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T he BJP and the Janata Dal(U) started preliminary talks on the sharing of seats for the forthcoming Assembly polls during a two-hour meet- ing between BJP president JP Nadda and Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar in Patna on Saturday. But more than the number of seats, the issue of dealing with LJP chief Chirag Paswan has emerged a major challenge for the alliance. Chirag Paswan will meet Home Minister Amit Shah on September 14 in Delhi after which more clarity will emerge on the seat-sharing talks. Chirag has held several rounds of talks with Nadda in Delhi. Nadda is reported to have assured Nitish Kumar that the BJP will try to iron out his dif- ferences with Chirag Paswan, who has often targeted the Bihar Chief Minister during the last few months. Nadda is also reported to have advised the LJP president not to attack the Bihar Government and agree to con- test a realistic number of seats. Sources said that the BJP and the JD(U) may agree to contest 123 and 120 seats each. The strength of the State Assembly is 243. The BJP will allot seats to the LJP out of its quota and JD(U) will meet the demand of former Chief Minister Jitan Ram Manjhi from its share of 120 seats. If this agreement holds, the LJP may be asked to contest 23 seats since the BJP will not contest less than 100 seats, sources said. In Delhi, Chirag said he will go with the BJP choice of the Chief Minister and he has no problem with the name of Nitish Kumar as the face of the NDA. “I am okay with any Tom, Dick or Harry chosen by the BJP,” a TV channel quoted the 37-year-old leader. However, it was not clear how will the LJP react if offered 23 seats to contest. The party has been pressing for allotment of at least 43 seats. In 2015 Assembly polls when the JD(U) was not part of the NDA the LJP had contested 42 Assembly seats. The BJP chief accompa- nied by party colleagues like Deputy Chief Minister Sushil Kumar Modi, national gener- al secretary and State in-charge Bhupendra Yadav and State president Sanjay Jaiswal, called on Nitish at his official resi- dence amid a growing row between NDA partners. The NDA in Bihar consists of the JD(U), the BJP, the LJP and Jitan Ram Manjhi’s Hindustan Awam Morcha (HAM). In the middle of the visible fissures in the alliance, Union Minister for Home and former Bihar BJP president Nityanand Rai has claimed that the NDA would win 220 Assembly seats in the October-November slat- ed polls. Rai said that developmen- tal works carried out across the country under Prime Minister Narendra Modi, the help given to the underprivileged popu- lation during the coronavirus crisis phase, as well as the beginning of Ram temple con- struction in Ayodhya, will be the important issues in the upcoming elections in the State. “NDA will form Government in Bihar under the leadership of Nitish Kumarji after winning 220 seats in the upcoming State Assembly elections,” Rai told newspersons in Patna BJP office after Nadda discussed on Friday campaign strategy with party leaders in the election management committee meeting. Turn to Page 4 Patna: Former Union Minister Raghuvansh Prasad Singh, whose recent resignation from the RJD founded and headed by Lalu Prasad has left political waters in Bihar astir, has fall- en critically ill and put on a ventilator, a close aide said on Saturday. “Singh sahibs condition deteriorated considerably last night. At 11.56 pm, he was put on ventilator. We are praying for his well-being”, said the aide told PTI-Bhasha over phone. Turn to Page 4 C ontinuing its crackdown on the drug peddlers and deal- ers, the Mumbai Zone officials of the Narcotics Control Bureau (NCB) conducted raids in Mumbai and Goa on Friday night and Saturday. Though a senior NCB offi- cial said that the raids were not directly linked to the drug case registered in connection with the death of actor Sushant Singh Rajput, official sources said that its teams had con- ducted the raids on Friday night and Saturday based on “specific information” thrown up during the investigations in the Sushant death-related drug case. During the course of her prolonged questioning by the NCB ahead of her arrest on September 8, actress Rhea Chakraborty had reportedly told the investigators that actress Sara Ali Khan and Rakul Preet, designer Simone Khambatta, Sushant’s friend and former manager Rohini Iyer and filmmaker Mukesh Chhabra consumed narcotics substances. However, Rhea has retracted the confessional state- ment recorded by the NCB ahead of her arrest. Unconfirmed reports said that the NCB might summon anywhere from “15 to 25” Bollywood personalities for questioning over the reports about their allegedly procuring and consuming narcotic drugs. Sources said that the NCB officials had conducted the raids on the basis of specific information provided by alleged drug peddler Anuj Keswani who was arrested by the NCB after Kaizan Ebrahim disclosed his name. Kaizan Ebrahim had reportedly told the investigators that Anuj Keshwani was his supplier of narcotic drugs. Keswani and Kaizan are among the ten persons arrest- ed in connection with the drug case registered by the NCB. The other arrested accused in the case are Rhea Chakraborty, her brother Showik, Abbas Lakhani, Karan Arora, Zaid Vilatra, Abdel Basit Parihar, Samuel Miranda and Dipesh Sawant. During the 19-long hours of grilling carried out during a span of three days, Rhea reportedly admitted that she had procured drugs for Sushant through her currently arrested brother Showik Chakraborty, that she had acknowledged that she knew about Samuel purchasing drugs for the actor from drug peddler Zaid Vilatra and that she had accepted that she had accepted drug-related WhatsApp chats between her and others. Turn to Page 4 M aharashtra may be just a State, but its overall Covid-19 tally will soon sur- pass Russia, which occupies the fourth place in the list of worst affected countries. While Maharashtra has a total of 10,37,000 cases as on Saturday, Russia’s tally stood at 10,57,362. Maharashtra is adding around 22,000-24,000 cases every day while Russia’s daily count is around 5,500 new cases. It means Maharashtra will surpass Russia in terms of the total number of cases by Monday. Then Maharashtra will trail only the USA, India, and Brazil in terms of total numbers of infection. With a tally of 66,39,386, the USA is the worst-hit coun- try followed by India at the sec- ond spot with over 47 lakh cases. Meanwhile, Andhra Pradesh with 5,57,587 sur- passed Argentina (5,35,705 cases) which is at the 10th spot in the country-wise rankings. Turn to Page 4 London: Oxford University says trials of a coronavirus vaccine that it is developing with pharmaceutical com- pany AstraZeneca will resume, days after being paused due to a reported side-effect in a patient in the UK. In a statement, the uni- versity said in large trials such as this “it is expected that some participants will become unwell and every case must be carefully eval- uated to ensure careful assessment of safety.” T he schedule of flight on a particular route will be sus- pended for a period of two weeks if anyone is found doing photography inside it. It will be restored only after the airline has taken action against those violating these norms. The Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) on Saturday announced this after taking a strong note of alleged violation of safety and social distancing protocols by medi- apersons during a Chandigarh- Mumbai flight that had Bollywood actress Kangana Ranaut as a passenger. The order was sent to all the domes- tic airlines in India. The DGCA order on Saturday said, “It has been decided that from now on, in case any violation (photogra- phy) occurs on any scheduled passenger aircraft — the schedule of flight for that par- ticular route shall be suspend- ed for a period of two weeks.” This announcement comes a day after the DGCA asked IndiGo to take “appropriate action” within 15 days against those who violated air safety norms in the Kangana flight. Turn to Page 4 F ive villagers from Arunachal Pradesh who went missing last week near the Chinese border were back home on Saturday after China’s People’s Liberation Army (PLA) hand- ed them over to the Indian authorities. The five youth were received at Kibitu, a small town in Arunachal Pradesh’s Anjaw district, located on the Line of Actual Control (LAC) and were sent to quarantine for 14 days as per the coronavirus protocol. “The Indian Army took over all five individuals at Kibitu on September 12, 2020, after completing all the for- malities. Individuals will now be quarantined for 14 days as per Covid-19 protocol and will thereafter be handed over to their family members,” a state- ment released by the Army read. The youth went missing after they went into the forest for hunting and reportedly strayed across the LAC into the Chinese territory. However, Tapir Gao, MP from East Arunachal, had quoted local reports to allege the five villagers were “abduct- ed” by the PLA. On Monday, China made light of concerns over the whereabouts of the five youths and said it has never recognised Arunachal Pradesh as an Indian territory. “China’s position on the eastern sector of the China- India boundary, or Zangnan (the southern part of China’s Xizang (Tibet)), is consistent and clear,” Chinese foreign min- istry spokesperson Zhao Lijian said at a media briefing in Beijing. Lijian said the Chinese Government had never recog- nised “Arunachal Pradesh”. D elhiites can now avail the doorstep delivery of ser- vices such as those related to income certificates, driving license and new water connec- tions, as the AAP government has restarted its ambitious scheme, which was in suspen- sion for nearly five months due to the Covid-19 pandemic. According to the Government, people wanting to avail the listed services at their doorstep can call 1076 or book online, besides visiting one of the 46 centres for spot- booking. Turn to Page 4
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Apr 06, 2023

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Page 1: ?RUUR ?ZeZdY UZdTfdd dVRe dYRcZ_X =;A - Daily Pioneer

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The BJP and the JanataDal(U) started preliminary

talks on the sharing of seats forthe forthcoming Assemblypolls during a two-hour meet-ing between BJP president JPNadda and Bihar ChiefMinister Nitish Kumar in Patnaon Saturday. But more than thenumber of seats, the issue ofdealing with LJP chief ChiragPaswan has emerged a majorchallenge for the alliance.

Chirag Paswan will meetHome Minister Amit Shah onSeptember 14 in Delhi afterwhich more clarity will emergeon the seat-sharing talks.Chirag has held several roundsof talks with Nadda in Delhi.

Nadda is reported to haveassured Nitish Kumar that theBJP will try to iron out his dif-ferences with Chirag Paswan,who has often targeted theBihar Chief Minister during thelast few months.

Nadda is also reported tohave advised the LJP presidentnot to attack the BiharGovernment and agree to con-test a realistic number of seats.

Sources said that the BJPand the JD(U) may agree tocontest 123 and 120 seats each.The strength of the StateAssembly is 243.

The BJP will allot seats tothe LJP out of its quota andJD(U) will meet the demand offormer Chief Minister JitanRam Manjhi from its share of120 seats. If this agreementholds, the LJP may be asked tocontest 23 seats since the BJP

will not contest less than 100seats, sources said.

In Delhi, Chirag said hewill go with the BJP choice ofthe Chief Minister and he hasno problem with the name ofNitish Kumar as the face of theNDA.

“I am okay with any Tom,Dick or Harry chosen by theBJP,” a TV channel quoted the37-year-old leader.

However, it was not clearhow will the LJP react if offered23 seats to contest. The partyhas been pressing for allotment

of at least 43 seats. In 2015Assembly polls when the JD(U)was not part of the NDA theLJP had contested 42 Assemblyseats.

The BJP chief accompa-nied by party colleagues likeDeputy Chief Minister SushilKumar Modi, national gener-al secretary and State in-chargeBhupendra Yadav and Statepresident Sanjay Jaiswal, calledon Nitish at his official resi-dence amid a growing rowbetween NDA partners.

The NDA in Bihar consistsof the JD(U), the BJP, the LJPand Jitan Ram Manjhi’sHindustan Awam Morcha(HAM).

In the middle of the visiblefissures in the alliance, UnionMinister for Home and formerBihar BJP president NityanandRai has claimed that the NDAwould win 220 Assembly seatsin the October-November slat-ed polls.

Rai said that developmen-tal works carried out across thecountry under Prime MinisterNarendra Modi, the help givento the underprivileged popu-lation during the coronaviruscrisis phase, as well as thebeginning of Ram temple con-struction in Ayodhya, will bethe important issues in theupcoming elections in the State.

“NDA will formGovernment in Bihar underthe leadership of NitishKumarji after winning 220seats in the upcoming StateAssembly elections,” Rai toldnewspersons in Patna BJPoffice after Nadda discussed onFriday campaign strategy withparty leaders in the electionmanagement committee meeting.

Turn to Page 4

Patna: Former UnionMinister RaghuvanshPrasad Singh, whose recentresignation from the RJDfounded and headed by LaluPrasad has left politicalwaters in Bihar astir, has fall-en critically ill and put on aventilator, a close aide saidon Saturday.

“Singh sahibs conditiondeteriorated considerably lastnight. At 11.56 pm, he wasput on ventilator. We arepraying for his well-being”,said the aide told PTI-Bhashaover phone.

Turn to Page 4

������������ ��

Continuing its crackdown onthe drug peddlers and deal-

ers, the Mumbai Zone officialsof the Narcotics ControlBureau (NCB) conducted raidsin Mumbai and Goa on Fridaynight and Saturday.

Though a senior NCB offi-cial said that the raids were notdirectly linked to the drugcase registered in connectionwith the death of actor SushantSingh Rajput, official sourcessaid that its teams had con-ducted the raids on Fridaynight and Saturday based on“specific information” thrownup during the investigations inthe Sushant death-related drugcase.

During the course of herprolonged questioning by theNCB ahead of her arrest onSeptember 8, actress RheaChakraborty had reportedlytold the investigators that

actress Sara Ali Khan andRakul Preet, designer SimoneKhambatta, Sushant’s friendand former manager RohiniIyer and filmmaker MukeshChhabra consumed narcoticssubstances. However, Rhea hasretracted the confessional state-ment recorded by the NCBahead of her arrest.

Unconfirmed reports saidthat the NCB might summonanywhere from “15 to 25”Bollywood personalities forquestioning over the reportsabout their allegedly procuringand consuming narcotic drugs.

Sources said that the NCBofficials had conducted theraids on the basis of specificinformation provided byalleged drug peddler AnujKeswani who was arrested bythe NCB after Kaizan Ebrahimdisclosed his name. KaizanEbrahim had reportedly toldthe investigators that AnujKeshwani was his supplier of

narcotic drugs.Keswani and Kaizan are

among the ten persons arrest-ed in connection with the drugcase registered by the NCB. Theother arrested accused in thecase are Rhea Chakraborty,her brother Showik, AbbasLakhani, Karan Arora, ZaidVilatra, Abdel Basit Parihar,Samuel Miranda and DipeshSawant.

During the 19-long hoursof grilling carried out during aspan of three days, Rheareportedly admitted that shehad procured drugs for Sushantthrough her currently arrestedbrother Showik Chakraborty,that she had acknowledgedthat she knew about Samuelpurchasing drugs for the actorfrom drug peddler Zaid Vilatraand that she had accepted thatshe had accepted drug-relatedWhatsApp chats between herand others.

Turn to Page 4

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Maharashtra may be just aState, but its overall

Covid-19 tally will soon sur-pass Russia, which occupies thefourth place in the list of worstaffected countries. WhileMaharashtra has a total of10,37,000 cases as on Saturday,Russia’s tally stood at 10,57,362.

Maharashtra is adding

around 22,000-24,000 casesevery day while Russia’s dailycount is around 5,500 newcases. It means Maharashtrawill surpass Russia in terms ofthe total number of cases byMonday. Then Maharashtrawill trail only the USA, India,and Brazil in terms of totalnumbers of infection.

With a tally of 66,39,386,the USA is the worst-hit coun-try followed by India at the sec-ond spot with over 47 lakhcases. Meanwhile, AndhraPradesh with 5,57,587 sur-passed Argentina (5,35,705cases) which is at the 10th spotin the country-wise rankings.

Turn to Page 4

London: Oxford Universitysays trials of a coronavirusvaccine that it is developingwith pharmaceutical com-pany AstraZeneca willresume, days after beingpaused due to a reportedside-effect in a patient in theUK. In a statement, the uni-versity said in large trialssuch as this “it is expectedthat some participants willbecome unwell and everycase must be carefully eval-uated to ensure carefulassessment of safety.”

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The schedule of flight on aparticular route will be sus-

pended for a period of twoweeks if anyone is found doingphotography inside it. It will berestored only after the airlinehas taken action against thoseviolating these norms.

The Directorate General ofCivil Aviation (DGCA) onSaturday announced this aftertaking a strong note of allegedviolation of safety and socialdistancing protocols by medi-apersons during a Chandigarh-Mumbai f light that hadBollywood actress Kangana

Ranaut as a passenger. Theorder was sent to all the domes-tic airlines in India.

The DGCA order onSaturday said, “It has beendecided that from now on, incase any violation (photogra-phy) occurs on any scheduledpassenger aircraft — theschedule of flight for that par-ticular route shall be suspend-ed for a period of two weeks.”

This announcement comesa day after the DGCA askedIndiGo to take “appropriateaction” within 15 days againstthose who violated air safetynorms in the Kangana flight.

Turn to Page 4

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Five villagers from ArunachalPradesh who went missing

last week near the Chineseborder were back home onSaturday after China’s People’sLiberation Army (PLA) hand-ed them over to the Indianauthorities.

The five youth werereceived at Kibitu, a small townin Arunachal Pradesh’s Anjawdistrict, located on the Line ofActual Control (LAC) and weresent to quarantine for 14 daysas per the coronavirus protocol.

“The Indian Army took

over all five individuals atKibitu on September 12, 2020,after completing all the for-malities. Individuals will nowbe quarantined for 14 days asper Covid-19 protocol and willthereafter be handed over totheir family members,” a state-ment released by the Armyread. The youth went missingafter they went into the forestfor hunting and reportedlystrayed across the LAC into theChinese territory.

However, Tapir Gao, MPfrom East Arunachal, hadquoted local reports to allegethe five villagers were “abduct-ed” by the PLA.

On Monday, China madelight of concerns over thewhereabouts of the five youthsand said it has never recognisedArunachal Pradesh as an Indianterritory. “China’s position onthe eastern sector of the China-India boundary, or Zangnan(the southern part of China’sXizang (Tibet)), is consistentand clear,” Chinese foreign min-istry spokesperson Zhao Lijiansaid at a media briefing inBeijing. Lijian said the ChineseGovernment had never recog-nised “Arunachal Pradesh”.

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Delhiites can now avail thedoorstep delivery of ser-

vices such as those related toincome certificates, drivinglicense and new water connec-tions, as the AAP governmenthas restarted its ambitiousscheme, which was in suspen-sion for nearly five months dueto the Covid-19 pandemic.

According to theGovernment, people wantingto avail the listed services attheir doorstep can call 1076 orbook online, besides visitingone of the 46 centres for spot-booking.

Turn to Page 4

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�What is your role in PinjaraKhoobsurti Ka?

I play Omkar Sanyal, a mine owner.The show talks about his rags to richesstory. He is obsessed with beauty. He can’ttolerate anything which is black even hishouse is painted in white. The reasonbeing his dark childhood due to poverty.Now he wants everything beautiful in lifebe it anything, even his love. When hefirst sees Mayura, he finds her beautifuland he wants her. It was not love at firstsight, but more like ‘I want her’. That’show he is, if he wants something, hewants it by hook or by crook. He is nota negative character though. A lot ofpeople treat him like God because of hiskind nature. He never disrespects anyone.So, the character has shades of grey.�What made you say yes?

It’s been seven years since I am in thisindustry and never ever I felt that aproject is mine during auditions. This isthe first time that I was sure that this roleis mine when I auditioned for it. I am apositive person but realistic as well. It’snot as if I am over-confident, but thistime my gut feeling said that the role ismine. After the auditions, I have done sixmock shoots, but my confidence level wasintact. I got finalised just before thelockdown and we started shooting inAugust.�When the lockdown was announced,were you apprehensive about theproject?

Yes. I was scared when will things getback to normal and we would startshooting because I was very excited aboutthis show. It’s the biggest show for me tilldate. But I was happy that I had work andknew we would began shooting soon. Itwas not like that I have to search for workpost lockdown, so I was looking forwardto it and worked hard for it. I was neverlaid back by the halt.�How was the journey from Noida toMumbai?

First of all, I am grateful that I got achance to be a part of this industry andkeep working. The career graph is slowbut I believe in slow and steady alwayswins the race. It all started with an ad.Before that I was shy and introvert andI never thought that I would pursueacting. When I was in college, I cameacross this ad on radio about PantaloonsFashion Hunt. So I enrolled myself intoit. I was selected in the top 10 boys ofDelhi and fortunately I won thecompetition. Then the competitionhappened pan India and I became thesecond runner-up. Disha Patani andParth Samthaan were also a part of thatcompetition and Disha emerged as the

winner, while Parth became the firstrunner-up. Then onwards I realised thatI could do something in this industrybecause let’s be honest almost everyoneis fascinated by this industry and wantsto be a hero. Moreover, my father wasextremely supportive. He alwaysencouraged me to join an acting skill.This is how I started modelling in Delhi.After six months, I got an ad offer fromMumbai and also I was told that if I wantto make a career in this field then Ishould fly to Mumbai. So I did. InDecember, 2013, I was in Mumbai andgot a reality check that the industry is nothow it looks like from outside. Hence, inthe initial days I worked hard. I gavearound six auditions every day. My firstshow happened after around two yearsand since then acting became a passion.�Did you ever feel like quitting?

Not really. Because when I started toget shortlisted, I knew that I havesomething in me otherwise someonewouldn’t choose me in a crowd ofhundred people. Even when I went formock shoots, there were only threeactors other than me. So it is a big thingin itself. I had that hope and belief thatI would be getting an offer sooner or later.Also because in those two years, I hadalready given lots of auditions, so I hadthat confidence in me. But yes, it felt badwhen I was shortlisted, but was notselected for a role.

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Hostages 2 takes off from whereit ended in Hostages. Yet boththe seasons couldn’t be more

complete in themselves. If first wasabout a doctor’s predicament in theface of a political and corporateconspiracy to kill the Chief Minister,this one is equally tantalising but withanother twist to the earlier take.

This time the Chief Minister is thehostage but for a repentant medicalcause. Ronit Roy is in the lead asPrithvi, the larger than life retired copin the series and generally the largerthan life actor he takes himself to bewith his penchant to accord a cockyseriousness to his ‘I will never smileinto the camera’ pledge that he madeto himself way back as a TV characterhe immortalised as Mr Bajaj.

But this one from the fastupcoming Applause house of mountsis interesting, thrilling for most bitswith adequate twists and turns thatshould accompany a hostage crisis.

All the mumbo jumbo aboutATS sleuths, night snipers andgameplans, including the survellienceset up and talk of storming in are inplace around a ruins of a colonial

structure where the hostages arehoused. The rotating search lights withaccompanying conspiracy music areused well by series director veteranSudhir Misra as props that enhancethe experience as does the storywhich keeps weaving in side talesseamlessly into the main plot of arogue Chief Minister (played to the hiltby Dalip Tahil) with a rapacious pastmade to stone for his sins with a forcedmarrow transplant with he as a donoreven as the situation gets hot alongsideDivya Dutta, the master negotiator,doing a brilliant job trying to save thehostages.

Some side stories are unnecessaryand some quite pertinent to the mainplot but the characters involved in allof them doing their bit to giveauthenticity and moments to a seriesthat keeps the act going the best itknows. The certain predictability tothe progression of events becameinevitable only late into the 12 episodeventure.

Actors are chosen carefully intheir screen habits even though thepresence may be largely unexplained,like Dino Morea as the smilingassassin who keeps killing as a fetishmore than as a reason. Why is he eventhere and what is the purpose of all hiskillings get a very flimsy explanationin the end. However, Hostages 2 stillmanages to hold on to your brain cellsand eyeballs with established finesse.

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There are some subjects on which Bollywoodwill take years to master. One such subject lineis sci-fi. There is a big reason for this. We just

don’t spend enough on the sets. Though full marksto Arati Kadav, the writer-director of Cargo to havecome up with an inventive storyline about death andYamraj, giving it an interesting spin, what this movielacks is execution.

There is no imagination when it comes to thespaceship itself. While the out of the ships looksgood, the interior looks as if it was designed byamateurs.

One could have taken clues from any numberof Hollywood films. But the makers decided thatthe story was enough to hold one’s interest.Unfortunately, once one knows what is happening,it is on a repeat what is left is the gizmos that makea sci-if movie great to watch, not to see tin boxeswith knobs for gadgets. How is it possible to havea huge spaceship with only one tiny space for itsastronaut — read modern-day Yamraj. If this wasnot bad enough, the spaceship Pushpak 634Awhile does allow room for an assistant, there is noroom for the person. There are boxes lined on a

platform which makes up the room for theassistant. Cardboard boxes on a spaceship? Thathas got to be the new low for a sci-if movie whichis bound to give the makers of films like The Abyssand Star Trek nightmares for weeks to come.

Even though the lead look like they areuncomfortable in each other’s presence, theindividual acting is passable.

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Hollywood’s love for blood and gore continuesin the sequel to The Babysitter. The movietakes a jump for a few years with the lead

protagonist— Cole, played by Judah Lewis — nowin High School and no longer requires a babysitter.Nobody naturally believes his story of a cult andpeople dying because once the cops show up, thereare no dead bodies.

Therapy is the parent’s answer to Cole’s story.But we know that the dead who disappear havean uncanny habit of appearing when leastexpected. And lo and behold — the sequel. Thisalso means heads being ripped off, people beingset on fire and blood flying in all direction but tono avail. They come back from the dead like badpennies for what reason? To drink the blood of a

pure human being to become all powerful. If wehope that given what happens in the end, thereare no more undead people rising from the dead.

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Creators Rohan Sippy and AnuvabPal have struck gold with this 10-episode web series. The story is

simple — a divorce via videoconferencing. The inspiration comesfrom how many court cases in thecountry were heard via videoconferencing due to COVID-19. Butthe way Rohan Sippy plays this out isabsolutely brilliant. It is such a relief towatch something on the OTT platformthat is not dark, edgy or has layers ofcomplexities that something becomedifficult to decipher. Wakaalat FromHome offers pure unadulteratedentertainment with plenty of laugh outloud and roll on the floor momentseven though there is an underliningmessage — don’t not get involved withdivorce lawyers.

While it is sad to laugh, eventhough it is a fiction show, at twopeople who have major differences andwant to separate after 10 years ofmarriage despite being childhood

sweethearts, the way it unfolds isquirky and funny.

The whole idea of making a serieswith actors at different places and bringthem together as one has beenbeautifully played out here. Anotherplus is that each episode is not morethan 15 minutes. One doesn’t have tobinge watch to know how it all ends.The 10 episodes can be watched overtwo hours and thirty minutes.

Sumeet Vyas, Gopal Datt andNidhi Singh give a great performance.Kubbra Sait needs a special mention.Her transformation from an uptightdivorce lawyer to a sexy one is amazingand so brilliantly done making theseries a must watch.

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Delhi Bharatiya Janata Party(BJP) president Adesh

Gupta slammed the KejriwalGovernment for not imple-menting Ayushman BharatYojana in Delhi.

