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A special CBI court has acquitted all 32 accused in the Babri Masjid demolition case, including former Deputy Prime Minister LK Advani, for lack of evidence saying that the demolition was not pre-planned and blamed anti- social elements for razing of the disputed mosque in Ayodhya on December 6, 1992. “The CBI had not been able to establish charges against the accused. There is evidence to show that the accused had tried to pacify the crowd, not to pull down the Babri mosque,” the Special Judge CBI SK Yadav said in his judg- ment here on Wednesday. The court observed that the incident was not pre- planned and the accused had tried to persuade the mob against demolishing the struc- ture. The court even men- tioned former VHP president Ashok Singhal saying he tried his best to persuade the people who were behind the demoli- tion. “The leaders who were present at the site during the demolition were trying to stop the mob and not incite them. Stone pelting started from behind the disputed structure. RSS and VHP did not have a role in demolition”, the Judge said, adding that Kar Seveks who are blamed for demolition were directed to bring water and flowers to keep both their hands occupied. The judge even mentioned the witness number 9 Ms Anju Gupta, a former police officer, produced by the CBI, who during her statement had admitted that several criminals and dacoits had been among the Kar Sevaks. “The prosecution could not prove the link between the accused and the antisocial ele- ments involved in razing the Babri mosque,” the court said. The Special Judge said that there was not a single evidence against any accused of insti- gating the crowd and rejected all the 350 evidence produced by the CBI against the 49 accused, of which 17 have died, under Section 351 of the CrPC. Special Judge Yadav, who demits his office day after today, read out his exhaustive judgment in the presence of all the 32 accused, of which 26 were present physically. “As there was no concrete evidence, hence all the accused have been acquitted,” the Judge said. Lawyer IB Singh who was present inside the court said that the judge said that the CBI has failed to provide evidence that these accused were part of any conspiracy. “The legal evi- dence was lacking. CBI pro- duced photographs but could not produce negatives. Even newspaper cuttings were not in order. The CBI didn’t produce the actual notes of reporters,” Singh said quoting the judge. O pposition parties slammed the decision of a special CBI court in Lucknow to acquit several senior BJP leaders, including LK Advani, Murli Manohar Joshi, Uma Bharti, and Kalyan Singh, in a crimi- nal conspiracy case related to the Babri Masjid demolition. While the Congress said the verdict was against the constitutional spirit, Left termed it a complete travesty of justice and said they hope the Central Government will appeal in a higher court and follow the Constitution and judicial system. Congress spokesperson Randeep Surjewala said that the verdict was against the constitutional spirit. “The deci- sion of the Special Court to acquit all the accused in the Babri Masjid demolition case runs counter to the Supreme Court judgment as also the constitutional spirit,” said Surjewala at a Press conference soon after the verdict. Surjewala added that every Indian who believes in the Constitution and communal amity expected the Centre and State Governments to file an appeal against the verdict. “The decision of the Special Court to acquit all the accused in the Babri Masjid demolition case runs counter to the Supreme Court judgement as also the constitutional spir- it,” he said. Surjewala cited the SC judgment in para 788 XVII x, which said: “On 6 December 1992, the structure of the mosque was brought down and the mosque was destroyed. The destruction of the mosque took place in breach of the order of status quo and an assurance given to this court. T he BJP, the RSS and the Shiv Sena on Wednesday welcomed the Babri Masjid demolition case verdict in which all 32 accused, including BJP leaders LK Advani, Murli Manohar Joshi and Uma Bharti, have been acquitted. Advani welcomed the court verdict by chanting “Jai Shri Ram” and said it came in “footsteps of another order which paved the way for my dream of seeing a Ram Mandir in Ayodhya”. “It is a very important decision and a matter of hap- piness for us. When we heard the news of the court’s order, we welcomed it by chanting Jai Shri Ram,” Advani said in a video message. Another BJP veteran Murli Manohar Joshi, acquitted in the case, expressed happiness on the verdict and shared sweets at his residence. The RSS has issued a state- ment and appealed that all sections must accept the “Babri Masjid demolition case verdict”. In its statement, the RSS said that the “Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh welcomes the special CBI court’s decision to acquit all accused, including LK Advani, Murli Manohar Joshi and Uma Bharti — among all — in the demolition of the controversial structure.” “All sections of the society should come together in unity and harmony and work suc- cessfully to face the challenges before the country”. Mathura: A Mathura court on Wednesday dismissed the plea seeking the removal of a mosque near the birthplace of Lord Krishna here, the peti- tioners’ counsel said. “We will move the upper court as several pertinent issues have not been considered by the court,” the counsel for the plaintiffs said. Last week, a group of peo- ple moved the Mathura court over the 17th century Shahi Idgah mosque they claim was built at the birthplace of Lord Krishna. The suit demanded the annulment of an earlier Mathura court ruling, ratifying a land deal reached between the Shri Krishna Janmasthan Seva Sansthan and the Shahi Idgah Management Committee on the mosque. PNS U nion Home Ministry on Wednesday allowed the opening of colleges, schools, cinema hall with 50 per cent occupancy from October 15 and given the power to the States to take a call. Exhibition halls and swim- ming pools used for sports training can also be opened now. However, entertainment parks will remain closed. The Ministry of Home Affairs’ new guidelines titled “guidelines for re-opening” has given powers to States for opening up the education and entertainment sector. In the case of schools, the guidelines said the students may prefer online and attendance should not be mandatory if someone can’t come to schools physi- cally. The students must obtain parental consent for coming to school campuses. The UGC has already said colleges and universities will only open from November 1. The States were given flex- ibility to increase the gathering of people above 100 for social, political and religious gather- ing subject to strict social dis- tancing norms. If functions are conducted in halls, maxi- mum number allowed is 200 persons but it should not exceed 50 per cent of the seat- ing capacity. “Activities permitted from October 15, 2020, in areas out- side the containment zones: Cinemas/theatres/ multiplexes will be permitted to open with up to 50 per cent of their seat- ing capacity, for which, SOP will be issued by Ministry of Information & Broadcasting. T he body of the 19-year-old Dalit girl, who succumbed in Delhi hospital to gangrape and torture by four men two weeks ago, was cremated at midnight by the Hathras police without the consent of her parents triggering a massive outrage across the country. The Opposition parties demanded resignation of Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath after the victim’s family was denied the right to perform her last rites. As the incident drew flaks from the Opposition, the Yogi Government formed an SIT to probe the matter and directed it to submit a report in seven days. Also, he announced an aid of 25 lakh to the family members of the victim. TV footage showed the victim’s mother begging the police to let her have one last glimpse of her child and allow them to bring her body to their home. The family wanted to per- form the last rite during the day as per their tradition, but the police kept them at bay and consigned the body to the flames without their consent. The body of the girl reached the village in an ambu- lance around midnight. The police didn’t even allow media person to go anywhere near the pyre. “This was so gross. In our family, the body is not cremat- ed after sunset,” said one of the relatives of the girl. S taying the notification issued by it in August to implement the three ordi- nances issued by the Centre that had preceded the farm Bills which have now been enacted, the Maharashtra Government on Wednesday set up a Cabinet sub-commit- tee to study implementation or otherwise of the “anti-farmer” Central farm laws which have evoked vociferous protests from farmers . The development came after the ruling Congress Ministers threatened to boycott the weekly Cabinet meeting if the MVA Government did not stay the implementation of notification. Ahead of the State Cabinet meeting, Maharashtra Co- operation Minister for Balasaheb Shamrao Patil of the NCP stayed a controversial notification issued by State Director of Marketing Satish Soni on August 10 to strictly implement the three farm ordi- nances promulgated by the Centre before the same were passed by Parliament. The State Government decided to set up a Cabinet sub-committee to study the three recently enacted farm laws, hold talks with the farmer orgaisations and come out with suitable amendments to the enacted central farm laws. A fter tough bargaining from the Lok Janshakti Party for more seats, the BJP, the JD(U) and the LJP sealed the seat-sharing deal on Wednesday to fight the Bihar Assembly election together under the leadership of Chief Minister Nitish Kumar. “The Central leadership has appointed representatives to hold talks with allies. We will complete this process by tomorrow,” BJP national gen- eral secretary in charge of Bihar Bhupender Yadav said here after the meeting of the NDA allies in the State. State BJP leaders, including Deputy Chief Minister Sushil Modi, attended the meeting.

