12
T he Congress on Saturday held a State-wide protest in Rajasthan even as Chief Minister Ashok Gehlot seemed determined to go to any extent to cajole or coerce Governor Kalraj Mishra to convene the Assembly session to allow Gehlot to prove his majority. While the Rajasthan Governor has cited Covid-19 situation as one of the reasons to not hold an urgent session of the Assembly, Bihar, where the coronavirus situation is going out of control, will be holding the Assembly session from August 3. Gehlot has been pressing for an early Assembly session to go for a trust vote and force the rebel MLAs to either vote for him or face disqualification, which would bring down the strength of the Assembly and provide stability to his Government. “The BJP conspiracy will not be allowed to succeed. I will go to Rashtrapati Bhavan if needed. If we have to picket at Rashtrapati Bhavan or even Prime Minister’s residence, we will do this,” Gehlot told Congress MLAs while address- ing the Congress Legislative Party (CLP) meeting at Fairmont Hotel in Jaipur. The Chief Minister told his flocks that they may have to stay put at the hotel for anoth- er three weeks. It was obvious that Gehlot was ready to take no chance by allowing the MLAs to disperse and make the vulnerable to “poaching”. Gehlot has reportedly sub- mitted a list of 102 MLAs to the Governor while submitting his Cabinet’s recommendation for convening the Assembly. The Governor raised several objec- tions and asked Gehlot to send a fresh request. “The date on which the Assembly session is to be con- vened is not mentioned in the Cabinet note and no approval has been given by the Cabinet for the same,” the Governor wrote back to Gehlot. He also stated that the State Government should take note of the Covid-19 crisis and pointed out that no agen- da was given for a session called on such short notice. The revised proposal, passed by the Cabinet meeting on Saturday morning is believed to list the coronavirus situation as the agenda. This will now be submitted to the Governor. During the day, Congress workers staged demonstrations across Rajasthan against what it called a BJP “conspiracy to topple” its Government. Party workers gathered in large num- bers in Jaipur and district headquarters and raised slo- gans against the BJP and demanded that the Governor convene a session of the Assembly. A fter the Information and Broadcasting Ministry’s recommendations to the Union Home Ministry that cinema halls be allowed to reopen in August, cinema halls across the country are gearing up to resume functioning expecting relaxations in the coming months. Paperless tickets, seat distancing, staggered intervals and scrupulous sanitizing are part of the safety protocol mul- tiplexes will introduce if the Government allows screenings in “Unlock 3” next month. “We are ensuring basics like sanitisation and masks. Paper tickets will no longer in the use. Entry, exit & inter- missions will be planned in a manner that avoids over- crowding,” PVR CEO G Dutta said on Saturday. PVR operates a cinema circuit comprising 841 screens at 176 properties in 71 cities in India and Sri Lanka. A set of SOPs drawn up by the Multiplex Association of India in collaboration with its members was submitted to various Central Ministries as well as Prime Minister’s Office and Niti Aayog earlier this month, said industry leaders INOX, PVR Pictures and Cinepolis India. Cinemas account for the biggest chunk of earnings for movies and have taken a substantial hit during the pandemic and multiplexes are pulling out the stops to ensure audiences return after theatres open. As per the safety measures masks and temperature check at the entrances will be manda- tory for everyone entering the cinema complexes. Customers will be screened and those found to have 100 degrees Centigrade or showing viral fever symptoms will be asked to leave with a full refund. Customers will also be required to show their health status on the Aarogya Setu App while entering the premises. T he gold smuggling case involving UAE Consulate Staff at Thiruvananthapuram turned murkier on Saturday with Swapna Suresh, the king- pin, and her associate KT Ramees, telling the investigat- ing agencies that the higher ups in the Consulate were part of the smuggling operation. “The UAE Consul General and the Attaché were part of the smuggling operations using diplomatic channel. For each consignment of gold smug- gled into India, they were paid $1,500/ each,” Swapna and Ramees reportedly told the Customs officers during the interrogation. This statement finds men- tion in the affidavit submitted by the Customs in the special court in Kochi, which is expect- ed to hear the bail applications filed by the duo on Monday. Detailed report on P6 Bhopal: Madhya Pradesh Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan became the first CM to test Covid-19 positive on Saturday. Chouhan, 61, shared the news on Twitter. He was admitted to a Covid-19 designated private hospital in Bhopal, a BJP leader said. “I had symptoms of Covid- 19. In the test report I was found positive. I appeal to all my colleagues that whoever has come in my contact to get test- ed for coronavirus. My close contacts should move to quar- antine,” Chouhan said in a tweet. In another tweet, the chief minister said that if detected and treated on time, Covid-19 infection can be cured. “I have been reviewing the status of coronavirus infection in the State every evening since March 25. Now I will try to review the situation through video conferencing as much as pos- sible,” he said. A 53-year-old Delhi Police head constable died due to Covid-19 at a city hospital. Police said that Head Constable Satya Narayan was posted at the Madhu Vihar police station. According to a senior police official, on July 13, Narayan tested positive for Covid-19 and was sent to the Covid Care Centre in Akshardham. Later in the day, he was shifted to LNJP Hospital. “He had health issues like high blood pressure (BP), dia- betes and had two stents in his heart. He was shifted to ICU due to his diabetes and BP issues and his condition improved,” he said. “Later, his oxygen satura- tion level dropped. He was also administered plasma therapy. On Thursday, his second Covid-19 report also came back positive. He died at 6 am on Friday at LNJP Hospital,” said Jasmeet Singh, the Deputy Commissioner of Police (DCP), east district. New Delhi: Researchers at IIT Kharagpur have developed a first of its kind portable rapid diagnostic device to detect coronavirus at less than 400 per test. According to officials, the test can be conducted in an ultra-low-cost portable enclo- sure as an alternative to spe- cialised laboratory equipment. The same portable unit can be used for a large number of tests on mere replacement of the paper cartridge after each test. The testing technologies currently in use are expensive, despite the innovations in low- cost testing kits as the actual testing machinery cost remains high. Further testing mecha- nism has logistical issues due to the infrastructural requirement of the testing centres. Detailed report on P5 Bilaspur: At least 43 cows died of suffocation in a small room of a panchayat building where they were locked in Chhattisgarh’s Bilaspur, a senior official said on Saturday. The deaths came to light in the morning when villagers experienced a foul odour ema- nating from the room, and found that some of the cattle had died, said Bilaspur collec- tor Saransh Mittar. He said a total of 60 cows were locked in a room in the old panchayat building of Medpar village under Takhatpur development block. An enquiry is underway to find out since when and why cows were locked in the room, he said. Autopsies revealed that 43 cows had died of suf- focation, the official said. W ith both sides engaged in defusing tension at the Line of Actual Control (LAC), Northern Command chief Lt General YK Joshi said on Saturday the armed forces will ensure China withdraws and restore status quo ante as was the deployment in April. He also said the Indian troops will remain deployed there till total disengagement takes place. This significant statement by Joshi, who is overall in- charge of guarding the LAC in Ladakh, came in the backdrop of the Chinese not pulling back more than 40,000 troops. Making the Indian stand clear, Joshi said the Indian troops will continue to be deployed till status quo ante is achieved. It means the Chinese need to go back to their pre- May positions. The first face- off in Ladakh took place on May 5 when the Chinese army obstructed an Indian patrol at the Pangong Tso (lake) leading to fisticuffs. The Northern Command chief said in an interview to a private channel, “What I can tell you in simple words is that we shall continue all efforts to restore the status quo ante along the LAC. I believe the negotiations and process of this engagement and the commitment of both sides to adhere to the laid down methodology would dic- tate the timeline of the stand- off.” Patna: The Monsoon Session for both Houses in bicameral legislature of Bihar from August 3 will be held at the sprawling Gyan Bhawan in view of the Covid-19 pandem- ic, sources said. The four-day session of the Legislative Assembly and the Legislative Council will be conducted on separate floors of the Gyan Bhawan at the Samrat Ashok International Convention Centre here. The session of the two houses is crucial as it would be the last one before Bihar goes to polls in October-November this year. T here is no sign of cases coming down in Haryana as the State reported seven more COVID-19 deaths on Saturday, taking their number to 389 as 783 new cases of the infection pushed the tally in the State over the 30,000-mark. While the worst-hit district in the National Capital Region, Faridabad, reported three fatal- ities, one death each was reg- istered in Sonipat, Rohtak, Ambala and Jind districts. With this, the number of COVID-19 cases in Haryana climbed to 30,538. The districts that reported fresh cases include Faridabad (198), Gurgaon (98), Rewari (125), Palwal (56), Sonipat and Panipat (50 each), Hisar (48), Panchkula (23), Jhajjar (18) and Rohtak (15), a Health depart- ment bulletin said. During the past week, Haryana has witnessed a surge in COVID-19 cases, with most of them from districts falling in the NCR. On July 17, Haryana had reported its highest single-day spike of 795 cases, while 724 cases were added on July 22, 789 on July 23 and 780 on July 24. There are 6,495 active cases in the state, while 23,654 patients have been discharged after recovery so far, the bul- letin said. Turn on page 4

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Page 1: ˇ ˆ˙ ˝ ˛ ˚ ˘ˇˆ ˙ ˝ % ˙ ˙˛˚ ˜ ! &˛ & · 2020-07-25 · resume functioning expecting relaxations in the coming months. Paperless tickets, seat distancing, staggered

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The Congress on Saturdayheld a State-wide protest in

Rajasthan even as ChiefMinister Ashok Gehlot seemeddetermined to go to any extentto cajole or coerce GovernorKalraj Mishra to convene theAssembly session to allowGehlot to prove his majority.

While the RajasthanGovernor has cited Covid-19situation as one of the reasonsto not hold an urgent session ofthe Assembly, Bihar, where thecoronavirus situation is goingout of control, will be holdingthe Assembly session fromAugust 3.

Gehlot has been pressingfor an early Assembly sessionto go for a trust vote and forcethe rebel MLAs to either votefor him or face disqualification,which would bring down thestrength of the Assembly andprovide stability to hisGovernment.

“The BJP conspiracy willnot be allowed to succeed. I willgo to Rashtrapati Bhavan ifneeded. If we have to picket atRashtrapati Bhavan or evenPrime Minister’s residence, wewill do this,” Gehlot toldCongress MLAs while address-ing the Congress LegislativeParty (CLP) meeting atFairmont Hotel in Jaipur.

The Chief Minister told hisflocks that they may have tostay put at the hotel for anoth-

er three weeks. It was obviousthat Gehlot was ready to takeno chance by allowing theMLAs to disperse and make thevulnerable to “poaching”.

Gehlot has reportedly sub-mitted a list of 102 MLAs to theGovernor while submitting hisCabinet’s recommendation forconvening the Assembly. TheGovernor raised several objec-tions and asked Gehlot to senda fresh request.

“The date on which theAssembly session is to be con-vened is not mentioned in theCabinet note and no approvalhas been given by the Cabinetfor the same,” the Governorwrote back to Gehlot.

He also stated that theState Government should takenote of the Covid-19 crisisand pointed out that no agen-da was given for a session

called on such short notice.The revised proposal,

passed by the Cabinet meetingon Saturday morning isbelieved to list the coronavirussituation as the agenda. Thiswill now be submitted to theGovernor.

During the day, Congressworkers staged demonstrationsacross Rajasthan against what

it called a BJP “conspiracy totopple” its Government. Partyworkers gathered in large num-bers in Jaipur and districtheadquarters and raised slo-gans against the BJP anddemanded that the Governorconvene a session of theAssembly.

������� ���� ������ ��

After the Information andBroadcasting Ministry’s

recommendations to the UnionHome Ministry that cinemahalls be allowed to reopen inAugust, cinema halls across thecountry are gearing up toresume functioning expectingrelaxations in the comingmonths. Paperless tickets, seatdistancing, staggered intervalsand scrupulous sanitizing arepart of the safety protocol mul-tiplexes will introduce if theGovernment allows screeningsin “Unlock 3” next month.

“We are ensuring basicslike sanitisation and masks.Paper tickets will no longer inthe use. Entry, exit & inter-missions will be planned in amanner that avoids over-crowding,” PVR CEO G Duttasaid on Saturday. PVR operatesa cinema circuit comprising841 screens at 176 properties in71 cities in India and Sri Lanka.

A set of SOPs drawn up bythe Multiplex Association ofIndia in collaboration with itsmembers was submitted tovarious Central Ministries aswell as Prime Minister’s Officeand Niti Aayog earlier thismonth, said industry leadersINOX, PVR Pictures andCinepolis India. Cinemasaccount for the biggest chunkof earnings for movies and havetaken a substantial hit duringthe pandemic and multiplexes

are pulling out the stops toensure audiences return aftertheatres open.

As per the safety measuresmasks and temperature checkat the entrances will be manda-tory for everyone entering thecinema complexes.

Customers will be screenedand those found to have 100degrees Centigrade or showingviral fever symptoms will beasked to leave with a fullrefund.

Customers will also berequired to show their healthstatus on the Aarogya Setu Appwhile entering the premises.

�� ������������� �����

The gold smuggling caseinvolving UAE Consulate

Staff at Thiruvananthapuramturned murkier on Saturdaywith Swapna Suresh, the king-pin, and her associate KTRamees, telling the investigat-ing agencies that the higher upsin the Consulate were part ofthe smuggling operation.

“The UAE Consul Generaland the Attaché were part ofthe smuggling operations usingdiplomatic channel. For eachconsignment of gold smug-gled into India, they were paid$1,500/ each,” Swapna andRamees reportedly told theCustoms officers during theinterrogation.

This statement finds men-tion in the affidavit submittedby the Customs in the specialcourt in Kochi, which is expect-ed to hear the bail applicationsfiled by the duo on Monday.

Detailed report on P6

Bhopal: Madhya Pradesh ChiefMinister Shivraj SinghChouhan became the first CMto test Covid-19 positive onSaturday. Chouhan, 61, sharedthe news on Twitter. He was admitted to a Covid-19designated private hospital inBhopal, a BJP leader said.

“I had symptoms of Covid-19. In the test report I wasfound positive. I appeal to allmy colleagues that whoever hascome in my contact to get test-ed for coronavirus. My close

contacts should move to quar-antine,” Chouhan said in atweet.

In another tweet, the chiefminister said that if detectedand treated on time, Covid-19infection can be cured.

“I have been reviewing thestatus of coronavirus infectionin the State every evening sinceMarch 25.

Now I will try to reviewthe situation through videoconferencing as much as pos-sible,” he said.

�������������� ������ ��

A53-year-old Delhi Policehead constable died due to

Covid-19 at a city hospital.Police said that Head ConstableSatya Narayan was posted atthe Madhu Vihar police station.

According to a seniorpolice official, on July 13,Narayan tested positive for

Covid-19 and was sent to theCovid Care Centre inAkshardham. Later in the day,he was shifted to LNJP Hospital.

“He had health issues likehigh blood pressure (BP), dia-betes and had two stents in hisheart. He was shifted to ICUdue to his diabetes and BPissues and his conditionimproved,” he said.

“Later, his oxygen satura-tion level dropped.

He was also administeredplasma therapy. On Thursday,his second Covid-19 reportalso came back positive. Hedied at 6 am on Friday atLNJP Hospital,” said JasmeetSingh, the DeputyCommissioner of Police(DCP), east district.

New Delhi: Researchers at IITKharagpur have developed afirst of its kind portable rapiddiagnostic device to detectcoronavirus at less than �400per test. According to officials,the test can be conducted in anultra-low-cost portable enclo-sure as an alternative to spe-cialised laboratory equipment.

The same portable unitcan be used for a large number

of tests on mere replacement ofthe paper cartridge after eachtest. The testing technologiescurrently in use are expensive,despite the innovations in low-cost testing kits as the actualtesting machinery cost remainshigh. Further testing mecha-nism has logistical issues due tothe infrastructural requirementof the testing centres.

Detailed report on P5

Bilaspur: At least 43 cowsdied of suffocation in a smallroom of a panchayat buildingwhere they were locked inChhattisgarh’s Bilaspur, a seniorofficial said on Saturday.

The deaths came to light inthe morning when villagersexperienced a foul odour ema-nating from the room, andfound that some of the cattlehad died, said Bilaspur collec-tor Saransh Mittar.

He said a total of 60 cowswere locked in a room in theold panchayat building ofMedpar village underTakhatpur development block.

An enquiry is underway tofind out since when and whycows were locked in the room,he said. Autopsies revealedthat 43 cows had died of suf-focation, the official said.

����� ������ ��

With both sides engaged indefusing tension at the

Line of Actual Control (LAC),Northern Command chief LtGeneral YK Joshi said onSaturday the armed forces willensure China withdraws andrestore status quo ante as wasthe deployment in April. Healso said the Indian troops willremain deployed there till totaldisengagement takes place.

This significant statementby Joshi, who is overall in-charge of guarding the LAC inLadakh, came in the backdropof the Chinese not pullingback more than 40,000 troops.

Making the Indian standclear, Joshi said the Indiantroops will continue to be

deployed till status quo ante isachieved. It means the Chineseneed to go back to their pre-May positions. The first face-off in Ladakh took place onMay 5 when the Chinese armyobstructed an Indian patrol atthe Pangong Tso (lake) leadingto fisticuffs.

The Northern Commandchief said in an interview to aprivate channel, “What I cantell you in simple words is thatwe shall continue all efforts torestore the status quo antealong the LAC.

I believe the negotiationsand process of this engagementand the commitment of bothsides to adhere to the laiddown methodology would dic-tate the timeline of the stand-off.”

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Patna: The Monsoon Sessionfor both Houses in bicamerallegislature of Bihar fromAugust 3 will be held at thesprawling Gyan Bhawan inview of the Covid-19 pandem-ic, sources said.

The four-day session ofthe Legislative Assembly and

the Legislative Council will beconducted on separate floors ofthe Gyan Bhawan at the SamratAshok InternationalConvention Centre here. Thesession of the two houses iscrucial as it would be the lastone before Bihar goes to pollsin October-November this year.

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There is no sign of casescoming down in Haryana

as the State reported sevenmore COVID-19 deaths onSaturday, taking their numberto 389 as 783 new cases of theinfection pushed the tally in theState over the 30,000-mark.

While the worst-hit districtin the National Capital Region,Faridabad, reported three fatal-ities, one death each was reg-istered in Sonipat, Rohtak,Ambala and Jind districts. Withthis, the number of COVID-19cases in Haryana climbed to30,538.

The districts that reportedfresh cases include Faridabad(198), Gurgaon (98), Rewari(125), Palwal (56), Sonipat andPanipat (50 each), Hisar (48),Panchkula (23), Jhajjar (18) andRohtak (15), a Health depart-ment bulletin said.

During the past week,Haryana has witnessed a surgein COVID-19 cases, with mostof them from districts falling inthe NCR.

On July 17, Haryana hadreported its highest single-dayspike of 795 cases, while 724cases were added on July 22,789 on July 23 and 780 on July24.

There are 6,495 activecases in the state, while 23,654patients have been dischargedafter recovery so far, the bul-letin said.

Turn on page 4

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Page 2: ˇ ˆ˙ ˝ ˛ ˚ ˘ˇˆ ˙ ˝ % ˙ ˙˛˚ ˜ ! &˛ & · 2020-07-25 · resume functioning expecting relaxations in the coming months. Paperless tickets, seat distancing, staggered

� How does it feel like to be back onsets?

It feels great. I never thought that Iwill be away from sets for such a longtime, it feels amazing to be working again.I feel alive when I am infront of thecamera. My workplace is my temple andI feel fortunate to be allowed to visit thetemple.� Is it hard to adapt to the new normal,especially when you are working?

Yes, it is extremely tough. But sincewe don’t have any other option but tofollow all the norms, in order to be safe,we have to adapt to it. But having saidthat, it is tough to take care of sanitisationand to maintain social distancing. Becausewhen you are working, your focus issolely on work but now the energies arediverted and yet we have to be our bestand be safe as well.� Between action and cut, do youstruggle to maintain social distancing?Does that bother you?

When I am in between the shot, Idon’t think about any other thing but togive the best shot. Between action and cut,I am transported to a different world.When I am enacting a scene, precautionsand social distancing are mere words.Because it is not practically possible, youcan’t keep a six-feet distance from yourco-actors and then perform. When I amPrithvi, I am living his world. Once thedirector calls it cut, I make sure that I amfollowing all the norms. Before and afterevery scene, I get the floor and things thatI touch, sanitised properly.� Many shows are now makingsanitiser, face shields and masks a partof the show. Can we expect the samewith Kundali Bhagya?