Why such yojana which pro-vides health insurance of Rs 5lakh to the poor was stoppedfrom being implemented by theDelhi Government, he asked?“Who is responsible for poorpeople who died without treat-ment due to lack of money? Whois responsible for those whocould not get treatment,” he said.

Gupta said Kejriwal shouldknow that in the States wherethis scheme has been imple-mented, more than 1 crore peo-ple have taken advantage of it sofar. “More than 12.54 crore peo-ple have been issued e-cards ofAyushman Bharat Yojana andmore than 20 thousand hospi-tals have been listed,” he said.

The BJP president said that

the Kejriwal government frombeing implemented in Delhistopped even such an importantscheme. He said that if thisscheme were implemented inDelhi, 50 lakh people of 10 lakhfamilies would have benefiteddirectly. “They could have gothealth insurance of up to Rs 5lakh under the AyushmanBharat Yojana in Delhi.Beneficiaries could have gotfree treatment up to Rs 5 lakh inthe Corona period,” he said.

Gupta said this is not the firsttime that the KejriwalGovernment has deprived peo-ple of their rights. “The Kejriwalgovernment did the same withthe Pradhan Mantri AwasYojana. This scheme was also notallowed to be implemented inDelhi, whose consequences arebeing faced by 48 thousandslum-dwellers of Delhi today. Itis because of the Kejriwal gov-ernment that today 48000 slumdwellers are about to lose theirhome,” he said.

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ADelhi Congress Councillorfrom the Delhi

Cantonment Board SandeepTanwar was allegedly beaten bya local AAP leader on Saturdayafter the former tried to save ajhuggi of a Scheduled Castefamily from being demolishedin his area.

A complaint is filed bythe Tanwar at the NarainaPolice Station, and also writ-ten to Sushi l Kumar,Secretary, National ScheduledCaste Commission, seeking aprobe into the assaults, andstrictest against the AAPleader.

Delhi Congress presidentAnil Kumar strongly con-demned the attack on CongressCouncillor and appealed tothe Lieutenant Governor andthe Police Commissioner totake the strictest action againstthe AAP leader.

Kumar said that the bru-tal assault on Tanwar wasproof enough that Delhi ChiefMinister Arvind’s concern forthe people living in 48000jhuggis across railway tracksin Delhi was false, as he wasneither their well-wisher norkeen on saving the slum clus-ters from demolition follow-ing a Supreme Court order, hesaid.

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Aam Aadmi Party (AAP)chief spokesperson

Saurabh Bhardwaj on Saturdaysaid that a massive scam tookplace in BJP-ruled UttarPradesh in the name of pro-curement of medical itemsduring Covid-19.

Bhardwaj demanded anindependent probe into thematter. Bhardwaj said that inUttar Pradesh, corruption wasbeing done by increasing theprice of thermometers andoximeters by 500, 400 and 300per cent at 65 districts.

“The BJP MLA DevmaniDwivedi wrote a letter to CMYogi's Principal Secretaryregarding the procurement ofmedical items at a much high-er price at Sultanpur. Bhardwajsaid that Sultanpur DistrictMagistrate immediately held apress conference, stating thepurchase of medical equip-ment followed the instructionsof the government and rub-bished the allegations of BJPMLA,” he said.

Bhardwaj said that screen-shots of WhatsApp sent by theMLA show how the DistrictMagistrates were pressurizingthe panchayats to pay the money

for the equipment quickly."These are some examples

but the same thing is happen-ing in every village of UttarPradesh. The oximeters areavailable within Rs 500 but inBJP-ruled UP these oximetersare being bought at such ahigher price to do corruption.How can the BJP governmentunder CM Yogi Adityanathoverlook such a massive cor-ruption under his nose,” heasked?

Bhardwaj further said, "TheCMO of Uttar Pradesh boughta machine called haematologyanalyser from a companynamed D N Enterprise,Pratapgarh. This company hassold these haematology analy-

sers which were from a Chinesecompany. These analysers weresold Rs 3,30,000 per machine.Whereas the UP government’se-marketplace website suchmachines made in India wereavailable for just Rs 1,45,000thousand”.

"It is ridiculous that theChief Minister himself consti-tuted a special investigationteam of three officers to inves-tigate the corruption case inwhich the Chief Minister him-self is being accused. How canwe expect that the officerswho were chosen by the UPCM will do an impartial probe?The AAP wants an indepen-dent probe on this case," saidBhardwaj.

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A36-year-old man who was abscondingsince 2015 after threatening to bomb a mar-

riage pandal if the owner failed to pay Rs. 15lakh has been arrested from Rampur in UttarPradesh.

Police said that the accused identified asVishnu was declared as a proclaimed offenderin the case by a Delhi court in 201. He wasarrested from his village in Rampur district ofUttar Pradesh on September 4 with the help oftechnical surveillance.

According to a senior police official, thematter was reported to police in 2015 where inthe complainant, Pranab Seth, a resident of RoopNagar had stated that he was running a mar-riage pandal near wave cinema in the name ofJanak Villa.

“In his complaint, Seth stated that theaccused had been threatening to blast his pan-dal if he failed to pay Rs. 15 lakh,” said the seniorpolice official.

“Based on his complaint, a case under sec-tion 384 (Punishment for extortion) and 506(Criminal Intimidation) of Indian Penal Codewas registered at Rajouri Garden police stationand an investigation was initiated, followingwhich the accused absconded,” said police.

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Providing quality education to all is thedream of the Delhi Government and our

agenda will be to focus on higher, technical andskill education in the next few years, DeputyChief Minister Manish Sisodia said on Saturday.

Sisodia was speaking at the annual day cel-ebrations of Vivekanand College in East Delhiin its golden jubilee year through video con-ferencing. While congratulating the staff for thecompletion of 50 years, he said, “It was a braveeffort to start a women’s only college 50 yearsago in this area and successfully running it forsuch a long duration.” The college was estab-lished in 1970 and is one of the most soughtafter colleges in the Trans-Yamuna area forwomen education.

The Deputy Chief Minister said “I congrat-ulate all the staff members, students, and par-ents who were a part of this journey. VivekanandaCollege under the able leadership of PrincipalDr Hina Nandrajog is well positioned to buildon the excellent foundation of the last 50 yearsto build a world class institution. In the future,when the college will be celebrating its 100 yearanniversary, the second fifty years that took shapeunder this team’s vision should be considered assignificant as the first 50 years.”

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Doctors of Delhi Govern-ment hospitals have

hailed the efforts of ChiefMinister Arvind Kejriwal inthe second week of the 10Hafte 10 Baje 10 Minute Anti-Dengue campaign.

The ten weeks long anti-dengue mass awareness cam-paign on preventing dengueurges people to inspect theirhouses for signs of stagnantclean water inside their homesor their surroundings, whichcan lead to the breeding ofmosquitoes that spreaddengue.

The doctors, who contin-ue to remain the backbone inthis fight against Dengue, havecome out in support of theanti-dengue campaign and areassuring the citizens that Delhiwill cope up with Denguetogether.

The Delhi government hasbeen providing free of costtreatment and testing forDengue in all Delhi govern-ment hospitals and has alsolaunched a telephonic andWhatsApp helpline to assistthe general public for Dengue.

Kejriwal launched thecampaign on September 6 byinspecting his residence forstagnant water to prevent the

breeding of mosquitoes.Taking to social media,

had tweeted, "The people ofDelhi had once again starteda war against dengue. On thefirst Sunday of this 10-weekmassive campaign, I have alsochanged the clean water accu-mulated in my house andeliminated the possibility ofmosquito-borne diseases. Forthe next 10 weeks, everySunday at 10 AM, we need tocheck our homes for just 10minutes. Along with savingour families from Dengue, wehave to save Delhi fromDengue. I am sure the peopleof Delhi will defeat dengue thistime as well."

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In order to contain the spreadof COVID-19, Minister of

Transport Kailash Gahlot hasconstituted a task force toexplore the options of contact-less mobile ticketing in busesrun by the Delhi TransportCorporation (DTC).

The move is taken with anaim to avoid physical contactbetween bus conductor andcommuters during exchange oftickets and cash. Further, on therecommendations of the taskforce, DTC is conducting anactual trial of contactlessmobile ticketing from 14 to 21September.

“This trial will be con-ducted on 29 buses of routenumber 534. To publicize andpopularize the contactless tick-eting, posters and QR codehave been affixed inside thesebuses explaining the mecha-nism to download the App andto buy mobile tickets,” theDTC said in a statement.

“The pink pass for womencommuters can also beacquired from this App insteadof paper pass. DTC checkingteams have been deployed tophysically inspect the trial inthe 29 buses on route number534 on all days of trial and getfeedback from the commuters,”it said.

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Delhi International AirportLimited ( DIAL ) launched

India’s first on-site Coronavirustesting laboratory on Saturdayat Indira Gandhi InternationalAirport (IGIA)for arriving international passengers.

For this venture DIAL hascollaborated with GenestringsDiagnostic Centre – aDelhi-based laboratory, which is cur-rently associated with Delhigovernment to test COVID-19samples.

The facility ensures a safejourney of all passengers enter-ing the city or scheduled fordomestic connecting flights.

The laboratory will have

walk-in option to get the testconducted after landing atDelhi Airport. However,International arrival passengerswho would travel without avalid COVID negativecertifi-cate can opt this facility onlineas well and book a slot inadvance.

A DIAL spokesperson saidPassengers will have to providewith their details such as, name,contact details and valid IDproof while applying online forthis facility. They will also havean option to modify the slot incase they are not able to reachat the scheduled appointmenttime.Besides, passengersbelonging to the same familycan book a single slot alltogether through online.

Interestingly, results of

samples collected at the labo-ratory will be declared within4-6 hours to the incomingpassengers. With a negativeRT-PCR test report, passengers cancontinue their onward journeywith confidence.

Until the results are con-firmed, passengers will be iso-lated at the waiting lounge ormay opt to stay in a hotel. Incase of a positive result, pas-sengers will be processed in linewith applicable ICMR (IndianCouncil of Medical Research)protocols by the State author-ities.

This will help the author-ities concerned to avoid pas-sengers affected with the dis-ease from coming in closecontact with those already hav-ing RT-PCR negative report.

Constructed in 3500square feet area at multi-levelcar parking (MLCP) ofTerminal 3, this is the first sucharrangement among Indianairports. Additionally, samplecollection stations have beenpositioned near the arrivalpier.

As the Government ofIndia is preparing to open thesky with the rising air bubbles,the laboratory will be a key ele-ment in facilitating a safe jour-ney for all the passengers.

Based on Ministry ofHealth & Family Welfare(MoHFW) guidelines, inter-national arriving passengershaving RT-PCR negative cer-tificate would be exemptedfrom institutional quarantinegranted by the State authorities

and will be allowed for onwardair journey. This exemptionwill be basis negative RT-PCRtest report for which the testhas to be conducted within 96hours before undertaking thejourney.

However, if the passengercould not get the same donewithin the desired time limitbefore boarding a flight fromabroad, the RT-PCR testingfacility at Delhi Airport willallow them to get tested oncethey have landed at DelhiAirport.

“ A COVID-19 negativereport will allow these passen-gers to take a connecting flightto other domestic destinationsin India without needing to bequarantined in the city,” DIALofficial said.

Videh Kumar Jaipuriar,CEO-DIAL, said: “DelhiAirport continues to be a hubfor international travellers evenduring the pandemic. The pilotinitiative has been taken toensure testing of all arrivinginternational transfer passen-gers scheduled to board adomestic connecting flight postarrival in Delhi Airport. TheCOVID-19 testing laboratoryat Delhi Airport has been ade-quately equipped for testingand sample collection that willbe conducted in compliancewith the protocols establishedby ICMR and NABL. We arealso developing online facilityof RT-PCR test for the passen-gers to book a slot in advancethat will help smoothen theironward journey.”

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Delhi Police Commissioner,SN Shrivastava on Saturday

held a Crime and Covid-19review meeting in the NationalCapital to discuss the law andorder situation and implemen-tation of Covid guidelines forsafety of police personneldeployed across the city.

The CP during the meetingalso rewarded personnel from

Outer, West, Southeast andRohini districts in recognitionof courageous and outstandingworks done by them during thepast few days.

The CP also briefed all theAssistant Commissioners ofPolice (ACsP), Station HouseOfficers (SHOs), ATOs andInspectors of the districts andTransport Range and empha-sised them to address all thecomplainants who wish to meet

them, through video-confer-encing.

The CP directed them toredress the complaints swiftlyand conduct empatheticallywith victims. The CP furtheralso directed them to ensuresafety and convenience of seniorcitizens who are staying alone.

“Beat officers should bedirected to meet them regular-ly to look for their well beingand safety,” the CP said.

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Consequent to the incrimi-natory material obtained

through witness depositionsduring the previous proceed-ings of the committee as well ascareful deliberation of thematerial on record, the DelhiLegislative AssemblyCommittee for Peace andHarmony under theChairmanship of RaghavChadha has decided to callupon Ajit Mohan, vice-presi-dent and Managing Director ofFacebook India to determinethe veracity of the allegationslevelled against the socialmedia platform.

A formal notice has been

sent to him for appearancebefore the committee onSeptember 15 with a view tocarry out the relevant pro-ceedings. Some complaintsshall also be examined on thesame day.

The committee has primafacie found Facebook com-plicit in Delhi riots of February2020 on the premise of incrim-inatory material produced onrecord by the witnesses as wellas their scathing depositionsbefore the Committee. Further,the committee has also urgedthe need of an independentinvestigation leading to the fil-ing of a supplementary chargesheet in the ongoing casesrelated to Delhi riots on the

basis of supportive and cor-roborative material during thecourse of purported investiga-tion. Several experts as well asindependent witnesses havebeen thoroughly examined bythe committee in its previousproceedings.

“Witness Awesh Tiwarihad asserted in his depositionthat complicity of Facebook isnot only limited to aggravationin Delhi riots but has been con-sistently sheltering hate againstminority communities since avery long time, it said in a state-ment, adding that Tiwari hadfurther asserted before thecommittee that Facebookessentially refuses to take downthe hateful and divisive content

of its platform but at the sametime deliberately removes orlowers the visibility of contentwhich aims at promoting unity

and amity amongst communi-ties.

Second witness KunalPurohit, an independent jour-

nalist and a researcher hadpointed out that amidst thecommercial transaction andrapid government collabora-tion between the ruling dis-pensation and Facebook, thereis an apparent conflict of inter-est due to which Facebook fla-grantly refuses to apply itsrestrictive policies to contentdisplayed in favour of theRuling dispensation.

Purohit had also assertedthat whatever has happened onWhatsApp to foment and insti-gate hate against certain com-munity, prior to Delhi riots,was premeditated and pre-designed in a planned mannerwhich gradually spread all overFacebook as well, it said.

Further, it was also unan-imously deposed that a free andfair investigation must be car-ried to ascertain the roles andcomplicity of alleged delin-quent officials along with devi-ous elements with ascertaintheir alleged complicity androles ,so as to impute theiralleged culpability in thealleged orchestration of toattribute culpability ofFacebook in Delhi riots.

The Delhi Legislativeassembly’s committee onPeace and Harmony hadreceived multiple complaintsaddressed to its ChairmanRaghav Chadha alleging thatdespite its comprehensivepolicies and regulations on

curbing unabated dissemina-tion of hateful and offensivecontent in place.

Taking in account the grav-ity of the allegations put forthin the complaints and its pos-sible repercussions, the com-mittee had firmly decided todelve into the issue and appre-hend any devious conspiracyand unholy nexus of rabble-rousers with oblique motives towreak havoc in the country andmore particularly in Delhi bydisturbing peace and tranquil-ity as well as instigating intensecommunal disharmony, andthus the proceedings were ini-tiated and are expedited inorder to put this issue to its log-ical conclusion.

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Puducherry: People with anysymptoms of COVID-19should visit hospital withoutdelay so that their lives can besaved, Puducherry Relief andRehabilitation CommissionerA Anbarasu said on Saturday.

There were instances ofpatients going to hospitals at thelast minute and dying despitethe treatment given to them, hetold reporters.

Stating that governmentand privately-run medical col-lege hospitals were equippedwith necessary infrastructureand manpower to treat coron-avirus patients, he said thatwith the increase in testingfacilities, more than 3,700 sam-ples were tested on Friday lead-ing to identification of 419 pos-itive cases.

Anbarasu, who is also theDevelopment Commissioner,said primary health centres andalso sub-centres in rural areashad been geared up with facil-ities to test samples. Each of thesub-centres would collect 100

samples a day and test them.While rural areas had 15

such centres there were six cen-tres in urban areas. He said 25mobile units were also pressedinto service and 20 more suchunits would be introduced soonto collect samples.

In addition to the IndiraGandhi Government MedicalCollege Hospital, the ICMR-sponsored Vector ControlResearch Centre and JIPMERand most of the private medicalcollege hospitals were also doingthe testing and Puducherry hadset a record of doing moreexamination of samples,Anbarasu said.

The number of beds werealso being increased in govern-ment hospitals and in privateinstitutions.

While government hospi-tals would have more than2,100 beds additionally, privatecolleges would have five morebeds soon.

“We are providing the bestfood to COVID-19 patients

taking treatment in govern-ment institutions,” he added.

Oxygen beds were also ade-quately available.

Anbarasu said to keep atrack on those resorting to self-medication the government hadasked the medical shops to col-lect names and phone numbersof people purchasing anti- fevermedicines.

Doctors practising private-ly should also refer patientsapproaching them with com-plaints of fever, cold and othercomplications to hospitals asthey might be potentialCOVID-19 patients.

The government wasinclined to bring down the pos-itivity rate as much as possible.

Health Secretary T Arunsaid door-to-door surveillancewith the participation of themembers of self-help groups inrural areas was part of efforts toassess the health condition ofresidents and to protect themfrom the pandemic. PTI

Madurai (TN): A 19-year-oldmedical aspirant died of allegedsuicide here on Saturday,apparently 'apprehensive' overthe National Entrance cumEligibility Test (NEET), policesaid.

The victim, identified asJothisri Durga, daughter of apolice Sub-Inspector, wasfound hanging at her resi-dence and a purported suicidenote left behind by her said shewas 'apprehensive' about NEETthough others had high 'hopes'on her, they said.

The death, which comesdays after another medicalaspirant in Ariyalur in thestate also allegedly committedsuicide, drew sharp responsesfrom Tamil Nadu political par-ties opposed to NEET, even asChief Minister K Palaniswamiand his deputy OPanneerselvam of the rulingAIADMK expressed shockover the incident.

DMK president M K Stalinsaid NEET “is not an exam atall.” Taking to Twitter,Palaniswami expressed griefover the “sad” incident and saidstudents have many avenues to

taste success and resorting tosuch extreme steps was dis-tressing.

“It is distressing to see stu-dents, the hope for the future,taking such steps,” he said.Condoling the girl's death, heexpressed his sympathies withthe family.

In a tweet, Panneerselvamexpressed grief over such inci-dents concerning the students,who are the “pillars of thefuture.”

“Students should learn toface any situation with guts andparents should aid them inthis,” the deputy CM, also theAIADMK Coordinator, said.

State Revenue Minister R BUdhayakumar visited the fam-ily and consoled them.

Stalin, Leader of theOpposition in the Tamil NaduAssembly, expressed shock overthe alleged suicide, but saidkilling oneself was not thesolution.

“We can realise from thedeath of Anitha (a medicalaspirant who died of suicide in2017) to Jothisri Durga thatNEET is severely affecting stu-dents,” he said in a tweet. PTI

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The EnforcementDirectorate on Saturday

seized properties worth Rs89.19 crore from DMK’s LokSabha member SJagathrakshakan and his fam-ily members on charges of vio-lation of Foreign ExchangeManagement Act (FEMA). TheDMK leader representsArakkonam constituency inTamil Nadu in the Lok Sabha.

According to a statementby the ED, the agency hadreceived information thatJagathrakshakan had acquiredforeign security in violation ofFEMA. The ED found thatJagathrakshakan and his sonSundeep Aanand had sub-scribed to 70,00,000 sharesand 20,00,000 shares respec-tively (valued at Singapore $1per share) of Silver ParkInternational Pte Ltd,Singapore, without ReserveBank of India's (RBI) priorapproval.

“Further, these unautho-rised acquired shares weretransferred by Jagathrakshakanto his family members in con-travention of Section 4 ofFEMA read with Regulation 3of the Foreign ExchangeManagement (Transfer or Issueof Foreign Security)Regulations, 2004,” said theED.

Citing Section 37 ofFEMA, the ED said it has thepower to seize property inIndia whose value is equivalentto the value of foreignexchange, foreign security, orany immovable property situ-ated outside India.

As a result, the immovableproperties in the form of agri-cultural land, plots, houses andothers etc in Tamil Nadu andmovable properties in the formof balance in bank accountsand shares totalling Rs 89.19crore held by Jagathrakshakanand his family members wereseized, said the ED.

Further investigation inthe case is in progress.

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Hyderabad: Telangana report-ed 2,278 more coronavirus caseson Saturday, pushing its totaltally over 1.54 lakh, even as2,458 more recoveries wererecorded in the state.

With the new cases, thetotal tally mounted to 1,54,880,of which 1,21,925 have recov-ered. Ten more deaths duringthe last 24 hours tookTelangana's COVID-19 deathtoll to 950.

Health officials said thestate's fatality rate remained0.61 per cent, well below thenational average of 1.66 per cent.Of the all fatalities, 53.87 percent had comorbidities.

While Hyderabad andneighbouring districts contin-ued to account for the maxi-

mum cases, the surge in otherdistricts remained a concern forthe authorities.

During the last 24 hours till8 pm on Friday, GreaterHyderabad MunicipalCorporation (GHMC) reported331 new cases. Neighbouringdistricts of Rangareddy andMedchal Malkajgiri reported184 and 150 cases respectively.Sangareddy, another districtbordering the state capital,recorded 62 cases.

Outside Hyderabad andsurrounding districts, Nalgondarecorded the highest single-day jump of 126 cases.Karimnagar added 121 cases,Khammam 98, Warangal Urban91, and Siddipet andNizamabad 89 each. IANS

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Karnataka on Saturdayreported 9,140 new coron-

avirus cases taking the totalnumber of infections to4,49,551 while the death tolltouched 7,161 with 94 fatalities,the Health department said.

The total infections com-prised 3,44,556 dischargesincluding 9,557 on Saturdaywhereas there were 97,815active cases in the state includ-ing 795 in the ICU, the depart-ment said in a statement.

The spike in cases was ledby Bengaluru Urban district,which recorded 3,552 freshinfections and 21 deaths.

The city has cumulativelyreported 1,67,183 cases and2,391 deaths due to the coron-avirus.There were 40,929 activecases including 278 in the ICU.

There were cumulatively1,23,862 discharges in the cityincluding 3,538 on Saturday.

Mysuru was the secondbiggest contributor afterBengaluru Urban.

The city reported 637 freshcases and 14 deaths onSaturday.

Cumulatively, 25,086 coro-navirus cases and 576 deathshave been reported here sincethe outbreak of thedisease.

According to the bulletin,401 fresh cases were reportedin Dakshina Kannada district,366 in Ballari, 324 in Hassan,304 in Tumakuru, 267 inDavangere, 239 in Dharwad,222 in Kalaburagi, 213 inHaveri, 211 in Bengaluru Ruraldistrict and 201 in Belagavi.

Cases were also reported inBagalkote, Bidar,C h i k k a b a l l a p u r a ,Chikkamagaluru, Chitradurga,Mandya, Raichur, Koppal andother districts.

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Unidentified persons have vandalised equipment worth “lakhsof rupees” at a premier teachers' training institute in Kolkata,

its spokesperson said on Saturday.The incident took place at the West Bengal University of

Teachers' Training, Education Planning and Administration inBallygunge area of the city.

The institute authorities on Saturday morning found sever-al rooms across four floors of the building ransacked and equip-ment vandalised, she said.

The Bachelor of Education (B.Ed) examinations arescheduled to be held online from October 1.

All the machines in the server room were destroyed, whilethe laboratory and the auditorium also bore the brunt of theattack that possibly took place on Saturday night, thespokesperson told reporters.

“We think more than one person was involved. They musthave scaled the boundary wall to enter the institute but weare clueless about their motive,” she said.

As per preliminary assessment, the damage would be oflakhs of rupees, the spokesperson added.

The institute authorities have filed a police complaint.

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Afour-year-old boy whodied at a hospital here on

Saturday after falling from theroof of his house tested positivefor COVID-19, officials said.

After the boy's death at thehospital, his family membersprotested alleging that therewas negligence during treat-ment, they said.

The boy fell down from theroof of his house at Janipurlocality of the city and wasrushed to a nearby hospital inSarwal, from where he wasreferred to GovernmentMedical College (GMC), the

officials said.As the boy had tested pos-

itive for the COVID-19, hisbody was not handed over tohis family who protested out-side the hospital building forseveral hours, alleging that noventilator was available at thehospital. The family alsoclaimed that the boy did notshow any COVID-relatedsymptom and was in goodhealth before he fell from theroof while playing cricket.

The body of the deceasedwas later laid to rest at a Sarwalgraveyard following the setCOVID-19 protocol, the offi-cial said.

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In a drop in the number of infections andfatalities, Maharashtra on Saturday

recorded 22,084 infected cases – lowerthan all-time high of 24,886 cases record-ed on Friday, while the number of deathsdropped from 442 to 391 during the last24 hours.

With 22,084 fresh infections, thetotal number of positive cases jumped inthe state jumped from 10,15,681 to10,37,765.

Similarly, with 391 fresh deaths, thetotal number of deaths in the statemounted to 29,115.

Of the total 391 deaths, Pune toppedthe list with 61 deaths, while there were42 deaths in Mumbai, 40 in Nagpur, 31 inSangli, 23 in Kolhapur, 22 in Solapur, 18in Satara, 17 in Ahmednagar, 16 each inThane and Nanded, 12 in Aurangabad and10 each in Raigad and Nashik.

In the lower range, there were 9 deaths

in Palghar, 8 in Amravati, 7 each in Jalgaonand Sindhudurg, 6 in Parbhani, 5 each inDhule and Latur, Akola, 4 each inOsmanabad and Yavatmal, 2 each inRatnagiri, Beed and Washim and onedeath each in Nandurbar, Bhandara,Gondia and Gadchiroli. In addition,three persons from other states/ countriesdied in Maharashtra.

In a couple of notable features, the dis-tricts of Nagpur, Sangli, Kolhapur, Solapur,Satara, Ahmednagar, Nanded andAurangabad witnessed sharp spikes indeaths, while as many as five districts inthe state reported zero deaths.