ˆ))*˘! ˜ +˜$*...2020/10/01  · soon after the verdict. Surjewala added that every Indian who believes in the Constitution and communal amity expected the Centre and State Governments

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  • ������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������ �!"#$%�������������������������

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    Aspecial CBI court hasacquitted all 32 accused inthe Babri Masjid demolitioncase, including former DeputyPrime Minister LK Advani,for lack of evidence sayingthat the demolition was notpre-planned and blamed anti-social elements for razing of thedisputed mosque in Ayodhyaon December 6, 1992.

    “The CBI had not beenable to establish charges againstthe accused. There is evidenceto show that the accused hadtried to pacify the crowd, notto pull down the Babrimosque,” the Special JudgeCBI SK Yadav said in his judg-ment here on Wednesday.

    The court observed thatthe incident was not pre-planned and the accused hadtried to persuade the mobagainst demolishing the struc-ture. The court even men-tioned former VHP presidentAshok Singhal saying he triedhis best to persuade the peoplewho were behind the demoli-tion.

    “The leaders who werepresent at the site during thedemolition were trying to stopthe mob and not incite them.Stone pelting started frombehind the disputed structure.

    RSS and VHP did not have arole in demolition”, the Judgesaid, adding that Kar Sevekswho are blamed for demolitionwere directed to bring waterand flowers to keep both theirhands occupied.

    The judge even mentionedthe witness number 9 Ms AnjuGupta, a former police officer,produced by the CBI, whoduring her statement hadadmitted that several criminals

    and dacoits had been amongthe Kar Sevaks.

    “The prosecution couldnot prove the link between theaccused and the antisocial ele-ments involved in razing theBabri mosque,” the court said.

    The Special Judge said thatthere was not a single evidenceagainst any accused of insti-gating the crowd and rejectedall the 350 evidence producedby the CBI against the 49accused, of which 17 havedied, under Section 351 of theCrPC.

    Special Judge Yadav, whodemits his office day aftertoday, read out his exhaustivejudgment in the presence of allthe 32 accused, of which 26were present physically.

    “As there was no concreteevidence, hence all the accusedhave been acquitted,” the Judgesaid.

    Lawyer IB Singh who waspresent inside the court saidthat the judge said that the CBIhas failed to provide evidencethat these accused were part ofany conspiracy. “The legal evi-dence was lacking. CBI pro-duced photographs but couldnot produce negatives. Evennewspaper cuttings were not inorder. The CBI didn’t producethe actual notes of reporters,”Singh said quoting the judge.

    ���� �+�� +),�

    Opposition parties slammedthe decision of a specialCBI court in Lucknow to acquitseveral senior BJP leaders,including LK Advani, MurliManohar Joshi, Uma Bharti,and Kalyan Singh, in a crimi-nal conspiracy case related tothe Babri Masjid demolition.

    While the Congress saidthe verdict was against theconstitutional spirit, Lefttermed it a complete travesty ofjustice and said they hope theCentral Government willappeal in a higher court andfollow the Constitution andjudicial system.

    Congress spokespersonRandeep Surjewala said thatthe verdict was against theconstitutional spirit. “The deci-sion of the Special Court toacquit all the accused in theBabri Masjid demolition caseruns counter to the Supreme

    Court judgment as also theconstitutional spirit,” saidSurjewala at a Press conferencesoon after the verdict.

    Surjewala added that everyIndian who believes in theConstitution and communalamity expected the Centre andState Governments to file anappeal against the verdict.

    “The decision of theSpecial Court to acquit all theaccused in the Babri Masjiddemolition case runs counter tothe Supreme Court judgementas also the constitutional spir-it,” he said.

    Surjewala cited the SCjudgment in para 788 XVII x,which said: “On 6 December1992, the structure of themosque was brought downand the mosque was destroyed.The destruction of the mosquetook place in breach of theorder of status quo and anassurance given to this court.

    ���� �+�� +),�

    The BJP, the RSS and theShiv Sena on Wednesdaywelcomed the Babri Masjiddemolition case verdict inwhich all 32 accused, includingBJP leaders LK Advani, MurliManohar Joshi and UmaBharti, have been acquitted.

    Advani welcomed thecourt verdict by chanting “JaiShri Ram” and said it came in“footsteps of another orderwhich paved the way for mydream of seeing a Ram Mandirin Ayodhya”.

    “It is a very importantdecision and a matter of hap-piness for us. When we heardthe news of the court’s order, wewelcomed it by chanting JaiShri Ram,” Advani said in avideo message.

    Another BJP veteran MurliManohar Joshi, acquitted in thecase, expressed happiness onthe verdict and shared sweetsat his residence.

    The RSS has issued a state-ment and appealed that allsections must accept the “BabriMasjid demolition case verdict”.

    In its statement, the RSSsaid that the “RashtriyaSwayamsevak Sangh welcomesthe special CBI court’s decisionto acquit all accused, includingLK Advani, Murli ManoharJoshi and Uma Bharti —among all — in the demolitionof the controversial structure.”

    “All sections of the societyshould come together in unityand harmony and work suc-cessfully to face the challengesbefore the country”.

    Mathura: A Mathura court onWednesday dismissed the pleaseeking the removal of amosque near the birthplace ofLord Krishna here, the peti-tioners’ counsel said.

    “We will move the uppercourt as several pertinent issueshave not been considered bythe court,” the counsel for theplaintiffs said.

    Last week, a group of peo-ple moved the Mathura courtover the 17th century ShahiIdgah mosque they claim wasbuilt at the birthplace of LordKrishna.

    The suit demanded theannulment of an earlierMathura court ruling, ratifyinga land deal reached between theShri Krishna Janmasthan SevaSansthan and the Shahi IdgahManagement Committee onthe mosque. PNS

    ���� �+�� +),��

    Union Home Ministry onWednesday allowed theopening of colleges, schools,cinema hall with 50 per centoccupancy from October 15and given the power to theStates to take a call.

    Exhibition halls and swim-ming pools used for sportstraining can also be openednow. However, entertainmentparks will remain closed.

    The Ministry of HomeAffairs’ new guidelines titled“guidelines for re-opening” hasgiven powers to States foropening up the education andentertainment sector. In thecase of schools, the guidelinessaid the students may preferonline and attendance shouldnot be mandatory if someonecan’t come to schools physi-cally. The students must obtain

    parental consent for coming toschool campuses.

    The UGC has already saidcolleges and universities willonly open from November 1.

    The States were given flex-ibility to increase the gatheringof people above 100 for social,political and religious gather-ing subject to strict social dis-tancing norms. If functionsare conducted in halls, maxi-mum number allowed is 200persons but it should notexceed 50 per cent of the seat-ing capacity.

    “Activities permitted fromOctober 15, 2020, in areas out-side the containment zones:Cinemas/theatres/ multiplexeswill be permitted to open withup to 50 per cent of their seat-ing capacity, for which, SOPwill be issued by Ministry ofInformation & Broadcasting.

    ����� �������)�(*�'�

    The body of the 19-year-oldDalit girl, who succumbedin Delhi hospital to gangrapeand torture by four men twoweeks ago, was cremated atmidnight by the Hathras policewithout the consent of herparents triggering a massiveoutrage across the country.

    The Opposition partiesdemanded resignation of UttarPradesh Chief Minister YogiAdityanath after the victim’sfamily was denied the right toperform her last rites.

    As the incident drew flaksfrom the Opposition, the YogiGovernment formed an SIT toprobe the matter and directedit to submit a report in sevendays. Also, he announced an

    aid of �25 lakh to the familymembers of the victim.

    TV footage showed thevictim’s mother begging thepolice to let her have one lastglimpse of her child and allowthem to bring her body to theirhome.

    The family wanted to per-form the last rite during the dayas per their tradition, but thepolice kept them at bay andconsigned the body to theflames without their consent.

