S ix States on Friday filed a review petition in the Supreme Court against its deci- sion to allow holding of the National Eligibility cum Entrance Test (NEET) and Joint Entrance Exam (JEE) despite the coronavirus pan- demic. The States are repre- sented by four Opposition par- ties — Congress, Trinamool Congress, Jharkhand Mukti Morcha and Shiv Sena. The Congress also held countrywide protests on Friday. Party president Sonia Gandhi and former Congress chief Rahul Gandhi expressed soli- darity with the students and asked the Centre to postpone the entrance tests. Cabinet Ministers from Chhattisgarh, Jharkhand, Maharashtra, Punjab, Rajasthan and West Bengal have sought a review of the August 17 judgment of the SC on JEE Main and NEET 2020. Addressing a Press confer- ence after approaching the court, the parties said they were not for cancelling the exams but wanted them to be deferred till November so that the Government is able assure the safety of the students. The decision to move the Supreme Court was taken dur- ing a meeting convened by Sonia with seven Chief Ministers two days ago. Sonia and Rahul continued to target the Government and said the safety of students should not be compromised due to the “failures of the Government”. The Union Government has made it clear that they will be held as per schedule with due precautions. In a video statement, Sonia said, “My dear students, I feel for you because you are now facing a very difficult situation. The issue of your exams, of when they should be held and where, is the most important issue not only for you but your family too. You are our future. We depend on you to build a better India. Therefore, if any decision has to be taken regard- ing your future, it is important that it is taken with your con- currence. I hope the Government listens to you, listens to your voices and act upon your wishes. This is my advice to the Government. Thank you. Jai Hind.” Rahul also shared a video statement over the issue and said safety should not be com- promised. “NEET-JEE aspi- rants’ safety should not com- promised due to the failures of the Government. The Government must lis- ten to all stakeholders and arrive at a consensus,” Rahul tweeted, along with a video of his message to the student community as well as the Government. “What I don’t understand is why you should be held responsible and why further pain should be imposed on you... So why should the Government force anything on you? It’s important that the Government listens to the stu- dents,” he said. Jharkhand Chief Minister Hemant Soren on Friday wrote to the Union Education Minister requesting him to postpone JEE and NEET. “Each these aggressive examinations are extraordi- narily important within the profession of a scholar because the success or in any other case in these examinations would resolve the course of their future life. Each examinee would thus attempt to put his finest foot ahead and, due to this fact, this can be very important to make sure that they take these exam- inations in surroundings of well being security and psy- chological peace,” Soren wrote. Senior TMC leader and Rajya Sabha member Derek O’ Brien said the petitioners do not want the students to lose the academic year and the petition aims to ensure better safety and security measures for the students. A ctress Rhea Chakraborty found herself in the dock in the Sushant Singh Rajput death case on Friday as the CBI grilled her for nearly eleven hours over the issues that the investigations into the actor’s death have thrown up in the case, even as the Enforcement Directorate (ED) summoned Goa-based hotelier Gaurav Arya for questioning on August 31 in an alleged money laun- dering case. Rhea, who has been accused by Sushant’s family of abetting Sushant”s death, reached the Defence Research & Development Organisation (DRDO)’s guesthouse at Santa Cruz’s Kalina area for ques- tioning at 10.15 am. Her ques- tioning went on for nearly eleven hours. Rhea walked out of the DRDO guesthouse at 9 pm after questioning. From there, she reportedly headed to Sanata Cruz police station to lodge a complaint against some jour- nalists who had tried to enter her Juhu residence. While there was no confirmation yet, it is quite likely that she may be re- summoned for questioning on Saturday or Sunday. Rhea’s brother Showik, late Sushant’s flatmate-friend Siddharth, cook Neeraj, house manager Sammuel Miranda and his other associates were also questioned all through the day. Friday was the second day when Showik was grilled by the CBI in connection with the case. On Thursday, Showik had been questioned by the investigators for nine hours on Thursday. A s the Line of Actual Control (LAC) remains tense, the coming days will see a flurry of activities beginning with the Corps Commanders of India and China Armies holding sixth round of talks to resolve differences. Defence Minister Rajnath Singh and External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar are also likely to travel to Moscow to take part in the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO) conclave. Both the leaders may meet their Chinese counterparts there. These high-level dialogues will take place against the back- drop of China not withdrawing its troops from the “friction points” and further ramping up its infrastructure like 5G net- work all along the LAC. Reports indicated fresh Chinese construction in terms of temporary huts and bunkers have taken place in the Pangong Tso (lake) zone. It is one of the four “friction points” where the stand-offs are on and the Chinese have intruded more than five km into India. On the 5G network, sources said the Chinese engi- neers were seen laying fibre optic cables and installing relat- ed equipment along the LAC in the Demchok region. This will enhance com- munication capabilities of the Chinese Army thereby posing fresh challenge to India. The installations included modern equipment for the latest spec- trum bandwidths to greatly improve cellular transmission in the strategically important area. Similarly, the Chinese were putting up more huts and tem- porary bunkers in the Pangong Tso region, they said. The first face-off took place here in early May when the Chinese intruded and obstructed an Indian army patrol. It led to fisticuffs between the soldiers of the two Armies leaving sev- eral injured. China has so far refused to withdraw its troops from this region and have occupied the heights around the lake. They have also tried to stop the Indian army patrols between Finger 4 and Finger 8 areas besides engaging in fresh con- struction activities, sources said. This issue is likely to figure prominently during the sixth round of talks between the Corps Commanders of the two Armies early next week, they said. The two commanders Lt General Harinder Singh and Major General Liu Lin have met five times since the face- offs started and agreed to mutually disengage from the confrontation sites. They also agreed to thin out the addi- tional troops brought closer to the face-off positions in the last few weeks. The two comman- ders had last met on August 2. A n India T20 specialist is among multiple members of the Chennai Super Kings contingent who have tested positive for Covid-19, forcing the IPL franchise to extend its quarantine period in Dubai and causing upheaval ahead of the event starting September 19. The franchise is yet to issue a formal statement but a league source told PTI that the number of positive cases could be between 10 and 12. “Yes, a right-arm medium fast bowler, who has recently played for India in white-ball cricket, along with a few staff members have tested positive for Covid-19. The number could be as high as 12,” the senior IPL source said on con- ditions of anonymity. The development has forced the Mahendra Singh Dhoni-led side to extend the quarantine period till September 1. Detailed report on P12 New Delhi: In view of the Covid-19 pandemic, IIT- Delhi has appealed to its students and alumni to help those appearing for the JEE-Advanced next month with transport to reach their exam centres. T he Supreme Court on Friday said that States and universities cannot promote students without holding final year exams by September 30. Upholding the UGC deci- sion to hold final year exams, a bench headed by Justice Ashok Bhushan said if any State feels they can’t conduct final year examinations by that date amid the coronavirus pan- demic, they must approach the UGC for new dates to hold the exam. The bench also comprising justices RS Reddy and MR Shah, said States are required to hold final year exams as per UGC guidelines and for any exemption they will have to seek permission. “States can postpone final year exams under Disaster Management Act but fresh dates have to be fixed in con- sultation with UGC,” it said. Yuva Sena, the youth wing of the Shiv Sena, is one of the petitioners in the apex court and has questioned the UGC’s directive to hold exams amid the coronavirus pandemic. The UGC had earlier said that the July 6 guidelines are based on recommendations of experts and have been made after due deliberation and it is wrong to claim that it will not be possible to conduct the final examinations in terms of the guidelines. Assailing the decisions of some states like Maharashtra and Delhi to cancel final year examinations, the