With 42 deaths Mumbai’s Covid-19toll rose from 8,067 to 8109, while theinfected cases increased from 165,306 to1,67,656.

Pune district with 2,28,416 infectedcases continued to be the worst-affectedcity-district in Maharashtra. The numberof deaths in Pune increased from 4693 to4754.

Thane district remained onthe third spot --after Pune and Mumbai

– with 1,54,994 total cases, whilethe pandemic toll rose from 4118 to4134.

In a related development, as many as13,489 patients were discharged from hos-pitals in the state after full recovery. As aresult, the total number of patients dis-charged from various hospitals after full recovery since the second weekof March this year, went up to 7,28,512The recovery rate stood at 70.2 per cent.The mortality rate in the state is 2.81 percent. The state health authorities peggedthe number of “active cases” in the stateat 2,78,768.

Out of 51,64,840 samples sent to lab-oratories, 10,37,765 have tested positive(20.09 per cent) for COVID-19 untilSaturday.

Currently, 16,52,955people are inhome quarantine while 38,275 people arein institutional quarantine.

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From Page 1Singh, who has been

admitted at AIIMS, Delhi forabout a week after developingpost-Covid complications,resigned from the primarymembership of the party onThursday and followed it upwith an open letter, a day later,addressed to Prasads arch rivaland Bihar Chief Minister NitishKumar, triggering speculationsabout his future moves.

A staunch loyalist of theRJD supremo whom he sup-ported in thick and thin, Singhran afoul with the party a fewmonths ago when murmursabout mafia don turned politi-cian Rama Singh, his rival inVaishali Lok Sabha con-stituency, led him to resignfrom the post of the nationalvice-president.

A cabinet colleague ofPrasad in the ManmohanSingh government, Singhthereby stymied Rama Singhs

entry into the party andalthough he did not give up theprimary membership at thattime, he stayed away from theRJDs day to day affairs whichwas attributed, in part, to his ill-health.

On Thursday, his hand-written note addressed toPrasad declaring that he hashad enough went viral on thesocial media.

On the same day, theRJD supremo sent a letter toSingh from Ranchi, making anemotional appeal to his com-panion for over three decadesnot to leave the party.

On Friday, Singh wroteanother letter from hospital,this time addressed to NitishKumar, which was seen as hisattempt to cosy up to the chiefminister, who heads the JD(U)and has been a fierce rival ofthe RJD supremo for decades.Often called the architect of theMNREGA scheme, which was

floated when he was the Unionminister for rural develop-ment, Singh has been in polit-ical wilderness for some time,having lost two consecutiveelections in 2014 and 2019from Vaishali which he has rep-resented in the Lok Sabha arecord five times.

His relations withTejashwi Yadav, younger sonand heir apparent of LaluPrasad, turned sour when hestarted pitching for NitishKumar back to the GrandAlliance helmed by the RJD,after the party received

its worst-ever drubbing inthe Lok Sabha polls last year.

The JD(U) is said to bekeen to win over Singh, a high-ly respected Rajput leader, inthe run up to the assembly elec-tions, and speculations havebeen rife that it is mooting alegislative council berth forthe former Union ministersson. PTI

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From Page 1The airline will be taking

action against reporters andcamera persons who were pre-sent in the flights.

The order stated that as perRule 13 of the Aircraft Rules1937, no person is allowed totake any photographs inside aflight except when permissionis granted by the DGCA or theCivil Aviation Ministry. “Inspite of these regulations, it hasbeen noted that at times, theairlines have failed to followthese stipulations primarilybecause of lack of diligence ontheir part,” the order noted.

“Needless to say that suchdeviations result in a compro-mise in maintaining the high-est standards of safety and

therefore is not to be allowed,”it mentioned. Therefore, theorder said if any incident ofphotography takes place insideany flight, that scheduled flightwill be suspended for a periodof two weeks and it will be“restored only after the airlinehas taken all the necessarypunitive action against thoseresponsible for the violation”.As per the DGCA rules, an air-line can put an “unruly pas-senger” on its “no-fly list” fora certain period of time after aninternal enquiry.

According to a video of theincident that took place insideWednesday’s flight, reportersand cameramen were jostlingand bunching up to get a com-ment from Kangana, who wassitting in one of the front rowsof the plane.

From Page 1The other worst-hit countries

are Peru at the fifth position witha tally of 7,16,670 followed byColumbia with 7,02,088 cases,Mexico (6,58,299), South Africa(6,46,398), Spain (5,76, 697) andArgentina (5,35,706) at the tenthspot.

On Saturday, Maharashtrareported 22,084 new Covid-19cases, 13,489 discharges, and 391deaths. The total number of casesin the State rises to 10,37,765including 7,28,512 recoveries and2,79,768 active cases.

Mumbai alone reported 2,321new cases and 42 deaths. Thetotal number of positive casesincreases to 1,67,608 in Mumbai,including 29,131 active cases,1,30,016 recovered cases and 8,106deaths.

Meanwhile, Delhi reported4,321 new cases and 28 deaths inthe last 24 hours. As many as 3,141people recovered during this peri-od while the total cases in thenational Capital rose to 2,14,069including 4,715 deaths.

The number of active casesstood at 28,059.

From Page 1The NCB’s case is based on 59 grams of

curated marijuana seized from alleged drugpeddlers Abbas Lakhani and Karan Arora whowere arrested earlier, and have now beengranted bail.

More seizures were made from AnujKeshvani based on the disclosure fromKaizan Ibrahim, who according to the NCBis another drug peddler who supplied mari-juana to Showik Chakraborty and SamuelMiranda through Abdel Basit Parihar.

Keshwani, whose role has made theinvestigations more complicated. is underexamination for questioning. In a statementdetailing the drugs seized from Keshwani, theNCB has said: “In continuation of operationsagainst the drug syndicate, a raid was con-ducted in Mumbai by Mumbai Zonal Unit,NCB. The following drugs were seized: 590grams of hashish, 0.64 gm of LSD sheets, 304gms of marijuana, including imported mar-ijuana joints and capsules, Rs 1,85,200 in cashand 5,000 Indonesian Rupian”. The quantityof LSD that has been recovered is commer-

cial quantity under NDPS Act.Rhea — whose brother Showik was

arrested along with late actor’s house managerSamuel Miranda by the NCB on September5 in connection with the Sushant death-relat-ed drug case – had earlier been questioned bythe NCB her about the whatsApp exchangesbetween Rhea and others that theEnforcement Directorate (ED) had sharedwith the CBI and NCB alleging “procuringand usage” of drugs. It was on the basis of thisWhatsApp message trail that the ED hadjoined the investigations on August 26 intothe allegations that Sushant’s girlfriend Rheaused to procure banned drugs illegally fromdealers and administer them to Sushant, whowas found dead in his rented duplex flat inMount Blanc at Bandra’s Carter Road innorth-west Mumbai on June 14.

On her part, Rhea had earlier denied con-suming drugs and said that she was preparedfor a drug test anytime. She, however, admit-ted that Sushant used to take marijuana anddespite her efforts, she could not controhim.

������ ������$ ���� 222

From Page 1“The pledge is to make an

atmanirbhar Bihar so that itcan contribute to the goal ofatmanirbhar Bharat.

Industries will be set up here,there is immense scope of set-ting up agriculture-basedindustries here. Food pro-cessing, fish farming, amongothers can be started here,” hesaid.

Nadda on Saturday visit-ed Muzaffarpur as part ofBJP’s ‘atmnirbhar’ campaignand met women farmers whohave evolved newer ways ofself-reliance in agricultureand fishing production.

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���������000From Page 1

“We have started thedoorstep delivery scheme. Itwill take some time to stabilisesince it was suspended for aconsiderable time during thelockdown.

“Currently, all the 100 ser-vices are available, but peopledo not have proper informationabout it. We will launch a pub-licity campaign next week,”Delhi Revenue Minister Kailash Gahlot toldPTI.

The 100 services to be pro-vided at the doorstep ofDelhiites include issuance ofcaste certificates, domicile cer-tificates and marriage certifi-cates, sewer connections, dupli-cate ration cards, learner’slicense, duplicate vehicle reg-istration certificates and renew-al of driving license.

The Government hasalready hired a private compa-ny through which its serviceswill be provided at the doorstepof the citizens and the compa-ny has hired “mobile sahayaks”(facilitators).

A “mobile sahayak” will beequipped with all necessaryequipment such as biometricdevices and a camera. If a per-son wants to apply for a drivinglicence, he will have to call 1076and give the details. Thereafter,the agency will assign a “mobilesahayak”, who will visit theapplicant’s residence and get therequired details and docu-ments.

The applicant has to pay Rs50 more to avail the doorstepdelivery of public services. Thegovernment has also set up afeedback system for the citizensavailing the doorstep deliveryof public services.

Page 5: ?RUUR ?ZeZdY UZdTfdd dVRe dYRcZ_X =;A - Daily Pioneer

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As negotiations commencedon Saturday in Doha for

bringing peace to strife-tornAfghanistan, External AffairsMinister S Jaishankar said herethe process must respect sov-ereignty and territorial integri-ty of that country. He alsohoped that its territory will notbe used for anti-India activities.

In a virtual address on theinaugural intra-Afghan peacenegotiations, Jaishankar saidthe peace process must pro-mote human rights anddemocracy, ensure interest ofminorities, women and thevulnerable sections, and “effec-tively” address violence acrossthe country. US Secretary ofState Michael Pompeo alsoparticipated in the inauguralevent.

Giving a gist of his addressin a series of tweets, Jaishankaralso reaffirmed India’s long-held position that the peaceprocess should be “Afghan-

led, Afghan-owned andAfghan-controlled”.

Outlining New Delhi’sapproach to Afghanistan, hesaid “the friendship of ourpeoples is a testimony to ourhistory with Afghanistan. Nopart of Afghanistan isuntouched by our 400-plusdevelopment projects.Confident that this civilisa-tional relationship will contin-ue to grow,” he said.

Last month, AfghanPresident Ashraf Ghani agreedto release 400 Taliban prison-ers, paving the way for thebeginning of the long-awaitedpeace process aimed at endingnearly two-decades of conflictin the war-torn country.

India has been a majorstakeholder in peace and sta-bility of Afghanistan. It hasalready invested USD two bil-lion in aid and reconstructionactivities in the country.

It has been backing anational peace and reconcilia-tion process which is Afghan-led, Afghan-owned andAfghan-controlled.

Moreover, India was keen-ly following the evolving polit-ical situation after the US inkeda peace deal with the Taliban in

February. The deal provided forthe withdrawal of Americantroops from Afghanistan, effec-tively drawing curtains toWashington’s 18-year war in thecountry. The US has lost over2,400 soldiers in Afghanistansince late 2001.

India has all along main-tained that care should betaken to ensure that any suchprocess does not lead to any“ungoverned spaces” whereterrorists and their proxies canrelocate.

It also called upon all sec-tions of the political spectrumin Afghanistan to work togeth-er to meet the aspirations of allpeople in that country includ-ing those from the minoritycommunity for a prosperousand safe future.

The external affairs min-istry said Jaishankar’s partici-pation was in response to aninvitation extended to him byDeputy Prime Minister andForeign Minister of the State ofQatar, Mohammad binAbdulrahman bin Jassim AlThani. A senior official dele-gation led by J P Singh, JointSecretary (PAI) in the Ministryof External Affairs participat-ed in the inaugural ceremony.

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Apple is cheaper than toma-toes in the retail market.

Tomato retail prices onSaturday skyrocketed to �85-100 per kg depending on thequality and the residentialcolonies in parts of India dueto disruption in supply fromgrowing areas due to floods,landslides and other reasons.

According to the ministryof consumer affairs data, toma-to prices have touched �100 akg in Aizwal, Itanagar, Tura andImphal while apple is being soldat �50-60 in the markets. Mostof the vegetables are being soldat �60-70 across India whilebanana retail prices are ruling�40-50 a dozen; Pomegrante at�50 a kg and Papaya at �30-40a kg.

In Delhi, Mother Dairy’sSafal vegetable outlets wereselling tomatoes at �78/kg, e-tailer Grofers at �74-75/kg andBig Basket at up to Rs 60 per kgwhile vendors in unorganisedmarket are selling it at �80-85per kg.

At Azadpur mandi, Asia’slargest fruits and vegetablewholesale market, tomatoprices were ruling at �40-60 per

kg, according to trade data.According to tomato associa-tion president Ashok Kaushik,the situation is expected tocome to normal in the next 20-25 days.

“Normally, 70-80 trucksloaded with tomatoes wouldarrive in mandis regularly,which has decreased to 25-30trucks since July end. The newcrop of Maharashtra andKarnataka is yet to arrive in themarket and then only the pricesof tomatoes will cool down,”said a wholesale vendor fromGhazipur mandi in Delhi.

Uttar Pradesh, Rajasthan,Jharkhand, Punjab, TamilNadu, Kerala, Jammu andKashmir and ArunachalPradesh are the states withdeficit tomato production.The country produces about19.73 million tonnes of toma-to annually, while the con-

sumption isabout 11.51 mil-lion tonnes, asper the ministryof consumeraffairs data.

“During thelockdown, bigretailers, restau-rants, catering

were all closed, which firstbrought down the prices of theproduce and thereafter thesupply. Now, the demand hasbeen growing on a daily basis,but the supply remains thesame,” said Pradeep Sonkar ofBandil wholesale market fromWest Bengal.

Tomato prices have beenfirm since June and were rul-ing in the range of �50-60 perkg depending on the varietytill the last few weeks.

The rates have again shotup since July end on reportsof lower arrival of the newcrop from key growing States.Not only tomatoes, all veg-etables including are pinchingthe common man duringCovid 19 when people are fac-ing salary cut and loss of jobsacross India. Potato retailprices have touched �40 a kgin several States.

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Hyderabad-based BharatBiotech on Saturday said

that its Covid-19 vaccine can-didate, Covaxin, has success-fully completed phase I animaltrials and the results showedthe shot’s “remarkableimmunogenicity and protec-tive efficacy”.

Covaxin is one of thefrontrunners in the race for aCovid-19 vaccine in Indiaand developed by the IndianCouncil of Medical Research(ICMR) and Bharat Biotech, isbeing tested at 12 institutesacross India. The drug makersaid the data from the studyon primates substantiate theimmunogenicity of the vac-cine candidate.

“Bharat Biotech proudlyannounces the animal studyresults of COVAXIN - Theseresults demonstrate the pro-tective efficacy in a live viral

challenge model,” the compa-ny tweeted.

It also said in a statementhere that it developed andassessed the protective effica-cy and immunogenicity of aninactivated Sar-CoV-2 vac-cine (BBV152) or Covaxin inrhesus macaques. Twentymacaques were divided intofour groups of five animalseach, it said.

“One group was adminis-tered a placebo while threegroups were immunised withthree different vaccine candi-dates at 0 and 14 days. All themacaques were challengedwith SARS-CoV-2 14 daysafter the second dose. Theprotective response wasobserved with increasingSARS-CoV-2 specific IgG andneutralising antibody titresfrom third week post-immu-nisation,” the drug companysaid.

It added that viral clear-ance was observed from

“bronchoalveolar lavage fluid,nasal swab, throat swab, andlung tissues at 7 days post-infection in the vaccinatedgroups.”

“No evidence of pneu-monia was obser ved byhistopathological examina-tion in vaccinated groups,unlike the placebo groupwhich showed features ofinterstitial pneumonia and

localisation of viral antigen inthe alveolar epithelium andmacrophages by immunohistochemistry,” itadded.

“To summarise, the vac-cine candidate was found togenerate robust immuneresponses. Thus, preventinginfection and disease in theprimates upon high amountsof exposure to live SARS-

CoV-2 virus,” it added.Bharat Biotech had

received approval from theCentral Drugs StandardControl Organisation to con-duct the Phase-II trials earli-er this month. It hadannounced in June that itsuccessfully developedCovaxin in collaboration withICMR and the NationalInstitute of Virology (NIV).

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Amid record surge in theCoronavirus cases on

Saturday, the Union HealthMinistry found solace in therecoveries being reported.

With its focussed strategiesand measures, India has beencontinuously reporting highernumber of recoveries. India hasscaled yet another peak today,tweeted the Ministry. Thehighest ever single day recov-eries of 81,533 have been reg-istered in the last 24 hours.

“The gap between the per-centage of Recovered Cases

and percentage of Active Casesprogressively growing wide.More than 3/4 of total cases(more than 36Lakhs ) recov-ered & discharged,” it said inthe tweet.

The active cases in thecountry are known to be onlya “small portion”, which is lessthan one-fourth of total cases,it said.

A senior official said thatat least 60 per cent of the totalrecovered cases were beingreported from five States, viz.Maharashtra, Tamil Nadu,Andhra Pradesh, Karnatakaand Uttar Pradesh.

Maharashtra has alonecontributed more than 14,000and Karnataka has contributedmore than 12,000 to the newsingle day recoveries.

With this, the total numberof recoveries has crossed 36lakh (3,624,196)taking therecovery rate to 77.77 per cent,said the official.

In the past 24 hours,1,201deaths have been registered. Ofthe total deaths, 69 per centdeaths are concentrated in fiveStates/UT of Maharashtra,Tamil Nadu, Karnataka,Andhra Pradesh and Delhi, headded.

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The Congress will opposeat least four ordinances,

including the three related tofarmers, in the monsoon session of Parliament begin-ning Monday.

The Ordinances likely tobe replaced are The Farmers(Empowerment andProtection) Agreement onPrice Assurance and FarmServices Ordinance, 2020,The Essential Commodities(Amendment) Ordinance,2020 and The Farmers’Produce Trade andCommerce (Promotion andFacilitation) Ordinance, 2020.

The main Oppositionparty will oppose it in bothHouses of Parliament.

Congress chief spokesper-son Randeep Surjewala saidthere are several errors in TheBanking Regulation(Amendment) Ordinance,2020.

Al leging that theOrdinances would subjugatethe farmers “at the altar of ahandful of crony capitalists”and were a “death knell” for

agriculture, the party asserted that it wi l l oppose the legislation bothinside and outside Parliament and reachout to like-minded parties toput up a joint resistance onthe issue.

The Modi Governmenthas promulgated 11 ordi-nances and will seek toreplace them with bills in thef o r t h c o m i n gsession that starts fromSeptember 14.

An ordinance has a shelflife of six months and needsParliament’s approval to makethe law permanent.

The amendments in thefarm-related laws were rolledout in June to help farmersamid the tough pandemiccrisis.

The Ordinance aimed toimprove upon the country’sfarm sector as the Centrechanged the six-decade-oldEssential Commodities Actand moved the other twoordinances to remove allrestrictions on farm tradefrom while guaranteeing alegal f ramework for pre-agreed prices to farmers.

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Severely-ill Covid-19 patientson ventilators are placed in

a prone (face down) positionbecause it’s easier for them tobreathe and reduces mortality.However, a new study pub-lished in the British Journal ofAnaesthesia shows that thelife-saving position can alsocause permanent nerve damagein these vulnerable patients.

According to the study,published in the British Journalof Anaesthesia, nerve damageis the result of reduced bloodflow and inflammation. Othernon-Covid-19 patients on ven-tilators in this position rarelyexperience any nerve damage.

“This is a much higher per-centage of patients with nervedamage than we’ve ever seen inany other critically ill popula-tion,” said study author ColinFranz from NorthwesternUniversity in the US.

“Ordinarily, very sick peo-ple can tolerate the position

that helps their breathing. ButCovid patients’ nerves can’ttolerate the forces other peoplecan generally bear,” Franzadded.

Based on this study, 12 to15 percent of the most severe-ly ill COVID-19 patients havepermanent nerve damage.Based on the number of Covidpatients worldwide, Franz esti-mated thousands of patientshave been impacted.

“The injury has beenmissed because people whohave been critically ill areexpected to wake up with somegeneralized, symmetric weak-ness because they have beenbedridden, Franz said.

The pattern of weakness inthe Covid-19 patients caughtthe researchers’ attention dur-

ing rehabilitation since quiteoften an important joint suchas the wrist, ankle or shoulderwould be completely para-lyzed on one side of the body.

“We noticed patients aregetting a lot of pressure at theelbow or at the neck, so we’vemade some adjustments tothe way we position the jointsas well as putting extrapadding under the elbow andthe knee where there is themost pressure,” Franz said.

The most common injuriesare wrist drops, foot drops, lossof hand function and frozenshoulder. Some patients had asmany as four distinct nerveinjury sites.

Some people who are drag-ging a foot need assistance withwalking such as a wheelchair,brace or cane.

“This could mean perma-nent difficulties with walkingor critical hand functions likewriting or operating a com-puter or cell phone,” Franzsaid.

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Prime Minister NarendraModi on Saturday

launched the ‘Grih Pravesham’event in Madhya Pradesh,where 1.75 Lakh Familieswere delivered pucca housesunder the Pradhan MantriAwas Yojana- Grameen(PMAY-G). The launch wasthrough video-conferencing.

Modi said the beneficiaryfamilies who are moving intotheir new houses have gottheir dream home and also aconfidence about the future oftheir children. He said that thebeneficiaries who got homes“today have joined the ranksof the 2.25 crore families whohave got their own house inthe last 6 years and will nowbe living in their own houserather than living in a rentedhouse or a slum or a kutchahouse”.

The Prime Minister saidthat while this strengthensthe hope of the homeless inthe country this also proveshow the Government schemewas launched with right strat-egy and intention reach thetargeted beneficiaries.

Modi said that notwith-standing the challenges duringthe Corona period, work of 18lakh houses has been com-pleted throughout the countryunder the Prime MinisterAwas Yojana-Gramin andamong that 1.75 lakh housescompleted in Madhya Pradeshitself.

He said that on an aver-age, building a house underPMAY-G takes about 125 daysbut during this period ofCorona, it was completed in

just about 45 to 60 days whichis a record in itself.

He said this was madepossible owing to the migrantsreturning from cities to theirvillages. The Prime Ministersaid this is a great example ofturning a challenge into anopportunity.

He said that these migrantlabour took care of their fam-ilies by taking full advantageof the Prime Minister GaribKalyan Rozgar Abhiyan andat the same time worked to

build homes for their poorbrethren.

He added that the poorare not only getting a house,they are also getting toilets,

Ujjwala Gas connection,Sowbaghya Yojana, Powerconnection, LED bulb andWater connection also alongwith it.

He said that schemes likePM Awas Yojana, SwachhBharat Abhiyan are playing animportant role in changingthe lives of rural sisters.

Prime Minister said about27 welfare schemes of theCentral Government arel inked to the PM AwasYojana.

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In a move that might raise thehackles of green activists,

the Union EnvironmentMinistry’s Forest AdvisoryCommittee (FAC) has recom-mended that mining andexploration companies shouldbe allowed to pay Net ProduceValue (NPV) on the basis ofboreholes instead of the presentpractice of paying 2 or 5 percent NPV of the total leased outforest area.

NPV is the upfront pay-ment made to compensate forthe loss caused to a forest andits ecosystem services by aninfrastructure project and isused for conservation efforts.The Supreme Court had in2002 mandated NPV for allinfrastructure projects in for-est areas.

Mining companies used topay 2 to 5 percent of NetPresent Value (NPV) of the for-est areas leased out to them forexploring hydrocarbons. Asper the revised norms whichare yet to get the Ministry’sapproval, the NPV would nowbe based on the area dug up foreach borehole (around 0.1 ha)which is nearly a fraction ofwhat was charged earlier.

The FAC in a meeting onAugust 18m recommendedtweaking of a clause of theForest (Conservation) Act,1980 in this regard.

The Union Mines Ministryhad requested that exploration

in forest areas may be exempt-ed from the purview of the FCAct and hence from priorapproval. The Mines Ministrycalled NPV payments an avoid-able expenditure because only1 per cent of areas explored areconverted to mining. “It wassubmitted that even payment ofNPV at a rate of 2% or 5% isone of the major challengeswhich leads to delay in theexploration/prospecting activ-ities,” said the minutes of themeeting.

However, FAC remindedthe Mining ministry that therate of NPV for use of forestland for non-forestry purposehas been fixed by the SupremeCourt. The FAC also told theMinistry that exemption ofNPV cannot be considered bythis Ministry

The FAC, therefore, rec-ommended that UnionEnvironment Ministry mayconsider charging NPV onborehole basis instead of thepresent practice of charging 2or 5 per cent NPV of the totalforest area in the lease area. Inthis regard, necessary clarifi-cation in FCA guideline 6.8(v)may be issued by the Ministry,said the FAC.

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Activist-lawyer PrashantBhushan, convicted and

awarded one rupee fine for hiscontemptuous tweets againstthe judiciary, on Saturdaymoved the Supreme Courtseeking the right of appealagainst convictions in originalcriminal contempt cases to beheard by a larger and a differ-ent bench.

Bhushan on August 31 wasdirected to deposit the fine withthe Supreme Court registry bySeptember 15 and failure tocomply would entail a three-month jail term and debarmentfrom law practice for threeyears.

In a fresh plea filedthrough lawyer Kamini Jaiswal,he has sought a declaration thata “person convicted for crimi-nal contempt by this court,including the petitioner here-in, would have a right to anintra-court appeal to be heardby a larger and different bench”.

Bhushan, in the plea, sug-gested procedural changes toreduce the chances of “arbi-trary, vengeful and high-hand-ed decisions” in criminal con-tempt cases saying that in suchcases the top court is theaggrieved party, the “prosecu-tor, the witness and the judge”and hence they raise fear ofinherent bias.

The petition said the rightof appeal is a fundamentalright guaranteed under theConstitution and is also guar-anteed under international law

and this would act as a “vitalsafeguard against wrongfulconviction and would trulyenable the provision of truth asa defence”.

The plea, to which theMinistry of Law and Justice andthe Registrar of the apex courthave been made parties, hasalso sought a direction forframing rules and guidelines“providing for intra-courtappeal against conviction inoriginal criminal contemptcases”.

Under the present statuto-ry scheme, a person convictedfor the criminal contempt hasthe right to file review petitionagainst the judgement and thatplea is decided in chambers bythe bench usually without hear-ing the contemnor.

Bhushan said his petitionhas been filed for the enforce-ment of fundamental rightsguaranteed under Articles 14(right to equality), 19 (Freedomof speech and expression) and21 (right to life) of theConstitution.