    The body of the girlreached the village in an ambu-lance around midnight. Thepolice didn’t even allow mediaperson to go anywhere near thepyre. “This was so gross. In ourfamily, the body is not cremat-ed after sunset,” said one of therelatives of the girl.

    �����!���!��� -�-./�

    Staying the notificationissued by it in August toimplement the three ordi-nances issued by the Centrethat had preceded the farmBills which have now beenenacted, the MaharashtraGovernment on Wednesdayset up a Cabinet sub-commit-tee to study implementation orotherwise of the “anti-farmer”Central farm laws which haveevoked vociferous protestsfrom farmers .

    The development cameafter the ruling CongressMinisters threatened to boycottthe weekly Cabinet meeting ifthe MVA Government did notstay the implementation of

    notification.Ahead of the State Cabinet

    meeting, Maharashtra Co-operation Minister forBalasaheb Shamrao Patil ofthe NCP stayed a controversialnotification issued by StateDirector of Marketing SatishSoni on August 10 to strictlyimplement the three farm ordi-nances promulgated by theCentre before the same werepassed by Parliament.

    The State Governmentdecided to set up a Cabinetsub-committee to study thethree recently enacted farmlaws, hold talks with the farmerorgaisations and come out withsuitable amendments to theenacted central farm laws.

    ���� �+�� +),�

    After tough bargaining fromthe Lok Janshakti Partyfor more seats, the BJP, theJD(U) and the LJP sealed theseat-sharing deal onWednesday to fight the BiharAssembly election togetherunder the leadership of ChiefMinister Nitish Kumar.

    “The Central leadershiphas appointed representativesto hold talks with allies. We willcomplete this process bytomorrow,” BJP national gen-eral secretary in charge ofBihar Bhupender Yadav saidhere after the meeting of theNDA allies in the State.

    State BJP leaders, includingDeputy Chief Minister SushilModi, attended the meeting.

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    After slowing down some-what in the last couple ofdays, the contagion of novelCoronavirus (Covid-19) againpicked up steam on Wednesdaywith the state health depart-ment reporting 20 deaths and1005 fresh cases of the disease.The death toll from the diseasein the state is now 611. WithWednesday’s surge the tally ofCovid-19 patients inUttarakhand climbed to 49000.The authorities declared 976patients free from the diseaseon the day. A total of 39035patients have so far recoveredfrom the disease and the per-centage recovery for Covid-19patients stands at 79.66 percent.However the infection rate(IR) continues to remain highat 7.14 percent.

    Wednesday proved to bethe day with the most numberof fatalities with 20 deaths.Death of five patients wasreported at Sushila Tiwari gov-

    ernment hospital, Haldwanion Wednesday. Three patientsof the disease each succumbedat All India Institute of MedicalSciences (AIIMS) Rishikesh,Himalayan hospital Dehradun,Military Hospital Roorkee andMedicity Rudrapur. Twopatients were reported dead atHNB Base hospital Srinagarwhile one patient died at Metrohospital Haridwar.

    The authorities reported336 fresh cases of Covid-19from Dehradun, 133 fromHaridwar, 112 from Nainital,65 from Pauri, 61 fromChamoli, 59 from Tehri, 58from Udham Singh Nagar, 54from Champawat, 41 fromUttarkashi, 26 from Bageshwar,24 from Pithoragarh, 20 fromAlmora and 16 fromRudraprayag district onWednesday.

    The health department dis-charged 424 patients inDehradun after recovery and139 from Haridwar district onWednesday. Similarly 138patients recovered in Nainital,48 in Pauri, 39 Udham SinghNagar, 36 in Tehri and 32 inPauri. The state now has 9111active patients of the disease.Dehradun district with 2874active cases is at top of tablewhile Haridwar with 1492

    active cases is on second spot.

    Udham Singh Nagar has996, Nainital 915, Pauri 645,

    Uttarkashi 448, Tehri 368,Chamoli 295, Almora 292,Champawat 265, Pithoragarh251, Rudraprayag 162 active

    patients of the disease. With108 active patients of Covid-19Bageshwar district is at bottomof the table.

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    In an important decision which would provide succour to the general public, the state govern-ment has fixed the rate of antigen test for Covid-19. The NABH and NABL accredited privatelabs would now have to conduct the rapid antigen test on payment of Rs 719. At present theselabs are charging much more than this amount and there is no uniformity in the rates. Evokingpowers under the pandemic act the secretary health, Amit Singh Negi said that the labs shouldprovide a copy of all types of tests conducted by them to the Chief Medical Officer (CMO) con-cerned and state surveillance officer for uploading the information on the ICMR portal. He saidthat the labs should strictly follow all the regulations.

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    The members of the district monitoring committee constituted by the Uttarakhand High Court(HC) for monitoring treatment of Covid-19 patients visited the All India Institute of MedicalSciences (AIIMS) Rishikesh on Wednesday. The team inspected facilities at the institute and tookfeedback from the patients and their relatives. The director of the AIIMS Rishikesh Ravikantinformed the committee that a special centre having 400 beds for Covid-19 patients has been setup in the institute. He said that six special ICU (16 beds in each ICU) have been set up for crit-ical patients of Covid-19. The director said that a plasma bank is working in the institute and 50patients have so far been given plasma therapy. The head of the committee, civil magistrate (upperdivision) and secretary district legal services authority Neha Kushwaha expressed satisfaction onthe services and treatment provided to the Covid-19 patients in AIIMS Rishikesh.

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    On the first day of theresumption of inter-stateoperations of UttarakhandTransport Corporation (UTC),about 90 roadways buses wereoperated while following all theguidelines issued by the Centraland State governments onWednesday. As informed by thegeneral manager (operations)of UTC, Deepak Jain, around90 buses operated onWednesday to Uttar Pradesh(UP) and to the border ofDelhi only. He added that therewere about 35 passengers ineach bus and over 3,000 pas-sengers in total who travelledon the first day after theresumption of UTC operation.

    Meanwhile, people travel-ling to UP were happy that theinter-state bus service wasresumed but some were alsodisappointed. "We are glad thatthe State government resumedthe operation of roadwaysbuses with the usual farebecause in the current crisiswith no proper job, the over-priced tickets would have beena great burden, especially dur-ing Diwali when we visit ourfamily," said Arjun Saini, a

    labourer who works inDehradun. Many passengerswho were not aware that thebuses will go to UP only, werealso waiting for the bus nearRispana. "We arrived early towait for the bus for Faridabadbut somebody informed usthat no buses would go there.Why did the government notresume the operation of all thebuses? I hope the buses to otherstates will be resumed soon,"stated Sanju Arya, resident ofKarnpur, Dehradun.

    Moreover, it is compulso-ry for a passenger to register onthe Smart City portal beforetraveling to other States.

    Talking about it, most of thepeople were fine but manyopined that it could be anissue for a person who does notknow to browse the internet.When Saini was asked whetherhe had registered himself andhis family on the portal, he stat-ed that he was not aware of thiscondition. "I did not knowabout this condition when Iarrived here and I don't knowhow to do it on my own. I hopethat if any authorities will bechecking the registration, Iwill be able convince themabout my issue or will asksomebody to do it for me," stat-ed Saini.

