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IN BRIEFNEWS

Olympic fever as Hidilyn Diaz winsPhilippines' first ever gold medal

Vol. No. VI Issue No. 164 RNI-ASSENG/2014/58385 | GUWAHATI THURSDAY JULY 29, 2021 | PAGES 8 PRICE RS. 7.00

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Police outposts alongborder with Assam

Guwahati, July 28 : The MeghalayaGovernment has announced settingup of a number of police outpostsalong the inter-state border withAssam. Announcing the develop-ment, Meghalaya chief ministerConrad Sangma said that several lo-cations have been finalised by thestate government for setting up ofpolice outposts. However, CMSangma said that setting up of out-posts in "sensitive areas" along theAssam-Meghalaya border will de-pend on talks between both thestates. "Setting up of police outpostsin sensitive areas along the inter-stateborder will depend on the talks be-tween the two states," Meghalaya CConrad Sangma said. Sangma added:"But we will go ahead with settingup of the outpost in the areas wherethere are no disputes." "Setting upoutposts in sensitive areas will leadto more tension, aggression and dif-ferences," the Meghalaya chief min-ister said. Speaking on the clash atbetween locals of Iongkhuli villagein Ri Bhoi district of Meghalaya andAssam Police, CM Sangma said thathe has taken up the matter withAssam CM Himanta Biswa Sarma. "Ispoke with Assam Chief Minister.Both of us have decided that thereshould not be any further instigationand we should try to maintain peace,"CM Sangma said.

Re-shuffle inAssam Police

Guwahati, July 28 : A minor re-shuffle has been effected in theAssam Police department.The re-shuffle has been done following theAssam-Mizoram border clash onMonday.Hailakandi SP RamandeepKaur has been transferred andposted as SP Cachar. Notably,Cachar SP - Nimbalkar VaibhavChandrakant sustained injury afterMizoram police opened fire duringthe clash on Monday.Also read:Assam-Mizoram border clash: Onemore policeman succumbs to bulletinjury, death toll mounts to 7Mean-while, Chirang SP Gaurav Upadhyayhas been transferred and posted asHailakandi SP.On the other hand,DCP (Traffic) of Guwahati Police -Pranjit Borah has been transferredand posted as Chirang SP.

One more deathGuwahati, July 28 : One more per-sonnel of the Assam Police has suc-cumbed to bullet injuries that he sus-tained on Monday after Mizorampolice opened fire during an inter-state border clash. The deceased cophas been identified as ShyamprasadDusat from the 6th Assam Police Bat-talion. With the demise of Dusat, thedeath toll on Assam side due toMonday's clash has now risen toseven. On Monday, five Assam Po-lice personnel and one civilian haddied due to firing by Mizoram Police.Dusat breathed his last at the SilcharMedica College and Hospital(SMCH) on Tuesday evening. Con-doling the demise of ShyamprasadDusat, Assam CM Himanta BiswaSarma said: "I am sad to inform thatShyamprasad Dusat of 6th AP Bn hassuccumbed to his abdominal bulletinjury at SMCH. He couldn't be op-erated or moved to Guwahati be-cause of his worsening condition. Isalute the brave martyr and bow inreverence. My heartfelt condolencesto the family."

Chief Secretaries of Assam andMizoram - Jishnu Baruah andLalnunmawia Chuaungo havebeen summoned by Union HomeSecretary Ajay Kumar Bhalla toNew Delhi. The Chief Secretariesof the two states have been sum-moned by the Union Home Sec-retary over the clashes that brokeout in the inter-state border onMonday. Assam chief secretaryJishnu Baruah has already left forNew Delhi. At least five Assampolice personnel and one civilianlost their lives after Mizoram po-

MHA summons Assam, Mizoramchief secretaries over border clashes

lice opened firing. Prior to that theAssam Police had reportedly re-sorted to tear gas shelling to dis-perse an agitating crowd that hadgathered at both the sides. Apartfrom the deceased, many on boththe sides had sustained grievousinjuries, of which condition of afew are stated to be critical. Assamchief minister Himanta Biswa

Sarma said that as many as 42persons sustained injuries due toopening of fire by Mizoram Po-lice. On the other hand, MizoramCM Zoramthanga, on Tuesday,shared a picture of a youth in histwitter handle, saying that theyouth suffered bullet wound be-cause of firing by Assam Policeand is undergoing treatment atKolasib Civil Hospital. The BJP-led Assam government's crack-down on narcotics smuggling andthe new law restricting cattletransportation through its terri-tory might have been triggers for"non-state actors" in Mizoram toengineer Monday's flare-up inwhich five cops were killed, CM

Himanta Biswa Sarma said onTuesday."The drugs route origi-nates in Myanmar and travelsthrough Mizoram and Assam'sBarak Valley all the way toPunjab," he said, urging hisM i z o r a m c o u n t e r p a r tZoramthanga to probe "howcould civilians in battle fatiguesand bulletproof vests, turn up atthe border to attack our police-men with sniper rifles. I have videoevidence. I think it should be in-vestigated whether certain vestednon-state actors entered thefray".Local residents staged aroad blockade on National High-way 306 connecting Silchar with CONTINUED ON PAGE 6

Assam Rising News Desk,Guwahati, July 28 :

Centre To Meet Assam,Mizoram Officials, PoliceChiefs Over Border Row

New Delhi, July 28 storing a degree of peacealong the Assam-Mizoramborder, where an uneasycalm holds for now.The cen-tre has said it can only facili-tate a settlement in case ofborder disputes betweenstates, underlining that these

can only be resolved with theco-operation of the con-cerned governments.Thereare seven such disputes, andAssam is involved in four ofthese. In addition toMizoram, the northeasternstate has border disputeswith Arunachal Pradesh,Nagaland and Meghalaya. CONTINUED ON PAGE 6

Gaurav Gogoi demands probe intoAssam-Mizoram border clash

New Delhi.Earlier in the day,Gogoi moved an adjourn-ment motion notice in LokSabha over the Assam-Mizoram clash.In his letterto Lok Sabha Secretary-General, the Congressleader said, "I hereby givenotice of my intention to askfor leave to move a motion

for the adjournment of thebusiness of the House for thepurpose of discussing a defi-nite matter of urgent impor-tance namely - the atrocitiesand instability that are seenat the border of Assam." CONTINUED ON PAGE 6

Assam Rising News Desk,Guwahati, July 28

Assam Rising News Desk,

Bharatiya JanataParty (BJP) leaderBasavaraj Bommaion Wednesday tookoath as the Chief Min-ister of Karnataka atthe Glass House inthe Raj Bhavan. Gov-ernor ThaawarchandGehlot administeredhim the oath of officeand secrecy. Withthis, Bommai, aYediyurappa loyalist,who has his originsin the Janata Parivar,scripted history inbeing part of a father-

Basavaraj Bommaitakes oath as new

Karnataka CMNew Delhi, July 28

son duo to have led thestate on different occa-sions. Previously JDSSupremo H D DeveGowda and his sonKumaraswamy havebeen CMs duringd i f f e r en t pe r iods .Bommai's father S RBommai was a JanataParivar stalwart andhad served as the 11thCONTINUED ON PAGE 6

India's Assam state said on Tues-day it will deploy 4,000 commandosto guard its border with a rival stateafter six police officers were killed

in a gun battle between the feudingneighbours.More than 60 otherswere injured in the rare showdown

Assam to deploy 4,000commandos after border killings

on Monday on Assam's border withMizoram. The two have been wran-gling over their border fordecades.Assam Chief MinisterHimanta Biswa Sarma told report-ers at Silchar, near where the battlewas fought, that the "new com-

mando battalion" would be de-ployed on the border.Tension hadbeen building between the two

states since last month whenMizoram alleged that Assam had en-croached on its territory. Assam inturn accused Mizoram villagers ofencroaching on reserve forestland."We don't want any infiltra-tion. These are reserved forests, CONTINUED ON PAGE 6

Assam Rising News Desk,Guwahati, July 28 :

The Hubble Space Tele-scope has gleaned evi-dence of the presence of the

Hubble finds evidence of water vapour atJupiter's moon Ganymede for first time

water vapor in the atmo-sphere around Jupiter'smoon Ganymede, the largestmoon in our solar system, astudy on their findings was

New Delhi, July 28 published on Monday in thejournal 'Nature Astronomy'.The water vapor is formedduring the process calledsublimation - when the icy

surface of the moon turnsfrom a solid to a gas. Astrono-mers uncovered this watervapor while using a combi CONTINUED ON PAGE 6

A 'JAMTARA' type gang op-erating from Katahguri villageunder Dhing police station hasbeen busted by Nagaon po-lice led by ASP Dhruba Boraand 3 of it's operatives havebeen arrested. The main ac-cused were Sahidul Islam (21),

Nagaon Police busted JAMTARA gang: 3 arrestedDildar Hussain (21) andMaizanur Rahman (21). All are21 yrs old and are fromKathaguri under Dhing PS.Police recovered 200 SIMCards, 4 Mobile phones and aLaptop. They have been ar-rested from their rented accom-modation from Haibargaon

area.It is known that scores ofyoung people from Kathaguriunder Dhing and Tuktuki,Moirabari, Lohirighat inMorigaon District are intothese frauds and are closelyworking in coordination withthe JAMTARA Gangs and are CONTINUED ON PAGE 6

Assam Rising News Desk,Nagaon, July 28 :

The Board of SecondaryE d u c a t i o n A s s a m(SEBA) gets ready to de-clare the HSLC/AHM Ex-amination 2021 results onJuly 30 while the AssamHigher Secondary Edu-

HSLC results to be declaredon July 30, HSSLC on July 31

cation Council (AHSEC)will declare the HSSLCresults on July 31.Boththe HSLC and HSSLC ex-aminations 2021 could notbe held due to theCovid19 situation.Theevaluations have beendone on the basis of data CONTINUED ON PAGE 6

Assam Rising News DeskGuwahati, July 28 :

Cabinet meeting held under theChairmanship of Chief Minister

Dr. Himanta Biswa Sarma

Chief Secretary. 2. As a partof State government’s de-cision to appoint one lakhyouths in government jobs,the Cabinet has decided tostart the process to fill up15 thousand vacant postsin Assam Police. The pro-cess will start from 15th

September, 2021.. 3. Cabinetdecided to create five newbattalions of Assam Police.6270 youths will be ap-pointed in these battalions.,4. Cabinet has decided toattach Printing and Statio-nery with Information andPublic Relations Depart-ment. Henceforth, the De-partment will be known asInformation, Public Rela-tions, Printing and Statio-nery., 5. Cabinet has alsodecided to attach PublicEnterprise Department withIndustries and CommerceDepartment., 6. Cabinet hasalso decided to attach Pass-port Department withHome., 7. Cabinet has de-cided to enhance monthlyamount of sports pensionfrom the existing Rs. 8000to Rs. 10,000., 8. Cabinetalso decided to provideSports Pension to the medalwinners of Commonwealthand National Games., 9.Cabinet decided that medalwinners of Olympic, Com-monwealth and CONTINUED ON PAGE 6

07

The Home Ministry will to-day meet senior Assam andMizoram officials - chief sec-retaries and DGPs (DirectorGeneral of Police) - in thewake of violence along the

Cabinet meeting held underthe Chairmanship of ChiefMinister Dr. Himanta BiswaSarma today . Decisions ofthe taken by cabinet meet-ing are - 1. Cabinet decidedto appoint a Police Commis-sion to be headed by Re-tired IAS OfficerHimangshu Sekhar Das,and former DGP PV Sumantfor three months to recom-mend measures for improve-ment of policing system,their activities and deploy-ment in the state. Both ofthem will get the status of

Guwahati, July 28 :

states' shared border on Mon-day that claimed the lives ofsix policemen and a civilian,and injured over 50people.Home Ministry Secre-tary Ajay Bhalla will chair themeeting that will discuss theborder dispute and suddenescalation of violence. Themeeting will, it is hoped, bethe first step towards re-

A day after the death of sixAssam police personnel anda civilian in a violent clash withMizoram along the inter-stateborder, Congress MP GauravGogoi on Tuesday demandedan inquiry into the incident.Hesaid the incident reflects a fail-ure of the constitutional ma-chinery of the states."Somemedia reports say Light Ma-chine Gun (LMG) was usedduring the Assam-Mizoramborder clash yesterday. Are wein our country or on the bor-ders of the country? We de-mand an inquiry into this inci-dent," Gogoi told reporters in

NATIONAL-INTERNATIONALTHURSDAY, JULY 29, 20212

hows the closed waterway of the Ma'anshan section of the Yangtze River in advance of the approaching TyphoonIn-Fa, in Ma'anshan City, east China's Anhui Province

hows the closed waterway of the Ma'anshan section of the Yangtze River in advance ofthe approaching Typhoon In-Fa, in Ma'anshan City, east China's Anhui Province

Manila, July 28 : WeightlifterHidilyn Diaz, one day after makinghistory as the Philippines' first everOlympic gold medallist, took topbilling in an ecstatic nation'snewspapers above reports on amajor speech by her president.Butfor the 30-year-old being showeredwith accolades, the story was verydifferent in 2019, when her name

Olympic fever as Hidilyn Diaz winsPhilippines' first ever gold medal

was included on a list of peopleaccused of plotting against thesame man, Rodrigo Duterte.Inclusion on the list by SalvadorPanelo, then spokesman forDuterte, made Diaz fear for her life,she was quoted by domestic mediaas saying at the time.But that didnot deter her from her Olympicambitions."Don't link the name ofa person who is busy makingsacrifices for the Philippines andwho is doing everything torepresent the Philippines inweightlifting," she said in a 2019Facebook post that dismissedPanelo's claims. "I am focused atmy Tokyo 2020 goal."Philippinespresident Duterte: 'You choose,Covid vaccine or I will have youjailed'Fast forward to the presentday, and officials have only praisefor the woman who ended the nearcentury-long wait for Olympicgold for a nation that firstcompeted in the Games in

1924.Diaz is a four-time Olympianand won a silver medalin the 2016Rio Olympics. She upset the worldrecord holder in the women's 55kgweightlifting category in Tokyo onMonday."We will carve HidilynDiaz' name in the Philippines'history," presidentialspokesperson Harry Roque told amedia briefing on Tuesday.Hedistanced himself from Panelo'slist, adding: "I don't know what ...you are talking about. Asspokesperson, I did not accuseHidilyn Diaz of anything."The listwas presented in May 2019 as aninterlinked chart of people who,according to a governmenttranscript, were accused of aiming"to discredit this administrationleading to its ouster".Diaz's nameappeared on the chart, which thegovernment-run Philippine NewsAgency said illustrated a "plot todiscredit" the government, butPanelo did not refer to her

directly.Duterte, 76, has frequentlyportrayed his critics as enemiessince sweeping to power inelections five years ago.Panelo onTuesday said it was not hisintention to link Diaz to a plot,saying the media had drawn thatconclusion after he presented thematrix."It is truly dishearteningthat there are people who seek totake the limelight out of Ms Diaz'srecent triumph and convert it intoa political skirmish of who shouldand should not celebrate ourcountry's win," Panelo, who isDuterte's chief legal counsel, saidin a statement.Diaz, meanwhile,hopes that those celebrating candraw inspiration from herachievement too."I'd like to say toall Filipinos, nothing isimpossible," she said in a newsconference that was streamed liveon Facebook."Despite thepandemic, we're here and webrought home the medal."