“That the existing Act andRules, do not bar or prohibitthe prayers as sought by thePetitioner. In fact, it is in thespirit of the

Contempt of Courts Act,1971 to lay down such a pro-cedure. This Hon’ble Courthas in the past framed specialrules to deal with cases con-cerning death penalty and hasalso devised special remedy inthe nature of ‘curative petition’against a final judgment of theSupreme Court.

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KT Jaleel, Minister for Higher Education, reportedlytold the sleuths of the Enforcement Directorate that

he was ignorant about the protocol laws which prohib-ited public servants from interacting with diplomats andhigh ranking officials from foreign countries.

Jaleel, summoned by the ED, was interrogated formore than two hours on Friday about his acceptance ofgifts and Qurans sent by the UAE Government duringthe Ramadan period.

The Minister said that he was willing to send backthe Qurans which were ‘gifted’ by the UAE Consulate.He also reiterated that he never had any personal deal-ings with Swapna Suresh, the kingpin of the gold smug-gling racket. The media in Kerala had reported that theminister was having “hours and hours” of telephonic chatwith Swapna since March 2020 and his claims that he hadcalled her for official works were not true.

Meanwhile Leader of Opposition RameshChennithala unleashed a ruthless attack on the CPI(M)on Saturday describing the party as anti-national and un-democratic. He accused Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayanof protecting and saving Jaleel.

“This is the first time in Kerala’s history a ministeris interrogated by ED, one of the top investigating agen-cies in the country. Jaleel was accompanied by a personwho himself is an accused in criminal cases and a closeassociate of CPI(M) leaders in New Delhi,” saidChennithala.

Senior BJP leaders B Gopalakrishnan and five oth-ers were injured in police lathicharge at Thrissur onSaturday. Gopalakrishnan was leading a rally towards thePolice Commissioner’s Office demanding Jaleel’s resig-nation. The police resorted to lathicharge when thedemonstrators tried to jump over the barricade and enterthe PCO. Elsewhee in the State, BJP and BJYM took outprocessions despite heavy rains. Many activists wereinjured in police resorted to lathicharge and bursting oftear gas shells.

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All district headquarters in Kerala turned battlegrounds on Saturdayas the activists of BJP and Bharatiya Janata Yuva Morchcha (BJYM)

took out rallies demanding the immediate resignation of Minister forHigher Education KT Jaleel who was interrogated by the sleuths of theEnforcement Directorate on Friday in connection with gold smugglingcase.

The northern districts saw police using force, water canons and lathicharges to disperse hundreds of activists of the Hindutwa brigade whodemonstrated in front of the collectorates. The heavy downpour acrossthe State did not dampen the spirits of the agitators who burnt the min-ister by effigies in all districts.

K Surendran, Kerala BJP president alleged that Chief Minister PinarayiVijayan was hand in glove with Jaleel in the smuggling operations.“Vijayan knows that if he drops Jaleel from the ministry, the latter wouldcreate more problems for him. That’s is the reason why Vijayan is pro-tecting Jaleel,” charged the BJP leader while speaking to journalists atthe capital city on Saturday morning.

Surendran pointed out that Vijayan had no hesitation in droppingindustries minister E P Jayarajan from the council of ministers when thelatter was named as an accused in a case probed by the vigilance depart-ment. “Why there are two laws for Jayarajan and Jaleel? Isnt it to pro-tect the vote bank of the CPI(M) Vijayan is protecting Jaleel?” askedSurendran.

He asked Jaleel to come out and tell the people what were the ques-tions asked by the ED. “He owes a moral responsibility to the people ashe took oath of office on the Constitution of India. He is bound to tellthe world what were the questions asked by the ED,” said Surendran.The BJP leader also disclosed that agitations would continue till Jalee;submits his resignation.

Youth League, the youth wing of the Muslim League too joined thedemonstrations demanding Jaleel’s sacking and arrest. “He has committedblasphemy by misusing the Quran for un-Islamic purposes,” said P KFeroz, president, Youth League.

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Lucknow: The COVID-19caseload crossed the three-lakh mark in Uttar Pradesh onSaturday with 6,846 more peo-ple contracting the viral infec-tion, while the death toll due tothe disease reached 4,349 with68 fresh casualties.

Additional Chief SecretaryAmit Mohan Prasad said thenumber of active cases went upto 67,955 in the state, while2,33,527 patients have so farbeen discharged from hospitalsfollowing recovery.

The total count of coron-avirus cases in the state standsat 3,05,831.

State capital Lucknowrecorded the highest number of1,117 fresh cases on Saturday,followed by Kanpur Nagar(523), Prayagraj (328) andGhaziabad (303), a healthdepartment bulletin said.

Among the casualties, 10were reported from Lucknow,nine from Kanpur Nagar, sixfrom Prayagraj and five fromMeerut, it added.

Of the 67,955 active cases,36,334 or 53.46 per cent are inhome isolation, Prasad said,adding that 3,607 patients areadmitted in private hospitalsand 275 in semi-paid facilities.

So far, over 1.49 lakh peo-ple have been in home isolationin the state, of whom over 1.13lakh have completed the quar-

antine period, he said.The COVID-19 recovery

rate in the state has gone up to76.35 per cent while the casefatality rate presently stands at1.42 per cent, which is lowerthan the national average,Prasad said.On Friday, over1.40 lakh tests were performed,which has taken the total num-ber of examinations for detec-tion of COVID-19 conductedso far in the state to over 73lakh, he added.

Appealing for communityhelp in controlling the spreadof the virus, the additionalchief secretary recalled thatthe “gram nigrani samitis” hadplayed an important role dur-ing the period when themigrant labourers were return-ing to the state and now, onceagain it is required that theywork actively as some caseshave also been reported fromthe rural areas.

Besides, he also calledupon the resident welfare asso-ciations of the housing com-plexes in the cities to remain inaction mode and promptlyinform the authorities aboutthose showing symptoms of theviral disease.

“To check the virus, it isrequired that community sur-veillance should also effective-ly be in place, along with thegovernment agencies which

are already working in thisdirection,” Prasad said.

Presenting the age-wisestatistics of those infected withthe virus in the state, he said13.98 per cent of the patients arein the age group of 0-20 years,while 48.58 per cent are in theage group of 21-40 years.

Those in the 41-60 years agegroup account for 28.69 per centof the cases and those above 60years account for 8.75 per centcases. Of the total number ofcases, 69 per cent are maleswhile the remaining 31 percent women, Prasad said.

At a meeting with seniorofficials earlier in the day,Chief Minister Yogi Adityanathdirected them to pay specialattention to Lucknow andreview the facilities at theKGMU, SGPGI and RMLIMShospitals, besides activatingother COVID hospitals in thestate capital and increasingtheir capacity.

Additional Chief Secretary(Home) Awanish Awasthi saidthe chief minister has asked toensure that all necessaryarrangements in the COVIDhospitals and private medicalcolleges of Lucknow are inaccordance with the prescribednorms and directed for increas-ing the manpower at the hos-pitals in keeping with theircapacity. PTI

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At Banna Devi police stationarea, near the Sarsol inter-

section, armed robbers looted gold jewelry worth �35lakh and cash of �50,000 fromthe jewellery showroom named “SundarJeweller” on gunpoint. Onreceipt of the information, thetop police officers, including IGand SSP reached the spot. Thefull incident was captured onCCTV. Around half a dozenpolice teams are engaged in thesearch operation of robbers.

Nearly 200 meters fromSarsol intersection is the houseof Sundar Verma on Khairbypass Road along with hisshowroom named “SundarJeweler”.

At around 1:04 PM,Sundar was in his showroomwith his son and a servant.

Three customers, includingthe couple, were also inside theshowroom when three maskedpeople entered the showroom.

He first sanitized theirhands, after they all took out apistol and started looting theshowroom.

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The corona is now taking agrisly form. 172 new positive

cases reported including CMOand four other people from theCMO office while 142 recov-ered. The number of infectedpeople has now reached 6135 inthe district while 4503 peoplerecovered and 1600 active. Onedeath of the elderly was report-ed at JN Medical College.

Today, around 2800 peoplewere screened mostly of Antigenkits. Of these 172 were foundinfected. At the same time, 142people recovered. Most of thepatients were from home-isola-tions. One old aged person, aresident of Amir Nishan, hasdied at the Medical College onFriday. He was admitted by thefamily three days back and diedthere. The report came positiveon the investigation.

Take steps for ResidentDoctors as well

The Resident Doctor’s

Association of AMU’s JNMedical College has said thatabout 50 junior doctors and 5senior doctors of JN MedicalCollege and their families havebeen infected with covid-19infection.

The situation is that everysecond day the reports of juniordoctors are coming as positive.The death rate of doctors in thecountry is higher than the deathrate of common people. Theyhave demanded that the collegeadministration should takestrong and strict steps to protectthe doctors.

Every person needs to takeprecautions. According to Dr.Nitin Gupta, currently, thebiggest challenge is to protectourselves from corona infection.If you will be safe, then you willbe able to do whatever you wantin life. Eight months have beenpassed but till now no medicinehas been discovered. Precautionis the only way to protect againstcorona.

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Thiruvananthapuram: Keralareported 2,885 COVID-19cases on Saturday, taking thetally to 1,05,139 as 75,848 peo-ple have recovered so far fromthe infection, Health minister KK Shailaja said.

The state had crossed thegrim milestone of one lakhcases on Friday after 2,988people tested positive. With15 deaths being confirmed overthe past few days, including thatof a 101-year-old man fromKalady in Ernakulam district,the toll has climbed to 425.

Of thepositive cases, 2,640were infected through contactand the source of infection of287 persons was not known.

Forty two people had comefrom abroad and 137 fromother states, the minister said.

W h i l eThiruvananthapuram report-ed 566 cases, Malappuramaccounted for 310. Over 200cases were reported today fromKozhikode, Kollam andKannur. As many as 1,944 peo-ple were discharged today aftertheir samples turned negative,following which 28,802 arepresently under treatment.

While 2.03 lakh people areunder observationin variousdistricts, 22,177 are in hospitals,including 2576 admittedtoday. PTI

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Barely hours after the jointteams of the security forces

recovered a huge consignmentof arms and ammunition inMendhar tehsil of Poonch, thePakistan Army violated cease-fire agreement along the line ofcontrol in Mankote and Gulpursectors of Poonch district onSaturday.

According to Defencespokesman Lt- Col DevenderAnand, “the Pakistan Armyresorted to intense mortarshelling around 8.00 p.m afterinitiating small arms firing inthe forward areas of Mankoteand Gulpur sectors of Poonch”.Till the time of filing the report,Indian army was effectivelyretaliating to silence the roar ofPakistani guns, he added

Earlier, the joint teamscomprising Army, Mendharpolice and SOG Jammu hadrecovered a huge consignmentof arms and ammunition after

intercepting the two accusedpersons from the Mendhartehsil of Poonch.

Jammu & Kashmir policespokesman said the recoveredarms and ammunition, explo-sives and other material was tobe used in subversive activities.“The material was supposed tobe carried from the forwardarea to the hinterland for sub-versive activities”, thespokesman said in a writtenstatement.

“As of now 2 accused havebeen apprehended and a caseFIR 217/ 2020 under relevantsections of Unlawful ActivityPrevention Act has been regis-tered at police station Mendhar.

The police spokesman said,the recoveries included Chinesepistol -03, Pistol magazines -06,Pistol rounds -70, Handgrenades -11, Wireless set – 01,IED -01, Batteries -02, Flags –02, Mobile phone -01, Charger-01 ,Pen drive -01 and otherrelated materials to IED.

Chennai: Tamil Nadu con-tinued to log a downslide inthe number of Covid-19 caseswith recoveries outnumberingfresh infections in the state.

In a statement issued hereby the state health departmenton Saturday, the number ofCovid-19 patients in the statewas 47,110 lesser than that of48,000, reported two daysback.

The number of Covid-19cured and discharged personsin the state was 6,227 takingthe total recoveries to 441,649persons.

The total number of per-sons who had tested positivefor coronavirus over the past24-hours stood at 5,495 push-ing the tally to 497,066, thedepartment added. IANS

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Still smarting under wide-spread criticism over the

hasty demolition of “illegal”portions of actress KanganaRanaut’s bungalow by theparty-run BrihmanmumbaiMunicipal Corporation(BMC), the ruling Shiv Sena onSaturday faced further embar-rassment, this time overFriday's assault on a retirednaval officer by its workers innorth Mumbai, as DefenceMinister Rajnath Singh spoketo the victim and condemnedthe incident.

A day after a group ofShiv Sainiks, led by a partyshakha pramukh, attacked a65-year-retired Navy officerMadan Sharma at Kandivli innorth Mumbai for forwardinga cartoon that projected chiefminister Uddhav Thackerayin a poor light, Rajnath spoketo the victim and made

enquiries about his health. Hesaid that such attacks on ex-ser-vicemen “were completelyunacceptable and deplorable”.

“Spoke to retired navalofficer, Shri Madan Sharmawho was attacked by hooligansin Mumbai and enquired abouthis health. Such attacks on Ex-Servicemen are completelyunacceptable and deplorable. Iwish Madanji a speedy recov-ery,” Rajnath tweeted.

Meanwhile, the the SamataNagar Police on Friday nightarrested the six persons ---comprising Shiv Sena ShakhaPramukh Kamlesh Kadam andfive of their associates SanjayManjre, Rakesh Belnekar,Pratap Sund Vera, Sunil Desaiand Rakesh Mulik – in con-nection with the incident.

The six arrested ShivSainiks were on Saturday pro-duced before a city court whichgranted them bail.

Additional Commissioner

of Police (North) Dilip Sawantsaid that the arrested ShivSainiks had been booked forvarious charges includingunlawful assembly and rioting.

Madan Sharma, who is aretired chief petty officer in theNavy, is a member of housingsociety at Kandivli in northMumbai. On Wednesday,Sharma had forwarded a car-toon showing Uddhav pros-trating before pictures of NCPchief Sharad Pawar andCongress President SoniaGandhi in a WhatsApp groupof his housing society. He hadseen that cartoon in anotherWhatsApp group earlier.

According to Sharma’sdaughter Dr Sheela Sharma,one of the members of theirhousing society group hadalerted Kadam about the“objectionable” cartoon

On Friday, a group of eightto ten Shiv Sainiks came to hishousing society and assaulted

Sharma.Later, CCTV footage post-

ed on Twitter by BJP MLAfrom Kandivli (east) AtulBhatkhalkar showed a group ofmen chasing after Sharma anddragging him outside the soci-ety premises by his shirt collar.The footage, which went viral,also showed the men slappingSharma and pulling at his shirteven as the society’s securityguards remained silent specta-tors.

Later in the evening,Sharma lodged a complaintwith the Samta Nagar policestation against Kadam andother Shiv Sainiks.

Meanwhile, apart fromdemanding stern action againstthe Shiv Sainiks behind theincident, Sharma’s daughterDr Sheela Sharma has rootedfor the imposition ofPresident's Rule inMaharashtra, citing thatnobody was safe in the state.

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Within days after she made“objectionable” com-

ments against Maharashtrachief minister UddhavThackeray, Bollywood actressKangana Ranaut faced backlashon Saturday, as the ruling ShivSena workers took out a pro-cession of a donkey withKangana’s poster wrapped on itand later burnt her effigy atMiraj town in westernMaharashtra.

The Shiv Sainiks staged amassive protest againstKangana at Miraj in Sangli dis-trict of western Maharashtra.As part of the protest, they tookout a donkey procession witha poster of the actress wrappedover the animal. The protestersraised slogans against Kanganafor her “objectionable” remarksagainst Udhav Thackeray andthe Mumbai police.

The protesters said thatthe actress, through herremarks, had insulted “self-

respect” of Maharashtra. At theend of the procession, the pro-testors burnt an effigy of theactress.

Saturday was the secondoccasion when the Shiv Sainiksstaged a protest againstKangana. Earlier the Senaactivists had burnt her effigyand pictures in Mumbai, Pune,Aurangabad, Thane, Palghar,Nashik and other cities. On itspart, the BJP too has distancedfrom Kangana’s “anti-Mumbai”comments.

Kangana has come underfire from various quarters forcontroversial statements com-paring Mumbai to “Pak-Occupied Kashmir” and saying“it seems Mumbai is addictedto blood” and dubbingBollywood as an 'Islam-domi-nated' film industry. Therehave also been protests erupt-ed in Mumbai and other citiesagainst the actress

Through a series of tweetsput out during and after theBMC workers demolished her

office at Bandra’s Pali Hill areain north-west Mumbai onWednesday last, Kangana hadamong other things come upwith a “..... tujhe kya lagtahai?” dare for Maharashtrachief minister UddhavThackeray, whom she hadthreatened to expose.

It may be recalled thatreferring to Uddhav Thackerayas “tujhe”, Kangana had onSeptember 9 launched an allout war against the Maha VikasAghadi government. “UddhavThackeray, tujhe kya lagta hai?(what do you think?)… col-luded along with the filmmafia, demolished my home

and took revenge on me? Myhome was demolished today,your arrogance will crumbletomorrow,” Kangana had saidin a video message on herarrival in Mumbai.

As the BMC was in themidst of the demolition ofalleged illegal structures in herbungalow, Kangana -- whowas on her way from HimachalPradesh to Mumbai, had com-pared her office to Ram mandirand said that Babar is demol-ishing it. She compared BMCofficials to “Babur army” andsaid that history would repeatitself and she will reconstructher 'mandir'.

“This is the wheel of time,remember, it never stays thesame,” she said, adding that shecould sense as to what couldhave happened with Kashmiripandits. “Today, I promise thatI will make a film on Kashmirlike Ayodhya.... .UddhavThackeray….I feel good that ithas happened to me…it has ameaning,” she had said.

In some more tweets outduring the day, Kangana hadsaid: “Come Udhav Thakerayand Karan Johar Gang youbroke my work place come nowbreak my house then break myface and body, I want world tosee clearly what you anyway dounderhand, whether I live ordie I will expose you regard-less”.

“My office was suddenlydeclared illegal in the last 24hours, they have destroyedeverything inside includingfurniture and lights and now Iam getting threats they willcome to my house and break itas well,I am glad my judgementof the movie mafia’s favouriteworld’s best CM was right,” shehad tweeted.

“There is no illegal con-struction in my house, also thegovernment has banned anydemolitions in Covid tillSeptember 30, Bullywoodwatch now this is what Fascismlooks like,” Kangaa had tweet-ed.

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Washington: The US hassigned a framework fordefence cooperation with theMaldives to deepen engage-ment in support of maintain-ing peace and security in thestrategic Indian Ocean, the

Pentagon has announced, asthe Trump administrationlooks to strengthen alliances inthe Indo-Pacific to counterChina’s growing presence inthe region.

The framework for defenceand security relationship wassigned in Philadelphia onSeptember 10 betweenDeputy Assistant Secretary ofDefense for South andSoutheast Asia Reed Wernerand Maldivian Minister ofDefence Mariya Didi.

“The framework setsforth both countries’ intent todeepen engagement andcooperation in support ofmaintaining peace and secu-rity in the Indian Ocean, and

marks an important step for-ward in the defence partner-ship,” the Pentagon said.

The Indo-Pacific is a bio-geographic region of Earth’sseas, comprising the tropicalwaters of the Indian Ocean, thewestern and central PacificOcean.

During discussions aftersigning the agreement, MariyaDidi said the framework willstrengthen defence and secu-rity cooperation between thetwo countries, Maldivian por-tal Sun Online reported.

Mariya Didi said thatpeace and security in the Indo-Pacific and Indian Oceanregion is tied to the best inter-ests of both countries. AFP

Tehran: Iran on Saturdaystrongly condemned Bahrain’splan to normalise relationswith Israel, calling it a shame-ful and ignominious move bythe Gulf Arab country.

Bahrain’s announcementFriday followed a similar nor-malisation agreement lastmonth by the United ArabEmirates, a fellow U.S. Ally. Thetwo Arab nations’ establish-ment of full relations withIsrael is part of a broader pushby the Trump administrationfind common ground withcountries that share U.S.Wariness of Iran. Tehran’s archrival Saudi Arabia may also beclose to a deal.

In a statement, Iran’s

Foreign Ministry said Bahrain’snormalisation “will remain inthe historical memory of theoppressed and downtroddenpeople of Palestine and theworld’s free nations forever.”

Iran’s paramilitaryRevolutionary Guard alsodenounced Bahrain’s moveusing similar language, callingit a betrayal of the Palestinianpeople and a “threat to securi-ty in West Asia and the Muslimworld.”

The agreements by theUAE and now Bahrain are asetback for Palestinian leaders,who have urged Arab nationsto withhold recognition untilthey have secured an indepen-dent state. AP

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President Donald Trump andDemocratic rival Joe Biden

both say they want to pull USforces out of Iraq andAfghanistan.

But their approaches differ,and the outcome of theNovember 3 election will havelong-term consequences notonly for US troops, but for thewider region.

During his election cam-paign four years ago, Trumppledged to bring all troopshome from “endless wars,” attimes triggering pushback frommilitary commanders, defenseleaders and even Republicanlawmakers worried aboutabruptly abandoning partnerson the ground.

In recent months he hasonly increased the pressure,working to fulfill that promiseand get forces home beforeElection Day.

More broadly, Trump’s‘America First’ mantra hasbuoyed voters weary of war andfrustrated with the billions ofdollars spent on nationaldefense at the expense ofdomestic needs.

But it has also alienatedlongtime European partnerswhose forces have foughtalongside the United States, andhas bruised America’s reputa-tion as a loyal ally.

Biden has been moreadamant about restoring USrelations with allies and NATO,and his stance on these wars ismore measured.

He says troops must bewithdrawn responsibly andthat a residual force presencewill be needed in Afghanistanto ensure terrorist groups can’trebuild and attack Americaagain.

That approach, however,angers progressives and otherswho believe the US has spenttoo much time, money andblood on battlefields far fromhome.

“We’re getting out of theendless wars,” Trump told WhiteHouse reporters recently.

He said the “top people inthe Pentagon” probably don’tlove him because “they want todo nothing but fight wars sothat all of those wonderfulcompanies that make thebombs and make the planesand make everything else stayhappy.”

He continued: “Let’s bringour soldiers back home. Somepeople don’t like to come home.Some people like to continue tospend money.”

Biden, the former vicepresident, has sounded lessabsolute about troop with-drawal. In response to a can-didate questionnaire from theCenter for Foreign Relations,he said some troops could stayin Afghanistan to focus on thecounterterrorism mission.“Americans are rightly weary ofour longest war; I am, too. Butwe must end the war respon-sibly, in a manner that ensureswe both guard against threatsto our homeland and neverhave to go back,” he said.

Istanbul: Turkey’s presidenthas taken aim at France’s leader,following French criticismabout Turkish maritime activ-ities in the easternMediterranean that have ignit-ed tensions with Greece andthe European Union.

In a speech Saturday,Turkish President Recep TayyipErdogan claimed that FrenchPresident Emmanuel Macronwas targeting him.

“You will have many moreproblems with me,” Erdogansaid, adding, “don’t mess withthe Turkish nation and Turkey.”

On Friday, Marcon saidthat Europe needed to be “clearand firm” with Erdogan’s gov-ernment over its actions.

France and Turkey, bothNATO members, have been atodds over an arms embargo forLibya and over the situation inthe eastern Mediterranean,where Paris is supportingGreece and Cyprus, who sayTurkey is looking for oil andgas in their waters.

Turkey says it has equalrights to the resources in thosewaters. Erdogan also saidFrance has no right to criticiseTurkey, considering its colonialrecord. AP

Hong Kong: Relatives of 12Hong Kong activists detained atsea by Chinese authorities calledon Saturday for their familymembers to be returned to theterritory, saying their legal rightswere being violated.

At an emotional news con-ference, the group said their rel-atives should be allowed tomeet with lawyers they them-selves have hired, not thoseappointed by Chinese authori-ties, They also said they shouldbe provided with needed med-ications, be allowed to call theirfamilies and eventually beallowed to return to HongKong.

The relatives wore masks,

hoods, sunglasses, jackets andhats to hide their identities infront of the television cameras.

Secretary of State MikePompeo said Friday that the USwas “deeply concerned” that the12 had been denied access to thelawyers of their choice, alongwith the lack of informationabout their welfare and thecharges against them.

“We question ChiefExecutive Lam’s stated com-mitment to protecting the rightsof Hong Kong residents, and callon authorities to ensure dueprocess,” Pompeo said, referringto Carrie Lam, Hong Kong’sleader.

Lam said Tuesday that the

12 must be “dealt with accord-ing to mainland laws” if arrest-ed for breaking Chinese law.

The detention of the 12,who include a 16-year-old boy,follows China’s imposition of asweeping new national securi-ty law on the former Britishcolony, which was wracked bymonths of anti-governmentprotests last year.

Critics say the law amountsto a major crackdown on freespeech and political activity bythe opposition and furthererodes the civil libertiespromised to Hong Kong underthe “one country, two systems”principle in place since it revert-ed to Chinese rule in 1997. AP

Dubai: Afghanistan’s warringsides started negotiations onSaturday for the first time aimedat ending decades of war, bring-ing together delegates appoint-ed by the Afghan governmentand the Taliban.

US Secretary of State MikePompeo attended the openingceremony, which was held inQatar where the meetings willtake place. It’s the latest in a flur-ry of diplomatic activity by theTrump administration ahead ofthe US presidential election inNovember.

The discussions are impor-tant in the search for lastingpeace that will also provide anexit for US and NATO troopsafter nearly 19 years.

The sides will try to tackletough issues. This includes theterms of a permanent cease-fire,the rights of women andminorities and the disarming oftens of thousands of Talibanfighters and militias loyal towarlords, some of them alignedwith the government.

The talks in Doha followthe US-brokered recognitionof Israel by two Gulf nations —Bahrain on Friday and theUnited Arab Emirates earlierthis month.

The Afghan sides are alsoexpected to discuss constitu-tional changes, and powersharing. Even seemingly mun-dane issues like the flag and thename of the country — theIslamic Republic of Afghanistanor as the Taliban’s administra-

tion had been known, when itruled, the Islamic Emirate ofAfghanistan — could find theirway on to the negotiation tableand roil tempers.

Among the government-appointed negotiators are fourwomen, who vow to preservewomen’s rights in any power-sharing deal with the funda-mentalist Taliban. This includesthe right to work, education andparticipation in political life --all denied women when theTaliban ruled Afghanistan forfive years.

The Taliban were ousted in2001 by a US-led coalition forharbouring Osama bin Laden,the architect of the September11 terrorist attacks on America.