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    After doctors and nurses, theANMs too have becomevocal against deduction in theirsalary. The association ofANMs, the Matri Sishu PariwarKalyan Mahila KarmchariSangh has demanded that the

    government should stop deduc-tion of one day’s salary in theirremuneration. A delegation ofthe association would soonmeet the chief minister, secre-tary health and director gener-al (DG) state health services inthis regard. The president of theassociation, Guddi Matura saidthat the female health workersare putting their lives under riskand working tirelessly duringthe Covid-19 pandemic. Shesaid that ANMs are doing both

    indoor and field duties andworking in immunisation andpulse polio campaigns withoutthe protective kits. In suchconditions it is inhuman todeduct the salary of these work-ers. Matura said that the ChiefMinister Trivendra Singh Rawathas assured the doctors andnurses that there would be nodeduction in their salarieswhich is appreciable. Shedemanded that salary deduc-tion of all employees of health

    ���� +,2/ ��

    As the government makestall claims about theNational Education Policy2020, many like educationalistGK Swamy believe that with afailed government machineryto implement the provisions,the new education policy willfail to transform education inIndia. “The National EducationPolicy 2020 is a beautifullywritten document- 30 pages ofthe 63-page document are ded-icated to some very fine ideasabout how education is to betransformed but I have seriousreservations about the imple-mentation of these ideas, par-tially because the governmentmachinery is not working andthere is a silence about how tomake the government machin-ery work. So while the neweducation policy is giving asense of purpose to the goals ofeducation, the government isyet to address the question ofhow these ideas will be imple-mented and how the govern-ment will take forward thisintention. I doubt that with thecurrent set-up the governmentcan actually deliver these inten-tions to the country,” observedSwamy in an online interactionwith The Pioneer. Founderand mentor of Purkal YouthDevelopment Society, Swamy iscredited to be a change leaderfor transforming lives of chil-dren from the poorest ofremote rural villages inDehradun by bringing quality,holistic English medium edu-cation to these disadvantagedyouth in the PYDS school thathe started along with compre-hensive support for good high-er education. Drawing from histwenty-five years of experi-ence of working for the educa-tion of the poor, Swamy point-ed out that the shoddy state ofpublic education in India willhave serious negative implica-tions for the country and thisis an area that requires seriousand urgent attention. On whatails India’s government educa-tion system, the octogenarianhighlighted lack of passion,expert leadership, well-trainedteachers and accountability forlearning outcomes as thebiggest problems. “A goodschool is run by somebody whois passionate about education.And this passion comes fromthose who fund school, thosewho direct and govern theschool. I wonder how muchpassion exists in the govern-ment because the officers whohead the education depart-ment are given that charge fora short term, so a person is

    heading public works depart-ment one day, then for a fewmonths or one or two years hehandles education. But educa-tion is not something you canjust walk into and dabble in,particularly when you are at thetop position where you have toguide, direct and create avision. Education is somethingthat you learn over timethrough your interaction withchildren and every child isdifferent. One must know howto kindle and maintain the fireof learning in every child andif the person at the top hasnever been a teacher, you can-not expect any positive changeto happen. Also we need to dosomething about trainingteachers seriously. When wetalk of government schools inIndia, the first thing is howshall we make teachers in gov-ernment schools more educat-ed about how learning happensso that their goal is not just topresent information but tomake sure that children com-prehend and retain that infor-mation and can translate it intoknowledge and learning for ameaningful life. Additionally,teachers need to be madeaccountable for results.Offering solutions, Swamy hadthese three suggestions for theeducation minister ofUttarakhand, “A serious pro-fessional who has risen throughthe ranks must begin to headthe education department witha long-term permanent tenure.I don’t think a generalist canreally handle it. Secondly,schools must become PPP part-nership instead of being entire-ly run by the government andthe government should limit itsrole to measuring student-learning outcomes and providefinancial support to the privatesector. The private sector part-ner should be given the free-dom to decide operational andinfrastructural inputs whilethe government must measurethe results by continuouslyassessing performance and out-

    comes using well establishedtests that provide reliable resultsof learning levels of children ineach class and the governmentshould grade schools on thebasis of these results. The gov-ernment should give incentivesto the staff of schools linked tothese learning outcomes andalso disincentivize if learningoutcomes slip. Thirdly, therehas to be a strict overseeing ofthe school’s performance on adaily basis by involving parentsin monitoring the daily run-ning of schools as no one canbe more concerned about theeducation of students thantheir parents.

    Another important aspect,while the NEP 2020 will con-tinue with the three-languageformula, Swamy believes thatnot using English as the medi-um of teaching will out chil-dren at a disadvantage in theirupward mobility in today’sglobalised world. And the rea-son for doing so is perhapspolitical, he surmises.

    “The aspiration for learn-ing English is very high andwell established. But a certainsection is fighting it becausethey do not want a foreign lan-guage to be our lingua franca.But take the example ofSingapore. Singapore con-sciously decided that theywould take English as the lin-gua franca although they hadthe choice of Malay or Chineseor Tamil, which are the lan-guages of the three most dom-inant communities in the coun-try. Research has stronglyestablished that if you do notspend 30 to 35% of your wak-ing life in the language inwhich you want to acquireproficiency then that languagewill never become the lan-guage in which you can achieveacademic excellence or inwhich you will begin to think.Much of the world’s higherlearning and international busi-ness today is in English; there-fore we need to give an immer-sive experience of the English

    language to a child. Suggestinga balance, he said,

    “Till class 2 teaching in thelanguage used at home is agreat idea but we have to tran-sit from that. For classes third,fourth and fifth, teaching canbe bilingual but sixth classonwards learning must happenin English so that children getthe immersive experience withthe language that they need inorder to become adept in it. Ithink the government did notwant to raise any politicalstorms so the NationalEducation Policy 2020 veryconveniently and very vaguelytalked of the three- languageformula but we need to settlethis quickly,” he said.

    Recalling the scenariowhen he came to Purkal twen-ty-five years ago, he shared,“The biggest problem at thattime was that these poor vil-lagers did not believe that edu-cation made any difference toanybody’s life. There was alsostrong gender bias. But childrenwho studied at PYDS and thenwent on to make prosperouscareers outside these remotehamlets while supporting theirfamilies financially have servedas success stories that havechanged attitudes. Now there isa community of people in 42villages who believed that goodeducation can make a signifi-cant difference to lives and whounderstand that their childrencan make a big difference to thefamily’s future.

    Also, boy students at PYDSsaw the men in their familiessuppress women at home, sothey were quite convinced thatit was their right to feel supe-rior to the girls and they couldnot tolerate a situation where agirl was doing much better thanthem in class be it academics.After coming to PYDS withtime they learnt this lesson inlife that a girl is as good as theyare and it all depends on howmuch time and effort you putin the practice of whateveryou are trying to do.”

    As the conversation drewto a close, Swamy who is brim-ming with energy, passion forsocial change and ideas onhow to transform educationshared his mantra for goodhealth, “The four componentsof a good living are at least eighthours of sleep, good balancednutrition, physical exercise andimportantly to live for a pur-pose of helping others. To livefor others is quintessential notbecause it is a great thing to becharitable but because it is atthe core of your own happiness,satisfaction and for your ownevolution in life.”

    ���� +,2/ ��

    Strongly condemning theUttarakhand government’sdecision to allow tourists tothe Char Dham shrines with-out the Covid-19 test report,the Pradesh CongressCommittee (PCC) presidentPritam Singh has said thatpriests and the people living inthese Dhams have come underthreat of the disease by thisdecision. Talking to mediapersons at state headquartersof Congress party the PCC

    president said that it appearsthat the government has takenthis decision since senior BJPleader Uma Bharati and stateminister Dhan Singh Rawathad recently visited these sitesdespite being Covid-19 posi-tive. He opined that the stategovernment in order to pre-vent itself from the embar-rassment of not taking anyaction against these leaders hasallowed everyone to visit theseshrines without any restric-tion.

    Singh claimed that the

    lives of teerth purohits shop-keepers and people residing inthese shrines have come underthreat by the decision of thegovernment.

    Launching a scathingattack on the state govern-ment, the PCC president saidthat it has proved to be a fail-ure in every respect. He saidthat the economy of the stateis in shambles and the devel-opment has ceased. Singh saidthat the government hadpromised to double theincome of farmers but now

    brought such laws which farm-ers have termed draconian.The state government hasfailed miserably in providingjobs to unemployed and thedisaster management hastotally failed. He claimed thata power struggle is going on atpresent between the govern-ment and administration. Thegovernment is under pressuresince one of its own MLAs iscomplaining about corrup-tion and brought a workadjournment motion in stateassembly.

    ���� +,2/ ��

    The state administration hasgranted permission to theGovernment Medical College,Srinagar to start post MBBSdiploma courses in seven dis-ciplines. In a letter the secre-tary, state health services AmitSingh Negi said that the college

    can start two year post MBBSdiploma course from the cur-rent academic session inAnaesthesia, Obstetrics andGynaecology, radiodiagnosis,paediatrics, ophthalmology,ENT and Family medicine.Expressing happiness on thedecision, the Principal of thegovernment medical college

    Srinagar, Dr CMS Rawat toldThe Pioneer that admissions in34 seats in these seven disci-plines would be given to thestudents.