London, July 28 : Joey Jordison, thedrummer whose dynamic playing helped topower the metal band Slipknot to globalstardom, has died at age 46.His family wrotein a statement: "We are heartbroken to sharethe news that Joey Jordison, prolificdrummer, musician and artist passed awaypeacefully in his sleep … Joey's death hasleft us with empty hearts and feelings ofindescribable sorrow. To those that knewJoey, understood his quick wit, his gentlepersonality, giant heart and his love for allthings family and music."Jordison was bornand raised in Des Moines, Iowa, and playedin a number of local bands before joiningSlipknot - then called the Pale Ones - in1995, with Jordison naming the band afterone of their song titles. He featured on theband's first release, Mate. Kill. Feed.Repeat., and the lineup grew to ninemembers for their self-titled debut album in1999.Powered in part by Jordison's high-speed drumming in tandem with

Joey Jordison, Slipknot's foundingdrummer, dies at age 46

Murderdolls, a side project hehad begun in 2002. Over theyears, he also played livedrums for Metallica, Korn,Satyricon, Ministry and RobZombie.Metal stars payingtribute include Serj Tankian ofSystem of a Down, who calledhim "an amazing drummerand a fantastic guy", andTrivium frontman MatthewHeafy, who said: "Joey'scontributions to musicchanged the face of heavymusic on the planet as weknow it."

percussionists, and adopting horror-movieoutfits featuring boiler suits and masks -Jordison used an expressionless mask usedin Japanese noh theatre - the band broughtdrama and invention to the US metal scene.Their debut album was certified platinum in2000, and set the stage for second albumIowa, which topped the UK album chart in2001 and is regarded as a bleak genremasterpiece.Jordison played on two furtherstudio albums with the band: 2004's Vol 3:(The Subliminal Verses) and 2008's All HopeIs Gone, their first to top the US chart. In2005, he won a Grammy with the band, whoearned best metal performance for Before IForget.In August 2010, readers ofdrumming magazine Rhythm voted Jordisonthe greatest drummer of the previous 25years. "This is bigger than a Grammy tome! You people keep me alive, I can't thankall of you enough," Jordison said.He left in2013, with the band announcing: "It is withgreat pain but quiet respect that for personalreasons Joey Jordison and Slipknot areparting ways." In 2014, Jordison claimedhe had been fired and was "shocked andblindsided" by the decision. He laterrevealed he had transverse myelitis, a nervedisease, which had affected his ability toplay."I lost my legs. I couldn't play anymore. It was a form of multiple sclerosis,which I don't wish on my worst enemy," hesaid in 2016. "I got myself back up, and Igot myself in the gym, and I got myself backin therapy to beat this … If I can do it, youcan do it. To people with multiple sclerosis,transverse myelitis or anything like that, I'mliving proof that you can beat thatshit."After leaving Slipknot, Jordison wenton to form the bands Scar the Martyr, Vimicand Sinsaenum, and continued

Julian Assangestripped of citizenship

by EcuadorLondon, July 28 : Ecuador has revoked the citizenship ofJulian Assange, the founder of WikiLeaks who is currently ina British prison.Ecuador's justice system formally notifiedthe Australian of the nullity of his naturalisation in a letterthat came in response to a claim filed by the South Americancountry's foreign ministry.A naturalisation is reconsideredwhen it is granted based on the concealment of relevantfacts, false documents or fraud. Ecuadorian authorities saidAssange's naturalisation letter had multiple inconsistencies,different signatures, the possible alteration of documentsand unpaid fees, among other issues.Carlos Poveda,Assange's lawyer, said the decision was made without dueprocess and Assange was not allowed to appear in thecase."On the date [Assange] was cited he was deprived ofhis liberty and with a health crisis inside the deprivation ofliberty centre where he was being held," Poveda said.Povedasaid he will file appeals asking for an amplification andclarification of the decision. "More than the importance ofnationality, it is a matter of respecting rights and followingdue process in withdrawing nationality."Assange receivedEcuadorian citizenship in January 2018 as part of a failedattempt by the government of then-President Lenín Morenoto turn him into a diplomat to get him out of its embassy inLondon.On Monday, the Pichincha court for contentiousadministrative matters revoked this decision.Ecuador'sforeign ministry said the court had "acted independentlyand followed due process in a case that took place duringthe previous government and that was raised by the sameprevious government".Assange, 50, has been in the high-security Belmarsh prison in London since he was arrested inApril 2019 for skipping bail seven years earlier during aseparate legal battle.Assange spent seven years holed upinside Ecuador's London embassy, where he fled in 2012 toavoid extradition to Sweden to face allegations of rape andsexual assault, which he denied.

Melbourne, July 28 : A German-based conspiracy group helped todrive a series of anti-lockdownprotests across Australia whichsaw dozens of people arrested andhundreds fined after violentclashes with police.Police arrestedmore than 60 people and fined 107more after a crowd of about 3,000gathered in Sydney on Saturday toprotest against the city'slockdown.Coordinated by a loosenetwork of conspiracy-lacedgroups, including some with linksto the far right, rallies took place incities across Australia and theglobe, with violent clashes betweendemonstrators and police inSydney.Protests against Covidrestrictions have become commonthroughout the pandemic. Whilebilled as peaceful protests, policesaid they were surprised by "thelevel of violence that people were

Who's behind Australia's anti-lockdown protests?The German conspiracy group driving marches

prepared to use".Prior to Saturday,word of the protests was spreadthrough a collection of Telegram,Instagram and Facebook posts,often amplified by large anti-vaccination and conspiracy pagesthat have amassed followings in thetens of thousands during thepandemic.The latest rallies havehighlighted the role of a German-based group, named WorldwideDemonstration, which has helped tocoordinate protests across the globe,including in various Australiancities.The group has 45,000Facebook followers and 70,000Telegram subscribers on its mainaccounts alone, and even more ondedicated accounts set up forindividual countries.The groupappears to be run out of Germany byindividuals calling themselves "FreieBürger Kassel", or the Free Citizensof Kassel. Its main Facebook page is

administered by twoGermans and a thirdindividual in theU n i t e dK i n g d o m . P o s t sabout Saturday'srallies in Australiancities began on itsmain Telegramaccount last month,on 26 June, when itannounced the timeand location for the Melbournemarch. That post was seen by morethan 20,000 people.There were similarposts for marches in Townsville,Cairns, Gympie, Perth, Brisbane andDarwin on 10 July, and then Hobart,Sydney and Adelaide on 21 July, threedays before the rally.The group'svarious Facebook and Telegrampages are awash with anti-vaccineand Covid-19 conspiracy theories, aswell as other conspiratorial content

such as QAnon andIslamophobia.An investigation byLogically earlier this year revealedthat Worldwide Demonstration wasbehind a wave of 129 coordinatedevents and protests in March. It alsoplanned similar rallies in May.Thegraphics it created for the Julymarches were shared and adaptedinto more localised Telegramchannels under the banner of"Australia Freedom Rally".

New Delhi, July 28 : US Secretary of StateAntony Blinken arrived in New Delhi onTuesday evening for his maiden India tripand will hold extensive talks with ExternalAffairs Minister (EAM) S Jaishankar. Thetalks are due to begin at 12 pm. He is slatedto meet National Security Advisor (NSA)Ajit Doval and later he will meet with PrimeMinister Narendra Modi at 4.30 pm.According to the US State Department,Blinken's trip to New Delhi is meant toreaffirm the United States' commitment tostrengthening bilateral ties with India."Secretary Blinken will meet with PrimeMinister Narendra Modi and ExternalAffairs Minister S Jaishankar to discuss awide range of issues, including continuedcooperation on COVID-19 response efforts,

US Secretary of State AntonyBlinken to meet PM Modi, EAMJaishankar on maiden India visit

Indo-Pacific engagement, shared regionalsecurity interests, shared democraticvalues, and addressing the climate crisis,"a press statement by the US StateDepartment read.The talks will be held onnumerous issues, be it Afghanistan, Indo-Pacific, Pakistan-sponsored terrorism,bilateral, regional, addressing COVID-19 orglobal developments.The US Secretary ofState will be in the national capital for alittle over 20 hours. He is scheduled to flyto Kuwait as part of his two-nation tour at5.30 pm on Wednesday.Blinken is the thirdhigh-ranking official of the US PresidentJoe Biden administration to visit Delhi.Defence Secretary Lloyd Austin had visitedin March and Special Envoy on ClimateChange John Kerry in April.

Manitoba, July 28 : A branch of Canada'sfederal police force says it has spent thelast decade conducting a "large-scaleinvestigation" into allegations of sexualabuse at a former residential school.OnTuesday, the Manitoba Royal CanadianMounted Police said it launched a criminalinvestigation in 2011, investigating claimsthat students were assaulted during theirtime at the Fort Alexander residentialschool.The rare disclosure of an ongoinginvestigation was prompted by questionsfrom the Winnipeg Free Pressnewspaper."Due to the many peopleaffected by this investigation as well as thelarger social implications, it was determinedto be in the public interest to provide asmuch information on the ongoinginvestigation as we can," the RCMP said inits news release.At least 150,000Indigenous children were forced to attendresidential schools across the country,which were funded by the federalgovernment and run by churches as part ofthe campaign to strip the youth of theircultural identity.The Fort Alexanderresidential school, 125km (78 miles) north-east of Winnipeg, opened in 1905. Childrenoften tried to run away from the institution,according to the Indian Residential SchoolHistory and Dialogue Centre. In 1928, two

Canadian police investigating Manitobaresidential school abuse claims

boys drowned while trying to escape byboat.It was closed by the federalgovernment in 1970. Elders have longspoken about abuse within the institution,including testifying at the country's truthand reconciliation commission.More than80 RCMP officers have been involved inthe investigation so far, which has involvedspeaking to more than 700 people acrossNorth America.Investigators travelled toOttawa to scour archival records from theschool, as well as the province ofManitoba's records. They also canvassedresidents in the area where the school waslocated, on the grounds of the SagkeengFirst Nation.Grand chiefs of the Assemblyof Manitoba Chiefs and the SouthernChiefs' Organization have worked closelywith police on the investigation, as havethe chief and council of the Sagkeeng FirstNation.In addition to testimony of abuse,survivors have long said children wentmissing or died while attending theschool.Last week, teams searched thegrounds of Sagkeeng First Nation using adrone and ground-penetrating radartechnology to look for human remains.Todate, more than 1,300 unmarked graves havebeen discovered on the grounds of formerschools, prompting a national reckoningover Canada's colonial past.

London, July 28 : Two days after Tunisia'sstumbling democracy ground to a halt,the streets of the country's capital werequiet, even indifferent on Tuesday, withthe presence of army troops near a TVstation one of the few symbols of a newand unsettling normal.Protesters whohad raged on Sunday before PresidentKais Saied sacked the county's primeminister and suspended parliament wereabsent from sites that days before hadbeen febrile hubs of discontent. Instead,passersby seemed to go about theirbusiness caring little about the gravity ofthe moment. In some parts of Tunis, themood was almost celebratory.After thestoried success of Tunisia's revolutionand decade-long crawl towardsdemocracy, the standard bearer of theArab spring appears exhausted anduncertain. The slow pace of change hasworn down many of its citizens, and theCovid-led global slowdown has led someto defer to the certainty of strongman ruleover pledges of a brighter future made bypolitical leaders.In a popular square,makeshift stalls vied for space with taxisand mopeds. Near a cart stacked withprickly pears, Abderrazak Gasouma, 53,said he supported the president'sdecision. "The decisions are 99% correct,I'm just not sure about the methods," hesaid. "They should have been more

Tunisia's political crisisgreeted with indifference

on streets of capitaldemocratic."They've lost people's trust,"he said of the parliament. "They need moreyouth. Less people fighting. Theparliament is needed. You can't have acountry without the parliament, but itneeds trust."Further along the crowdedstreet, Firas Gallah, a 24-year-old student,suggested the intervention, which hasbeen described by elected officials as acoup, was overdue. "It should have beenlike this for 10 years. Those corruptpoliticians, they took the money and theydid nothing. You have to go and see ourhospitals. They would shock you. Lookat our hospitals, our houses, our cars. It'swrong."He added: "Democracy is fine,the problem is Tunisian democracy. We'reall fine. We want to live together, and weshould. You want to pray, I want to drinkbeer, so what? Everyone can do what theywant."The sacked prime minister, HichemMechichi, on Tuesday said he would notcontest his dismissal, as Saied tightenedhis grip on the north African state byimposing a nationwide curfew from 7pmto 6am and banning gatherings of morethan three people. Movement betweencities has also been limited undercomprehensive emergencypowers.Saied warned violent protestswould be met by force. But there waslittle immediate sign of anger, ormobilisation against the measures.

3STATE THURSDAY, JULY 29, 2021

Jabir Ali S/O MD. SanuAli, Chenikuthi, K.K.Broad, P.S: Chandmari,Ghy-3, hereby solemnlydeclare to be formallyaddressed as, Jabir AliS/O Chanu Ali for allfuture purposes.

Name Change

'Deshbhakti Divas'organised in Chirang districtKajalgaon, July 28: The “Deshbhakti Divas” was ob-served in Chirang district to mark the Death Anniver-sary of Desh Bhakta Tarun Ram Phukan under the ae-gis of District Information and Public Relations Officer(DIPRO), Chirang, at their office premises at Kajalgaonon Wednesday. The programme, which began withlighting of the Shradhanjali lamp by Khanindra Das,Additional Deputy Commissioner, Chirang, was fol-lowed by offering floral tribute to the portrait of DeshBhakta Tarun Ram by Lakhinath Brahma, SahityaAkademi awardee, noted educationist and socialworker. Remembering Desh Bhakta Tarun Ram Phukan,all the dignitaries present on the occasion paid hom-age to him and elaborately discussed his life history,including his contributions during the freedom struggleand to the society in various fields. In anotherprogramme, held in the conference hall of Bijni CivilSub-Divisional Officers office in connection with cel-ebration of Desh Bhakti Divas at Sub-Divisional level,attending as special guest noted social worker SabirKumar Das lit the shradhanjali lamp and paid homageto Desh Bhakta Tarun Ram Phukan in the presence ofAssistant Commissioner, Bijni, Bruhid Rabha, HarilalBayan, Vice-President of Chirang District SahityaSabha. In both the programmes, media persons ofChirang district were warmly participated.

Desh Bhakti Divas observedin North Lakhimpur

North Lakhimpur, July 28: Under the aegis ofLakhimpur District Administration and in associationwith Lakhimpur District Information and Public Rela-tions Office, Desh Bhakti Divas was observed alongwith the state, to mark the death anniversary of DeshBhakta Tarun Ram Phukan, at the Office of LakhimpurDistrict Information and Public Relations Officer. Onthis occasion,a Shradhanjali program was organisedwhich was inaugurated by lighting the lamp. LakhimpurDistrict Information and Public Relations OfficerMandira Chayengia Doley gave the welcome addresswho also explained the objective of the program, whichwas followed by the fruitful speech of Lakhimpur dis-trict Deputy Commissioner Sumit Sattawan about thepatriotism of Desh Bhakta Tarun Ram Phukan. In theprogram, Lakhimpur District Freedom Fighters Asso-ciation Secretary Ganesh Dutta, Join Secretary DilipKumar Roy, Lakhimpur District Senior Citizens Asso-ciation Secretary Thaneswar Gogoi, North LakhimpurPress Club Secretary Karuna Krishna Nath, LakhimpurJAFA Secretary Kushal Saikia and Senior JournalistDebendra Kumar Pandey also gave valuable lectureson the works of Desh Bhakta Tarun Ram Phukan.Lakhimpur District Information and Public RelationsOfficer Mandira Chayengia Doley offered vote ofthanks. All the employees of Lakhimpur District Infor-mation and Public Relations Office were present in theevent. Then, in association with the District Adminis-tration, the living freedom fighters of Lakhimpur werefelicitated with a phulam gamosha, a sanitizer and apacket of fruits by going to each one's home, and theywere wished for a good health, which event was led byLakhimpur District Information and Public RelationsOfficer Mandira Chayengia Doley.

BajaliDistrict Authority orga-nized 'Deshbhakti Divas'

Bajali, 28 July: TheAssam Governmenttook the decision too b s e r v e"Deshbhakti Divas"to mark the deathanniversary ofDeshbhaktaTarunRam Phukan on this day every year with a view togenerate more awareness among people about the lifeand ideals of the great freedom fighter and to inspirethe youth with nationalistic fervour. Bajali district au-thority also organized a programme in this regards to-day at conference hall of deputy commissioner's of-fice. The program was inaugurated by lighting of lampsby Deputy Commissioner of Bharat BhushanDevChoudhury. The deputy commissioner stated in hislecture that the purpose of observing this day will befulfilled when the young generation can realize theworking of Tarun Ram Phukan and his patriotism andsacrifice. District officials attended the programmemaintaining all the Covid protocol.

Guwahati, July 28 : The RailwayProtection Force (RPF) of North-east Frontier Railway arrestedone tout with recovery of 10used railway e-tickets and alsoapprehended one person withrecovery of 2 nos. mobilephones, belonging to a train pas-senger. On 26 July CIB team ofRPF/Tinsukia and RPF Post/Dibrugarh workshop conducteda raid jointly on received infor-mation regarding touting activi-ties by a shop named “T.D. Com-munication '' is situated at PoruniMasjid, Borbaruah, underBorboruah PS, of Dibrugarh dis-trict. During raid and search inthis shop the RPF team appre-hended one person namely,Tridip Deori of Madhupur Deori

Dimakuchi Nalapara-Suklai a dilapidated road

under Paneri LACTangla, July 28: The people of Dimakuchi Nalapara onthe Indo-Bhutan border in Udalguri district have been suf-fering from ache for years due to a dilapidated road.Hagrama Mohilary, who was planning to set up a modelBTC did not respond to the appeal of local people. Thepeople of about 15-20 villages in the Paneri assembly con-stituency of Udalguri district are suffering from bad roadconditions that connect to Suklai. Every day many peoplehave accidents on this road. It is not possible for ambu-lances to travel through the road during bad weather, un-fortunately people take help of handcarts to take patientsto the hospital. All tea growers can not take a pick-uptruck for this dilapidated road. Local people complain thatthe people's representatives, who are represented everyfive years, do not pay any attention to this road. KamaliBasumatary represented the region as a three-term MLAof Paneri, although sadly, despite repeated pleas to repairthe road, Kamali Basumatary refused. All the people's rep-resentatives go to beg for votes during the election withfalse promises. The villagers appealed to the Chief Minis-ter Dr. Himanta Bishwa Sharma along with the Speaker ofthe Legislative Assembly as well as MLA of the PaneriAssembly constituency Biswajit Daimary to repair the roadas soon as possible and provide relief to the people.

