutchon a motorcycle using Googlemap.

The crime branch of the

Maharashtra Police had sharedinformation with Gujaratpolice regarding a missingcomplaint lodged by Zishan’sparents at their native place inOsmanabad.

The Gujarat police in turnshared the information with theBorder Security Force (BSF)following which the troops ofthe border guarding force werealerted. The troops appre-

hended him at 9 PM onThursday.

His mobile location wastraced to be in and aroundDholavira (Kutch, Gujarat).During the search operation bythe BSF in the afternoon onThursday (July 16), a blackcolour Bajaj Pulsar bike(Registration Number: MH 16D 3702) was recovered nearFossil Park in Kutch district

which he had used to travelfrom his hometown and aban-doned it before leaving towardsthe border area, a BSFspokesperson said here in astatement.

On preliminary enquiry, hewas identified as SiddiquiMohammad ZishanMohammad Salimuddin, aged20 years the BSF said.

The apprehended boy is aresident of Khwaja Nagar,Osmanabad, Maharashtra.

“He was in a dehydratedstate and revealed that he hadgone unconscious for abouttwo hours in the Rann,” thespokesperson said.

PAN Card/AdharCard/ATM CARD (UCOBank) and mobile phone wererecovered from his possession.

“He revealed that he fell inlove with a girl namely Samrafrom Shah Faisal Town,

Karachi, Pakistan on Facebookand both of them were in con-tact with each other throughFacebook and WhatsApp. Hewanted to go to Pakistan andhad used the Google map fornavigation.

The person has been hand-ed over to the police for furtherinvestigation and verification ofthe story given by him,” addedthe official.

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To ensure that all positivecases are brought to the

authorities for isolation, quar-antine or treatment at the ear-liest, the Government hasdecided to keep a number oftests being done in the States.It has asked them to uploadrapid antigen testing data onthe ICMR portal on real-timebasis.

In a letter to all States andUnion Territories, ICMR DGBalram Bhargava said that“with the use of rapid antigentests, more and more tests arebeing carried out and therefore,is absolutely necessary that allsuch testing data is uploadedon the ICMR database on real-time basis.

“It is expected that to pro-vide safe healthcare services, allgovernment hospitals/labs aswell as all private NABH/NABLhospitals/labs may initiate anti-gen testing and also apply forobtaining login credentials fordata entry into the ICMR por-tal.”

Antigen test is a promisingtool for quick diagnosis ofCOVID-19. ICMR has advisedthe use of this test for quickdetection of COVID-19patients in containment zonesand hospitals.

In an effort to facilitate andfurther liberalise testing, lCMRhas generated five commonlogin credentials for each dis-trict of each State/UT, whichmay be shared with all theGovernment and private facil-ities selected for antigen testing.Dr

Bhargava pointed out thatin this Covid-19 pandemic, toensure that testing is furtherenhanced and reporting of thesame is done seamlessly statesshould identify all governmentand private facilities who wouldbe providing COVID-19 diag-nosis through antigen-based

assays.The ICMR has also asked

the states to ensure that all theantigen testing points areappropriately linked with RT-PCR facility, where sympto-matic negatives will be tested.

The Union HealthMinistry said that ramping up

of testing capacity has resultedin more than 3 lakh tests beingconducted per day. In the last24 hours, 3,33,228 sampleshave been tested while thecumulative number of1,30,72,718 samples tested hasresulted in 9473 testing per mil-lion for the country.

Starting from one diag-nostic lab in Januray 2020, thecountry has 1244 labs today,with 880 labs in the govern-ment sector and 364 in the pri-vate sector, said the official.

Bhargava said ICMR hasbeen receiving multiplerequests from various publicsector units, small private andGovernment facilities, tem-ples, etc for initiating rapidantigen testing.

“The key strategy to savelives and protect livelihoodsremains ‘tests, track, treat’. Ourcontinuous endeavour is toincrease testing capacity andprovide more and more accessto people for testing. ICMRrecently approved a point-of-care rapid antigen test for diag-nosis of COVID-19, in additionto the already existing molec-ular diagnostic tools,” theICMR head said in the letter.

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The clinical trials of themuch-awaited Made in

India ‘Covaxin’, the Coronavaccine of Bharat Biotech,kicked off on Friday with threevolunteers being administeredwith the drug at the Post-Graduate Institute (PGI) ofMedical Sciences in Rohtak inHaryana as part of the firstphase of clinical trial on thehumans. Other sites are beingfinalised, said the company.

Senior Professor and Head,department of Pulmonary &Critical Care Medicine,Dhruva Chaudhry, also the co-principal investigator, said thatthe three volunteers wereshort-listed out of the totaleight after health checks toensure proper liver functionand absence of infection andwere administered the vac-cine, according to reports.

“All three tolerated it well.There were no complaints. Weobserved them for two hoursbefore releasing them. Theimmediate component of aller-gic reaction has been takencare of. We will now look forany soreness at the local siteover the next 24-48 hours,” saidDr Chaudhry, taking care ofthe clinical aspect of the

process at the institute.Dr Chaudhry said the vac-

cine had been tested success-fully on the animals for safetyand response and the processhad not entered the first phaseof clinical trials on humans. Hesaid the process might take sixmonths and the final assess-ment on the safety and theantibodies produced would bemade by the safety board.

Covaxin has been in newssince ICMR director-generalBalram Bhargava shot off a let-ter on July 2 to 12 hospitals andresearch centres, asking themto enrol subjects for human tri-als of Covaxin, so that the vac-cine is ready for public use byAugust 15.

Later, the ICMR sought toclarify that the letter was writ-ten with an aim to expedite thetrial but in keeping with all thesafety norms.

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With an aim to pave theway for a faster execution

of the Char-Dham road projectin the Himalayan region, theUnion Environment Ministryon Friday approved the ZonalMaster Plan (ZMP) ofBhagirathi Eco-Sensitive Zonefrom Gaumukh to Uttarkashicovering an area of 4179.59 sqkm.

The ZMP is based onwatershed approach andincludes governance in thearea of forest and wildlife,watershed management, irri-gation, energy, tourism, publichealth and sanitation, roadinfrastructure, etc, said UnionEnvironment Minister PrakashJavedekar after a review meet-ing held here.

The Bhagirathi Eco-Sensitive Zone notificationissued way back in 2020 man-dated the State Government ofUttarakhand to prepare ZMPto be implemented under the supervision of theMonitoring Committee.

“The approval of ZMP willgive a boost to conservationand ecology of the area and also

to undertake developmentalactivities as permitted underZMP,” said Javedekar.

The ZMP was approved atthe review meeting of theChaar Dhaam road project inUttarakhand which waschaired by Union Minister forRoad Transport and HighwaysNitin Gadkari, Chief Minister of UttarakhandTrivendra Singh Rawat, among

others.The Chaar Dhaam Project

proposes to connect Yamnotri,Gangotri, Badrinath andKedarnath which host ChaarDham Yatra in the State ofUttarakhand.

The all-weather ChaarDhaam Road has in all 53 pro-jects of 826 km length, involv-ing an investment of � 12,000crore.

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Many former bureaucratsand police officers, advo-

cates, Left ideologists and socialactivists on Friday petitionedPresident Ram Nath Kovinddemanding the institution of aCommission of Inquiry intothe Delhi riots, accusing par-tiality in the ongoing probe bythe Delhi Police.

Retired police officers JulioRiberio, Saleem Ali, ex-bureau-

crats Wajhat Habibullah, EASSarma, activist Aruna Roy andlawyers like Prashant Bhushanwere among the 72 signatoriesaccusing total partiality onbasis of religion by Delhi Policein the riots-related cases.

Apart from allegations of

saving BJP leaders from thecases, the activists and retiredofficials accused the DelhiPolice of custodial torture ofMuslims and of those whoparticipated in the protestsagainst CAA-NRC. “A credibleand unbiased probe is crucialto ensure public trust. Theinvestigation cannot be allowedto become a fishing and rovingexpedition aimed at causing achilling effect on dissent andprotest in the country.

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The Coronavirus caseloadmay have zoomed past 10

lakhs but those infected tooare also on the fast recoverytrack with the Union HealthMinistry saying that at leastover 6.35 lakh patients haveovercome the disease and arehealthy now.

The Ministry in a state-ment said that the actual case-load of Covid-19 cases in thecountry is only 3,42,756, as ondate.

More than 6.35 lakhs(63.33%) of the total caseshave recovered. The ministryalso highlighted that India,being the second-most popu-lous country in the worldwith 1.35 billion people, has727.4 cases per million.

On the global scale, casesper million population inIndia are 4 to 8 times less thansome European countries.“The case fatality rate at 18.6deaths/million of the countryis one of the lowest in theworld. The collaborativeefforts of all States/UTs forhouse-to-house surveys, con-tact tracing, surveillance ofcontainment and buffer zones,perimeter control activities,

aggressive testing and timelydiagnosis has resulted in earlyidentification of the infectedpersons. This has helped inearly treatment too.” said theMinistry.

The “Test, Track andTreat” strategy of the Centrebeing implemented by theState/UT governments is prov-ing to be an appropriate strat-egy to deal with the Covid-19pandemic. India has seen asteady increase in the numberof patients recovering ofCOVID, said the Ministry.

While the strategy to dealwith the spread of infectionremains focused on earlydetection with wide-spreadand easily accessible testing,the intensive contact tracing isaimed at restricting the spread.

The Containment strate-gy implemented across theContainment and BufferZones stresses on house-to-house survey and surveillanceof patients with focus on theelderly and people with co-morbid conditions.

This has ensured that theCovid cases are identified in atimely manner and treated asper the severity of the symp-toms either at home or in hos-pitals, the Ministry said.

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The CPI(M) on Fridayurged the Government to

withdraw the notificationsregarding the EnvironmentImpact Assessment (EIA)2020, alleging that the draft inthis regard has several provi-sions to support businesshouses and circumvent judicialfindings. In a detailed letter toEnvironment Minister PrakashJavadekar, CPI(M) politbureau member Brinda Karat

said that the provisions in theEIA draft suggests to overcomethe National Green Tribunal’s(NGT) orders and even go tothe extent of circumventingthe orders of the SupremeCourt. “Most objectionable isthe fact that in the entire doc-ument the concerns of adiva-sis who are going to be themost affected community dueto the dilution of environmentregulations do not form anypart of the notification,” shesaid.

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The Election Commissionlater wrote to all national

and regional political partiesseeking their "views and sug-gestions" on conduct of elec-tion campaign during the"pandemic period". In its one-page letter, the commissionsought their replies by July 31.

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Tamil Nadu witnessed anovel protest by Hindus on

Thursday in true Gandhianstyle against attempts by thoseowing allegiance to variousDravida movements to deni-grate Lord Murugan and thefamous hymn ‘Skanda SashtiKavacham’ composed byDevaraya Swami (b;1820) inpraise of the Lord.

Black Alliance, a collectiveby various Dravidian and evan-gelist groups had through theirsocial media video ‘KarupparKoottam’ had portrayedSkanda Sashti Kavacham asAabasa Puranam (Tamil forobscene epic).

For the Hindus in the State,Skanda Sashti Kavacham is arare hymn that united all cut-ting across castes and tribes. Itis also the most popular hymnsung in the State to invoke LordMuruga for his blessings.

It was alleged by variousHindu outfits ranging fromthe BJP to Hindu Munnani thatthe anchor of the showSurendra Natarajan malignedthe sanctity of Hindu Gods by

portraying the Kavacham(Tamil for armour) as obsceneand it was an act of blasphemy.L Murugan, state chief of theBJP staged a protest demon-stration in front of his ownhouse along with other partyleaders observing the Covid-19guidelines.

But nowhere was thedemonstration as powerful asthe one that took place inThiruchendur, the town inThoothukudi district, which ishome to the famous seasideshrine of Lord Muruga.

Thousands of residents inthe coastal town came out oftheir houses and recited theKavacham in its typicalRagamalika format incorpor-tating the eternal Abheri,Shubhapantuvarali.

Kalyanai and Thodi thatmake the listeners fold theirhands in reverence to LordMuruga.

Murugan had filed a policecomplaint against Natarajanand ‘Karuppar Koottam’ forhumiliating the Hindu Godsand for blasphemy. Natarajanalleged that the BJP leadersmistook him for DMK andhence foisted the case.

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"� ���#$%&#���� ��������'����Amaravati: Andhra Pradeshhas yet again reported an all-time single-day high of 2,602new coronavirus cases in thelast 24-hour cycle ending 9 amon Friday, the third day in arow, taking the State's total tallyto 40,646.

There are now 19,814active cases since 20,298 coro-na patients have been curedand discharged in AndhraPradesh.

Health officials said thateight districts recorded newcases running into triple figures-- East Godavari's highest 643cases, Guntur 367 cases,Chittoor 328 cases, Kurnool315 cases, Anantapur 297 cases,Srikakulam 149 cases, Nellore127 cases, and West Godavari109 cases.

Vizianagaram with 89cases, Kadapa (55), Prakasam(53), Krishna (37), andVisakhapatnam (23) were low-incidence districts.

On Friday, the state report-ed 42 deaths, slightly lowercompared with an all-timehigh of 44 deaths on

Wednesday. As per the latestupdate, the deaths occurred in12 of the 13 districts.