No, I don’t think so we are usingany of these things in the scenes.After the lockdown, it’s been threeweeks since we started shootingagain. Since then we haven’tused a mask or a face shieldin the scenes, because thecontent doesn’t requireit. People don’t wantto see actors wearingmasks onscreen.They are already sobugged up seeing allthese things in theirsurroundings. All they want from us isentertainment, and they have beenlonging to see our faces. They will justchange the channel if they will seesimilar things in daily soaps too.� Prithvi is about to bring in a lot oftwists in the show. What should theaudience look forward to?

Ironically, Prithvi has been wearinga mask, not a precautionary one but amixture of the one in Joker and MoneyHeist. The reason being the othercharacters don’t recognise him. He haskidnapped Rishabh for obvious reasons,he wants to snatch all the wealth andproperty of the Luthras. He is trying hisbest to get the papers signed by Rishabh.Anyone or everyone who becomes anobstacle for him, will be in pain. Nowwhether he’ll got caught red-handed bythe Luthra family or he will succeed in hismission is what the audience has to findout in the coming episodes.� Were there any apprehensions aboutthe role, given that it is a negative lead?

Absolutely not. I didn’t have even oneper cent of apprehension. Initially, it wassupposed to be only two-three monthscameo. I was told if the character is well-received by the audience, it might get anextension, however there was noconfirmation. But then, the audienceloved Prithvi so much that he became apart of the show. Also, not to mentionKundali Bhagya has been a turning pointof my career.� Was acting always your calling?

I was an entertainer in school andcollege. I used to participate in events. Iwas always the one to take the first stepand approach the principal, if I canperform at school functions. Whenever,I used to perform, I saw a lot of happyfaces around me. That’s when I realisedthat I am born to entertain. At that time,it was just about being an entertainer, thatacting was not so common. Then in mycollege days, I started doing street plays

and that got me thinking that I can bean actor. I attended an acting workshop

in Pune and my teacher told me thatI have the potential to do something

big in life and that I should moveto Mumbai and try my luck.

That’s how I gained trust inmy craft and took a leap

of faith. In Mumbai, I did

a diploma infilmmaking but Itold all my friendsthat I am meant to be

infront of the camera.And if anyone makes a short film, thenhe doesn’t need to look for anyone elsebecause they have an in-house actor inme. It was followed by auditions and thenmy TV career was started with Bairi Piya,which was a product of Balaji Telefilms.I started with Balaji, did other shows andnow again I am back to Balaji, it has beena full circle.

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To see him on the screen asa posthumous actor givesyou so much angst, the

kind of angst that builds up evenmore when you see him as anengaging youthful characterdrawing you into his ultimatedeath through this movie.

Dil Bechara is a sweet lovestory between two cancerpatients which may not havegarnered so many eyeballs hadSushant been with us, but histragic death will draw manymore viewers to this last mountof the youngster, released on anOTT platform without muchpublicity, perhaps because hisdeath itself is the most potentpropeller for the movie.

As a tribute, Disney+Hotstar, the platform on whichthe movie has been released, hasopened it for free streaming.Seeing this movie brings to thefore the futility of the suicide bythe actor. Such a waste of talent,such a waste of youth.

But this movie, based on a

simple yet moving love story oftwo cancer survivors and howthey pack their moments in theface of fast approaching deathcomes to you in a gentlemanner, moving you to the corewithout really hollering theprospect of death from thepulpit.

Really, it is some fault in ourstars that we lost Rajput in amanner that he left us but in hislast, he does everything right toclimb into our hearts both withhis acting skills and hispresence. He is sweet, the storyis sweet and the end moments,almost like a tribute to his soulbefore his death, are done withcandid simplicity.

Sanjana Sanghi, as his loveinterest, is fresh and happening.Sushant, on the other hand, isspecial which again and againbrings one to his shockingunexpected suicide.

In fact it leaves you angryabout losing such a young lifeto whatever the reason mayhave been. Dil Bechara, in thatcontext, is a film that needs tobe seen both as a tribute and tofreeze some frames of this verytalented person who gave up.

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Old drama in new mould iswhat you can call this seriesbased on a true story. As true

stories go, they are more compellingthan fiction, especially when theycome wrapped in a crime series butthis one is different for the simplereason that it emotes a narrative thattakes into account so many otherthings, like the trauma, fear,uncertainty, helplessness and fight forjustice of the victims’ families, theefficacy of certain police protocols, thebrazen indifference of a serial killer andthen and only then the achievement ofa police officer in bringing him tobook.

In this context, the series hasdepth of what it conveys and theimpact of this is enhanced by the aptlytimed short six episodes that it takesto show how two mothers of the twovictims, one who got justice and theother who did not (brilliantly playedby Imelda Staunton as Karen), cope

with long trials and the castigation ofthe cop who risked his job and lost itin his attempt to bring the killer toadmit to more killings.

That emotions play at all levels isa plus point for this crime story. Thepsychopath does his job well andmakes you very uncomfortable everytime he visits the screen. The policeintrigues within the department are

shown with the subtlety that theywarrant and the path to criminaljustice has been charted with the ifsand buts that it steps into [pretty often.

A slow burner with not manytwists and turns but that does not makethis one a rippleless line on a monitor.Its heart beats for the victims, therifamilies and the policeman.

An engaging fare.

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In order to know who is who infilms that have sequels it isimportant to see the original.

However, there are always exceptionsto the rule and this latest movie on theOTT platform comes under thiscategory. There are a few reasons. First,in order for the people to follow thethread, it opens with the leadprotagonist — Elle — telling us wherepart one left off and what all hadhappened. Second, all through thereare references to the past. This makesit easy. Also, these movies are basedon Beth Reekles’ Young Adult booksabout teen romance. It really doesn’tneed too much introspection exceptto know whether the boy and the girlstay together or not.

While the first was all aboutkissing and falling in love, this one is

all about making long distancerelationships work, trying to actmature even though the greenmonster raises its head that leads to afew tears. But what is teen romance ifit doesn’t come with its share of tears,angst and heartbreak.

But at the heart of it is thefundraiser and the kissing boothwhere kids find out who their true loveis. The movie is named The KissingBooth for a reason.

If you are in a mood to watch aromantic movie, this one fits perfectly— it is cute and sweet.

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bypassed the viewers in North Indiahad it not been for the OTT platform.Directed by Pannaga Bharana, the filmis set in the backdrop of Bengaluru cityand talks about the trials and travailsof a foreigner who comes to the citywho then unfortunately gets caught inthe melee of confusion and chaos thatcomes with living in a metro and theproblems it throws up when youdon’t know the language.

References to France with prawnsmay not be funny but the expressionsof Sal Yusuf who plays the Frenchmanare definitely worth a laugh.And herelies the hero of the film — thelanguage barrier and the problems itlands a French salesman who comesto the city to attend a conference to selldrug (read medicine) but instead ittakes him on a journey into thestreets of a city he would have neverundertaken voluntarily with an autodriver, Asgar, played brilliantly byDanish Sait.

Sait slips beautifully into this rolewith a typical Hyderabadi accent toboot. His ability to speak differentdialects and ability to interact with aFrench tourist is an absolute delight. Butthe film has its downs as well. There isnothing much to offer in terms of a

story given that there are two otherparallel stories running that collide withthe third. One a blundering son whobecomes a don at the death of his fatherand the other about Asgar’s sister andhusband. References to Chris Gaylebecause he sports a certain hairstyle isin bad taste and a strict no-no.

Men ogling at the butt of a womanwhile she has an argument when hercar hits an auto makes no sense as doesthe whole idea of a man staring downthe blouse. Objectifying women insuch a manner is demeaning anduncalled for in such a senselessmanner.

Despite this drawback, such fauxpas are far and between and themovie manages to keep youentertained for most part.

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Haryana Chief MinisterManohar Lal Khattar on

Saturday said that the policepersonnel should serve thepeople of the State withsupreme dedication as thepolice is a mirror of the Stategovernment. Police service ismore of a social service and notlimited to just earning a liveli-hood, he added.

Khattar was addressing thePolice personnel after review-ing the parade at the convoca-tion ceremony of 400 womenand men sub-inspectors of the16th Batch of Police at VachherStadium in Haryana ArmedPolice, Madhuban, Karnal. Hecongratulated the newlyappointed sub-inspectors oncompletion of their trainingand said that now they will betaking the first step towardstheir duty.

Speaking about the oathtaken by the police personnel,he said that they shouldremember each and every wordspoken during the oath-takingceremony and perform theirduty with honesty and fairness.He said that it was a matter ofpride that the youth opted tojoin the police service to pur-sue a career. He said that thenature of work of the policedepartment and others varysignificantly as other employ-ees function according to thecalendar but the police have nocalendar to follow.

On the rise in the ratio ofwomen police personnel, theChief Minister said that earli-er the number of women in thepolice force was merely threepercent, which graduallyincreased to six percent in thelast five years and subsequent-ly it rose to 10 percent and thegovernment further aims to

increase it to 15 percent. Hesaid that in the convocationtoday around 56 women policesub-inspectors are passing out,which represents about 14 per-cent of the total number ofpolice personnel passing out.

Khattar said the state gov-ernment is persistent to ensurethat the youth get jobs on thebasis of merit. On these lines,the government has given gov-ernment jobs to more than70,000 youth as per merit in thelast six years.

The government has fol-lowed TransparentRecruitment Process (TRP) toensure recruitment in thepolice in a transparent manneras well. As a result of this, youthand girls with good educationfrom all sections of the societyand all regions are beingrecruited in the Police.Sportspersons of national andinternational-level have been

recruited in Haryana Police.The Chief Minister said

that to strengthen the policeservices in the state, it has beendecided to set up a ModernPolice Station in every district.In addition, approval has beengiven to construct five PoliceRange Headquarters in the

State and six new Cyber CrimePolice Stations atCommissionerate, Faridabad.He said that the Trakea BarCoding system of ForensicScience Laboratory (CFSL) hasalso started in the PoliceComplex in Madhuban.

He said that in order to

meet the challenges related tocyber crimes, the country'sfirst training centre, DigitalInvestigation Training andAnalysis Centre (DITAC), hasbeen established in Gurugram.The police personnel aretrained in social media, inter-net and cyber crime research aswell.

Khattar said the state gov-ernment has kept a watchfuleye to deal with drug traffick-ers in the state.

For this, InterstateCommon Drug Secretariat hasbeen established in CrimeBranch, Panchkula.

The agencies that ensurelaw and order are beingstrengthened and modernized.In addition, concrete stepshave also been taken towardsensuring security of women.For this, around 31 newwomen police stations havebeen opened in the state,

whereas earlier there weremerely two such police stations.Similarly, Durga Shakti Vahiniand Durga Shakti Rapid ActionForce have been formed to pro-mote the safety of women inthe state. Apart from this, theDurga Shakti App was alsolaunched under ‘Ek Aur SudharProgramme’.

The Chief Minister saidthat I am proud that today theHaryana Police Academy,Madhuban is capable of ful-filling the requirements ofpolice training not only with-in the state but also at thenational-level. As an institutionthis academy has not only ful-filled the purpose of its estab-lishment but has performedbeyond expectations.

Director General of PoliceManoj Yadava said the policecomplex was established inMadhuban in 1975 and regu-lar training programmes start-

ed here from 1976. It got HAPstatus in the year 2002. Now, itis one of the best police acad-emies in the country.

He added that the academydoesn’t only train the policepersonnel of the state but alsoof states like Himachal Pradesh,Nagaland, Goa, Delhi, Biharand CBI, besides police per-sonnel from Afghanistan andSri Lanka. So far, 2.50 lakhpolice personnel have beenimparted training in the last 44years.

Yadava said 50 postgradu-ates, 198 graduates and 152business degree holders wereamong the police personnelwho participated in the con-vocation.

He hoped that with theintroduction of well-educatedyouth in the police, it willbring modern and profession-al skills with enhanced spirit forpublic service.

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Punjab Chief Minister Capt AmarinderSingh on Saturday said the 70000 odd

beneficiaries removed from the ambit ofsocial security were fraudulent cases, whowere drawing benefits at the cost of gen-uine ones, and the Rs. 162.35 crore that hehad ordered to be recovered from themwill now go into raising the amount offinancial assistance to the deserving ben-eficiaries.

In fact, his government had added 6lakh genuine beneficiaries to the list sincetaking over the state’s reins while weedingout the ineligible ones, who were fraudu-lently getting social security benefitsunder the patronage of the erstwhileSAD-BJP government, said CaptAmarinder.

Only the undeserving people hadbeen removed from the beneficiary list, hesaid, adding that the total number of ben-eficiaries had actually gone up from 19 lakhto 25 lakhs in this 3-year period.

Responding to a question from aHoshiarpur resident during today’sFacebook Live edition of #AskCaptain, theChief Minister said he was totally com-mitted to transparency in selection of ben-eficiaries and his government wouldensure that no eligible person is left out ordeprived of his due share of social bene-fits.

An official spokesperson pointed outthat as many as 70137 fake social securi-ty beneficiaries have been weeded out aftera thorough verification and re-verificationexercise conducted by the Social Securityand Women & Child Development

Department on the directives of the ChiefMinister, who is committed to the fulfil-ment of the Congress poll promise ofincreasing the benefits given to the gen-uine beneficiaries.

NO ADMISSION, RE-ADMISSION ORTUITION FEE TO BE CHARGED BYGOVT SCHOOLS IN PUNJAB FOR2020-21 SESSION

In the programme, Capt Amarinderannounced that government schools in thestate will not charge any admission, re-admission and tuition fee from students forthe 2020-21 academic session on accountof the Covid crisis. As far as fee chargedby private schools was concerned, the stategovernment had already moved the court,but for government schools no fee wouldbe charged at all for the full year, said theChief Minister.

Capt Amarinder also announcedprovisional admission in Class XI for the31000 Class X students in the open schoolsystem, who could not promoted amid theCovid crisis based on internal assessment,as no such assessment exists for them. Toensure that their future is not adverselyaffected, the state government has decid-ed to allow them provisional admission inClass XI, but they will be required to takeexaminations once things normalise, hesaid. He also announced a cash prize of Rs.5100 each to 335 students who havescored over 98% in Class XII.

Congratulating the governmentschools for outscoring private schoolsagain this year, the Chief Minister point-ed out that the 94.32% pass percentage inGovernment schools is the highest ever in

the School Board history. Giving credit tothe teachers, staff and students whoworked hard despite the adversaries trig-gered by the Covid situation, the ChiefMinister extended his thanks to them all.He said that there has been an unprece-dented 13% increase in admission inGovernment schools this year.

HALWAI SHOPS IN PUNJAB CANSTAY OPEN ON AUGUST 2 ONACCOUNT OF RAKSHA BANDHAN

Halwai (sweet) shops in Punjab will beallowed to remain open on Sunday, August2, in view of the Raksha Bandhan festival,Capt Amarinder said. Shops are not per-mitted to open in the state on account ofthe Sunday lockdown in place amid theCovid crisis but the state government hadreceived various requests that the Halwaishops be allowed to function on the eveof Raksha Bandhan, which is on August3 this year. To a question on movementof inter-state buses on Raksha Bandhanday, the Chief Minister said there were norestrictions on such buses as far as Punjabwas concerned but other states might haveimposed curbs.

PLANT SAPLINGS Punjab government will launch a

drive to plant 400 trees in every village ofthe state to mark the auspicious 400thPrakash Purab of Sri Guru Tegh BahadurSahib. The plantation drive will be part ofthe various programmes and celebrationsplanned by the state government to com-memorate the historic occasion, ChiefMinister Captain Amarinder Singhannounced.

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Haryana Chief MinisterManohar Lal Khattar on

Saturday laid foundation stonesor inaugurated several devel-opmental projects worth �42crore to the residents of Karnaldistrict.

He laid the foundationstone of three developmentalworks worth �28.30 crore andalso inaugurated seven devel-opmental works costing � 13.47crore.

The Chief Minister laidthe foundation stone of con-struction of a new road fromKarnal-Munak Road to BhusliRoad. The road will be con-structed at a cost of �81.19 lakh.Besides this, the foundationstone of a railway underpassthat will be constructed on theUchana to Rukanpur Road wasalso laid by the Chief Minister.The underpass will be con-structed at a cost of �25 crore.

Similarly, a sports stadiumwill be constructed on 6 acresof land at a cost of more than�2.49 crore in Hathlana villagein Nissing block. The con-struction work has started andis likely to be completed with-in one year. The stadium willhave a 200-meter six-lane track,volleyball court, kabaddiground, basketball game facil-ities, multipurpose hall and toi-lets.

Similarly, the other projectsinaugurated by the ChiefMinister include a new roadthat will be constructed fromKarnal-Indri road to KaranLake-Uchana at a cost of Rs60.62 lakh. Recarpeting work ofroad from Anaj Mandi Nissingto Singhra village at a cost ofover Rs 1.60 crore. Besidesthis, he also inaugurated a newroad that will be constructedfrom Aungad village to Kaithalconstructed at a cost of over Rs.1.9 crore.

Besides this, Khattar inau-gurated the work of wideningand strengthening of road fromAlawala to Dachar at a cost ofRs. 3.87 crore, widening andstrengthening work of the roadfrom Dachar to Achhanpur tobe done at a cost of Rs. 1.79crore.

He also inaugurated thewidening and strengtheningwork of the road fromAchhanpur to Rukasana to bedone at a cost of over Rs. 1.15crore. Lastly, a FacilitationCentre at Karan Stadium, inKarnal district which has beenconstructed at a cost of Rs. 3.25crore was also inaugurated.

BOOSTING SPORTS FACIL-ITIES

Boosting sports facilitiesfor sportspersons in the State,the chief minister on Saturdayapproved an amount of Rs

1.35 crore for the constructionof a boxing hall. Besides this, healso announced that six bad-minton courts will be con-structed in the complexpremises.

Khattar made thisannouncement after inaugu-rating a Facilitation Centre atKaran Stadium, in Karnal dis-trict built at a cost of Rs. 3.25crore. Minister of State forSports and Youth Affairs,Sandeep Singh was also presentin the programme.

The chief minister alsohonoured 22 students of Karnaldistrict who had excelled inBoard of School EducationHaryana’s class XIIExamination by giving themappreciation certificates. Theprogramme was organized bythe Education Department.

In the context of otherdemands raised related toSports Complex in Karnal,Chief Minister said that he willbe digitally interacting withUnion Minister of YouthAffairs and Sports, Kiren Rijijuregarding sports facilities andit is expected that Haryana mayget the desired sports facilitiesfor the State, which would cer-tainly help in fulfilling all thesedemands.

On the demand for a largesports stadium of InternationalLevel to be constructed forsports like cricket in Karnal dis-

trict, he said that it is a matterof consideration at themoment. Referring to the cashincentive being given for play-ing traditional sports in thecountry, he called upon theplayers to join the traditionalsports.

The Chief Minister saidthat emphasis is being laid onmaking Haryana a Sports Hub,under which National LevelSports infrastructure, trainingand coaching facilities will beprovided in every corner of theState. Khattar said that theSports Policy implemented inthe State is the best in the coun-try under which players havemany facilities like cashrewards and reservation injobs. He said that in all theAsian Games orCommonwealth or even inInternational SportsCompetitions, players ofHaryana have always excelledby winning the maximumnumber of medals for thecountry and have brought lau-rels to the State.

The sports facilitation cen-tre at Karan Stadium has beenconstructed in about 20895sq.ft area. On its ground floor,a VIP lounge, JuniorFacilitation Officer(JFO)Room, Gym, Player NutritionCentre, Locker / ChangingRoom for players, Practice Halland toilet facilities for boys,

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In the backdrop of risingnumber of COVID-19 cases,

Punjab government onSaturday said it is fully gearedup to effectively deal with fur-ther spread of the disease withrequisite bed capacity and ven-tilators in hospitals, and ade-quate arrangement of PPEs,masks, and testing kits.

"The state government iswell prepared with requisitebed capacity, ventilators inhospitals besides having ade-quate arrangements of PPEkits, masks and testing kits todeal with increasing COVIDcases,” said chief secretary ViniMahajan in a statement.