RPF arrested one with recoveryof 10 used railway e-tickets

Gaon near LP School, underBorbaruah of Dibrugarhwith the recovery of 10 usedrailway e-tickets worth Rs.59,507.96. The said ticketswere generated by using hispersonal user IDs. 01

ing performing night check-ing duty RPF personnel ofRangiya Post and QRT/Rangiya apprehended oneperson namely Sanjay Narzary,belongs to Kumarikata villageunder Kumarikata police sta-tion of Baksa district with re-covery of 2 mobile phones,one of which was stolen froma passenger of train no. 03175UP, namely Jaydev Sarkar, be-longs to Saloi Pahari villageunder Hirban police stationof Bankura district (WB).Later, the apprehended per-son along with the recov-ered mobile phones washanded over to OC/GRP/Rangiya for further neces-sary action.

Laptop, 01 mobile handsetand 01 printer were alsoseized from the shop. Inthis regard RPF Post/Dibrugarh Workshop reg-istered a case. In anotherincident, on 25 July dur-

Guwahati, 28 July : The greater GuwahatiPan Shop business association in shortGGPSBA today raised its concerns overthe proposal brought by The GuwahatiMunicipal Corporation, Government ofAssam vide press release on 16 July 2021which mandates separate license for re-tailers for selling tobacco products likepan, bidi, cigarette, etc. This requiresheavy license fees and renewal fees, andhas penalties for erring retailers. The As-sociation believes that such measures willcause massive harassment to thousandsof poor and mostly uneducated micro-re-tailers at the hands of enforcement offi-cials. It will lead to a sharp increase intheir cost of doing business at a time whenthey are already in a desperate situationdue to a massive loss in business on ac-count of COVID. Hence the Associationhas appealed to the Hon'ble Chief Minis-ter and Hon'ble Urban Development Min-ister not to pursue the proposal of licens-ing and other related restrictions on thesale of tobacco products as it may ruinthe livelihood of over 10,000 micro-retail-

Golaghat, Jul 28: As per the latest Cabinet Decision thedeath anniversary of Deshbhakt Tarun Ram Phukan is to beobserved throughout the state as ' DeshbhaktiDiwas '. Assuch today the ' DeshbhaktiDiwas ' to mark the occasion ofthe 82 nd Death Anniversary of Tarun Ram Phukan was ob-served in Golaghat under the aegis of District Informationand Public Relations Office Golaghat and in association withthe district administration. Maintaining all the Covid proto-cols floral tributes were paid to the great freedom fighterfrom Assam Tarun Ram Phukan. The program was inaugu-rated by lighting of lamps by Deputy Commissioner ofGolaghatMrigesh Narayan Baruah. After that CEO ofGolaghatZilaParishadDhiraj Das, DDC OrpahBaglary,ADCKuldeepHazarika, District Information and Public Re-lation Officer Pompi Devi and other officials from districtadministration and DIPR office paid floral tributes. DCMrigesh Narayan Baruah in his speech stated that the pur-pose of observing this day will be fulfilled when the younggeneration can realize the working of Tarun Ram Phukan andhis patriotism and sacrifice. The DC also welcomed the stategovernment's decision to observe the ' DeshbhaktiDiwas '.After that the DC visited the house of freedom fighterPunaramChutia at Socialist Pathar and another freedomfighter PurnaKantaPhukan at his house inBarichuwaHabichukiaGaon. The DC and DIPROGolaghatPompi Devi took stock of the health condition of

Govt. is going to introduce License forSelling Tobacco Products in Assam

ing consequence for an excep-tionally large and poor sectionof the state. GMC should notdeny the shopkeepers theirfundamental rights to trade inany legal product- he added.India already has the tough-est tobacco laws in the world,which includes 85% graphichealth warnings on packets,no sale to minors, no salewithin 100 yards around edu-cational institutions, etc.GGPSBA strongly believesthese laws under the currentCOTPA 2003 regulation fortobacco control/trade are morethan sufficient to control to-bacco consumption. There-fore, there is absolutely noneed to introduce any newlicensing rule on the tradeof tobacco products. In apress release the Associa-tion strongly opposed sucha licence system and re-quested the Govt. to rollback this proposal.

ers that represent the livelihood of over60,000 people including their families. Ex-plaining on the issue, BalaramSarkar, Gen-eral Secretary, GGPSBA said, "InGuwahati, like elsewhere in the state, thetobacco retailing business has tradition-ally been in the hands of thousands ofsmall shopkeepers who represent the un-organized sector and operate from smallshops. These retailers have suffered im-mensely due to lockdown and are strug-gling for survival. This is the time to pro-vide relief to small and marginal retailersand we request the Commissioner,Guwahati Municipal Corporation to rollback this proposal and instead come upwith policies that support the creation oflivelihood opportunities for our members."In effect, it is introducing a Licence sys-tem and creating an environment for mas-sive harassment, exploitation and corrup-tion on poor shopkeepers. As a result, anyproposal to mandate compulsory licens-ing for shops selling tobacco productsand not allowing any other products tobe sold from our shop will have a far-reach-

Desh Bhakti Divasobserved at Biswanath

BiswanathChariali, July 28: The 82death anniversaryof freedom fighter TarunramPhukan was celebrated asDesh Bhakti Divas in Biswanath along with the rest ofthe state on Wednesday.The public relation depart-ment of Biswnath had organized the special day inassociation with Biswanath district administration. Thedeputy commissioner of BiswanathPranab KumarSarma lit up the ceremonial lamp which was followedby floral tribute by the deputy commissioner, ADC'sMdMiftahudiin Ahmed and Dr.Surjya Kamal Boraand others. Addressing the small gathering, deputycommissioner Sarma recalled the contributions madein the field of freedom movement, his special role inSwaraj Dal and in the field of Assamese literature bythe legendary leader. GirishHazarika, an employeeof the DC office conducted the programme that wasalso attended by Dweepen Barman, SDO; civil alongwith other officers.

Deshbhakti Diwas Observed in Golaghatboth the freedom fighters and felicitated them with aPhulamGamocha, a plant sapling and a felicitation let-ter. On the other hand freedom fighter fromDergaonAfuwaGaon Ganesh Hazarika was felicitatedby Revenue Circle Officer of DergaonChiranjit Dasand freedom fighter from Kamarbandha Bokotial GaonTulon Tamuli was felicitated by Golaghat RevenueCircle Officer Gopal Sharma. The plant saplings forevery freedom fighter were provided by the DistrictForest Department.

Barpeta, 28 July: District authorityand the Information & Public Rela-tions Department, Barpeta district to-day organized "Deshbhakti Divas" atTarun Ram Phukan auditorium here.The Assam Government took the de-cision to observe "Deshbhakti Divas"to mark the death anniversary ofDeshbhaktaTarun Ram Phukan onthis day every year with a view togenerate more awareness among

District Authority organized'Deshbhakti Divas' at Barpeta

people about the life and ideals of thegreat freedom fighter and to inspirethe youth with nationalistic fervour.The program was inaugurated bylighting of lamps by Deputy Commis-sioner of Barpeta, Tez Prasad Bhusal.The deputy commissioner stated in hislecture that the purpose of observingthis day will be fulfilled when theyoung generation can realize the work-ing of Tarun Ram Phukan and his pa-

triotism and sacrifice. The DC alsowelcomed the state government's de-cision to observe the 'DeshbhaktiDiwas'. Akshay KumarMishra, the eminent writer, education-alist, journalist attended the programmeas chief guest. He briefly discussedabout the life and achievement ofDeshbhaktaTarun Ram Phukan.Barpeta District Information and Pub-lic Relation Officer Bikash Sharma andother officials from district administra-tion and DIPR office paid floral trib-utes. Former district session judgeBrajendra Kumar Das, ADC, LachitKumar Das, LakhimiDutta along withother district officials and generalpeople attended the programme. Theprogramme was conducted maintain-ing with all the Covid protocol.

Tangla, July 28: Elephant-humanconflict continues in Udalguri Indo-Bhutan border areas. Last night onegroup of wild elephants attacked andterrified the area under Paneri assem-bly constituency as well asNonoiSerfang council constituency inHatigarh tea garden, Bhelakuti andGhagra areas. On the other hand infront of the house of Sanjit Tanti, anexecutive member of BTC, the housewhere six of his security guard werestaying, broken into pieces by the

have been killed in el-ephant-human conflict.Local people appealed tothe government to takeimmediate steps to re-duce the long-standingproblem of elephant-hu-man conflict in the Indo-Bhutan border.

group of wild elephants. In the el-ephant-human conflict each of the se-curity guards somehow saved theirlife. Usually a group of wild elephantscome to these areas in search of foodfrom Khalingduwar Reserved Forest.As many as 30-40 people have beenkilled in wild elephant attacks inNonaipara, Bamunjuli, Chamrang andSegunbari areas of the Indo-Bhutanborder since 2019. The local peopleallege that even after informing theforest department, no one reached on

time. Due to the negligence of theforest department, many people

Wild elephant terror in Hatigarh tea garden in Udalguri

Rangapara,28 July: On the oc-casion of the 82nd death anni-versary of DeshbhaktaTarunRam Phookan today,'Deshbhakti Divas' was ob-served in a solemn functionorganised by the office of theDistrict Information and PublicRelations Officer, Sonitpur inassociation with the Sonitpurdistrict administration at the of-fice of the Deputy Commissionerhere today. Deputy Commis-sioner Bhupesh Chandra Daspaid floral tributes at the portraitof Tarun Ram Phookan on theoccasion. Senior district admin-istration officials including DDCSobhanGowala, ADCRomyBaruah, DIPRONeenaBaruah and others alsopaid homage on the occasion.The program was conducted byAssistant Commissioner KabitaPhangchoi. A one-minute silence

was also observed as amark of respect to the de-parted souls of Assam Po-lice personnel who losttheir lives on the Assam-Mizoram borderrecently.As part of theprogram, Addl DeputyCommissioner Sanjib Dalaialong with Circle Officer,NaduarAkashdeepKakoty,Circle Officer (A)MantoshChakrabortyand BDO Naduar visitedfreedom fighter ThogiRam Borah ofMoronakuri village, un-der Silabandhamouza un-der Naduar circle ofSonitpur and felicitatedthe 99-year-old freedomfighter with aphulamgamocha, fruits andsweets on behalf of the dis-trict administration.

Deshbhakti Divas observed bySonitpur district administration

VOL. NO. VI, ISSUE NO. 164 THURSDAY, JULY 29, 2021

THE ASSAM RISINGE D I T O R I A LE D I T O R I A LE D I T O R I A LE D I T O R I A LE D I T O R I A LTHURSDAY, JULY 29, 20214

Team Bajwa now betting on UK topromote Taliban - to get to US indirectlyAutocratic power in

nominal democraciesDemocracy depends on an equality of arms. If govern-

ments acquire political weapons unavailable to their oppo-nents, they become harder to dislodge. They now possessso many that I begin to wonder how an efficient autocracy,once established, might ever again be overthrown.The Pe-gasus spyware, whose widespread use by governments theGuardian has helped reveal, is just the latest variety of asym-metric force. The ability to peer into someone's life from adistance, to track their every movement, word and intention,grants autocrats an unprecedented power. It turns us intoinformants against ourselves. No one subject to this spyingcan now plan, however peacefully and democratically, to re-place a government without those plans being known in ad-vance and in all likelihood thwarted.Since the Berlin Wall camedown, autocrats have refined a new strategy for perpetualgovernance: to maintain the process and appearance of de-mocracy - including elections and parliaments - while ensur-ing it doesn't work. Power is sucked out of democratic struc-tures and relocated to a place where it can scarcely be chal-lenged: an inner circle defended from opposition by aforcefield of money and patronage, a compliant judiciary anda grovelling media. Narendra Modi, Viktor Orbán, RecepTayyip Erdo?an, Jaros?aw Kaczy?ski, Vladimir Putin andAlexander Lukashenko all know how it works.Protest, as wehave seen from Belarus to Hong Kong, often becomes inef-fective. Huge numbers take to the streets, pull the lever ofdemocratic moral authority that has toppled so many regimesin the past, and nothing happens. The autocrats sit and waitfor the protest's energy to fizzle out, crack heads and im-prison leaders, knowing they no longer need fear the people.They now have the means either to win elections throughrigging, suppression or beguilement, or to ignore the result ifthey lose. The arc of history no longer bends towardsjustice.The new surveillance tools complement a formidablearray of modern weapons. Dark ads on social media;thinktanks using dark money to turn outrageous ideas thatfavour the ruling class into apparent common sense; votersuppression; the stuffing of the courts; the long marchthrough the institutions, shutting down opposition in thecivic sphere; cleverly prosecuted culture wars: these are theever more sophisticated tools of autocratic power in nominaldemocracies.Many of them are being deployed in the UK.While there is no evidence that the government has beenusing Pegasus spyware, we have seen ever greater snoopingon citizens, from the surveillance networks developed by thegovernment intelligence agency GCHQ and exposed by Ed-ward Snowden to the undercover police deployed againstpeaceful protesters, some of whom they deceived into sexualrelationships. The cops promised, as revelations from thisscandal piled up, to reform themselves. But last week, a formerpolice officer who joined Extinction Rebellion alleged thatthe Metropolitan police had sought to recruit him as a spy.Given the characterisation by Priti Patel, the home secretary,of peaceful environmental protesters as "criminals", I wouldfind it surprising if police spying had not resumed.The gov-ernment is turning politics into a one-way mirror. Just as itlearns more about our lives, it ensures we learn ever lessabout its own machinations. Its proposed changes to theOfficial Secrets Act would treat journalists and other citizensmaking "unauthorised disclosures" as if they were spies,threatening them with "increased maximum sentences", whichprobably means 14 years. It has so far resisted calls for apublic interest defence. But unauthorised disclosures of gov-ernment malfeasance are essential to democracy. While ille-gitimate scrutiny is ramped up, legitimate scrutiny is stifled.Forthe past 35 years, our political freedoms have been eroded bya series of draconian acts of parliament, imposed by bothConservative and Labour governments: the Public Order Act1986, the Trade Union and Labour Relations Act 1992, theCriminal Justice and Public Order Act 1994, the Terrorism Act2000, the Anti-Social Behaviour Act 2003, the SeriousOrganised Crime and Police Act 2005, the Transparency ofLobbying, Non-Party Campaigning and Trade Union Admin-istration Act 2014, the Trade Union Act 2016, the Covert Hu-man Intelligence Sources Act 2021, to name just a few. Butnone has gone as far as the police, crime, sentencing andcourts bill that has now passed unamended through theHouse of Commons. It grants the police powers to shut downprotests on grounds defined so vaguely - including causing"serious unease" to bystanders - that they could apply toany public expression of dissent. Serious unease is the motorof democracy. When and how do we recover these lost politi-cal liberties?The demand for proof of identity at polling boothsis a blatant attempt at voter suppression, of the kind pio-neered by US Republicans. To solve a nonexistent problem(widespread identity fraud at elections), it could disqualify 2million people, generally the poorest and most marginalised,who are unlikely to vote Conservative, from casting theirballots.The government has floated the idea of disbandingthe Electoral Commission, stripping away the last, feeble con-trols on how it conducts elections and raises money. Its judi-cial review and courts bill will limit our ability to challenge itsdecisions. As recent cases involving environmentally dam-aging projects and Covid contracts show, legal challengesare essential to hold it to account. It has used culture wars totry to stamp out criticism in universities and other publicinstitutions, and combined with the billionaire press todemonise anyone confronting the interests from which itdraws its power, often to devastating effect.The government'sonly remaining weakness is its own incompetence. DonaldTrump is no longer in office not because the US systemworked, but because he was an inept autocrat: unfocused,impulsive, contradictory. He did not possess what Modi,Putin, Orbán, Erdo?an, Kaczy?ski and Lukashenko possess:a strategic, sophisticated drive for power.Boris Johnson is aspectacularly incompetent administrator, as the 130,000deaths from Covid-19 testify. It remains to be seen whether ornot he is a competent autocrat. He has certainly been moreeffective at suppressing opposition than at governing thecountry. Through lucrative pandemic contracts for courtfavourites and assaults on the planning laws that favourproperty tycoons, his government has also started to buildthe networks of patronage and clientelism essential to allautocracies. Perhaps Johnson's general uselessness willprove fatal. Alternatively, his ruthless pursuit of power, as-sisted by new political weapons, could render his adminis-trative failings irrelevant.In either case, it seems to me thatwe have little time in which to move.