The death toll in AndhraPradesh has now shot up to534, health officials said.

The day's high of six deathswere reported from Anantapurdistrict, and five each fromChittoor, East Godavari, andPrakasam districts.

On the other hand, Gunturand West Godavari districtsreported four deaths each,

while two deaths each werereported from Kadapa andVisakhapatnam. Vizianagaramand Krishna districts reportedone death each.

As of Friday morning, 837persons were discharged fromhospitals and Covid treatmentcentres.

Only eight positive caseswere detected among returneesfrom other states to AndhraPradesh. Of these, six werereturnees from Telangana andtwo from Karnataka.

Till date, 2,461 coronacases have been reportedamong state returnees. Theactive cases in this category are356, as 2,105 persons haverecovered till date.

Friday morning also sawtwo new corona cases amongoverseas returnees -- one fromKuwait and second with trav-el history to South Korea.

The corona patients in thiscategory total 434, with 381persons cured and discharged.As of Friday, 53 patients in thiscategory are under treatment inthe State. IANS

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The CPI(M) StateCommittee, the powerful

body of the party in Keralawhich met atThiruvananthapuram onFriday to take stock of the sit-uation arising out of the goldsmuggling through diplo-matic channel in which thename of an official in theChief Minister’s office was fig-ured, expressed its full confi-dence in the leadership ofPinarayi Vijayan.

“It was due to the way-wardness of M Sivsankar, thethen principal secretary of theChief Minister that led to thetarnishing of the CMO’simage. The Chief Ministertook effective measuresimmediately after he cameacross the reports. TheCPI(M) is undertaking ahouse-to-house campaign toconvince the people about therealities behind the scam,”said Kodiyeri Balakrishnan,the party’s Kerala secretarywhile briefing the media

about the decisions taken inthe day-long meeting.

Balakrishnan said theparty took strong objection tothe comments made by JPNadda, the BJP national pres-ident that the gold in Keralawas red in colour. “I wouldlike to remind him that thegold in Kerala is saffron andgreen in colour. It was a BMSleader who intervened in thecase on behalf of the accusedto get the gold consignmentreleased from the Customsofficials. The gold was smug-gled by persons who are hav-ing close links with theMuslim League,” saidBalakrishnan.

He said the Party assert-ed its trust and confidence inall the actions taken by ChiefMinister Pinarayi Vijayan. “Itwas the high handedness ofM Sivsankar, the then prin-cipal secretary in the ChiefMinister’s Office that led to asituation where the CMO’simage came under scrutiny.But Sivsankar was suspendedfrom office and new personshave been appointed in his

place. The Government haseffectively handled the issue,”said the CPI(M) secretary.

Balakrishnan said that PK Krishnadas, one of the BJPleaders was heard demandingthe dismissal of the CPI(M)led government. “This showshow despair the BJP is inKerala. The Congress andthe Muslim League are handin glove with terrorists andreligious extremists. They getthe support of the BJP in cre-ating lawlessness in Kerala,”alleged Balakrishnan.

He said the CPI(M) wel-comed the Government ofIndia’s decision to entrust theinvestigation of the goldsmuggling case to theNational InvestigatingAgency. “A comprehensiveprobe by the NIA and theCustoms would bring thetruth out,” said the CPI(M)secretary.

Meanwhile two morepersons were taken into cus-tody by the Customs officialsfrom Malappuram in con-nection with gold smuggling.

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Situation in Kerala has gone out of control as arecord number of 791 persons were diagnosed with

Covid-19 on Friday, according to Chief MinisterPinarayi Vijayan. Briefing the media atThiruvananthapuram, the Chief Minister said com-munity transmission has set in along the entire coastalregion in the district.

“An unprecedented serious situation is prevail-ing in Kerala. Out of the 791 new additions to thelist of Covid-19 pandemic, 532 got infected throughsocial contacts while we are yet to find out how 42persons got afflicted. There were two deaths in theState. We have to declare a total lockdown along thecoastal region by tomorrow,” said the Chief Minister.

He said there were 246 new Covid-19 patients inThiruvananthapuram district while Ernakulam districtcame second with 115 new patients. As on Friday thereare 11,066 active cases in the State and 285 hotspots.The day also saw hospitalisation of 1,152 persons inthe State. There are 6,029 persons undergoing treat-ment as on date across the State, said the CM. The ChiefMinister said the testing too has been ramped up inthe State. “Till date we have tested 2.75 lakh personsacross the State,” he said.

Instances like health professionals and healthworkers getting afflicted/infected with the virus is alsoa cause of concern, said the CM.

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Ahead of the beginning ofthe annual Amarnath

yatra, a joint team of securityforces on Friday gunned downthree terrorists including one ofthe most wanted IED experts ofJaish-e-Mohammad (JeM) ter-ror outfit in Nagnad area ofSouth Kashmir's Kulgam dis-trict.

The slain terrorist, identi-fied by the police as a Pakistaninational Waleed, was elimi-nated by the soldiers of 9Rashtriya Rifles in a close com-bat while he was attempting toflee along with the civilians.

So far, 14 terrorists havebeen neutralised in sevencounter terrorist operations inthe month of July 2020.

According to intelligenceinputs, “one of the most want-ed terrorists killed in the oper-ation was tasked by their han-dlers in Pakistan to target theAmarnath yatra this year alongthe Jammu-Srinagar NationalHighway”.

Sharing details of the suc-

cessful operation, SectorCommander 9 Rashtriya Rifles,Brigadier VS Thakur toldmedia personnel in SouthKashmir’s Kulgam district,“Army has also received cred-ible inputs that terrorists areintending to target AmarnathYatra somewhere along theJammu-Srinagar Nationalhighway”. He, however, assuredthe pilgrims,”Army is fullyready to foil any misadventureby these terrorists for smoothconduct of Amarnath pilgrim-age.

Interestingly, ShriAmarnath Shrine Boardauthorities are yet to formallyannounce the final date ofstart of the yatra this year. Theproposed date of launch of theyatra was July 21.

In Srinagar, InspectorGeneral of Police, Kashmirrange, Vijay Kumar toldreporters, the slain terroristkilled in the operation figuredin the list of 12 most wantedcommanders. He said, so fartwo of them have been gunneddown and now 10 others are

left. We are working round theclock to track down theirwhereabouts before launchingoperations.

Sharing details of the jointoperation,Brigadier VS Thakurtold reporters, “soon afterreceiving the credible inputsfrom the Deputy InspectorGeneral of Police, SouthKashmir about the presence oftwo to three terrorists hiding inthe area a siege was laid ataround 4:30 am in the morn-ing in Nagnad area of Kulgam”.

He said the operation wasfull of challenges. “The firstchallenge was that there was asingle road access to the housewhere these terrorists werehiding and the closest base was10 to 12 km’s away”.

He said that the secondchallenge was the safety ofcivilians of the house where ter-rorists had taken refuge.

“Our troops showedrestraint and didn’t even resortto speculative fire at the targethouse,” he said. He said as partof the standard operating pro-cedure, an appeal was made to

the civilians to evacuate thehouse.

“Two terrorists fired indis-criminately upon the forceswith small arms and alsolobbed grenades with an UnderBarrel Grenade Launcher(UBGL),” Brigadier Thakursaid, adding that both werekilled without causing anyharm to civilians or the housethey were hiding in.

He said when civilians werecoming out, one remainingterrorist who was wearing apheran (traditional Kashmirigown) with a weapon inside,tried to move out with the civil-ians.

“He was physicallystopped and when he tried touse his weapon, there was ahand to hand fight betweenhim and a soldier of 9 RR, whosuccessfully shot the terroristdown.He said, in the mileethree army personnel alsoreceived injuries and wererushed to the nearby hospital,where they were undergoingtreatment and were stated to bestable.

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BJP MP from Barrackpore,Arjun Singh has alleged that

the Bengal Government was try-ing to eliminate him in a policeencounter.

“The police seem to have beenattempting an encounter with me,my son Pawan Singh — an MLAfrom Bhatpara constituency, mywife and other family members,”Singh has alleged wondering “Infear of losing your seat how lowwill you stoop Didi (MamataBanerjee)?”

Once a Trinamool Congressstrongman, known for his closeproximity to Chief MinisterMamata Banerjee before switchingsides to the saffron outfit before2019 general elections when hedefeated Dinesh Trivedi the sittingTrinamool MP, Singh has beenengaged in a fierce turf war withthe TMC for a control overBarrackpore which has witnesseda number of shootouts in recenttimes.

Singh’s comment came soon

after a team of senior police offi-cials descended at his house withto carry out search operation in thepremises. “I told them you cannotsearch the place on basis of infor-mation. You don’t have a warrantor any evidence. They said theycannot show me proof officially towhich I said that they cannotsearch the house of an MP andMLA just like that” Pawan Singhlater said adding the “they hadcome with ulterior intentions.”

Refuting Singh’s charges seniorBengal Minister and the presidentof TMC’s North 24 Parganas dis-trict Jyotipriya Mullick said “Hehas been in the TMC for years andwe know him very well. He can doanything to stick to power andmoney. He is running a goonda rajin Barrackpore and whatever he issaying is a part of perpetrating thatgoonda raj.”

Saying that the people ofBengal will not spare the BJP andthose of Barrackpore will givehim a befitting reply Mullick said“not only the TMC but all otherparties are afraid of Arjun Singh inBarrackpore.

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The Covid-19 pandemic claimed 79 lives in Tamil Naduon Friday, the highest fatalities on a single day. The

day also saw 4,538 new persons getting tested positive forcoronavirus taking the number of active cases in the Stateto 47, 782.

Till date the State had traced 1.6 lakh persons afflict-ed with coronavirus, according to a release by theGovernment of Tamil Nadu.

The State administration is in a relentless fight withthe pandemic as it has ramped up the number of covidtesting centres across the State.

On Friday Tamil Nadu had 109 fully equipped lab-oratories and the State tested 47, 539 persons on a singleday. Till date the State has tested 1.75 millionpersons.

Out of the 79 deaths reported during the last 24 hours,78 were with co-morbidities, which underscores theGovernment’s campaign that those suffering from seri-ous ailments like diabetes, kidney failures and cancershould be vigilant against covid-19.

The stories from the districts too were not encour-aging. While the capital city of Chennai showed a hike(1,243 patients), the situation remained grim in the neigh-bouring districts of Chengalpet (125), Kancheepuram(110) and Thiruvallur (220).

In Tamil Nadu , 17 out of the 38 districts have morethan 100 Covid-19 patients. The day also saw 3,391 per-sons getting discharged fully cured of the pandemic.

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More than fifteen hundred cases ofcoronavirus have been detected

in the Union Territory of Jammu &Kashmir in the last three days while 36patients have died due to covid-19 dur-ing the same period.

On Friday, the total tally of coron-avirus cases reached 12, 757 cases after601 fresh cases were detected while 9more patients died in J&k. So far, 231patients have died, 18 in Jammu divi-sion and 213 in Kashmir division. OnJuly 15, 493 positive cases were report-ed and on July 16, 490 cases were detect-ed, sending alarm bells ringing amongthe health administrators workinground the clock to control the situationfrom slipping out of hands.

According to the media bulletin,with 601 fresh cases of coronavirus the

total number of cases Friday reached12757. Out of this 5,968 are still activepositive while a total number of 6,558patients have recovered. Around 84percent cases are active positive across10 districts of Kashmir valley while 16percent cases of active positive patientsare spread across Jammu division.

Srinagar district alone has so farreported 31 percent active positivecases while Jammu district has only 3percent active positive cases.

Srinagar district continues torecord the highest number of positivecases in Kashmir valley. On Friday, 150cases were detected in Srinagar fol-lowed by 82 cases from Shopian and62 from Baramulla.

In Jammu division, Ramban dis-trict recorded the highest number of41 cases followed by 21 from Kathuaand 16 from Jammu district.

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11,194 deaths in 120 days!!!.Thishas been the tragic Covid-19

saga that has unfolded inMaharashtra, ever since the coron-avirus claimed first life in the Stateon March 17, when a 63-year-oldman succumbed to the pandemic atthe Kasurba Hospital in Mumbai.

With the total number of Covid-19 triggered deaths having risen toa staggering 11,194 on Fridayevening, an average of 93 (93.28) diedper day in the state during the last120 days. Initially restricted to majorurban areas, the pandemic has nowspread to 36 districts, including thehinterland districts of Gadchiroli,Chandrapur and Gondia in easternMaharashtra.

In terms of deaths, Maharashtrawith 11,194 deaths accounts for43.32 per cent of the total 25,602deaths in the country. On the infec-tion front, the state with 2,84,281positive cases, accounts for 28.37 percent of total 1,00,3832 infected casesin the state. The mortality rate,which had at one stage on April 9touched 6.34 per cent that inciden-tally was the third highest in thecountry, has now come down to 3.94per cent as against the country’s aver-age of 2.55 per cent.

With the total number ofpatients discharged from varioushospitals after full recovery since the

second week of March this yeartouched 1,58,140. The recovery ratein the state stood at 55.63 per cent.The mortality rate in the state is 3,94percent. The state health authoritieshas pegged the number of “activecases” in the state at 1,14,648.