She was taking stock of themedical infrastructure andarrangements in hospitalsacross the state in health insti-tutions in the wake of increas-ing COVID-19 cases.

Stressing that the situa-tion is under control and peo-ple need not panic, the chiefsecretary urged the people tostrictly adhere to health andsafety protocols includingmaintaining social distancing,proper wearing of masks, wash-ing hands frequently to containcoronavirus.

Mahajan, who also headsthe state COVID19 manage-ment group, mentioned thatsenior officer of civil adminis-trations had been deputed asnodal officers in all the districtswith senior IAS officers SumitJarangal and Tanu Kashyapdeputed as state nodal officersto oversee the daily number ofcases to make available the req-uisite medical infrastructurewell in time.

The group is an inter-sec-toral group to ensure syner-gized efforts from all depart-ments and stakeholders.

A state public health advi-sory group under the

Chairpersonship of K K Talwarhas also been constituted withthe state epidemiologist as theConvener.

She stated that the deputycommissioners had also beentasked to liaison with privatehospitals in the districts toincrease the availability of ded-icated beds for treatment ofCOVID-19 patients, which hadso far resulted in ensuringnearly 2,000 beds.

She also revealed that theaggressive testing had alreadybeen initiated in the hotspotdistricts to further keep thecoronavirus under check.

For level two and three, asmany as 5,000 beds are alreadyavailable across the state, saidMahajan.

The state government hasalready augmented its Covidcare capacity for mild asymp-tomatic cases, under 60 years ofage, with operationalisation ofnew level-1 Covid Care Centres(CCCs) with a total capacity of7,520 beds in 10 districts.

Similar centres with 100beds each, would be openedsoon in the remaining 12 dis-tricts, the chief secretary added.

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Punjab Chief Minister CaptAmarinder Singh on

Saturday welcomed Canada’sdecision not to recognise theresults of the ‘Referendum2020’ being organised by thepro-Khalistan group Sikhs forJustice (SFJ).

The Chief Minister hopedother countries would also fol-low Canada’s example andreject the secessionist`Referendum 2020’, which theSFJ was promoting to divideIndia on communal lines.

Capt Amarinder was react-ing to a media report quotinga spokesperson of the foreignministry of Canada, who said“Canada respects the sover-eignty, unity and territorialintegrity of India, and theGovernment of Canada willnot recognise the referendum.”

He said the categoricalstand taken by the JustinTrudeau government on theissue is exemplary and othernations and governmentsshould also come out openlyagainst SFJ, which has beenbanned by India as a terroristorganisation and whose founderGurpatwant Singh Pannu hasbeen declared a terrorist foractively promoting Pakistan-backed terror activities onIndian soil. The CM said failureto openly oppose the separatistSFJ could set a dangerousprecedent for any country as itcould be seen as a case ofcovert support to an organisa-tion that is freely propagatingsecessionist activities. It was inthe interest of global peace andsecurity to reject forces that arebent on spreading terror, hesaid, adding that Sikhs in Punjabhad categorically rejected SFJ’spor-Khalistan movement,which the outfit was spreadingat the behest of Pakistan’s ISI.

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Haryana Deputy ChiefMinister Dushyant

Chautala on Saturday said var-ious steps have been taken bythe State Government tostrengthen the road network inthe State.

The Deputy Chief Minister,who also holds the portfolio ofPublic Works (Building andRoads) Department, said thiswhile addressing the griev-ances of the people in Sirsa dis-trict.

He said that recently theCentral Government underthe Pradhan Mantri GraminSadak Yojana has approved anamount of �383.58 crore forHaryana to further strengthenroad network by constructingas many as 83 roads in eightdistricts of the State.

Chautala said an amount of�84.93 crore will be spent onthe upgradation (strengtheningand widening) of 11 roads of131 km length in Sirsa district.Besides this, Plastic waste willbe used for upgrading (repair,widening, strengthening) ofthese roads, due to which thequality of the roads willincrease and the public canavail the facilities of these roadsfor a longer period.

The Deputy CM said that11 roads in Sirsa district thatwill be upgraded include road

from Daulatpur Khera villageof block Baragudha viaRaghuana, village Bupp toPuuca upto Punjab Border viaJhiri, Panjmala, Thiraj,Desukhurd, Phaggu, Kamal,Pucca. Likewise, the roadfrom Gidder Khera toAboobshahar of block Dabwaliwill be constructed.

Similarly, road from villageDhani Jatan to Budhimari viaKhariSurera, Mithi Surera,Mamera, Talwara Khurd toKuttabadh via Thobria,Budhimari, Patti Kripal,Himayukhera, Rattakhera andEllenabad to Dholpalia viaDhani Naiyan road inEllenabad Block.

He said that theDevelopment and PanchayatDepartment has prepared aspecial plan for plastic wastemanagement and for this, plas-tic waste management has beenlinked with road construction.Plastic waste will be used forthe road up-gradation work, heasserted.

For this, the Developmentand Panchayat Departmentwill ensure the availability ofplastic waste from villages tothe Public Works Department.He said that the roads made ofplastic and those upgradedwith the plastic will certainlyhave a longer life and this willalso lessen the constructioncost.

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The Punjab Police StateCyber Crime Cell has

warned the citizens not to clickon a URL message being cir-culated via instant messagingservices like SMS or WhatsAppwhich depicts the free Covidrelief package of �2,000 givenby the Government to each cit-izen.

An official spokesperson ofthe Punjab Bureau ofInvestigation said these kindsof phishing attacks could per-mit cybercriminals to assumecontrol of your device by log-ging your keystrokes, or accessyour own data and moneyrelated information, whichcould lead to emptying yourbank account. He said thebody of the message being cir-culated in social media is like“The Government has finallyapproved and have started giv-ing out free �2,000 Relief Fundsto each citizen. Below is how toclaim and get yours creditinstantly as I have just did nowh t t p s : / / c o v i d 1 9 -relieffund.com/. You can onlyclaim and get credited once andit's also limited so get your nowinstantly.”

Pointing out output he saidonce anyone opens the pageafter clicking on the URL, itshows the congratulatory mes-sage. “Get free �7,000 instant-ly to your bank account. Pleasecomplete the survey to availfree lockdown relief funds.”

Along with the congratu-latory message, there is a ques-tion asking that are you abonafide Indian citizen? Afteranswering the questions, it isobserved that the link actual-ly contains a questionnaireasking about your several otherdetails such as “How much cansustain you throughout theirlogin? What will you use free

�7000 for?” After that you willreceive a congratulatory mes-sage of getting �7,000. You willget a link for sharing this mes-sage to other groups and con-tacts.

The Bureau has urged thepeople to remain extremelycautious in this regard and notto click on suspicious URLlinks on social media plat-forms. “If anyone comes acrossany such message, through anysocial media platform, don’t notforward it to others but deleteit immediately. Clicking onsuch links pose high risksbecause it could be malwarewhich could redirect you toother fraudulent sites whichmay lead to financial loss to theuser”, he cautioned.

“Any information in thisregard or any other cyber crimecan be shared with the StateCyber Crime InvestigationCentre on email ID [email protected] to enable the depart-ment to take suitable legalaction against the criminalsindulging in such fraudulentacts”, he added.

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Appreciating the potentialand contribution of

Haryana in the field of sports,Union Minister of State forYouth Affairs and Sports, KirenRijiju on Saturday announcedthat Panchkula will host the 4thedition of 'Khelo India YouthGames-2021'. Rijiju made thisannouncement during an inter-action with Haryana ChiefMinister, Manohar Lal Khattarheld digitally here, a govern-ment release said. Minister ofState for Sports and YouthAffairs, Sandeep Singh andother Senior Officers of theSports Ministry were also pre-sent.

The Union Minister saidthat due to COVID-19 crisis,'Khelo India Youth Games-2020' will not be organized thisyear. Therefore the next editionof this tournament will be orga-nized in Panchkula. The UnionMinister further clarified thatthe tournament will be orga-nized after the completion of theOlympic Games in Tokyo.

Thanking the UnionMinister for choosing Haryanato host the 4th edition of KheloIndia Youth Games next year,Khattar said, “Sports Policyimplemented in the State is thebest in the country. The athletesare given cash rewards whenthey win medals and we also givethem reservation in jobs. Thisgives athletes the confidence toperform.”He shared that it is amatter of great pride that in the‘Khelo India Youth Games-2018’, Haryana achieved firstposition, while in the last editionheld in Guwahati, the State hadbagged second spot with 200medals to its name. “Our ath-letes don't play only for medalsbut for the pride of the State andthe Country,” the CM said.

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With the arrest of sevenaccused, including 5

Nigeria nationals, HaryanaPolice on Saturday said it hasbusted a gang of cheatsinvolved in online frauds inFaridabad district. They used toallegedly cheat people throughFacebook promising expen-sive gifts.

A Haryana Policespokesperson said that arrest-ed accused were identified asWilliams Michael, a resident ofLiberia, West African States(Ecowas), Promise Ebere Okoli@ Prince of Osina, Nigeria,Halimat Mohammed ofUhonmwonde Lafia, Nigeria,Okeke Nnabugo of AWGUNigeria, Kenechukwu Okontaof Nigeria, Anurag of

Ballabhgarh and Nishant ofChawla Colony Ballabhgarh.

Police had recovered twopassports of different countriesfrom Williams Michael andPromise Ebere Okoli.

The passport of accusedHalimat has expired. All fiveforeign accused living in ahouse in Faridabad.

Explaining the modusoperandi, the spokesman saidthat first these fraudsters usedto befriend people by creatingFacebook profiles in the nameof foreign girl.

After winning the confi-dence, they lured them byoffering costly gifts fromabroad like gold jewelry, mobilephones. They used to con-vince people that the giftparcels coming from abroadneed clearances from custom,

excise and other taxes. For this, they asked their

target to deposit a certainamount to a particular bankaccount and cheat gullible peo-ple.

After getting a complaint ofonline fraud in which the vic-tim was cheated of �35,500 onJuly 23, a police team was con-stituted to arrest the fraudsters.Working on the tech-basedintelligence and other inputs, ithad arrested seven accusedincluding 5 Nigerians.

Both accused Anurag andNishant had provided bankaccount numbers to Nigeriansfor getting money.

All were produced beforethe court which remandedthem 4-day police custody forintensive interrogation. Furtherprobe into this case is on.

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From page 1The state's recovery rate on

Saturday was at 77.46 per cent,while the rate of doubling ofinfections was 23 days.

NINE MORE DEATHS INPUNJAB, 468 FRESH CASESTAKES TALLY TO 12,684

Chandigarh: Nine peoplesuccumbed to COVID-19 inPunjab Saturday, pushing thedeath toll to 291, while 468fresh cases took the tally to12,684, a medical bulletinsaid.

Four fatal it ies werereported in Ludhiana andone each in Ja landhar,Ferozepur, Amritsar, Barnalaand Rupnagar, according to amedical bulletin.

Of the new cases, 155were detected in Ludhiana, 55in Amritsar, 40 in Patiala, 38in Sangrur, 32 in Mohali, 29in Jalandhar, 18 each inBarnala and Bathinda, 16 inGurdaspur, 10 each inFerozepur, Fatehgarh Sahib,Faridkot and Kapurthala, sixeach in Moga, Pathankot andRupnagar, five in Tarn Taran,two in SBS Nagar and oneeach in Hoshiarpur andMansa.

Seven policemen inAmritsar, three in Gurdaspur,two each in Fatehgarh Sahiband Bathinda were amongthe fresh cases.

Punjab has continued to

add over 400 fresh cases everyday for some days. OnWednesday, Thursday andFriday, the state recorded 414,441 and 482 cases respective-ly.

A total of 201 coronaviruspatients were discharged afterrecovery. So far, 8,297 peoplehave been cured of the infec-tion.

There are 4,096 activeCOVID-19 cases in the state,according to the bulletin.

Ludhiana continued totop the COVID-19 tally with2,327 cases, followed by 1,937in Jalandhar, 1 ,491 inAmritsar, 1,294 in Patiala,924 in Sangrur, 679 in Mohali,451 in Hoshiarpur, 363 inGurdaspur, 311 in Pathankot,291 in SBS Nagar, 283 inFerozepur, 276 in FatehgarhSahib, 265 in Moga, 262 inTarn Taran, 260 in Bathinda,258 in Faridkot, 208 inFazilka, 202 in Muktsar, 196in Rupnagar, 194 inKapurthala, 116 in Barnalaand 96 in Mansa.

CHANDIGARH REPORTS29 FRESH CASES

The Union Territory ofChandigarh reported 29 freshCOVID-19 cases on Saturday,taking total to 852. The city'sdeath toll stands at 13. Thereare total of 284 actie cases inthe city while 555 cases havebeen cured.

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Delhi Chief Minister ArvindKejriwal on Saturday inau-

gurated 450-bedded hospital inBurari and said the number ofbeds now increased for coron-avirus patients in the city.

Speaking virtually at theinauguration of 450-bed Delhigovernment hospital in Burari,he said Covid-related parame-ters have improved in Delhi inthe last one month.

“The two crore people ofthe city, his Government andthe Centre have togetherattained victory in controllingCovid-19 but the fight is notover yet. The new Burari hos-pital will serve the people of thearea and will prove to be a hugesupport in the health infra-structure in Delhi,” he said.

Health Minister SatyendarJain inaugurated the hospitaland was joined through videoconferencing by the Chief

Minister.The Chief Minister point-

ed out that in the past onemonth, cases of Covid-19 havegone down, deaths havereduced, recovery rate hasincreased and positivity ratiohas lowered.

“This is a result of the hardwork of all the people. I wantto congratulate all the doctors,nurses, paramedic staff, offi-cials, and whoever has worked

hard to achieve this goal.”Kejriwal said, “I am very

happy after inaugurating BurariHospital today. I could not bethere due to Covid and variousother arrangements. I visited thehospital a few days back toinspect all arrangements thatwere being made in the hospital.The opening of this hospital willadd 450 more beds in the healthinfrastructure in Delhi,”

The hospital will eventual-

ly have a total of 700 beds.Around 125 beds will have oxy-gen supply and the capacity willbe enhanced in the comingdays, the Delhi governmentsaid in a statement.

Kejriwal said that in the lastone month, the number ofcases, positivity ratio, and deathratio have gone down, and therecovery rate has increased.“This is the result of the hardwork of all the people. I wantto congratulate all the doctors,nurses, paramedic staff, offi-cials, and whoever has workedhard to achieve this goal,” hesaid.

After cases of coronaviruskeep increasing in Delhi, ChiefMinister Arvind Kejriwal andDeputy Chief Minister ManishSisodia visited the hospital totake stock of the arrangementsa month back and instructedthe officials to expedite theconstruction work of the hos-pital.

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Two Lashkar-e-Tayyeba(LeT) terrorists were neu-

tralised by the joint teams ofsecurity forces in theRanbirgarh-Panzinara area ofSrinagar on Saturday. Duringthe operation, no collateraldamage of life and propertywas suffered by the securityforces and the civilians in thearea.

Since July 1, the securityforces have eliminated 19 ter-rorists in nine operations acrossKashmir valley.

In another successfulsearch operation launched inthe forest area of Marpathri inupper reaches of Gulmarg,Baramulla security forcesSaturday recovered oneDragunov Sniper rifle withmagazines, 194 AK-47rounds.

Defence PRO in Srinagar,Col Rajesh Kalia said, "alongwith the Dragunov sniperrfile,10 Rifle grenades & twoIED circuits were also recov-

ered".Meanwhile, till late evening

the Jammu and Kashmir policehad not officially confirmed theidentity of the slain terrorists,but official sources claimedboth the terrorists werebelieved to be the cadres of LeTand were active in the areasince 2018.

The slain terrorists wereidentified as LeT CommanderIshfaq Rashid and AijazAhmand. They were both localterrorists,official sourcesrevealed.

In another incident,Jammu and Kashmir alsoclaimed to have rescued oneterrorist who had joined pro-scribed terror outfit Al Badr afew weeks ago.

According to a policespokesman, "a joint cordonand search operation waslaunched by JKP, 29RR andCRPF in the Ranbirgarh-Panzinara area of Srinagar afterreceiving a specific tip offabout the presence of terroristson Saturday".

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In a positive development, thetotal number of cured Covid-

19 patients discharged so farfrom various hospitals in thestate crossed 2 lakh mark inMaharashtra on Saturday thusamounting to 56.55 per centrecovery rate, even as 257 peo-ple died of Coronavirus, while9251 others tested positivefor the pandemic in the state.

As 7,227 patients weredischarged from various hos-pitals in the state, the totalnumber of people dischargedfrom various hospitals -- eversince the breakout of the pan-demic in the state in the sec-ond week of March - rose2,07,194 as on Saturday. As aconsequence, the authoritiespegged the recovery rate at56.55 per cent.

With 257 new deaths, thetotal number of deaths in var-ious parts of the state went upto 13389. Similarly with 9251fresh infections, the total num-

ber of infected cases jumped to3,66,368.

Of the total 258 deaths,Pune accounted for the high-est 72 deaths, overtakingMumbai for the second con-secutive day.

Mumbai recorded 52deaths, taking the total num-ber of deaths in the country'scommercial capital from 5,984to 6,036 and the infected casesincreased by 1,080 to touch108,060.

Apart from 72 deaths inPune and 52 deaths inMumbai, there were 49 deathsin Thane, 12 deaths each inNashik and Solapur, 9 each inPalghar and Jalgaon, 7 inKolhapur, 6 in Raigad, 5 inRatnagiri, 4 in Aurangabad, 3each in Sangli and Jalna, 2 eachin Dhule and Nanded andone death each in Nandurbar,Satara, Sindhudurg, Beed,Akola, Amravati, Buldhana,Wardha and Nagpur. In addi-tion one more person fromanother state died inMaharashtra. The mortalityrate in the state is 3. 68 percent. The state health author-ities said the number of "activecases" in the state at 1,43,714.

With 84851 infected casesand 2298 deaths, Thane con-tinued to be the second worsthit district in Maharashtra.Pune, which has emerged asthe third worst affected districtin terms of spread of the pan-demic, has recorded 73007infections and 1738 deathst i l lnow.

Out of 17,87,306 samplessent to laboratories, 3,57,117have tested positive (20 cent)for COVID-19 until Thursday.Currently, 8,88,976 people arein home quarantine while45,838 people are in institu-tional quarantine.

Maharashtra Chief MinisterUddhav Thackeray inaugurateda fully-equipped 50-bed Covidhospital in the RelianceIndustries Ltd. educational com-plex at Nagothane in Raigad dis-trict.

Thackeray also inaugu-rated a new Covid-19 TestingLab with a capacity of 3,000tests in Kalyan and dedicat-ed Corona Care CentresKalyan and Dombivali towns- all in Thane district - in thepresence of GuardianMinister Eknath Shinde, dis-tr ic t C ol lector VijaySuryawanshi and other dig-nitaries.

The Shree Kutchi KadvaPatidar Samaj, Dombivali, hashelped set up a 210-bed hos-pital including 60 with oxygenand 10 in ICU, plus accom-modation for over a 100 doc-tors, nurses and staffers, whilethe Asra Foundation of Kalyanhas also set up a 194-bed hos-pital with 100 oxygen beds and10 semi-ICU beds.

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Prime Minister NarendraModi is likely to hold a

meeting with Chief Ministersof the States and representativesof the Union Territories on July27 to discuss the Covid-19pandemic crisis and unlock 3.0.The main agenda of the meet-ing is expected to be on thehealth scenario and the wayforward and policies to beadopted from July 31, the cur-rent unlockdown guidelinesend.

Union Home MinisterAmit Shah and Health MinisterHarsh Vardhan will also takepart in the meeting along withthe Prime Minister to address

the concerns of the States.After the inputs from the States,the Centre will hold a series ofconsultations with officialsacross the country and formu-late the new un-lockdownguidelines from August 1.There were inputs from manystates to continue the existingnorms till August 15, consid-ering the current situation.

Many States have alreadyinformed the Centre on con-tinuing restrictions on largegatherings and implementingsocial distancing norms. Stateshave already sought financialassistance from the Centre inincreasing the health infra-structure and creating specificCovid-19 treatment centres ineach district.

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Indian Institute of Technology(IIT) Kharagpur researchers

have developed a cost-effectiveportable diagnostic device thatcan detect Covid-19 infectionwithin an hour and estimatedto cost just �400.