There are no women on theTaliban’s negotiation team, ledby their chief justice AbdulHakim.

Pompeo has said he expect-ed the discussions to be con-tentious.

Washington’s peace envoyfor Afghanistan ZalmayKhalilzad said on Friday thatlaunching the talks is an impor-tant achievement, but that “thereare difficulties, significant chal-lenges on the way to reachingagreement”.

“This is a test for bothsides, for the Taliban and thegovernment,” he said. “Can theyreach an agreement despite dif-ferences, in terms of theirvisions for the future ofAfghanistan?”

The intra-Afghan negotia-tions were laid out in a peacedeal Washington signed withthe Taliban on February 29. Atthat time the deal was touted asAfghanistan’s best chance atpeace in 40 years of war. AP

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Moria (Greece): Thousands ofasylum-seekers have spent afourth night sleeping in theopen on the Greek island ofLesbos, after successive firesdestroyed a notoriously over-crowded migrant and refugeecamp during a coronaviruslockdown.

Officials have said theTuesday and Wednesday nightblazes were deliberately set bysome camp residents angeredat quarantine and isolationorders imposed after 35 peoplein the Moria camp tested pos-itive for COVID-19.

With the camp gutted,

Saturday morning found men,women and children sleepingunder improvised sheltersmade of reed stalks, blanketsand salvaged tents. Thousandsgathered for a protest todemand to be allowed to leavethe island.

Mostly children andwomen stood at the front ofcrowed as the protest gotunderway peacefully as riotpolice observed. Participantsheld up banners with sloganswritten on pieces of cardboardor sheets.

“We need peace & freedom.Moria kills all lives,” read one.

Leaving the island wouldrequire a bending of EuropeanUnion rules, under which asy-lum-seekers reaching Greece’sislands from Turkey must staythere until they are eithergranted refugee status ordeported back to Turkey.

The Moria camp was builtto house around 2,750 peoplebut was so overcrowded thatthis week’s fires left morethan 12,000 in need of emer-gency shelter on Lesbos. Thecamp had long been held upby critics as a symbol ofEurope’s failings in migrationpolicy. AP

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Tehran: Iran said it executed awrestler on Saturday for mur-dering a man during a wave ofanti-government protests in2018, drawing widespread con-demnation and eliciting shockfrom the International OlympicCommittee.

Navid Afkari, 27, was exe-cuted at a prison in the south-ern city of Shiraz, provincialprosecutor general KazemMousavi was quoted as sayingon state television’s website.

Afkari had been foundguilty of “voluntary homicide”for stabbing to death HosseinTorkman, a water departmentemployee, on August 2, 2018,the judiciary said.

Shiraz and several otherurban centres across Iran hadbeen the scene that day of anti-government protests and

demonstrations over econom-ic and social hardship.

The International OlympicCommittee said it was“shocked” by the execution andthat it was “deeply upsetting”that pleas by athletes around theworld and international bodieshad failed to halt it.

“Our thoughts are with thefamily and friends of NavidAfkari,” the IOC said in a state-ment. London-based rightsgroup Amnesty Internationalsaid the “secret execution” wasa “horrifying travesty of justicethat needs immediate interna-tional action”.

Reports published abroadsay Afkari was convicted on thebasis of confessions aired ontelevision after being extractedunder torture, prompting onlinecampaigns for his release.

Amnesty has repeatedlycalled on Iran to stop broad-casting videos of “confessions”by suspects, saying they “violatethe defendants’ rights”.

The judiciary’s MizanOnline news agency deniedthe accusations.

According to Amnesty,Afkari’s two brothers Vahidand Habib are still in the sameprison where he had beendetained.

The death sentence hadbeen carried out at “the insis-tence of the victim’s family”, saidMousavi, the prosecutor generalfor Fars province.

Afkari's lawyer, HassanYounessi, tweeted that a num-ber of people in Shiraz were tomeet on Sunday with the slainworker's family to ask for theirforgiveness. AFP

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The Government onSaturday said it is in the

process of implementing sev-eral international standards onemissions and safety measures,including electronic stabilitycontrol systems and brake assistsystems, in transport vehicles.

The plans are to bringIndian automotive industry atpar with developed nations insuch regulations.

"The government hasembarked upon a transforma-tional programme of imple-menting international stan-dards of emission and safetymeasures in the transport vehi-cles. As such government ismoving on the path of a long-term regulatory road map forthe automobile industry togrow and increase its contri-bution to GDP," Ministry ofRoad Transport and Highwayssaid in a statement.

The Ministry is in theprocess of finalisation of imple-mentation of standards forelectronic stability control sys-tems (ESC) and brake assistsystems for relevant categoriesby next two years, it said.

The notification of ESCfor buses has been issued last

year. "Draft notification has

also been issued for electronicstability control systems forbuses, which is likely to bebrought into force by April2023. We are contemplatinghigher level of safety for all cat-egories of vehicles," the state-ment said.

The ministry has identi-fied certain priority areas forinternational standardisationin this field, it said and addedthese include the tyre pressuremonitoring system for certaincategories of vehicles which islikely to come into force byOctober this year. The stan-dards for vehicle dimensionsand safety of constructionequipment vehicles have beennotified.

Similarly, notifications havealready been issued for sidestands, foot rests and externalprojections of 2-wheelers, itsaid and added these will comeinto force soon.

The ministry said that theIndian automotive industryhas kept pace with thesechanges and in recent years hasundergone a number ofchanges in the domain of pas-senger safety, emission con-troland connected technology.

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Expected fund inflows intoIndia Inc. and the domes-

tic equity market will strength-en the rupee's value during theupcoming short term, sectorbased analysts said on Saturday.

Last week, the rupee weak-ened to �73.55 against a green-back.

"Rupee will strengthen asReliance Retail stake money isexpected to come in by next 2-3 months and more stake buysare likely to be announced onthe lines of Reliance Jio," saidSajal Gupta, Head, Forex andRates, Edelweiss Securities.

"Strong reserves and vocalsignals from the RBI that strongrupee helps lower importedinflation will also support therupee."

He predicted a range of73.50 to 72.75 with downward

bias for next week.According to Rahul Gupta,

Head of Research-Currency atEmkay Global FinancialServices, the previous tradeweek, saw a minute recovery inthe dollar index, which draggedall Asian currencies along withthe rupee lower.

"There are a lot of corpo-rate dollar inflows due in com-ing sessions with Reliance sell-ing its stake," Gupta said.

"Thus, unless the USD-INR spot doesn't consistentlytrade above 73.75, the spot willremain sideways between 73-73.75."

New Delhi:The �90,000-croreliquidity package for discoms tohelp them pay their dues till themonth of March would soon beenhanced to Rs 1.2 lakh crorefactoring in these utilities' out-standing till June, said a seniorofficial. Finance MinisterNirmala Sitharaman in Mayannounced a �90,000 crore liq-uidity infusion into cash-strapped discoms for paymentof their dues till March 2020.Discoms have been facingdemand slump due to the lock-down to contain COVID-19.

Participating in a webinaron 'Innovation in RenewableEnergy' organised by PHDCCI,Power Secretary S N Sahaisaid the liquidity packagewould cover the outstandingdues of discoms for the monthsfrom April to June also and itwould be enhanced to Rs 1.2lakh crore.

While announcing thepackage, the government hadsaid, "At present discoms havea total outstanding of �94,000crore towards power generationfirms (gencos)." However, laterstates demanded that the pack-age be extended toinclude out-standing dues towards powergeneration and transmissionfirms for the month of Apriland May as well.

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Fair practices regulatorCompetition Commission

of India (CCI) has approved theacquisition of 20 per cent stakein Pharma Co by special pur-pose acquisition vehicle 'Curie'or (CA Clover Intermediate IIInvestments).

Accordingly, PiramalEnterprises will transfer theglobal pharmaceutical busi-ness to its wholly owned sub-sidiary -- Pharma Co. -- whose20 per cent stake (issued andpaid-up equity share capital)'Curie' will purchase.

"The proposed combina-tion relates to the transfer ofglobal pharmaceutical busi-ness (Transferred Business) byPiramal Enterprises Limited(PEL) to a wholly owned sub-sidiary of PEL, i.e. Pharma Co.,followed by, the acquisition of20 per cent of the issued andpaid-up equity share capital ofPharma Co. by Curie(Proposed Combination),"Ministry of Corporate Affairssaid in a statement.

'Curie' is a special purposeacquisition vehicle, owned andcontrolled by investment fundsadvised by the affiliates of theCarlyle Group Inc.

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Retail prices of tomato onSaturday skyrocketed to

�80-85 per kg in the nationalcapital due to tight supplyfrom growing areas, accordingto private traders.Tomato priceshave been firm since June andwere ruling in the range of �50-60 per kg depending on thevariety till last few weeks. Therates have suddenly shot up thisweek on reports of lower arrivalof the new crop from keygrowing states, traders said. OnSaturday, tomato was quoted at�80-85 per kg by vegetablehawkers and vendors in unor-ganised markets depending onthe quality and residentialcolonies. But the governmentdata showed the average retailprice of tomato at �60/kg inDelhi.

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Diesel price on Saturday fellbelow �73 a litre mark

while petrol saw a secondreduction in rates in sixmonths, according to state-owned fuel retailers.

While petrol price wascut by 13 paise per litre onSaturday, diesel rates droppedby 12 paise, price notificationof state-owned fuel retailerssaid.

Petrol price in the nation-al capital fell to �81.86 a litrefrom �81.99 per litre. This isthe second reduction in rates inthree days.

Petrol price was for thefirst time cut in six months onSeptember 10 when rates werereduced by 9 paise a litre.

Diesel price fell to � 72.93per litre in the national capitalfrom �73.05.

Diesel rates had seen their

first reduction since mid-March on September 3. Sincethen, rates have fallen by 63paise.

The September 3 was thefirst reduction in diesel pricesince mid-March when IndianOil Corp (IOC), BharatPetroleum Corp Ltd (BPCL)and Hindustan PetroleumCorp Ltd (HPCL) froze ratesfor 82 days to adjust a recordhike in excise duty on auto fuelsagainst falling benchmark cost.

Diesel rates had gone upby �12.55 a litre between June7, when oil firms resumedrevising prices in line withcost, and July 25.

Diesel price has remainedunchanged in the country sinceJuly 25, except in Delhi wherea reduction in VAT lowered therate by �8.38 per litre. Petrolprice went up by � 9.17 per litrebetween June 7 and June29before hitting a pause.

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India's fuel demand is show-ing signs of stress with a

sharp fall in August, the biggestmonthly decline since Aprilwhen the Covid-related lock-down brought economic activ-ity to a standstill.

Coronavirus surge contin-ues in the country and at locallevels lockdowns continueaffecting a real pick up in eco-nomic activity.

The sales of petroleumproducts (refined productssuch as petrol, diesel, ATF etc)have registered a 16 per centdecline to 14.39 million tonnesin August this year as com-pared to the same month lastyear.

The fall is also over previ-ous month of July at 7.5 percent, data from the PetroleumPlanning and Analysis Cell

(PPAC) of the Ministry ofPetroleum and Natural Gasshowed. This is the sharpest fallin demand since April.

What is worrisome is thesale of diesel has also fallen inAugust. Diesel is considered abarometer of economic activ-ity in the country and accountsfor about 40 per cent of over-all sales of petroleum products.

Diesel consumption, fellby about 12 per cent to 4.85million tonnes in August from5.51 million tonnes in July.

The decline has also beenwitnessed in the case of petrolwhich fell by 7.4 per cent froma year earlier to 2.38 milliontonnes. However, petrol saleshave risen 5.3 per cent from2.26 million tonnes in July, asthe Unlock phase and contin-ued restrictions on publictransport have pushed up useof personal vehicles.

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Amazon sold several itemsincluding essentials such as

toilet paper and hand sanitis-er at inflated rate during theCovid-19 pandemic, said areport by US-based consumerrights group Public Citizen.

Amazon set prices of prod-ucts during the pandemic tolevels that would be consideredviolations of price gouginglaws in many states of thecountry, showed the findings ofthe report released this week.

Numerous examples ofprice increases were found onessential products sold direct-ly by Amazon, it added.

While the e-commercegiant publicly blamed so-calledthird-party sellers for priceincreases, it continued to allowthem to increase their prices,the research showed.

"Amazon claimed that it

took several steps to curb pricegouging," said the report.

"But we have uncovered apattern of significant priceincreases on essential productssold directly by Amazon, aswell as price gouging by third-party sellers," it added.

This report details 15essential products that havebeen sold by Amazon duringthat Covid-19 pandemic withmarkups over the recent priceon Amazon.com or othernational retailers ranging from76 per cent to more than 1,000per cent.

It also details 10 productssold on Amazon by third-party sellers during the sameperiod with markups rangingfrom 225 per cent to 941 percent.

It showed that prices ofmany items increased manifoldbetween May and August.

Responding to the report,

Amazon said that its servicehas "no place for price goug-ing," The Verge reported onFriday.

"Our systems are designedto offers customers the bestavailable online price and if wesee an error, we work quicklyto fix it," a spokesperson of thecompany was quoted as say-ing.

The e-commerce giant'sleadership had earlier alsomade clear that they do not tol-erate price gouging and thatthey will stop third-party sell-ers from taking advantage ofthe pandemic.

"However, it is clear thatnot only are third-party sellersengaged in price gouging, butAmazon itself is selling essen-tial products at significant priceincreases, and in many cases ata much higher price than othernational retailers," the report byPublic Citizen concluded.

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New Delhi: RK Singh, Hon’bleMinister of State (IndependentCharge) for Power, New andRenewable Energy andMinister of State for SkillDevelopment andEntrepreneurship, Governmentof India, today inaugurated ahost of community focusedfacilities developed by NTPC inBihar in the vicinity of NTPCBarh (1320 MW), NabinagarPower Generation CompanyPvt. Ltd. (NPGCL), Nabinagar(660 MW) and Kanti BijleeUtpadan Nigam Limited(KBUNL), Kanti (610 MW).

While inaugurating thefacilities from Patna, Shri R. K.Singh, Hon’ble Minister said“In the past 3-4 years, thePower Ministry has invested Rs11,000 Crore worth of initia-tives for electrification in Bihar,which includes substations,transmission and rural electri-fication projects that we seetoday. NTPC has given gooddividends for every investmentmade in terms of nation build-ing. In the past 5 years, cost ofcoal and railway freightincreased by 40%, but due toefficiency displayed by NTPC,they were able to limit powerprice hike by only 12%.”

Hon’ble Minister R. KSingh further added, “The

organisation has given Rs 257.5Crore, the highest amongstPower PSUs to PM CARESfund. It has given over Rs 12Crore to AIIMS, Patna. NTPCis diversifying its portfolio intoother ways of generating powerand we have a vision to trans-form it into a true multina-tional company. NTPC wasalso given the responsibility forelectrification for the ruralareas in Odisha, which theycompleted well before thedeadline.”

The construction of thesefacilities and infrastructureinaugurated today will makethe life convenient for thelocals, improve access and helpsave travel time.The inaugura-tion ceremony was graced byShri Sushil Kumar Singh,Hon’ble MP-Aurangabad, ShriGyanendra Kumar Singh,Hon’ble MLA-Barh, Shri AshokKumar Choudhary, Hon’bleMLA-Kanti, Shri VirendraKumar Singh, Hon’ble MLA-Nabinagar along with ShriGurdeep Singh, CMD, NTPC,senior officials of Ministry ofPower, NTPC andAdministration of Bihar.

Speaking on the occasion,Shri Sushil Kumar SinghHon’ble MP, Aurangabad said“I would like to extend my grat-itude to NTPC for its CSR andpower generation efforts.

New Delhi: Lt. Governor –Delhi, i Anil Baijal inaugurat-ed Integrated Command &Control Centre of NDMCSmart City through video con-ferencing in the presence ofMember of Parliament –Meenakashi Lekhi and NDMCChairperson – Dharmendra.He also inaugurated SheraMaidan Sports Complex atMandir Marg, New Delhi.

After inaugurating theIntegrated Command andControl Centre of NDMC, ShriBaijal said that it is a smartpackage of technologies toimprove the monitoring andtracking of citizen servicesdelivery in new digital era con-tinued.

He suggested that themaintenance of this high tech-nological asset must be ensuredby the civic body for properperformance in the interest ofcitizens.

Baijal suggested to theNDMC Chairperson to callthe head of other civic bod-ies and agencies of Delhilike MCDs or others to getthe idea for implementing itin the other parts of Delhi.

He was also impressed bythe high standard facilities atShera Maidan Sports Complex,Mandir Marg, New Delhi andsaid that it is not only animportant facility for the fitnessof any citizen but also useful tomake high quality sportsper-sons.

Congratulating the NDMCfor operationalization ofIntegrated Command andControl Centre at PalikaKendra, Smt.Meenakashi Lekhiexpressed that it is a uniquestep in the capital city of thenation for making it a SmartCity as per dream of ourHon’ble Prime Minister.

She said that this smartstep is now becoming a tool forconstant monitoring and track-ing of citizen services deliveryin a smart manner.

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Just when we thought that India is get-ting a respite from the Coronavirusand the Capital is on its path to recov-ery, the second wave of the virus is

about to grip the nation. So much so thatthe country started to recording not lessthan 80,000 cases per day and went on toovertake Brazil to become the secondworst-hit country by the virus.

Having said that, what seems like a sil-ver lining in the clouds is the recovery ratewhich has soared to 77.77 per cent.

Dr Ajay Kaul, Chairman & HOD —CTVS, BLK Super Speciality Hospital, tellsyou that with over a billion population, lackof hygiene and overcrowding there is agood chance of having a second wave ofCOVID-19 and that India is prepared tohandle that.

“This pandemic has prepared us verywell for the second wave or any other out-break of a major pandemic in future. Therise of technologies like telemedicine andteleconsultation, proved to be beneficialduring this time because it has minimisedthe doctor-patient contact. This technol-ogy has been there for years, but was notbeing used frequently. Also the use of 3D-printing to make various equipments likeventilator, mask, PPE kits and other dis-posable items at a very short notice andcustom made according to the needs of themedical staff, has equipped us to lead thefight. Not only this, but with the help ofvarious apps which can be installed onmobile phones, we were able to trace theinfected people. An example of a countrythat made the best use of technology forcurb the disease is China,” Kaul says.

He adds that in order to slow down thefalling economy many shops, metros andshopping malls are opened up and a lot ofpeople are already flocking to these places.

This along with the lack of discipline andpreventive measures is definitely going tobring a second wave of COVID-19. But,fortunately this time we are better preparedto handle the problem. In hospitals too, weare well prepared to segregate the patientright from the emergency unit to the ward,the whole hospital is geared up to managean infective patient without contaminat-ing the other routine patients.

We should learn from the countrieswhich has reduced the infection rate andare back going to normal, he says. “Thecountries like Germany, Italy, Spain, UK,France and other European countrieswhere despite of an early rise in the num-ber of cases, implementing strict measuresare able to reduce the number of infectedpatients. This is an example that it is notto impossible to curb or at least slow downthe spread of the virus,” he tells you.

There are reports that claim that win-ters can prove to be worse in terms of thevirus spread. However, Kaul says it can bethe other way round. “Since, very little isknown about this virus, we still don’t knowwhat is the effect of weather and climateon this virus. Normally, viruses multiplyrapidly in cold atmosphere and a declineis seen in summers, but this was not trueabout coronavirus where even during thepeak summer months in India the viruscontinue to spread very fast and in factduring the months of June and July it wasa peak time. So contrary to the normalbelief that in winters there may be anincrease in the number of patients, it maybe the other way around. But, we should-n’t forget that in the months of October andNovember there is a sharp increase in thenumber of patients with other viral illness.So, we have to be very careful and shouldperform hand hygiene frequently. Social

distancing and face masks are the pre-liminary shields in fighting the virus,”he says.

He adds that the number of casesmay see a decline from Octoberonwards, when the case load rate gets less-er than the recovery rate, there afterCOVID-19 patients would start to see adecline.

Dr Shiba Kalyan Biswal, Consultant,Pulmonary and Sleep Medicine, NarayanaHospital, Gurugram, says that one can’tspeculate about whether the country willsee a second wave or not.

“While witnessing an alarming rise inthe number of infected cases it is under-stood to be sceptical about the situation.Considering population, congestion, infra-structure and lack of proper use of maskand social distancing norms in a sectionof society in the country are adding to theproblem of rising cases, but it cannot beconsidered as a second wave, and it can-not be speculated whether our country willsee one or not,” he tells you.

The reason behind the increasednumber of cases, he says, is lockdownbeing lifted with guidelines and restrict-ed movement is almost free. “People arenow coming out of their confined placesfor economic reasons. And once you stepout of your house risk is there. Lesser edu-cation, poor awareness and lesser under-standing about the precautions related toCOVID infection are adding to the prob-lem. The situation is such that it is hardto identify whether the person standingnext to you is infected or not, because thereare asymptomatic cases as well. Hence, theperson may be feeling totally fine, but stillcan be the carrier of the virus. To curb this,the crowd in public places needs to bemanaged,” Biswal says.

Our healthcare workers, doctors andfrontline warriors are fighting this battleday in and out. Hence, we are more pre-pared to fight the virus, he says. “A num-ber of steps have been taken by the Centraland State Governments. We have privateand Government COVID care centers.Every required step is being taken as perthe need. Now that we all are aware aboutthe infrastructure and lack of availabilityof proper medication in certain areas ofthe country, we need to work on that aswell. As far as the treatment is concerned,even developed countries are workinghard to prepare a vaccine and medical tri-als are being done. This virus and its muta-tion is making the situation more com-plicated,” Biswal says.

As for the cases of reinfection thatIndia has seen in the past few days, Biswalsays that it can prove to be a setback.

“Without any doubt it may prove tobe a setback because this means a COVID-19 survivor is equally at the risk of gettinginfected again. Developing antibodiesmay help to fight the infection but it is nota guarantee that one cannot be infectedagain. Back in time we had witnessed thesame with dengue. In some areas, peoplewere repeatedly getting infected with thesame disease again. Hence, precaution isthe key for everybody. Follow a healthylifestyle, work on your overall wellbeing

and consult a doctor if needed,” heasserts.

Dr Shuchin Bajaj, Founder-Director, Ujala Cygnus Healthcare

Services tells you that the high number ofcases that are recorded every day can bea result of the second wave. “It looks likethe second wave of COVID-19 has alreadystarted. And with more States opening upfor business purposes, we can say that thiswave will be severe and more wide-spread. Because usually the second waveof any disease is more severe with high-er fatality rates. Take for example theSpanish flu, the second wave of which wasstarted in winter season was deadly. ForCOVID-19, it may not be be deadlybecause we have better healthcare infra-structure and facilities and certainly havemore knowledge about this virus. But hav-ing said that, the number of cases areexpected to rise in the second wave forsure,” Bajaj explains.

To protect ourselves in the secondwave, he says, people need to be more vig-ilant than ever. “Proper sanitisation ismust. Follow the rule of SMS —Sanitisation, Mask and Social Distancing.As the virus is relatively new, we don’tknow the post infection complications.Hence, it is all the more important to fol-low proper hygiene practices. We haveseen some young patients who got curedbut months later they came back to us withbreathing problems. The only solution isto take as much precautions as possible,”he says.

He adds that with winter approachingwe have to be more careful. “The Spanishflu’s second wave was seen in the wintermonths. The viruses are known to thrivein cold conditions and the infection rateis high in cold weather,” Bajaj says.

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Australian pacer JoshHazlewood insisted it was a

case of “onwards and upwards”after he starred in a 19-run winover world champions Englandin the first ODI at Old Traffordon Friday.

Hazlewood took a miserly3-26 from his maximum 10overs that stifled England’s pur-suit of a target of 295 from theoutset, removingopener Jason Royand Test skipperJoe Root for sin-gle figure scoresas the hosts limped to 22-2 offthe first 10 overs.

This was Australia’s first50-over match against Englandsince a crushing eight-wicketdefeat by their arch-rivals in thesemi-finals of last year’s WorldCup at Edgbaston.

Hazlewood, however, didn’tplay in that match after beingcontroversially omitted fromthe World Cup squad, with theselectors instead wanting him toregain full fitness following aback injury for the subsequentAshes in England.

Asked if the way he bowledon Friday made his World Cupabsence all the more painful,Hazlewood replied: “Nah it’sonwards and upwards. That’s along time ago now, so alwayslooking forward.”

The 29-year-old was close tounplayable during a stunningopening spell of two wickets forfive runs in six overs.

“England’s top order is prob-ably the form top order in the

world in the last three or fouryears, so I guess going againstthem is a good measure ofwhere you’re at,” Hazlewoodsaid after what was justAustralia’s third win in 14 ODIsagainst their oldest foe. “Tokeep them down to 20-odd fortwo in the first 10 was great.”

Meanwhile England cap-tain Eoin Morgan saidHazlewood had enjoyed a “dayout” after his side went 1-0 downin a three-match series thatcontinues on Sunday.

“They (Australia) were out-

standing, incredibly accurateand they got the ball moving,” hesaid. “It’s not often it happens tous.”

‘KEEPING STOKESY’S CHAIR WARM’Sam Billings kept England

in the game with 118, his maid-en ODI hundred, after sharinga century partnership withJonny Bairstow (84) followingthe hosts’ collapse to 57-4.

Billings was the only mem-ber of England’s XI on Friday notinvolved in the World Cupsquad, with his inclusion owing

much to star all-rounder BenStokes still being on compas-sionate leave with his ill father.

Billings, reflecting on his“mixed feelings” at making ahundred in a losing cause, toldSky Sports he was keen to “keepputting scores on the board”after what was just his 19th ODIappearance in a five-yearEngland career.

The 29-year-old Kent bats-man added, however: “I don’tthink it matters how many runsI get, I know I’m only keepingStokesy’s chair warm for him.”

Morgan, however, insistedBillings had batted brilliantly onthe back of “sporadic” chancescaused by the fact he, as well asJos Buttler and Stokes, had oftenbeen at No 6 instead.

“But today he (Billings)really stood out in a spot that isreally difficult to bat, whereyou can be thrown in at all dif-ferent circumstances,” saidMorgan.

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For two full sets, Alexander Zverevwas confused and listless, his bodylanguage as poor as his winner-to-

error ratio against Pablo Carreño Bustain the US Open semifinals on Friday.