T he United Kingdom has been expecting a Pakistani visitor since early July. Even though

the programme is not finalised yet,both London and Rawalpindi are ea-ger to sit and talk about the ongoingsituation in Afghanistan and more. Pa-kistan Army chief General Qamar JavedBajwa, who is planning an official-cum-personal visit to London, is quite afavourite in town. He has got moreears willing to listen to him and be-lieve in his intent and capability to turnthings around than in Washington.And in the final days of American with-drawal from Afghanistan, there is a lotto be discussed.Sources in Londonwere of the view that Britain's Chief ofDefence Staff General NicholasCarter's frequent visits to Islamabadnotwithstanding, there are several is-sues General Bajwa wants to discussand many more people he would liketo meet. In Afghanistan's context, theUK assumes an important role with theJoe Biden administration not openingits doors wide enough for both Gen-eral Bajwa and Prime Minister ImranKhan. The UK, which was a signifi-cant player in shaping Pakistan's for-eign policy in earlier years but wasovertaken by Washington, especiallyafter the 1980s, is again the muchsought after player in Islamabad.Oneis reminded of a conversation from1954 when prominent Punjab politicianMalik Khizar Hayat Tiwana tried toexplain to then-British High Commis-sioner Gerald Laithwaite the relativerise in American influence comparedto the British: "the Americans are nowinheriting the goodwill that belongsto Britain….The countrymen wouldprefer to see the British but say 'if Icannot have the brother and he canno longer help me, I may as well havethe cousin'." It seems that in more thansix decades, the 'cousin' became thereal deal and the brother is now neededto have a conversation with thebrother, hence the US replacing the UKin terms of significance.The informaldialogue with the UK is necessary fora number of reasons, foremost beingPakistan's need for money, even if it isfrom the International Monetary Fund

for which better relations with Wash-ington are required. But more impor-tantly, Pakistan's strategic thinkersbelieve they could help slow down thespeed of the US-China race for regionalinfluence in South Asia. After all,Islamabad's 'lesson' from the first ColdWar is that it could maintain relationswith both Beijing and Washington. Ashistorian Ian Talbot indicated in hisbook The History of British Diplomacyin Pakistan, American diplomats wereworried about who Pakistan wouldalign with. For instance, in 1963, then-Assistant Secretary of State for EastAsian and Pacific Affairs WilliamAverell Harriman quipped about Paki-stan acting like Portugal in blackmail-ing Washington, threatening to jointhe Chinese/Communist camp if theUS didn't give it weapons or reducesupport to India. Looks like Islamabadis still invested in the older strategy,intent on convincing the US to con-tinue feeding Pakistan - its biggestsign of a working relationship - andallowing it the opportunity to haverelations with both powers.There aretwo flaws in this idea. First, unlikeduring the Soviet-American Cold War,where a rapprochement betweenBeijing and Washington was possible,the current US-China competition haslittle room for the kind of manoeuvringPakistan is hoping for. Second, Wash-ington has limited appetite now to lis-ten to Pakistan's story. The Covid-19pandemic has further reduced its will-ingness to invest in Pakistan. Wash-ington would still engage with it, butnot as a strategic partner. The US maynot be too keen on Pakistan's newroadmap of becoming a geo-economichub either, considering the latter's lim-ited capacity and numerous decision-making issues to tidy up structural and

infrastructural drawbacks at home.InPakistan's mind, maintaining influenceover the politics of Afghanistan byencouraging a friendly regime in Kabulis part of its strategic vision of man-aging both American and Chinese in-terests in the northern tip of SouthAsia. Taliban would hamper the cur-rent Afghan leadership, and perhapsalso strategically control Beijing's in-fluence. Pakistan may have claimed itfavours Afghanistan's integration intothe China-Pakistan Economic Corridor(CPEC), but it's mainly focused on in-creasing its own negotiating power.Inthe past decade, Islamabad hasstruggled to convince both Moscowand Beijing about the Taliban turninga new leaf, which is what it wants theWest to believe as well despite limitedevidence. From Interior MinisterSheikh Rashid to Foreign MinisterShah Mahmood Qureshi, all are mar-keting the Taliban to get the groupwider acceptance while it increases itsterritorial control through war-fight-ing. Such marketing will not even workwith China, which is highly incensedby the recent attack in Gilgit-Baltistanthat killed nine of its citizens and hasprobably summoned Qureshi and Di-rector-General of Inter-Services Intel-ligence (DG-ISI) Lt Gen. Faiz Hameedto Beijing.General Bajwa's team is un-able to read the signals from Wash-ington. The plan to stitch a peace dealwith the Taliban was based on thepremise that the militants will be in-cluded in Afghanistan's governancestructure, without allowing them tocompletely take over. Despite itsclaims that it is not interested inTaliban takeover, Pakistan prefers theAfghan militants instead of the AshrafGhani government. From NSA Yusufto ambassador Asad Majeed Khan, allsound like Zalmay Khalilzad, whoserved as the US' Special Representa-tive for Afghanistan: putting pressureonly on Kabul and expecting it to ac-commodate the Taliban. In many ways,Pakistan is doing more of what the USdid.Author and Pakistan's former am-bassador to the US, Hussain Haqqanithinks that supporting the Taliban is aflawed strategy, that the success ofTaliban will become an uncontrollableproblem for Pakistan. But the gener-als won't learn the lesson. Contrary toHaqqani's argument, General Bajwa isequally culpable in wanting the West

to believe that this is a new set ofTaliban with whom business can bedone.Now, General Bajwa is keenlyengaged with the UK to market him-self as someone who can turn thingsaround, including handling theTaliban. Since the July 2007 attack inLondon, British intelligence hasworked very closely with Pakistan's.They have better communication thanwhat the ISI has with the US. Recently,Secretary of State for Defence BenWallace indicated his willingness towork with the Taliban if they come intopower. This is nothing more than tokeep Rawalpindi engaged in a conver-sation and make them use their influ-ence with the Taliban. The US may askUK to play a role in post-peace dealAfghanistan, but the fact is that Lon-don has serious limitations and willexit Afghanistan like other Europeanstates. Even Turkey, which has de-ployed some forces, is there to per-form limited functions.Britain's inter-nal security concern makes it want toengage with multiple actors to ensuresome stability in the Af-Pak region.Contributing to peace in the regioncould also sustain the UK's geo-stra-tegic clout, especially after Brexit.Though seemingly singing a differenttune than Washington, London, ashistorian Talbot suggests in his book,may actually be singing "from thesame hymn sheet" as the US in deal-ing with Pakistan. London wants tolisten to Pakistan also because it isconscious of the fact that Kabul hasits own problems like poor gover-nance and corruption that add to sus-taining the Taliban.As Dan Jarvis ofthe Royal United Services Institutepoints out, one of the critical pointsof the British plan is to ensure thatthe US-Taliban peace deal continuesto operate and all stakeholders worktogether, even if in an imperfect form.If the Taliban are going to be a partof the Afghan power structure, whynot engage with them, especially byusing Pakistan 's long-t imeleverage.Britain will have an impor-tant communication role to play withthe Taliban via Pakistan if the gov-ernment gets changed in Kabul.Sadly, it's only Pakistan which willhave to suffer consequences of lim-ited or extended Taliban influence nextdoor. Hope Islamabad doesn't close itseyes to this.

Ayesha Siddiqa

W ould India be a secular democracy if its reli gious demography was any different? Well, one

just needs to look around for an an-swer. Samuel Huntington, in his finalbook, Who Are We?, had raised asimilar question. He asked, "WouldAmerica be the America it is today ifin the seventeenth and eighteenthcenturies it had been settled not byBritish Protestants but by French,Spanish, or Portuguese Catholics?The answer is no. It would not beAmerica; it would be Quebec, Mexico,or Brazil." Anglo-Protestant culture,as shaped by the Protestant ethic ofhard work, was at the core of Ameri-can culture. Similarly, what we knowas Indian secularism - religious coex-istence and non-discrimination - is anIndian, read Hindu, civilisational fea-ture, which might not have existed ifIndia had experienced a more profoundrupture in its history and culture dur-ing the medieval period.Every coun-try is sacred to its people irrespectiveof where they go on pilgrimage. Thatthe Buddhists of the world have theirplace of pilgrimage in Bodh Gaya,Bihar, and Christians in Jerusalem,doesn't diminish their reverence fortheir respective lands. Neither the ho-liness of Mecca does it for an Iranianor a Turk or a Pakistani with regard totheir own countries. In fact, the wordPakistan is the exact Persian renditionof Punya Bhoomi, an appellation

Bhagwat's identity politics has a DNA of its own.Indian Muslims can't ignore it in rush to gush

Najmul Hoda

which, if used for India, makes manyIndian Muslims flinch. A people's rela-tion with their country can't just bepolitical. Constitutional rights are an-chored in history and culture. Onecould have a transactional relation withtheir government, but with the coun-try it has to be an emotional one. Mus-lims have their place in India as Indi-ans, not as a subset of the globalummah.Much like a corollary of whatPrime Minister Narendra Modi said inhis convocation address to AMU lastDecember, the Rashtriya SwayamsevakSangh (RSS) chief Mohan Bhagwat hasrecently made a statement about Mus-lims and their place in India, which isbeing artfully construed as a major de-parture from the Sangh ideology.Bhagwat said that Muslims have hadthe same DNA as the Hindus for 40,000years, therefore they do not become adifferent people merely because ofsubscribing to another mode of wor-ship. He went on to add that thethought of Hindus dominating theMuslims to settle old scores was pre-posterous in the democratic age. Hequipped that the talk of Hindu-Muslimunity was redundant since there wasno real difference between the two. Fur-thermore, he condemned the lynchingof Muslims, calling it against Hindutva,and urged Muslims not to get trappedin fear regarding their status inIndia.Even though Bhagwat might nothave said anything that the RSS hasnot always maintained - and many scep-tics have been quick in dissing it as dis-ingenuous platitude - there has been averitable stampede among the Muslimnarrative makers to welcome his speechas a harbinger of an ideological shift inthe Hindutva ideology. Much of theimport of Bhagwat's statement wouldconsist in how these wise men are go-ing to respond - not react - to his ideaof Indian nation premised on common

origin and shared history and cultureirrespective of religious affiliation. Acontrived effusion for the statementwithout internalising its inner logic, andforcing into it such meanings as werenot intended, may attract the obloquyof opportunism.Bhagwat substitutedMuslims' narrow communal identitywith the broader national one by poeti-cally tracing a common lineage withHindus over four millennia. One couldhear an echo of Sir Syed Ahmad Khan'sfamous averment, "For centuries wehave been living in the same land, eat-ing the produce of the same land, anddrinking the water of the same rivers,breathing for life air of the same land.Hence, there is no alienation betweenMuslims and Hindus. As the people ofthe Aryan race are called the Hindus,similarly Muslims may also be calledHindus, i.e., those who live inIndia."That considered, why would onebelabour this point if this idyllic visioncorresponded with reality? Islam cameto India less as a faith and a way ofworship - that is way of apprehendingand accessing the divine - and more asa cultural package with the entitlementto sovereignty. Its imperial theologywouldn't countenance any assimilationwith the local culture, and would nur-ture a disdain for things organic to thissoil. Little wonder that the idea of as-similation remains the bête noire of iden-tity politics. Bid'at theology positedIslam's purity in its insularity from theIndian influences, which continue to beconsidered contemptible and contami-nating. Moreover, the ruling class de-rived their authority from foreign ori-gin, and most of the high castes amongthe Muslims are the descendants of theforeign invaders, and most of the lowcastes are of indigenous origin.Identitypolitics, which is the repackaging oftwo-nation theory, is underpinned by atheological reasoning that deracinatesthe converts, denigrates their history,and makes them despise their culture.They are made to assume a new iden-tity, adopt fictive ancestors, and relateto a foreign history and culture. Such

de-nationalisation of the convert is aconcern to be addressed by a correc-tive theological reinterpretation as theQuranic locus of identity is lineage andnation, not religion (49:13).The Indianexperience of conversion has beenunique. In no other country, change ofreligion created a dilemma about one'snational identity. An Arab remained anArab, an Iranian an Iranian and a Turka Turk upon conversion to Islam. Theirreligious identity has been a subset oftheir national identity. It was only inIndia that a conflict between one's na-tional and religious identities was con-ceived, and an egregious problematicof whether one was first an Indian or aMuslim was formulated. This issue isabove any expedient ambivalence andneeds a resounding resolution.Anotherpoint in Bhagwat's statement has beenthe dismissal of delusion that one com-munity could subjugate another in ademocracy. This pooh-poohing mighthave assuaged Sir Syed's fear of domi-nation of one community by anotheras inevitable. His apprehension of de-mocracy stemmed from the fear ofdomination of Muslims by Hindus. But,for the supremacist urge to beneutralised, the disintegrating dynam-ics of identity politics which goes onsplintering groups into ever smallerentities would have to be checked, asdemocracy is worked by individual citi-zens, not religious groups.FrancisFukuyama, in his recent book, Iden-tity: The Demand for Dignity and thePolitics of Resentment, invokes theconcept of Thymos to argue that lib-eral democracy has not fully solved theproblem of identity. Thymos is aSocratic concept adumbrated in Dia-logues of Plato. It is that part of thesoul that craves recognition of dig-nity. Isothymia is the demand to berespected on an equal basis withother people; while Megalothymia isthe desire to be recognised as supe-rior. Isothymia can easily slide intoMegalothymia if a group agonisesover the lack of recognition to whichit feels entitled.

THURSDAY, JULY 29, 2021 5BUSINESS

Tea Board order formandatory sale

through auction will becounterproductive: UPASIMumbai, July 28 : As per the Tea Board, the mandatoryrouting of tea through auctions is to make the auction sys-tem robust and bring stability in the price realisationprocess.The United Planters' Association of Southern India(UPASI), the apex body of planters in southern India, said onTuesday that the Tea Board of India's directive to manufac-turers to ensure mandatory sale of 50% of the total tea manu-factured through public auctions will be counterproductivegiven the wide divergence between auction and retailprices.Prashant Bhansali, president, UPASI, termed the or-der a retrograde step in a free market open economy.TheGovernment of India maintains buffer stocks of bulb onionto make appropriate price stabilising marketinterventions.Nafed set to complete purchase of 2 lakh tonneonion for buffer stockGold Rate Today, Gold Price Today inIndiaGold Price Today, 27 July 2021: Gold under pressureahead of US Fed meet; buy on dips for Rs 48,500 targetHesaid the government repealed the mandatory routing of teathrough auctions in 2001, in line with the economic policy ofliberalisation and free trade, which was subsequentlyamended in 2015. During this period, many tea producershave developed domestic markets, getting a much better pricerealisation for their produce, he said."At the end of the day,a business must have the liberty of deciding to whom it wantsto sell its product and which platform it would prefer touse…," he said.As per the Tea Board, the mandatory routingof tea through auctions is to make the auction system robustand bring stability in the price realisation process.However,Bhansali said tea auctions have a finite load capacity as isevident from the steep fall in prices. Further, there is no guar-antee that the manufacturers get fair prices to cover even thecost of production, he said.Bhansali said pressurising theauction system will result in more percentage of out lots,resulting in considerable loss to producers.Since tea is anagro-based product and the government's policy is to re-duce intermediaries in marketing, UPASI thinks the Tea Boarddirection should be withdrawn, he said.