UGC had said that such decisions direct- ly affect standards of higher education and will be an encroachment on the legislative field of coordinating and deter- mining the standards of high- er education that is exclusive- ly reserved for Parliament under Schedule VII of the Constitution. New Delhi: Taking strong objection to the coverage of the Sushant Singh Rajput case by many media outlets, the Press Council of India on Friday said the media should adhere to the norms of jour- nalistic conduct in covering cases under investigation and is advised not to carry out its own “parallel trial”. P unjab Vidhan Sabha’s one- day truncated session held amidst Covid-19 outbreak on Friday was no less action- packed and attention-grabbing than it used to be before the setting in of the new-normal regimen. Attempts to bring about an order before the holding of the session led to a series of remarkable events, starting from appearance of Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) MLAs in PPE gear and the testing pos- itive of two MLAs, one of whom attended the session and was seen interacting with his fellow legislators, including the Chief Minister Capt Amarinder Singh. Leaving nothing to chance, Punjab Speaker Rana KP Singh on late Thursday night had made it clear to the legislators, who have come in contact with their party colleagues tested positive for COVID-19, to stay away from the session. With 30 legislators already tested positive for the conta- gion, including seven who are on road to recovery, the House on Friday witnessed about 45 percent attendance. In all, 52 members attended the pro- ceedings — 42 from the Congress, six from AAP, two each from the Bharatiya Janata Party and the Lok Insaaf Party (LIP) — that lasted for less than two hours. The truncated session began with obituary references, and was adjourned for an hour after paying tributes to 28 per- sonalities, including the Galwan bravehearts, COVID warriors, among others. As the session resumed, the Speaker read out the decision of the Business Advisory Committee, stating that only important business shall be conducted, and the Question Hour, Call Attention Notice, and Zero Hour stand can- celled. To this, AAP MLAs, led by Sunam legislator Aman Arora, raised slogans in protest of not being heard. Arora also objected to the unnecessary harassment of the party MLAs in the name of COVID related safety measures. Later, the House, in the absence of SAD members, passed a resolution against the Centre’s farm ordinances, besides seven Bills. The one day session was convened amid the pandemic to fulfill the constitutional obligation of meeting within six months of the last session, concluded on March 4. While SAD MLAs decided to stay away from the session after all members were among the high risk contacts of Nakodar MLA Gurpartap Singh Wadala, AAP MLAs, however, chose to attend the session in personal protective equipment kits despite being in close contacts of their three party MLAs afflicted by the virus. The session was held amidst high safety protocols, including temperature checks, ensuring COVID-negative reports of all members including the Chief Minister and Ministers, seating arrangements, wearing of face masks inside the House, among other things. Despite showing their COVID negative reports, three AAP legislators, including the Leader of Opposition Harpal Singh Cheema, were not allowed in the House, who later staged a dharna. A day before, the Chief Minister and Speaker had appealed to all legislators, who had come in contact with COVID-positive MLAs, to avoid attending the day-long assembly session. However, the AAP legisla- tors, whose three colleagues tested positive this week, decid- ed to attend the session, ignor- ing their advice. SAD legislature group, on the other hand, on Friday morning decided not to attend the session as its MLAs had come in contact with their colleague Wadala, who later tested positive. SAD legislature party leader Sharanjit Singh Dhillon said the party was fol- lowing Vidhan Sabha rules and COVID-19 guidelines. TWO MORE MLAs TESTED POSITIVE A wave of apprehension swept across the Vidhan Sabha as two more MLAs were tested posi- tive on Friday, one of whom had attended the session and even interacted with the fellow members, including the Chief Minister. Congress’s two MLAs — Zira MLA Kulbir Singh Zira and Shutrana LA Nirmal Singh — were tested positive, taking the total number of lawmakers afflicted by the virus to 32. Among them, Zira had attended the Vidhan Sabha session, and was tested COVID positive after the session. On the other hand, Nirmal Singh was not allowed to attend the session after he was detected with fever. His tests were con- ducted and was tested positive for COVID. POLICE DEPUTED OUT- SIDE CHEEMA’S RESI- DENCE With the AAP declaring to attend the session ignoring the Vidhan Sabha secretary Shashi Lakhanpal Misra’s late night let- ter advising AAP MLA Harpal Singh Cheema and other AAP MLAs against attending the session. Continued on page 2 I n a one-day Punjab Vidhan Sabha session, held amidst corona pandemic with all strict Covid-19 protocols, the House on Friday passed seven Bills, including ‘The Punjab Clinical Establishment (Registration and Regulation) Bill, 2020’, which seeks to bring clinical establishments under a regu- latory mechanism. Tabling the Bill, the state Health and Family Welfare Minister Balbir Singh Sidhu said that as presently, there is no legislation in Punjab to register or regulate private clin- ical establishments, the aim of this enactment is to bring such establishments under a regu- latory mechanism to further ensure transparency in their functioning.The Bill also seeks to improve quality of public healthcare, prevent overcharg- ing from patients, and lay down staff norms, terms of physical and medical stan- dards, and norms for record maintenance and reporting. The assembly also passed ‘The Punjab Fiscal Responsibility and Budget Management (Second Amendment) Bill, 2020’, pre- sented by Finance Minister Manpreet Singh Badal. “In view of the serious negative impact of the unprecedented COVID-19 situation on resources of the State Government, the Centre has decided to provide relaxation in borrowing limits by increasing an additional borrowing limit of up to two percent of the Gross State Domestic Product (GSDP) for 2020-2021, subject to implementation of specific state level reforms,” he said adding that Punjab has been allowed an additional borrow- ing of Rs 12,130 crore over and above its net borrowing ceiling of three per cent of GSDP. The House also passed the legislation for setting up the Sri Guru Teg Bahadur University of Law at Tarn Taran to com- memorate the 400th birth anniversary of Guru Teg Bahadur. ‘The Sri Guru Teg Bahadur State University of Law, Punjab Bill, 2020’ was presented by Higher Education Minister Tript Rajinder Singh Bajwa “to establish and incorporate a state university for the devel- opment and advancement of legal education, for the pur- poses of imparting specialized and systematic instruction, training and research in the field of law and for the matters connected therewith or inci- dental thereto”. During discussion on the Bill, AAP MLA Prof Baljinder Kaur reminded the Congress Government to take care of existing institutions like Punjabi University while estab- lishing new institutions. She also drew the attention of the House towards delay on declaration of the results of open school students by the state Education Department. The assembly also passed the Punjab Goods and Services Tax (Second Amendment) Bill, 2020, which according to the Finance Minister, seeks to pro- vide changes so as to make levy and collection of taxes under the GST effective and easier for taxpayers.Debating, AAP MLA Aman Arora demanded a probe in to the GST Bill scam, being probed by the state vig- ilance bureau. The House also passed ‘The Punjab Good Conduct Prisoners (Temporary Release) Amendment Bill, 2020’, which was tabled by the Higher Education Minister Bajwa as the Jails Minister Sukhjinder Singh Randhawa is afflicted by the COVID-19. Continued on page 2 A s the State’s death toll due to novel coronavirus on Friday surpassed the 1300 mark with 51 deaths reported in the span of 24 hours, the state’s COVID-19 tally is just short of breaching the 50,000 figure. The state on Friday reported 1,555 fresh cases, pushing the tally to 49,378 with 1309 deaths. Punjab’s death toll has seen a rise in August from 386 deaths at the end of July regis- tering 71 percent of state’s total deaths. Similarly, the cases have also witnessed a spike in August by reporting 67 percent of the state’s total infections, from the tally standing at 16,119 on July 31. Sixteen of Punjab’s 22 dis- tricts now have over 1,000 cases, with Ludhiana alone accounting for over 20 percent of the state’s total cases. Jalandhar reported the highest number of cases at 211. Continued on page 2
Transcript
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Six States on Friday filed areview petition in the
Supreme Court against its deci-sion to allow holding of theNational Eligibility cumEntrance Test (NEET) andJoint Entrance Exam (JEE)despite the coronavirus pan-demic. The States are repre-sented by four Opposition par-ties — Congress, TrinamoolCongress, Jharkhand MuktiMorcha and Shiv Sena.