    He said that the college hadpermission to give admission to125 students in MBBS and hasa PG course in anatomy.

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    -��������5���������%�����#�����������-������������-����&���$%�"$1��#���������������������������#��� department should be stoppedand there should be no dis-crimination among the healthworkers in this regard.

    The association has threat-ened that it would be forced tostart an agitation if the salarydeduction decision is not takenback. Meanwhile the associa-tion of lab technicians whichhad threatened to boycott workfrom October 1 in support oftheir three point demand hasdecided to suspend its agitationafter positive assurance fromdirector general (DG) statehealth services.

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    India on Wednesday success-fully test fired Brahmossupersonic cruise missile hav-ing a range of around 400 km.The missile travels at a speedthree times that of the sound.The speed of the missile ismore than Mach 2.8.Moreover, all the systemsincorporated in the latest ver-sion of the extended version ofthis missile are indigenouslydesigned and manufactured.

    The latest test firing of themissile was carried out by theDefence Research andDevelopment Organisation(DRDO) off the coast ofBalasore in Odisha, officialssaid. This was the second testof the missile. BrahMosAerospace, an India-Russianjoint venture, produces the

    supersonic cruise missile thatcan be launched from ships,aircraft and land platforms.

    With China ramping up itsmilitary strength in the Tibetregion during the ongoingvolatile situation at the Line ofActual Control(LAC), Indiahas also deployed its Brahmosmissiles along with Nirbhayand Akash missile systems tocounter any threat. Brahmoscan take out a target includingtanks and built up establish-ment with precision strikes. Infact, some batteries of thisadvanced missile weredeployed two years back in theeastern sector of the LAC.

    As regards the latest test,officials said "it is one moremajor step in enhancing theindigenous content (of the mis-sile)." This was the land-attackcruise missile and can be used

    to destroy key warships such asaircraft carriers.

    "Today's successful launchhas paved the way for the ser-ial production of the indige-nous booster and other indige-nous components of the pow-erful BrahMos weapon systemand realising the Atma NirbharBharat (self-reliant India)pledge," the defence ministrysaid.

    Defence Minister RajnathSingh in a tweet congratulatedthe DRDO and the teambehind the BrahMos missile forthe "spectacular mission".

    "Congratulations to Team@DRDO_India and@BrahMosMissile for the suc-cessful flight testing of #BRAH-MOS Supersonic CruiseMissile with IndigenousBooster and Air Frame fordesignated range. This achieve-

    ment will give a big boost toIndia's #AtmaNirbharBharatPledge," he tweeted. HomeMinister Amit Shah also con-gratulated the scientists forthis feat.

    BrahMos is a two-stagemissile with a solid propellantbooster engine as its first stagewhich brings it to supersonicspeed and then gets separated.The liquid ramjet or the secondstage then takes the missilecloser to Mach 3 or three timesthe speed of sound in cruisephase.

    The missile has a flightrange of up to 290-km withsupersonic speed all throughthe flight, leading to shorterflight time, consequently ensur-ing lower dispersion of targets,quicker engagement time andnon-interception by any knownweapon system in the world.

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    Union Home Minister AmitShah on Wednesday dis-tributed 200 electric potterywheels (chaak) and other pot-tery equipment to 200 trainedartisans at a function held atVillage Randheja in his con-stituency Gandhinagar viavideo conference from NewDelhi. Shah lauded the variousself-employment schemes ofKhadi and Village IndustriesCommission (KVIC) like

    Honey Mission, KumharSashaktikaran Yojana, LeatherArtisans’ Empowerment andProject DigniTEA. While dis-tributing electric chaaks, theHome Minister interacted withthe beneficiaries.

    Shah said the electric chaakwill not only help potters toenhance their production butalso enable them to make newfancy products that will fetchthem good income during theDussehra and Diwali festivals.He urged every beneficiary to rope in at least 10 other fami-

    lies with Kumhar SashaktikaranYojana for the larger benefit ofthe community.

    KVIC Chairman VinaiKumar Saxena informed thatmore than 18,000 electricchaaks have so far been dis-tributed across the countrybenefiting nearly 80,000 peopleof the community. He said theaverage income of pottersunder Kumhar SashaktikaranYojana has gone up from near-ly �3000 per month to nearly�10,000 per month.

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    Aday after trading chargeson the status of Ladakhand the Line of ActualControl(LAC), India andChina on Wednesday held thesixth round of diplomatic leveltalks, under the aegis ofWorking Mechanism forConsultation and Co-Ordination(WMCC) toresolve the five-month-longstand-off at the border.

    The ministry of externalaffairs said after the talks thetwo sides reviewed the currentsituation along LAC and haddetailed discussions on devel-opments since the last WMCCmeeting. The two sidesattached importance to meet-ings between the two DefenceMinisters and the two ForeignMinisters earlier this month.

    India and China agreedthat the next (7th) round ofmeeting of SeniorCommanders should be held atan early date so that both sidescan work towards early andcomplete disengagement of the

    troops, the ministry said.Even though there is no vis-

    ible lowering of tension, boththe sides reiterated their com-mitment to sort out the issuethrough the five-point actionplan etched out by the foreignministers of two countries.

    Earlier, External AffairsMinister S Jaishankar and hisChinese counterpart Wang Yihad held more than two hourlong bilateral meeting onSeptember 10 in Moscow onthe sidelines of the ShanghaiC o o p e r a t i o nOrganisation(SCO). Bothstressed the need for continu-ing sustained dialogue andmaintain peace and tranquili-ty at the LAC.

    Even though the two sidessince then have refrained frombolstering their military pres-ence further, war of words onTuesday indicated the logjammay take a long time to beuntangled.

    China triggered the tensionby stating it “does not recognizethe so-called Union Territory(of Ladakh) illegally estab-

    lished by India” and opposesinfrastructure developmentthere. It also said China onlyaccepted the 1959 LAC.

    India outright rejected itand said it never accepted theso-called unilaterally defined1959 LAC. This was proposedby Chinese premier Zhou Enlaion November 7, 1959 to PrimeMinister Jawaharlal Nehru.

    In this backdrop, the diplo-matic level talks under theaegis of the WMCC on borderaffairs took place onWednesday virtually. TheIndian side was led by JointSecretary in the ministry exter-nal affairs Naveen Srivastavaand China was represented byHong Liang. Both the officialshave so far held six rounds ofparleys since the stand-offs inearly May. The last round washeld on August 20.

    The focus of the latest talkswas to de-escalate tensions,people familiar with the devel-opments said, adding the twosides discussed ways to imple-ment the five-point agreementreached between their foreign

    ministers in Moscow onSeptember 10.

    In Bejing, Chinese foreignministry spokesman WangWenbin told a media briefingthat the main topics discussedare how to implement the five-point consensus reached inMoscow by the two foreignministers to resolve outstand-ing issues on the ground and toease the situation along theborder.

    The five-point action planincluded measures like quickdisengagement of troops,avoiding action that could esca-late tensions, adherence to allagreements and protocols onborder management and stepsto restore peace along the LAC.

    On the basis of the under-standing reached betweenJaishankar and Wang, the twosides held a nearly 14-hour-long Corps commander-leveltalks on September 21 follow-ing which they announced aslew of decisions to de-escalatethe situation. Incidentally, itwas the sixth round of militarylevel talks regarding the ongo-

    ing situation at the LAC.The decisions included to

    stop sending more troops to the

    frontline, refrain from unilat-erally changing the situation onthe ground and avoid taking

    any actions that may furthercomplicate matters. It was forthe first time that the two

    armies announced specificmeasures to ease tensions ineastern Ladakh.

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    Amid the continuing bordertensions with China ineastern Ladakh, reports haveemerged suggesting the People’sLiberation Army (PLA) isrecruiting civilians from Tibetfor “technical” and profession-al posts into its ranks.