Of the 11,194 total deathsreported in the state till Thursdayevening, Mumbai – which is theworst Covid-19 affected city in thestate – has accounted for 5523deaths (49.33 per cent). In terms ofinfections, Mumbai with 97950 pos-itive cases has accounted for 34.45per cent of the total 2,84,281.

Maharashtra has come a longway since invoked the EpidemicDiseases Act, 1897 and framed 'TheMaharashtra Covid-19Regulations,2020' and March 13 March 14respectively. During the first phaseof lockdown i.e March 31, the staterecorded 10 deaths and 302 patients.

Till the second lockdown, byApril 15, the state notched 187deaths with 2,916 cases, comprisingMumbai's 114 deaths and 1,896patients.

During the third phase of lock-down till April 30, the state record-ed 459 deaths with 10,498 patients.

By July 16 when the easing oflockdown was underway, Covid-19had spread its deadly tentacles to all36 districts in the state, but only onedistrict – Chandrapur – hasremained ‘death-free’ so far.

In what has come as a silver lin-ing in the cloud, Mumbai’s Dharavislum has been a success story. It wasthis Asia’s largest slum that theBrihanumbai Municipal Corpoationand the Maharashtra governmentsuccessfully adopted “chase the virus”at Dharavi slum in north-centralMumbai where the authorities havecontained the spread of virus to thatextent that Asia’s largest slum report-ed just one fresh case on April 10-11. Being densely populated(2,27,136 persons/ sq. km), Dharavihad 491 cases in April 2020 with a12% growth rate and a case doublingperiod of 18 days. The proactivemeasures adopted by BMC reducedthe COVID-19 growth rate to 4.3 percent in May 2020 and further to1.02% in June. These measures alsoensured an improved case doublingtime to 43 days in May 2020 and 78days in June 2020.

Several challenges presentedthemselves to BMC in Dharaviwhere 80% population depends oncommunity toilets. BMC adopted amodel of actively following four T’s– Tracing, Tracking, Testing andTreating. This approach includedactivities like proactive screening.While 47,500 people were covered bydoctors and private clinics in house-to-house screening, about 14,970people were screened with the helpof Mobile Vans, and 4,76,775 weresurveyed by BMC health workers.

Jammu: After the onset of militancy inJammu & Kashmir, for the first time theadministration has decided to notifycertain areas in the union territory as“strategic areas”, to facilitate smooth con-struction for the requirements of ArmedForces.

Till now, various Cantonmentboards were chiefly responsible for allthe construction activities permittedwithin the jurisdiction of various can-tonments in J&K.

On Friday, “The AdministrativeCouncil which met here under thechairmanship of Lieutenant Governor,G.C. Murmu, gave its nod to the pro-posal of amending the Control ofBuilding Operations Act, 1988, and the

J&K Development Act, 1970, to providefor special dispensation for carrying outconstruction activities in StrategicAreas”.

According to a statement issued bythe Department of Information andPublic Relations,”The amendments pro-posed by Housing & UrbanDevelopment Department will paveway for notifying certain areas as‘strategic areas’ in terms of the require-ment of armed forces and in such areas,the regulation of construction activityshall be through a special dispensation.The move is aimed at simplifying theprocedures and shall facilitate time-bound development of infrastructure ofstrategic importance,” it added. PNS

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The Covid-19 infectionscrossed 8,000 mark for the

second consecutive day inMaharashtra on Friday, as thestate recorded 8,308 positive cases,while a staggering 258 persons succumbed to the pan-demic.

A day after recording 8,641Covid-19 infections and 266 moredeaths, Maharashtra witnessed8308 infected cases taking thetotal number of positive casesinched close to 3 lakh-mark totouch 2,92,589.

With 258 fresh fatalities, thetotal number of deaths in variousparts of the state mounted to11,452 on Friday evening.

Of the 258 total deaths,Mumbai accounted for 62 deaths,which took the total number ofdeaths in the metropolis from5523 to 5585, while the totalnumber of Covid-19 cases rose by1,214 to touch 99,164 now.

In addition to 62 deaths inMumbai, there were 57 deaths inThane, 45 deaths in Pune, 25 inNashik, 12 in Palghar, 9 inSolapur, 8 in Raigad, 6 in Nanded,5 each in Satara and Aurangabad,4 each in Jalna and Jalgaon, 3 in

Ahmednagar, 2 each in Kolhapur,Latur, Amravati and Osmanabadand one each in Ratnagiri,Hingoli, Beed, Nagpur. Therewas one more death -- fromanother State.

With 71345 infected casesand 1964 deaths, Thane contin-ued to be the second worst hit dis-trict in Maharashtra.

Pune, which has emerged asthe third worst affected district interms of spread of the pandemic,has recorded 49037 infectionsand 1282 deaths till now.

Meanwhile, the total numberof patients discharged from var-ious hospitals after full recoverysince the second week of Marchthis year touched 1,60,357.

The recovery rate in the statestood at 54.81 per cent. The mor-tality rate in the state is 3,91 percent. The State health authorities pegged the number of“active cases” in the state at1,20,480.

Out of 14,84,630 samplessent to laboratories, 2,92,589 havetested positive (19.70 per cent) forCovid-19 until Friday

Currently, 7,24,602 peopleare in home quarantine while44,284 people are in institution-al quarantine.

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Page 6: CR[ TcZdZd XVed ^fc\ZVc - Daily Pioneer

Life is not the way it’s supposed to be….The way you cope is what makes the difference — Virginia Satir.

When the famous USfamily therapistVirginia Satir talkedabout coping withlife’s adversities, she

was unlikely to have had images of apandemic like COVID-19 in mind.But her words have a grim relevancetoday as we learn to live with theunforeseen and unprecedented situa-tion caused by the Coronavirus. Arecent telephone survey conducted bythe National Council of AppliedEconomic Research (NCAER),through its Data Innovation Centre,documents several insightful findingsabout public behaviour and the healthand economic outcomes of both thevirus and the lockdown imposed bythe Government to curb its transmis-sion.

The findings explain the surge asmost respondents, while adhering tosafety protocols, admit that they tookadvantage of the “unlock” phase to stepout of the house when there was nopressing need. At the same time, theeconomic trough has been gloomyeven after opening up with a high per-centage of the workforce losing jobs orfacing salary cuts. This despite amajority going back to work in the“unlock” phase.

The survey, titled, The DelhiCoronavirus Telephone Survey(DCVTS), was undertaken in Delhiand the National Capital Region(NCR) in three rounds, between April3 and 6; April 23 and 26; and June 15and 23 respectively. The most notablefinding during the first round of thesurvey was the successful communi-cation by the Government of thedangers associated with the virus andthe consequent need for a stringentlockdown — nearly 87 per cent of therespondents asserted their support forthe lockdown to be extended for twomore weeks beyond its original enddate of April 14, notwithstanding thehardships caused by it.

The study also throws light onother aspects of dealing with COVID-19, including the level of awarenessamong the people about the risks andsymptoms of the disease; their threatperceptions in terms of the chances ofcontracting the virus and their attitudesrelating to mandated safety protocolssuch as hand hygiene, social distanc-ing and the use of masks. In addition,it highlights the impact of the lock-down on the incomes and livelihoodsof all sections of society.

Pandemic makes inroads: Withthe virus making nascent inroadsinto the country during late March and

early April, it was important toexplore awareness levels aboutthe disease and the possible pre-vention measures among thegeneral public. A strange para-dox that emerged in the firstround was the dissonancebetween people’s perceptionsabout the dangers posed by thevirus and the possibility theyenvisaged of getting infectedthemselves.

While almost 95 per cent ofthem averred that the virus washighly dangerous, as many as 65per cent of them did not expectthemselves or any of their house-hold members to get infected.This sense of confidence in theability to sidestep the infectionwas obviously put to the test afterthe easing of the lockdown inJune, which has been followed bya massive surge in positive casesin Delhi and the adjoining areas.

Immediate impact of thelockdown: With a completeshutdown of all activities andcommercial establishmentsstarting March 25, the firstphase of the NCAER surveyindicated that 25 per cent of therural and 33 per cent of theurban residents suffered short-ages of essential items, includingfood supplies, cooking fuel andeven medicines. Subsequently,however, while shortages ofessential supplies somewhateased when the respondentswere interviewed during thesecond round of the survey inthe third week of April, people’sworries had now squarely shift-ed to the economic impact of thelockdown. The predominantconcern during this period wasthe decline in incomes and loss

of livelihoods due to the closureof offices and businesses.

During DCVTS-2, an over-whelming majority of the respon-dents — 82 per cent —reportedloss of income or wages, especial-ly daily wage workers andemployees in small businesses.Further, among these, 72 per centof casual workers complainedthat their incomes and wages hadsuffered “very much”, indicatingthat the brunt of the economicdistress was borne by workersfrom the informal sector. Evenamong the salaried class, 38 percent of the workers eitherreceived truncated salaries orwere relieved of their jobs.

Interestingly, and perhaps asa saving grace, farmers did notseem to be overly affected. Only34 per cent reported a drop inincomes during the lockdown.This because most of them werebusy harvesting the Rabi cropand doing preparations for theKharif crop during this period.

Focus on safety measuresduring “unlock” Phase I: Themost conspicuous results of theNCAER’s DCVTS wereobserved in the third round,which virtually stood at thecusp between the lockdownand phased “unlocking.”Characterised by the opening upof a range of commercial activ-ities and establishments, thisperiod in early June was criticalto determine how far peoplewere adhering to safety mea-sures against the disease. Somelevel of complacency was wit-nessed after the “unlocking” as73 per cent of the respondentsreported going out for some rea-son during the period of one

week prior to the survey. More worryingly, as high as

61 per cent of the respondentsabove the age of 60 years had ven-tured out of their homes despitethe advisory to elderly people toremain indoors as they fall in thehigh-risk category. Overall, therewas a general adherence to theprecautionary measures specifiedby the Government and healthauthorities, with 95 per cent of thesurveyed people affirming thatthey were wearing masks or facecoverings while going out; 66 percent reported frequent use ofhand sanitisers; and only 0.8 percent of the respondents claimedthat they did not follow any pre-caution at all.

Economic repercussionsof COVID-19: In what couldsignify a gradual economicrevival post the lockdown, 78per cent of the householdsreported that their members hadresumed going to the workplacein the second and third weeks ofJune. But the trajectory of loss oflivelihoods and incomes fordaily wage workers and smallbusinesses reported in the sec-ond round of the survey contin-ued in the third round, too.

Thus, DCVTS-III showedthat more than 70 per cent of thehouseholds relying on wagework and business as the mainsource of income suffered exten-sive loss of earnings. A large sec-tion of these households was alsocompelled to borrow money tocounter financial distress. Infact, medium and small busi-nesses have literally witheredunder the onslaught of the eco-nomic earthquake unleashedby the virus, with 52 per cent of

them reporting suspension ofactivities during the lockdown inMay and June and 12 per centshutting down completely.

Have welfare measuresmitigated financial suffering?Apart from documenting theadverse impact on incomes andwages, the third round ofDCVTS also focussed on therole of Government pro-grammes and measures to ame-liorate the suffering of the mar-ginalised sections. It was foundthat a large number of house-holds — 58 per cent of the totalsurveyed and 61 per cent inDelhi alone — were given extrarations through the use ofAadhaar cards and e-coupons.About 35 per cent received cashtransfers from the Governmentin May and June, taken togeth-er. While most of the fundtransfers were achieved throughJan Dhan accounts, theGovernment also used otherschemes like the Ujjwala Yojanaand PM Kisan programme tooffer financial relief to the affect-ed households.

So what does the future por-tend? The results of three roundsof the NCAER survey couldoffer some insights to policymakers for negotiating the roughroad ahead as we brace to meetthe persistent challenges of avirus that refuses to go away.Until a viable vaccine is found,possibly by next year, turning toVirginia Satir’s practical adviceto find new ways of coping withthe unexpected seems to beour only recourse.

(The writer is ConsultantEditor at NCAER. Viewsexpressed are personal)

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Sir — The Supreme Court’sorder allowing people sufferingfrom disabilities the same ben-efits of relaxation in public edu-cation and employment asScheduled Caste/ScheduledTribe (SC/ST) candidates is wel-come. It is significant becauseuntil now they used to get relax-ations on age limits but not inmarks and in competitive examslike civil services.

They are often not able to getthe benefit of reservation in edu-cation and employment becausethey do not meet general stan-dards. They face multiple barri-ers, not just social attitudes butbarriers in infrastructure, infor-mation, communication, admin-istration and the judicial system.It is the duty of the Governmentto enable a level-playing fieldwhere people with disabilities canparticipate on an equal basiswith others. Extending relax-ations will have wide-rangingimplications. This will see moredisabled people being able to getinto careers of their choice. Themind is still supreme.

Ravi Teja KathuripalliHyderabad

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Sir — This refers to the editori-al, “Trouble in Chabahar” (July16). Iran’s decision to drop Indiaout of the Chabahar rail projecthas come as a major setback for

India. The Chabahar port itself isof immense strategic value. Notonly does it promise the develop-ment of regional maritime tran-sit traffic between India, Iran,Afghanistan and Central Asia butis important from the businesspoint of view as it helps us fulfil

regional aspirations. India’s fail-ure to build the rail link betweenthe Chabahar port and Zahedanin the stipulated time provedcostly.