Zverev double-faulted and smackedhis left high. He put a backhand into thenet to cede the opening set and covered

his face with both hands. He netted aforehand early in the next set, thenturned a forlorn face toward his guest boxand put his palms up. When he pusheda backhand long after 1 hour, 25 minutesof play and shook his head, Zverev trailedby two sets, a deficit the 23-year-oldGerman never had overcome. Never hadbeen to a Grand Slam final, either.Done and done. Zverev constructed

quite a comeback, getting his game ingear to beat a fading Carreño Busta 3-6,2-6, 6-3, 6-4, 6-3 and reach the title matchat Flushing Meadows.

Zverev, the No 5 seed, will play No2 seed Dominic Thiem on Sunday, andone will walk away with his first GrandSlam trophy in a mostly empty ArthurAshe Stadium; spectators were barredbecause of the coronavirus pandemic .

“Mentally, I stayed in it. ... A lot ofplayers would have gone away,” Zverevsaid. "There’s no easy matches anymore.Sometimes you have to dig deep. TodayI dug deep, dug very deep.”

Thiem, a 27-year-old from Austria,won a far more entertaining match onFriday night, holding off 2019 US Openrunner-up Daniil Medvedev 6-2, 7-6 (7),7-6 (5). Medvedev held a set point in boththe second and third, but Thiem hung inthere both times and now will try toimprove his 0-3 record in Grand Slam

finals. He has lost to Rafael Nadal at theFrench Open the past two years and toNovak Djokovic at the Australian Openthis February.

“I love these big matches — evenmore when there’s a full stadium, but it’salso great in front of many, many TVspectators,” Thiem said. “To face the bestguys in the world, that’s what I do thehard work for all the time at home andin the offseason.”

The No 3-seeded Medvedevhadn’t dropped a set all tourna-ment until facing Thiem. He’dbeen broken just three times, atotal Thiem matched by Friday’ssecond set.

After conceding first set,Medvedev went up an earlybreak in the second and was two pointsfrom taking it while ahead 5-3 and Thiemserving at love-30, but couldn’t camethrough. Medvedev held a set point at 6-5 in the tiebreaker and falteredagain, even though Thiem feltsomething in his right heelwhile chasing a drop shot.

Thiem began limpingand wincing and was workedon by a trainer before thethird set. His team also sent himsome fresh shoes, but after heslipped behind the baselineon one point, Thiemshouted in German,clearly miffed. Afterthe match, Thiemsaid he was pain-free.

Medvedevwas a pointaway from takingthe third set at5-3, 40-30, butframed a fore-hand.

“I lost themost impor-tant points,”Medvedevlamented,“and that’show hegot thewin.”

Zverev is the firstman to win a US Open

semifinal after a 2-0 set deficit sinceDjokovic did it against Roger Federer in2011 — and, keeping good company, he’salso the youngest male finalist at anymajor tournament since Djokovic was 23in New York in 2010.

Zverev’s first trip to amajor semifinal came inJanuary at the AustralianOpen, where he was eliminat-ed by Thiem, who leads theirhead-to-head series 7-2.

“A great friendship, a greatrivalry,” Thiem said.

A day after a pair of well-played andcompetitive women’s semifinals — wonby Naomi Osaka and Victoria Azarenka,who face each other Saturday night forthe championship — Carreño Busta vs

Zverev offered little in the way of thosecharacteristics for two sets.

“A big opportunity,” the 20th-seed-ed Carreño Busta called it.

Zverev simply kept missing themark, even on neutral balls.

Yet after totaling 25 winners and 36unforced errors over the first two

sets, Zverev had 46 winnersand just 21 unforced errorsover the last three.

“I started taking theball much earlier. I start-ed taking the ball moreon the rise. I started giv-ing myself the chanceto be the one that is

aggressive,” Zverevexplained. “I think inthe first few sets, Pablowas the one dictatingmuch more than I did.This is how the matchslowly turned around.”

Undeterred whenCarreño Busta twice hit

balls right athim duringpoints in the

fourth set, Zverevcould throw his head backand allow himself a widesmile at the end.

New York: Vera Zvonareva and LauraSiegemund stood awkwardly facing eachother, rackets and arms in the air in confu-sion.

Finally, Siegemund turned to the chairumpire for a ruling.

“Are we allowed to give a hug?” she asked.The rules of tennis during the coronavirus

pandemic were the only thing Zvonareva andSiegemund couldn’t figure out in their firsttournament together.

The duo won the US Open women’s dou-bles title on Friday, beating the third-seededteam of Xu Yifan and Nicole Melichar 6-4, 6-4.

Zvonareva and Siegemund collected$400,000 — and also their hug — by racingto quick leads in both sets and holding onwhen their opponents began to play better.

Unseeded after deciding to play togeth-er shortly before the tournament, Zvonarevaand Siegemund found their games workedtogether and plan to partner again at theupcoming French Open.

“I felt like the third match we really start-ed communicating well, we really started tounderstand each other,” Zvonareva said.“Yeah, it just got better and better from thereon.”

Zvonareva, a Russian who turned 36 thisweek, added this title to the 2006 US Opentrophy she won with Nathalie Dechy. She alsowas the runner-up in singles at FlushingMeadows in 2010, falling to Kim Clijsters, androse to a career-high singles ranking of No 2the following month.

She also won the 2012 Australian Opendoubles title but later battled injuries andbegan playing less, especially after giving birthto daughter Evelina in 2016.

As for Xu and Melichar, they finished sec-ond for the second straight tournament inNew York. The pair was runners-up at theWestern & Southern Open that’s usuallyplayed in Ohio. AP

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After leading the TrinbagoKnight Riders to victory in

the Carribean Premier League,star West Indian all-rounderKieron Pollard has joined theMumbai Indians camp in AbuDhabi on Saturday.

Not only Pollard, all theother players Caribbean and a fewfrom other countries have alsotouched base with their teamsafter completing CaribbeanPremier League engagements.

“From the Caribbean Isles toAbu Dhabi The Pollard familyand Rutherford have arrivedOneFamily MumbaiIndians MIDream11IPL @KieronPollard55,”Pollard’s team Mumbai Indianssaid in a tweet.

Along with Pollard, WestIndian Sherfane Rutherford, hasalso joined the squad.

Kolkata Knight Riders tweet-ed that star all-rounder AndreRussell was on his way to theUAE.

Mumbai Indians, will take onChennai Super Kings, in thelung opener of the cash rich T20league on September 19.

�� ��I�8�+�����������������%��� �+���� � �������������� ������ �� �����7������H ��� ���<�$��������> ���-�� �

Melbourne: The AdelaideOval’s onsite hotel is set to serveas biosecure bubble for theAustralian men’s squad ahead ofthe high-profile Test seriesagainst India later this year.

Cricket Australia onSaturday announced that itsnational squad would returnform the current tour of the UKto Adelaide for its mandatoryquarantine period and prepara-tion for the upcoming home sea-son, a report in cricket.Com.Ausaid.

Those players not involvedin the Indian Premier League, aswell as coaching and supportstaff, will make the AdelaideOval their home once the white-ball tour of England concludesfollowing Wednesday’s third

ODI in Manchester.They can train throughout

their quarantine period at thenew Oval Hotel based atAdelaide Oval.

For Australia players likeNathan Lyon, Mitchell Starc,Marnus Labuschagne andMatthew Wade, the quarantineperiod at Adelaide Oval biose-cure bubble will mark the startof preparation for a Test summeragainst heavyweights India andpotentially Afghanistan.

According to the report,CA also “remains in productiveconversations with stateGovernments regarding arrivaland quarantine arrangementsfor the Indian team, as well asAustralian players returningfrom the IPL in the UAE”. PTI

����� 78�7 �

The Indian Premier League(IPL) is the right kind of

tournament that allows play-ers to get into the groovenicely, an absolute must beforethey hit the Australian shoresfor two and half months, feelsIndian team’s premier speed-ster Mohammed Shami.

The Australia-boundIndia players will fly directlyafter the IPL concludes onNovember 10 for the much-anticipated tour which is like-ly to begin with a T20 seriesfollowed by four Tests andODIs.

“It would be great that theAustralia-bound players areplaying IPL. It will set thebody and momentum per-fectly by then,” the KingsXI pace spearhead said.

India under ViratKohli achieved the his-toric feat of win-ning in Australiafor the firstt ime in2 0 1 8 - 1 9but thehosts didnot haveSteve Smithand DavidWarner backthen becauseof their involve-ment in the ball

tampering scandal.The duo’s presence would

make the series even moreexciting and Shami said every-one is focused on the tour aswell.

“I feel it’s better that we areplaying IPL before a big series.Apart from IPL, everyone isalso focused on that tour(Down Under). There is a lotof talk about that series. Wewill have a good contest.”

With the IPL shifted to theUAE, the tournament will beheld across three venues ofAbu Dhabi, Dubai andSharjah, comprising 60matches spread over 53 days.

Shami feels unlike in Indiawhere they have to fly all overthe country for away match-

es, the IPL in UAE wouldbe less hectic this time.

“Yes, there’re back toback matches, training,

travelling that’s a bit ofheadache. But it’s ashort format, shortmatches, physicallythere should not beany workloadissue. This time,there won’t bemuch travelling.You will have totravel just abouttwo hours by bus

(when there is amatch in AbuDhabi).”

����� ����� ��

Kolkata Knight Riders speed-ster Lockie Ferguson is rel-

ishing the prospect of bowlingalongside one of the world’s bestpacers, Pat Cummins, in theupcoming IPL.

Two-time winners KKRcomprise a heavy pace artillerythis time. Most of the bowlerscan clock 140-150kph consis-tently, with the star Australianrecruit leading the attack.

“We are always nice to theguy who can bowl at 150kmph.Yeah, pace-offs we are surelygoing to have with each other,”the New Zealander told kkr.in.

“I don’t know if you areaware of this fast bowling club.Look, Pat is an exceptionalbowler, there is no secret aboutthat. He is the bowler of the year

internationally almost everyyear. “He seems to be gettingbetter and better and he is stillso young. He is a lovely guy andI am thoroughly looking for-

ward to rubbing shoulders withhim,” the 29-year-old said of theNo 1 speedster in Test cricket.

Back for his second season,Ferguson was training with thesquad on Friday after serving themandatory quarantine.

Ferguson said he’s workingon some variations but his pri-ority is to get back to the grindand bowling again.

“Certainly, in my arsenal, Ipack my yorkers and slowerballs. But I am also working onsome other variations. It was anice little break (during thelockdown) but yeah, my bodyneeds to adjust now from nobowling to lots of training.”

With New Zealand greatBrendon McCullum back atKKR as the head coach,Ferguson said he’s super excited

“Brendon (McCullum) was

definitely one of our heroeswhile growing up. After watch-ing him do so well in the firstmatch for KKR, it was hard notto be a Kolkata fan.

“The team we have (for this

season) is looking super strong.Last year, we ended up sort ofmid-table, so hopefully, thisyear we will get a chance toimprove on that performance,”he said.

Dhaka: Bangladesh is set to goahead with its scheduled three-match Test tour of Sri Lanka asper schedule provided the hostsstick to the seven-day manda-tory quarantine regulations forthe visiting team, the country’scricket board (BCB) said onSaturday.

The Bangladesh CricketBoard (BCB) on Saturday stat-ed that Sri Lanka Cricket (SLC)has informed them that the vis-itors will have to spend a weekin quarantine instead of the ear-lier mandated 14-day periodahead of their upcoming series.

Bangladesh has startedtheir preparation and the play-ers might have a week-long res-idential camp ahead of thetour beginning on September21. PTI

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-�D�����"���������1D���,������"����%�Manchester: Star Australiabatsman Steve Smith has beencleared to take part in the sec-ond ODI against Englandafter passing a second concus-sion test on Saturday.

The 31-year-old waswithdrawn from the playingXI of the first ODI “as a pre-cautionary measure” after sus-taining a blow on the head inthe nets from a throw-downby a coaching staff memberon the eve of the match.

However, Smith haspassed the two concussiontests, one on Friday and theother on Saturday, accordingto cricket.Com.Au.

Left-arm seamer MitchellStarc experienced some groinpain on Friday. He managedto complete his 10 overs afterslipping on the field but isalso expected to play onSunday. PTI

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!����!�������������&��� @"� �� ���������������&�.�����H�������� ���������� �3�@)@

;��� ������0������+���������%� ������ �+���������� ���7�������������9����77:Abu Dhabi: The IPL is set to seeparticipation of a player fromthe USA for the first time withKolkata Knight Riders roping infast bowler Ali Khan for theupcoming 13th edition of theleague.

The two-time winners willpick the 29-year-old fast bowler— pending IPL approval — asa replacement for the Englishseamer Harry Gurney, accord-ing to an ESPNcricinfo.comreport. Khan’s signing will make

him the first USA player to fea-ture in the IPL.

He was part of the TrinbagoKnight Riders’ squad whichremained unbeaten on the wayto their CPL title win. Hepicked up eight wickets with aneconomy rate of 7.43.

Bravo, in one of hisInstagram stories, posted avideo with Khan, BrendonMcCullum and a few moreinside a plane with the caption‘Next stop Dubai’. PTI

Page 11: ?RUUR ?ZeZdY UZdTfdd dVRe dYRcZ_X =;A - Daily Pioneer

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Neymar is back in the ParisSaint-Germain squad for

Sunday’s home game againstbitter rival Marseille afterrecovering from the coron-avirus.

However, PSG coachThomas Tuchel is not surewhether Neymar, winger AngelDi Maria, goalkeeper KeylorNavas or midfielder LeandroParedes will start the game atParc des Princes.

They recovered after beingamong six PSG players whotested positive for Covid-19 fol-lowing a club-approved trip toIbiza soon after the 1-0 loss toBayern Munich in theChampions League final on

Aug 23.“If I asked them, their

answer would be clear. Theywant to play, that’s obvious,”Tuchel said at a pre-game newsconference on Saturday.

“I will decide tomorrow. It’sa question of whether they startor they finish the match for us.We don’t need to wait toolong. If there’s no risk, we’ll try.”

Captain Marquinhos andstriker Mauro Icardi also test-ed positive following that tripto Spain and are not in the

squad.Neither is star striker

Kylian Mbappé, whose posi-tive virus test happened oninternational duty withFrance last week.

LYON HELD AT BORDEAUXChampions League semifi-

nalist Lyon was held atBordeaux to 0-0 in a tepidFrench Ligue 1 encounter onFriday.

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Lewis Hamilton claimed arecord-increasing 95th pole

position on Saturday when heoutpaced Mercedes team-mateValtteri Bottas to seize the primegrid position in qualifying forSunday’s inaugural TuscanGrand Prix.

It was the series leader andsix-time champion’s seventhpole in eight races this year asMercedes continued their dom-inant run to nine poles out ofnine this season with an eighthconsecutive front row lockout.

Bottas had been fastest inall three practice sessions, but hewas unable to maintain hissuperiority over the Briton inthe decisive hour albeit that hissecond run was affected by yel-low flags after Esteban Oconspun in his Renault.

Red Bull’s Max Verstappenwas third ahead of his team-mate Alex Albon with CharlesLeclerc claiming fifth for Ferrari,as they celebrate their 1000thGrand Prix at their own circuit.

Sergio Perez, who faces aone-place grid penalty for hisbrush with Kimi Raikkonenon Friday, qualified sixth aheadof his Racing Point team-mateLance Stroll, Daniel Ricciardo ofRenault, Carlos Sainz ofMcLaren and Ocon.

“It’s been a very toughweekend,” said Hamilton. “AndI’m very grateful to my teambecause it has been so close withValtteri and Max, but what a cir-cuit this is!”

‘A WORK IN PROGRESS’Mercedes hope to com-

plete their contract talks andagree a new deal with LewisHamilton during the upcomingmini-breaks in the congestedFormula One calendar, teamchief Toto Wolff has revealed.

But, he told a news confer-

ence at Mugello, he does nothave a date in mind when hehopes to announce a happyconclusion and confirmationthat the six-time world cham-pion has a new deal with theteam.

The series leader said inJuly that he expected it to be arelatively straightforwardprocess and “not a big effort”and he had no desire to moveto another team.

Wolff supported this onFriday when he pointed out thatthe three ‘triple-headers’ thisseason — making for nineraces in 11 weeks since thecoronavirus-hit calendar began— had offered few opportuni-ties for talks.

“This is a work in progressand I wouldn’t want to committo a specific date,” said Wolff.

“We get on very well, butthen when it comes down to thedetail, you just need enoughtime to do that. With one raceafter the other, we don’t want tobe distracted by contract talks.In between, with the largergaps, like next week, we’re mov-ing towards a satisfactory out-come, but I don’t know when itwill be announced.”

�� � �'�����:

Manchester United manager OleGunnar Solskjaer will continue

with Harry Maguire as the team’s cap-tain for the new season, calling thedefender “an absolute top human being.”

Maguire was given a suspended 21-month sentence last month for assault-ing a police officer, swearing, resistingarrest and attempted bribery during anincident on the Greek island ofMykonos in the offseason.He has since filed anappeal against his con-viction and will get aretrial in a more seniorcourt on a date yet to beannounced.

“He’s handled it reallywell and, of course, I’ll behere to support him,”Solskjaer said of Maguire.

“He is going to be ourcaptain. We’ll just leaveHarry and his peopleand the process to run.”

“For me, he is atop, an absolute tophuman being andhas always been apositive guywith the rightvalues. So I real-ly hope we cansee Harry per-forming at hisbest.”

�!��� �?�:�88�

Liverpool began the defence ofthe league title with 4-3 winin a thrilling game at Anfield.

Mo Salah blasted the Reds intothe lead from the penalty spot butJack Harrison levelled things witha smart finish following a brilliantKalvin Phillips cross-field pass.

Virgil van Dijk rose highestunmarked from an AndyRobertson corner to headLiverpool back into the lead.

However, the Dutchman wasat fault for Leeds’ equaliser as hispoor clearance allowed PatrickBamford to slide the ball pastAlisson.

Leeds couldn’t hang on againand after failing to clear AndyRobertson’s free-kick properly,Salah powered a shot into the topcorner to restore Liverpool’s lead.

Helder Costa’s pinpoint passfound Mateusz Klich in the areawho brought the score level for athird time.

It looked as if Leeds had comeaway with a stunning opening-daypoint before Rodrigo’s foul onFabinho awarded the hosts theirsecond penalty of the game.

Salah made no mistake againto earn Liverpool the three points.

WILLIAN STARSEarlier in the first game of the

new season, Arsenal made a flyingstart as Gabriel Magalhaes grabbeda debut goal and Pierre-EmerickAubameyang scored a stunner in3-0 win at Fulham.

Arsenal’s free-flowing attackwas too incisive for promotedFulham and Alexandre Lacazettegave the visitors an early lead atCraven Cottage.

Brazilian defender Gabrielscored Arsenal’s second after thebreak in his first appearance sincehis close-season move from Lille.

Aubameyang added the finalflourish with a typically eye-catch-ing strike that emphasised whyArsenal are so desperate for theGabon forward to sign an exten-sion to the contract which expiresat the end of the season.

Arteta has said that fans con-cerned Aubameyang will leavecan “relax” because he is “very opti-mistic” his captain will agree a newdeal soon.

With former Chelsea wingerWillian providing a pair of assistson his debut, it was the ideal wayfor Arsenal to start a season thatappears full of promise after lastseason’s FA Cup triumph.

Although their eighth-placedfinish in the Premier Leagueranked as Arsenal’s lowest finalposition since 1995, Arteta had lit-tle to do with that after takingcharge in December following the

dismal reign of Unai Emery.The former Manchester City

assistant coach has been a much-needed breath of fresh air forArsenal and pushing for a place inthe top four should not be beyond

his revitalised team this term.While the continued absence

of fans due to the coronavirus andshorter than usual break has takena little anticipation away from thenew campaign, Arsenal were keen-er than most to get back in actionafter beating Chelsea in the FA Cupfinal.

The Gunners had underlinedtheir rapid improvement by defeat-ing Premier League championsLiverpool on penalties in theCommunity Shield lastmonth and Fulham wereno match for them.

CRUMBLING FULHAMThe only dark cloud

for Arteta was a pre-matchspat between DaniCeballos and Eddie Nketiah.

The pair had to be separatedby Arsenal team-mates afterNketiah reacted to an aggressivechallenge from Ceballos while agroup of players were exchangingpasses in the warm-up.

Arteta must have beenalarmed when Ainsley Maitland-Niles hit a weak back pass thatcaused confusion between Gabrieland recalled keeper Bernd Lenoearly on.

Aboubakar Kamara nippedin but Leno managed to save at hisfeet before the Fulham forwardcould get a shot away.

Arteta’s worries were easedwhen Lacazette netted in the ninthminute.

Granit Xkaha’s strike forced amiscued clearance from Tim Reamand Willian pounced with a close-range shot that Fulham keeperMarek Rodak could only push outto Lacazette, who slotted homefrom virtually on the goalline.

It made Lacazette the firstplayer to score the opening goal ofa Premier League campaign twiceafter the French striker also baggedthe opener in 2017-18.

Willian was denied a debutgoal when his low free-kick can-noned off the base of the post.

Gabriel was enjoying acomposed debut and the 22-year-old showed he can be agoal threat as well when hedoubled Arsenal's lead in the49th minute.

Willian swung over thecorner and Gabriel showed

his desire as he rose above MichaelHector for an attempted headerthat hit his shoulder as it flashedinto the net.

Fulham’s defence was crum-bling like the recently demolishedCraven Cottage stand andAubameyang finished them off inthe 57th minute with a carbon copyof his Community Shield goalagainst Liverpool.

Just as at Wembley, Willian’ssuperb cross-field pass picked outAubameyang and he was allowedto advance unchecked into the areabefore bending a fine finish into thefar corner.

����� F8� ������:�

The crisis in South Africancricket deepened with five

former employees of the sport’sgoverning body in the countryaccusing it of being “unfair andunlawful”.

They made the accusationsin a six-page letter to the SouthAfrican Sports Confederationand Olympic Committee (SAS-COC), which has asked CricketSouth Africa’s board to stepaside as it investigates “manyinstances of maladministrationand malpractice” in the organ-isation.

The five person in questionare former head of sales andmarketing Clive Eksteen, formerchief operating officer NasseiAppiah, ex-senior manager offinance Ziyanda Nkuta, for-mer manager for procurementLundi Maja and Appiah’s formerpersonal assistant, DaleneNolan.

“Our concern is that CricketSouth Africa has, through var-ious officials, misled and contin-ues to mislead Parliament, theMinister of Sports, Arts andCulture and the public,” theysaid in the letter, according towww.Iol.Co.Za.

“By so doing, Cricket SouthAfrica has created a narrative

that the organisation’s woes arethe results of irresponsible stake-holder and financial manage-ment for which we were sus-pended and in most cases dis-missed.”

While Appiah was the lastto be sacked, in August, Eksteen,too, was fired this year in Juneand the three others were shownthe door last December.

“The organisation seeks topaint a picture whereby itappears to have dealt with theproblem by our expulsion andto assure all interested partiesthat this was done in keepingwith good governance, naturaljustice and the law of the land.

“This cannot be furtherfrom the truth as Cricket SouthAfrica has been underhanded inits dealing with us by complete-ly abandoning any ethics thatdemand that a disciplinaryhearing is conducted in a man-ner that is lawful, procedurallyfair and in the best interest of theorganisation and the sport.”

The CSA has been left withno one to run the daily affairsafter SASCOC asked the boardto step aside.

CSA has been in the mid-dle of administrative chaos forlast two years and is currentlyalso facing allegations of corrup-tion and racial discrimination.

����� ��������

Senior Indian men’s team striker SVSunil on Saturday expressed that the

growth of the national teams, both menand women, over the past 10 years hasbeen tremendous as there is a lot moreprofessionalism and accountabilitynow. He drew comparison to when hebegan his journey in internationalhockey in 2007 at the Asia Cup.

“It was very different when Icame into the senior India team in2007. A lot has changed in terms ofhow the national team is managed nowin comparison to 10-12 years ago,”expressed Sunil who has been thecynosure of India’s forward line for overa decade.

“There is a lot more professional-ism and accountability. Hockey India

has ensured we have quality supportsystem which is on par or better thanother top nations and the planning ofevents and competition ensures wegain the right exposure before top tour-naments. This systematic approach hasdefinitely contributed to the team's

improvement over the years,” he added.The experienced forward empha-

sised that a two-way communicationsystem in coaching has helped the teamclimb up the ranks in world hockey.

“Earlier, we would do what thecoach would say without questioningor without reasoning. But this haschanged drastically over the yearsand there is a two-way communicationapproach where players are equallyinvolved in planning training ses-sions,” he said.

“Senior players are also consultedby Hockey India, to ensure we are onthe right track. I think these aspectshave not only made the players as wellas support staff more responsible andaccountable but it has also largelyhelped in India’s climb up the worldrank to No 4.”

The striker is confident bothHockey India and Sports Authority ofIndia (SAI) will ensure the best prepa-ration opportunities for the teams inthe lead up to the Olympic Games nextyear.

“While we are aware there may notbe any competition at all this year bar-ring select internal-matches, we areconfident good tours will be plannedearly next year that will give us the rightexposure before the Asian ChampionsTrophy and the FIH Hockey ProLeague.

“We will need a good build up tothe Olympic Games and we have beentold a proposal has already beenmade by Hockey India and the coach-ing staff to SAI for our tours and welook forward to doing our bit also.”Sunil said.

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��������)��3�7�=���Paris: German sportsweargiant Puma on Saturdayannounced that it has signed along-term partnership withBrazil and Paris St Germainstar Neymar.

The development comestwo weeks after the forward’snearly 15-year association withNike came to an end.

The 28-year-old put out amessage on his social mediahandles entitled “The King isBack”, in which spoke aboutthe impact that football greatssuch as Pele and DiegoMaradona have had on his life,and his decision to follow intheir footsteps by partneringwith Puma.

“I grew up watching videosof great football legends suchas Pele, (Johan) Cruyff, Eusebio

and Maradona,” he said.“These were the kings of

the pitch, the kings of my sport.I wish to bring back the lega-cy that those athletes createdon the pitch. They each playedin PUMA, and each of themcreated their magic in TheKING.” AP

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The Coronavirus outbreak hasindeed tested our values, princi-ples and humanity. And almost

everybody has stepped up to come for-ward and help those who are less for-tunate in whatever way they can. Meetone such real-life hero — NeelamTalwar, special flight’s cabin crew mem-ber of Vande Bharat Mission.