    While China’s WesternTheatre Command did notitself comment on the devel-opment but Chinese expertsclaimed the move to be as partof a regular recruitment plan,assessments here suggest thePLA is seeking to deploy localTibetans after being con-strained due to mirror deploy-ment in Ladakh by the IndianArmy.

    The Tibetans being recruit-ed are being absorbed on the

    posts of kitchen staff, drivers,administrators, software tech-nicians, spectrum monitorsand other positions but theyhave been covertly combatisedfor ostensible deployment ininsurgency in India along theLine of Actual Control (LAC).

    Reports attributingChinese experts also assertedthe recruitment should not behyped as being related toChina-India border tensions.

    Meanwhile, internationalexperts on Tibetan affairs saidChina has introduced newrecruitment policies, coercingthousands of Tibetans in theregion into mass labourthrough a militarised system.

    The militarised vocationaltraining system is an attempt topractically suppress Tibetanculture and dilute Tibetan reli-

    gion (negative influence ofreligion as per Chinese gov-ernment contention), take awaytheir lands and herds, turnedinto wage labourers and sub-sequently used as cannon fod-der for insurgency along theIndian States and UnionTerritories like Ladakh,observers on China said.

    While an estimated onemillion Uyghur Muslims arehoused in detention campsand compelled to work asforced labour for cheap afterbeing subjected a variety ofsubjugation measures like re-education amid constant sur-veillance, the Tibetans arebeing coerced differently, theysaid.

    In Tibet, China has adopt-ed the use of a grid system,detention camps in disguise,

    according to which, the ethniccommunity is divided into sec-tions of control, and data ofindividuals are recorded inmilitary-style with a combatvisualisation through the use ofmaps and charts. The employ-ment process also entails pro-paganda against the commu-nity by subjecting them to“thought education” to “educateand guide the unemployed tochange their closed, conserva-tive, and traditional employ-ment mindset.”

    The poverty alleviationprogram mandates the increas-ing use of military training sys-tems like the reformation ofthoughts, re-education, andteaching of Chinese languageand teaching Communist ide-ology besides combat drills,they added.

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    Even as the country’s covid-caseload breached the 62-lakh mark with 80,472 newcoronavirus cases and 1,179deaths on Wednesday, recover-ies crossed 51 lakh, which theUnion Health Ministry said ishighest in the world. The con-tinuous upward trajectory ofIndia’s Recovery Rate hastouched 83.33% on Wednesday.86,428 have recovered and dis-charged in the last 24 hours, itadded.

    The last 10 lakh recoveriescame about in 11 days, said theMinistry in a statement. A totalof 97,497 people have died dueto the disease till now. Thecountry now has a total of62.25 lakh coronavirus cases,including 97,497 deaths, 51.87

    lakh recoveries and 9.40 lakhactive cases.

    Presently the active casesfor only 15.11 per cent of thetotal positive cases of the coun-try, standing at 9,40,441.

    More than 76 per cent ofthe Active Cases are concen-trated in 10 States viz.Maharashtra, Karnataka ,Kerala, Andhra Pradesh, UttarPradesh, Tamil Nadu, Odisha,Assam, Chhattisgarh andTelangana. Maharashtra con-tributes maximum with morethan 2,60,000 active cases.

    Similarly, ten States/UTscontribute 78 per cent of thetotal recovered cases.Maharashtra leads the tally withmore than 10,00,000 recoveriesfollowed by Andhra Pradeshwith more than 6,00,000 cases,said the statement.

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    New Delhi: The SupremeCourt Wednesday refused topostpone UPSC civil servicespreliminary exam, to be held onOctober 4, because of COVID-19 pandemic and floods inseveral parts of the country.

    A bench of Justices A MKhanwilkar, B R Gavai andKrishna Murari asked theCentre to consider grantingone more chance to those aspi-rants who may not appear intheir last attempt allowed for theexam due to the pandemic.Italso refused to consider the pleafor clubbing of this year''s examwith that of 2021 saying “thiswill have a cascading effect”.

    The bench was hearing aplea seeking postponement ofthe Civil Services Exam for twoto three months, so that theflood/ incessant rains recede andthe COVID-19 curve flattens.

    The Union Public ServiceCommission (UPSC) opposedthe plea saying all necessary pre-

    cautions have been taken andadequate arrangements havebeen made for holding the exam.

    The bench said that assome public exams have recent-ly been conducted successful-ly by the authorities by observ-ing proper protocols, it is pos-sible to conduct the UPSCpreliminary examinations.

    It added that the grievanceof lack of transport facility at 72

    examination centres and sub-centres have not been sub-stantiated by the petitioners.

    Dealing with the griev-ances of the aspirants that dueto the COVID-19 situationstudents could not take thecoaching and other facilities,the bench referred to the avail-ability of facility of onlinestudy material to them.

    The top court said that it

    has impressed upon ASG SVRaju, appearing for the Centre,to explore the possibility of giv-ing one more opportunity tosuch students who fail to takeup the exam in their lastattempt.

    It said that a formal deci-sion can be taken by theDepartment of Personnel andTraining (DoPT) expeditious-ly. PTI

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    Recently, the Government released anorder to put the posters of rapistsand misdemeanors on the streets of thestate. On the same note, posters of allfour accused of gang-rape will be puton the streets. Superintendent of PoliceVikrant Vir said that the posters of theserape accused will be put on the streets.Their photos have also been shared onsocial media.

    After the death of the of Hathrasvictim, IG Piyush Mordia has takencharge of this case personally. He hassent the JN Medical College test reportto the Forensic Science Laboratory,

    Agra to confirm the rape. He is wait-ing for this forensic report and post-mortem report in Delhi. He told thatunder no circumstances will theaccused be spared. According to IG, apreliminary attack report was pre-pared after the September 14 incidentand the victim was admitted to JNMedical College for the treatment.Later, she revealed to be molested by theaccused named in the attack report thenthe molestation section was added inthe case, later the daughter filed a state-ment after coming to her full senses, inwhich she accused the attackers of rapeon which section of rape was also addedin the report.

    Aligarh: The mental condition of people has fall-en so much that daughters are now feeling unsafeeven in their own house. Police attitude is alsoincreasing crime in this field. The incident ofHathras has also hurt the wounds of Aligarh.Every time there was anger, there were agitations,candlelight march and then everyone forgets.After all, when will women feel safe?

    Prof. SA Azmi, a psychiatric specialist at theJN Medical College, explains that there are manyreasons to make daughters a soft target. He toldthat now porn content is readily available on theinternet which increased the sexual desire of theperson watching it. The person tries to do as hesees and learns from childhood. Sometimes suchincidents happen due to hormonal changes aswell. Such people see young girls as soft targets,this is their mental disorder. PNS

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    The All India MuslimPersonal Law Board (AIM-PLB) said that it will appealagainst the special CBI courtverdict in the Babri Masjiddemolition case in the highcourt.

    AIMPLB SecretaryZafaryab Jilani said that thejudgment pronounced onWednesday by the special CBIcourt in the case was wrong.

    “We will appeal against thejudgment in the High Court,”said the lawyer, who was alsopart of the Babri Masjid ActionCommittee.

    Prominent Sunni cleric andAll India Muslim Personal LawBoard (AIMPLB) memberMaulana Khalid Rasheed

    Firangi Mahali said everyoneknows how the “Babri masjidwas demolished in full publicview” and the “law of the landwas shredded to pieces”.

    “The Muslims, in this coun-try, have always respected courtdecisions. In the final judgmentof the Babri masjid case, thecourt had clearly said that theMuslims had been wronglydeprived of a mosque that hadbeen constructed well over 450years ago. Then the SupremeCourt also said that it was anunlawful destruction. However,if there was a criminal conspir-acy, it had to be decided by thecourt. Now, Muslim organisa-tions will sit together and decidewhether today's judgment has tobe appealed against or not,” hesaid.

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    The aggrieved family members ofthree Rajouri based labourers, killedin Amshipora encounter in Shopian onJuly 18, are set to visit Kashmir valleysoon where dead bodies of their lovedones will be exhumed and handed overto them to perform their last rites as pertheir own traditions.