This entire test can be con-ducted in an ultra-low-costportable enclosure as an alter-native to specialised laborato-ry equipment. The sameportable unit can be used for alarge number of tests, on merereplacement of the paper car-tridge after each test.

The device has beenproven to produce no falseresult with remarkable accura-cy and sensitivity compatible tostandard RT-PCR tests, saidProf. Suman Chakraborty from

the Mechanical EngineeringDepartment, and Dr. ArindamMondal from the School of BioScience, both from IITKharagpur. The technologyessentially deploys a disposablesimple paper-strip for chemi-cal analysis and visualization ofresults.

“The new device has beendesigned to be usable at loca-tions with extremely poorresources in an uncontrolledenvironment, catering theneeds of the underserved pop-ulation. Moreover, it can beoperated by minimally trainedpersonnel, precluding theneeds for skilled technicians,”said Dr Chakraborty.

While the Institute canproduce the testing kit up to acertain scale, patent licensingwill facilitate commercializa-tion opportunities for medical

technology companies.Dr Mondal added, “The

unique portable device devel-oped by the IIT Kharagpurresearchers has not only beenvalidated for the diagnostics ofCovid-19, but also beendesigned to be capable ofdetecting any other kind of

RNA virus by following thesame generic procedure. Theimpact of this, therefore, is longlasting, empowered by thecapability of detecting unfore-seen viral pandemics in thecoming years that may poten-tially endanger human livestime and again.”

The project received finan-cial support from the Institutein late April after Professor VK Tewari, Director, IITKharagpur, decided to set up afund to support Covid-19 relat-ed research and product devel-opment.

“We are ready for com-mercialization of the product.Any corporate or start-up canapproach the Institute for tech-nology licensing and commer-cial scale of production. TheInstitute is open to tie-ups,” saidDr Tewari.

New Delhi: Railway Minister PiyushGoyal hit back at the Congress onSaturday after Rahul Gandhi accused theRailways of making profit throughShramik trains, alleging that only thosewho “looted” the country can call sub-sidy a profit.

“Only those who looted the countrycan describe subsidy as profit. The rail-ways spent more money in runningShramik trains than it received from StateGovernments. People are now askingwhat happened to Sonia ji's promise ofpaying for people's tickets,” Goyal tweet-ed.

Congress president Sonia Gandhihad said during the migrant crisis thather party will pay for tickets of Shramik

train passengers after reports emergedthat they, mostly poor migrants, weremade to pay for their journey.

On Saturday, Congress leader RahulGandhi accused the Government ofbenefitting by making profits during thecoronavirus-induced lockdown whenpeople were in trouble.

“There are clouds of disease and peo-ple are in trouble, but one seeks to ben-efit -- this anti-people Government isconverting a disaster into profits and isearning,” he said in a tweet in Hindi, tag-ging a new report.

The railways spent �2,142 crore onrunning Shramik Special trains butearned a revenue of just �429 crore, offi-cial data showed PTI

New Delhi: The Drug ControllerGeneral of India (DCGI) has can-celled the rapid diagnostic kit importlicenses of three firms —CadilaHealthcare, MDAAC Internationaland N W Overseas —and suspend-ed that of 16 others noting that theUSFDA has removed the manufac-turers from their list of Coronavirusserology test kits with directionsthat they should not be distributed.

The companies were issued showcause notices on July 17 asking whytheir import licenses shall not be can-celled since the diagnostic kits of themanufacturers have been removed byUSFDA with direction that it shouldnot be distributed from the list of prod-uct of serology test kits for Covid-19

disease, according to a DCGI official.The firms were directed to sub-

mit their reply by July 20, failingwhich it would be presumed theyhave nothing to say in the matter andaction deemed fit will be initiatedunder provisions of the Drugs andCosmetics Act.

“Your response to the show causenotice has not been found satisfactorywith respect to removal of said kit, byUSFDA from their list mentioningnot to distribute,” the DCGI orderissued to the 16 companies on July 21stated. “However, it has been men-tioned by you to not to cancel yoursaid import license for the aboveproduct. Therefore, in public interest,your import license for above prod-

uct becomes inoperative and standssuspended, till further orders,” itsaid.

As for the three companieswhose licenses were cancelled, theorders said, “Your response to theshow cause notice has not beenfound satisfactory with respect to theremoval of said kit, by USFDA fromtheir list mentioning not to distrib-ute.”

“Further, it has been mentionedby you that you intend to surrenderyour license for the above product.Therefore, in public interest, yourimport license for above productbecomes inoperative and stands can-celled with immediate effect,” as perthe order. PNS

����� ������ ��

The BSF is conducting afield trial of hand-held

ground penetrating radar todetect tunnels, ImprovisedExplosive Devices (IEDs) andlandmines along the Indo-Pakborder.

When deployed, the state-of-the-art equipment will helpthe BSF in curbing smugglingof arms and drugs besidesinfiltration of terrorists throughthe tunnels. The deployment ofthese portable radar sets will bedone once the feedback fromthe ground is satisfactory, offi-cial sources said.

The move to test the effi-cacy of the hi-tech equipmentof Israeli-origin on the groundcomes days after the UnionHome Ministry gave a go aheadfor it.

The Ground PenetratingRadar (GPR) weighing only 5kg is completely man-portableand can be operated in a hand-held manner. The GPR is fittedwith an LCD screen and anintegrated telescopic rod capa-ble of automatically identifyingthe target and displaying thesame on the screen.

A high-level committee ofthe Union Home Ministry thatincluded BSF representatives

has approved the requiredspecifications of the equip-ment being tested.

The Border Security Force(BSF) is the world’s largestborder guarding force tasked tosecure the frontiers alongPakistan and Bangladesh. TheBSF is also the Lead IntelligenceAgency along these two fron-tiers and smuggling arms andammunition besides drugs asalso infiltration is a majorchallenge for the Force that hasto conduct patrols in terrainsthat include non-motorableareas covered with elephantgrass.

The IEDs and mines pose

realtime danger to the person-nel on patrol duties, an officialsaid, adding the equipment

will help in keeping a bettertrack of the movement of ter-rorists.

The GPR, a technologyfirst perfected by Israel, iscapable of detecting differentcategories of mines and IEDs invaried soil conditions, the offi-

cial said.The technology is estimat-

ed to strengthen the proposedsmart fencing and counter-infiltration grid besides curb-ing the menace of smugglingsyndicates along the Westernfrontier with Pakistan thatoften use underground tunnelsfor movement of contraband.

The radar system also hasan inbuilt data-storage facility,both external storage of 16 GBand integrated 4 GB internalmemory. The real-time detec-tion of IEDs and mines willhelp in swiftly defusing thehidden explosive devices, offi-cials said.

The prevalent systemdeployed for detecting minesand IEDs is a time-consumingmeasure as the BSF and Armytogether could detect just sixcross-border tunnels along theborder in Jammu region since2012. Manual detection meth-ods have also delivered similarfindings along the border withPakistan adjoining Punjab andRajasthan.

The tunnel detectingequipment is being tested evenas Pakistan-backed terroristgroups are now using drones tosend shipments of weaponsacross this side of the border.

������� ���� ������ ��

As the coronavirus casescontinue to rise at an

alarming rate in India, someStates have resorted to a com-plete lockdown while severalothers opted for partial orweekend lockdown to preventthe transmission of virus infec-tions. Of the total 739 districts,at least 64 districts are stillunder a complete lockdownwhile 119 have partial lock-down or weekend lockdown.

West Bengal’s Kalimpongdistrict will go for a completelockdown for seven days fromSunday even as Kerala ismulling re-imposition of acomplete lockdown.

Bihar, Sikkim, Manipurand Kashmir valley are under

complete lockdown while WestBengal, Punjab, Uttar Pradeshand Madhya Pradesh haveopted for weekend lockdowns.If 'Janata Curfew' is in place inNagpur city for July 25-26,Bhopal is under lockdownfrom July 24 till August 3.Interestingly, state governmentshave chosen lockdowns as pertheir convenience.

Since the lifting of thelockdown, the number of coro-navirus cases in the country hasalmost doubled from 604,993on June 1 to over 13.80 lakhcases on July 25. India’s totalcoronavirus case tally is set tohit the 1.5 million mark inseven days’ time if it continuesto rise at the same pace.

As per data, complete lock-down has been reimposed in 64

districts that include 38 inBihar, 10 in Sikkim, 10 inKashmir, five in Odisha, one inArunachal Pradesh, one inMadhya Pradesh.

Under the complete lock-down, only essential servicesincluding medical facilities,goods movement and mediaare allowed.

There are 119 districtsacross India that are under par-tial or weekend lockdown thatinclude Punjab’s 22 district,Uttarakhand (2), Maharashtra’s(9), Goa (1), Karnataka (5),Chhattisgarh (5), Odisha (23),Tamil Nadu (37), Assam (2) ,Nagaland (11) and ArunachalPradesh (1). In partial lock-down, restricted movement ofpeople with e-passes isrequired.

The Nitish KumarGovernment has imposed acomplete lockdown in 38 dis-tricts in the state till July 31.Despite low testing, the num-ber of Covid-19 cases rose to33,511 cases in the State.

Sikkim has imposed acomplete lockdown in its fourdistricts from July 21 to July 27and all 10 districts in Kashmirvalley is also under the lock-down till July 27. A weekendlockdown has been imposed in

Jammu from July 24.Nagaland also extended

the lockdown in its six districtstill July 31. Odisha hasannounced a 14-day completeshutdown in Ganjam,Khurdha, Cuttack, Jajpur dis-trict and Rourkela MunicipalCorporation area till July 31midnight as the number ofcases rose to over 22,683.

In Maharashtra, partiallockdown has been extendedtill July 31 and inter-districttravel has been restricted. TheMamata Banerjee Governmenthas announced complete lock-down across the State for twodays every week.

There will be a completelockdown in West Bengal onJuly 23, 25 and 29.

In Arunachal Pradesh, the

ongoing lockdown in theItanagar Capital Region (ICR)has been extended till August3 while Kerala's capitalThiruvananthapuram will stayunder a strict lockdown up tothe midnight of July 28.

The Uttar Pradesh gov-ernment has imposed lock-down in four areas of capitalLucknow--Ghazipur, SarojniNagar, Indira Nagar, andAshiyana. Lockdown has beenimposed in Srikakulam districtin Andhra Pradesh for 14 daysand in Karnataka the lockdownin Kalaburgi district has beenextended till the midnight ofJuly 27.

The national lockdownacross India was lifted after 68days from June 1. But theunion home ministry has

allowed state governments toenforce lockdowns or any otherrestrictions to control thespread of Covid 19.

As per government data, atleast 20 districts worst affectedby the novel coronavirus dis-ease account for nearly 65-70percent of the coronavirusinfections cases in the country.Out of these, seven districts arein Maharashtra, three in TamilNadu, two each in Gujarat andHaryana. Delhi is taken as onewhole district while the statesof Telangana, West Bengal,Madhya Pradesh, Karnatakaand Rajasthan contain one dis-trict each.

The data shows that so far,at least 512 out of over 700 dis-tricts in India have had at leastone covid-related death.

�������'������� ������� ���

In the wake of various reportsshowing that antibodies

against SARS-CoV-2 may notbe long-lasting, the IndianCouncil of Medical Research(ICMR) is mulling a study toassess the immunologicalresponse to the virulent virusthat has swept the world. InIndia, the virus has infectedover 13 lakh people whileclaiming over 30,000 lives.

Sources in the ICMR saidthat scientists from the researchinstitute will collaborate withresearchers at AIIMS-Delhiwhere a cohort of recoveredCovid-19 patients will be stud-ied over a period of time toassess their antibody levels andits role in coming months.

“We need to examinewhether the population, atleast, in high exposure areas, isany closer to herd immunitywhich will depend on the typeof antibodies produced,” saidthe sources at the ICMR.

“For example, are they neu-tralising antibodies? And howlong will they last or howquickly might they wane? Wecould do these studies on peo-ple at least in containmentzones with high exposure lev-els,” they added.

There have been reportsthat levels of antibodies againstSARS-CoV-2, the virus thatcauses Covid-19, dropped dra-

matically over the first 3months of infection in 34 peo-ple recovered from mild illness.

“Antibody levels againstthe novel coronavirusdecreased by about half every73 days and, if that rate weresustained, would be depletedwithin about a year,” accordingto researchers from Universityof California at Los Angeles.Their research letter has beenpublished in the New EnglandJournal of Medicine.

Yet another report pub-lished in Nature showed rapid-ly decreasing antibody levelsafter infection. The results alsodim hopes for “immunity pass-ports,” which some govern-ments have suggested wouldallow recovered Covid-19patients to return to work ortravel on the presumption thatthey were immune againstreinfection, and well as forlasting herd immunity, inwhich at least 60 percent ofpeople are immune after recov-ering from infection.

“The results call for cautionregarding antibody-based'immunity passports,' herdimmunity, and perhaps vaccinedurability, especially in light ofshort-lived immunity againstcommon human coronavirus-es,” the authors wrote. “Furtherstudies will be needed to definea quantitative protectionthreshold and rate of decline ofantiviral antibodies beyond 90days.”

����� �G���G�

Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister YogiAdityanath has asked all temples

in Ayodhya to carry out special clean-ing of their premises and light lampson August 4 and 5 to celebrate thebeginning of the construction of agrand temple of Lord Ram, sources saidon Saturday.

The Chief Minister was on a shortvisit to Ayodhya to review the prepa-rations for the foundation stone layingceremony for the construction of theRam temple.

According to Shri RamJanmabhoomi Teertha Kshetra Trustmembers, Prime Minister NarendraModi is likely to visit Ayodhya onAugust 5 for the “bhoomi pujan” cer-emony to begin the construction of theRam temple.

The trust has invited Modi to laythe foundation stone of the templeeither on August 3 or 5, both auspiciousdates, based on calculations of move-ments of stars and planets.

Triloki Nath Pandey, the decree-holder of the Shri Ram Janmabhoomi

Teertha Kshetra, said, “CM Adityanathhas asked all temples in Ayodhya to dospecial cleaning and purification, andlight lamps on August 4 and 5 to cel-ebrate the big day.”

The chief minister made theremarks at a meeting with seers andmembers of the Ram Mandir Trust atthe Vishwa Hindu Parishad head-quarters at Karsewak Puram onSaturday.

“At the meeting, Adityanathremarked that this is an auspiciousoccasion that has come after a 500-yearstruggle. The whole country is full ofjoy and we too should celebrate themoment and accord a grand welcometo PM Narendra Modi,” Pandey said.

During the visit to Ayodhya,Adityanath placed the idols of Laxman,Bharat and Shatrughan on the new'asans' at the Ram Janmabhoomi tem-ple site. He reached Ayodhya in theafternoon and took part in a 'puja'.

He also offered prayers at theHanumangarhi Temple and inspectedthe stones carved for Ram Temple atMandir Nirmaan Karyashala.

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A14-year-old boy has been taken in police cus-tody for allegedly raping a 2.5-year-old girl

at a village in Uttar Pradesh's Bulandshahr dis-trict, officials said on Saturday.

Around a dozen men from the village inDibai area have been booked for threatening the girl's family against approachingthe police over the incident on Friday, the offi-cials said.

Bulandshahr Senior Superintendent ofPolice Santosh Kumar Singh said an FIR waslodged on the basis of a complaint from the girl'sfamily and the matter is under investigation.

“No external injury was found during pre-liminary check up by doctors.

The 14-year-old accused has been taken intocustody and the girl sent to district hospital fordetailed medical examination,” Singh said.

He said during initial probe some villagerstold the police that the girl had fallen somewherenear her house and the boy had “probably justpicked her up in his lap”.

“But the girl's family has alleged sexualoffence, both natural and unnatural, with the girlby the boy. We are awaiting detailed medicalreport at the moment to proceed further,” the dis-trict police chief said.

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Lucknow/Ayodhya:UttarPradesh Chief Minister YogiAdityanath on Saturday visitedAyodhya and placed the idolsof Laxman, Bharat andShatrughan on the new 'asans'at the Ram Janmabhoomi tem-ple site.

The Chief Minister reachedAyodhya in the afternoon andtook part in a 'puja'. He alsooffered prayers at theHanumangarhi Temple andinspected the stones carvedfor Ram Temple at MandirNirmaan Karyashala.

He then held a meetingwith seers and members of theRam Mandir Trust at theVishwa Hindu Parishad head-quarters at Karsewak Puram.

Adityanath is on a shortvisit to Ayodhya to review thepreparations for the foundationstone laying ceremony for theconstruction of the RamTemple.

The visit comes ahead ofthe Prime Minister NarendraModi's expected visit to lay thefoundation stone of the RamTemple in Ayodhya on August5 . The construction of the tem-

ple will start with the ceremony to lay the foundationstone.

A trust member had saidthat in view of the coronaviruspandemic, only 200 people

would attend the ceremonyand all social distancing normswill be followed at the event.

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Most of the measures takenby the Government in

this financial year will definitelyshow results and drive thecountry to have at least a 6 percent growth rate in the FY22,economists and industry lead-ers stated on Saturday.

Speaking at the Webinarorganized by ASSOCHAMtitled- “Economic Outlook:Post Pandemic”, Ajit Ranade,president and chief economistat Aditya Birla Group explainedthat the last three months havebeen quite unprecedented.

“In the April- June quarter,there has been a minus 15 percent contraction. The foreigninvestors have pulled outalmost $16 billion from theIndian markets, however, thedomestic investors have been

continuously investing moneyto the tune of almost Rs 90,000crore back in the stock markets.There is a lot of enthusiasm andoptimism which is leading themarkets to boom and this isreally amazing,” he said.

According to Ranade, therewould be a sharper recovery tothe tune of at least 6 per centin the financial year 2022 dueto several factors.

“The agriculture sector isdoing very well and is expect-ed to grow at least to the tuneof 3 to 4 per cent. The mini-mum support price (MSP) pro-gram by the government was ahuge hit not only in goodstates like Punjab and Haryanabut also in other smaller states.This will give some momentumin the next year,” he said.

He also added that therural employment guarantee

program was a huge successand saw the numbers almostdoubling. “Also the MGNRE-GA program was a hugeachievement. The Fiscal stim-ulus package 2.0 as it knownwill play a big role in shapingup the things to come and helpin reviving the growth momen-tum,” he pointed out.

Rathin Roy, Director,National Institute of PublicFinance and Policy, and a for-mer member of the PrimeMinister’s Economic AdvisoryCouncil explained that theindustry would need to collec-tively chalk out a plan and pre-sent it to the government.

“The industry leaderswould need to take the lead andchalk out a three-year plan andpresent it to the government.The role of the governmentwould be limited and it’s the

industry that would need totake the lead. Let it work on thereverse,” he added.

Tirthankar Patnaik, chiefeconomist at the National StockExchange (NSE) explained thatdespite the negativity seen ear-lier on the stock exchanges, ittook very little time for it tobounce back.

“From March 20, the stockmarkets started going up, thatis because the global and theIndian stock markets look atthe short term nature of thecoronavirus,” he said.

Patnaik added that thoughthe growth is largely out of thebase effect and the impact maynot be likely to go away.

“The NPAs are likely to bein the tune of 12 per cent to 15per cent; however the marketsdo not see this continuing inthe long run. Also for the

FY22, the earnings have not yetbeen downgraded and expectthe earnings to catch up,” headded.

Shekhar Shah, DirectorGeneral of the NationalCouncil of Applied EconomicResearch (NCAER) stated thatthere is a lot of transformationgoing on in the country at themoment.

“Digitalisation is going tobe the key factor. In the lastfour months, most employeeswhile working from homeshave managed to get around80-90 per cent of productivity,think about the saving it wouldhave on the external factors.This would propel a huge leapin certain critical areas,” he said.

He also informed that it istime to reset our thinking onhealth policies. “Due to thepandemic, the fault lines in the

society have been revealed.While we have been concen-trating too much on the ruralareas, it is also time to think asmuch for the urban safety netsas well. While we think aboutthe cure, we need to thinkmuch more about the preven-tion,” he informed.

Suman Bery, Global FellowAsia Program of the WoodrowWilson International Center forScholars, Washington DC stat-ed that there is a need to pri-oritize the relief, recovery andreform structure and deal withthe issues in a sequence.

“The Atmanirbhar Bharat,global linkages and search fora new growth model are theneed of the hour. The medical,humanitarian, economic, andpolitical differences need to beresolved. The framework ofgovernment’s focus should

include supply side, demandside, and terms of trade,” hesaid.