But this isn’t the first timethat an ambitious overseas infra-structure development project

has faced an inordinate delay inits completion. Take the exam-ple of the Pancheshwar dam pro-ject in Nepal, which has beenhanging fire since 1991, or thetrilateral highway between India,Myanmar and Thailand. NewDelhi must show the will to con-front this challenge or be pre-pared to pay the price.

Kirti WadhawanKanpur

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Sir — With Coronavirus infec-tions near one million, manyStates have imposed lockdownonce again in selected areas forvarying intervals. Earlier lock-downs being an example, neithercould they yield any positiveresult nor could we enhance pre-paredness. Lockdowns can neverbe a permanent answer. It’s timewe make peace with the virusand start living with safeguardsin place. Sanitisers, masks andsocial distancing should be thesine qua non.

PrathnaVia email

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The high political theatre in Rajasthan andearlier in Madhya Pradesh has yet againbrought to the fore the efficacy or other-

wise of the anti-defection law enshrined in theConstitution by the 52nd Amendment, which waslater further amended by the 91st Constitution(Amendment) Act, in 2003. The sum and sub-stance of these constitutional amendments is thata member of the legislature, whether of the Unionor the State Legislature, shall be disqualified, ifs/he is disqualified under the Tenth Schedule. Theprecise grounds for disqualification of a legisla-tor, as per the Tenth Schedule are, if s/he has vol-untarily given up his/her membership of suchpolitical party, or if s/he votes or abstains fromvoting in the House contrary to the direction orthe whip issued by the political party s/he is amember of.

However, in the case of merger of not less thantwo-thirds of the members of the legislative partywith another party, the anti-defection law will notapply. The competent authority to decide the ques-tion of disqualification is the presiding officer, theChairman/Speaker, which, after the judgment ofthe Supreme Court in the Kihoto Hollohan vs.Zachilhu and others, case in 1992, can be a sub-ject of judicial review.

The burning question is whether Sachin Pilot,Congress MLA in the Rajasthan Vidhan Sabha,has incurred disqualification under the TenthSchedule. He has been removed from the postof Deputy Chief Minister of Rajasthan and thepost of Pradesh Congress Committee president,for breaching party discipline. There were reportsof the Rajasthan Congress legislative party hav-ing issued showcause notices to Pilot and his loy-alist legislators to explain why disciplinary actionshould not be initiated against them for defyingthe party. Pilot surprised everyone by movingcourt and the Division Bench of the RajasthanHigh Court has taken up the petition filed by himand 18 MLAs against the disqualification noticesissued to them by Assembly Speaker CP Joshi. Thecourt has not allowed any action against the leaderand the MLAs till Tuesday.

The fact remains that every party is empow-ered under its constitution to enforce disciplinewithin its ranks for the larger objective of attain-ing its political goal. No doubt, without discipline,political parties would be reduced to a mere hordeof power-hungry people without any sound polit-ical moorings and identity. The moot point iswhether the Congress Party can get Pilot and hisloyalist legislators disqualified under the anti-defection law. Apparently, Pilot and his fellowMLAs have neither defected, nor voted orabstained from voting against the party whip inthe Vidhan Sabha. The law of defection, in a way,can be likened to the three principles of crimi-nal jurisprudence which require twin tests of mensrea and actus reus in order to constitute a crim-inal offence. Mere probability of defection can-not be a ground for disqualification, except thata political party can expel such members fromthe legislature party. Such members can bedeclared as “unattached” by the Speaker but can-not be disqualified in view of the clear legal pro-vision.

How political parties govern themselves —

whether they promote democratic, col-legial or high command-centric leader-ship — is their internal matter on whichthey flourish or perish in course of time.In an all-India political party, inherent-ly, there will be internal struggle amongthe leaders for higher positions.Eventually, it is the survival of the fittest,i.e. the leader who garners maximumsupport within the party. Yet, such aleader cannot last long if he is autocrat-ic, exceedingly self-centred and under-mines the dignity of his colleagues andparty functionaries who gave theirsweat and blood to build the matrix.

In Rajasthan, there is a politicallimbo for the moment and the ball isnow in the court of Pilot. It is up to himwhether he resigns along with his fellowMLAs from the Congress Party and thelegislature and contests another electionby forming a new party or joins themainstream rival party, which of coursehe has openly ruled out.

To acquire power “is a generalinclination of mankind, a perpetual, rest-less desire that ceases only in death.” Tonurture ambition is not prohibited by theanti-defection law which only seeks tocurb the evil of unprincipled defection.

Interestingly, politics, being a river,is not always the same. In MadhyaPradesh, Congress Chief Minister KamalNath had to resign when he saw thewriting on the wall, which made it clearthat he had lost majority support in theVidhan Sabha. What happened wasinconceivable but its roots lay in theautocratic, exclusionary and factionalpolitics of the Chief Minister.

Jyotiraditya Scindia, disgruntledwith the Congress Party, accused it of“rampant corruption” and resignedfrom the Vidhan Sabha along with 22

MLAs loyal to him. This brought aboutthe fall of Kamal Nath and the reinstate-ment of Shivraj Singh Chouhan of theBJP as the Chief Minister.

Scindia later joined the BJP with hissupporters on March 11. But in abrazen mockery of the Constitution, 14MLAs of the 22 Scindia loyalists, whohad resigned from the Vidhan Sabha,were inducted into the Council ofMinisters in the second Cabinet expan-sion. Of the 34 Ministers, including theChief Minister, 14 are Scindia loyalists,creating acrimony within the BJP. Whatis most intriguing is that these 14Scindia loyalist Ministers are not mem-bers of the Vidhan Sabha. Articles75(5) and 164(4), couched in almostidentical words, provide that “a Ministerwho for any period of six consecutivemonths is not a member of theLegislature of the State, shall at the expi-ration of that period, cease to be aMinister.” Now these 14 Ministers willhave to get elected before the expiry ofsix months from the date they weresworn in.

The Constitution provides anenabling mechanism to induct talent inthe Council of Ministers if it is not avail-able within the duly-elected legislature.There have been many instances in thepast, especially at the Union level, whennon-members were made Ministersand later they were elected to the LokSabha or the Rajya Sabha. For instance,PV Narasimha Rao was not a Memberof Parliament (MP) when he was swornin as the Prime Minister of the country.He later contested from Nandyal inKurnool district of Andhra Pradesh andgot elected to the Lok Sabha.

Similarly, Deve Gowda was not anMP when he was sworn in as the Prime

Minister in 1996. He was elected to theRajya Sabha. In February 1995, PranabMukherjee, not an MP then, was swornin as Minister and he briefly held theExternal Affairs portfolio but could notbe elected to Parliament due to a certaintussle with the then redoubtable TNSeshan, the Chief ElectionCommissioner of India. Mukherjeehad to resign and he was later made theDeputy Chairman of the PlanningCommission by Narasimha Rao. In thesame way, Subrahmanyam Jaishankar, acareer Indian Foreign Service officer,was inducted into the Narendra ModiCabinet and later elected to the RajyaSabha.

But in Madhya Pradesh, thisenabling mechanism was used whole-sale to promote a political rift, create asplit and engender the downfall of anelected Government. Obviously, no dis-qualification was incurred, so to speak,on the ground of defection. But thequestion is much larger, as it involves thespirit of the anti-defection law. TheConstitution (52nd Amendment) wasenacted to curb the evil of defection,considering it a serious threat under-mining the very foundations of democ-racy and the lofty principles which sus-tain it.

The manner in which the intent ofthe anti-defection law has been brazen-ly thwarted calls for its review, includ-ing the need to debar anyone frombecoming a Minister without first get-ting elected to the legislature and debar-ring such members from contesting elec-tions for at least three years.

(The writer is former AdditionalSecretary Lok Sabha, an author andwrites on constitutional and parliamen-tary matters.)

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So successful have India’s foodpolicies been that the country hasregular bumper crops of wheat

and rice. For instance, the nation’sfoodgrain production is estimated tohave touched a record 295.67 milliontonne in the 2019-20 crop year (June-July) — the fourth-consecutive yearthat the country has witnessed recordproduction — buoyed by good rains,according to Agriculture Ministry’slatest data. This is up by 10.46 mil-lion tonnes from the previous year.

Yet despite this major success inproducing India’s staple foodgrain,and in part because of it, nearly 210million Indians remain under-nour-ished, and many more suffer fromother forms of malnutrition, likemicronutrient deficiencies and obe-sity. The crux of the problem is that

India’s agricultural sector producesmore than enough foodgrain but failsto meet demand for vegetables, puls-es and other nutrient-rich foods.

If the country is to make good onits commitment under the UnitedNations’ second SustainableDevelopment Goal (SDG) to achievezero hunger and provide access tonutritious food for all, India mustabandon policies that prioritise sta-ple foodgrains above all other crops.It must diversify its food systems andfocus not on the quantity it produces,but the quality.

This is the conclusion of a newly-published study, the 2020 Food,Agriculture and Nutrition in India,that provides a detailed analysis of thestate of hunger and malnutrition inthe nation. Using district-level dataand maps, the report highlights starkgeographical differences in the extentof the hunger problem and identifiespotential paths forward.

Over the last four decades, thecountry has made significant progressin reducing hunger, at least in termsof meeting the minimum calorierequirements. However, as evidencedmost clearly in the high prevalence of

child stunting, micronutrient malnu-trition is endemic. The needle onprogress in the reduction of childstunting has hardly budged over thedecades, with 43.3 million stuntedchildren in the country. Even as thenation struggles to tackle these prob-lems, it faces an emerging threat in therapidly rising number of adults whoare overweight or obese, and conse-quently, in the prevalence of non-communicable diseases (NCDs).

Much of the disparity in nutri-tional outcomes in India can betraced back to different levels andrates of development among theStates. In the underdeveloped, agri-culturally-unproductive States of cen-tral and eastern India, cereal grainsdominate diets and rates of undernu-trition and micronutrient deficienciesare high. States in the north and southof the country, with developed agri-cultural sectors and thriving manu-facturing and services industries,have lower rates of undernutrition,but high rates of obesity.

Addressing both ends of themalnutrition spectrum requiresenhanced availability and access todiverse and nutritious foods that are

affordable for impoverished people.To achieve this goal, continued high-level investments in agriculturalinfrastructure and research are need-ed to sustain past gains in productiv-ity growth and exploit new opportu-nities for growth, such as the renewedinterest in millet and pulses. Indiamust re-orient agricultural policyaway from its traditional focus on sta-ples and towards enhancing the pro-ductivity and supply of coarse cere-als, pulses, fruits, vegetables and live-stock products.

A successful re-orientation ofthe agricultural policy on the nation-al level will require solutions at thelocal level. Localised cropping systemsacross the country must be rethoughtto boost productivity and increasecrop diversity while prioritising sus-tainability. For example, in easternIndia, where staple agriculture is lessproductive on account of poor infra-structure and agro-climatic condi-tions, less water-intensive crops, suchas pulses, coarse cereals and oilseeds,should be adopted.

Not only will such changesincrease India’s supply of nutrient-richfoods, helping to make them more

accessible and affordable, it will alsoincrease farmers’ incomes, empower-ing households to devote moreresources to nutritious foods.

Farmers with small holdings alsoneed support to overcome steeptransaction costs due to loweconomies of scale, poor marketconnectivity, low bargaining power,and inadequate information aboutprices and quality standards.

This is particularly true for per-ishable products like fruits and veg-etables, which are among the mostnutrient-rich. By investing in ruralmarket infrastructure, enacting mar-ket reforms and supporting farmer aggregation, India can enableits small-holding farmers to improve their livelihoods while pro-ducing more diverse agriculturalproducts.

Research also shows that empow-ering women to play a greater role inagriculture and household decision-making improves nutrition outcomes.Likewise, improving infrastructure forclean water and sanitation leads tobetter health and nutrition results.These strategies should be pursued inconjunction with changes in agricul-

tural policies. Additionally, foodassistance programmes should bereformed to offer more nutritiousfoods. Household diet preferencessuggest a move away from staplegrains but the Public DistributionSystem (PDS) is still limited to wheatand rice. By building the market infra-structure to support the productionand procurement of non-staples, theGovernment can diversify the PDS toinclude nutritious foods like coarsegrains and pulses.

The zero-hunger challenge is amulti-sectoral task and requiresexplicit strategies for convergence ofpolicies and programmes acrossMinistries at the Central, State andlocal government levels. Breaking outof disciplinary and organisational silosis crucial for ensuring success.

Achieving zero hunger in India isa significant challenge but can be metif the country re-orients its policies tounleash the full, untapped potentialof the agricultural sector, with anemphasis on producing nutritious,non-staple crops.

(The writer is Founding Director,Tata-Cornell Institute for Agricultureand Nutrition)

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Kathmandu: Nepal’s rulingcommunist party on Fridaydecided to convene a meetingof its top decision-making bodyon Saturday to try and end thetussle for power between belea-guered Prime Minister and for-mer premier Pushpa KamalDahal ‘Prachanda’ that hasdivided the party.