    Three youths identified as AbrarAhmed (25), Imtiyaz Ahmed (20) andMohammed Ibrar (16), were killed inAmshipora village of Shopian on July18. The trio had gone there to earn theirlivelihood. In a brief statement the offi-cial spokesman of the Jammu andKashmir police Wednesday said, “Sincethe DNA samples matched with thefamilies, the three dead bodies will beexhumed and handed over to families

    after the due process of law”.Meanwhile, in Rajouri the family

    members of deceased labourers claimedthe local authorities have already con-tacted them to facilitate their visit to theKashmir valley. The dead bodies ofthese youths were buried after theencounter in north Kashmir’s Baramulladistrict.

    On its part, the Army has alreadyinitiated the summary of evidence(SoE) against its personnel after the con-clusion of the Court of Inquiry into the“encounter”.

    The Army men were prime faciefound guilty for exceeding powersvested under the Armed Forces SpecialPowers Act (AFSPA) and for contra-vening dos and don’ts of the Chief ofArmy Staff as approved by the SupremeCourt.

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    Kerala has become the epi-centre of Covid-19 as theState on Wednesday diagnosed8,830 new persons with the pan-

    demic. This is the highest num-ber of patients to be diagnosedin a single day till date, accord-ing to Health Minister KKShylaja in a release. ChiefMinister Pinarayi Vijayan calledoff his daily press briefing as

    Kerala surged ahead with morepatients and fatalities. Therelease said 23 deaths in the statehave been attributed to Covid-19 by the National Institute ofVirology, Alappuzha. As onWednesday evening, Kerala has

    67,061 Covid-19 patients. Theday saw hospitalisation of morethan 3,400 patients who were ina critical condition.Neighbouring Tamil Nadu hasbrought down the Covid-19considerably by Wednesday.

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    CHENNAI: Rama Gopalan, founder of HinduMunnani, an umbrella organisation of allHindutva forces in Tamil Nadu passed away inChennai on Wednesday.

    He was 94 and was undergoing treatment ina private hospital for multiple ailments. He wasan RSS pracharak for more than seven decades.

    A widely respected scholar, Rama Gopalanalways stood for the rights of the Hindus in TamilNadu irrespective of the castes and creeds. He wasat the forefront of all agitations against attacks onHindu religion. It was Rama Gopalan whowrote to the Union Home Minister when womencops were molested by activists of extremist organ-isations at Vellore in 2016. This was in responseto the indifference of the State administrationtowards the complaint filed by women cops.PNS

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    New Delhi: With just two daysleft for the notifications for thefirst phase of Assembly electionson 74 Assembly seats in Bihar,the RJD had urged the Congressto decide on the seat sharing for-mula within 24 hours keepingaside “all the differences”.

    Bihar Congress presidentMadan Mohan Jha have heldseveral rounds of meeting withthe Central party leadership todiscuss and finalise the arrange-ment with RJD and otheralliance partners for the BiharAssembly elections scheduledlater this month.

    The Congress swung intoaction following the pressureapplied by the RJD to finalise theseats by Wednesday evening.Congress' Bihar in-charge ShaktiSingh Gohil had called theparty's Bihar unit presidentMadan Mohan Jha and legisla-tive party leader Sadanand Singhto Delhi.

    Sources from both the par-ties said that the RJD leadershipwants to allocate about 55 to 58seats to the Congress and a Lok

    Sabha bypoll seat of ValmikiNagar.

    The Congress had won 27seats in the 2015 Assembly elec-tions while the RJD hademerged as the single largestparty with 80 seats. The totalassembly seats in Bihar assem-bly is 243.

    Congress is already upsetwith the RJD for virtually throw-ing out RLSP from the alliance.After the RLSP and HAM quitthe Grand Alliance, only theRJD and the Congress are left init to challenge the NDA.

    In 2015 elections, theCongress contested on 41 seatsand won 27, while RJD con-tested from 101 seats and won80. “The top leadership called uswith details of the seats wherethe Congress has a good chanceat the backdrop of many issuesincluding a long anti incum-bency against the Nitish KumarGoverment. The standing com-mittee has scrutinised them andwe will inform our alliancepartner RJD either onWednesday evening orThursday morning,” Jhasaid. PNS

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    In the wake of rising Covid-19 cases,Karnataka on Wednesday declared thatthe penalty for not wearing a mask in pub-lic places would be increased to �1,000 inurban areas while it is �500 in rural areas.

    Speaking to reporters after a meetingwith officers here, Karnataka MedicalEducation minister Dr K. Sudhakarasserted people have begun displayingnegligence by not wearing masks and fail-ing to maintain social distancing norms.

    “The area police have been authorisedto collect the fine. Moreover, the state gov-ernment had to take such harsh decisions

    to increase the fine amount from �200.The fine will be imposed on those not fullycovering their noses and mouths withmasks,” he said.

    Sudhakar added that the state gov-ernment had again imposed a partial banon participation of people in social, reli-gious, political gatherings as well as wed-dings and other cultural ceremonies.

    “No more than 50 people can attendthese ceremonies. Action will be initiat-ed against organisers or owners of theorganisation if more people are found insuch gatherings,” the minister main-tained.

    He added that buses (public transport)can operate with 50% of their capacity.

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    Having the second highestnumber of active Covid-19 cases (1,07,737) in thecountry after Maharashtra,nine of the 30 districtsacross Karnataka reported a

    surge in Covid cases inSeptember, an official said onWednesday.

    “More testing has shownthat positive cases increased innine districts, and reduced in14 districts since the first weekof September but remainedsteady in seven districts acrossthe state,” Karnataka Covid-19war room in-charge Munish Moudgil toldreporters here.

    The nine districts areBengaluru Urban, Ballari,Belagavi, Dakshina Kannada,

    Dharwad, Hassan, Kalaburagi,Shivamogga and Udupi.

    As the epicentre of thecoronavirus pandemic,Bengaluru remained at thetop, accounting for 40-45 percent of the new cases in thesouthern state.

    “Though the positivityrate was high in 19 districts inthe first week, effective mea-sures, including tracking, trac-ing, testing and treating,reduced it in 10 districts by thefourth week, as is evidentfrom the data,” said Moudgil,a senior IAS officer.

    The state health depart-ment ramped up testing in thenine districts which haveshown higher positive cases tocover more people.

    “More positive cases areexpected as we ramp up test-

    ing by three times a day acrossthe state,” said Moudgil.

    Though the positivity rateper 100 tests is decreasing, thevirus spread is increasingacross the state.

    According to the state's lat-est health bulletin, a whopping10,453 new cases were regis-tered on a single day(Monday), taking its tally to5,92,911 till date, including1,07,737 active cases.

    Bengaluru registered 4,868fresh cases till Monday mid-night, taking its Covid tally to2,28,437, including 46,610active cases.

    Of the new cases in thedistricts, Hassan reported 475,Mysuru 414, DakshinaKannada 362, Shivamogga347, Udupi 319 and Ballari313.

    Srinagar: Jammu and Kashmir onWednesday reported 975 new Covid-19cases, taking the Union Territory's cor-navirus tally past the 75,000-mark to75,070.

    A statement issued by the Informationand Public Relations Department said thatof the 975 new cases reported onWednesday, 568 were from Jammu divisionand 407 from Kashmir division.

    Of the total 75,070 cases in Jammu andKashmir, 56,872 persons have recoveredcompletely.

    Meanwhile, 17 patients succumbed tothe virus on Wednesday, 11 from Jammudivision and 6 from Kashmir division, tak-ing the UT's death toll to 1,181. IANS

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  • Death and taxes are cer-tain but when, how orwhy can be mostuncertain. Expertsfind ways and means— sometimes genuine and some-times sham — of minimising taxliability. This is to contextualise anarbitral panel under the PermanentCourt of Arbitration rejectingIndia’s income tax claim of about�22,100 crore from Vodafone.