Upasna Bhardwaj, SeniorEconomist & Head EconomicResearch Kotak MahindraBank explained that there is arisk-aversion in the willingnessto lend at present. “The big cor-porates still have enough fundsbut it is the smaller corporatesthat are suffering the most.Banks are reluctant to lendthem. The pandemic hasincreased a lot of risk in thefinancial market,” she said.

Chairman ofASSOCHAM’s NationalCouncil for Banking & Non-Executive Chairman of Punjab& Sindh Bank, Charan Singh,stated that opening up of agri-culture to the private investmentwill significantly contribute togrowth, in the near future.

Niranjan Hiranandani,National President,ASSOCHAM and Co-founderof the Hiranadani Groupinformed that the governmentdue to its various financialannouncements has adequate-ly taken care of the supply sideof the economics and owing toits various policy announce-ments set the path for longterm reforms. “What we alsoneed at this hour is land andlabour reforms. The powercosts in certain states are veryhigh. Companies are movingout of Maharashtra to Gujaratto get the advantage of lowerpower bills. Out of the textileunits which moved out ofChina, almost 23 went toVietnam and only 2 came toIndia. We need to have a com-prehensive policy to addressthese issues,” he said.

������ 66,��

Private sector lending majorICICI Bank on Saturday

reported a 36 per cent growthin standalone net profit of�2,599 crore for the first quar-ter of 2020-21.

The bank had earned a netprofit of �1,908 crore for thecorresponding period of theprevious fiscal.

Similarly, net interestincome (NII) increased by 20per cent year-on-year t o �9,280crore in Q1FY21 from �7,737crore in Q1-2020.

“The net interest marginwas 3.69 per cent in Q1-2021compared to 3. 87 per cent inthe quarter ended March 31,2020 (Q4-2020) and 3.61 percent in Q1-2020, reflecting thehigher liquidity with the bankdue to strong deposit inflowsand limited credit demand dueto the lockdown,” the compa-ny said in a statement.

The bank made provisions(excluding COVID-19 relatedprovisions and provision fortax) declined by 42 per centyear-on-year to �2,044 crore inQ1FY21 from �3,496 crore inQ1-2020.

“The bank has made addi-tional COVID-19 related pro-visions of � 5,550 crore on aprudent basis in Q1-2021 withthe objective of completelycushi oning the balance sheetfrom the impact of Covid-19.”

Besides, the bank heldCOVID-19 related provisionsamounting to �8,275 crore as ofJune 30, 2020. “This addition-al provision held by the bank ismore than the requirement asper the RBI guideline datedApril 17, 2020,”

“Net non-performingassets (NPA) decreased by 51per cent from �24,170 crore atJune 30, 2018 to �11,857 croreat June 30, 2019,” the statementsaid.

����� �� �6,�

The Reserve Bank of Indiahas signed necessary doc-

uments for extending a USD400 million currency swapfacility to Sri Lanka to boost theisland nation’s draining foreignexchange reserves due to thecoronavirus pandemic, theIndian High Commission heresaid on Saturday.

The currency swaparrangement will remain avail-able till November 2022, theIndian mission said in a pressrelease.

Sri Lanka in April said itwas set to enter into an agree-ment with the RBI for a cur-rency swap worth USD 400million under the South AsianAssociation for RegionalCooperation (SAARC) frame-work to boost the foreignreserves and ensure financialstability of the country whichis badly hit by the COVID-19pandemic.

In May, PresidentGotabaya Rajapaksa made anadditional request to India fora special USD 1.1 billion cur-rency swap facility.

“Breaking Good News!Reserve Bank of India signsdocument for USD 400 millioncurrency swap facility to#SriLanka till Nov 2022,” theIndian mission tweeted on

Friday. “After debt repaymentrescheduling discussions yes-terday, this development isanother example of India’sstrong commitment to workwith #lka in post #COVID19SLeconomic recovery,” it said.

The High Commission hasconveyed this information tosenior officials in theGovernment of Sri Lanka andthe Central Bank of Sri Lanka,the statement said.

Earlier, on July 14, DeputyHigh Commissioner Vinod K.Jacob had met and discussedthe currency swap arrange-ment with the Governor of theCentral Bank of Sri Lanka, ProfWD Lakshman, it said.

The two countries alsoheld technical discussion onrescheduling of bilateral debtrepayment by Sri Lanka on July22. An Indian delegation com-prising senior officials from theMinistry of External Affairs,Ministry of Finance, and theEXIM Bank interacted withrepresentatives from theDepartment of ExternalResources of Sri Lanka througha video conference.

����� ������ ��

India and the UK haveaffirmed their commitment

to negotiate a free trade agree-ment (FTA) with a view to fur-ther strengthen economic ties,the commerce ministry said onSaturday.

The issue was discussedin the 14th Joint Economic andTrade Committee (JETCO)meeting between the two coun-tries on Friday. It was co-chaired by Commerce andIndustry Minister Piyush Goyaland UK Secretary of State forInternational Trade Elizabeth

Truss. They were assisted byMinister of State for Commerceand Industry Hardeep SinghPuri and his UK counterpartRanil Jayawardena.

Goyal and Truss “affirmedtheir shared commitment to anFTA and towards that, EarlyHarvest deals in a staged man-ner,” the Ministry said in astatement. It added that Puriand Jayawardena will havemonthly meetings to intensifythe dialogue.

It was also decided that ameeting led by Goyal and Trusswill be held in Autumn 2020here to carry forward the dia-

logue.In an FTA, two trading

partners eliminate or signifi-cantly reduce import duties onthe maximum number ofgoods traded between them.The statement also said that theco-chairs of business led JointWorking Groups on life scienceand health, ICT and food anddrink set up during the lastJETCO made their recom-mendations to the ministers.

“Both sides resolved tocooperate in the health sectorespecially in view of the presentpandemic of COVID-19,” itsaid.

������ ������ ��

Atotal of 2.6 lakh applica-tions have been received so

far under the Centre’s PMSVANidhi scheme, of which64,000 have been sanctionedand money disbursed in over5,500 cases, Prime MinisterNarendra Modi was apprised ina review meeting on Saturday.

The Centre had launchedthe PM SVANidhi scheme tofacilitate collateral-free workingcapital loans of up to �10,000for one-year tenure to approx-imately 50 lakh street vendorsto resume their businessesaffected by the COVID-19pandemic.

The scheme is run underthe Ministry of Housing andUrban Affairs. While reviewingthe implementation of PMSVANidhi, the Prime Ministerexpressed satisfaction on theuse of end-to-end IT solutionsthrough a web portal andmobile app for the adminis-tration of the scheme to ensure

transparency, accountability,and speed.

Noting that the Ministry isworking on a complete ITsolution, including the mobileapplication, for seamless imple-mentation of the scheme, Modisaid that the scheme shouldincentivise use of end-to-enddigital transactions by the streetvendors. This should cover theentire gamut of their business-es - from procurement of rawmaterial to collection of saleproceeds, Modi said.

“Appropriate incentivesand training should be con-ducted for this purpose. Use ofdigital payments will also helpbuild a credit profile for thestreet vendors, helping them infuture financial needs.”

The Prime Minister saidthat the scheme should not beseen just from the perspectiveof extending loans to streetvendors but also as a part of anoutreach initiative for the streetvendors’ holistic developmentand economic upliftment.

������ ������ ��

Government is confidentthat the strategic sale of

Bharat Petroleum CorporationLtd (BPCL) may go throughwithout any further need toextend the bidding deadlines.

The deadline for submit-ting the Expressions of Interest(EoI) for 52.98 per cent stakein the BPCL will end on July 31.

BPCL disinvestment hasreceived interest from severallarge global oil and gas com-panies and a few Indian enti-ties as well. In fact, the processso far has generated close to100 enquiries in a clear signalthat investors remain interest-ed in the maharatna oil PSUsdespite the disruptions causedby Covid-19 pandemic, officialsource privy to the develop-ment said.

According to them, SaudiAramco, Abu Dhabi NationalOil Co (Adnoc), Rosneft ofRussia and Exxon Mobil intendto participate in the biddingprocess for the PSU. Indian oilmajors are not behind theirglobal counterparts and arealso actively pursuing theprospects of bidding for BPCL.Oil-to-telecom major RelianceIndustries is understood tohave shown interest for the bid.

The deadline for submit-ting EoIs has been postponedtwice and the current deadlineends on July 31. We are confi-dent that EoI will sail throughwithin time with several inter-ested bidders coming into thefray, the sources quoted abovesaid.

While the queries aboutthe sale is a reflection of inter-est that BPCL disinvestmenthas interest, it does alwaysamount to investment.

But the queries relating totiming to complete the bids, networth requirement, what kindof controls investors may haveto face, will they have to oper-ate in regulated regime or howthe money would have to bebrought for the purchase hadgiven confidence that investorsremain serious about BPCL.

The disinvestment inBPCL involves the govern-ment selling its entire 52.98 percent stake in the company to astrategic investor with transferof management control. TheGovt has barred PSUs frombidding for BPCL and expectsprivate sector Indian playersand global MNCs to bid for itsstake. The Centre has allowedprospective bidders with aminimum net worth of $10 bil-lion to present their bids.

������ ������ ��

Finance Minister NirmalaSitharaman has reserved

words of praise for the IncomeTax department, complement-ing officers for being responsiveto the needs of the taxpayersduring the pandemic times byrelaxing various compliancerequirements and addressingthe liquidity concerns of thetaxpayers.

In her message at a func-tion organised to observe 160thanniversary of Income TaxDay, Sitharaman on Fridaysaid the efforts of the I-Tdepartment towards makingthe tax administration as tax-payer-friendly and transparenthas facilitated voluntary com-pliance. Therefore, she said, thedepartment will continue toplay a critical role in the growthof the nation by keeping toimprove and set new stan-dards of professionalism.

She recognised the para-

digm shift in its role in recentyears, from being just a revenuecollecting organization tobecoming a more citizen-cen-tric organization.

She cited various reformmeasures undertaken, includ-ing, inter alia, the introductionof a new, simpler tax regime,reduced corporate tax rates asalso payment of tax at conces-sional rates for domestic man-ufacturing companies, whichwill pave the way for an “AtmaNirbhar Bharat”.

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The Covid-19 pandemic willhave a wider impact on the

country’s power sector in thecurrent financial year with theacute slowdown witnessed inthe first quarter period con-tinuing well into the year affect-ing both demand and supply.

The nationwide lockdownto contain the Covid-19 out-break has already significantlyimpacted economic activity,leading to a 17% yoy fall in theQ1FY20 power demand. Asper analysts, though demandmay pick up after some degreeof normalcy in economic activ-ity gets restored, still powerdemand will decline 8.0% yoy

in FY21 on a steep fall in rev-enue generating commercialand industrial demand.

According to an analysisdone by Emkay GlobalFinancial Services, the situationin the power sector demandwould further increase the gapbetween the average cost ofsupply (ACS) and average rev-enue realised (ARR) to Rs

0.95/unit in FY21E fromRs0.50/unit in FY20 due tolower offtake from commercialand industrial segments,decline in payment collectionand lower cross-subsidisation.This would lead to an under-recovery of Rs 1,12,700 crore inFY21E for discoms.

“Discoms’ overdue hasreached Rs 1.17 lakh crore,

which is close to the peak levelwitnessed pre-UDAY. Theoverdue level is likely to remainhigh in FY21 due to the expect-ed rise in under-recovery andslow progress in the‘Atmanirbhar’ scheme towardloan disbursement,” the bro-kerage said in its analysisreport.

What is worse, the poorconditions in the power sectorwould bring new generationprojects to a standstill affectingkey infrastructure develop-ment. The report said thatGencos’ capacity additionshould witness postponementin FY21 with net capacity addi-tion of just 61GW in the FY20-FY24 period.

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Oil marketing companieson Saturday raised diesel

prices by 15 paisa/litre asOMCs revised pump prices.This rise in price came after theprices were held steady forsometime.

While the price of dieselwas at �81.79 per litre in thecapital, petrol was steady at �80.43 a litre. Petrol prices haveremain unchanged since June29.

Oil companies had raiseddiesel prices marginally by 12paise on Monday but thereafterthe prices of the two petroleumproducts remained unchangedfor next four days till Friday.

Unexpected rise in dieselprices despite slower demandhas put the transport sector ata big disadvantage as rising fuel

cost has further shrunk itsmargins. The price of diesel incapital has also put automobilecompanies concerned aboutthe prospect of the sale ofdiesel-run cars in the country’slargest car market.

With the hike in dieselprices, the gap between the twoauto fuels has further widenedin the national capital. Lastmonth, diesel prices overtookthat of petrol in Delhi in anunprecedented development.

In Mumbai, Chennai andKolkata, petrol was sold at anunchanged price of �87.19,�83.63, �82.10 per litre, respec-tively, while diesel pricesincreased marginally. Oil com-panies began daily revision ofthe two auto fuels from June 7after keeping the priceunchanged for around 82 daysduring the lockdown. Sincethen petrol and diesel priceshave increased by �9.5 and �12per litre, respectively.

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The Income Tax AppellateTribunal (ITAT) has ruled

in favour of Tata Education andDevelopment Trust in a casewherein the tax departmenthad raised a demand of morethan �220 crore, an officialstatement said on Saturday.

The case pertains toassessment years 2011-12 and2012-13 on money spent by theTrust for creating an endow-ment fund at CornellUniversity, US, to providescholarships to Indian studentsand granting financial assis-tance to the Harvard BusinessSchool for constructing anexecutive building to be namedTata Hall. It donated �197.79crore in 2011-12 and �25.37crore in 2012-13.

The controversy eruptedafter the Public AccountCommittee (PAC) of the LokSabha in 2018 sought anenquiry in the matter as itbelieved that exemption grant-ed by the direct tax body wasin violation of the I-T Act.

An official statement issuedon Saturday said, “In a majorrelief for Tata Education andDevelopment Trust, theIncome Tax Appellate Tribunal(ITAT) bench consisting ofJustice PP Bhatt, President,ITAT, on July 24, ruled infavour of the trust in theirappeal against commissionerincome tax appeal order where-in a demand of more than �220crore was levied by the taxdepartment.” The ITAT in itsorder on July 24 said that allother grounds of appeals will be“rendered, academic andinfructuous”. “We have decid-ed this issue in favour of theassessee and thus allowed thisground of appeal. We, there-fore, uphold the plea of theassessee and delete the resultantdisallowance of claim ofexemption,” it said.

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Portland: Thousands of pro-testers gathered outside thefederal courthouse in Portland,Oregon, into the early hours ofSaturday shooting fireworksat the building as plumes of teargas, dispensed by US Agents,lingered above.

The demonstration wenton for hours until federal agentsentered the crowd around 2:30am. And marched in a linedown the street, clearingremaining protesters with teargas at close range. They alsoextinguished a large fire in thestreet outside the courthouse.

The Federal ProtectiveService had declared the gath-ering as “an unlawful assembly”and said that officers had beeninjured. As the crowd dis-persed, someone was foundstabbed nearby, Portland policesaid. The person was taken toa hospital and a suspect wastaken into custody.

By 3 am, most demonstra-tors had left with only somesmall groups roaming thestreets.

Earlier Friday night, theprotest had drawn variousorganized groups, including

Healthcare Workers Protest,Teachers against Tyrants,Lawyers for Black Lives and the“Wall of Moms.”

As the crowd grew —authorities estimate there were3,000 present at the peak of the

protest — people were heardchanting “Black Lives Matter”and “Feds go home” to thesound of drums.

Later, protesters vigorous-ly shook the fence surroundingthe courthouse, shot fireworkstowards the building and threwglass bottles. Many times theseactions were met by federalagents using tear gas and flashbangs. The flow of tear gascaused protesters to disperse attimes, some becoming sick asothers remained toward thefront of the courthouse withleaf blowers directing the gasback to the courthouse. Federalagents had leaf blowers of theirown to counteract.

Daniel Pereyo was oneprotester who was tear-gassed.

Pereyo said he had been atthe nearby park watchingdrummers and fireworks beingshot, when his face and eyesbegan to burn.

“It’s extremely painful,” hesaid. “It’s not the worst painever, but it is discomforting andit’s distracting.” As the clouds ofgas floated down the street, pro-testers would swiftly regroupand return to chant and shakethe fence that separates the peo-ple on the street from federalagents and the courthouse.

It was unclear whetheranyone was arrested during theprotest. The federal agents,deployed by President DonaldTrump to tamp down theunrest, have arrested dozensduring nightly demonstrationsagainst racial injustice thatoften turn violent.

Democratic leaders inOregon say federal interventionhas worsened the two-monthcrisis, and the state attorneygeneral sued to allege thatsome people had been whiskedoff the streets in unmarkedvehicles. AP

Miami (US): Tropical StormHanna was upgraded to becomethe first hurricane of the 2020Atlantic season on Saturday,moving toward the Texas coastand threatening to bring heavyrain, storm surge and possibletornadoes to a state alreadystruggling with the coronavirus.

The US National HurricaneCentre said Saturday thatHanna’s maximum sustainedwinds had increased to 75 mph(120 kph). The storm was cen-tred about 100 miles (160 km)east-southeast of Corpus Christi,Texas, and was moving west at9 mph (15 kph).

The centre of Hanna wasexpected to make landfall alongthe Texas coast within the hur-

ricane warning area Saturdayafternoon or evening, theHurricane Centre said.Additional strengthening isexpected before Hanna makeslandfall. Rapid weakening isexpected after Hanna movesinland. “The combination of adangerous storm surge and thetide will cause normally dryareas near the coast to be flood-ed by rising waters movinginland from the shoreline,” theMiami-based agency said.

Maximum sustained windsstood at 75 mph (120 kph) at 7am EDT. The storm was centredabout 100 miles (160 km) east-southeast of Corpus Christi,Texas, and was moving west at9 mph (15 kph). AP

Los Angeles: Scientists, includ-ing those of Indian-origin, haveidentified 21 existing drugs thatstop the replication of the novelcoronavirus which causesCOVID-19 in lab studies, anadvance that may lead to thedevelopment of new therapeu-tic combinations against the dis-ease.

The researchers, includingthose from the SanfordBurnham Prebys MedicalDiscovery Institute in the US,analysed one of the world’slargest collections of knowndrugs for their ability to blockthe replication of the novelcoronavirus, and found 100molecules with confirmedantiviral activity in laboratorytests.

According to the study,published in the journal Nature,

21 of these drugs are effective inblocking the reproduction of thevirus at concentrations thatcould be safely achieved inpatients.

It said four of these com-pounds could work in combi-nation with remdesivir, a cur-rent standard-of-care treatmentfor COVID-19.

“Remdesivir has provensuccessful at shortening therecovery time for patients in thehospital, but the drug doesn’twork for everyone who receivesit. That’s not good enough,” saidSumit Chanda, director of theImmunity and PathogenesisProgram at Sanford BurnhamPrebys and senior author of thestudy.

“The urgency remains tofind affordable, effective, andreadily available drugs that can

complement the use of remde-sivir, as well as drugs that couldbe given prophylactically or atthe first sign of infection on anoutpatient basis,” Chanda said.

In the study, the scientistsperformed extensive testing andvalidation studies, includingevaluating the drugs on humanlung biopsies that were infect-ed with the virus, evaluating thedrugs for synergies with remde-sivir, and establishing dose-response relationships betweenthe drugs and antiviral activity.

Of the 21 drugs that wereeffective at blocking viral repli-cation, the scientists found that13 have previously entered clin-ical trials for other indicationsand are effective at concentra-tions, or doses, that could poten-tially be safely achieved inCOVID-19 patients. PTI

United Nations: An estimated6,000-6,500 Pakistani terroristsare in neighbouringAfghanistan, most of them withthe Tehrik-e-Taliban Pakistan,posing a threat to both thecountries, a UN report has said.

The 26th report of theAnalytical Support andSanctions Monitoring Teamconcerning ISIS, al-Qaida andassociated individuals and enti-ties said that the terror group al-Qaida in the IndianSubcontinent (AQIS) operatesunder the Taliban umbrellafrom Nimruz, Helmand andKandahar provinces ofAfghanistan.

“The group reportedly hasbetween 150 and 200 membersfrom Bangladesh, India,Myanmar and Pakistan. Thecurrent leader of AQIS is OsamaMahmood…, who succeededthe late Asim Umar.