The decision to hold ameeting of the 9-memberCentral Secretariat was takenhours after the party post-poned for the fifth time theStanding Committee meetingtill Sunday to give more time toOli and the rival faction led byPrachanda, the executive chair-man of the Nepal CommunistParty (NCP) to have moretalks.

According to PrimeMinister’s press secretary SuryaThapa, the NCP has called asecretariat meeting after the twotop leaders have agreed to calla conclave of the highest bodyof the party ahead of the 45-member Standing Committeemeeting on Sunday in a bid tostrike a power-sharing deal bysorting out their differences.

During previous meetings,Oli has refused to resign or giveup his position as chairman ofthe NCP as demanded by thefaction led by Prachanda.

The party has also decidedto hold a crucial meeting of its441-member Central WorkingCommittee (CWC), GaneshShah, a Standing Committeemember, told PTI. PTI

Berlin: The United Nations isincreasing to $10.3 billion itsappeal for humanitarian aidfunding to handle the falloutfrom the coronavirus crisisaround the world.

Jens Laerke, a spokesmanfor the U.N. Office for theCoordination of HumanitarianAffairs, said in Geneva on Fridaythat “the number of people inthe world who need humani-tarian assistance has more thandoubled because of the COVID-19 pandemic and the effects ofthe global lockdown of

economies and societies.”At the beginning of the

year, humanitarian agenciestargeted around 110 millionpeople, he said. They nowneed to reach 250 million in 63countries. Laerke said the U.N.Initially asked for $2 billlion inlate March for the immediateresponse. That was increased to$6.7 billion in May. He said theappeal does cover basic healthservices but the bulk of it isrelated to non-health needs,such as food, water, sanitationand shelter. AP

United Nations: The Tehrik-e-Taliban Pakistan terror group’sleader Noor Wali Mehsud has been designated as a global terrorist by the UN forparticipating in the financing,planning and perpetrating acts on behalf of and in support of entities associatedwith al-Qaeda.

The UN Security Council’s1267 ISIL and Al-QaidaSanctions Committee addedMehsud, 42, to the ISIL (Da’esh)and Al-Qaida Sanctions List onThursday, subjecting thePakistani national to an assetsfreeze, travel ban and armsembargo.

The Sanctions Committeesaid that Mehsud was listed for“participating in the financing,planning, facilitating, or per-petrating of acts or activities by,

in conjunction with, under thename of, on behalf of, or in sup-port of ” entities associatedwith al-Qaeda.

In June 2018, Mehsud wasnamed the leader of Tehrik-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP), fol-lowing the death of formerTTP leader Maulana Fazlullah.

The TTP was blacklisted bythe UN on July 29, 2011 for itsassociation with al-Qaeda.

“Under Noor Wali’s lead-ership, TTP has claimedresponsibility for numerousdeadly terrorist attacks acrossPakistan, including an attacktargeting Pakistani securityforces in North Waziristan inJuly 2019 and a bomb attackagainst Pakistani soldiers inKhyber Pakhtunkhwa inAugust 2019,” the SanctionsCommittee said. PTI

Beijing: China isn’t seeking toconfront or replace the UnitedStates as the world’s top tech-nological power, but will fightback against “malicious slan-der” and attacks fromWashington, a foreign ministryspokesperson said Friday,responding to a litany of recentaccusations from the Trumpadministration.

Hua Chunying said China’schief concern was improvingthe livelihoods of its citizensand maintaining global peaceand stability, despite what crit-ics say is an increasingly aggres-sive foreign policy that looks toexpand Chinese influence inthe military, technology, eco-nomic and other spheres.

“As an independent sover-eign state, China has the rightto safeguard its own sover-eignty, security and develop-ment interests, to defend theachievements made by theChinese people with hard

work, to refuse any bullyingand injustice against China,and to fight back against mali-cious slander and attacks by theUS against China,” Hua toldreporters at a daily briefing.

Her comments came inresponse to a speech Thursdayby Attorney General WilliamBarr in which he cautionedAmerican business leadersagainst promoting policiesfavourable to Beijing. He

asserted that China at thebeginning of the coronaviruspandemic had not only domi-nated the market on protectivegear, exposing Americandependence on Beijing, buthad also hoarded supplies andblocked producers fromexporting them to countries inneed.

Barr also accused hackerslinked to the Chinese govern-ment of targeting American

universities and businesses tosteal research related to coro-navirus vaccine development,leveling the allegation againstBeijing hours after Westernagencies made similar claimsagainst Russia.

“The People’s Republic ofChina is now engaged in aneconomic blitzkrieg — anaggressive, orchestrated, whole-of-government (indeed, whole-of-society) campaign to seizethe commanding heights of theglobal economy and to surpassthe United States as the world’spreeminent technologicalsuperpower,” Barr said.

Numerous Trump allieshave issued strongly wordedmessages over China in recentdays, coming at a time whenbilateral relations have fallen totheir lowest point in decadesover issues from accusations oftechnology theft to China’sclaims in the South China Sea.

Hua dismissed Barr’s accu-

sations of cybertheft related tovaccine development as“absurd.” “Because everyoneknows that China is in a lead-ing position in the research anddevelopment of new coron-

avirus vaccines, we have first-class scientific research per-sonnel, and we do not need togain a leading position withtheft,” Hua said.

Chinese companies have

moved swiftly to develop acoronavirus vaccine, as coun-tries compete for the prestigeand profits that would comewith being the first to bringsuch a product to market. AP

Kathmandu: The NepalGovernment is planning toresume domestic and interna-tional flight operations fromnext month with the countrymaking steady progress in itsfight against the coronavirusoutbreak.

The Tourism Ministry isworking on a tentative plan tostart domestic flights fromAugust 5 and internationalflights from August 17, anofficial close to MinisterYogesh Bhattarai told PTI. Thefirst round of flights will be toand from capital Kathmandu,he said.

The number of activecoronavirus cases in Nepaldropped to about 6,000 thisweek, while the recovery rateremains impressive at 66.12per cent. In total, theHimalayan nation has report-

ed 17,445 COVID-19 cases.The COVID-19 death toll

rose to 40 on Friday after a 73-year-old man’s death due tocoronavirus complications wasconfirmed. The deceased was adiabetic and suffered from aheart condition.

The Tourism Ministry willrecommend the COVID–19Crisis Management Centre —headed by Deputy PrimeMinister Ishwor Pokharel — toresume flight operations fromnext month, the official said.

A cabinet decision isrequired to resume the flightservices. The Nepal govern-ment had suspended air travelin the third week of March tocontain the spread of the virus.

However, charter flightswere operated to deliver med-ical equipment and for repatri-ation. PTI

Washington: The US govern-ment’s top official in charge ofcoronavirus testing is urgingAmericans not to get retestedfor COVID-19 to confirmthey’ve recovered.

Assistant Secretary forHealth Admiral Brett Giroirsaid Thursday that repeat test-ing is not necessary for mostpeople who are infected butremain at home. He said suchtesting is “clogging up the sys-tem.”

US health officials will soonissue guidelines explicitly rec-ommending against the prac-tice, except for patients in themost severe cases.

Americans in many statescontinue to face long lines attesting sites and lag timesobtaining their results. Theproblems are due to a combi-nation of pressures, includingincreased testing demand, sup-ply shortages and bottlenecks atlaboratories processing the tests.

US officials are aiming toincrease the use of rapid tests toshorten turnaround times.Those tests can usually bedeveloped in 15 minutes or lessand can be performed at test-ing sites, doctor’s offices andclinics.

They tend to be less accu-rate than the tests that need tobe developed at clinical labo-ratories. AP

Beijing: Engorged with moreheavy rains, China’s mightyYangtze River is cresting again,bringing fears of furtherdestruction. The seasonalfloods that already have left141 people dead or missinghave grown in force since lastmonth.

The heavy rains areputting renewed pressure onthe massive Three GorgesDam that straddles the riverupstream of the city of Wuhanin Hubei province.

The official Xinhua NewsAgency said the rate of flow inthe reservoir behind the damwould hit a record for the yearon Friday night, at 55,000square meters (almost 600,000square feet) per second.

Rivers in the Yangtze sys-tem have broken their banks inplaces, and in Hubei, a heli-copter was used to drop stonesinto the breach to block theinrushing waters.

Flooding since the begin-ning of the month has forced

evacuations of around 1.8 mil-lion people in 24 provinces,mainly in southern China.Direct losses attributed toflooding are estimated at morethan 49 billion yuan ($7 bil-lion), according to theMinistry of EmergencyManagement.

Flood waters reached ashigh as 1.4 meters (almost 5feet) in Linshui county in thesouthwestern province ofSichuan, the ministry’s rescuedepartment reported. AP

Dhaka: The owner of a hospi-tal chain in Bangladesh thatswindled money from thou-sands of patients by issuing fakecoronavirus test reports hasbeen arrested in a border areawhile he was trying to flee toIndia, according to mediareports.

The Rapid Action Battalion(RAB) arrested Regent HospitalChairman Mohammad Shahedfrom Satkhira village borderingIndia on Wednesday and air-lifted him to Dhaka beforehanding him over to the police.

The RAB sealed off theheadquarters and two branch-es of Regent Hospital in Dhakaafter it emerged that the hos-pital authorities had swindledthousands of unsuspectingpatients out of millions of takason the pretext of coronavirustreatment, the bdnews report-ed.

It also initiated a caseagainst 17 people, includingShahed, on charges of issuingfake COVID-19 test reportsand other irregularities.

The case alleges that thehospital authorities dupednearly 6,000 patients out of Tk20.1 million (USD 237,129) byissuing fake coronavirus testsreports even though it was

supposed to provide free treat-ment for COVID-19. Theylater billed Tk 19.6 million(USD 231,231) to the healthdirectorate.

According to reports,Shahed belongs to the govern-ing Awami League party head-ed by Prime Minister SheikhHasina and is a member of itsforeign affairs subcommittee.

Shahed has 56 cases againsthim and was absconding sincethe RAB raided his hospitals.Another doctor and her hus-band were also arrested recent-ly on similar charges of falsi-fying test results.

JKG Health CareChairman Sabrina SharmeenHusain, a government cardiacsurgeon and the wife of thehospital’s CEO ArifulChaudhury, was arrested forproviding false reports withouttesting the swabs collectedfrom the people for COVID-19tests.

The National RevenueBoard on Friday instructedbanks to freeze the accountsheld by Shahed and Sabrina,the daily reported. The apex taxadministration authority haswritten to the central on theissue, according to a top NBRofficial. PTI

Tehran: Iran’s state-run IRNAnews agency is reporting thatthe United Arab Emirates flagcarrier airline has resumedflights to Tehran after fivemonths.

The Friday report said anEmirates Airline flight landedin Tehran’s Imam Khomeiniinternational airport. It wasthe first flight since lateFebruary when the airlinerstopped its flight after Emiratiauthorities found two Iranianswho were infected with thecoronavirus.

Emirates planned to haveone flight per day to Tehran-Dubai-Tehran with a Boeing777 jetliner. The outbreak inIran has killed at least 13,400people amid 264,561 con-firmed cases. AP

�������������.��������������������� ��/+$����.������!����Beijing: US officials have “losttheir minds and gone mad” intheir dealings with Beijing,China’s foreign ministry saidFriday, in the latest verbal salvobetween the two superpowers.

Tensions betweenWashington and Beijing haverun high this year and some ofthe most outspoken critics ofChina in American congresswere this week hit with sanc-tions, days after the USimposed visa bans and assetfreezes on several Chinese offi-cials.

US Attorney General Bill

Barr added fuel to the fire onThursday when he accusedBeijing of mounting an “eco-nomic blitzkrieg” to replaceWashington as the world’s pre-eminent power and spread itspolitical ideology around theworld.

But foreign ministryspokeswoman Hua Chunyingsaid Barr and other Americanofficials were criticising Chinato distract from domestic polit-ical problems.

“These people, for self-interest and political gain, donot hesitate to hijack domestic

public opinion... to the pointwhere they have lost theirminds and gone mad,” shesaid.

Hua added that China hadno intention of challenging orreplacing the US and said shehoped that Washington could“return to rationality” in itsChina policy.

“A sparrow cannot under-stand the ambition of a swan,”she said.

“This is a serious mis-judgement and misunder-standing of China’s strategicintent.” AFP

5�� � ����������������� ��� ���4��� ��Atlanta: Georgia Gov. BrianKemp sued the city of Atlantaover its face-mask requirementjust after President DonaldTrump arrived in the city with-out wearing a mask, MayorKeisha Lance Bottoms saidFriday.

In an interview on CBS“This Morning,” Bottoms ques-tioned the timing of the lawsuitfiled shortly after Trump’sWednesday visit to the city,calling the litigation “really odd.”

“I pointed out that DonaldTrump violated that order whenhe landed at our airport and didnot wear a mask,” she said.

She said Kemp “is a Trumployalist and he seems to workvery hard to please the presidentof the United States, and that isoften at the expense of the peo-ple in our state.”

Asked whether she thinksTrump encouraged Kemp to filethe lawsuit, she said she could-n’t speak about whatever con-versations they had.

But she added that Trump“was violating the rules of ourcity in just a blatant disregard forthe science.” Kemp defended thelawsuit during a press confer-ence Friday morning, accusingAtlanta officials of playing pol-itics and not enforcing Stateorders already in effect.