Mumbai, July 28: "An order hasbeen passed by a French courtfreezing certain Indian govern-ment properties in the case per-taining to Cairn Energy," minis-ter of state for finance PankajChaudhary told Rajya Sabha in awritten reply. "For handling en-forcement proceedings, an inter-national law firm, with relevantexperience, has been engaged. Inconsultation with its counselteam, the government is taking allappropriate legal steps to protectits interest."The Hague courtheld in both cases that India wasin breach of the relevant BilateralInvestment Treaties(BITs).Weeks after UK-basedCairn Energy secured a Frenchcourt order to seize about 20 In-dian government propertiesworth Rs 177 crore in Paris, thegovernment on Tuesday con-firmed the development and saidit has roped in an internationallaw firm to handle the enforce-ment proceedings."An order hasbeen passed by a French Courtfreezing certain Indian Govern-ment properties in the case per-taining to Cairn Energy," minis-ter of state for finance PankajChaudhary told Rajya Sabha in awritten reply. "For handling en-forcement proceedings, an inter-

Cairn dispute: Finmin confirms Frenchcourt order to freeze Indian assets in Paris

national law firm,with relevant experi-ence, has been en-gaged. In consulta-tion with its counselteam, the govern-ment is taking all ap-propriate legal stepsto protect itsinterest."Interview:Avneet SinghMarwah, CEO, SuperPlastronicsSince re-newable energy isintermittent in natureand is not available round-the-clock, the discom will likely in-crease its dependence on real-time market in power exchangesfor contingencies.BSES targets50% green energy for DelhidiscomsThe properties in ques-tion mostly comprise flats usedby the Indian government estab-lishment in France. Thecompany's move was in line withits declared plan to recover "$1.7-billion dues" from New Delhi byattaching assorted Indian assetsoverseas, including real estate andAir India planes. This followed aDecember 2020 international arbi-tration award overturning levy ofDelhi's retrospectivetaxes.However, Cairn is keepingthe options open for a concilia-

tory settlement of the tax disputewith the Indian government. Call-ing the France episode a "neces-sary preparatory step" towardstaking up the ownership of theproperties, a company spokesper-son recently said that the firm stillpreferred to reach an "agreed,amicable settlement" with NewDelhi to close the matter.The fi-nance ministry on July 8 said thegovernment had then not receivedany notice, order or communica-tion, in this regard, from anyFrench court.If the company man-ages to attach the Central Parisproperties, it will be the first assetfreeze application to succeedamong many filed by Cairn in dif-ferent countries to enforce the ar-bitration award.Earlier, during dis-

cussions between fi-nance ministry offi-cials and Cairn En-ergy CEO SimonThomson and histeam here in Febru-ary 2021, the gov-ernment had askedCairn to settle thedispute using theVivad se Vishwasscheme; under thescheme, the com-pany will have to payaround half the

amount due sans interest and pen-alties in cases where the tax de-partment has lost a case in a fo-rum and filed an appeal, as the in-stant one.Even before the arbitralaward was pronounced, India hadseized and sold shares of Cairn inits erstwhile India unit, confis-cated dividend due and withheldtax refunds (totalling Rs 7,600crore) to recover the taxes it feltwere due.Delhi's 2012 law empow-ering itself to make tax demandsconcerning cross-border deals allthe way back to 1962 citing 'un-derlying Indian assets' was ex-posed as a misadventure for thesecond time in a little over threemonths, on December 24, 2020. Onthat day, the Permanent Court ofArbitration at The Hague not only

invalidated India's $2.74-billion2015 tax claim on Cairn Energy Plc,but also ordered the governmentof India to return up to $1.4 billionin funds withheld, interest andcosts, to the firm. A similar Sep-tember 2020 verdict was deliveredby the same tribunal in favour oftelecom major Vodafone (NowVodafone-Idea in India) in a high-profile retrospective tax disputewith India. The Hague Court heldin both cases India was in breachof the relevant Bilateral Invest-ment Treaties (BITs).The govern-ment, of course, filed an applica-tion in The Hague court on March22, 2021, seeking the setting asideof the arbitral award that favouredCairn. However, since the tribunalhas affirmed its jurisdiction overthe Cairn case despite the exist-ence of the India-UK BIT, thechances of a reversal of the orderin a review is remote. Virtually, areversal is possible only if malafide in the award is established.TheCairn tax dispute arose as in 2006-07, as a part of internal rear-rangement through a firm in Eu-ropean tax haven of Jersey, CairnUK transferred shares of CairnIndia Holdings to Cairn India.Later, India retrospectivelyraised a demand of capital gainstax on Cairn UK.

Delhi, July 28 : Commenting on global eco-nomic growth, the IMF, however, cautionedthat the recovery "is not assured even incountries where infections are currently verylow so long as the virus circulateselsewhere".Commenting on global economicgrowth, the IMF, however, cautioned thatthe recovery "is not assured even in coun-tries where infections are currently very lowso long as the virus circulateselsewhere".The International MonetaryFund (IMF) on Tuesday slashed its FY22growth forecast for India by 300 basis points(bps), from its April projection, to 9.5%, thesharpest cut for any country, citing the dam-age caused by the second Covid wave thatpeaked in May.For the next fiscal, however,the Fund has raised the growth projectionfor the country to 8.5% from 6.9%. Its Aprilforecasts hadn't factored in the impact of theresurgence of Covid infections in India.Today,over 50% of the global seed market is con-trolled by 4 corporations.Kharif sowing pick-ing up, early to gauge impact of stalled mon-soon: TomarIndia's economy is gradually re-covering from a deep contraction in the fis-cal year ended March 31, 2021 (7.3 per cent)and a subsequent severe second wave ofCOVID-19.IMF cuts India's GDP growth fore-cast to 9.5 pc for FY22While the multilateralbody retained its global growth forecast at6% for 2021, it trimmed its earlier projectionby 40 bps for developing countries andraised it by 50 bps for advanced economies.Risks around the global baseline projectionsare, however, to the downside, it cautioned.Countries lagging in vaccination, such asIndia and Indonesia, would suffer the mostamong G20 economies, it added.The IMFalso revised up its predictions of global tradevolume growth by a sharp 130 bps for 2021to 9.7% and 50 bps for 2022 to 7%. India isset to benefit from an expected rise in globaltrade prospects once its supply side gainstraction."Vaccine access has emerged as theprincipal fault line along which the globalrecovery splits into twoblocs: Those that can lookforward to furthernormalisation of activitylater this year (almost all ad-vanced economies) andthose that will still face re-surgent infections and ris-ing Covid death tolls," theFund said in its latest WorldEconomic Outlook (WEO)forecast.The Fund's Indiaforecast for FY22 is higherthan 8.3% predicted by theWorld Bank but is in sync

IMF trims FY22 Indiagrowth forecast to 9.5%

with some other agencies, including S&Pand Moody's. However, the Reserve Bankof India now expects growth to hit 10.5% inFY22, while chief economic advisor KVSubramanian has said it could be close to11%, as the economic impact of the secondwave has been less than feared.The cuts ineconomic growth forecasts for this yearwere high in case of India, Asean membersand Saudi Arabia, while the projections forthe UK, Italy and the US have been raisedby 170 bps, 70 bps and 60 bps,respectively.Commenting on global eco-nomic growth, the IMF, however, cautionedthat the recovery "is not assured even incountries whee infections are currently verylow so long as the virus circulateselsewhere".As for inflation, the multilateralbody said recent price pressures for themost part reflect unusual pandemic-relateddevelopments and transitory supply-de-mand mismatches. "Inflation is expected toreturn to its pre-pandemic ranges in mostcountries in 2022 once these disturbanceswork their way through prices, though un-certainty remains high," it said.However, theFund expected elevated inflation in someemerging market and developing economies,related in part to high food prices. Never-theless, central banks "should generallylook through transitory inflation pressuresand avoid tightening until there is more clar-ity on underlying price dynamics".The Fundalso warned that slower-than-anticipatedvaccine rollout would allow the virus to mu-tate further. "Financial conditions couldtighten rapidly, for instance from a reassess-ment of the monetary policy outlook in ad-vanced economies in case inflation expecta-tions increase more rapidly than anticipated,"it said. Similarly, a double hit to emergingmarket and developing economies from"worsening pandemic dynamics and tighterexternal financial conditions would severelyset back their recovery and drag globalgrowth below this outlook's baseline".

Agriculture & constructionequipment makers call for

stringent action on fakeproduct trading in India

New Delhi, July, 2021: According to a FICCI Cascadereport the Indian economy loses Rs 1,17,253 crore dueto smuggling & counterfeiting in five prominent sec-tors including Capital Goods (Machinery and Parts)and Consumer (Electronics) Durables. The goods salesfrom counterfeiting is expected to double up globallyto Rs. 119.7 lakh crore by 2022.India has been no ex-ception to the menace.

Key to curb this menace is to educate the customerand spread awareness in the market about easy identi-fication of genuine products based on product at-tributes and provide easy access to brand's authorizedsales & service channel.Among others, Honda IndiaPower Products (HIPP),a reputed and leading companyin the field of Power Products in India for over 35 yearsis leading the fight against this menace. HIPP haslaunched its "Know your Honda" campaign to edu-cate its valued customers and through its IP Cell isalso actively monitoring online and offline sales plat-forms to flag any unscrupulous activityenabling it totake stringent action against law breakers.

Commenting on the menace around counterfeiting,Professor Bejon KumarMisra, renowned consumeracvitistsaid "Counterfeiting is a global problem of enor-mous scale, impacting virtually every industry sectoraround the world including India. Such malpracticesdirectly impact health, economy, education and soci-ety. India is suffering significant economic, health andsafety consequences as a result of these widespreadmalicious practices. Businesses of all scale and sizesare observing widespread proliferation of counterfeittechnology or equipment, and suffer unanticipatedcosts in breakage, business downtime, and unenforce-able warranties.Weare working alongside governmentto create awareness among consumers and strengthenmeasures to empower consumers to make informedchoice that will keep such peddlars at bay and helpcurb this problem."

Honda" brand of power products have been theindustry benchmark for over three decades and owingto its widespread acceptability across varied sectorsranging from agriculture to construction have startedto attract the attention of counterfeiters off late.

As per the FICCI Cascade Report, trade in smug-gling, contraband, counterfeit and pirated goods hasrisen steadily in the last few years and now stands at3.3% of global trade. A spiralling trend of spurious prod-ucts has been a cause of concern for various consumeractivists and law enforcers too.

Mumbai, July 28: Electric scootermanufacturer Ather Energy aims tobe in 100 cities with a new productportfolio by FY23 and add moresafety features like crash detection& SOS, tow detection, tyre pressuremonitoring system and remote di-agnostics. Ather Energy currentlyoperates in 22 cities includingBengaluru, Chennai, Hyderabad,Pune, Jaipur, Kochi, Ahmedabad,Mumbai, Mysore and Hubli.AtherEnergy, backed by the founders ofFlipkart -Sachin Bansal and BinnyBansal, Hero Motocorp and TigerGlobal, has plans to install 500charging points across the countryby FY'22. The company also aimsto have 80% of its energy consump-tion using solar energy and increase

Ather plans to be in 100 cities by FY23,add more safety features

the ratio of recycled water to totalwater consumption by 84%.With142 charging points across India,Ather Grid is one of the largest fast-charging networks, for electric ve-hicles in the country. Over the years,Ather has witnessed its active cus-tomer community, growing from5,000 to over 14,500 memberstoday.Releasing its first Impact Re-port, measuring its overall social,environmental, and economic im-pact in 2019-2020, Ather Energy onTuesday said the company hasbuilt a vehicle and charging infra-structure platform from scratchand has also focused on helpingdevelop a local supply chain. As aresult, Ather Energy has managedto achieve 99% localisation (except

cells) in the vehicle,making it a trulyMake in India prod-uct, it claimed.TarunMehta, co-founder& CEO, Ather En-ergy, said: "The im-pact of our workthrough our prod-ucts for the EV mar-ket is clear but build-ing a long-term im-pact-focused organisation is aboutmore than a few founding productdecisions. Just like financialmetrics, measuring impact has tobe made an institutional process,expanding far beyond just theproduct and covering people,planet, and policy too."The Impact

Report is a detailed analysis of acompany's efforts that creates achange in the ecosystem aroundthem. The impact assessment hasbeen done by Aspire Impact, a so-cial enterprise focused on impactleadership and impact ecosystemdevelopment.

Mumbai, July 28: Ques-tioning the applicability oflast year's EA order, seniorcounsel Harish Salve, ap-pearing for Future Retail,told a bench led by Jus-tice RF Nariman that thepower of the state isneeded to enforce the ar-bitral award by any tribu-nal. Tribunals are contrac-

Will only decide if EA order on Future-Reliance deal is valid, enforceable: SC

tual and they can get the state's powersonly after express registration, he said.TheSupreme Court on Tuesday said it willonly decide whether the Singapore emer-gency arbitrator's (EA) order restraining theFuture Group from going ahead with its`24,713-crore deal with Reliance Retail is"valid" and "enforceable" under Indian arbi-tration laws. It will also look into the main-tainability of Future Group's appeal againstthe Delhi High Court's single judge orderwhich stalled the deal.Questioning the appli-cability of last year's EA order, senior coun-sel Harish Salve, appearing for Future Retail,told a bench led by Justice RF Nariman thatthe power of the state is needed to enforcethe arbitral award by any tribunal. Tribunalsare contractual and they can get the state'spowers only after express registration, he

said.Disney+Hotstar announces fresh slate ofIndia originals, new subscription plans"Weboth (judges) feel it is one of the reputed fami-lies and company. We feel the issues are sortedout by mediation or arbitration which is betterin the interest of the company and the indus-try," it said.SC asks Kirloskar family to medi-ate, not litigateThe extent to which a tribunalcan assume the power of the state or be treatedas a court remains subject to the country'slegislative policy, Salve argued, while point-ing to various earlier judgments by the SC tosupport his claim.Terming the EA's order a"nullity" in absence of an arbitration agree-ment, he reiterated that there is no notion ofan EA under the Indian Arbitration Act. Healso said once arbitration ends with passageof an award, the Arbitration Act doesn't applyand the enforcement of an award has to takeplace under CPC.Future Retail also said thatthe EA order has a shelf life of 90 days andlapses automatically if a tribunal is not set upwithin that time. The company said it is up toParliament to decide where to accommodateEAs under Indian law.The dispute betweenFuture Group and Amazon has been goingon since October 25, 2020, when the emer-gency arbitrator at the Singapore InternationalArbitration Centre (SIAC) passed an interimorder restraining Future Group from goingahead with its deal with Reliance Retail.

Mumbai, July 28: The study by the firmshowed that Moj has a better penetrationin Southern states while rival Josh leadsin the Hindi belt.The study by the firmshowed that Moj has a better penetrationin Southern states while rival Josh leadsin the Hindi belt.Mohalla Tech, the parentfirm of ShareChat and short video plat-form Moj, has raised a fresh $145 millionin funding led by Temasek and MooreStrategic Ventures at a valuation of $2.88billion. Mirae-Naver Asia Growth Fundalso participated in the financial round.The investment is an extension of the

Mohalla Tech valuedat near $3 bn

company's series F financial round as partof which it had raised $502 million in Aprilthis year at a valuation of some $2.1 bil-lion, joining the unicorn club.The Haguecourt held in both cases that India was inbreach of the relevant Bilateral InvestmentTreaties (BITs).Cairn dispute: Finmin con-firms French court order to freeze Indianassets in ParisInterview: Avneet SinghMarwah, CEO, Super PlastronicsThe bulkof the capital will be used to build a so-phisticated AI (artificial intelligence) feedbesides attracting and incentivising a di-verse creator base.

REGIONREGIONREGIONREGIONREGIONTHURSDAY, JULY 29, 20216Contd. From Page 1

AJYCP burns effigy of UnionHome Minister at Nagaon

NAGAON, July 28: District Unit of Asom Jatiyatabadi Yuba Chatra Parishad(AJYCP) burned the effigy of Union Home Minister Amit Shah for not solvingthe border dispute between Assam and Mizoram for over years near at NagaonNatun bazar Chariali today.Participating this stir, the district president andsecretary of the students' organization respectively Deepmoni Bora andPragjyoti Bonia said due to inconsistencies as well as poor correspondingof the Union Home Department with the northeastern states, the policepersonnel of Assam had to be killed indiscriminately by Mizoram miscreantsand Mizo police at the disputed territory in Assam - Mizoram border onMonday last. It was the irresponsibility and apathy of the Union HomeDepartment for which the police personnel of the state had to pay the worthat its own soil, they alleged. Around 50 agitators from the organizationparticipated in the stir today and shouted various slogans against the UnionHome Minister as well as the Department concerned, Mizoram Chief Minis-ter Zoram Thanga and Mizo miscreants.

Centre To Meet Assam, MizoramThree districts in Assam's Barak Valley - Cachar, Karimganj and Hailakandi - share a164 km border with three in Mizoram - Aizawl, Kolasib and Mamit.A dawn-to-duskbandh has been called in the entire Barak Valley region in Assam, with the BarakDemocratic Front (a local political outfit) demanding a permanent solution to theborder row.Violence broke out in these areas on Monday, with each side accusingthe other. Assam accused Mizoram of building a road through a protected forest inLailapur and setting up an armed camp. It said its security personnel were attackedby miscreants and later, Mizoram police. Mizoram said the violence started afterAssam Police crossed the border and "over-ran" a police post at Kolasib, as well asdamaging vehicles and opened fire on its police.A member of Assam's 6th PoliceBattalion, who was critically injured in the clashes, died this morning, ChiefMinister Himanta Biswa Sarma tweeted. This takes the number of deaths toseven.An uneasy calm has settled over the border areas since the violence,which was followed by appeals from both chief ministers to Home Minister AmitShah. The violence took place two days after Mr Shah met all eight northeasternchief minsters Ministers in Shillong.The border areas in question have seenclashes for decades, with the locals and security forces on each side accusingthe other of intrusion. The last incident was reported in June.