“AQIS is reportedly plan-ning retaliation operations in theregion to avenge the death of itsformer leader,” it said.

The Tehrik-e-TalibanPakistan (TTP), a “large ter-rorist group present inAfghanistan”, has claimedresponsibility for various high-profile attacks in Pakistan andhas facilitated others by Jamaat-ul-Ahrar and Lahskhar-e-Islam,the report said. It said that manyformer TTP militants havejoined Islamic State in Iraqand the Levant - Khorasan(ISIL-K) and member statesexpect that the group and itsvarious splinter groups willalign themselves with ISIL-K.

“The total number ofPakistani foreign terrorist fight-ers in Afghanistan, posing athreat to both countries, is esti-mated at between 6,000 and6,500, most of them with TTP,”

it said, adding that a number ofother terrorist groups are activein Afghanistan, most operatingunder the umbrella of theTaliban but some aligned withISIL-K. The report comes overa fortnight after India at the UNasked Pakistan to introspect asto why it is universally acknowl-edged as the “international epi-centre” of terrorism and the“best safe haven for terrorists”,while urging the global com-munity to call upon Islamabadto take sustained, verifiable andirreversible actions against ter-ror outfits operating from its soil.

In June this year, PakistanPrime Minister Imran Khanpublicly acknowledged the pres-ence of up to 40,000 terrorists inPakistan and that terrorists fromthere have attacked the neigh-bouring countries.

According to the memberstates, al-Qaida is covertly active

in 12 Afghan provinces and itsleader Aiman al-Zawahiriremains based in the country,the report said.

The monitoring team esti-mates the total number of al-Qaida fighters in Afghanistan atbetween 400 and 600.

“The leadership maintainsclose contact with the HaqqaniNetwork. In February 2020, al-Zawahiri met with YahyaHaqqani, the primary HaqqaniNetwork contact with al-Qaidasince mid-2009, to discuss theongoing cooperation,” it said.

The monitoring team alsoestimates the current ISIL-Kmembership in Afghanistan at2,200. The leader is sheikhMatiullah Kamahwal, previous-ly the head of ISIL-K in Kunar.The leadership also includesSyrian national Abu SaidMohammad al-Khorasani andsheikh Abdul Tahir. AP

Houston: US federal agentsand law enforcement officershave entered the Chinese con-sulate compound here alongwith locksmiths after the mis-sion was shut down, amidst spi-ralling tensions betweenWashington and Beijing.

The Trump Administrationramped up its confrontationwith China this week, orderingBeijing’s consulate in Houstonto close over concerns abouteconomic espionage.

The Chinese consulatelocated in Houston’s busyMontrose Boulevard for 40years closed on Friday eveningas the deadline set by theTrump administration to shutdown the mission expired.

On Friday, the flag and theseal of the People’s Republic ofChina were taken down fromoutside the Houston consulate.Early in the morning, the con-sulate staff was seen removingtheir belongings from thebuilding.

After the Chinese diplo-matic staff vacated the building,a number of black SUVs,trucks, two white vans and alocksmith’s van entered thecompound, CNN reported.

Around 30 protesters withbanners were seen celebratingoutside the consulate. OnFriday morning, dozens ofprotesters from the Falun Gongreligious group despised byBeijing protested outside theconsulate, declaring a victory ofsorts over the closure of the

mission.Forty minutes after the 4 pm

eviction deadline passed, a manbelieved to be a StateDepartment official entered theconsulate, along with others,after a small back door was priedopen, local media reported.

About an hour later, thefire department crew enteredthe building.

Trump administration offi-cials provided further details onFriday regarding their decisionon the Houston mission, claim-ing the diplomatic outpost wasone of several across the coun-try facilitating influence efforts

on behalf of Beijing that the USgovernment said veered into“the coercive or covert”.

“The sum total of theHouston consulate’s activitieswent well over the line of whatwe’re willing to accept, andunless we disrupted it, it threat-ened to become even moreaggressive in Houston andother Chinese consulatesnationwide,” a senior JusticeDepartment official toldreporters on a briefing callorganised by the StateDepartment.

The Chinese consulate inHouston, Texas, was opened in

1979.Apart from now closed the

Houston consulate, an embassyin Washington and an office atthe United Nations, Chinamaintained consulates in fourUS cities — Chicago, LosAngeles, New York and SanFrancisco.

Tensions between bothnations have escalated in recentmonths over the Beijing’s han-dling of the coronavirus pan-demic, China’s crackdown onits Uygur Muslims in Xinjiangand Beijing imposing a con-troversial national security lawin Hong Kong.

US Secretary of State MikePompeo has alleged that theHouston consulate of Chinawas “a hub of spying and intel-lectual property theft”.

Top American officials hadalso accused the consulate inHouston of being part ofBeijing’s “espionage operations”in the US.

The US said in a statementthat the consulate was orderedto close “to protect Americanintellectual property andAmericans’ private informa-tion.” The idea to close theHouston consulate emergedthis spring after China inter-fered when US officialsreturned to the consulate inWuhan to retrieve diplomaticmaterials, according to a seniorState Department official.

Chinese authorities refusedto let the US officials leaveWuhan with the pouches, say-ing they had to search thembefore leaving, an aggressivemove that violates the ViennaConvention which governsdiplomatic relations, CNNreported.

The encounter leftSecretary of State Pompeo irate,the report quoted a StateDepartment official as saying.

In a tit-for-tat move, Chinatoo on Friday ordered the USto close down its consulate inChengdu. While ordering theclosure, China had accusedthe US of interfering in its“internal affairs and harmingnational security interests.” PTI

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China on Saturday lodged adiplomatic protest with the

US over the “forced entry” ofAmerican officials into thepremises of the closed Chineseconsulate in Houston andvowed to make a “necessaryresponse” to Washington’saction.

US federal agents and lawenforcement officers enteredthe Chinese consulate com-pound in Houston along withlocksmiths after the missionwas shut down on Friday.

The Chinese foreign min-istry said it has expressedstrong dissatisfaction andopposition to the US lawenforcement officers’ “forcedentry” into the consulate andlodged a diplomatic protest.

“China will make a properand necessary response in thisregard,” it said.

In a retaliatory move,China has already ordered theclosure of the US consulate inChengdu in southwest China’sSichuan province.

The Consulate in Houstonis the building of the diplomaticconsulate and is also China’s

national property, the min-istry said.

According to the ViennaConvention on ConsularRelations and the Sino-USConsular Treaty, the US mustnot infringe on the premises ofthe Chinese Consulate inHouston in any way, it said.

Chinese officials report-edly vacated the consulate onFriday afternoon after the USordered its closure amid accu-sations of espionage, HongKong-based South ChinaMorning Post reported.

The Trump administra-tion accused Beijing of stealingintellectual property andclaimed that the consulate inHouston was the “epicentre” ofChina’s research theft.

Vans bearing diplomaticplates departed the consulate asthe 4 pm Friday deadlinearrived.

At that point, federal agentschecked the locked doors of theconsulate and a locksmith wasseen working to crack the lockon one door, the Post reportsaid.

A CNN report also saidthat after the Chinese diplo-matic staff vacated the building,

a number of black SUVs,trucks, two white vans and alocksmith’s van entered thecompound.

The Chinese consulate inHouston, Texas, was opened in1979.

Apart from now closed theHouston consulate, an embassyin Washington and an office atthe United Nations, Chinamaintained consulates in fourUS cities -- Chicago, LosAngeles, New York and SanFrancisco.

Tensions between both thenations have escalated in recentmonths over Beijing’s handlingof the coronavirus pandemic,China’s crackdown on its UygurMuslims in Xinjiang andBeijing imposing a controver-sial national security law inHong Kong.

US Secretary of State MikePompeo has alleged that theHouston consulate of Chinawas “a hub of spying and intel-lectual property theft”.

The US State Departmentsaid in a statement that the con-sulate was ordered to close “toprotect American intellectualproperty and Americans’ pri-vate information.”

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Brasilia: Brazilian PresidentJair Bolsonaro said on Saturdaythat he has tested negative forthe new coronavirus, based ona fourth test since he said July7 that he had the virus.

“Good morning everyone,”Bolsonaro wrote on Facebookafter reporting that the test was“negative”.

The 65-year-old leader did-n’t say when he did the newtest. On Wednesday, he hadtested positive for the thirdtime.

Bolsonaro also posted aphoto of himself with a box ofthe anti-malaria drug hydrox-ychloroquine, although it hasnot been proven effectiveagainst the virus.

Now that Bolsonaro is clearof the virus, he is expected to

return to mingling in crowds ashe used to do before his diag-nosis. He had spent manyweekends since the beginningof the pandemic in close prox-imity to supporters, sometimeswithout wearing a mask.

On Thursday, he was pho-tographed without a maskwhile talking to some sweepersin the garden of the presiden-tial residence.

Brazil, Latin America’slargest nation, is one of the out-break’s epicentres.

According to the Braziliangovernment, on Friday therewere 85,238 confirmed deathsdue to the new coronavirus.The country has 2,343,366confirmed cases. The realnumbers are believed to behigher. AP

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Khabarovsk (Russia): Tens ofthousands of people marchedSaturday across the Russian cityof Khabarovsk on the borderwith China to protest the arrestof the regional governor onmurder charges, continuing awave of protests that has last-ed for two weeks in a challengeto the Kremlin.

Sergei Furgal has been in aMoscow jail since his arrest onJuly 9, and Russian PresidentVladimir Putin has named anacting successor. Protesters inKhabarovsk see the chargesagainst Furgal as unsubstanti-ated and demand that he standtrial at home. Unlike Moscow,where police usually move

quickly to disperse unsanc-tioned opposition protests,authorities haven’t interferedwith unauthorized demonstra-tions in Khabarovsk, apparent-ly expecting them to fizzle outover time. But daily protests,peaking at weekends, have goneon for two weeks, reflectinganger against what local resi-dents see as Moscow’s disrespectof their choice and simmeringdiscontent with Putin’s rule.

Authorities suspect Furgal’sinvolvement in murders of busi-nessmen in 2004 and 2005. Hehas denied the charges, whichdate back to his time as a busi-nessman with interests focusingon timber and metals. AP

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Colombo: The Sri Lankangovernment’s efforts have beensuccessful in completely curb-ing the social spread of thecoronavirus and the countryhas not witnessed a singlecommunity case for nearlythree months, head of theCOVID-19 task force said.

Lt General Shavendra Silva,who is also the ArmyCommander, said that all thepositive cases since April 30,including over 500 at theKandakadu drug rehabilita-tion centre, were those whocontracted the virus from SriLankan expatriates whosereturn was facilitated by thegovernment.

“We haven’t found a singlecase within the communitysince April 30,” Silva toldreporters.

“We have been able to

completely curb its socialspread,” he said. Silva said thatvarious rumours were beingfloated of a second wave ofinfections since the detection ofpositive cases from the drugrehabilitation centre two weeksback, when over 500 peoplewere put under quarantine.

The government halted therepatriation of its citizens fromvarious countries from July 14in view of the increasing num-ber of cases.

“We decided to delay theprocess of returnees in order tomake the quarantine facilitiesavailable to tackle any possiblespike from the drug rehabili-tation centre contacts,” he said.

Silva said that around 20,000people, who were repatriated,have been quarantined andanother 5,000 returnees are cur-rently under quarantine. PTI

Hanoi: Vietnam has reportedthe first local case of COVID-19 in over three months.

The 57-year-old man from central Da Nang city was hospitalised onThursday with a fever and res-piratory distress. The HealthMinistry says his conditionworsened and he was put on aventilator.

Health workers have notbeen able to trace the source forhis infection. For over a month,he did not travel outside hishometown, where no case ofCOVID-19 has been reportedsince April.

Da Nang city authoritieshave isolated the hospital hehad visited and those who hadbeen in contact with the manin the past weeks. His familymembers and over 100 othershave initially tested negative forthe coronavirus. AP

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The United Statesannounced Friday it will

not take in any new foreignstudents seeking online-onlystudy, after rescinding a hotlycontested order to expel thosealready here and preparingfor that because of the pan-demic.

The policy change wasannounced in a statement byImmigration and CustomsEnforcement.

President Donald Trumphas made a tough line onimmigration a cornerstone ofhis message and has suspend-ed several kinds of visas forforeigners during the coron-avirus crisis.

The original policy changeof revoking the visas of foreign

students whose classes willmove online in the autumnwas taken to court by top uni-versities including Harvardand MIT, teachers unions andat least 18 states.

And on July 14 the admin-istration reversed course andrescinded the decision.

That measure had beenseen as a move by Trump toput pressure on educationalinstitutions that are adopting acautious approach to reopen-ing amid the global COVID-19pandemic.

Trump is eager for schoolsat all levels to reopen with in-person classes as a sign of areturn to normality as he fightsan uphill battle for re-electionin November.

He is pushing for this eventhough the virus is out of con-

trol in some states, with the USdeath figures a world-high ofmore than 144,000.

His administration is leav-ing it largely up to states them-selves to figure out how toopen schools safely.

There were more than onemillion international studentsin the US for the 2018-19 aca-demic year, according to theInstitute of InternationalEducation.

Many schools dependheavily on the tuition paid bythose students.

Most US colleges and uni-versities have not yetannounced their plans for thefall semester but Harvard hassaid all its classes for the 2020-21 academic year will be con-ducted online, “with rareexceptions.”

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England pressed home itsadvantage in the decidingthird Test by reducing the

West Indies to 59-3 at tea on daytwo after a rapid half-century byStuart Broad helped the hostspost 369 on Saturday.

Broad backed up his 45-ball 62by taking the wicket of KraiggBrathwaite (1) in his first over andthe Windies also lost its otheropener, John Campbell (32), fol-lowing a fierce delivery fromBarbados-born Jofra Archer andShai Hope (17) to a seaming ballfrom James Anderson.

The West Indies trailed by 310runs, with Shamarh Brooks on 4and Roston Chase on 0 in the faceof some stingy, disciplined bowl-ing from England’s four-prongedpace attack under gray, threaten-ing skies at Old Trafford.

The forecast rain never arrivedin Manchester and England has

consolidated its position afterresuming its first innings in ahealthy position of 258-4, despitean early collapse to 280-8 withwickets falling in four consecutiveovers.

Broad wrested the momentumback in England’s favour by open-ing his shoulders and recording acounterattacking, 33-ball half-cen-tury, which put him tied for thirdplace in the all-time list ofEngland’s fastest Test fifties.

It was the left-hander’s high-est Test score since 2013 and thebest he has looked with the batsince breaking his nose while bat-ting against India a year later, anincident which he acknowledgeddrained him of confidence againstpace bowling and led to himusing a sports psychologist.

Broad smashed nine foursand a six in a potentially game-defining ninth-wicket partner-ship with Dom Bess worth 76 runs.

Bess was left stranded on 18after Anderson was the last manout for 11. England added 111 runsin the session.

Earlier, Ollie Pope fell first afterfailing to add to his overnight scoreof 91 and Jos Buttler only added11 before departing for 67.

England added 111 runsbefore getting dismissed to bringup lunch.

Kemar Roach, who had 4-72,passed 200 wickets in tests byremoving Chris Woakes. Now on201 overall, he is only one behindthe great Andy Roberts, who iseighth on West Indies’ all-time listin Tests.

With an attack of Anderson,Broad, Archer and Woakes,England isn’t short of pace optionsthis Test and three of them alreadyhave wickets.

Off the 10th ball of the reply,Brathwaite edged Broad to JoeRoot at first slip.

Campbell was dropped byBen Stokes at second slip on 10 andnever looked fully comfortablebefore being set up perfectly byArcher. After a spate of full balls,Archer went short and into the ribs

of Campbell, whose fend came offthe splice and to Rory Burns atgully.

Just before tea, Andersonunderlined why he is the master ofthe seaming ball by enticing anedge off Hope, with wicketkeeper

Buttler taking the catch.The Windies, who won the

first Test in Southampton beforelosing the second match inManchester, are looking to capturea Test series in England for the firsttime since 1988

����� 6����������

Former skipperAndrew Strauss

feels Ollie Pope hasbeen a “real find” forEngland and he hasthe capability of suc-ceeding in all formatsof the game.

After failing tobreach the 15-runmark in the first twoTests against Windies,Pope alongside JosButtler rescuedEngland from a precar-ious 122-4 at tea toclose the opening dayof the series decider on258-4.

The 22-year-old is coming off a superb series inSouth Africa earlier this year, where he notched uptwo half-centuries and a career-best 135 not out atPort Elizabeth.

On Friday, he stitched a 136-run unbeaten part-nership with Buttler (56 not out on Friday) by scor-ing a splendid 91.

“If you look at his first-class record, he’s averag-ing 57 and he’s proved that he can do it in Test crick-et with that great innings he played in South Africa,”Strauss told Sky Sports.

“Today was more of the same. He’s a guy whocan score quickly without you really noticing it. Heplayed some really eye-catching shots as well and helooks equally comfortable against seam and spin, sono obvious weaknesses there. He’s a real find forEngland, I think,” Strauss added.

Pope, who made his Test debut against India in2018, is yet to play white-ball cricket for England andStrauss feels although the youngster will fare well inthe limited overs format, he should focus on Testcricket for the time being.

“He’s got the game to play in ODIs, in variousdifferent positions. We know he can play all thosefunky ramp shots and whatever. But for the timebeing I’d quite like him just doing his time in the Testteam, not getting funky with his technique which isperfect,” Strauss said.

“He can really establish himself in that Englandenvironment. It’s a different thing when you feel com-fortable, when you know you are good enough to bein that environment and you get to know the play-ers well.

“When you get to that stage, that’s when you startgetting some really consistent, high-quality perfor-mances,” he added.

�'�����Deprived of some much-needed game time with the cancella-tion of England tour, senior Indiaspinner Poonam Yadav reckons itcould be extremely difficult for theWorld Cup-bound players to turn upand “instantly” deliver after the longcoronavirus-forced break.

The Indian women’s cricketteam’s proposed tour, the only majorassignment before next year’s WorldCup, was called off earlier this weekdue to the Covid-19 pandemic.

“If you turn up at the ground afterfour-five months, it will be very dif-ficult to perform instantly for all play-ers,” Poonam said.

“But we are keeping ourselves fitand when we are allowed to resumegroup training, we should be back tofull fitness in 20-25 days,” she added.

Poonam has not seen a propercricketing facility since turning up atthe iconic MCG for the T20 WorldCup final in March and with the only

scheduled series before next year’sODI World Cup cancelled, she maynot get to play an international gamefor the rest of the year.

The fate of the 2021 World Cup,scheduled in New Zealand inFebruary-March, could be decidedwithin the next two weeks.

Last edition’s runners-up Indiaare hoping to end their ICC titledrought in New Zealand but Poonamsaid it will be a massive challenge con-sidering the uncertain situation theyfind themselves in following thecancellation of England tour.

“It is a massive challenge. I havebeen bowling here but it is totally dif-ferent in a competitive environment.We last played in March and there isstill no clarity over our next series,”said the India player, who has featuredin one Test, 46 ODIs and 67 T20s.

Poonam began with a bang in theT20 World Cup, taking a four-wick-et haul against eventual championsAustralia. The hosts had very littleidea about her googlies.

For someone who documents herwork in a diary, Poonam is aiming toadd more weapons to her armoury inthe next few weeks.

“If the Word Cup happens asscheduled, there is hardly anytime left.

I plan to start working on a few vari-ations, like working on a flipper andtop-spin. Flipper is much tougher andit will take me at least three-fourmonths to perfect the ball.”

Poonam has been part of boththe World Cup finals India played inthe last three years and lost.

Asked about India’s inability towin the knock-out games after doingwell in league stages, Poonam added:“I feel we are right up there. The vari-ety that we have most teams don’t,including Australia.

“After doing so well in knock-outs, we start thinking about the resultand what we will do after (we win)rather than staying in the present andfollowing the process like we do it inthe earlier stages of the tournament.

“It is all about handling pressurein the big games and whoever doesit better wins. Australia handled itmuch better than us (in T20 WCfinal),” she added. PTI

���������������Cricket West Indies (CWI)wants to host at least part of their proposedseries against South Africa in early September.

The Windies’ players are expected to takepart in the Indian Premier League which willbe played around September 19 to November8 window and the same has been communi-cated to the franchises, as per IPL ChairmanBrijesh Patel.