    The tax dispute goes back to2007 when Vodafone InternationalHoldings, a company registered inthe Netherlands, acquired CGPInvestments Limited, a companyregistered in Cayman Islands.Normally, acquisition of one foreigncompany by another foreign com-pany should have nothing to dowith Indian law and taxmen. Acompany’s shares are supposed tobe situated in the country where itis registered. Legally, only CaymanIslands’ Government had the rightto tax the capital gain made by theshareowner as the share sale tookplace there. However, CaymanIslands does not impose income taxor capital gains tax (and that is whyso many companies are registeredthere.)

    Through other offshore entities,the Cayman Island company con-trolled CK Hutchison HoldingsLtd’s 67 per cent stake in theIndian company, Hutchison EssarLtd (HEL). So the end result of thisshare sale was that the ultimate“owner” of the Indian company gotchanged from the Hong Kong-based Hutchison to the UK-basedVodafone, both controlling theIndian company indirectly througha chain of intermediate companies.Since the share sale in CaymanIslands did not entail any incometax, it was a “tax-efficient” arrange-ment.

    HEL was a joint venture compa-ny formed by the Hong Kong-based Hutchison and Essar Group.HEL held a telecom licence. Theshare sale transaction in CaymanIslands meant that the Hong Kongcompany Hutchison ceded controlof HEL to British companyVodafone to the extent of 67 percent of HEL shareholding. Had theshares of the Indian company beensold directly, Indian income taxwould have been unquestionablypayable on capital gains. ButVodafone indirectly acquired 67 percent control in HEL fromHutchinson in a $11.2b deal.

    Indian taxmen did not like what

    they saw as a tax-dodgingarrangement. They argued thatthe Cayman Islands’ share salewas actually an indirect sale ofshares of the Indian company.They raised a demand (2009) of$2.2 billion as capital gains tax.With interest and penalty, thetotal tax demand rose to �22,100crore. Vodafone contended thatit was not liable to pay taxbecause the transaction did notinvolve transfer of any capitalasset situated in India.

    On January 20, 2012, theSupreme Court ruled that theGovernment had no jurisdictionto levy tax on overseas transac-tions between two foreign com-panies. A sale transactionbetween two foreigners wasbeyond Indian tax jurisdictioneven if the subject matter of salewas controlling interest in anIndian company having valuableassets. No Indian company haddirectly sold anything.

    The Government requestedthe Supreme Court to lift thecorporate veil to see the true sub-stance of the transaction, thetrue end-beneficiaries of thetransaction and not go by mereform, or the corporate bound-aries of shell companies throughwhich ultimate owners operate.These arguments were notaccepted. The top court said thatthe law as it then stood did notallow lifting the corporate veilbased on such interpretations.Instead of “look through,” thecourt adopted a “look at”approach.

    Unwilling to give up the taxclaim, the Government amend-

    ed the tax law retrospectivelywith effect from June 1, 1976,giving itself the power to re-openpast mergers and acquisitions ifthe underlying asset was inIndia. Vodafone then contestedthe claim under the BilateralInvestment Treaties (BITs)between India and theNetherlands and between Indiaand UK.

    A PCA arbitral tribunalrecently adjudicated the invest-ment treaty arbitration disputeand rejected the Indian taxdemand. The retrospectivechange in income tax Law in2012 was held to vitiate the guar-antee of Fair and EquitableTreatment (FET) given toDutch/British investors underthe BITs.

    The Government can nowappeal against the order in theHigh Court of Singapore. Ifnot, it has to spend about �85crore (�40 crore to PCA as 60per cent of litigation cost and�45 crore refund to Vodafone).

    Another similar arbitrationinvolving UK’s Cairn Energy Plcis expected to be concludedsoon, where $1 billion of CairnEnergy’s shares have been con-fiscated.

    India and similarly placedfinancial resource-starved coun-tries face this dilemma. Wewant to welcome foreign capitalto bring financial resources andtechnology to expand the earn-ing capacity of the Indian econ-omy, create jobs and raiseincome levels. The investorshave a legitimate expectation ofa fair and equitable non-discrim-

    inatory taxation and regulatoryregime, ease of doing businessbut the Government also has alegitimate interest in collectingtaxes. Last year, we reducedcorporation tax for new manu-facturing companies to a recordlow of 15 per cent.

    There should certainly be acertainty about tax liability butretrospective changes in taxlaws are undesirable. Theychange assessment of futureprofits and may negate the verybasis of important investmentdecisions.

    Discerning eyes can see thatthe primary driver of theCayman Islands sale was acquir-ing controlling interest in theIndian telecom company andthe deal was structured to makeit an offshore transaction beyondthe reach of Indian taxmen, aninnovative tax avoidance mea-sure. The world’s rich shift theirincomes and wealth from theirhigh-tax home countries tothese “tax haven” countries likeCayman Islands having almostno income tax. How can “taxhaven” countries defend givingshelter to people running awayfrom their taxing home jurisdic-tions is a big internationaldebate. It is an ideological bat-tle between tax-freeGovernments of these countriesand remaining “tax-and-spend”Governments who want toimpose their ideology on nationsfollowing “minimalistGovernment” ideology.

    One country’s “black money”(tax-evaded income) is a sourceof survival for another. That is

    how “tax havens” flourish. Onewould wish greater internation-al cooperation in enforcementand “tax-and-share” being put inplace but the interminabledebate on limits of taxation, sov-ereignty and protection to crim-inals, acceptability of nationallaws on crime and taxation byoutsiders, unfair/unjust/exces-sive taxation and fair end-use oftax proceeds block any suchagreements from fructifying.

    Taxation of foreigners andforeign companies presents spe-cial challenges. There is a clashbetween two principles. One isthe US system based on “situs”of the assessee’s nationality andthe other is the Organisation forEconomic Cooperation andDevelopment (OECD) systembased on “source” of theassessee’s income.

    The tax liability attaches toassessees based on their nation-ality. A Government may tax itscitizens and the companies reg-istered under its national laws.The 2012 Supreme Court judg-ment was based on the law thenin force which limited extra-ter-ritorial application of tax laws.

    The “situs” of the taxed enti-ty is now pitted against the“source” of the entity’s income.The OECD project on BaseErosion and Profit Shifting(BEPS) is gaining traction.

    More and more Governmentsare now coming to clash with theclassical worldview on foreigntaxation and asserting that aGovernment’s jurisdictionextends to foreigners and foreigncompanies who may be presenton their soil or drawing suste-nance from it. Big MNCs likeGoogle, Apple, Facebook,Amazon and Netflix are invitingglobal attention for earningfrom different countries withoutcontributing enough to the localpublic exchequer.

    There is a global consensusregarding the need for a compre-hensive mechanism to tax cross-border transactions in the dig-ital economy. OECD, UN andEU are working on a resolution.We amended the Income TaxAct in 2018 to bring the conceptof ‘Significant EconomicPresence’ from April 1, 2019, andintroduced equalisation levy(Google tax) in an attempt to taxincomes being collected by for-eigners from Indian consumers.In an imbalanced world, theterms of trade and investmentsare not always favourable toemerging economies. They alsodon’t have the freedom to printmoney and spend. Balance hasto be struck between fair taxa-tion and honest tax compliancein form and substance.

    (The author is an IAAS officer,superannuated as SpecialSecretary, Ministry of Commerceand Industry.)

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    �������������������Sir — As yet another girl fromUttar Pradesh succumbed to thebrutal physical torture that shewas subjected to, after beinggang-raped, it is clear that thereis still a long road ahead towardspurging our culture and psycheof the deeply-embedded toxici-ty of male dominance. The rapeof the 19-year-old Dalit girlfrom Hathras mirrors a typicalcaste-ridden patriarchal set-upthat bestows a sense of entitle-ment on a certain section of menand engenders the objectificationof woman. The horrific act ischaracterised by the same age-old feature: Upper caste youthsassaulting a Dalit woman andinflicting fatal injuries on her.Equally archetypal is the delay inthe arrest of the beastly perpetra-tors. The much tom-tommedlaws for the prevention of thesexual assault of women thatwere tightened after the 2012Nirbhaya case are proving to beineffective. It is time to revisitthese laws and introduce stricterreforms. Swift justice is crucial asit can act as a strong deterrent byputting the fear of law in theminds of such criminals.

    N Sadhasiva ReddyBengaluru

    �����������Sir — Union Externa