MHA summons Assam, MizoramAizawl at Kabuganj on Tuesday in protest against the killing of five security person-nel in an attack by Mizos at Lailapur near the Assam-Mizoram border on Monday."Ihave strong reasons to suspect that some decisions by the Assam government inthe last two months angered non-state elements in Mizoram," Sarma said, pointingout that the state's refusal to provide sanctuary to a section of Myanmarese refu-gees entering Mizoram might be one of the peeve points.Assam chief ministerHimanta Biswa Sarma on Tuesday claimed to have made six frantic calls to hisMizoram counterpart Zoramthanga the previous afternoon to stop the firing in whichfive cops from his state were killed and scores of others injured. On each occasion,the Mizoram chief minister's only."I told the Mizoram government that Assam can-not allow these people from Myanmar to settle (in Dima Hasao district) without theCentre's explicit approval. This might have provoked a section of Mizos."A day afterfive Assam cops were killed in a border clash with allegedly armed Mizo intrudersbacked by police, Mizoram on Tuesday refused to budge on deployment of stateforces in the disputed zone even as Assam retreated 100 metres from the site on theinstructions of Union home minister AmitOn the possibility of the new cow protec-tion law being linked to the border violence, Sarma said "rumours" about Assamtargeting beef supply to the rest of the region might have led to resentment in apredominantly Christian state like Mizoram. He assured Assam's neighbours thatthere was nothing in the act against them.Sarma said he had also made it clear thatAssam would not retaliate and would never endanger the lives of civilians throughretaliation.Border disputes are not new to the northeastern states, especially sincethere have been conflicts over these states' notional/perceived idea of their bound-aries which may be at variance with their actual borders. This has resulted in periodi-cal upheavals as was witnessed in the Assam-Mizoram skirmish on Monday whereseven Assam policemen died and over 70 injured.

Basavaraj Bommai takes oathChief Minister of Karnataka.The 61-year-old leader was the Minister for HomeAffairs, Law, Parliamentary Affairs and Legislature in Yediyurappa's council ofministers that was dissolved on Monday and was also the Minister-in-charge ofHaveri and Udupi Districts.Prime Minister Narendra Modi congratulated Bommaion taking oath as the CM. "Congratulations to Shri @BSBommai Ji on takingoath as Karnataka’s CM. He brings with him rich legislative and administrativeexperience. I am confident he will build on the exceptional work done by ourGovernment in the state. Best wishes for a fruitful tenure," he tweeted.Born onJanuary 28, 1960 in Hubballi, Basavaraj Bommai is a graduate in MechanicalEngineering. He worked in Tata Motors, Pune for three years and then becamean industrial entrepreneur. His caste, educational qualification, administrativecapacities and proximity to Yediyurappa and central leaders of the BJP is said tobe the reasons for his choice for the post.Bommai is from the dominantVeerashaiva-Lingayat community to which Yediyurappa also belongs. The com-munity accounts for 16-17 per cent of the state's population and is counted as akey vote-base of BJP. He started his political career with the Janata Dal, and wasa member of the Karnataka Legislative Council, twice (in 1997 and 2003) fromDharwad local authorities constituency. He had also served as Political Secre-tary to Chief Minister J H Patel and as Deputy Leader of the Opposition in thecouncil. Bommai quit the Janata Dal (United) and joined the BJP in February2008 and in the assembly elections held later that year, was elected as MLA fromShiggaon constituency in Haveri district. He then went on to retain the seat inthe 2013 and 2018 assembly polls. Married to Chennamma, he has a son and adaughter. Bommai had served as Minister for Water Resources and Cooperationin the previous BJP government. Widely appreciated for his knowledge regard-ing irrigation projects in the state, Bommai was like Yediyurappa's shadow in thejust-dissolved BJP government, as he used to follow the 78-year-old Chief Min-ister at meetings, events and press briefings and assist him.

Gaurav Gogoi demands probe"While this issue may have persisted for a while now, with state governments fromeither side claiming encroachment on their territory, the recent incidents draw spe-cial attention to this matter. Both sides claim to have rights over the land historicallywhich only further aggravates the tensions," Gogoi said.The Congress MP said theacts of violence have been tamed out at the border multiple times and the gravestincident so far took place on the evening of July 26 on the Assam-MizoramBorder."This is not just a failure of peace at the border but a failure of the constitu-tional machinery of the state that failed to protect its men. This is despite the HomeMinister's visit to the Northeast barely a few days prior to the incident promisingprosperity in the region and stability with regard to the border issues. Yet theseatrocities continue," said Gogoi.He said these rising tensions at the border haveonly led to violence and the compromise of the safety of the people livingthere."Many lives have been lost and been put in danger, the recent incidents areproof of that. No amount of condolences will be enough to rectify what hashappened at the border to the lives of the people," said the Kaliabor MP."Theissue at hand is a time-sensitive matter and is also a potential threat to more livesof the people there. Therefore I urge you to take the matter into immediate consid-eration for appropriate action."The Government ought to ensure safety and peaceat the borders of Assam and not risk citizens lives any further. I hereby requestpermission to raise the matter," urged the Congress leader.

Assam to deploy 4,000protections of which is our collective duty," he told reporters."We'll ensure thatpeace and status quo are maintained on the Assam-Mizoram border."Sarma, whobelongs to Prime Minister Narendra Modi's ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), saidhis government will petition the Supreme Court to ensure "not an inch of reserveforest is encroached upon".The Assam leader said satellite images showed con-struction of roads and land being used for Jhum (shifting) agriculture, which wasnot allowed, according to local Indian media outlet Mizoram Chief MinisterZoramthanga, who uses only one name, has accused Assam police of firing thefirst shots on Monday.Zoramthanga heads the Mizo National Front, an ally ofthe national ruling alliance led by the BJP.He said Assam police had forciblytaken over a border post and assaulted unarmed civilians.The ministers havestaged rival social media campaigns, sharing videos showing civilians armedwith batons clashing with police and other violence.Sarma and Zoramthangahave both appealed on Twitter for India's Interior Minister Amit Shah tointervene.Mizoram was part of Assam until 1972 when it was split up. It becamea state in its own right in 1986.Mizoram says the area claimed by Assam has beenused by its people for more than 100 years, but the Assamese insist that a largechunk of their land has been seized.The far-flung and resource-rich northeast-ern region has been a hotbed of ethnic tension since India's independence in1947.Borders between the seven states in the region are not clearly demarcatedand there are regular disputes over land and assets. Deadly confrontations suchas Monday's are rare, however.

Nagaon Police busted JAMTARA

HSLC results to be declaredprovided by the evaluation committees.In a press release issued on Wednesday,SEBA secretary Suranjana Senapati said the evaluation of all candidates of HSLC/AHM Examination, 2021, was done on the basis of data provided by the SchoolEvaluation Committee as well as District Level Scrutiny Committee, constituted bythe Assam government.The candidates “results will be declared through the ResultsGazette in PDF format and the Roll Numbers of the candidates, who are declaredpassed, will be provided therein”.There are a total of 4,38,828 candidates of 7,301schools under SEBA in the High School Leaving Certificate (HSLC)/Assam HighMadrassa (AHM) Examination, 2021.HSLC examination results will be declared for atotal of 4,26,553 candidates including 1,97,565 male and 2,28,988 female while AHMexamination results will be declared for a total of 12,275 candidates including 47,23male and 7,552 female.The students will have to download their digital mode ofMarks-sheets through websites or can view their Marks-Sheet through Mobile Appfrom 11:00 AM on July 30 2021.For downloading the Marks-sheet, students willhave to enter their Roll and No. in the space provided.The websites through whichthe Marks-sheet can be downloaded —1) https://sebaonline.org; 2)www.sebaresults.in; 3) resultsassam.nic.in; 4) www.results.shiksha; 5)www.assam.shiksha; 6) www.assamonline.in; 7) www.indiaresults.com;exametc.com; 8) exametc.com; 9)www.schools9.com; 10)assamjobalerts.com;11)assamresult.in; 12)https://iresults.net; 13) necareer.com and14)www.jagranjosh.comMobile App: SEBA Results 2021—It has to be downloadedfrom Google Play Store developed by Pan India Internet Private Limited.The Mo-bile App will have viewing as well as downloading facility of the marksheets.TheMobile App also contains some other features for providing additional materials tothe students“As per para 7 of Govt. Notification No. AHE202/2020/24 dated 11/05/2020, like previous year, this year also all the educational institutions will arrangefor admission of the candidates in Class XI based on the digital marks-sheet afterverification of results through Results Gazette which will be provided to eacheducational institution, digitally,” Senapati stated.“No hard copy of the ResultsGazette will be provided to the schools. However, Member Secretary /EDP ofSEBA Regional Office will ensure its distribution among the schools of their dis-trict concerned.”“The results of each student shall also be verified through thewebsite of SEBA “sebaonline.org” and also by referring to the Mobile App “SEBAResults 2021?. In case of any doubt, educational institutions will have to refer theBoard of Secondary Education (SEBA) for verification,” the SEBA secretary said.Thedate of providing hard copy of Marks-sheet and certificate shall be notified in duecourse.To redress the grievances of the students, a Grievance Redressal Committeeis constituted in each district under the chairmanship of ADC (i/c Education).Studentsmay submit their grievances through the respective Inspector of School of thedistrict concerned.Special Examination: If a candidate is not satisfied with the resultspublished on the basis of data provided by School Evaluation Committee, they mayappear in the Special Examination to be conducted just after the publication ofresults.Candidates appearing in Special Examination will have to appear in thetheory portion of all the six papers wherein their IA Marks and Practical Markswill be considered from the existing data which are already provided to SEBA.“Forthe candidate, who will appear in Special Examination, the electronic Mark-sheetprovided based on the data of School Evaluation Committee will stand cancelledand a new Mark-sheet will be provided to those candidates based on the marksobtained in Special Examination,” Senapati said.The link for applying for SpecialExamination will be available on SEBA Official website (https://sebaonline.org).Candidates will be able to apply for Special Examination in theportal through their respective school authority.The portal will be live fromAugust 5-August 12, 2021 and the date of the Special Examination will be noti-fied in due course, she added.The AHSEC secretary in a press release on Wednes-day said the Council will declare the results of the HS Final examination 2021 onJuly 31, 2021 at 9 AM.The results will be sent to all the educational institutions/examination centres under AHSEC to their respective emails before 9 AM onJuly 31, 2021, the AHSEC secretary said.There are a total of 2,49,812 candidatesincluding 38,430 in science stream, 1,91,855 in Arts, 18,443 in Commerce and1,081 in Vocational.There were 820 Examination Centres out of 1,498 institutionsunder the AHSEC.The results will also be available on the following websites.Studentscan access their results by typing their Roll & No and Digital Mark-sheets can alsobe downloaded from the websites:The websites from where students can accesstheir results are – www.assamresult.in, www.NeCareer.com, www.ahsec.assam.gov.in,www.assamjobalerts.com, www.schools9.com, www.results.shiksha,www.indiaResults.com, www.vidyavision.com

Hubble finds evidence of waternation of new and archival observations from Hubble. According to earlier re-search, Ganymede contains more water than all of Earth's oceans put together,although the moon is 2.4 times smaller than our planet.But Ganymede is so cold,with temperatures that can reach negative 300 degrees Fahrenheit (-184 degreesCelsius), that the surface is a frozen water ice shell. About 100 miles (161 kilome-ters) below this crust is likely a salty ocean -- and researchers knew there was noway that ocean was evaporating through the ice shell to create water vapor.TheEuropean Space Agency's JUICE mission, or JUpiter ICy moons Explorer, will belaunched in 2022. It will reach Jupiter in 2029 and spend three years observingthe planet and its three largest moons, Ganymede included. Researchers hope tolearn more about the moon as a potential habitat for life.

Cabinet meeting held underAsian Games will get Class I Government Jobs, whereas medal winners ofRecognised World Championship will get Class II Government Jobs andmedal winners of National Games will get Class III Government Jobs. 10.Cabinet decided to appoint Dr. P.L.N. Raju who retired as the Director ofNorth East Space Application Centre recently as the Special Secretary cumDirector of Regional Space Application Centre. 11. Cabinet decided to waiveoff land premium for Sankardev Nethralaya. 12. Newly constituted Autono-mous Council’s Chairman, Deputy Chairman, Chief Executive Members willbe entitled to the same salary in the pattern that functionaries of the existingAutonomous Councils are getting.

responsible forhuge nos. ofOTP based fi-nancial frauds.A police sourceinformed themthat they expectmore arrestsand recoverieslinking thiscase.

Leopard cub run over in Guwahati cityDispur, July 28: A leopard cub was run over by a speeding vehicle on theapproach road of Guwahati's Saraighatbridge on Tuesday night. While theauthorities have not been able to trace the driver, the leopard cub died onthe spot. Traffic personnel of Jalukbari informed forest personnel ofKhanamukh Beat Office, who arrived at the spot and took away the deadcub. Forest personnel said the one-and-a-half-year-old cub might have comeeither from the nearby Kamakhya temple hilltop or the Jalukbari notified Re-serve Forest. A post mortem was conducted on Wednesday and it was latercremated. "The post-mortem report revealed that the cub suffered a profusebrain haemorrhage caused by an injury to the head," said a forest official. Thehillocks encircling Guwahati are natural habitats of leopards. Guwahati sharesits boundary with the Amchang Wildlife Sanctuary, and a number of notifiedReserve Forests -Fatasil, Jalukbari, Kalapahar, Gorbhanga etc.

CM attends state level ‘DeshbhaktiDivas’ at Guwahati

Guwahati, July 28 : ChiefMinister Dr. Himanta BiswaSarma said that the AssamGovernment took thed e c i s i o n t o o b s e r v e“Deshbhakti Divas” tomark the death anniversaryof Deshbhakta Tarun RamPhukan on this day everyyear with a view to gener-ate more awareness amongpeople about the life and ideals of the great freedom fighter and to inspire theyouth with nationalistic fervour. The Chief Minister said this while speakingat the State level “Deshbhakti Divas” organized by the Information &Public Relations Department at Deshbhakta Tarun Ram Phukan Udyan atBharalumukh in Guwahati today. On the occasion, the Chief Minister offeredfloral tribute at the statue of Deshbhakta at the park and paid his deep tribute.Stating that Deshbhakti Divas would bring forth many neglected chapters ofAssam’s history to public knowledge, Chief Minister Sarma said thatDeshbhakta Tarun Ram Phukan and Karmabir Nabin Chandra Bordoloi werethe leading figures of freedom movement in Assam who kindled the passionfor independence among the people of the state. Highlighting DeshbhaktaTarun Ram Phukan’s contribution to India’s freedom movement, Chief Minis-ter Sarma said that as president of the provincial Congress, Deshbhakta ledthe freedom movement in Assam and played a key role in Mahatma Gandhi’sfirst visit to the state in 1921 and the Congress session held at Pandu in 1926,which was crucial from many ways in the country’s independence movement.The Chief Minister said that Deshbhakta was a visionary and always stoodfor the interest of the people of the state. It was due to his conflict with theCongress leadership on the participation of the party in the provincial govern-ment that he split away from Congress and formed “Asom Jan Sangha” in1936, Dr. Sarma said adding that had the Congress realized the foresight ofDeshbhakta and allowed participation of the provincial Congress in the gov-ernment, history and demography of Assam would have been totally differenttoday. The Chief Minister lamented the fact that Deshbhakta failed to get duehonour all these years and that is why the present state government decidedto commemorate his death anniversary as “Deshbhakti Divas” to keep alivehis work and ideals. He also mentioned that the observation would offer aplatform to deliberate on the thoughts and contributions of great leaders andfreedom fighters like Tarun Ram Phukan, Nabin Chandra Bordoloi, GopinathBordoloi, Bishnu Ram Medhi etc. and this would enable the new generation toconnect with the past. Minister of Information & Public Relations andWater Resources Pijush Hazarika in his speech said that the 8 th cabinetmeeting of the state government held under the chairmanship of Chief Minis-ter Dr. Himanta Biswa Sarma decided to observe “Deshbhakti Divas” on 28 thJuly every year to commemorate the rich contributions and legacy of DeshbhaktaTarun Ram Phukan to freedom movement of the country and social life ofAssam. The I&PR Minister said that Deshbhakta Tarun Ram Phukanalong with Karmabir Nabin Chandra Bordoloi gave leadership to freedom move-ment in Assam and was also the president of Asom Sahitya Sabha, AsomChatra Sanmilani and the Congress. He informed that the state governmentorganized the Divas in a low-key manner this year at Janata Bhawan and DCoffices apart from the state level programme at Bharalumukh due to COVIDsituation. However, suggestions from family members were obtained andpeople would also be consulted how to take the programme to the grassrootsensuring greater public participation. Grandsons of Deshbhakta, Dr. HemendraRam Phukan also spoke on the occasion and highlighted many untold storiesfrom the freedom fighter’s life. Prior to beginning of the programme, a two-minute silence was also observed in honour to the deceased police personnelwho lost their lives at Assam-Mizoram border while safeguarding state’s con-stitutional boundary. Secretary of I&PR Department Nira Gogoi Sonowal,DC Kamrup (Metro) Biswajit Pegu, Director I&PR Anupam Choudhury,several family members of Deshbhakta Tarun Ram Phukan including grand-son Jitendra Ram Phukan, granddaughters Bani Goswami, Minati Khoundand Indrani Baruah were present in the programme among others.