West Indies were originally slated to hostthe Proteas for two Tests and five T20Is inJuly-August before that tournament waspostponed due to the coronavirus pandem-ic.

“We hope that South Africa will be ableto come here in September for either a T20-only tour or a Test-only tour at the very least,”CWI Chief Executive Johny Grave told theMason and Guests cricket show.

“It will be dependent on the IPL. SouthAfrica have a number of their Test playerswho have IPL contracts, whereas in this cur-rent Test team we don’t have any IPL play-ers.”

“We won’t be able to play Test cricketagainst South Africa during the IPL, CricketSouth Africa have made that very clear to us.They’ve got a commitment to their players toallow them to go and play in the IPL,” Gravesaid.

“The plan as we are working on now isthat the players would come home, they willhave the weekend at home. Those that are inthe Caribbean Premier League will headdown to Trinidad on probably August 3 soit’s a quick turnaround.

“CPL finishes on September 10. We hopevery much that South Africa will followimmediately after that. Whether we can getthe full tour in or we’re going to have to lookat a split tour between the Tests and the T20s,we don’t know.” IANS

����� ������ ��

Former India opener GautamGambhir on Saturday said

Mahendra Singh Dhoni mustcontinue playing internationalcricket as long he feels he is fit,in form and enjoying the game.

The World Cup-winningswashbuckler, on a sabbaticalfrom cricket for the past oneyear, turned 39 on July 7. He hasnot played any cricket sinceIndia’s semifinal exit from theODI World Cup last year.

Gambhir, who played a lotof cricket with Dhoni, said,“Age is just a number, I think ifyou are in a very good form, ifyou are hitting the ball reallywell.

“MS Dhoni, if he is hittingthe ball really well, if he is verygood form, if he is enjoying thegame and if he thinks that he canstill win the game for the coun-try at that number — especial-ly at six and seven.”

Dhoni led the country inlimited-overs formats from 2007to 2016 and in Test cricketfrom 2008 to 2014.

He is the only captain to winall ICC trophies.

“If he is in great fitness andform, he should continue play-ing because no one can actual-ly force anyone to retire,”Gambhir said on Star Sportsshow Cricket Connected.

“A lot of experts can put a lotof pressure on people like MS

Dhoni because of their age andstuff but again it’s an individualdecision, when you started play-ing cricket it was your individ-ual decision.”

Speaking about the IPL tak-ing place in the UAE due to ris-ing Covid-19 cases in India,Gambhir said, “It does not mat-ter where it goes but if it goes toUAE, it’s a great venue to playcricket in any format and plusmost importantly I think it’sgoing to change the mood of thenation as well.

“It’s not about which fran-chise wins or which playerscores runs or which guy takeswicket, it’s simply changing themood of the nation. So this IPLprobably will be bigger than therest of the IPLs because I thinkthis is for the nation.”

����� ������ ��

Sports Minister Kiren Rijiju onSaturday said India will be com-

peting for a top-10 finish by the timethe 2028 Los Angeles Olympicscomes calling, riding theGovernment’s ambitious ‘TargetOlympic Podium Junior Scheme’.

“We will leave no stoneunturned,” Rijiju said.

He said the ‘Target OlympicPodium Junior Scheme’ is scoutingtalent as young as 10-year-old and 12-year-old with an aim to preparethem for the Los Angeles Games.

“We look forward and realise thedreams of every Indian to make Indiaa great sporting powerhouse,” he said.

Rijiju said the talented youngsterswill be guided by a world-classcoaching facility during their journeyto become world champions.

“Objectives are very clear, we havecreated the ‘Target Olympic PodiumJunior Scheme’ that means those whoare 10-13 years of age will be readyto become world champions by 2028Los Angeles Olympics.

“By starting the scheme we areidentifying the young talents, it’s aprocess of talent scouting at a youngage and taking full responsibility oftheir training by bringing in world-class coaches.”

Rijiju added that steps likeenhancing the skill sets of Indiancoaches, removal of �2-lakh salarycap for coaches and extension ofcoaching tenures will bring positivechanges in the system.

“I have recently decided to extendthe tenure of coaches, Indian coach-es are being enhanced and the �2-lakhsalary cap of coaches has also beenremoved.

“By 2028, the target of gettingIndia in the top-10 of Olympicsmedal ranking will be realised. I amvery clear. We started planning andexecuting those plans,” Rijiju said.

��� � ����

Former Barcelona star XaviHernandez has tested positive

for coronavirus, his Qatari club Al-Sadd said on Saturday, adding hewould miss their league restart fix-ture against Al-Khor.

“A few days ago, following theQatar Stars League protocol, I test-ed positive in the last Covid-19 test,”Xavi said in a post on Al-Sadd’sTwitter account.

“Fortunately, I’m feeling ok,but I will be isolated until I am giventhe all clear. When the health ser-vices allow it, I will be very eager toreturn to my daily routine and towork.”

Al-Sadd announced on its web-site that Xavi would not be joiningthe rest of the team for its leaguegame against Al-Khor laterSaturday.

����� ������ ��

An unshakeable attitude is need-ed to win an Olympic medal and

that is what head coach Graham Reidwill try to inculcate in the Indianmen’s hockey team ahead of the nextSummer Games.

Exactly a year from now, theIndian men and women teams willhave begun their campaign in Tokyo.

Reid, a part of the Silver-winningAustralian team at the 1992 BarcelonaOlympics, put things into perspective.

“The Olympic Games is thetoughest competition in the sportingworld and therefore a player’s men-tality has to match it. “The biggestchallenge as a player is to remainfocussed on the job at hand. The firstgame brings with it a number of emo-tions. The player who can controlthose emotions and stick to thegame plan will be ahead,” he said.

While there is room to improvein all aspects of the game, Reidemphasised on building a mentallytough team to face the “uncertaintimes”. “The biggest challenge for usduring these next 12 months will beuncertainty. There are a lot of thingsthat are going to happen that we can’tcontrol. We must only worry aboutthe things we can control,” he said.

“We can control how hard we

work, how well we train and our fit-ness levels. Mental toughness will def-initely be a factor during this nextperiod and the Indian players have aninnate ability to deal with difficult cir-cumstances.

“It is my intention to develop theplayers understanding of their men-tal strength and build their ability toaccess and trust it when required,”Reid added.

����� �� �����

East Bengal’s hopes of entering theISL this season are dashed with the

league organisers deciding againstadding new teams for the upcomingedition of the franchise-based event.

Organisers of Indian SuperLeague, Football Sports DevelopmentLimited (FSDL), made it clear duringa meeting with club representatives onFriday that they will stick to 10 teamsfor now instead of floating tenders fornew outfits.

The 2020-21 ISL is scheduled tobe held from November to March ina single venue in view of the Covid-19 pandemic. Goa and Kerala haveemerged as frontrunners to host thelucrative event with the former morelikely to get the nod.

“East Bengal didn’t have a chanceafter April because it takes time with

so much of legalities and otherimportant things involved,” a sourceclose to FSDL told PTI on Saturday.

“From April till November theyhad more than six months but oncethey have crossed that, there was nochance for East Bengal.”

When contacted, a top EastBengal official though maintainedthat the ISL doors were still ‘‘open’’ forthem.

Following their split with QuessCorp, the century-old club has got itssporting rights back and is under-stood to be in talks with potentialinvestors.

West Bengal Chief MinisterMamata Banerjee is also keen for thered-and-gold’s foray into the ISL andthe state Government is helping outin roping in an investor.

The venue for the 2020-21 seasonis set to be announced on August 7.

In October, a virtual ISL work-shop will be conducted and the clubswill be “presented with all the details,rules and regulations” regarding theevent under the present circum-stances.

The organisers also said that theleague will be held in India after a clubrepresentative raised the possibility oftaking it abroad in view of the cur-rent situation in the country.

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ENGLAND IN CONTROL OF TEST ������������������������������� ������������������� 6����������

England wicketkeeper-bats-man Jos Buttler on Saturday

said he was “feeling the pressure”over his place in the team afterfailing to score runs in the lastfew Tests.

Buttler has been strugglingfor form, having failed to scorea fifty in his last seven Tests,which put his place in the Testteam in doubt.

The 29-year-old, however,played a crucial 67-run knock onthe opening day of the decidingTest against West Indies to helpEngland recover after they werereduced to 122-4.

Asked whether he was fret-ting about his place in the team,Buttler said: “Yes, naturally, butI think time in the middle givesyou confidence and obviously Ihadn’t been doing that.

“But I think it’s more aboutdoing a job for your team whichI’m very aware of and if you arenot quite performing as well asyou want, you realise you’re notdoing your job as well as youshould be for your team.

“I was definitely feeling pres-

sure. I’ve played long enoughnow to understand when you’reunder pressure and it’s on yourshoulders and how to deal withit,” he told Sky Sports.

Buttler, who has scored 2211runs in 43 Tests and 3843 runsin 142 ODIs so far, said trustinghis defence was the key.

“The only time I’ve had suc-cess at Test level is when I’vetrusted my defence,” he said.

“Lots of people expect me toplay a certain way because of theway I play in one-day cricket butI’ve never seen Test cricket in thatway.”

.����������������-�������������������Manchester: England havereleased five players from the bio-secure bubble here after theymissed out on selection of theongoing third Test against theWest Indies.

Out of the five, batsman JoeDenly will join the white-balltraining group ahead of theupcoming Ireland series.

The other four — DanLawrence, Craig Overton, OllieRobinson and Olly Stone —

have returned to their counties.The 34-year-old Denly

played the first Test of the seriesbefore being dropped followingthe return of Joe Root frompaternity leave.

“While Denly will join upwith the England camp at theAgeas Bowl on Monday ahead ofthe Royal London ODI Series, theother four players will be avail-able for their counties in thebuild-up to the start of English

domestic season, which startswith the Bob Willis Trophy on 1August,” the ECB said.

England and Ireland arescheduled to play three ODIswith all the matches to be host-ed at the Ageas Bowl inSouthampton on July 30, August1 and 4.

England Lions will take onIreland in a practice game onSunday but Denly will not beavailable for that game. PTI

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Ever realised it’s nearly dinner timeand you haven’t had your shower?With lockdowns ahead of many ofus in the country, pressure of work-ing from home and schools starting

with the online classes, everyone is doublingup as parent, teacher, entertainer, cleaner,chef and not to forget employee. Juggling somany roles can be daunting and leave youfeeling frustrated and out of control.

The mind is a powerful thing and when itfeels out of control, disoriented, everythingaround you seems to fall apart. You feel likeyou are drowning in responsibilities somehowgrabbing at straws to stay afloat. What youneed instead is a life jacket. Let me throw youone.

What if you are unable to check yourfrustration and that feeling of having lost allcontrol? What if, at the end of the day, youtruly feel productive, like you achieved some-thing? How do you tackle such extremeswings?

��������������Let’s begin with something that we largely

remain unaware of or take for granted — ourtime. In particular, let’s look at our prioritiesand how we should manage our time.

Start with a SIMple exercise to improveawareness — Time Diary. Grab a paper,spreadsheet or whatever you like and a clock.The stopwatch on your phone will work fine.Now, write down how you spend your dayfrom waking to sleeping. Note down everyaction including time spent on the phone,throne or social media. Time that you spenddrinking tea, chopping, cooking or cleaningup.

We are looking for time “suckers”or ener-gy wasters — Where is my time going?Where do I waste time? Woah, do I reallyscroll through my phone for 40 minutes onthe pot? Find your time suckers and removethem.

Ask yourself — what can I do less of, sothat I can do more of the things that matterto my physical and mental well being?

With an active social media presencemyself, I ensure I have a time slot for eachactivity because without it, I will get suckeddown the rabbit hole.

We are not in a contest; we are not tryingto come out of this with a doctorate in UIdesign. If you are safe and healthy you aredoing a great job.

Ideally aim for three big to-do items aday. Three must dos and if you finish them,then do some more. Setting realistic expecta-tions of yourself and others is imperative toyour mental well-being at the moment.

������� ��������In these times, parents, especially moth-

ers, have found themselves overwhelmed andinundated with work. The pressures of raisinga child coupled with managing home andwork from home office can be a dauntingtask. Here are a few things that have trulyhelped me as a full time working mother. ● Batch Cooking. Cooking for multiple

meals simultaneously saves times andenergy.

● One pot meals make cooking simple andquick. You don’t need a buffet spread ateach meal.

● Listing out your three top to-do itemsright at the beginning of the day. Setting agoal helps one stay focussed.

● 10 minutes of quiet me-time. Use thistime to relax and do nothing. Works as agreat recharge.

● Delegate. Get your spouse, children, fami-ly, partner, roommate or any human youcan find, to share the workload. If youcook, someone else can clean. If you iron,someone else can fold.

● Don’t compare. If someone says they areacing this time, that’s great. But that is notyour life and not your circumstances. So,don’t compare what’s happening in yourlife with that of the others or for that mat-ter, anything. You do you.

● Be kind to yourself. Speak to yourself asyou would to your best friend. We oftenjudge ourself harshly. Know this is thebest way that you can handle.

● See if you can add 15 minutes of some-thing important while removing 15 min-utes of something unimportant. You’d besurprised to know how wasteful ourmind/certain habits can be.

���� ����������My top tip to staying fresh, sorted and in

control of the game is a good night’s sleep!One of the biggest reason for people

struggling with weight issues, feeling low andslow in general, is lack of adequate sleep.

Here are some of the signs that indicateyou are not getting enough rest:● Your mind feels unclear maybe even a bit

foggy. Think reduced alertness, confusion,forgetfulness.

● You feel low or not happy. Maybe you arefeeling more stressed, low in terms ofmood. When we sleep we repair andregenerate and not getting enough of sleepstarts to show up quickly.

● You are more susceptible to illnesses,viruses, bacteria. Something you do notwant right now.

● Low energy, lower reaction time, lethar-gy... Some of these can also be indicators of

vitamin deficiencies, but before you run outto get tested, try getting in more sleep. Aimto get in atleast seven hours of sleep. I knowyou’re possibly thinking: “You have no cluehow much work I have”. But, let’s be honest isworking out an assessment. Time dairy isyour friend here. All research shows adelayed bedtime is from a voluntary delay —that extended TV time or watching videosonline. Unless you are a new parent!

Ideally, aim for the same sleep and wak-ing time. Seven to eight hours is ideal. If youdon’t think this is priority, think again.

Sleep loss increases your risk of weightgain, insulin resistance and type 2 diabetes.Time you paid attention to proper sleep.

��������������������A study was conducted on 11 healthy

men in their 20s. They were allowed to sleeponly four hours per night for six nights con-tinuously. At the end of it, it was found thatthey had the insulin sensitivity of a 70 yearold pre-diabetic! This when only one parame-ter was changed. While it’s a small sample, itis suggestive. The solution is cheap and easyto do.

If you have some trouble falling asleep trysome of the measures listed in the chart. Seeif those help.

Life throws many curve balls at us and2020 is just one of the many. You just need tolearn to hit that ball. It does not have to be aperfect shot and you don’t need to hit a sixeach time. You just need to learn to hit theball. It’s as simple as that.

Set realistic expectations of yourself andyour schedule. Do what is possible over try-ing to do it all. SIMplify where you can, that’sall you need right now.

The writer is a Lifestyle andTransformation Coach

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Suralakshmi Villa is ArunaChakravarti’s fourth novel,though the last two, Jorasankoand Daughters of Jorasanko, werestrictly in the genre of bio-fic-

tion. Interestingly, this novel, has evolvedfrom one of the short stories of the col-lection Secret Spaces, published by her in2010. For the reviewer, reading thisnovel, as an e-book was quite an interest-ing experience. Not used to reading e-books, I thought my patience would runout and I would probably finish the novelin a month. But the book sustained myinterest throughout, enabling me to com-plete the reading in three days with somenecessary pauses.

The story takes you across back andforth in time to Bengal and Delhi of theBritish and post independent eras. Thereferral point is the cultural history ofBengalis (Hindus and Muslims) of thatperiod. Aruna Chakravarti has an abid-ing interest in historical research whichhelps her authenticate every detail of theperiod and times she writes about. Herpainstakingly written prose could be readeffortlessly by readers because she is agood storyteller and that is what mattersin fiction.

The novel has a central narrative, thelife and times of Suralakshmi, a lady doc-tor who is a woman of intellect and sub-stance, a woman empowered. Yet as itoften happens, she loses all discretionwhen she falls in love and drifts towardsan unworthy lover, agreeing to be the“second” wife in his large household.How she gets cheated by her husbandand ultimately leaves home with Eidun,her protégée, to set up medical practicein a remote corner of North Bengal andwhat happens thereafter, has been writ-ten with insight and empathy. With thecentral story, there are other characters,whose lives get entangled with the chiefprotagonist and these sub-plots also finda place through “personal revelations” inthe novel.

What is interesting is the space givenin the book to rituals, folklore and culi-nary practices of both Hindus andMuslims woven together in a tapestrythat reveals the essentially syncreticnature of Bengal and her people. Aruna’scharacters are as real as the people we seearound us, with their strengths, their fail-ings and their vulnerabilities. There areimmensely inspiring stories of those whocould cross the threshold from traditionto modernity. Despite its regional ethos,the novel is a microcosm of the India wehave lived and known in the last five

decades. Even overseas readers will beable to relate to this “Indian” story soeasily.

Women will like the story, perhapsthey will find a feminist message. Somemay feel the novel is a bit harsh on itsmen, like Moinak Sen and Moinnuddin.Yet, if you read the novel carefully, theHindu elite of the period appear to be asflawed as the Muslim men of a lowerclass, both would take their sense of“social entitlement” with perfect impuni-ty. The younger Hindu men in the novelmay be more relatable to younger readerstoday since generational change is seam-lessly woven into the narrative.

Nowhere is the writer judgmentalabout societal or community values, thatwas perhaps never the intention. The

characters are not black and white, thecomplexity of each character is reflectedupon and handled deftly, no character issketched out as entirely predictable.There is a strength and flow in the storythat one wants to meander with and likeall good novels, the message quietlycomes through at the end.

Aruna is a master in recreating andevoking historical periods, her prose isalways rich in detail about the atmos-phere periodised. The characters arerarely atypical, they live their lives, oftentrying to escape their destinies. The com-plex emotional relationships are threshedout with clarity at times and sometimesleaving tangled webs to the reader’simagination. The writer reaches out toyour mind in a lucid, easy, non-preachy

style.Suralakshmi Villa is the story of a

house and its characters. The book has ahuge cast. It tells the story of Rai BahadurIndranath Choudhury, Suralakshmi’sfather, Lakshmi Devi her mother, and herfour sisters. It also narrates the story of agrowing city (Delhi) and the lifestyle ofits elite immediately after independence.She engages with Lutyens’ Delhi throughvivid imagery, her descriptive lens mean-dering through the calm of this lan-guorous city with its beautiful monu-ments and gardens. The descriptions ofthis elegant city and the lifestyles of its“genteel” folk, will remind everyone ofhow “British” Delhi has always been. Thepassing of the seasons is described unob-trusively as she moves on with the central

characters and their lives. The complexi-ties of the “Bhadralok” class, trying to fitin with the demands of tradition andmodernity, amply reflects “India in tran-sition” in the last fifty years even whenthe story crosses over from the 20thCentury to the next.

This is a novel spanning fourdecades. Many of us can completelyidentify with its central values, the dilem-mas of its characters and the culturalethos of its age. Those who have notbeen a part of the Bengali cultural her-itage, its folklore, music and legends mayfeel a trifle alienated. Though ArunaChakravarti has always written aboutBengal and Bengalis, it didn’t restrict herreadership to a region. Her earlier novelsabout the Tagores may have generated a

pan Indian appeal because of the magicof the family name. This story of anupper middle class Bengali household inDelhi (over a span of time) should be noless relatable.

Her portrayal of rural Muslims ofBengal may seem stereotypical at times,but has to be read in context.Moinnuddin, Eidun’s father maybe a car-icature of his class, but Moinak Sen isalso representative of the feudal patriar-chal Hindu male, a caricature no less.“Tradition” among Hindus and Muslimsare sometimes represented by such char-acters, which highlights their “negativeshades. Whether the novel seems to bemaking statements through them or not,only the author knows best.

Read this latest novel by ArunaChakravarti as it should be, for a goodstory and a climactic ending Start read-ing, and flow with the momentum. It isan engrossing story with a huge cast thatwill keep you going. For discerning read-ers, there are messages perhaps.Understand them and their significancefor contemporary India.