Kemp said the lawsuit wasfiled “on behalf of businessowners, their employees andhardworking Georgiansthroughout the region who con-tinue to struggle to make endsmeet.” “Mayor Bottoms maskmandate cannot be enforced, buther decision to shutter busi-nesses and undermine eco-nomic growth is devastating,”the Republican governor added.Kemp and Georgia AttorneyGeneral Chris Carr, in a statecourt suit filed late Thursday,argued that Bottoms has over-stepped her authority and mustobey Kemp’s executive ordersunder state law. AP

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Islamabad: In one of the mostsignificant shake-ups in years,the Taliban put the son of themovement’s feared founder incharge of its military wing andadded powerful figures to itsnegotiating team ahead ofexpected talks aimed at endingAfghanistan’s decades of war,Taliban officials say.As head ofa newly united military wing,30-year-old MullahMohammad Yaqoob, bringshis father’s fiercely uncompro-mising reputation to the bat-tlefield.

Equally significant is theaddition of four members ofthe insurgent group’s leadershipcouncil to the 20-membernegotiating team, Taliban offi-cials told The Associated Press.

The shuffle overseen byTaliban leader Mullah

Hibatullah Akhunzada ismeant to tighten his controlover the movement’s militaryand political arms, the officialssaid on condition of anonymi-ty because they were not autho-rized to discuss the inner work-ings of the movement.

Analysts say the shake-upcould be good news for nego-tiations with Afghanistan’spolitical leadership in Kabul,and a sign of just how seriousthe Taliban are taking this sec-ond — and perhaps most crit-ical — step in a dealWashington signed with theinsurgents in February.

“I’d say it appears to be apositive development becausethe Taliban are creating a del-egation that seems more seniorand more broad-based thanthey’ve used to date, or than

might be strictly necessary forthe opening stages of talks,”said Andrew Wilder, vice pres-ident of the Asia Program at theWashington-based US Instituteof Peace.

“If you want to see theglass as half full this strength-ened Taliban delegation couldbe interpreted as a sign thatthe group is planning toengage in serious discussions,”he said.

When the US signed thedeal with the Taliban onFebruary 29, after more than ayear and a half of negotiations,it was touted as Afghanistan’sbest chance at peace in fourdecades of war.

It was also seen as a roadmap for the withdrawal of UStroops from Afghanistan, end-ing America’s longest war. AP

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With India banning 59Chinese apps on June 29

amid border tensions with theneighbouring country, theaffected companies have begunreducing their workforce in thecountry as they stare at hugelosses.

Alibaba subsidiaryUCWeb, the company behindthe apps UC Browser and UCNews which feature in the listof apps banned by India, hasalready stopped service in thecountry, leading to job cuts atits Gurugram and Mumbaioffices.

“We have complied withthe government’s recent direc-tive concerning 59 apps andstopped the service,” a UCspokesperson said in a state-ment.

Earlier, in a statement onJuly 7, UC Browser warned itsIndia users that their data willnot be accessible after July 10.

“We are in the process ofcomplying with a recent gov-ernment directive... As ourservices may be affected, pleaseback up all data you deemimportant from the UC app toyour device no later than the

10th of July, 2020,” said thestatement.

“After that date, your datawill no longer be accessible, asservices will be under review,”it added.

Meanwhile, e-commerceplayer Club Factory, which isalso banned by India, sent anemail to sellers to inform themabout suspension of settlementof their pending dues until theban was lifted, All India OnlineVendor Association (AIOVA)said in a legal notice onThursday.

AIOVA, which representsmore than 2,000 sellers acrossthe country, demanded imme-diate settlement of dues tosellers.

Not settling dues of sellerswho delivered goods to con-sumers is a clear violation ofReserve Bank of India guide-lines, the notice said.

However, TikTok, owned

by Chinese unicorn ByteDance,might take the biggest hit by theban as its largest user base(nearly 120 million before theban came into force) is inIndia.

ByteDance is expecting aloss of $6 billion after three ofits apps were featured in the listof 59 banned apps in India,according to a report in China’sstate-run Global Times.

TikTok CEO Kevin Mayerearlier, however, reportedlyassured ByteDance employeesthat India’s move to ban the appwould not lead to salary cutsand layoffs in the country.

A Global Times report lastweek quoted an industry expertwho said that a large numberof Chinese companies mayshut their India offices and letgo of their local staff.Expertsexpect a wave of job layoffs dueto the ban on Chinese apps,said the report.

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Future economic policiesneed to be tailored towards

supporting the economy,depending on how effects ofpandemic play out, RBI exec-utive director M RajeshwarRao said on Friday.

He said the first set ofresponses from the ReserveBank of India was to ensure

that the markets continue tofunction and ensure solvencyin the financial sector.

Several measures, includ-ing reduction in Cash ReserveRatio, special finance facility,Long Term Repo Operations(LTRO) and Targeted LongTerm Repo Operations(TLTRO) were announced, hesaid at a webinar organised byAssocham.

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Markets darted up for thethird straight session on

Friday as robust corporateresults gave fresh impetus toinvestor bullishness, even as thecountry’s COVID-19 casecount breached the 10-lakhmark.

After trading on a pos-itive note through the day, the30-share BSE Sensex witnesseda burst of buying towards theend of the session to close at37,020.14, up 548.46 points, or1.50 per cent.

Similarly, the wider NSENifty surged 161.75 points, or1.51 per cent, to close at10,901.70.

During the week, theSensex advanced 425.81 pointsor 1.16 per cent, while the Niftygained 133.65 points or 1.24

per cent.ONGC was the top gain-

er in the Sensex pack on Friday,rallying 5.52 per cent, followedby Titan, Reliance Industries,HDFC Bank, M&M and BajajFinance.

Only five Sensex con-stituents closed in the red --TCS, Nestle India, Infosys,HCL Tech and Axis Bank,shedding up to 1.45 per cent.

According to traders,stock-specific buying drivenby earnings boosted the mar-kets, while a strengtheningrupee also added to the buyingmomentum.

“IT companies like Infosys,Wipro are amongst a few whowitnessed stock frenzy thisweek and gave an impression ofa good head start to the earn-ings season...The earnings per-formance by IT players has

brought about renewed confi-dence in D-Street which wassupposed to (witness) a‘washout quarter’.

“Going forward it isexpected that such perfor-mances will be largely dis-counted with a kneejerk reac-tion without significant pricemovements,” said Jimeet Modi,Founder & CEO Samco Group.IT firm HCL Technologies onFriday posted a 31.7 per centrise in consolidated net profitat Rs 2,925 crore for the June2020 quarter.

BSE oil and gas, ener-gy, consumer durables, finance,bankex and auto indices ralliedup to 5.05 per cent, while ITand teck ended in the red.

Broader BSE mid-capand small-cap indices jumpedup to 1.55 per cent in line withthe benchmarks.

Meanwhile, with arecord single-day surge of34,956 cases, India’s COVID-19tally zoomed past ten lakh onFriday, just three days after itcrossed the nine-lakh mark,according to the Union HealthMinistry data.

Global markets weremixed ahead of a crucialEuropean Union meeting overthe Euro 750-billion recoveryfund, while spiking coron-avirus cases in the US and othercountries weighed on senti-ment.

Bourses in Shanghai,Hong Kong and Seoul ended inthe green, while Tokyo closedlower.

In Europe, stockexchanges in Germany andthe UK were trading withgains, while those in Francewitnessed losses in early deals.

International oil benchmarkBrent crude futures slipped0.97 per cent to USD 42.95 perbarrel.

In the forex market, therupee appreciated by 16 paiseto close at 75.02 against the USdollar.

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There has been no impact ofCOVID-19 pandemic on

kharif (summer) sowing as thetotal area planted to rice andother crops has increased by21.20 per cent to 691.86 lakhhectare so far in the currentseason, the AgricultureMinistry said on Friday. Thecountry has so far receivedgood rainfall and water level in123 reservoirs across the coun-try is in good position, it saidin the latest sowing data.Sowing of kharif crops beginswith the onset of southwestmonsoon from June, whileharvesting starts from October.Rice is the main kharif crop,besides bajra, arhar, urad,moong, groundnut and soy-abean.

“As on July 17, total kharifcrops have been sown on691.86 lakh hectare area against570.86 lakh hectare area duringthe corresponding period oflast year, thus increase in areacoverage by 21.20 per cent,” theministry said. So, there is noimpact of COVID-19 onprogress of area coverage underkharif crops as on date, it said.

Among kharif crops, areaplanted to rice has increased by18.59% to 168.47 lakh hectare

as on July 17 from 142.06 lakhhectare in the year-ago period.There has been significantincrease in the planting ofoilseeds and pulses so far dur-ing the ongoing kharif season.

Pulses area has gone up by32.35% to 81.66 lakh hectare,from 61.70 lakh hectare, whilethat of oilseeds acreage hasincreased by 40.75% to 154.95lakh hectare compared to

110.09 lakh hectare in the saidperiod. Area planted to coarsecereals has increased by 12.23% to 115.60 lakh hectare so faras against 103 lakh hectare ayear ago.

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Now the corona warriorPPE kit and mask quality

will be tested in Ghaziabaditself. National AccreditationBoard for Testing andCalibration Laboratories(NABL) approved laboratory ofPPE Kit and Mask has beencommissioned by NorthernIndia Textile ResearchAssociation (Nitra), attached toMinistry of Textiles,Government of India. The spe-cial thing is that Sanjay Nagar,Sector 23 is also approved byBureau of Indian Standards. Itis a specialized testing school ofits kind in North India.Director General of Nitra, Dr.Sri Arindam Vasu stated thatonly PPE kits and masks ofhigh quality will help in pro-tecting Corona warriors andthe general public from theinfection of Corona.

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New Delhi: The Income TaxDepartment has issued refundsworth �71,229 crore to over 21lakh taxpayers during April 8to July 11.This includes per-sonal income tax (PIT) refundsof � 24,603 crore issued to 19.79lakh individuals and corporatetax refunds amounting to �46,626 crore to over 1.45 lakhtaxpayers during this period.

“It is further emphasisedthat all the refund relatedcleaning up of the tax demandsis being taken up on priorityand is likely to be completed byAugust 31, 2020,” an officialstatement said.

It said that the governmenthas laid great emphasis onproviding tax related services tothe taxpayers without any has-sles and is aware that duringthese difficult times of COVID-19 pandemic, many of the tax-payers are waiting to see thattheir tax demands and refundsreach finality as quickly aspossible, the statement added.

The Central Board ofDirect Taxes further asked tax-payers to provide immediateresponse to emails of thedepartment for quick process-ing of their refunds. PTI

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The Finance Ministry onFriday said public sector

banks have sanctioned Rs19,668.87 crore to 71 MSMEhubs across the country underthe Rs 3-lakh crore EmergencyCredit Line Guarantee Scheme(ECLGS).

Disbursement in theseclusters stood at Rs 12,871.50

crore as of July 15 to entitiesbelonging to micro, small andmedium enterprise (MSME)sector, hit hard by the COVID-19 crisis.

The scheme is the biggestfiscal component of the Rs 20-lakh crore AatmanirbharBharat Abhiyan packageannounced by FinanceMinister Nirmala Sitharamanlast month.

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New Delhi: As office workersare not sure whether the work-station is safe during Covid-19times, global workplace expe-rience and facility manage-ment company ISS haslaunched a new disinfectionand hygiene solution namedPure Space.It uses ATP technology to sci-entifically measure the out-come of cleaning. ATP standsfor Adenosine triphosphate, amolecule found only in andaround living cells, and cantherefore be used to measurethe concentration of microor-ganisms and the level ofhygiene. This factual, evidence-basedmethod helps dispel any doubtsthat an area is clean and readyfor working.”ISS has a respon-sibility to help society break thechain of infection. To do that,we have developed Pure Spacewith our scientific knowledgeof large-scale cleaning, disin-fection and workplace experi-ence,” says ISS Group COO,TroelsBjerg.

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India’s foreign exchangereserves increased by $3.108

billion during the week endedJuly 10.According to theReserve Bank of India’s week-ly statistical supplement, thereserves grew to $516.362 bil-

lion from $513.254 billionreported for the week endedJuly 3.India’s forex reservescomprise foreign currencyassets (FCAs), gold reserves,special drawing rights (SDRs),and the country’s reserve posi-tion with the InternationalMonetary Fund (IMF).

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It has been a time of double treatfor actor Sanya Malhotra who

had back to back reasons to cel-ebrate.

Recently, the trailer of hernext, Shakuntala Devi wasreleased and she has been garner-ing wide appreciation ever since.Now, her film Ludo’s announce-ment came in and she is superthrilled.

Sharing her excitement on theforthcoming line up with variousreasons to celebrate, Sanya shares,“This is a very exciting time forme, first the trailer of ShakuntalaDevi was released and then Ludo’srelease on Netflix was announced.And the response that I’m gettingfor the trailer as well as Ludo’sannouncement is overwhelming.I’ve been flooded with congratu-latory calls from family andfriends since yesterday and I’mhappy with how both announce-ments lined up together. Withback to back good news, it’salways more the merrier, special-ly while we are stuck on lock-down.”