Talwar’s story is that of inspirationnot only has she been instrumental ingetting back thousands of Indianstranded abroad under theGovernment’s initiative Vande BharatMission (VBM) she has also pledged100 km for the Sunfeast India Run AsOne initiative in order to make a dif-ference in the lives of people from themarginalised society and those whohave lost their livelihood.

She tells you that the idea behindher pledge stems from the way theCOVID-19 has impacted not just theentire world but India as well due towhich many people have lost their jobs.“The initiative is a good move. The ideais to either run, jog, walk and later doyoga and exercise for half-a-hourwhich comes to 1 km of run. One cando all this and the proceeds from therun go to the people who have lost theirlivelihood,” Talwar explains.

Some of the people who would bebenefitting are micro-entrepreneurs,farmers, migrant workers, LGBTQIAcommunities, differently-abled, tribalcommunities, athletes, sportspersons,vulnerable women and women sup-ported families to name a few.

“These are testing time for the soci-ety and we are fighting a battle againsta virus that shall only proliferate in thefuture until a vaccine is invented, butwe can’t let this bring our lives to a com-plete standstill. We need to uniteagainst this and lend a helping hand topeople who need our support.Therefore, when I heard about this ini-tiative, I decided to pledge to run 100km and would urge others to come for-ward and pledge as many km as theycan,” the air hostess tells you who hasbeen working since 1993.

All one has to do is to register atwww.sunfeastIndiarunasone.procam.inand pledge whatever km one can run.It starts with a run at �99; then thereone for �499 and finally for �999.“Whatever one registers for, all thismoney goes towards the cause —GiveIndia, the NGO to whom themoney will go to who will then use themoney to build the livelihood of themarginalised. This is in collaborationwith Procam International withSunfeast as the title sponsor,” Talwarsays.

One can of course pledge as manymore km as one wants to but due to thenature of Talwar’s job, she was not sure

that she could run more. “Since thecause here is to raise the money, it is notthe distance one runs. However, just tomotivate people, if one pledges for �499,one gets a bib number and a medal. Ifone registers for �999, one gets a spe-cial number at the end of the event. Iwas however, not looking at the moneybut the distance I wanted to run,” Talwarsays. The reward also includes a spe-cially designed e-certificate of recog-nition, autographed by Tiger Shroff andmarathon legend Eliud Kipchoge.

There are over a dozen Bollywoodstars besides Tiger Shroff; Athiya Shetty,Milind Soman, Armaan Jain,TaraSutaria and Rahul Bose too have joinedthis movement. The other names asso-ciated with the movement are OlympicGold medalist Abhinav Bindra, PadmaShri gymnast Dipa Karmakar, Padma

Shri Vijay Amritraj, and Olympianmarathoner Nitendra Singh Rawat.Cricketers Amit Mishra, Shikha Pandeyand Paralympic swimming sensationNiranjan Mukundan too have joined in.The main goal of this movement is toshowcase the power of togethernesswhich will contribute to changing thelives that matter.

Interestingly, one doesn’t have to doany kind of physical activity to be partof this initiative. One can just registerfor whatever amount they want to. Thereason why Talwar chose to run isbecause she is a runner. The initiativethat kickstarted on August 15, 2020 andwas to end on September 13, 2020 hasnow been extended to September 30,2020. One can still register and pledge.

When Talwar had started off, shehad to complete her pledge run by

September 13, 2020 but has already run115 km and counting despite the hec-tic demands of her job. She tells you thatit is not all that tough “It is all in themind. I just needed a push to get outof the house. I had stopped running dueto COVID-19 situation. I had taken upindoor exercises and yoga. But when Iheard of this initiative, I took up thechance to run again. But when VBMstarted I started running every alter-native day,” Talwar says for whom run-ning is a lifestyle.

“I have always been a runner. I wasa national level athlete in school and col-lege. However, running took a backseatwhen I joined Air India back in 1993.The demands of the new job and trav-elling the world took over. But then in2009, I started off with lawn tennis andstarted hitting the gym as I wanted to

pursue long-distance running due tosome health issues. Once I got my sta-mina back, I started running again andsince then I have been a part of numer-ous marathonsand long-distance run-ning events. Unfortunately, due to myhectic flying schedule, I haven’t beenable to take part in as many competi-tions as I would wish to, but I try mybest to have an active running lifestyle”the mother of two tells you.

In order to complete her pledgewell before the deadline, Talwar gets outof the house at 4:30 am to run on NH-48. Of course, safety is an issue henceher husband is with her, in his car whileshe runs. Though her husband is nota runner, he loves to cycle and when hegoes riding, she does the tailing. Now,her younger son too has taken to run-ning and pledged 70 km to the move-ment.

Her advice to those who want totake up physical activity: “One doesn’thave to run only. There are other thingsthat can keep you going. Don’t copyothers, take up an exercise that oneenjoys. Eat health and start thinkingabout yourself,” Talwar says.

� What is your role in Flesh?I play ACP Radha Nautiyal. She

is a cop in the Mumbai Anti-traf-ficking unit. She is trying to trace agirl who has been kidnapped andthat is when she discovers a traffick-ing racket. The show is a much widerlook at the world of human traffick-

ing. And because it’s a series, the for-mat allows you to delve into details.� You haven’t played a cop before.

How challenging was it to getinto the skin of the char-

acter?Yes, it is the first

time I am playing acop and

also the first time I am doing action. Itwas exciting and of course challenging.The toughest part for me was that noone in my family or friends is a cop. So Ihad to start from the scratch. I met a lotof policemen and policewomen tounderstand what their lives are like. It isquite interesting because one of thecommon threads that I found in all ofthem was the sense of frustration thatthey have because of the fact that all thecriminals have a way to manipulate thesystem and get away. They work so hardto catch the criminals and yet the crimi-nals get away because of some personalconnections or bribes. I found this veryinteresting and used this frustration tomake that the motivating factor ofRadha's character. She is actually a copwho has a lot of frustration against the

system and that was a good way toframe the character. Then, I had to

train for the action. I have neverheld a gun in my hand in my life. Ihated it and it was the hardestthing. I knew I could never play areal-life cop because I hate gunsso much. And that was my leastfavourite part of the shoot. I alsohad to train for the running.When I ran for the first time, the

director told me that I run like agirl. I was like ‘umm yes’. Then he

told me that you are playing a copand you have to bring that in your body

language. Then I trained with an athleteand my running slowly improved dur-

ing the shoot.� Were there any apprehensionsbefore taking up the role?

I was terrified and I still can’tbelieve that I pulled this off. When peo-ple praise my work, I am like 'what, areyou sure' because I still can't believe it. I

was scared of this role. Having said that,the reason why I said yes to the role isbecause it was challenging and I wantedto do it. I was keen to do it and see howthis new thing will turn out for me. Andof course the script is good and thestory is compelling, so it was like anadd-on.� Is there a checklist that you followwhen you pick and choose your pro-jects?

There is no checklist. But the firstthing that I look out for is definitely thescript and the role. You can’t have agreat role in a bad script or story andyou can’t have a great story with a terri-ble role. Both things have to work forme. Also for me the intention of themaker is very important. I always feel ifthe intent is right, we can figure outeverything else. I am always careful thatas an actor whether I will get a chanceto perform in a good story. I also try tomake it possible that we can build theproject if the story is good. ForAnaarkali of Aarah, everyone asked mewhy I was doing it but I told them that Ihave faith in the story.� What is that one thing that makesyou uncomfortable while you are onthe sets?

I don’t like when people are not seri-ous about the work and if people are notappreciating someone’s work.Filmmaking is teamwork and the ideathat only one person makes a film oronly actors make a film is not true. So I

don’t like it when people act like onlytheir job is important in the film. I findthat problematic and I am very carefulabout that, that I don’t behave in such amanner.� What keeps you grounded?

The sense of the outside world. Ihave a good awareness of the fact thatBollywood is not the whole world. It isjust a small part of a huge world where alot of things are happening. Apart fromthis what keeps me grounded is my par-ents, friends and family who nevertreated me any differently, both beforeand after I entered the industry.� How does it feel like when you lookback at your journey? Are there anyregrets?

I feel proud and happy. My journeyhas been one where I have worked onmy terms and beliefs. I have nothing tobe ashamed of and I can stand on mybody of work and feel proud of it. Butyes when I look back at some projects Ido feel that I could have done better act-ing but apart from that I don't have anycomplaints at all.� Do you still have butterflies in yourstomach when you see yourself on the70 mm screen?

I feel nauseous and sick with anxietyon the day of the screening of the film. Iam a very nervous actor. On the firstday of shoot, I always feel that I haveforgotten how to act. When the film isabout to release, I just can’t sleep thenight before even today.

� What is Son of Abish Season 7 about?The first episode of the season is already out. It is fully done

all while being at home. We wanted to address the live audienceas it just adds to the flavour of the show. We got all the audienceonline with their mics and videos. We have had good conversa-tions.� How did the idea come up for the show?

The show started in 2013-14. I love being on stage be it host-ing, comedy or performing since I was in school and stumbled uponThe Tonight Show with Jay Leno. I thought it was an interestingformat without knowing what it entailed. There were two thingsthat caught my imagination — one doing what I do best and thereis a live audience. I just wished that there was some way that I couldboth. But I didn’t know what broadcasting was and other techni-cal aspects. When YouTube came, I started a show with comedy.Season 2 was a talk show and Season 7 I a mix of things — talk-ing to the audience, give my opinion and celebs who come in.� How did you get into standup comedy?

When I was in school my teacher told my parents that whileI had not done too well academically — in Math, but don’t worryhe will do well on stage. My parents said that they were aware ofit and hence didn’t pressurise me. That is when I doubled downand went into music, radio and host programmes. From there Igot into making people laugh.� What are the celebs this time round?

I am very proud of the guest list that I have this time. We haveRaftaar who comes in with Utkarsh Ambudkar, an Indian-Americanrapper, he is a Hollywood actor who was in Pitch Perfect. Then thereis Hari Kondabolu, one of the most popular Indian American stand-up comedians who came with Sumukhi Suresh. Then there is AsifAli with Kalki Koechlin. Then there is the Flying Beast Family —Ritu and Gaurav and in the middle their daughter came in andwaved, that was so cute.� How does it work, with you at home, celebs where they areand the audience — all at different locations?

Technically, we recorded everything. We had our technical andcreative team in place. The only concern was to figure out whetherthe audience will enjoy the experience since they are the ones whobought the tickets. I spend more time with them. Even the celebsmade sure that they entertained.� Was it tough to convince the celebs to be part of the show?

It is tough given the present situation. Whether it will be goodfor them or not. But luckily, I have done six seasons. This was easyto approach first-timers like Raftaar. If the celeb refused, I under-stood that there were constraints. If someone didn’t know, I waslike a salesperson.� What were the challenges — finances and technical?

Digital challenges could be met with by buying Google Drivespace. Everyone worked remotely and kept backup. I am not work-ing with writers, I am working with a group of producers who knowhow to edit, direct and produce. Everyone had one major projectand everyone helped each other.

� How has the journey been?I would say that this show has done

more to my career than my stand-up. Thisis good since this was the am. I havebecome a better performer and producer.

Because of this I have been able to buildanother show Journey of a Joke and two-three

other shows. I now understand the businessof things. Son Of Abish is my teacher.

� Can Indians take jokes on them-selves and be more tolerant?

We have always managed tojoke on ourselves. The only problemis that on social media, it is difficultto determine the age of the audi-ence. If you want to say something,

some may agree and others not.One has to be mature to take it.Take an example. On TV, thereare many programmes, but I

want to watch cartoons eventhough there is news. People have the rightto say what they want. Right now, this isnot happening but it will soon — whenpeople will listen to what the other has tosay.� What next?

I have started a company that is sin-gle-handedly producing Son Of Abish. Iwant to make other shows and work witha few friends. We want to build what wewant and what makes us happy.

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Bhasker, who has done films like Anaarkali ofAarah, Nil Battey Sannata and Veere Di

Wedding, speaks with Musba Hashmi abouther latest project Flesh on Eros Now,

challenges faced and the thing thatmakes her feel uncomfortable on

the sets even today

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� What is your role in Dangerous?I play a cop, Jags. But the role is

more of a detective, like SherlockHolmes than a cop. It’s an amazingrole. Bipasha and I are out on solv-ing a case.� What attracted you towards therole?

For any actor who is getting toplay such a role is like a dream. Thefilm is good and the way it has beenshot in London is brilliant. Also therole that I am playing, it’s not a usualcop. He doesn’t wear a uniform. Heis an extremely calm characterthroughout. It’s a beautiful role alto-gether. Also no one would like tomiss a chance to work with BipashaBasu.� Dangerous marks your OTTplatform debut. How was the expe-rience working on the platform?

The experience was amazing. It

was like the most beautiful 50 daysof my life. Natasha (Suri) and I hada wonderful time together and wefought a lot too. It was like revisit-ing my college days.� Your fondest memory from thesets.

Natasha and I were sharing a bigroom together on the sets. We usedto get ready there and I pulled herleg throughout. We became bestfriends during the course of time.Like, I said it was more of a collegetime for me. The way I playedpranks on her, it was fun.� Thrillers never go out of trend.What do you think makes them sopopular?

You are absolutely right, thrillerscan never get out of trend becausethey are very edgy. We all love tohave thrills in life but we usuallydon’t get to see these things hap-

pening in our lives. It goes withoutsaying that we are automaticallyattracted towards things that does-n’t happen in our life. It also createsexcitement in the audience whereinthey anticipate what happens next inthe film. Excitement level is high andthat is the reason for people’s incli-nation towards thrillers.� You don several hats that of anactor, director, host and others.What comes naturally to you?

I have been hosting for 20 yearsnow. Every host is an actor. Whenyou are on stage, you are acting. Iremember when I hostedCommonwealth games, there were60,000 people in the stadium. Youhave to be a great actor in order tocontrol such a huge crowd. On thestage, I was reciting a poem — Veertum badhey chalo hum tumhareysaath hain and the whole crowd was

reciting it with me. Hence, youhave to be an actor to get con-nected with your audience ata given point of time. Soacting and hosting comenaturally to me and I lovedoing it.� How do you defineacting?

Acting is a skill thatyou naturally have. Actorsare not made, they are born.Of course, you brush upyour skills over time, butthis doesn’t change thefact. An actor is like water.Whichever vessel he’llbe in, he is so flexiblethat he will acquire thatvery shape. That’s why anactor is called a character. He isbound to get into the skin of thecharacter that he plays.

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Life expectancy has constantly been on therise for the last 150 years in developedcountries, mainly due to better living con-ditions, higher hygienic standards andimproved medical care. According to the

World Health Organisation (WHO), global averagelife expectancy increased by 5.5 years between 2000and 2016, the fastest increase since the 1960s. Lifeexpectancy in India has increased from 49.7 yearsin 1970-75 to 68.7 years in 2012-16, as per theNational Health Profile 2019.

The high life expectancy we face today has ledto a significant increase in the number of seniorcitizens in our society. And they have become astrong and independent segment and a communityby themselves. Parallely, the world has seen a hugegrowth in technology, which now supports andstreamlines many day-to-day activities. It wouldhave been almost impossible to navigate our waythrough world lockdowns and isolation periods if itwas not for the internet, technology-based plat-forms and apps that home delivered conveniencesto us.

Even in the pre-Covid world, we saw peoplechanging their lifestyles and even asset buyinghabits because of the massive changes brought inby technology. Many preferred not to buy carsbecause of apps offering rides on call. From ourhealth to our home and work place everythingbecame entwined in technology. For our SeniorCitizens technology has come as a boon, helpingthem stay at home and be able to handle manytasks. But has embracing technology been smoothfor this segment? We all know many older personswho can barely text let alone manoeuvre mobileapps! In fact, many older adults say they still don’tfeel confident about using gadgets and tech-basedplatforms.

As was recently published, according to thelead author of a study, Shengzhi Wang of theDesign Lab at the University of California SanDiego (UCSD), researchers found that many times“frustration” with new technology made olderadults unsure of their ability to use it, leaving themunmotivated to even try. So, what are these barriersthat are causing the frustration?

● Barrier of Constant Updates and Change: Oneof the biggest barriers that frustrated the elders wasremoval of buttons from mobile phones. They hadadapted well to the “Button Mobiles”, but with thetechnology advancements and introduction of new“Touch Mobiles”, they started feeling uncomfort-able. The Smartphone became an all new beast toconquer and many of them still struggle.

● Barrier of Remembering too many passwords:Although this problem is quite prevalent for all agegroups, but the burden of having a password forevery different app and account affects the Seniorsthe most. Nowadays, it is impossible to get into anyonline or app-based service without the “log in”procedures. Although Google allows accessingmany of the online portals through a single loginaccount, but there are still many platforms outthere that will require a separate account setup. Inmany instances the tech of most mobile apps istedious and complicated, whereas it should havebeen inclusive and guiding. Moreover, Seniors usu-ally prefer to have one password for all their onlineaccounts so that they won’t forget it. However, thisis no longer a recommended practice as it attractscybercriminals and hackers. This itself shouldencourage mobile apps to have simpler ways forlogin.

● Barrier of Fear of making a mis-take: The fear of navigating amobile app indicates that you aregetting old! The main reason ofbeing afraid is making mistakes.Even in the past, the earlier genera-tion used to think twice before han-dling the VCR remote due to thesame fear. Although touch andvoice commands can do wondersfor seniors, we must build confi-dence in them enough to experi-ment with these tech monsters!Like when we buy a smart televi-sion, someone from the Companycomes and give us a demo, Techcompanies should go to that leveland provide doorstep demo servicesfor their mobile apps. Once the fearof losing money isn’t there, rest allother worries can be taken care ofby giving them confidence to hitand try. It’s okay to make a mistakeas long as there is no price to payfor their mistakes.

● Barrier of too many Options: Welive in an era where we have numer-ous choices of products. Eventhough it is beneficial for us, it hasmade the buying process even moreconfusing, especially for Seniors.They can’t select which product isbest for them in a plethora of prod-uct options. There has to be an hon-est and simple grading system whichhelps the elderly understand what’savailable, and how does it rank inquality and service.

● Barrier of Barrier of VisualImpairments: Visual functionsdecrease as people age. The changein visual functionality or the abilityto see details decelerate at the age of55 and above. The age-relatedchanges in colour vision and con-trast sensitivity creates more troublefor older adults particularly whilereading smaller fonts and differenticons in smartphones and other gad-gets.

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The IT industry needs to rede-fine and inculcate new practices tomake tech more inclusive. To beginwith, for the aging population, a

great deal of attention has to befocused on design to support theperformance of important everydayactivities such as transportation,healthcare, and work.

We need to take inspirationfrom “Button Mobiles” and create“Touch Button Technology” which issimple and easy to use. For instance,the recently launched app, IndiaAssist that has been created for theSenior Citizens uses technology todeliver 24X7 assistance to the elderlyvia a phone app. Prototype of usingan Elder-friendly design can be seenin this app. Big buttons, clearly men-tioning what they are supposed todo, with the right visuals, remove alot of barriers that we discussedabove.

We also need to focus on thevalue tech can create in their lives,like assisting them to live an inde-pendent and dignified life. Weshould ensure use of easy and non-confusing language. The new wordsthe Internet has created in our dic-tionary might not make sense tosomeone who barely uses a com-puter.

Apart from that we should helpthe elders understand and takeadvantage of social use of technolo-gy, like connecting with their familyand friends through video calls,building their own community andforums on Social Media platforms,use Whatsapp Groups to stay con-nected and exchange information...Technology should give them theconfidence that they are not alone. Ifand when they would need support,the support will be provided to themat the touch of a button. Not onlythis, tech should help them in man-aging their medication records.Many senior citizens find it chal-lenging to keep a track of their med-ication. This should lead to keepinga track of their health related issues.

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If technology becomes inclusiveof the elderly population it standsto improve their quality of lifetremendously. So, even if it feelsoverwhelming at first to introduceit into your life at a later stage, it is

totally worth the effort of learninghow to use it.

● Financial Management: Bankingand investments are extremelyimportant in everyone’s life. The has-sle of making a trip to the bank,standing in queues and getting yourwork done in crowded spaces is frus-trating for the best of people. For theSeniors, it can actually end upbecoming a heavy burden. Usingtechnology and netbanking simplifiesthis completely and empowers themto manage their finances from thecomfort of their homes. Most banksoffer phone apps now. And thismakes it possible for the elderly toknow their statements, transfer funds,receive money all very conveniently.

● Social Interaction: Video calls area nicer way to connect with yourloved ones. As are emails, whatsappgroups and of course social mediaplatforms like Facebook. With grow-ing nuclear families, many peopleare living alone and as they retirefrom work-life and their social lifedecreases due to health issues, orcost-of-living issues, they find them-selves lonely and isolated. The avail-ability to communicate with othersis something easily accessible viatablets and smartphones. It helpsseniors combat feelings of depres-sion and isolation, which are com-mon to living alone.

● Entertainment: This is a big ben-efit. Once the Seniors learn to navi-gate and subscribe to apps they have24x7 streaming of their favouriteshows and films and music. Withcinema halls becoming difficult toaccess as people age, they have noreason to be deprived of theirfavourite films. In fact, a whole newworld of knowledge and informationopens up too with documentariesand non-fiction shows. Readingbecomes tough as you get older andthe visual media and audio booksdownloaded can easily replace that.● Assistance & Support: This is ahuge and very relevant advantage oftechnology. When parents and ourelders live alone, children are alwaysworried about their support struc-

ture. Now, medicines purchase anddoctor consultation can be doneonline. One doesn’t need to go outfor daily needs. Groceries and otherconveniences can be delivered athome. Cleaning services, electri-cians, plumbers, para-medicalhelpers are all available at the clickof a button. As are cabs and travelassistance. What’s very important tonote is that these services are veri-fied and the personnel are credibleand safe. Once the Elderly are taughtto overcome their resistance to tech-nology and use it, they will love theease of living and social fulfillment itbrings to their lives.

The responsibility of supportingthe agings is collective. The mobilecompanies need to ensure that theyprovide large screen mobiles ataffordable prices. The internet com-panies need to ensure that they runspecific campaigns to target SeniorCitizens and try to bring them intomainstream by providing them wifiaccess at reasonable cost. The mobileapps development companies needto ensure that they create easy-to-use tech and provide a demo of theirproduct at the doorstep of the cus-tomers. Governments need to incen-tivise companies making their techinclusive for senior citizens. Once allthe stakeholders start playing theirroles well, we will see seniorsbecoming comfortable and in factdepending on technology to maketheir quality of life better.

With increasing number of fam-ilies going nuclear units in India,and children living away from par-ents due to professional pursuits, it isnot only a need but a necessity toequip our Elders with friendly tech-nology that will be their safety net.And, this is not just about doingsocial good! Given that the elderlysegment makes for a large part ofthe world’s population, intelligentlyconceived and specialised technolo-gy driven products for the OlderAdult segment would not be a badthing for new businesses and theIndian economy either!

The writer is the founder of India Assist, a startup that has

created a mobile app for thesupport of senior citizens

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THE BARRIERS & SOLUTIONSFOR SENIOR CITIZENS

EMBRACINGTECHNOLOGY

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With no end in sight, the Corona pandemic contin-ues to take its toll on human health. More in termsof mental than physical. The fatality rate due to

the corona infection still hovers around two to three per-cent but the intriguing feature is that the fear of the pan-demic is such that as if anybody who catches corona is goingto die. There are diseases that kill more people than coro-na, yet more people are fearing corona than all the otherdiseases taken together. One probable reason may be thatthere is no certain treatment in sight. Of course, claims tothe contrary are there in big numbers. However, the impor-tant point is the fear of the pandemic and its impact onhuman mind. And the answers are not easy to find. Evenas the International Labour Organisation study finds thatone out of two young people are subject to anxiety anddepression, there are scant efforts to handle this psycodem-ic. The young apart, the old as well as the children, are alsosuffering from the mental distress. The Covid-19 protocolfurther adds to stress and fear. The very feeling that wear-ing mask gives is sickening. People are scared to venture outand are confined to homes unless it is necessary. As weappear clueless about the answer to the pandemic, let us tryto find the solution in the Bhagavad Gita. The lessons may,perhaps, show us the way to cope with Corona fear and anx-iety. Many of us, like Arjuna, are burdened with anxiety andfear of the impending war and seem to have given up. It isthis giving up that is the most dangerous of all the psycho-logical states that leads to most of the problems of mentalhealth. Arjuna, out of fear of adverse outcome, tells the Lordthat he sees little point in fighting the war which he is notsure to win. Rather, in the heart of his hearts, he thinks heis going to lose. It is then that Lord Krishna recites his essen-tial Gita lessons, suggesting why fighting is important, win-ning or losing being of little consequence. So Krishna tellsArjuna to drive away his fear and ready himself for the war.We are in a similar plight in this Covid situation and ourfear is of defeat or death and anxiety of uncertainty of theoutcome. Gita lessons offer the panacea for living in tur-bulent times which in Management jargon is a VUCA world,that is Volatile, Uncertain, Complex and Ambiguous. Theprincipal lessons of Gita can be summed up in the follow-ing basic tenets. First and foremost is to drive away yourfears and submit to God with full faith. The second is toprepare yourself to fight and for this you need to learn tocontrol your mind, which is the biggest distraction. The thirdtenet is to focus on effort and not to worry about the results.Worrying about the results will sap vital energy you needto apply, in order to put wholehearted efforts. The resultsare not in your hands as some other force controls the out-come. You only have right to efforts. But the Lord also saysthat if efforts are put in wholeheartedly and with full faithin God results will be achieved. As the battle with Coronais still on, fear is the biggest detriment in influencing theefficacy of our response. Have faith in God and fight.

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Let me start with the definition ofthe word faculty. It is any of thephysical or mental abilities that a

person is born with. The first faculty Iwill take up is intelligence, because it isin use most of the waking hours orshould be. Lord Krishna has describedthe proper use of intelligence in theverse #18.30 of the Gita, where He hasstated, that one should know what isworth doing and what is not. However,this is not so simple. One must have suf-ficient spiritual knowledge, otherwiseone may go wrong. All our other fac-ulties require guidance.

The next faculty — the mind, is alsosubtle. Its control is crucial for a qual-ity life. We have been alerted in the Gitathat if the mind has not been conqueredby self it acts as an enemy of self. (6.6)And we see this all the time. Take thepresent situation. There is a pandem-ic, and almost the entire world isaffected. But we don’t have to be fright-ened; we can take necessary precautions,especially social distancing, and we willbe reasonably safe. However, such con-trol of the mind comes mainly with thehelp of God. Theoretically, one can havegood mental control, but I wouldrather take help from God.