Deshbhakti Divas will inspire youth withnationalistic fervour: CM

PPFA demands probe overencroachers in Assam-Mizoram border

Guwahati, July 28 : Expressing utter dismay over the Assam-Mizoram bor-der conflicts where six Assam police personnel had to sacrifice their lives on26 July 2021 evening, a northeast India based nationalist citizen's forumurges the Union government in New Delhi to amicably settle the borderissues and also identify the encroachers in the disputed areas. PatrioticPeople's Front Assam (PPFA) in a media statement, paying heart-felt trib-utes to the deceased, demanded a clarification from the Mizoram govern-ment in Aizawl how their police forces fired upon the group of Assam policepersonnel without intimations even though both are government recog-nized armed forces under the same set of rules. The inter-State flare upresulted in the killing of Assam police personnel namely Swapan Roy (SI),LitonSuklabaidya, MH Barbhuiya, N Hussain, S Barbhuiya andShyamprasadDusat where over 50 others including the Cachar district po-lice chief BaibhabChandrakantNimbalkar were injured, who has been latelyairlifted to Mumbai for better treatments. "It was very shocking that theviolent incident took place within 48 hours of Union home minister AmitShah's visit to Shillong, where in fact he met both the concerned chief ministersPuZoramthanga and HimantaBiswaSarma, who incidentally the convener ofBJP promoted north east democratic alliance (NEDA)," said a PPFA statement.Lately the central reserve police force (CRPF) personnel were deployed at theaffected Lailapur-Vairengte disputed areas to help both the State police forces tomaintain law and order situation. The Centre had also discussions withZoramthanga and Sarma, both of whom were engaged in a war of words in digitalplatforms over the matter and asked them to ensure peace along the disputedborder areas. The forum observed that a large area of forests in Assam-Mizoramborder has been encroached by suspected nationals and Monday's incidentwas an eruption of tension following an incident of vandalism by some ofthose lawbreakers. A Mizo couple, who faced the ransacking on its returnjourney from Cachar, triggered the flare up. Various Mizo individuals claimthat those hooligans are illegal migrants in border areas. "It is so unfortunatethat the encroachers continue engaging in various criminal activities in thoseareas and on the way to safeguard those illegal migrants, our police personnelhave to face the consequences," said the PPFA statement adding that the Cen-tre should introspect over those criminals seriously while initiating to find asustainable solution to the border issues.

SPORTS PLUS THURSDAY, JULY 29, 2021 7

Tokyo, July 28 : The Americangymnast Simone Biles, the biggeststar at the Tokyo Olympics and thegreatest athlete in the sport'shistory, last night walked away fromthe women's team competition afteradmitting she had "freaked out in ahigh stress situation".In dramaticand unprecedented scenes at theAriake Gymnastics Centre, Bilesthen talked powerfully and bravelyabout the mental health challengesof elite sport - before admitting thatshe hoped that speaking out wouldhave an even more seismic effectthan winning multiple goldmedals.The 24-year-old had beenexpected to launch an all-outassault on the record books inJapan, having qualified for six finalsover the coming week, but stunnedeverybody when she told a trainer"I don't want to do it - I am done"after just one vault before leavingthe arena.The remaining three USteam members were forced to carryon without her, but Biles returnedto cheer on her team-mates, whowon a silver medal behind theRussian Olympic Committee, withTeam GB claiming bronze. Later,however, Biles admitted that shehad struggled with the demands ofbeing one of the most famousathletes in the world, the uniquepressure of these Games and theadded challenge of being stuck ina Covid secure bubble."I don't trustmyself as much as I used to," shesaid. "I don't know if it's age andI'm a little bit more nervous when Ido gymnastics. I feel like I'm alsonot having as much fun. ThisOlympic Games I wanted it to befor myself but I came in and I feltlike I was still doing it for otherpeople. It hurts my heart that doingwhat I love has been kind of takenaway from me to please otherpeople."She added that hercoaches had 100% supported herdecision. "They saw I was goingthrough it and they totally agreedit was not worth getting hurt oversomething so silly, even though it'sso big - the Olympics Games," sheadded. "But at the end of the daywe want to walk out of here, not bedragged out of here on astretcher."While not ruling out areturn to competition in Thursday'sall-round final, when asked what

Simone Biles exits women's Olympic teamgymnastics final over mental health concern

her goal for the Olympics was now,Biles simply replied: "To focus onmy well-being. There is more to lifethan just gymnastics".Biles, whohas been having counselling sincethe abuse of multiple US gymnastsby former team doctor Larry Nassarcame to light, also admitted thepressure of the last few days inTokyo had slowly begun tooverwhelm her."Therapy hashelped a lot as well as medicine andI feel like that's all been going reallywell," she added. "But wheneveryou get in a high stress situationyou freak out and you don't reallyknow how to handle all of thoseemotions, especially being here atthe Olympic Games."The Americanstar had surprisingly struggled inher first appearance at theseOlympics during Sunday'squalifying round before admittingin an Instagram post afterwardsthat she felt like she had "the weightof the world on my shoulders attimes". However it was widelyassumed that she would put thatbehind her.But it was clear thatsomething was going badly wrong

when Biles failed to perform thevault she had intended - aYurchenko with 2½ twists - insteadmanaging 1½ twists and thenstumbling on the landing. Herscore of 13.766 points was the oneof the lowest of her career.Whatmade it even more shocking wasthat for the past few years theAmerican has consistentlyredefined the art of the possiblewith her incomprehensible blend ofgrace, power and physics-defyingfearlessness. Earlier this year at theUS Classic, Biles made history bybecoming the first female athlete toperform an extraordinarily difficultYurchenko double pike vault in acompetition - and was expecting todo it again in Tokyo.With herteammates by her side andencouraging her, Biles said shehoped that talking about mentalhealth - so long a taboo in sport -would ultimately have more impactthan winning medals. "We're notjust athletes," Biles said. "We arepeople at the end of the day, so wehave to focus on that.""I think itshows the power of the athlete in

protecting my mental well-being,"she added. "I didn't want to go outthere and do something dumb andget hurt and be negligent. It's notworth it, especially when you havethree amazing athletes that can stepup to the plate and do it."Last weekBiles become the first female athleteand first Olympian honoured withher own goat-themed emoji, whichappeared whenever someone usedthe hashtags #SimoneBiles or#Simone, in honour of her being thegreatest of all time.In Rio she hadequalled the women's gymnasticsrecord of capturing four golds at asingle Games, and she was a hugefavourite to become the oldestwoman in more than five decades towin the Olympic all-around title. Yetin the quiet of the Ariake GymnasticsCentre, none of that seemed to matterany more.Speaking to the media,Biles said that the influence ofJapanese tennis star Naomi Osaka,who pulled out of the French Openciting mental health concerns, hadreally helped her speak freely. Osaka,who was seen as the Japanese faceof the Games and lit the Olympiccauldron, was knocked out in thethird round of the women's singlesat the Olympics on Tuesday andadmitted that pressure was afactor."She's been a hugeinspiration," she added. "A coupleof days ago I watched her wholedocu-series on Netflix and it reallyshined a light on it. It's like, wowshe's one of the greatest athletesin the world and she took a stepback and now look at her, she'sback here at the Olympicsdominating. So sometimes it is OKto take a back seat - even at themost important meet."

London, July 28 : There were chaotic scenesfollowing a two-year-old fillies' maiden atthe Galway Festival on Tuesday eveningafter Alizarine, apparently a 4-1 winner ondebut for trainer Jessica Harrington, wasdisqualified when she "could not bepositively identified post-race". This, itsoon transpired, was because "Alizarine"was in fact Aurora Princess, a three-year-old filly due to run in a handicap later onthe card.Harrington later apologised for themix-up, which was discovered before a"winner all right" message - the Irishequivalent of "weighed in" - had beenissued to make the result official for bettingpurposes. The initial placings were laterrevised, with Aidan O'Brien's Twinkle, the5-4 favourite, promoted to first place."Weran the wrong horse," Harrington told theRacing Post. "They are two bay fillies thatlook exactly the same. One has a tiny littlebit of white on the back of her hind coronaryband [between the hairline and her hoof]but they are the same size and verysimilar."My representative Bubba Amondheld his hands up straight away. He hadthe saddle on by the time I saw her in thering. It's human error and I apologise toeveryone."The British HorseracingAuthority has tightened its procedures foravoiding similar embarrassments in recentyears after a series of "wrong horse"blunders, and the identity microchips in allhorses are now scanned both on arrival ata racecourse and on departure from thestables to the parade ring.That was notenough to prevent the most recent case ofmistaken identity, however, when MotherEarth and Snowfall - both of whom have goneon to win English Classics this season - ranunder each other's names in the Group OneFillies' Mile at Newmarket last autumn. Bothfillies were in the correct race, but had beensaddled with the wrong number-cloths.Theapparent identity check on "Alizarine" afterher race and not before is likely to prompt closescrutiny of the Irish Horseracing RegulatoryBoard's procedures.The sport's regulator inIreland has appeared to lurch from one crisisto the next in recent months, following a claim

Chaos as 'wrong' JessicaHarrington horse 'wins' at Galway

by leading trainer Jim Bolger that performance-enhancing drugs are "the number one problem"facing the sport. IHRB executives were recentlycalled to give evidence to a parliamentarycommittee considering the claims.The bodywas also at the centre of a storm when a photoof Grand National-winning trainer GordonElliott sitting on a dead horse on his gallopsemerged earlier this year, while former trainerStephen Mahon was suspended for four yearsin June for serious neglect of horses at hisstable.The issue of ex-racehorses from Irelandbeing transported to the UK for slaughter wasalso highlighted by a recent Panoramainvestigation.Niall Cronin, the IHRB'scommunications officer, told the Racing Postthat its procedures are likely to be reviewed."It is something that has happened onoccasion in the past," Cronin said, "and it willbe looked at again. We review everything thathappens."Richard Hannon decided to sendSnow Lantern to Wednesday's Sussex Stakesat Goodwood rather than the 10-furlongNassau Stakes for fillies and mares thefollowing afternoon, but she is likely to needanother career-best performance to overcomePoetic Flare (3.35), who was an exceptionalwinner of the St James's Palace Stakes at theRoyal meeting last month.Like so many of JimBolger's horses, Poetic Flare has thrived onhis racing this season, living up to the trainer'ssuggestion after his win in the 2,000 Guineasthat he is the "complete racehorse".SnowLantern, Alcohol Free and Order Of Australia,the other three previous Group One winners inthe field, all have several pounds to find withPoetic Flare on that form and the Guineaswinner looks ready to take this step up to all-aged company in his stride.Goodwood 1.50Kolisi is stepping up to a mile and a half for thefirst time but he is a son of Harzand and a half-brother to a winner at 14 furlongs so there isevery chance he will improve for the test.William Haggas's lightly-raced gelding has formon testing ground too, and broke his duck withplenty in hand on good-to-soft going atSalisbury last time.Goodwood 2.25 Bounce TheBlues has yet to register a win in five startssince joining Andrew Balding last autumn, butshe went very close at Group Three level atLingfield in May, has form on soft ground andOisin Murphy to do the steering. A price ofaround 9-1 looks generous.Goodwood 3.00Fearby was much improved in the DragonStakes at Sandown last time and unlike hismain market rival, Chipotle, has convincingform with cut in the ground.Goodwood4.10 At the prices, it could be worthchancing La Feile at around 9-1 to progressfrom her winning debut at Beverley afortnight ago. Her inexperience showed formuch of the race but she found a realfinishing kick when it mattered.

London, July 28 : The last time the British& Irish Lions lost a Test series havingtaken an initial 1-0 lead was in Australia20 years ago. They had smashed theWallabies 29-13 in Brisbane and were 11-6 up at half-time in the second Test inMelbourne, courtesy of two JonnyWilkinson penalties and a try by NeilBack. One nasty, well-documented injuryto Richard Hill and a costly interceptiontry later and the outcome ended up beingvery different.That is why Warren Gatlandwill be stressing to his players this weekthat complacency must be avoided. Givenhow ominous the situation was lookingfor the visitors at half-time in the first Test,his squad will already understand justhow quickly things can change. SouthAfrica are going to come at themferociously hard on Saturday because,frankly, they have no other option.Hencethe rationale behind the Lions' slightlytweaked selection for the second Test. Ifyou looked at the body shapes andathletic strengths of Mako Vunipola,Conor Murray and Chris Harris there arefew obvious similarities but there is onecommon theme: all of them are calm underpressure and will stiffen the defensivebarricades the Springboks will be askedto scale.Vunipola was excellent aftercoming on in the second half of the firstTest, having been challenged by Gatlandto work harder on his fitness. In a gamewhen box-kicking is certain to be a majorfeature, Murray's skill set is an obviousfit and, crucially, he has risen to these kindof pressure-cooker occasions before.Hard though it is on Ali Price, you cansee exactly how Gatland's brain isworking.Harris, similarly, looks a sensiblehorse for this particularly demandingsteeplechase. One of South Africa's mostobvious go-to strengths is the centrepairing of Damian De Allende andLukhanyo Am and, for all Elliot Daly'sother qualities, the Scotland centre'sdefensive solidity looks a sensibleinvestment. "They were very direct in theway they attacked with De Allende, sowe are expecting more of the same, and aferocious kicking battle as well," confirmedGatland.It still allows the Lions tocounterattack strongly should the

Warren Gatland calls on calm trio asLions brace for South Africa storm

opportunity arise, with Stuart Hogg's bootalso a useful territorial weapon, butprimarily this is a Lions team set up tostop the Springboks at source. WhenGatland was coaching Wales he regularlyused to frustrate forward-orientated teamsby closing down their 8-9-10 combinationsand this Springbok side is a perfectexample. So much of what they do revolvesaround Faf de Klerk and the extraphysicality of Murray - in tandem with theheight of Maro Itoje and Courtney Lawesand the energy of Tom Curry - will makethe Sale scrum-half's life no easier.JasperWiese improves his strength in a trainingsession in Cape Town.Gatland, in particular,has been hugely encouraged by Itoje'simproving discipline and maturity. "To methat was probably the best game I've seenhim play in any jersey. I made a joke onMonday that it was the first time in about360-odd games that Maro hadn't givenaway a penalty. I spoke to him last nightas well and said maybe the penny hasfinally dropped."As Wales underlined inthe autumn of 2018 with a 20-11 victoryover a Springbok combination containingCheslin Kolbe, Handré Pollard, Willie LeRoux, Malcolm Marx et al, shrewd gamemanagement is similarly key. Wales mighthave defeated the Boks in the 2019 WorldCup semi-finals, too, had their squad beenless battered by that stage. As it was theywere still level at 16-16 with quarter of anhour to play and were only floored by alate Pollard penalty, the prelude to South

Africa's triumphant demolition of Englandin the final.Those experiences havedirectly informed how the Lions havetackled this series. "We've spoken to theplayers about making sure they'rementally right because you don't want tobe using your get-out-of-jail card whichis going to the third Test," stressedGatland. "You want to make the most ofthe opportunity and hopefully seal theseries on Saturday." For all the naturalemphasis on the starting XVs it couldeasily be the respective benches thatagain shape how this weekend's pivotalfixture pans out. The "Bomb Squad"which served Erasmus's side so well inthe World Cup is up against steelieropposition this time.Either way, expect theLions to try to reproduce Saturday'ssecond-half performance. They will lookto keep the ball in play, trust their fitness,avoid playing too much rugby in thewrong parts of the field and challengeSouth Africa to come up with somealternative answers that, to date, theyhave been unable to produce.And whenit comes to fresh impetus, Kyle Sinckler,Rory Sutherland, Ken Owens, TadhgBeirne and Taulupe Faletau all possessthe ability to test the stamina of their Bokopposite numbers, both with and withoutthe ball. It is hard to imagine SouthAfrica's world champions tamelycoughing up this series but, tacticallyand mentally, the Lions feel they possessthe tools to finish the job.