The Congress also heldcountrywide protests on Friday.Party president Sonia Gandhiand former Congress chiefRahul Gandhi expressed soli-darity with the students andasked the Centre to postpone
the entrance tests. Cabinet Ministers from
Chhattisgarh, Jharkhand,Maharashtra, Punjab,Rajasthan and West Bengalhave sought a review of theAugust 17 judgment of the SCon JEE Main and NEET 2020.
Addressing a Press confer-ence after approaching thecourt, the parties said theywere not for cancelling theexams but wanted them to bedeferred till November so thatthe Government is able assurethe safety of the students.
The decision to move theSupreme Court was taken dur-ing a meeting convened bySonia with seven ChiefMinisters two days ago.
Sonia and Rahul continued
to target the Government andsaid the safety of studentsshould not be compromiseddue to the “failures of theGovernment”.
The Union Governmenthas made it clear that they willbe held as per schedule withdue precautions.
In a video statement, Soniasaid, “My dear students, I feelfor you because you are nowfacing a very difficult situation.The issue of your exams, ofwhen they should be held andwhere, is the most importantissue not only for you but yourfamily too. You are our future.We depend on you to build abetter India. Therefore, if anydecision has to be taken regard-ing your future, it is importantthat it is taken with your con-currence. I hope the
Government listens to you,listens to your voices and actupon your wishes. This is myadvice to the Government.Thank you. Jai Hind.”
Rahul also shared a videostatement over the issue andsaid safety should not be com-promised. “NEET-JEE aspi-rants’ safety should not com-promised due to the failures ofthe Government.
The Government must lis-ten to all stakeholders andarrive at a consensus,” Rahultweeted, along with a video ofhis message to the studentcommunity as well as theGovernment.
“What I don’t understandis why you should be heldresponsible and why furtherpain should be imposed onyou... So why should the
Government force anythingon you? It’s important that theGovernment listens to the stu-dents,” he said.
Jharkhand Chief MinisterHemant Soren on Friday wroteto the Union EducationMinister requesting him topostpone JEE and NEET.
“Each these aggressiveexaminations are extraordi-narily important within theprofession of a scholar becausethe success or in any other casein these examinations wouldresolve the course of theirfuture life.
Each examinee would thusattempt to put his finest footahead and, due to this fact, thiscan be very important to makesure that they take these exam-inations in surroundings ofwell being security and psy-
chological peace,” Soren wrote.Senior TMC leader and
Rajya Sabha member Derek O’Brien said the petitioners donot want the students to losethe academic year and thepetition aims to ensure bettersafety and security measuresfor the students.
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Actress Rhea Chakrabortyfound herself in the dock
in the Sushant Singh Rajputdeath case on Friday as the CBIgrilled her for nearly elevenhours over the issues that theinvestigations into the actor’sdeath have thrown up in thecase, even as the EnforcementDirectorate (ED) summonedGoa-based hotelier GauravArya for questioning on August31 in an alleged money laun-dering case.
Rhea, who has beenaccused by Sushant’s family ofabetting Sushant”s death,reached the Defence Research& Development Organisation(DRDO)’s guesthouse at SantaCruz’s Kalina area for ques-tioning at 10.15 am. Her ques-tioning went on for nearlyeleven hours.
Rhea walked out of theDRDO guesthouse at 9 pmafter questioning. From there,she reportedly headed to SanataCruz police station to lodge acomplaint against some jour-nalists who had tried to enterher Juhu residence. While therewas no confirmation yet, it is
quite likely that she may be re-summoned for questioning onSaturday or Sunday.
Rhea’s brother Showik, lateSushant’s f latmate-friendSiddharth, cook Neeraj, housemanager Sammuel Mirandaand his other associates werealso questioned all through theday.
Friday was the second daywhen Showik was grilled by theCBI in connection with thecase. On Thursday, Showikhad been questioned by theinvestigators for nine hours onThursday.
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As the Line of ActualControl (LAC) remains
tense, the coming days will seea flurry of activities beginningwith the Corps Commandersof India and China Armiesholding sixth round of talks toresolve differences. DefenceMinister Rajnath Singh andExternal Affairs Minister SJaishankar are also likely totravel to Moscow to take partin the Shanghai CooperationOrganisation (SCO) conclave.Both the leaders may meettheir Chinese counterpartsthere.
These high-level dialogueswill take place against the back-drop of China not withdrawingits troops from the “frictionpoints” and further ramping upits infrastructure like 5G net-work all along the LAC.Reports indicated freshChinese construction in termsof temporary huts and bunkershave taken place in thePangong Tso (lake) zone. It isone of the four “friction points”where the stand-offs are on and
the Chinese have intrudedmore than five km into India.
On the 5G network,sources said the Chinese engi-neers were seen laying fibreoptic cables and installing relat-ed equipment along the LAC inthe Demchok region.
This will enhance com-munication capabilities of theChinese Army thereby posingfresh challenge to India. Theinstallations included modernequipment for the latest spec-trum bandwidths to greatlyimprove cellular transmissionin the strategically importantarea.
Similarly, the Chinese wereputting up more huts and tem-porary bunkers in the PangongTso region, they said. The firstface-off took place here inearly May when the Chineseintruded and obstructed anIndian army patrol. It led tofisticuffs between the soldiersof the two Armies leaving sev-eral injured.
China has so far refused towithdraw its troops from thisregion and have occupied theheights around the lake. Theyhave also tried to stop theIndian army patrols betweenFinger 4 and Finger 8 areasbesides engaging in fresh con-struction activities, sourcessaid.
This issue is likely to figureprominently during the sixthround of talks between theCorps Commanders of the twoArmies early next week, theysaid.
The two commanders LtGeneral Harinder Singh andMajor General Liu Lin havemet five times since the face-offs started and agreed tomutually disengage from theconfrontation sites. They alsoagreed to thin out the addi-tional troops brought closer tothe face-off positions in the lastfew weeks. The two comman-ders had last met on August 2.
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An India T20 specialist isamong multiple members
of the Chennai Super Kingscontingent who have testedpositive for Covid-19, forcingthe IPL franchise to extend itsquarantine period in Dubaiand causing upheaval ahead ofthe event starting September 19.
The franchise is yet toissue a formal statement but aleague source told PTI that thenumber of positive cases could
be between 10 and 12. “Yes, a right-arm medium
fast bowler, who has recentlyplayed for India in white-ballcricket, along with a few staffmembers have tested positivefor Covid-19. The numbercould be as high as 12,” thesenior IPL source said on con-ditions of anonymity. Thedevelopment has forced theMahendra Singh Dhoni-ledside to extend the quarantineperiod till September 1.