The actor has time and again,treated the audience with her phe-

nomenal performances on-screenand her latest one being, ShakuntalaDevi is where one will be witness-ing her play the real life characterof Anupama Banerji, daughter ofShakuntala Devi.

Sanya has been gettingimmense appreciation from theaudience and critics, alike for herscreen presence. The actor also dida little dance recently to celebratethe trailer release.

Sanya’s bold and never seenbefore avatar also won over us withthe glimpse of Ludo that recentlywas announced to be releasing onOTT platform. The fans are eager-ly waiting and how.

The efforts that Sanya has putin her character are truly visible andit looks extremely promising. It’snot just her looks, the body lan-guage and dialogue delivery butalso everything looks extremelypolished.

With a promising line-up offilms, Sanya has many reasons tocelebrate. Shakuntala Devi is all setto release on July 30 on AmazonPrime Video. Her next project,Anurag Basu’s Ludo is along withGuneet Monga’s Pagglait.

Everyone feels they couldmake a fortune filming

themselves with their bestfriends challenging one anoth-er to outrageous public dares,but what happens when fourchildhood friends actually do?Well, the result is a blockbusterfamily entertainer that willleave you and your loved onesin splits.

Such is the world ofImpractical Jokers as BrianQuinn, James Murray, Joe Salindulge in hilarious antics thatleave the audience teary eyedas they simply cannot controltheir laughter.

Talking about the latestseason of Impractical Jokers,Quinn and Murray recentlyrevealed who is the funniestamongst the four of them andalso whom would they team upwith for a Joker vs Joker battle.

Quinn mentioned, “Thefunniest in the group depends

on the joke being said. Murrayhas the ability to make oneword funny, none of the otherguys have that. He says theword ‘No’ in a way, it never isn’tfunny to me. Nobody elsecould do that but Murray.” Hethen replied, “We all havemoments when we shineexceptionally, we also havemoments when we fail excep-tionally. Quinn, Jo and Sal arethe funniest guys in the groupsto me.”

Speaking on who theywould pick for the heated Joker

vs Joker Battles, Quinn said. “Itdepends on the moment; itdepends on what we are doing.Sal is useless at a lot of situa-tions but then I am useless tooin certain situations. It is alwaysshifting.” To which Murrayadded, “I would say my leastfavorite is Sal, he throws meunder the bus. I feel like Quinnis my favorite in Joker vs Joker.He and I have a good rapporttogether.” To which Quinnreplied, “I agree with that, webalance each other out in thosesituations.”

Remember how your mother wouldstuff your mouth and blazer pocketswith soaked almonds while you were

headed to school for your exam or a jobinterview? Yes, even when you were gettinglate, she would insist, “Zarur kha lena, issebuddhi chalegi.” Well, such nuskhas (home-made remedies) of an Indian mother mightseem a little too much to follow at times, butthey’ve certainly worked, time and again.And yes, not just mothers, but science agreestoo — almonds boost memory.

Actor and writer Soha Ali Khan, whohas been quite cautious about her food habitsand exercise, shares her story of how shebegan consuming almonds and continuesto find them as essential ingredients forhealth.

Excerpts of our ‘Badam pe Charcha’ withher:

� How relevant do you think a conversa-tion about everyday kitchen ingredientsis during this time of pandemic when peo-ple are becoming really health conscious?

Of course, the lockdown and theCoronavirus pandemic have been hugelychallenging and worrying in so many ways.But we have to look at the positive sideof everything. The idea is to seewhat we can learn and how wecan use this time as fruitful-ly as we can. We have beenlocked down for three tofour months now and we arestill unsure until when thiswill continue. We need to tryand get some more controlover certain things.

People have wanted to learnmythology, new diet patterns andwhat not. This is the time when youcan kick start that. I would say being healthyshould always be the priority for everyone.And now because you are not eating out atrestaurants, you are not attending parties,you can have a control over what you eat andthis is the time to be mindful. Everybodyknows that Indian food is so good for health.It has got all the right spices and ingredients.If you cook it properly, it actually address-es a lot of your medicinal and nutritionalconcerns. Besides our nuts and grain her-itage could help us develop healthy snacks.For example, almonds are superfoodsbecause of all the incredible minerals inthem like zinc, copper, healthy fats anddietary fibre. A handful of almonds every-day can really help you curb your hunger,gain energy and grow physically and men-tally stronger.

� How do you think nutrition tricks andparenting remain the same even as gen-erations evolve?

There are certain things that will con-tinue because they are timeless. Just like agood advice! As long as every generation’sexperience about a certain thing is the same

and proven, it is going to be handed down.For example, almonds are easy to consume,store and have a long shelf life. When thelockdown was announced, I actually stockedalmonds first. And if you keep them in theright temperature in the right way, then theylast for up to two years. So it’s a very goodfood to have in the house.

� For many, consuming the same foodeveryday might become boring. But that’swhat the lockdown has given us — thesame routine everyday. How do youensure variety?

Of course, there could be a sense ofboredom at home, especially for those whotravel often. Nowadays, every meal iscooked at home and you might get a littlerestless with that. But all of us, including(daughter) Inaaya (laughs), have tried ourhands at cooking something new. Inaayaloves to bake. We have to even control it attimes. We give her the ingredients and sheactually mixes them in a bowl. She is try-ing to learn about quantities, maths andchemistry of different things. Even Kunal(Kemmu, actor and husband) has learnt tomake some new dishes. He recently tried his

hand at making dum aaloo for thefirst time. It’s a Kashmiridish that his mother spe-cialised in. Well, now,

it’s empowering forhim that he can cookit for himself too.

When everyoneat home cooks some-

thing in their ownstyle, it changes the

monotony a little bit.And now, due to social

media and YouTube, everyonehas found a little chef in themselves. Theyare coming up with new recipes. Adaptivelearning is a wonderful part about humannature.

� Before the pandemic, there used to bevarious kind of routines and diet mantrasthat people followed. But now that we areindoors, 24x7, what do you think is goingto be the new normal for fitness?

Yes, outdoor activities are going to beshut for some time now. And gyms andparks will be closed. However, like I said,finding a positive side to things are impor-tant. So, anyway it’s monsoon time. In citieslike Mumbai, it gets difficult to be outsideat this time. Hence, for workout, I haveadapted to yoga because for it, you don’tneed to be in a gym or need equipment orbe outdoors. All you require is a mat or evena towel. It’s the best form of exercise, whichcan be done at any age. The best part aboutexercising at home — you don’t even haveto pay for them. There are also a lot of otheronline workouts. There are stairs, too. Justwalking up and down the stairs is quite anamazing form of exercise.

� In your book, The Perils of BeingModerately Famous, you have talkedabout how certain rules and regulationscome with being born in a royal family. Sohow have your growing up years influ-enced your health habits?

Yes, upbringing always shapes you.Especially when you become a parent, youtend to adopt the same style of parenting thatyour parents had around you. And comingback to physical exercise, we were quite asporty family. My father loved and playedsports. We, as kids, were always playing bad-minton or cricket or tennis. We used to beconstantly active, running around, going forcampaigns. We were very physically activeas a family. Even in Delhi, playing pithu andall outdoor games were our hobbies. It wasall about group sports. These days thoughit is about individual regimen.

Also, I have learnt about getting the rightnutrition from my parents. Even the wholealmonds theory came from my mother. Sheused to soak them overnight and give themto us in the morning before we went toschool. This is how I have seen the benefitsof almonds from a young age. Hence, I havealso habituated my child to it and make sureshe doesn’t miss it a single day.

A ‘royal family’ is just a tag or a name!It’s just an usual family growing up whichhas traditions and routines of their own justlike every other family has.

� How difficult is it to write a book aboutyourself, laying your life bare in front ofpeople that you didn’t even know or thosewho knew you?

Well, while writing the book, I felt thatI needed to be honest because otherwise, itisn’t fair to the readers who pay for a bookand don’t even find its content worth it. Whythen write a book at all? I would say I havethe ability to laugh at myself and not takemyself very seriously, which is why I amhappy to share a lot of things that have hap-pened in my life. I’ve always felt that some-where somebody relates to you.

Also, it was to debunk myths peoplehave about you coming from the royal fam-ily of Pataudis, being an actor, or living a lifethat they can’t imagine. Ultimately, when youwrite these things down, it strikes a chordwithin lot of people — young women, stu-dents, travellers, people who enjoy cricketand other things associated — and they builda connection. It’s about just that at the endof the day.

� What would you say is your fitnessmantra?

I personally love yoga. It’s the best forone’s mental, physical and emotional well-being. For others, I would say doing any-thing that gets your heart rate elevated forat least half an hour or an hour per day,whether it’s through dance, Zumba orPilates.

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Snow-capped mountains fronted bychinar trees, saffron fields, Kahwah tea,mirror-still lakes and a sumptuous

autumn season, Kashmir is a blessed land.One that some had to leave and could neverreturn to. This angst birthed the artiste inAabha Hanjura.

Says she, “When I did visit myhome in Kashmir, I got a newperspective on life. I grew upin Jammu, which wasunstable in its own way.There were curfews,bandhs, bomb blastsand a policed regime.My family wasforced to flee likethousand others in1990. But even then itwas not as intense asKashmir. I was tooyoung to understand thecircumstances, so I grew upoblivious to the political andemotional realities of the situation.The pain was felt strongly by my parents,grandparents and those who were of animpressionable age to process the situation.I saw pain in my grandmother’s and father’seyes who used to miss Kashmir a lot. Butthey never stopped rebuilding from scratch.”

When Aabha moved out to pursue

higher education and interacted with peo-ple from different states, people startedstereotyping her and asking cliché questions.

“A few years ago when I went toKashmir after having lived in a ‘normal’ citylike Bengaluru, I went as somebody who hadseen both sides of the story. When we vis-ited our home, the one my father built withhis sweat, blood and tears, a lot of memo-ries came alive. It was a bit surreal that some-body else lives there now — a kind of a bit-ter sweet experience. Along with that, I alsorealised that the place has some sort of painlooming in the environment. I interactedwith a lot of people there and realised thatthe pain was a common denominator for allof us. We all suffered in our own ways andeverything was so beautiful, yet painful,” shetells us.

This inspired her to create art that wouldpossibly change the dialogue on Kashmirand also bring her a few steps closer to theroots. The idea for her first album, SoundsOf Kashmir, was born then. “I believe thatwhen your roots are cut in front of you, youtry harder to grow them back. This albumis thus my little love letter to Kashmir. It’ssomething I’ve created with hope and lovein my heart for the Valley’s sound to traveloutside Kashmir. Hopefully, it resonates allover the world,” adds she. Recently, she hascome out with her fifth single from thisalbum — Nundbane. Excerpts:

� What is the meaning and significanceof Nundbane? Whom would you attributeit to?

Nundbane literally means the apple ofmy eye or my beautiful one. This is a sweetromantic song about love that is sung in thevalleys of Kashmir. It was written by this poetcalled Mehmood Gami and is an ultimateode to love. It is attributed to everybodywhom I love — my partner, parents, fami-ly and friends. During these tough times ofcrisis, all of us have realised the value of lovea bit more than we used to earlier. I feel wehave come closer to our loved ones. So thisis a song which you can essentially dedicateto anybody you love, even if you are far away,just like I am to Kashmir.

� The song is the fifth single from yourforthcoming album, Sound of Kashmir.What does the album aim to achieve?

The album aims to pay tribute toKashmir’s folklore. It also aims to stir a newdialogue about the land and bring peoplecloser to its rich culture, language and music.I hope to take that mountain sound to theworld stage, and hopefully, people will enjoymusic and always remember it.

� Recently, in an interview, you had saidthat the song was shot in Jaipur as it is cul-turally vibrant and it has that ‘khushboo’of Indian folk. But the song primarily dealswith the love and romance of Kashmir...

Well, the whole song has been createdsonically in a folk fusion style,

which marries elementsof Indian folk like dho-

lak and tabla, alongwith electric and

acoustic guitar.All these are thevery contem-porary ele-ments and ontop of it, thereis rustic

Kashmiri saazlike Rubab,

Tumbaknari andSantoor. So, the whole

sonic identity of the songborrows from the Indian

folk vibe. When I heard the song, ittook me to a space which had to be rich. SoI tried staying away from the obvious choiceof Kashmir, which I would have loved to, butthen there would have been no contrast. Ialso love doing visual storytelling in thesongs. Even if you see my song, Hukus Bukus

or Roshewalla, I have done that. I am alwaysexperimenting with visual storytelling in mymusic videos as that is a part of the processthat excites me as an artist.

� How did you manage to focus onKashmiri culture and traditions withJaipur as the backdrop?

I think the idea was to bring out a funcontrast, which has actually come out in thevideo and people are enjoying it. I was real-ly trying to do something different and pushthe envelope a little; the marriage has workedout pretty well in its own unique way.

� The rustic folk of Kashmir andRajasthani folk-rock ensemble are two dif-ferent genres. How challenging was it tocombine the two and create somethingrooted?

Yes, they are completely two differentgenres. Honestly, combining them was notchallenging as we knew we wanted some-thing very different. As an independentartiste, one’s endeavour is to do somethingthat is beyond the ordinary and that is whatI always try to do. I approach music with theidea of blending cultures. And this was aneffort in the same direction. It was appre-ciated all over as a lot of people from dif-ferent parts of the world could relate to thisin their own way, so I guess that’s what wetried to achieve.