The third faculty is equally impor-tant because its use must be limited todoing duties and nothing more. I amreferring to ego or ‘ahankar’. It was givento us to feel motivated to do our duties,that is, I will do it; I am the doer; whoelse but I must do my duties. What hap-pens when we cross its ‘maryada’, i.e. useit beyond what it was meant for we getin serious trouble. The worst thing wecan do is not to heed God’s instructionsor account of ahankar. And what canhappen is not very pleasant; we will per-ish. (18.58) How does one protect

oneself from that happening? Onemust take shelter of God, who is theMaster of the universe. (13.13-16)There are innumerable benefits indoing so. One has to do so to realisewhat was being missed. Ask me.

Now I take up our gross facultiesbeginning with the eyes. These are mostprecious. Our eyes are the best tool forgaining information/knowledge. Wecan see as well as read. However, themodern man has corrupted this mag-nificent faculty. This harms both thepsyche and consciousness. Obviously,we should restrain ourselves. I will takeup the tongue next. This faculty wasprovided to us to enjoy what we eat. Sowhat have we done? We have corrupt-ed it as well by eating all kinds of meats.This meat-eating craziness harms theclimate, when we burn forests to growmore grains, which can then be fed toanimals, whom we can eat. There is apossibility that this dangerous virus hasfound entry into human beings this way.

The speech and hearing were meantto help us communicate and sharegoodness. Our eyes and ears are excel-

lent tools to gain information andknowledge. But we waste these facultiesby spewing venom, passing rumoursand creating unpleasant environmentaround us, full of suspicion and aggres-sion, especially on social platforms.

Our hands are best used when theyare made us of, i.e. in extended position.Bending them fully is necessary to eat.Legs, likewise, should be in the verticalposition to stay healthy; keeping the legsup should be restricted to the limitedperiod of entertainment. Sitting downto work or lying down to sleep is fine.These days nose should be kept coveredto guard against the virus. Good qual-ity masks must be worn when in pub-lic places.

Similarly, we must protect ourskin, especially hands to avoid contactwith the virus. Proper hygiene is cru-cial if we wish to avoid getting strick-en. Good care of ourselves and carefuluse of our faculties — spiritual andphysical — can help us lead a satvik andhealthy life.�� ������ ��� ���������+�������������%������

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As a plant needs sunlight togrow, so does our soulneed to focus on the innerLight. Once connected tothe Light and Sound with-

in, we need to concentrate on it toexperience spiritual growth. Dailymeditation is the daily sunlight oursoul needs to grow.

When we learn to meditate on theinner Light and Sound of God, oursoul experiences God’s love for itself,and the sleeping seed of our soul isawakened. Through connection withthe current of Light and Sound, theseed of the soul is watered. This cur-rent reverberates in all forms of life,from humans, to animals, to plants.

Plants need the carbon dioxidethat we give off. Then, the plantsutilise the carbon dioxide and waterand give off their waste, which is theoxygen we require to breathe.Similarly, the seed of the soul needsthe breath of God’s grace to help itgrow. This divine grace is the boostthat helps our soul soar into the spir-itual realms beyond. Thus, we cannurture the seed of the soul by sittingin meditation. There are also many lifelessons we can learn from the garden.These lessons help us grow and thriveon our spiritual journey.

����������������Once we learn to meditate, we

need to practice it diligently.

Unfortunately, many grow impatientwhen they do not see instant results.We live in an instant society. We wantinstant coffee, instant pudding, andinstant oatmeal. We want our comput-ers to boot within microseconds or weget impatient. When we plant a gar-den, we expect to see the sprouts with-in a day. If we do not see the sproutsshoot up immediately, we becomeimpatient. Similarly, when we aregrowing the inner garden of the soul,we need to keep tending it, day afterday, with meditation, even when wedo not instantly see the dramaticresults we want.

Yet, with patience and diligence,we are ultimately rewarded when westart seeing new growth. When we seethe sprouts of Light shoot forth with-in and hear the faint whispers of theinner Sound calling to us, we realisethat our efforts sprinkled with God’sgrace are bearing fruit. Then, thesteady growth of the plant reveals thatall was not wasted. Our efforts haveborne fruit and we grow spiritually.

We do not see the seeds in theground through the long winter, yetwith proper care, they sprout intobuds and then flowers. Similarly, wemay not see the fruits of our medita-tion right away. But with diligent prac-tice, we will find that the blossoms willappear. We will be blessed with theinner vision and inner hearing of thedivine Light and Sound that will carry

us into the inner realms until our soulmerges back into God.

���������The plants and trees in the gardens

of the world cannot move or act ontheir own. They cannot talk, so theycannot ask for what they want. Theycannot walk, so they cannot go out ontheir own to get what they need. Theyare planted in one place with no abili-ty to communicate, move, or takeaction. They are at the mercy of Natureand God. Yet, everything is provided forthem. God provides them with soil,sunlight, air, and water. Whether theyare in a tended garden or out in thewild, God has provided for them forages. If God can provide for every bladeof grass on this planet, can’t we trust thatGod is going to provide for us also?

From the garden, we learn the les-son of trust in God. There is a plan foreach of us. When we do not realisehow much of our life is provided byGod’s plan for us, we spend a tremen-dous amount of time worrying overthings that are bound to happen any-way. If we could learn the lesson oftrust in God, much energy that wewaste in worrying could be used formore productive endeavours.

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Since we do not know what isplanned and what is not planned at

our physical level, we need to do ourbest in all circumstances. We need totake the best possible action, but thenleave the results to God. Even if we doour best, but another result was des-tined, then we need to let go. We canbe confident we did our best, but Godmay have another plan for us. Whensomething is not going our way, weneed to accept that there is anotherplan for us and let go. We did what wecould, but we should leave the rest inGod’s hands.

In a garden, when we have givenour seed fertile soil, water, sunlight, andair, we know we have done our best.How the plant grows then is not in ourhands. It is in the hands of God. If theplant does not turn out the colour wewanted, the size we wanted, or the shapewe wanted, we know there was some-thing beyond our control. We do notblame ourselves for we know we did ourpart. Then, we know that God had a dif-ferent plan for that plant. Similarly, wedo our best in all circumstances, andthen leave the results to God. In thisway, we free ourselves from blame, guilt,or regret. We need to do our best andtrust in God to take care of us.

��������������From the plants, we learn the les-

son of humility. If we watch the treesand bushes on a windy day, what do wesee? We find that trees that resist thewind, crack and split. Trees that bendlow to the ground with the wind do notbreak. When the wind passes, the treesspring back up to their upright posi-tions. Often when challenged by thewinds of other people or winds ofchange, we push back. We resist or fightback. We get into arguments. We mayeven push back physically and get intoa physical fight. We may push back ver-bally and say things that cause alterca-tions or a vicious exchange of words.We may even keep quiet, but mental-ly go into an outburst of negativethoughts towards the person, which theperson may not directly hear but canfeel through the strong vibrations ofanger we spew out. Thus, we intensifytheir initial attack with our ownresponse, and the cycle of violence con-tinues. We should learn to observe howthose trees, bushes, and flowers that gowith the flow of the wind are able toprevent themselves from breaking andcracking. This is the secret of humili-ty.

Let us learn from the garden thesecret of nurturing the seed of our soulwith meditation on the Light andSound of God. Let us learn from thegarden the value of patience, trust, andhumility. We will then experience theeternal springtime as we bask inGod’s blissful garden.

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Man is a social animal and we allremain interconnected. People whoare emotionally and mentally

strong also need social interaction and can-not thrive being islands unto themselves.

This came home to me many years agowhen my neighbour knocked at my door toborrow some sugar. When she was leaving,she thanked me, but said that I made heruncomfortable because I never asked herfor anything, and was so self contained.This made me reflect — Yes, I would dowithout something rather than ask another.Going deeper, I realised that, in my mind,everything was all right if I could managethings on my own. From the outside it wasa perfect picture, but like everyone else, Ihad my frailties, highs and lows. I justcouldn’t show them. It made me feel vulner-able. Yet, I didn’t think any less of a personwhose shortcomings were apparent. Sothere is nothing to be afraid of — the firststep towards healing is Acceptance.

Some things are in our control and wehave the power to take steps in a certaindirection. This will only happen if we takeResponsibility for our good and bad, rightand wrong decisions, without blaming oth-ers. Every situation has a root, triggers, asupport system and help lines. Acceptanceand taking responsibility is the key. We canthen move towards finding solutions.

Be it stress, failed relationships, com-plexes, anger issues, trauma or grief; attimes we are not able to handle our life situ-ations and need help. Art Therapy is onesuch remedy. It uses the creative process ofArt to improve the physical, mental andemotional well being of individuals of allages.

Why Art? you may ask. As PabloPicasso said: “Art washes away from thesoul, the dust of everyday life”. It helps us todisconnect our mind from stress and futilethoughts — helping us find solutions lying

undiscovered within us. Here, it is not arecreational activity, nor is the focus on aes-thetics. It is used as a tool to impact themind in a positive manner. As humans, weconstantly go through different thoughts,emotions, beliefs and attitudes. These canhave a negative effect on our bodies. ArtTherapy helps guide our thought process ina positive way. It activates inner dialoguethat helps us recall traumatic memories,share them and start healing.

Creative methods are used to expressemotions and pain, find solutions and iden-tify false assumptions that govern actions.The next step is to restructure the thoughtprocess with realistic and positive expecta-tions. This helps in regaining control ofone’s life in a calibrated manner.

A minimum of eight sessions are need-ed on an individual basis to address mostproblems. In the case of stress, 2-3 sessionsmay be good enough, and can be conductedin a small group.

The therapist is bound to follow a strictcode of ethics. At the closing of every ses-sion, there is a review and the closure is on

a happy note. This is very important andhelps carry the person through till the nextsession. It is a cathartic exercise where themind and body work in conjunction witheach other. Our mind impacts the health ofour body as well.

To follow a more holistic approach, ArtTherapy could be integrated with otherforms of healing, like Chakra balancing.The whole universe is made up of energy —and so is our body. This energy is our lifeforce — Prana. It constantly spins androtates inside us. It has seven main centresin the body, starting from the base of ourspine to the top of our head. In a healthyperson, these seven chakras provide theright amounts of energy needed for everypart of the body, mind and spirit. Over timesome chakras get blocked through emotion-al upheaval, fear, stress, loss or accidents.When blocks accumulate there is a disrup-tion in the flow of energy and our healthsuffers. Chakra healing with Art Therapy realigns and balances the body, mind andspirit.���+������ �������� ��6����������� ��%� �����-���=��<

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?#������� ��� ��&�������� %�#�����Indeed it is often the case that

my patients are only pieces ofa total situation which I have toexplore. The single patient whois by himself is rather the excep-tion.

The psychiatrist in TSEliot’s The Cocktail Party

Gifted with ability toobserve keenly and sensitivelyhuman behaviour, literary fig-ures, those who penned poems,novels and plays, brought tohuman knowledge many scin-tillating and moving descrip-tions of characters displayingabnormal behaviour. This hap-pened much before abnormalbehaviour became an area ofscientific enquiry. Even psy-chologists believe that literaryclassics while describinghuman abnormality in all itsinfinite elegance often achieveexplicitly representationalaccounts that science cannotarchive. Othello introducedreaders to deep insight intofacets of obsessive jealousy.Euripides in his play Medeadescribed emotions of jeal-ousy and revenge by a motherwho killed her children.Sophocles in Orestes vividlyexplained delusional and hal-lucinatory symptoms stem-ming from severe feelings ofremorse and guilt. The intenseguilt reaction of Lady Macbethafter her having participated inkilling of King Duncan gotexpressed in her symbolic handwashing and turning a som-nambulist. The noteworthydescriptions of “world within”,one can come across in twobooks: one by Thomas DeQuincey in his eighteenth cen-tury unforgettable autobiogra-phy Confessions of An EnglishOpium-Eater and SalmanRushdie’s book East, West. DeQuincey, inter alia, describedthe content of his dreamsinduced by consumption ofopium:

“I brought together all crea-tures, birds, beasts, reptiles, alltrees and plants, usages andappearances that are found inall tropical regions, and assem-bled them together in China orIndostan. From kindred feelings,I soon brought Egypt and all hergods under the same law. I wasstared at, hooted at, grinned at,chattered at, ran into pagodas:and was fixed for centuries atthe summit, or in secret rooms:I was the idol; I was the priest;I was worshiped; I was sacri-ficed. I fled from the wrath ofBrama through all the forests ofAsia; Vishnu hated me; Seevalaid wait for me. I came sud-denly upon Isis and Osiris…Iwas kissed, with cancerous kiss-es, by crocodiles; and laid, con-founded with all unutterableslimy things, amongst reeds andNilotic mud.”

Moving to as recent past as1994, in a story titled “TheHarmony of the Spheres”included in: EAST, WEST,Salman Rushdie portrayed acharacter named Eliot Crane,a thirty-two year man, who wassuffering from what he called“brainstorms” of paranoidschizophrenia. As part of these“brainstorms”, Eliot used tonarrate tales of local Sabbats.He sold his haunted houseand shifted to a new one but ithad not worked. Rushdiewrote, “...the demon had tracedthe number of his (Eliot’s) carlicence plates, that it couldcall him any time on his unlist-ed telephone; that it had redis-covered his home address.”Analysing Eliot’s condition,Rushdie reconnoitered, Lucy,wife of Eliot, “…would phonewith bulletins: the drugs wereworking, the drugs were notworking because he refused totake them regularly, he seemedbetter as long as he did not tryto write, he seemed worsebecause not writing plungedhim into such deep depres-sions, he was passive and inert,he was raging and violent, hewas filled with guilt anddespair.”

One day, Eliot along withhis wife had lunch together. Heappeared joyful, told his wife heneeded rest and would go tobed early. He kept his wordsbut an hour later, though Lucywas awake with “a premonitionof disaster”, she slept soundlyuntil morning. In the mean-while, Eliot used his shotgunand pulled the trigger. Herepeated the history

bequeathed to him by hisfather. The only note Eliot leftafter committing what Rushdiecalled, “this final act of macabresymmetry” was how to cleanand take care of the gun.

It’s interesting to glimpsethrough some of the Eliot’styped and hurriedly writtenpapers containing “inchoaterants against the universe ingeneral”. These included alter-native personal futures “ofextra-ordinary distinction andrenown” for himself or a self-pitying of himself as a geniuslost in obscurity ultimatelyending in agonising illness orassassination by jealous rivals,etc.

While De Quincey haddelved deep into his own men-tal and physical experiencesand thought processes, Rushdierecorded virtually the same incase of his character Eliot.Both explanations deal withconcerned individual’s intenseemotional turmoil, and a night-marish sense of utter confu-sion. These also highlightedunderlying symptoms of vari-ous types of behavioral devia-tions, indicative particularlyof disorders like schizophrenia,bipolar disorders and drugaddiction, etc. De Quincey’sbook and Rushdie’s story pro-vide the world an account ofirrational motivations andimages that come to fore underthe influence of delirium, theinfluence of drugs or severemental disorders when innerrestraints become feeble lead-ing to distortions of percep-tions and an inward orientationaway from reality. These twostorytellers, through their lit-erary creations, exactly do thejob of a well-trained psychia-trist.

The term “abnormal” con-notes “away from the normal”.In case of physical deviations orillness the norm is functionaland structural integrity of thebody and any disequilibrium insuch integrity can be easilymeasured by medical sciencethrough various tests. But isthere any such norm for gaug-ing abnormal deviation?Psychologists suggest normalbehaviour conforms to socialexpectations whereas abnormaldoes not. Another view iswhen a person’s behaviour ismaladaptive i.e when he/she isunable to cope with life situa-tions as he/she sees these,he/she is abnormal.

The word “deviance” or

“deviant behaviour” in the pasthas been equated with bizarreand dangerous behaviour. Oflate with discovery of betterand very effective medicinesavailable for treatment andpsychosocial and family helpavailable to patients, the notionof mental disorders andpatients suffering from thesehas undergone completechange. That is also possiblebecause of realisation that thesedisorders cover a wide range ofbehavioural patterns. Whilesome may be pathological bynature, others need not havepathological causes, but they

have displayed an inability tocope with various problems ofday to day life. Excessive wor-ries and apprehensions aboutfailure in examination by bril-liant students, failure of rejec-tion by young and beautifulgirls for modelling, fear of los-ing jobs, fear of divorce, etc,may be such examples. Peoplenurture “free-floating” sourcesof anxieties where the elicitingstimuli causing deviations inbehaviour are nebulous andpervasive. These people admitthey have no real cause to be

fearful of an object or situationbut they cannot help worrying.These are definitely cases ofcause for concern but wellwithin the bounds of ordinary,understandable human expe-rience. More severe casesinclude examples such as a manbelieving irrationally that hisenemies have plotted a devicefor pouring sludge into hismind and controlling histhoughts or a man who seesdreams while he is awake andbelieves these to be true (hal-lucinations) or who has audi-tory voices commanding him.

Broadly speaking, mental

disorders have been classifiedunder two categories: neurosisand psychosis. Neurotic symp-tom patterns include ailmentslike anxiety involving light tosevere anxiety the source ofwhich is not specific, phobiainvolving various irrationalfears from which the patientcannot obtain freedom, obses-sive-compulsive neurosisinvolving irrational actionsand thoughts which keep per-sisting, hysterical neurosisinvolving amnesia and multi-ple personality, hypochromic

neurosis involving preoccupa-tion with one’s health and mostimportantly depressive neu-rosis commonly called depres-sion involving abnormally pro-longed dejection, internal con-flict and interpersonal loss.However, depression is con-sidered the most common andmost talked of mental healthissues. It is said to be a form of“existential neurosis” indicativeof a maladaptive patternmarked by chronic feelings ofalienation and purposeless-ness. Joseph Cowen rightlycaptures a depressed individ-ual’s state of health in follow-ing lines: “In the slave marketof my melancholy mind Imount the auction block to sellmyself to the highest bidder ofmisery.” Depression is believedto be a “byproduct of our con-temporary society”.

When we move from therealm of neurosis to that of psy-chosis, we enter a far moreserious field of abnormal psy-chology where patients sufferfrom distortions of reality, dis-organisation and fragmenta-tion of perceptions, thoughtsand emotions and withdrawalfrom social interaction. Theprincipal symptoms are delu-sions (irrational beliefs thatpatient treats as truths likeothers are talking about him orenemies are harming him or heis a great scientist and writer orleader) Hallucinations of dif-ferent types (seeing demons orangels, hearing voices orderinghim what to do, sensing irra-tional taste: sensing poison inhis food, etc)

Last century and of coursecurrent one has witnessed useof psychotropic or psychoactivedrugs that have therapeuticvalue for medicinal purposesfor treating mental disorderslike depression, schizophreniaand bipolar diseases. Howeverthe danger lies in concurrentmisuse of such drugs for drugdependence or addiction.Alcoholism being an importantexample. There are drugs thataffect mental processes and thedrugs most commonly associ-ated with dependence wouldappear to be narcotics, seda-tives, stimulants, tranquilisersand hallucinogens. Man hasused opium and its derivativesfor more than 5000 years.Literary figures of eminencehad bragged about opium’s so-called benevolent effects. Let usvisit a few.

Coleridge was unques-

tionably a poet of extraordinaryabilities and imagination. Hesuffered rheumatism. Seekingremedy from excruciating painhe came across what he called“infallible” remedy: opium. Itworked like magic for him; hispains disappeared. He becamealive again. Once he sleptunder the influence of thedrug to be invaded by gloriousdreams and ecstasies.Immediately on waking up, hepenned down a poem knownas Kubla Khan where hedescribed the gardens andfountains, ancient forests andincense bearing trees. The verywords he wrote occurred tohim as he saw them in hisdreams. In the meanwhile, avisitor came to meet him andafter he left, there were noremains of his rendezvous withhis dreams. He kept keenlyexploring the haunts of for-bidden experience. All futile.

Similarly De Quinceycalled the opium selling drug-gist “unconscious minister ofcelestial pleasures” and furthersummarised his experiencesan hour later after takingopium: ‘O heavens! What arevulsion! What a resurrection,from its lowest depths of theinner spirit! What an apoca-lypse of the world within me.’

Citing these is only for lit-erary/academic interest andnot meant in any way to justi-fy the misuse of these legallybanned drugs.

Recently, there are veryeffective medicines available fortreatment not only of milderversions of abnormal behaviourbut also serious illnesses likeschizophrenia and bipolar dis-orders the prognosis for whichuntil quite recent times wasgenerally unfavorable.Psychiatrists and behaviouraltherapists very effectively han-dle serious cases by focusing onremoving the reinforcing con-ditions that appear to con-tribute to development andmaintenance of symptoms.Patients with proper treatmentand family care can lead a nor-mal, healthy life dischargingfamily and social responsibili-ties.

Towards the end, one maylike to pause and visit thetotality of circumstances that isbeing spoken about in TheCocktail Party as cited in thebeginning. World over increas-ing public awareness of themagnitude of contemporarymental health problems may

make it possible to do a con-certed attack on these disorderswith a view to obtain better andmore holistic understanding,more effective treatment andlong-range prevention. Wehave to realise the interdepen-dence among us. If any indi-vidual loses his ability toachieve his full potentialbecause of mental health issues,it is a loss to us both individu-ally and collectively. Societyloses. One cannot forget thegenius mathematician fromBihar late Vashishtha NarayanSingh, who was affected byschizophrenia and the conse-quential loss to society whichwas deprived of his immensecontribution. What anirreparable loss to the world!

It is enthusing that theCentral Government recentlydecided to launch 24X7 toll-free mental rehabilitationhelpline KIRAN in thirteenlanguages that will definitely goa long way in providing muchneeded succour to needy peo-ple. The helpline is dedicated toresolve issues concerning men-tal health and provide coun-selling relating to various dis-orders like anxiety, depression,suicide, substance abuse, etc.Such and similar efforts by theGovernment of India will cer-tainly add a new dimension toemergent New India, for themental health of a nation isdetermined and manifested invarious ways: in its courage,purposes, scientific and cul-tural achievements, moralresponsibility, self-reliance andquality of life. The New Indiahas got to be fit: physically, spir-itually and mentally.

(The writer, is a poet,writer and columnist. Author ofthree volumes of poetry. Hispoems have been translated intoHindi (Andhere Se NikliKavitayen-VANI PRAKASHAN(2017) and his book “Shadowsof the Real” into Russian by vet-eran Russian poet AdolfShvedchikov. His fourth book“Soliloquy of a Small-TownUncivil Servant”: a literary non-fiction published in March 2019by Rupa Publications, NewDelhi, has been receiving inter-national acclaim in literary field.He was Additional DeputyComptroller and AuditorGeneral in the office ofComptroller & Auditor Generalof India when he superannuat-ed recently.Views expressed hereare his personal views)

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Parents of a daughter, worried aboutundue delay in her marriage, cameasking the other day: “My daughter

has already entered her forties and yetwe could not organise her marriagedespite our relentless efforts. Why so? Isshe cursed? What is in store of her des-tiny? Is her marriage promised, and if so,when? Suggest some remedial measures,if that could help expedite her marriage.”

“At the outset, let me tell you thatyour daughter’s marriage is promised,but is due for a delayed marriage. Havepatience, it is now round the corner.” Iassured them. Remember, everybodycomes into life with a preordained pro-gramme that usually drives one’s courseof life, coming as it may with Karmiccarryover from the past. It is ordinarilydifficult to change that course. No pujacan undo Karmic carryover. It is only aspiritual process that can help figure outone’s basic fabric of making throughself-reflection, and then make necessaryamends. Provided, the person concernedpursues the process in all seriousness fora continued stretch of time. The prob-lem, however, is that ordinarily at mar-riageable age, the youngsters live in theirown dream world, often distanced from

ground realities, and seldom drawntowards spirituality.

Here again, it is unfair to assigndelayed marriage to any curse. Thedelay, if indicated in a horoscope isalways purposeful. It needs to be appre-ciated here that marriage by itself is notthe end game. More important is a har-monious and stable marriage. Only amatured person could handle the sub-tleties of marital life with ease and com-fort. Remember, marriage means unionof two characters, both born unique,each marked with a particular mind-trend — habits and attitudes as well asvirtues and attributes. The habits andattitudes deserve particular attention asthey often prove a spoiler. Marriagesdon’t go bad because it would be soscripted in one’s horoscope. It often hap-pens because of one’s unseemly conduct,primarily guided by habits and attitudes.So, if there is delay, it offers time andspace to develop the maturity necessaryto efficiently negotiate marital issues.Going through learning lessons of life,one is able to improve interpersonalrelationship skills, which helps being inaccord with each other, overriding allindividual limitations.

Let us now look at the astrologicalpointers to her personality trends. She isborn in Scorpio lagna, a fixed and anaggressive sign. Lagna lord Mars is therein lagna itself together with its direenemy Saturn. This needs to be readtogether with mind signifying Moon in afixed sign Leo, and placed adverse toMars. It speaks of a stubborn characterhaving a fixated one track mind. Shewould be having a commanding nature,keen to live in a demanding mode. Ifever provoked, she may get into fightingmode, at times taking things to extreme.What could further compound herproblems is her volatile emotionality,coming as it may with combust Venus.That makes her too much touchy andsensitive. She may get over exercisedeven of trivial issues, and stretch thembeyond their due. She may keep mullingover them, scheming how to fix theother side at the earliest possible oppor-tunity. If that would not be enough,Mars is also placed adverse to Jupiter,which speaks loud of her inflated ego.That makes her stuck to self-definedlimits, not keen to look beyond for areality check. If ever, things don’t happenher way, it becomes difficult to digest.She may then go wild, and in an agitated

state, could become a victim of her ownmaking.

Uranus in the lagna, placed adverseto Mercury, which is also ill-disposed offto erratic Rahu, makes her eccentric andopinionated. It also accounts for insensi-ble reasoning and judgment. She lacksthe focus and patience necessary todwell on any issue in hand, which does-n’t let her figure out the underlyingtruth. All the more because Moon isplaced adverse to Saturn, which bringsin a sense of negativity, whereby shewould habitually blame others for all thewrong happening, and be overcritical ofthem. On top of that, the Sun placedadverse to Uranus makes her self-willedand tactless.

To sum, it is girl’s good luck that shedid not have an early marriage.Otherwise, given her habits and atti-tudes, it would have proved disastrous.So, let her marriage happen when natu-rally due, which is expected early nextyear. Rest assured, given her astrologicaldirections, it will prove a stable and suc-cessful marriage.

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