Detailed report on P12
New Delhi: In view of theCovid-19 pandemic, IIT- Delhihas appealed to its students andalumni to help those appearingfor the JEE-Advanced nextmonth with transport to reachtheir exam centres.
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The Supreme Court onFriday said that States and
universities cannot promotestudents without holding finalyear exams by September 30.
Upholding the UGC deci-sion to hold final year exams,a bench headed by JusticeAshok Bhushan said if anyState feels they can’t conduct
final year examinations by thatdate amid the coronavirus pan-demic, they must approachthe UGC for new dates to holdthe exam.
The bench also comprisingjustices RS Reddy and MRShah, said States are required tohold final year exams as perUGC guidelines and for anyexemption they will have toseek permission.
“States can postpone finalyear exams under DisasterManagement Act but freshdates have to be fixed in con-sultation with UGC,” it said.
Yuva Sena, the youth wingof the Shiv Sena, is one of the
petitioners in the apex courtand has questioned the UGC’sdirective to hold exams amidthe coronavirus pandemic.
The UGC had earlier saidthat the July 6 guidelines arebased on recommendations ofexperts and have been made
after due deliberation and it iswrong to claim that it will notbe possible to conduct thefinal examinations in terms ofthe guidelines.
Assailing the decisions ofsome states like Maharashtraand Delhi to cancel final yearexaminations, the UGC hadsaid that such decisions direct-ly affect standards of highereducation and will be anencroachment on the legislativefield of coordinating and deter-mining the standards of high-er education that is exclusive-ly reserved for Parliamentunder Schedule VII of theConstitution. New Delhi: Taking strong
objection to the coverage ofthe Sushant Singh Rajputcase by many media outlets,the Press Council of India onFriday said the media shouldadhere to the norms of jour-nalistic conduct in coveringcases under investigationand is advised not to carryout its own “parallel trial”.
Punjab Vidhan Sabha’s one-day truncated session held
amidst Covid-19 outbreak onFriday was no less action-packed and attention-grabbingthan it used to be before thesetting in of the new-normalregimen.
Attempts to bring about anorder before the holding of thesession led to a series ofremarkable events, startingfrom appearance of AamAadmi Party (AAP) MLAs inPPE gear and the testing pos-itive of two MLAs, one ofwhom attended the sessionand was seen interacting withhis fellow legislators, includingthe Chief Minister CaptAmarinder Singh.
Leaving nothing to chance,Punjab Speaker Rana KP Singhon late Thursday night hadmade it clear to the legislators,who have come in contact
with their party colleaguestested positive for COVID-19,to stay away from the session.
With 30 legislators alreadytested positive for the conta-gion, including seven who areon road to recovery, the Houseon Friday witnessed about 45percent attendance. In all, 52members attended the pro-ceedings — 42 from theCongress, six from AAP, twoeach from the Bharatiya JanataParty and the Lok Insaaf Party(LIP) — that lasted for less thantwo hours.
The truncated sessionbegan with obituary references,and was adjourned for an hourafter paying tributes to 28 per-sonalities, including theGalwan bravehearts, COVIDwarriors, among others.
As the session resumed, theSpeaker read out the decisionof the Business AdvisoryCommittee, stating that onlyimportant business shall be
conducted, and the QuestionHour, Call Attention Notice,and Zero Hour stand can-celled. To this, AAP MLAs, ledby Sunam legislator AmanArora, raised slogans in protestof not being heard. Arora alsoobjected to the unnecessaryharassment of the party MLAsin the name of COVID relatedsafety measures.
Later, the House, in theabsence of SAD members,passed a resolution against theCentre’s farm ordinances,besides seven Bills.
The one day session wasconvened amid the pandemicto fulfill the constitutionalobligation of meeting within sixmonths of the last session,concluded on March 4.
While SAD MLAs decidedto stay away from the sessionafter all members were amongthe high risk contacts ofNakodar MLA GurpartapSingh Wadala, AAP MLAs,
however, chose to attend thesession in personal protectiveequipment kits despite being inclose contacts of their threeparty MLAs afflicted by thevirus.
The session was held amidsthigh safety protocols, includingtemperature checks, ensuringCOVID-negative reports of allmembers including the ChiefMinister and Ministers, seatingarrangements, wearing of facemasks inside the House, amongother things.
Despite showing theirCOVID negative reports, threeAAP legislators, including theLeader of Opposition HarpalSingh Cheema, were notallowed in the House, who laterstaged a dharna.
A day before, the ChiefMinister and Speaker hadappealed to all legislators, whohad come in contact withCOVID-positive MLAs, toavoid attending the day-long
assembly session.However, the AAP legisla-
tors, whose three colleaguestested positive this week, decid-ed to attend the session, ignor-ing their advice.
SAD legislature group, onthe other hand, on Fridaymorning decided not to attendthe session as its MLAs hadcome in contact with theircolleague Wadala, who latertested positive. SAD legislatureparty leader Sharanjit SinghDhillon said the party was fol-lowing Vidhan Sabha rulesand COVID-19 guidelines.
TWO MORE MLAs TESTEDPOSITIVEA wave of apprehension sweptacross the Vidhan Sabha as twomore MLAs were tested posi-tive on Friday, one of whomhad attended the session andeven interacted with the fellowmembers, including the ChiefMinister. Congress’s two MLAs
— Zira MLA Kulbir SinghZira and Shutrana LA NirmalSingh — were tested positive,taking the total number oflawmakers afflicted by the virusto 32. Among them, Zira hadattended the Vidhan Sabhasession, and was tested COVIDpositive after the session. Onthe other hand, Nirmal Singhwas not allowed to attend thesession after he was detectedwith fever. His tests were con-ducted and was tested positivefor COVID.
POLICE DEPUTED OUT-SIDE CHEEMA’S RESI-DENCE
With the AAP declaring toattend the session ignoring theVidhan Sabha secretary ShashiLakhanpal Misra’s late night let-ter advising AAP MLA HarpalSingh Cheema and other AAPMLAs against attending thesession.
Continued on page 2
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In a one-day Punjab VidhanSabha session, held amidst
corona pandemic with all strictCovid-19 protocols, the Houseon Friday passed seven Bills,including ‘The Punjab ClinicalEstablishment (Registrationand Regulation) Bill, 2020’,which seeks to bring clinicalestablishments under a regu-latory mechanism.
Tabling the Bill, the stateHealth and Family WelfareMinister Balbir Singh Sidhusaid that as presently, there isno legislation in Punjab toregister or regulate private clin-ical establishments, the aim ofthis enactment is to bring suchestablishments under a regu-latory mechanism to furtherensure transparency in theirfunctioning.The Bill also seeksto improve quality of publichealthcare, prevent overcharg-ing from patients, and laydown staff norms, terms ofphysical and medical stan-dards, and norms for recordmaintenance and reporting.
The assembly also passed‘The Punjab FiscalResponsibility and BudgetManagement (SecondAmendment) Bill, 2020’, pre-sented by Finance Minister
Manpreet Singh Badal. “Inview of the serious negativeimpact of the unprecedentedCOVID-19 situation onresources of the StateGovernment, the Centre hasdecided to provide relaxation inborrowing limits by increasingan additional borrowing limitof up to two percent of theGross State Domestic Product(GSDP) for 2020-2021, subjectto implementation of specificstate level reforms,” he saidadding that Punjab has beenallowed an additional borrow-ing of Rs 12,130 crore over andabove its net borrowing ceilingof three per cent of GSDP.