� Given the political unrest in Kashmir,how do you think such songs and lyrics areimportant for people to keep their spiritshigh?

Yes, there is political unrest in Kashmir.Also, we all are pulled down in our own waysin the post-pandemic world. I think the jobof an artiste is to create songs about hopeso that people can resonate with their music.Nundbane is a happy bright song, about auniversal emotion, so I hope it brings a smileon people’s faces and cheers them up.

� How smooth or difficult it is to createmusic on something so relatable andpersonal?

Sometimes it’s smooth and sometimesvery difficult as you have to detach yourselffrom the past experiences to give a fresh nar-rative. As a songwriter, you have to let goof some perspectives, which is not easybecause it is too personal. This is a difficultbattle altogether, but this is the only way Ican do things which are organic and real. Ihave to keep my music authentic. So I havetried to keep that part of the processsmooth.

� Do you want to use your art to tell thestory of Kashmir aloud that can have a farreaching impact?

Chalo Chinaro Ke Gharo is a song thattells the story of thousands of Kashmiris,including mine. It is told in a way that yousee the story of separation and reunion, allengulfed in this magical world of a fairy tale.This is the way I want to tell these storiesbut the whole thing has to be very organicand real. I don’t run away from telling a polit-ical story. I come from a conflict-ridden state(now UT) and some of those influences willnaturally creep into my art and musicbecause this is what I am. But I always stickto things flowing naturally and never do itjust for the sake of doing it.

� What are your future projects? Do youhave a similar approach to any of yourother works too?

The idea is to finish this album andmove on to some new projects. There aresome interesting collaborations in thepipeline and varied directions that I am tak-ing with my music. I sing in different lan-guages, so I am excited about exploring allthat. I also sing in Punjabi, Dogri and Hindi.There is a lot of music waiting, I don’t tryto limit myself as an artiste or put myself ina box. I will keep on doing music in as manyways and expressions as they come.

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Real Madrid were crownedLa Liga champions forthe 34th time on

Thursday after Karim Benzemascored twice in a 2-1 victory overVillarreal which clinched the titlewith one game to spare.

Benzema’s double includeda second-half penalty at theempty Alfredo di StefanoStadium as Madrid moved sevenpoints clear to end Barcelona’stwo-year hold on the trophy.Barca had to prevail againstOsasuna at home and hopeMadrid slipped up but their fad-ing challenge ended with a 2-1defeat at Camp Nou, despite abrilliant Lionel Messi free-kick.

It means Madrid claimtheir third La Liga title in 12years, after a relentless run ofform since Spanish footballresumed on June 11 followingthe coronavirus pandemic.

Zinedine Zidane’s side havewon 10 games out 10 since therestart. They have concededfour goals in that time andnever been behind in a match.“For me this is one of the bestdays in my professional career,”said Zidane. “After lockdownand everything, it’s astonish-ing.”

Asked if it trumps theChampions League titlesMadrid won in his first spell asmanager, Zidane said: “This isbetter than anything. It takes atremendous effort to win LaLiga. After 38 matches, youhave more points than anyoneelse. It’s bloody fantastic.”

Madrid have also beenawarded five penalties duringthe run-in, some of them con-troversially, and this one causeda stir too as Sergio Ramos triedto roll the ball to Benzema, whofinished, but had entered thearea too early.

Much to Villarreal’s irrita-tion, Madrid were allowed toretake and this time Benzemamade no mistake, beforeVicente Iborra headed in whatproved a late consolation.

“It’s a prize for all the workwe’ve done, this is the reward,”said Ramos. “We have onemore match and we want towin 11 out of 11.”

SETIEN UNDER PRESSUREAfter three months away,

Barcelona had returned sittingtop of the table but draws withSevilla, struggling Celta Vigoand Atletico Madrid allowedMadrid to take charge. Barcawere also in first place when theysacked Ernesto Valverde inJanuary and while the club’sproblems go deeper than theircoach, Quique Setien’s positionwill come under scrutiny.

“Things have to change,”said Messi. “Everyone here in theclub will be feeling very angryabout what has happened thisseason and that’s normal. Theplayers feel like that too.” Messi

added: “We have to be self-crit-ical, starting with the players, butacross the whole club.”

Yet few could argue Madriddeserve the title and it was fit-ting that Benzema delivered it,his double taking his tally for theseason to 26 in all competitions.His first came after 28 minuteswhen Casemiro stole possessionin midfield and freed LukaModric. He slid throughBenzema, who fired through thelegs of Sergio Asenjo.

Ramos had scored five goalshimself since the restart andcould have had a sixth after hewas tripped by the dangling legof Sofian Chakla. But his ploy to

tee up Benzema backfired whenhis teammate encroached tooearly. Benzema converted the re-take. Iborra headed in MarioGaspar’s cross to set up a nervyfinish but Barcelona were stillbeing held by Osasuna.

Messi’s curling free-kickinto the top corner had cancelledout Osasuna’s opener from JoseArnaiz, once of Barca B. ButOsasuna had a final trick uptheir sleeve as Roberto Torresfinished at the back post to wrapup Barca’s miserable night at theend of a turbulent season. RealMallorca’s hopes of survival areover after they lost 2-1 at hometo Granada.

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Manchester United beatCrystal Palace 2-0 to keep

the pressure on Leicester aftertheir top-four rivals defeatedSheffield United as the battle forChampions League qualifica-tion heated up on Thursday.

Ole Gunnar Solskjaer’s sidehad no margin for error afterLeicester’s 2-0 victory earlier inthe day and they respondedthanks to goals from MarcusRashford and Anthony Martial.United’s fifth win in their last sixleague games leaves them infifth place in the PremierLeague.

They are level on pointswith fourth-placed Leicester,trailing them on goal difference,and one point behind third-placed Chelsea.

With the financial implica-tions of failing to reach the

Champions League certain tobe painful for United, Solskjaer’smen will be under intense pres-sure in their final two leaguegames. After Sunday’s FA Cupsemi-final against Chelsea,United host West Ham onWednesday before a decisiveshowdown at Leicester on July26.

United could also qualifyfor the Champions League ifthey win the Europa League,which is set to resume inAugust.

Rashford broke the dead-lock in first-half stoppage-timewhen the England forwardcleverly deceived two Palacedefenders with a drag-backand slotted home from closerange. Palace complained vehe-mently that they should havebeen given a penalty momentsearlier when Wilfried Zahawent down after contact from

Victor Lindelof.Referee Graham Scott

waved away their appeals andVAR didn’t change the decision,with replays showing Lindelofgot a slight touch on the ball.Palace were denied again in thesecond half when Jordan Ayew’sgoal was ruled out for offside byVAR.

Martial killed off Palace inthe 78th minute with a clinicalfinish after good work byRashford.

At the King Power Stadium,Leicester earned their first winin three games thanks to goalsfrom Ayoze Perez and DemaraiGray. Thrashed 4-1 byBournemouth on Sunday,Brendan Rodgers’ team tookthe lead in the 29th minute withPerez’s first goal since January.Gray’s deft finish sealed thepoints from Jamie Vardy’s passin the 79th minute.

Leicester’s next match is atTottenham on Sunday beforethe Manchester United clash onthe last day of the season.

������Antonio Conte hailed in-form Alexis Sanchez as an “extraweapon” as the Chilean inspiredInter Milan to a 4-0 win overlowly SPAL to move second inSerie A, six points behind lead-ers Juventus.

Sanchez’s Inter career start-ed off badly, with injuries hold-ing him back, but the on-loanforward is now proving to be akey player in Inter’s title chal-

lenge.“He is a rediscovered foot-

baller, with the right hunger,”said Conte. “He suffered a lot,he is now well, he is an extraweapon for us.”

Conte’s side revived theirtitle challenge, taking advan-tage of defending champions

Juventus’ draw with Sassuolo onWednesday, with Atalanta a fur-ther point adrift in third withfive games left to play.

Former Manchester Unitedand Arsenal forward Sanchezteed up Antonio Candreva forthe opener eight minutes beforethe break in Emilia-Romagna.

Cristiano Biraghi added asecond on 55 minutes and thencrossed for Sanchez to head inon the hour mark. Ashley Youngpicked out Roberto Gagliardinito tap in a fourth with 16 min-utes to go. AFP

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Ben Stokes reached his10th Test century and

powered onto 172 not outas England quickened thepace in search of a bigfirst-innings total againstthe West Indies on daytwo in the second Test atOld Trafford.

England was 378-5 atTea on Friday, with thedeparture of Dom Sibleyfor 120 allowing the hoststo increase the miserlyrun rate in Manchester.

In the middle withStokes was Jos Buttler,who was on 12 and — asa limited-overs specialist— might thrive in theenvironment as he looksfor a score to quiet thecritics after a poor run ofform in Test cricket.

England lost twowickets in the middle ses-sion, with Sibley’s snail-like innings eventuallyending when he smashedspinner Roston Chase toKemar Roach as he ranround from midwicket.Sibley faced 372 balls forhis second highest Testscore, only behind the133 he made againstSouth Africa in CapeTown in January.

Ollie Pope (7) wasthen trapped plumb infront of the stumps byChase, whose easy off-breaks have returned fig-ures of 4-105.

Stokes was plough-ing on with what is easi-ly his longest ever Testinnings of 349 balls, butwas still a way off hishighest test score of 258.

An extraordinarystraight six off pacemanAlzarri Joseph was a sig-nal of intent by the all-rounder after he broughtup three figures with areverse sweep soon afterlunch, having resumedon 99.

Stokes, who wasdropped on 157 by ShaiHope at gully off ShannonGabriel, passed Sibley forruns made before their260-run partnershipended, and has struck 17fours and two sixes.

The overall run ratewas up to 2.71, from 2.44at lunch. The run rate inthe middle session was3.68. Windies are 1-0 upin the three-match seriesand looking for a first Testseries victory in Englandin 32 years.

New Delhi: All India FootballFederation (AIFF) general secretaryKushal Das on Friday said its “endeav-our” is to start the U-17 Women’sWorld Cup team camp in the firstweek of August, hoping to find a wayout amid the Covid-19 pandemic.

He said they are also aiming tostart the U-16 team camp, which is thefederation’s top priority at themoment, around the same time asthere is a tournament scheduled forNovember in Bahrain.

Talking about the senior men’snational team, Das said the camp willlikely begin in September inBhubaneswar as the capital city ofOdisha is slated to host India’s twoWorld Cup Qualifiers in October andNovember respectively. “Our firstpriority is to start the U-16 camp sincethey have a tournament in November.

That is the first endeavour. We are alsoconscious of fact that the U-17 WorldCup team has to start its preparation.We should be able to start bothcamps by first of week of August,” Dastold AIFF.

While the venue for the seniornational team is fixed, a lot alsodepends on the state Governments asfar as organising the camps for the U-16 outfit and U-17 women’s side areare concerned.

“We are in talks with various stateGovernments and the SportsAuthority of India (SAI). Hopefully,in next one week, we will finalise adate for the camps. “For the seniorteam the aim is to start in earlySeptember.

It is a very tricky situation but wewill look to do our best under the cir-cumstances.” PTI

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)-�����*����7��9��#����:Barcelona: Lionel Messi has rarely been known for speakingout but he could not help himself when analysing what has beena disastrous season finale for Barcelona and did not hold backafter Thursday’s limp 2-1 La Liga defeat at home by Osasuna.

Calling his side “weak”, “inconsistent” and “very easy to scoreagainst”, the club captain called for urgent changes after surren-dering the league title to Real Madrid, saying it was no goodto use their rivals’ relentless form as an excuse.

“Messi explodes”, ran the cover of newspaper MundoDeportivo.

Barca’s attentions now turn to the Champions League, a tro-phy they have somehow failed to win since 2015 despite most-ly reigning supreme in Spain in that period.

But few would back them to win the mini-tournament inLisbon in August, least of all Messi, who does not even fancytheir chances of hurdling their last-16 tie with Napoli, whichis poised at 1-1 ahead of the second leg at the Camp Nou onAugust 8.

“I said a while ago that it would be very hard to win theChampions League if we kept playing like this and it turned outit wasn’t even good enough to win the league,” he said.

“If we want to win the Champions League we need to changemany things, otherwise we will lose to Napoli too.

“We need to clear our heads, this break should give us theopportunity to take some air as things have been very bad fromJanuary to now.”

Messi’s words were a particularly scathing statement of thereign of coach Quique Setien, who was appointed in Januaryafter the club sacked Ernesto Valverde when they were top ofthe table on goal difference. Agencies

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5'B<�H������������� &��#� ���� � �������& )��������������� �����������-9����������Desperate to end itsfour decade medal jinx, theIndian men’s hockey team willopen its campaign against NewZealand at the Tokyo Olympicson July 24 next year.

The women’s side will be upagainst mighty Netherlands intheir first match on the sameday. Men’s team will nextAustralia on July 25, followed bymatches against Spain (July 27),reigning Olympic championsArgentina (July 29) and Japan(July 30).

After their Games openeragainst Netherlands on July 24,Indian Eves will play Germany(July 26), Great Britain (July 28),Argentina (July 29) and Japan(July 30). PNS