London, July 28 : Jonny Bairstowmight have been limited to only twoappearances in The Hundred buthe has certainly made them count.The Yorkshireman stuck hissecond consecutive 50 in what washis last game for Welsh Fire men'sside before he departs for Englandduty and a Test series withIndia.Bairstow is unlikely to featureagainst Virat Kohli's men, not tobegin with at least, so it seems anenormous shame his supreme talentwill be sitting on the sidelines inthe weeks to come.After ameasured start, Bairstow feasted onSouthern Brave's bowlers to strikefive sixes and five fours in a fineinnings of 72 from 39 balls. He andBen Duckett (53 from 34 balls)shared a partnership of 116 in a Firetotal of 165 for four, while TomBanton added 34. Southern Bravefell 18 runs short on 147 for sevendespite 40 from James Vince andthey have now lost both theirmatches while Welsh Fire, whosefielding can improve, are unbeaten.Welsh Government Covid-19regulations limited capacity atSophia Gardens to 3,021 forTuesday's double header offixtures. The England & WalesCricket Board confirmed those whohad their tickets cancelled will berefunded and offered free accessto next year's competition.Brave'sbowlers had success when theybowled into the pitch, but they didnot do it often enough. Bantonstruck Danny Briggs for a pair of

Bairstow leads Welsh Fire to win asMandhana stars for Southern Brave

sixes from the second and thirdballs, but his first hack of theevening was his undoing as he wasbowled by Jake Lintott. Brave werestill without England's JofraArcher.Hero of the match Bairstowstruggled initially and he wasdropped on the leg-side boundary.Duckett flipped an outrageous sixover fine leg and he then sweptLintott - both conventionally andreverse - for four straightboundaries. Bairstow tucked intoColin de Grandhomme in a hugeWelsh Fire total.James Vince andQuinton de Kock needed to startfast in Brave's response and theydid just that before South AfricanDe Kock was caught by Banton for21 from just seven balls. Brave had54 from the first 25 balls and DevonConway and Vince needed 81 fromthe final 50 balls. But the formerdragged on a Jake Ball delivery andJames Neesham then claimed the

prized scalp of Vince. Fire's bowlersgot to grips with the pitch the betterand it proved the difference asNeesham finished with three forfive.Earlier in the day, Brave'swomen's side made it two wins fromtwo thanks to an effortless,unbeaten 61 off only 39 balls fromSmriti Mandhana. JemimahRodrigues of NorthernSuperchargers might have been thestandout performer in the women'stournament to date, but her fellowIndian Mandhana showed she isjust as talented as she helped Braveease home by eight wickets.WelshFire made 110 batting first as Brave'sLauren Bell took two for 19. Shesaid: "Smriti is great. She is a qualitybatter. It's been hugely exciting toplay in this tournament and we aresettling into it the more games weplay. It's been really good to gettwo wins from two, especially aswe've had two away from home."

London, July 28 : Ariarne Titmuswon her first internationalswimming medal when she was 16,at the 2017 swimming worldchampionships in Hungary. Hercoach, newly famous Dean Boxall,remembers it well. "When she wentup, she'd never got a medal[before]," he recalled. "In Budapest,you're on the top of the grandstandlooking down, it was huge for her.There were so many Hungariansscreaming and carrying on. Shedidn't understand that people blow-dried your hair and put make up on[before the medal ceremony]. Shecame down and she wasemotional."Katie Ledecky: 'It's likehaving a track athlete who can runthe 100m all the way up to the1500'But Boxall remembers whathappened next, too - and thosememories are less positive. "The next

Prevail again and Ariarne Titmus canlay claim to Katie Ledecky's crown

day she was terrible - she swam 17seconds off her best," he said.Having claimed bronze in Budapestas the anchor swimmer in thewomen's 4x200m medley relay,Titmus struggled to back up in the800m freestyle heats the followingday. She finished third in her heat,placing 14th overall. The final wasultimately won by Katie Ledecky.Having conquered Ledecky in the400m freestyle on Monday to earnher maiden Olympic medal, Titmusfaces her American foe again onWednesday in the women's 200mfreestyle final. Round two of theLedecky v Titmus duel in the poolwill be a great test of the 20-year-oldAustralian and her evolution since2017. If Titmus prevails again shewill have a strong claim to takingLedecky's crown."We've had todevelop that [ability to get] through

the meet," continued Boxall. "Rightnow you've just got an Ariarne thathas evolved. She is pretty grounded- you can see, she came up to me[after the win on Monday], I think Iwas more emotional than her. Shewas basically saying, 'you need tosettle down'.The Wednesdaymorning final will be another flyer.Titmus qualified fastest on Tuesday,to earn lane four, while Ledecky willbe next to her in lane three afterswimming the third quickest time(the pair were split across the twosemi-finals). But Titmus insisted thatthe 200m was about more than justher rivalry with Ledecky."It's alwaysgreat racing Katie - it's exciting foreveryone, including myself," shesaid. "But I think the 200m especially,it's not just Katie and I. It's a veryvery strong field … I think it'sanyone's race tomorrow.

THURSDAY, JULY 29, 20218 STOPPAGEcm

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Tokyo, July 28 : A new queen ofthe pool has been crowned.Twenty-year-old Australianprodigy Ariarne Titmus emphati-cally took the women's swimmingcrown from American KatieLedecky at Tokyo 2020 on

Wednesday. Having conquered thefive-time Olympic gold medallistin the marquee women's 400mfreestyle on Monday, Titmus wasagain too fast in the 200m freestylefinal.The Tasmanian's two victoriesin 48 hours - only the first and sec-ond time Ledecky has lost indi-vidual finals in her three-Olympicoutings - have seen her usurp the24-year-old as the female swimmer

Ariarne Titmus wins another Olympicgold for Australia as Katie Ledecky fades

to beat. Titmus can add to her twogold medals in the days ahead; shewill again face Ledecky in thewomen's 800m freestyle, and thepair will likely face off during thewomen's 4x200m freestylerelay.Titmus began slowly, touch-

ing fifth at the first turn, but movedup in the second lap as her rivalsstruggled to shake her. The Austra-lian moved up to fourth at the 100mand was third at the final 50m. ButTitmus was unstoppable in the fi-nal 25m, shaking off Hong Kong'sSiobhan Haughey to break theOlympic record. Penny Oleksiaktook bronze, with Ledecky back infifth."I'm bloody exhausted,"

Titmus said. "That was a tough one- I knew Siobhan really wanted this,I could tell by the way that sheswam yesterday. So I knew it wouldbe tough to beat her. Honestly it'snot the time that I thought I coulddo this morning, but it's the Olym-pics and there's a lot of other thingsgoing on, so it's just about winninghere. I'm very happy."Australia hasa historic pedigree in the women's200m freestyle. Susie O'Neill - inTokyo as deputy chef de missionfor the Australian Olympic Com-mittee - won gold in 1996, whileAustralian swimming legend ShaneGould won the race at the Munich1972 Games. Titmus said she washonoured to join Gould and O'Neillon the winners' list."I feel good,"she said. "I'm not going to let itsettle in too much - I'm only half-way through my program, it's crazyto think that I still have the relayand the 800m to go. But I have theafternoon off now, so I'll have a rest,come back in for a light swim andget ready for tomorrow."Tears ofjoy flowed for Titmus as she stoodon the top step of the podium forthe second time at Tokyo 2020. Hercoach Dean Boxall, who went vi-

ral for his celebrations on Monday,was once again ecstatic - if some-what less animated.In the final raceof the morning, Australia's male4x200m freestyle relay swimmers- the reigning world champions -were unable to stay with a domi-nant Great Britain. But the squadof Alexander Graham, KyleChalmers, Zac Incerti and ThomasNeill outswum their American ri-vals to win bronze, just three one-hundredths of a second off the Rus-sian Olympic Committee, whotook silver.Ledecky bounced backfrom her 200m and 400m freestyledefeats to win the 1500m freestyle- her first gold medal of Tokyo2020 - as the long-distance eventmade its debut on the women'sOlympic program. Ledecky ledfrom the front, establishing clearwater behind her after just a hand-ful of laps and never showed anysign of fatigue. She was followedin by compatriot Erica Sullivan,while Germany's Sarah Kohlerwon bronze.In the men's 200mbreaststroke semi-final, Australianmedal prospect Zac Stubblety-Cook qualified fastest for themedal race. Stubblety-Cook holds

the second fastest time in historyin the discipline, which he re-corded just last month.But therewas disappointment for MatthewWilson, a former world recordholder, who failed to progress.Wilson was unable to meet thequalifying time at Australia'sOlympic trials but was includedin the squad on compassionategrounds following a personalbereavement.Britain's JamesWilby and Dutchman ArnoKamminga are among the othermedal hopefuls who will meetStubblety-Cook in the final onThursday.In the first event of themorning, the men's 100m freestylesemi-finals, Kyle Chalmers - thechampion champion in Rio - quali-fied comfortably for Thursday's fi-nal. The Russian OlympicCommittee's Kliment Kolesnikovwas the fastest qualifier, but faces atough battle with Chalmers andAmerican Caleb Dressel in the goldmedal race.The swimmers will re-turn to action this evening for a nightof heats. Australia's KayleeMcKeown - who won gold in thewomen's 100m backstroke on Tues-day - will be back for the 200m.

Tokyo, July 28 : GreatBritain's women's gymnas-tics team shocked the sportby becoming the first since1928 to win a medal in theOlympic team finals asthey came from behind tosecure bronze in dramaticfashion on Tuesday. "I can-not believe this, this is morethan a dream come true,"said Jennifer Gadirova."My dream was to makethe Olympics and experi-

ence it and even being hereis an achievement in itself.Our biggest aim was tomake Paris 2024. Let alonecoming away with a medal.It is incredible and there arewords to describe it."Simone Biles is embracedby coach Cecile Landi af-ter her withdrawal from thewomen's all-round gym-nastics final Having startedthe final with an unsatisfac-tory routine from AmelieMorgan on the balancebeam, the British team oftwins Jennifer and JessicaGadirova, Alice Kinsellaand Morgan rallied reso-lutely as they went underthe radar, with most eyes onJapan, China or Italy to nabthe bronze medal.Kinsellasaid: "With beam we hadone fall and we put that be-hind us, we smashed beamand went to floor andsmashed floor and vault,that's when we knew wecould do this. Then wesmashed bars and we didit."After trailing for muchof the competition, Britainmoved up into contentionwith a strong vault rotationanchored by the Gadirovatwins, who possess two ofthe best double twistingYurchenko vaults in theworld, rising to withintouching distance of thirdplace as they moved to theuneven bars.Some teams

Team GB's gymnasts hail'incredible' first Olympicteam medal since 1928

would be cowed by thepossibility but they insteadput up a sublime rotationon uneven bars with threeexcellent routines fromJessica Gadirova, Kinsellaand Morgan, outscoringtheir qualifying routines byover a point. The ROC andUSA teams took gold andsilver."Obviously aftervault I looked up andthought: 'OK, we couldpotentially get a medal,'"

Kinsella said. "So Ithought I'm going to go anddo the best bar routine Icould ever do, which I did.I got a personal best, so I'mreally happy with that, thenwhen we saw we camethird I was speechless, onthe floor, crying andeverything."There hasbeen much discussionabout the selection of theBritish team, with the fourfirst-time Olympians cho-sen while world bars silvermedallist Rebecca Downiewas omitted in controver-sial circumstances. Thegymnasts in Tokyo saidthey noted all the criticismand used it as motivationto perform."We've hadquite a lot of criticisms say-ing we're an inexperiencedteam, and I think we'vedone so well to put thatbehind us and we've madehistory," said Morgan."We've proved it doesn'tmatter how old you are,how experienced, we wereselected for this team for areason and we've comehere and done our job."When there's criticism onsocial media you are defi-nitely aware of it. You haveto try and put it past youbut it does stick in yourmind, I think for us goingout there and provingpeople wrong was the ic-ing on the cake."

Tokyo, July 28 : For those insport today, pressures are un-tenable amid an endlesslyhostile kind of unregulatedsocial experimentSimoneBiles (left) withdrew from thewomen's team gymnastics fi-nal on Tuesday, citing mentalhealth concerns.There are somany well-worn quotes aboutsport and pressure. Pressuremakes diamonds. Pressure isfor tyres. The greatest pres-sure is the pressure we put onourselves. People often saycliches exist because they'retrue. Quite a lot of the timethey're also bullshit.But then,there has never been sportingpressure quite like this. Or in-deed a shared public spacelike the one we have now:endlessly hostile, endlesslyreveren t , unceas ing lypresent. Keith Miller fa-mously said that pressure isa Messerschmitt up yourarse. The point being, whenyou've fought in a worldwar, pressure isn't playingTest cricket in the 1950s.Well, Keith, the world haschanged. And in the processwe seem to have created aparticular kind of 24-hourrolling hell for our superstarathletes.At times this can looklike some kind of unregulatedsocial experiment. Be bril-liant, constantly. Give us thatthing we crave. And yes, youwill be judged. You will bediced and dissected to themost minute degree. You will

Simone Biles and Naomi Osaka highlightthe 24-hour rolling hell of Big Sport

be asked to carry our hopesand fears, to embody our poli-tics, to mean something, andto become even here a kindof commodity. This isunsustainable.Naomi Osakahas already told us this, if wecare to listen. Anyone can losea tennis match, particularly anOlympic tennis match at theend of a strange, disjointedschedule during a strange, dis-jointed period in the life ofplanet Earth. She was gra-cious in defeat by the worldNo 42 Marketa Vondrousova.Asked whether pressure wasa part of it, she had the self-possession to avoid giving adefinite answer. What wordsdo you really want from me?How many billions of peopleare hanging, in real time, onthe nuances of my answer?What kind of space have wemade here? All of these mighthave been reasonable re-sponses. Osaka, who knowsthis world better than anyonebecause it is her world, even-tually said: "Yes and no." Shesuggested her recent mentalhealth break hadn't helped herperformance. The questionanswers itself. Here is a youngtennis player who has taken amental health break, in part toavoid being asked painfulquestions, who is now an-swering painful questionsabout her mental healthbreak.Vondrousova spokemore plainly: "I can't imaginethat kind of pressure. She is

the face of the Olympics." Asis Simone Biles, who has alsotaken a moment to breathe.Biles is a four-times Olympicchampion and as tough acompetitor as it's possible tobe. Nobody gets near herlevel, never mind the extrabarriers she has had to vault,without being both of thosethings.But Biles took a timeout on Tuesday, and did sowith grace. She didn't have to.She doesn't owe us moregrace. She has given plentyalready. There really doesn'thave to be a reason whySimone Biles might feel alittle frayed, a little overex-posed. A kind of violence isbeing applied to these people,and it is important torecognise the novelty ofthis.Lose a match if you're,say, John McEnroe in 1984,and you can disappear for awhile. You can go back toyour apartment and take thephone off the hook. The pres-sures you feel are tame, ana-logue celebrity pressures.There is no toxic white noise

chasing you across everyroom, every space, every de-vice in your home. Until veryrecently athletes could shrinka little, suffer in private, andemerge with only a dimshared memory of their lastappearance on that stage.Not

now. Every part of your ex-istence is public property.Biles and Osaka, these aston-ishingly talented women, are24 and 23 respectively, andhave lived their adult livesthrough this voracious digitalculture barefoot, twiddling aracket, presented without aprotective filter. There is noskin thick enough to shake

that off indefinitely, no senseof self so powerfully detachedit can get through thisunbruised.And naturally nowthat we have caught a glimpseof this pain there will beblame. Certainly many as-pects of the mainstream me-

dia look joyless and unpleas-ant in this reflected light.Osaka has spoken of herstruggle to answer difficultpersonal questions in public.Tom Daley was asked aboutthe death of his father in vic-tory on Monday night andspoke with a startling clar-ity that he owed to nobodyand didn't have to give.

Imagine being asked thatquestion in painful defeat, orwhen you just didn't want totalk at all.And yet to pointthe exculpatory finger ofblame solely at the peopleholding the mics would bedeeply dishonest. Theshared digital voice of socialmedia platforms carries itsown far heavier weight, andwill only expand and multi-ply from here. We all knowthis darkness. Imagine hav-ing that worst day, the onewhere mistakes are ampli-fied and unkind words be-gin to bite. For the likes ofBiles or Osaka, multiply thatpoison, that loss of self, byabout five billion. What dowe plan to do with thispower? How are we goingto behave here?Plus ofcourse Big Sport has a partin this pressure. So manyathletes emerge from anindustrialised version oftheir sport, a system thatisn't play or enjoyment, buta machine designed forwinning.

Tokyo, July 28 : The Indianwomen's hockey team lost 1-4 todefending champions Great Brit-ain, its third consecutive defeat atthe Olympics in Japan on Wednes-day. The Indians wasted chancesgalore as Hannah Martin (2nd and19th minute), Lily Owsley (41stminute), Grace Balsdon (57th

Tokyo 2020: India lose 1-4 to Great Britain in hockey, Indian rowers fail to qualify for double sculls finalminute) scored for Great Britainto hand the reigning championstheir second consecutive win inPool A. For India, Sharmila Deviscored the lone goal in the 23rdminute. The Indians need at leasta point from this game to be safebut they now will have to win theirremaining two matches to have any

chance of qualifying for the knock-out stage. India had earlier lost 1-5 to world no.1 the Netherlands be-fore slumping to a 0-2 defeatagainst Germany. Indian rowersArjun Lal Jat and Arvind Singhfailed to qualify for the men's light-weight double sculls final at theTokyo Olympics after finishing

sixth and last in the second semi-final on Wednesday. Arjun andArvind clocked 6:24.41 to finishlast in the six-team semifinal 2 atthe Sea Forest Waterway.The topthree pairs in each of the two semi-finals qualify for the final.Arjunand Arvind have, however, pro-duced the best-ever Olympic per-

formance by Indian rowers byreaching the semifinals.They willfinish at least at the 12thspot.While Arjun assumes the roleof the bower, Arvind is the team'sstroker. The two had finished fifthin their heats on Saturday.Theevent includes two rowers in ascull boat using two oars each.