The House also passed thelegislation for setting up the SriGuru Teg Bahadur Universityof Law at Tarn Taran to com-memorate the 400th birthanniversary of Guru TegBahadur.
‘The Sri Guru Teg BahadurState University of Law, PunjabBill, 2020’ was presented byHigher Education MinisterTript Rajinder Singh Bajwa “toestablish and incorporate astate university for the devel-opment and advancement oflegal education, for the pur-poses of imparting specializedand systematic instruction,training and research in the
field of law and for the mattersconnected therewith or inci-dental thereto”.
During discussion on theBill, AAP MLA Prof BaljinderKaur reminded the CongressGovernment to take care ofexisting institutions likePunjabi University while estab-lishing new institutions.
She also drew the attentionof the House towards delay ondeclaration of the results ofopen school students by thestate Education Department.
The assembly also passedthe Punjab Goods and ServicesTax (Second Amendment) Bill,2020, which according to theFinance Minister, seeks to pro-vide changes so as to make levyand collection of taxes underthe GST effective and easier fortaxpayers.Debating, AAP MLAAman Arora demanded aprobe in to the GST Bill scam,being probed by the state vig-ilance bureau.
The House also passed‘The Punjab Good ConductPrisoners (Temporary Release)Amendment Bill, 2020’, whichwas tabled by the HigherEducation Minister Bajwa asthe Jails Minister SukhjinderSingh Randhawa is afflicted bythe COVID-19.
Continued on page 2
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As the State’s death toll dueto novel coronavirus on
Friday surpassed the 1300mark with 51 deaths reportedin the span of 24 hours, thestate’s COVID-19 tally is justshort of breaching the 50,000figure. The state on Fridayreported 1,555 fresh cases,pushing the tally to 49,378with 1309 deaths.
Punjab’s death toll has seena rise in August from 386deaths at the end of July regis-tering 71 percent of state’s totaldeaths. Similarly, the caseshave also witnessed a spike inAugust by reporting 67 percentof the state’s total infections,from the tally standing at16,119 on July 31.
Sixteen of Punjab’s 22 dis-tricts now have over 1,000cases, with Ludhiana aloneaccounting for over 20 percentof the state’s total cases.Jalandhar reported the highestnumber of cases at 211.
prised to see the police party deputedoutside his residence in the morning. Itwas only after a “thorough questioning”by the Chandigarh Police that Cheemawas finally allowed to move out of hisresidence. However, he, with two otherMLAs, were not allowed to attend thesession. Only Kultar Singh Sandhawan,Prof Baljinder Kaur, Aman Arora,Master Baldev Singh, and Jai KishanRori were allowed to attend the session.
AAP MLAs, who had come incontact with their colleague who latertested positive for COVID-19, came tothe House wearing PPE gear. As per theHealth Department’s protocol,Sandhwan and Baljinder Kaur couldattend the session as all the otherMLAs were among the high risk con-tacts of their party colleagues.
“Jungle raaj is prevailing in Punjab.The Chief Minister Capt AmarinderSingh is creating an atmosphere of fearin the name of corona, rather thanupgrading the health infrastructure,”said Cheema.
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From page 1The legislation will pave the way for
extending the period of parole in situ-ations of disasters, epidemics andextreme emergencies.
The assembly also passed ‘TheContract Labour (Regulation andAbolition) (Punjab Amendment) Bill,2020’ and ‘The Industrial Disputes(Punjab Amendment) Bill, 2020’.
Presenting the Bill, Labour MinisterBalbir Singh Sidhu said that necessaryamendment envisages raising the num-
ber of workers for attracting the provi-sions of sub clause (a) and (b) of sub sec-tion (4) of section 1 of the ContractLabour (Regulation and Abolition) Act,1970, from 20 to 50.The Assembly alsogave green signal to ‘The IndustrialDisputes (Punjab Amendment) Bill,2020’ providing for enhancement of thethreshold limit for applicability ofChapter V-B from present limit of 100to 300 workers.Apart from this, nowworkers will be eligible for three monthsof extra wages on retrenchments or onclosure of establishments. This move willgo a long way in further improving theprocess of ease of doing business.
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From page 1Followed by 182 in Gurdaspur, Ludhiana
(140), Patiala (109), Faridkot (115), 85 each inMohali and Hoshiarpur, Ferozepur (84),Amritsar (81), Fatehgarh Sahib (65), Muktsar(61), Pathankot (56), Moga (54), Kapurthala(46), Barnala (40), Fazilka (37), Mansa (30),Sangrur (25), Ropar (21), Bathinda (18), eightin SBS Nagar, and two in Tarn Taran.
Of the 51 deaths, Amritsar accounted for12, followed by 11 in Ludhiana, five each inPatiala, Jalandhar, two each in Sangrur, TarnTaran, Fazilka, Mansa, Fatehgarh Sahib,Gurdaspur; one each in Barnala, Bathinda,Hoshiarpur, Kapurthala, SAS Nagar, and SBSNagar.
A total of 2036 patients, including 489 fromLudhiana, 401 from Mohali, 145 fromJalandhar, and 106 fromAmritsar, among others, weredischarged in the past 24 hours,taking the total number ofrecoveries to 33,008.
However, the state still has15,063 active cases, accountingfor 30.51 percent of the state’stotal cases. Of the, 491 patientsare on oxygen support, while68 are critical and on ventila-tor support.
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Informing the CentralGovernment that Covid -19
has adversely affected theeconomy of the State, HaryanaDeputy Chief MinisterDushyant Chautala on Fridayrequested the GST Council topay the State’s compensation ofRs 5840 crore at the earliestwhich has been pending for thelast four months.
While participating in the41st GST Council fromChandigarh through videoconferencing, Deputy ChiefMinister requested the CentralGovernment to provide maxi-mum financial support toHaryana, as Covid -19 hasadversely affected the economyof the State.
He demanded that the lossof revenue should be compen-sated to the States even after theperiod of 5-years of GST whichculminates in 2022. Union
Finance Minister NirmalaSitharaman and Minister ofState for Finance AnuragThakur, besides other seniorofficials were also present dur-ing the video conference.
Dushyant said thatHaryana is a leading State interms of manufacturing andexport. Before the GST system,the State used to get maximumrevenue in the form of tax onproducts.
The revenue collectionacross the State has beenadversely affected after theimplementation of the GSTsystem. The states where prod-ucts are being sold are gettingmore benefits of GST. The rev-enue of the state has also beenaffected due to the COVID-19pandemic.
Deputy Chief Ministerdrew the attention of the GSTCouncil towards the provi-sions of the Constitutionalamendments wherein
Parliament is entrusted withthe responsibility of ensuringthe payment of compensationto the states. Parliament shouldcome forward regarding thismatter. He also underlined thatthe Council must focus onraising the revenues as a long-term solution to the problem ofrevenues deficit.
Dushyant also requestedthe GST Council to physicallyhold the next meeting of theCouncil while following thenorms of social distancing likeLok Sabha and Rajya Sabha sothat the representatives of allthe states can present theirviews in a better and effectivemanner.
Principal Secretary, Exciseand Taxation DepartmentAnurag Rastogi, Excise andTaxation CommissionerShekhar Vidyarthi, JointCommissioner, Excise andTaxation Rajiv Chaudhary werealso present on the occasion.