The reviewer is a Professor atDepartment of Political Science,

Jamia Millia Islamia

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It is about that year when itrained so heavy that streamsflowed turned rivers and

rivers into lakes. The water roseup to the edges of houses andtrees trunks were totally sub-merged in water. In the pound-ing rain storm leaves of thetwigs had fallen and the strongshower of rain water had com-pletely rid washed the blackcolour of the crows that theylooked like lovely white pigeons.

All the inhabitants of thevalley were focused to leavetheir homes and take refuge inthe nearby hills. Fortunately inthose days an old friend of dadhad invited us to his daughter’swedding and so we reachedSimla. Rain was also wreakinghavoc here and leaping downthe mountain slops like waterspring.

In wedding buzz we hadforgotten everything that what astorm raged in the outsideworld. I was somewhat wonderstruck to see golden brightspangled dresses, and glitteringornaments. Among the count-less gifts given in the dowry, Ihad a great liking for a timepiece which was of a lemon sizean extremely shining watch,which our host had purchasedand brought from Switzerlandfor her darling daughter.

Among the viewers of thedowry, it attracted first attentionof one and all. And AuntyTabassum, time and againrepeatedly and by twisting thekey Alarm of this ‘Jaltrang’sound like sounding time piece,described the defining charac-teristic of the unique watch. I

was exceedingly captivated bythis watch. I turned aroundmany a times and came to seethis lovely piece, again andagain.

How would this watch looklike placed near my head pillow.And how will it help to awakenme every morning with its heartcaptivating melodious voice. It

created a beautiful painting pic-ture on canvas of my colourfulimagination. No sooner AuntyTabassum was led away hitheror Thither, that I at once gavemy thought out plot a practicalshape and by seizing it kept itprotected in the stitched upperflop of my Salwar. And, aftersometime, when Aunty

Tabassum came back in theroom, and finding the watchmissing started looking aroundin great discomfort. She calledlittle Hazra

“Where is the watch?”“Watch?” Hazara was taken

aback with surpriseAunty ‘Tabassum’ called

‘Chunnu’,’Munnu’, ‘Shammi’ and

‘Aslam’ turn by turn but allexpressed their ignorance.

Slowly and slowly, all theguests gathered in the room.Aunty Tabassum wanted toavert, but on the guest’s empha-sis, she had to tell about the dis-appearance of the watch.

All began to look at doubt-ing each other. And were withtroubled hearts that how AuntyTabassum and other membersof the host family would thinkabout them. Every guest wasworried at heart and on theother hand hosts too wereashamed.

I looked around, whetherthe people were not looking atme. On being completelyassured, I began to walk slowlyand to satisfy myself personally,once coughed also for self satis-faction. At once it occurred tome as if the stitched bottomflaps of my Salwar were a bitraised up from my feet. I satdown nervously.

“Bi Razia, do you knowsomething/” Emerged an unfa-miliar voice.

“Not so.” I answered backsomewhat worried “Aji, why doyou ask Razia ‘poor’ AuntyTabassum expressed her full con-fidence in my person in keepingwith the delicate relationshipbetween guest and host.

“Razia Beta! Who was theother child in the room besidesyou and Hazra?”

Then the same voice fol-lowed me once again. I got ner-vous and looked around. I couldfound no answer to make.

“Our Razia is a good daugh-ter.” My mother announced my

innocence in the assembled lot.I felt somewhat revived up. Butthe very next moment the samealarm screamed up from theflaps of my Salwar in choked upvoice. I trembled.

All eyes rose up towards me.My Mummy’s eyes were aflameissuing sparks. Outside, therewas heavy down pour. But I wascraving for a drop of water todrown and sink myself deepdown and was peeping right andleft. Crows sitting on the terracein front of the window appeared‘White’ before my eyes. Morethan their black coloured feath-ers was my darker deed.

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The strange goings-on inTurkey have baffled secu-

larists around the world as thenation’s judiciary capitulated tothe specious argument ofPresident Recep TayyipErdogan to turn the clock backto 1934 and convert the HagiaSophia museum into a mosque.The conversion of HagiaSophia museum, which is notonly an architectural master-piece but also an epitome ofMuslims-Christians’ sharedtraditions and unity, is a mile-stone in Erdogan’s purportednarrative of reviving theOttoman-era “superiority” ofthe Islamic culture and theresultant consolidation of hispower.

The conversion of thenchurch-turned-mosque into amuseum by a 1934 decree wasa modernist idea of MustafaKemal Ataturk, who aimed toerase the sign of religious con-version of an OrthodoxChristian cathedral into amosque by the IslamicOttomans. Before that HagiaSophia was the cynosure ofChristians as only during andafter the Renaissance, biggerchurches were constructed. It’sthis historical baggage, therepurposing of Hagia Sophia isa matter of grave concern forMuslims, Christians.

The secular world, besidesreligious and political leaders,has voiced their indignation atthe conversion of Istanbul’smulti-religious heritage into amosque, with churches inGreece and the USA observinga “day of mourning”. While theturn of events in the modernMuslim majority nation, whichis geographically and cultural-ly a bridge between the Eastand the West, has dismayed theworld, the move is not an uttersurprise if one has kept track ofthe decisions of PresidentErdogan.

Starting from his taking upthe reins in 2003, Erodogan hastaken recourse in variousmethods to consolidate hispower. He started with the

promise of building the nationan economic power. Oncehailed for steering Turkeytowards rapid economic devel-opment, Erdogan is now strug-gling to deal with shakyfinances. His compulsive urgeto pursue the Islamist agendais to sweep those problemsunder the carpet. In public,Erdogan envisions revivingTurkey’s power and influenceenjoyed during the Ottomanera. Therefore, he is helpingbuild mosques, financing reli-gious education in foreigncountries around the worldfrom Latin America to sub-Saharan Africa. But his real aimremains the same: to stick to

power with public support. Ithas caused secular voters tolose their ardour for him.

According to an opinionpoll this month, 43 per centTurks consider the conversionmove a political manoeuveringto gag any discussion on thenation’s economic woes. In anunprecedented result, Erdoganbit the dust in last year’s munic-ipal elections in two biggestcities, national Capital Ankaraand his home turf Istanbul, atthe hands of the mainOpposition Republican People’sParty. This shameful electoraldrubbing, along with financialwoes, has forced him to lookfor ways to divert attention of

the general public and lureback conservative Muslim vot-ers. And, the Hagia Sophiadecision is his implicit decla-ration that Islam is the unoffi-cial religion of Turkey.

The unspoken declarationspurred a significant section ofTurkish society to lambast theErdogan Government, but theundercurrent among the mid-dle class was elation at theHagia Sophia conversion.Turkey being the only modernpowerful secular country in theMuslim world, the radicalisa-tion process has paid Erdoganthe much sought-after divi-dends.

To widen his reach and

influence of Islamist politicsand to install himself as achampion of the Ummah,Erdogan takes keen interest indenouncing the world com-munity for its fixated attentionon the “Islamic terror” whileignoring terrorism by non-Muslims. His new-found inter-est in Kashmiri Muslims andRohingya Muslims can be con-trasted with his strong rejectionof the historical fact of theArmenian genocide by theOttoman Empire.

In fact, for an elected con-servative Muslim leader whosepopularity is on the wane, it isimpossible to resist the morassof popular antipathy towards

non-Islamic symbols. HagiaSophia was a festering woundfor the Islamists who had beenpushing for its conversion backto a mosque for decades as theyconsider the Kemalist secular-ism only hurt the Islamic cul-ture and Turkish nationalism.Erdogan’s decision to convertthis ancient church-turned-mosque-turned-museum intoa mosque is consequence ofthat desire to give a deathblow to the symbol of thathumiliation. And it also servesthe political purpose ofErdogan.

However, as Turkey is notwell linked to the Islamic civil-isation and history, nor has it

living evidence of religiousrelics as seen in the Arabworld, Erdogan lacks the nat-ural ability, like that of SaudiArabian leaders, to claim theleadership of the Muslimworld. Therefore, the HagiaSophia decision aims to weavea new narrative of Islamic tra-ditions, which, in fact, is incontravention of the Islamicvalues.

Learned Muslims may beaware of the historical truththat medieval Muslim invadersdidn’t encroach on the places ofworship of the People of thebook, Christians and Jews.However, Ottomans blatantlyflouted the norms. AndErdogan is hell-bent on resur-recting that Ottoman era.

As the world is distraughtat the regressive approach ofErdogan, the common refrainis what’s next from the TurkishPresident. However, at thisstage, it is difficult to read thetea leaves about what Turkeywill become as multiple factors,including domestic politicaldevelopments, Islamist crisis inthe neighbourhood, andgeopolitics, play role in shap-ing up the future events. On theextreme end of that spectrum,the move may trigger compet-itive narratives of Islamism inTurkey and neighbouringnations who look upon themodern secular Muslim coun-try; it may also convince manyMuslim nations that secular-democratic politics is alien toIslamic culture and traditions.

However, considering theresilience of deeply embitteredsecular Turks, Erdogan’s gim-mick doesn’t guarantee unbri-dled reign for the neo-Ottoman. Nevertheless, onething is certain: The results ofthe next general election willdetermine whether theKemalist doctrine of top-downsecularism still appeals to themasses.

(The writer is AssociateEditor & News Editor, ThePioneer)

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Rajasthan is facing unprece-dented political crisis.

From an intra-party feudbetween the Chief MinisterAshok Gehlot and DeputyChief Minister Sachin Pilot, thebattle has now travelled fromthe Rajasthan High Court tothe Supreme Court. The two-year-old CongressGovernment, one of India’slargest States, is on the verge ofcollapse.

Since the formation of theGovernment, the two leaders,one an old loyalist and other avery ambitious young man,have never been on the samepage. Gehlot, an old Gandhi-family loyalist and Pilot, a veryclose associate of RahulGandhi, had always their owngame plan to consolidate powerand go up the ladder.

Pilot, who helped wrestpower from the BJP in theState, expected a bigger role inthe governance when the partycame to power, being the sonof late senior and popularCongress leader Rajesh Pilot.

Old guard Vs young bloodRajasthan saw a clash

between youth leader Pilotand old guard Gehlot. Whenthe Congress came to power in2018, it was Gehlot, a formerCM, who claimed right to thethrone as he also worked hardto bring party back to power.

Gehlot succeeded insidelining Pilot, usurping thethrone. But dissent was brew-ing in the party since begin-ning, with Pilot being madeDeputy Chief Minister. Therecent crisis which came in theopen showed the party in badlight after rebel MLAs raisedthe banner of revolt.

And as things have goneout of hand, political observersfeel that what matters in theCongress is not just work, effi-ciency and vision, but the linkwith the High Command:Sonia and her old coterie.

All decisions for State lead-ership precisely come fromSonia’s durbar only. In case ofRajasthan, both Gehlot andPilot had their own proximityto the Raj, but finally the olderone prevailed over the younger.

At a time, when the wholeworld is fighting with a dread-ed pandemic called Covid-19,the two-party stalwarts arebattling for their supremacy. It’snothing but their ego clash. Itis a struggle for the top post inthe State. While wrangling fortheir chairs, both the CM andthe ex-Deputy CM have justmissed the point that theybelong to the same Congressparty. And ironically, the per-son who has just served Gehlotas his Deputy till the other dayhas been made out to be worth-less and a back stabber.

Besides, Pilot has invitedthe ire of all his top party officebearers as he is colluding withthe Opposition BJP to topplethe Gehlot Government.Interestingly, Pilot is accused ofstaying in an Opposition-ruledHaryana wherein he may be

conspiring to stage a politicalcomeback with a new “avatar”.

Who knows what is in hismind? It is certain that aftersuch public humiliation, hewill return to the party unlesshe is assured of the post of theChief Minister and probably,the safe future for all the rebelswho have sided with him fornow. The way Sonia has takenthe final decision to removehim from the post of theDeputy Chief Minister despitePilot having close ties with bothRahul and Priyanka, it seemsthe underlying game plan ismuch bigger than it seems.

Being a young and promis-ing political leader, after theexit of Jyotiraditya Scindia andfall of the CongressGovernment in MadhyaPradesh, Sonia must havethought it is the right time toaxe another competitor to herson in the long race to the LokKalyan Marg, formerly knownas 7 Race Course Road.

First, the Speaker of theAssembly had given showcause notice to Pilot and 18

other MLAs. Then the teamPilot approached the RajasthanHigh Court to quash the dis-qualification notice given tothem by the Speaker. TheSpeaker argued that the courthad no jurisdiction to intervenein the proceedings of the Houseas the former has yet to take adecision.

When the High Courtasked the Speaker to defer thedecision on disqualificationon Pilot and the other 18members, he challenged it inthe Supreme Court. But theSupreme Court rejected hisplea to stay HC proceedings.And Justice Arun Mishra stat-ed that there is nothing wrongin raising the voice of dissentin a democracy. But then heunderlined the fact that thedecision of the High Court willbe subject to the top court’sdecision. Now, the High Courthas finally said the status quoshould be maintained tillMonday.

Now the Gehlot is bracingfor an Assembly session toprove his majority. As of today

he claims to have the supportof 101 MLAs, a water thinmajority in a House of 200members. The Opposition BJPhas 72 members, but with thePilot’s 19 members, the partywill need another 10 MLAs toform the next Government.

Numbers game Now it’s a question of num-

bers game: Who wins or loseswill all be determined by therespective number of MLAsonly. Most of the leaders in thiscountry in particular andaround the globe in general,have hardly bothered abouttheir electorate. Many of themhave completely lost their senseof being in power and have alsoforgotten the fundamental pur-pose of an elected representa-tive. The Pilot controversy hasonce again brought the Anti-Defection Law of 1985 to thefore. It is also known as the52nd Amendment Act passedby adding a new TenthSchedule to our Constitutionduring the tenure of thenPrime Minister Rajiv Gandhi.

This Act came into opera-tion on March 1, 1985. Its mainobjective was to prevent thescourge of emerging defectionacross the country that almostparalysed the political partiesand existing governments. Asper this Act, the seat of an MPor an MLA can fall vacant incase; a) he voluntarily gives uphis membership of such polit-ical party; b) if he votes orabstains from voting in suchHouse contrary to any direc-tion issued by the politicalparty he belongs; c) if an inde-pendent member joins anypolitical party after his election;d) if a nominated memberjoins a political party after theexpiry of six months from thedate he took oath as a memberof the House.

But the Act does not applyto: a) party splits: When thereis a split in the party and theconcerned member belongs toa faction that consists of notless than 1/3rd members of theparty; b) when two or morepolitical parties decide tomerge by a two-thirds major-ity of the total strength of theparty in the legislature and last-ly, c) when a member resignsfrom a party to take over as theSpeaker/Deputy Speaker andChairman/Deputy Chairmanof a House. Most importantly,any decision regarding thedefection is to be taken only bythe Speaker or Chairperson ofthe concerned House as thecase may be.

His/her decision on dis-qualification in connection todefection is final and no courthas any jurisdiction on suchmatters.

Hide and seek by PilotNow fully knowing well the

consequences of the Anti-Defection Law, why the hideand seek is played by Pilot.Either there must be an ulteri-or motive behind his decisionto stay away from now three

crucial meetings called by theSpeaker of the RajasthanAssembly or Gehlot must havea concrete plan to dislodgePilot to remove all his obstaclesto continue in power. And athird possibility may be Pilotmust be thinking of offeringoutside support to a BJP-ledGovernment in the State on theevent of falling the Gehlotregime.

Whatsoever it may be, thesaddening part of suchepisodes is simple: the voters’trust on the elected represen-tatives fade away. Also in theabsence of a clear cut definitionon defection, the malaise con-tinues as of today and willremain at the heart of Indiandemocracy.

Unfortunately, a few yearsafter passing the Act, we hadwitnessed the first case ofdefection in the NagalandAssembly. But when theSupreme Court delivered itsjudgment in the KihotaHollohon vs Zachilhn &Others Case 1992, it has under-lined that the Speaker’s decisionon disqualification in suchmatters is subject to judicialreview. The reason behind isthat the Speaker while actingunder the 10th Schedule is atribunal and hence his/herdecision can come under thecourt’s power of judicial review.

Now the ball is between theSC and the Governor’s court.Both can play a critical role.However it all depends how theMLAs switch sides withoutinviting penalties i.e. disqual-ification under the 10thSchedule.

At the end, it must be saidthat it is a dirty game. MLAsare hiding in hotels and resorts.And the populace is just wait-ing them to deliver services atthis pandemic hit situation.Very sad situation!

(The writer is an expert oninternational affairs)

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Agreat majority of people believe inthe existence of God, which differ-ent philosophies perceive in their

own ways. They believe that there existsan eternal reality that creates, sustainsand recycles life cycle. Also, administersthe whole world, having eyes on our con-duct individually and collectively. It is, asif, there exists a reality distant from us,who would judge our conduct and set theterms of our future qualitatively, accord-ing as one would deserve.

There are many philosophies that donot subscribe to the concept of God, evenof Indian origin such as Samkhya,Jainism and Buddhism. The self-acclaimed rationalist just deny the exis-tence, even though they may not be hav-ing any philosophy in hand to justifytheir stand. Many scientists, based ontheir perception, deny the existence ofGod. Stephen Hawking and LeonardMlodinova in their book, “The GreatDesign”, maintain that “God did not cre-ate the Universe and the Big Bang was aninevitable consequence of the laws ofPhysics. The fact that there is a law suchas gravity, the Universe can and will cre-ate itself from nothing. Spontaneous cre-ation is the reason there is something

rather than nothing, why the Universeexists, why we exist.” I think he had theChristian concept of God in mind, todeny its existence as in their concept,God and Existence are two different reali-ties. That made it difficult for them toreconcile the scientific perception withthat of the concept of God. Hawkins haswritten volumes on the concept of cre-ation, but he could not decipher thedynamics of life holistically, not to sayanything on their bearing in human func-tionalities in their day-to-day life.

There is no denying the fact that‘God or No God’, there is system in placeengaged in uninterrupted creativity,which has been driving the world indi-vidually and collectively in almost anautopilot mode. See how functionaries inthe cosmos such as the Sun, Moon, andall functionalities of the nature, vital toour life cycle have been going on, follow-ing involuntarily developed design para-meters mandated for them, and with suchprecision. One may believe or deny theconcept of God, but can anybody existwithout the support of nature drivenperennial resources? And these resourcesare not manmade. And that’s what divinecreations mean in real terms.

Vedanta says that God is formlessand attribute-less, the ‘One’ without a sec-ond, having in store the fundamental ele-ments of creation, carrying the potentialto manifest all by itself. It is pure con-sciousness that is all-pervading, andavailable with all. Consciousness elementanimates all our functionalities includingour ‘power of knowing’. It also lends nec-essary intelligence to all nature drivenfunctionalities to move in an orderlyfashion with precision. Consciousness,thus, weaves through the whole worldinto a unified organism where no indi-vidual has a reality independent of thewhole. This concept is quite in conformi-ty with the scientific perception of cre-ation. So said eminent AustralianPhysicist, Paul Davies: “For a naïve realist,the world is a collection of objects. For aquantum physicist, it is an inseparableweb of vibrating pattern, where no indi-vidual component has a reality indepen-dent of the entirety, included in thatentirety is the observer.”

It, would, therefore, be fair to surmisethat there is a system in place that wouldbe necessarily having a Primal-Source,having in store fundamental elements ofcreation, intrinsic to which is the funda-mental elements of consciousness. That

includes the manifest world with all itsdiversity and enormity. There are lot ofintervening dynamisms operative at visi-ble and imperceptible levels playing inbetween. All moving in togetherness as aunified organism, have been driving theworld individually and collectively. In thisscheme of things, courtesy the conscious-ness element, there always remain con-nect between the primal source and themanifest. “Without Him, I exist not,without me He is unmanifest,” said MirraAlfassa, the spiritual consort of RishiAurobindo, popularly known as ‘Mother.

According to Vedanta, the livingworld may get dissolved one day, when itgets back to the primal source, carryingalong the seeds of creation. Out of thoseseeds, a fresh world comes into being. So,the existence is always there in one formor other. So, “Existence is a reality”. Forthe sake of our understanding, the systemwould need a naming. If we shed ourindividualistic belief, what better than thethree lettered word “God” to name it.

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