Moving the resolution dur-ing the one-day session amidstthe COVID-19 pandemic,Punjab Chief Minister CaptAmarinder Singh said that thePunjab State LegislativeAssembly is seriously con-cerned about the apprehen-sions and anguished caused bythe three Ordinances — name-ly ‘The Farmers’ Produce Tradeand Commerce (Promotionand Facilitation) Ordinance,2020’; ‘The Farmers’(Empowerment andProtection) Agreement onPrice Assurance and FarmServices Ordinance, 2020’; and‘The Essential Commodities(Amendment) Ordinance,2020,’ promulgated by theCentral Government; and theproposed ‘Electricity(Amendment) Bill, 2020’,amongst the people of Punjab,particularly the farmers andlandless workers as “these arenot only against their interest,and time-tested agriculturemarketing system established
in the State, but are also againstthe Constitution of India”.
Terming the ordinanceson farming reforms as anti-farmers and against the MSPregime which is the lifeline ofPunjab farmers, the ChiefMinister pointed that Entry 14of List II of the Constitutioncomprises agriculture as thesubject of the States, thereforethese Ordinances are a directencroachment upon the func-tions of the States and againstthe spirit of cooperative feder-alism enshrined in theConstitution and will promotedistress sale.
“This House, thus, urgesupon the Union Governmentto withdraw these ordinancesand the proposed Electricity(Amendment) Bill, 2020, forth-with; and instead, promulgatea fresh ordinance making theprocurement of foodgrains andother agricultural produce atthe Minimum Support Price(MSP), a statutory right of thefarmers and continuation ofGovernment procurementthrough Food Corporation ofIndia,” read the resolution,which was passed by majorityvia voice vote.
The resolution, thus passedby the House, would now besent to the Lok Sabha and Rajya
Sabha. “This is the secondtime that the precious resourcesof Punjab are being encroachedupon, the first time being in2004 when the Vidhan Sabhacancelled the river water shar-ing agreement and saved theState and its agrarian economyfrom certain doom,” said theChief Minister adding that theresolution would be sent toboth the Houses of Parliamentto convey Punjab’s vehementremonstration.
While the Congress, Aam
Aadmi Party (AAP), and LokInsaaf Party (LIP) MLAs vocif-erously supported the resolu-tion against the ordinances, theBharatiya Janta Party (BJP)MLA backed the ordinancesand rejected the resolution.
The Chief Minister,advancing his argument fur-ther, said that these ordinancesare anti-Punjab and anti-farmer and would againdescend into chaos filled era ofthe 80s which the State, beinga border state, can ill afford as
Pakistan is waiting in the wingsto derive advantage from thechaotic situation to create may-hem in the country.
Pointing out that the pricesupport and maintenancemechanisms are necessary forMSP and ensuring NationalFood Security, the ChiefMinister said that these ordi-nances would spell economicruin for the farming sector ofPunjab especially those 70 per-cent having less than five acres.
Commenting upon the
Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD) fornot being present in the VidhanSabha, the Chief Minister saidthat the party which broughtSri Anandpur Sahib resolution,knowingly absented itself fromthe session on such a significantoccasion. “Who would believeguarantee given by SAD pres-ident Sukhbir Singh Badal whohad asserted that the ordi-nances won’t spell harm for thefarm sector of Punjab,” he said.
Making an emotive appealto all the predominantly agri-culture based states, especiallyHaryana, the Chief Ministerexhorted them to come for-ward on opposing the farmordinances by rising above andbeyond the party lines.
Targeting the Akali Dal,AAP MLA Kultar SinghSandhwan said that they shouldensure that the clause of MSPwould remain in new ordi-nances. He also pointed outthat Akalis were misguiding thefarmers on the issue.
Supporting the resolutionagainst the ordinances, AAP’srebel MLA Kanwar Sandhusaid that instead of the ordi-nances, the centre should havebrought a Bill and all the affect-ed states should be taken intoconfidence.
However, BJP MLA Dinesh
Singh Babbu, supported theordinances, maintaining thatthere was no clause of stoppingthe MSP and farmers werebeing mislead.
HOUSE REMEMBERS 28PERSONALITIES INCLUD-ING GALWAN MARTYRS,UNSUNG COVID WAR-RIORSPunjab Vidhan Sabha onFriday paid tributes to 28 emi-nent personalities includingthe Galwan Valley martyrsalong with the unsungCOVID-19 warriors.
The House, during the spe-cial one-day session heldamidst COVID-19 scare, paidrespects to the state FinanceMinister Manpreet Badal’s par-ents — former MP GurdasSingh Badal and HarminderKaur — who passed away inMay and March, respectively.
The legendary HockeyOlympian Balbir Singh Seniorand Hazoori Ragi Bhai NirmalSingh Khalsa, along withGalwan valley martyrs NaibSubedar Mandeep Singh, NaibSubedar Satnam Singh, NaikRajesh Kumar, Naik RajwinderSingh, Naik Salim Khan, NaikGurcharan Singh, SepoyGurbinder Singh, SepoyLakhvir Singh and Sepoy
Gurtej Singh, were also paidrich tributes by the Speaker onbehalf of the House.
Besides, the former MLAChatin Singh Samao, formerMinister Hari Singh Zira, andJustice (retired) Satpal Bangarwere also remembered by themembers of the House.
The House also remem-bered freedom fighters SuchaSingh, Piara Singh, TakhtSingh, Ajit Singh, VariamSingh, Santokh Singh andDalip Singh, besides payingtributes to artist Satish Gujraland Engineer Jaswant SinghGill. The House also remem-bered religious leader AcharyaMahapragya and SurinderDogra (mother of MLA ArunDogra).
The House also paidhomage to the COVID victimswho had fell prey to the pan-demic. On the request of theHealth and Family WelfareMinister Balbir Singh Sidhu,the Frontline COVID Warriors,who had sacrificed their livescombating the pandemic whilegoing beyond the call of theirduty, were also added in the list.
On the request of AAPMLA Kultar Singh Sandhwan,the name of Litterateur BaldevSingh was also added to theobituary list.
(PSPCL) chairman-cum-man-aging director A Venu Prasadand Director Distribution DPSGrewal on Friday appreciatedthe services and efforts put inby its distribution officers.
Grewal, during an interac-tion with more than 250 SDOsof distribution via video con-ferencing session, appreciatedthe role and efforts of all dis-tribution officers for providingscheduled uninterrupted powersupply to agriculture con-sumers and continuous andreliable power supply to allother categories of consumersin spite of COVID-19 pan-demic.
Grewal said that each subdivision office can play animportant role because that isthe first interface stage betweenconsumer and PSPCL. Hestressed upon improvement inperformance of subdivisionswhich in turn will further
improve performance ofPSPCL as a whole.
He said that keeping inview the COVID-19, distribu-tion officers should play aproactive role and educate theapplicants to adopt digitalmode for applying for new con-nections, supply related griev-ances or other issues, paymentof Electricity bills.
Sharing details on powertheft, Grewal said that distrib-ution losses are mainly due totheft of electricity in Punjab,and thus the distribution offi-cers should plan mass raids onsuch feeders where losses arehigher.
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Punjab Chief Minister CaptAmarinder Singh on Friday
flagged off a well-equippedCorona Testing Mobile Clinicand Ambulance.The mobileclinic has the facility of contact-less thermal testing withnasopharyngeal and oropha-ryngeal swab tests. The fullyair-conditioned mobile unitalso has a separate Ambulancezone to evacuate criticalpatients. It has the potential forsampling of 1000-plus peopleper day at doorsteps of patientsespecially in rural and semi-urban areas to achieve MissionFateh Punjab.The CM pointedout that this mobile testing busis need of the hour and wouldcover remote and far flungareas so as to ensure that peo-ple inhabiting these regionshave access to the testing appa-ratus which is necessary toidentify the people infected inorder to break the chain ofCOVID-19 pandemic.
Chandigarh :At a time whenthe city is witnessing rapidsurge in Covid-19 cases, theChandigarh Administration onFriday decided to lift its week-end curfew order issued lastweek, allowing the shops andmalls to remain open onSaturdays and Sundays.
The Administration, how-ever, decided to continue withweekend closure of SukhnaLake till further orders and theodd-even system that is oper-ational in city’s 12 markets tillSeptember 3. The decisionswere taken in the war roommeeting held to review Covid-19 situation under PunjabGovernor and UTAdministrator VP SinghBadnore on Friday.The deci-sion to close shops and mallson weekends had come undercriticism from traders’ bodiesand associations, who had sub-mitted memoranda to theAdministration demandingwithdrawal of the order inview of adverse impact onbusiness. PNS
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Two more residents suc-cumbed to Covid-19 as
Chandigarh witnessed yetanother spike of 160 fresh pos-itive cases on Friday.
The Covid-19 fatalitiesreached 45 while the total tallyof positive cases jumped to3724 in the city. There were1572 active cases in the city tillthe evening, according to theChandigarh HealthDepartment’s evening bulletin.
With continuous surge incases, Chandigarh has report-ed 6 percent average growthrate of infections, the highest inthe country and more thandouble the national average.Till now, 2676 positive caseshave been reported inChandigarh in the month ofAugust. A day before, the cityhad reported a record single-day spike with 188 fresh posi-tive cases.
Giving details of the fatal-ities, the health bulletin stated,“A 58 years old male resident ofMauli Jagran died at PGIMERon Friday. He was a case ofalcoholic liver disease withpancreatitis and was tested
COVID-19 positive on August19.” “An 84 year old male res-ident of Sector 22 expired dueto acute respiratory distresssyndrome with cardio respira-tory arrest on August 27 atMayo Hospital, Mohali. Thedeceased was a known case ofcoronary artery disease withPTCA, hypertension, type 2diabetes mellitus, chronic kid-ney disease and was a COVIDpositive patient,” the bulletinstated.
130 recoveries were alsoreported in the city taking thetotal number of COVID-19recovered patients to 2107 inthe city, according to the healthbulletin. The recovery rate inthe city was recorded at 56.5percent against the nationalaverage of nearly 76 percent.
The fatality rate stood at1.20 percent. Among 45COVID-19 fatalities in the city,41 patients had comorbiditieswhile four patients were with-out comorbidities.
As per the bulletin, out of160 fresh cases in the past 24hours, 112 were detectedthrough RT-PCR testing whilerest of the cases were foundthrough rapid antigen testing.
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Haryana on Friday wit-nessed the highest single
day jump of 1298 new coron-avirus cases, including 126 inGurugram, 115 in Faridabad,110 in Hisar, 104 in Panipat,100 each in Sonepat andKarnal, taking its total tally to60,596.
On a worrying note whichis indicative of increased mor-tality from the disease, 15 moreCovid-19 deaths were report-ed – 3 in Karnal, two each inPanchkula, Rewari and Panipatand one each in Rohtak, Hisar,Kurukshetra, Sirsa, Fatehabadand Faridabad. A total of 661deaths have so far occurred dueto the Covid-19 in the State.
Meanwhile, the NCR dis-tricts of the State continue toreel under the onslaught of thevirus. Faridabad’s Covid-19tally now stood at 12,304, high-est in the State, followed by
Gurugram at 11, 569. Sonepatrecorded 4176 cases, accordingto the bulletin. As many as10.76 lakh samples have beensent for testing while the testsper million population standsat 42, 448, the bulletin stated.
As many as 1020 morerecovered corona patients weredischarged from various hos-pitals, including 192 in Panipat,108 in Faridabad, 90 inGurugram, 71 each in Rohtakand Rewari, 73 in Ambala, 70in Karnal and 63 in Kaithal.According to the daily bulletin,10, 225 cases are still 'active'. Inan indication of the piling upof samples in different labs inthe state, a total of 6551 sam-ples are lying untested.
The recovery percentage inthe state is 82.04 % and theinfection rate has mounted to5.67 % in the State, accordingto the bulletin.
Chandigarh:Punjab Police raided a Chandigarhhouse and a few other places owned by formerstate DGP Sumedh Singh Saini in the early hoursof Friday in a case related to the disappearanceof a man after a terrorist attack on him inChandigarh in 1991.
However, Saini could not be found, officialssaid.Hours after the raids on his Chandigarh res-idence, farm houses in Mohali and HimachalPradesh and a house in Delhi, a Mohali courtextended Saini's interim bail till further orders.
Earlier, he was given interim protection onAugust 25 after he filed an anticipatory bail pleato avoid arrest.
"The court has granted a stay on the arresttill final orders on the bail application," Saini''scounsel A P S Deol said.
The court had on Thursday reserved its
order on the plea. The next date of hearing isSeptember 1.
Saini faces arrest as the court had on August21 allowed the Punjab Police to add a murdercharge against him in this case.
The court�s decision came after two for-mer Chandigarh police personnel, who are alsoco-accused, turned approver in the disappear-ance case.The former Punjab DGP was bookedin the month of May this year in connection withthe disappearance of Balwant Singh Multani,who was a junior engineer with ChandigarhIndustrial and Tourism Corporation.
Multani, who was a resident of Mohali, waspicked up by police after the terrorist attack onSaini, who was then the senior superintendentof police in Chandigarh, in 1991, according tothe FIR. Agencies
To better prepare doctors forchallenges posed by pan-
demics like Covid-19, thecountry’s apex medical educa-tion regulator, the Board ofGovernors of the MedicalCouncil of India (MCI), is inthe process of including pan-demic management along withits social, legal and otheraspects as part of the MBBScourse for medical aspirants.
The BoG said it is expect-ed that the pandemic manage-ment module extending fromfoundation course to the finalyear undergraduate pro-gramme will help in ensuringthe creation of an Indian med-ical graduate “who will servehumanity as doctor, leader andhealer in bleak times such asoccurrence of a pandemic”.
The move aims to preparedoctors for challenges posed byemerging diseases like Covid-19.
The document containingdetails of the module to beadopted by colleges has beenput together by a team ofexperts and the academic cell
of the MCI.“This pandemic manage-
ment module is designed toensure that MBBS studentsacquire competencies in han-dling not only the illness butalso the social, legal and otherissues arising from such diseaseoutbreaks.
“The emergence ofCovid-19 and its rapid spreadacross the globe has furtherunderlined the need to devel-op these skills in our gradu-ates,” Dr V K Paul, the chair-man of the BoG said in theforeword.
The BoG has preparedrevised regulations onGraduate Medical educationand Competency basedundergraduate curricula,accompanied by detailedguidance for its implementa-tion.
One of the desirable out-comes of the competencyderived education programmeis to enable the Indian med-ical graduate to be preparedfor the unknown — to be ableto understand, investigate,treat and prevent new andemerging diseases as clinician,community leader and schol-
ar, stated the foreword.It further said that, “pan-
demic or disease outbreakcalls in to play all the five roles
envisages for the Indian med-ical graduate viz clinician,communicator, leader andmember of the healthcare
team, professional, life-longlearner and committed toexcellence, is ethical, respon-sive and accountable to
patients”The competency-based
undergraduate curriculumwas designed to enable the
Indian medical graduate to beprepared to meet new chal-lenges - to be able to recog-nise, diagnose, investigate and
treat newly emerging diseasesas a clinician and communi-ty health leader.
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Lack of social interactionduring the Covid-19 pan-
demic has taken a toll on peo-ple’s mental health which isalready a neglected issue giventhat more than 75 per cent ofthose with mental, neurologi-cal and substance use disordersreceive no treatment for theircondition at all, the WorldHealth Organization (WHO)has cautioned.
Tedros AdhanomGhebreyesus, the Director-General of the WHO, said,“For many people, the lack ofsocial interaction caused by thepandemic has had a profoundeffect on their mental health.”
Sharing his views at a vir-tual press briefing fromGeneva, the WHO chief saidthat people in long-term facil-ities such as care homes andpsychiatric institutions are atan increased risk of infection.
He added that mentalhealth professionals havethemselves been infected withthe virus, and some mentalhealth facilities have beenclosed to be converted intotreatment facilities for people
with Covid-19.He recalled that mental
health was already “a neglect-ed health issue” globally beforethe pandemic, with close toone billion people living witha mental disorder. Yet relativelyfew people have access to qual-ity mental health services.
“In low and middle-income countries, more than75 per cent of people withmental, neurological and sub-
stance use disorders receive notreatment for their condition atall,” Tedros noted.
He declared that for thisyear’s World Mental HealthDay, which falls on October 10,the WHO, together with itspartner organizations, Unitedfor Global Mental Health andthe World Federation forMental Health, would call fora massive scale-up in invest-ments in mental health.
India is on course to have an“approved” vaccine within
the first quarter of next yearand Pune-based SerumInstitute of India (SII), theworld’s largest vaccine manu-facturer by volume, is wellplaced to deliver the first vac-cine, according to a reportfrom Bernstein Research, atop Wall Street research andbrokerage firm.
“Globally, there are fourcandidates that are close to anapproval by the end of 2020 orearly 2021. Through partner-ships India has access to two ofthose - AZ/Oxford’s viral vec-tor vaccine and Novavax’s pro-tein sub-unit vaccine withAZ/Oxford’s vaccine ahead bya quarter,” said the Bernsteinreport, according to a newsagency.
“With their existing capa-bilities and capacities SII isbest positioned to commer-cialise one or both of the part-nered vaccine candidatesdepending on approval tim-ing, capacities and pricing.”
Data from Phase 1 andPhase trials look promising
for both these candidates “interms of safety and the vac-cines ability to elicit animmune response”. The waythings look now, the reportindicates that both vaccinecandidates “will require twodoses to be administered21/28 days apart”.
The SII, the report said,could supply 600 milliondoses in 2021 and 1 billiondoses in 2022, out of which400 to 500 million “should beavailable in India in 2021” inthe context of the company’scommitments to Gavi, TheVaccine Alliance and lowerand middle income markets.
The report estimates thatvaccine volumes will be split55:45 between the
Government and privatemarket.
“We believe theGovernment channel willhave first access to the capac-ities but also believe there willbe a sizable private market. Interms of funding, manpowerand delivery infrastructurethe Government wil l struggle to shoulder the bur-den on its own and we expectthe private market to step inand supplement.”
Apart from SII, the reportlists at least three other Indianpharma companies - Zydus,Bharat Biotech and BiologicalE - which are working ontheir own vaccine candidates and are currentlyin Phase 1 and 2.
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India on Friday breached itsown previous day record of
single-day spike of over 75,000cases, by registering anunprecedented 77,266 freshcoronavirus infections in 24hours, taking the Covid-19tally to 33,87,500. As the testrate has increased, the countryhas now added almost 4 lakhcases in five days. In fact,India’s journey to over 33 lakhcases took precisely six monthsand 28 days since the emer-gence of the first case in thecountry on January 30.
The toll surpassed 60,000to touch 61,529 mark with1,057 more fatalities on Friday,
said the Union Health Ministry.India though the third
worst-hit at present, after theUS and Brazil, has been report-ing the highest number ofdaily coronavirus cases in theworld for the last three weeks.No other country has reportedsuch continued surge since thepandemic surfaced in China’sWuhan city in December 2019.
The recovery rate in Indiawas recorded at 76.28 per cent,while the Covid-19 case fatal-ity rate has further declined to1.82 per cent.
There are 7,42,023 activecases of coronavirus infectionin the country which com-prises 21.90 per cent of thetotal caseload, the data stated.India’s Covid-19 tally had
crossed the 20-lakh mark onAugust 7 and went past 30lakh on August 23. On July17, the country had logged 10lakh cases, which then dou-bled in 20 days on August 7,and added another 10 lakh onAugust 23. According to theICMR, a cumulative total of3,94,77,848 samples havebeen tested up to August 27with 9,01,338 samples beingtested on Thursday.
In India the fatality rate,which is the proportion ofpeople who die from the dis-ease among individuals diag-nosed, has dropped to 1.81per cent, the Health Ministrysaid. The positivity rate,which is the percentage ofs a m p l e scoming out to be positiveout of the tests conducted,stands at 8.5 per cent.
The overall number ofglobal coronavirus cases hastopped 2 crore 43 lakh, whilethe deaths have increased toover 8,29,000, according toJohns Hopkins University.
The US accounted for theworld’s highest number ofcases and deaths at 58,63,363and 1,80,595 respectively.Brazil came in the secondplace with 37,61,391 infec-tions and 1,18,649 deaths.
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Despite coronavirus pan-demic and incessant rain-
fall, farmers have sowedkharif crop in an area of1082.22 lakh hectare which ismore than the 1009.98 lakhhactare of the correspondingperiod of last year. There hasalso been a substantialincrease in planting of paddyin many States that receivedbountiful rains so far. This isdespite dozens of States reel-ing under floods.
According to the IndiaMeteorological Department’s(IMD) latest forecast, Indiawitnessed 9 percent morerainfall so far this monsoonseason. It has received749.6mm rainfall as against thenormal of 689.4 mm.
As per the Ministry ofAgriculture’s data released onFriday, the kharif crops areasacreage went by 7.15 percentso far while kharif plantationis still going on in severalparts of the country.
The data showed that thetotal area under paddy so faris 389.81 lakh hectares, near-ly 35.40 lakh hectare morethan the 354.41lakh hectares
covered in the same week lastyear.
There has been a sub-stantial increase in planting ofpaddy in many States likeTelangana, which has sownpaddy over an additional10.06 lakh hectare, MadhyaPradesh (5.23 lakh hectare),Bihar (5.22 lakh hectare) andJharkhand (5.05 lakh hectare).Among the other States thathave planted paddy in morearea are West Bengal (4.48lakh hectares), Odisha (3.16lakh hectares) and Karnataka(2.18 lakh hectares) com-pared to same period lastyear.
Surprisingly, the paddyarea in Punjab has comedown by 1.78 lakh hectaresfrom the last kharif season.Punjab, Nagaland, Tripuraand Jammu and Kashmirreported less plantation.
As far pulses are con-cerned, there is nearly 134.57lakh ha area coverage underpulses as compared to 128.65lakh hectare during the cor-responding period of lastyear.
Thus 5.91 lakh ha morearea has been covered com-pared to last year.
Defence Minister RajnathSingh will formally induct
the newly arrived five Rafalefighter jets into the IAF onSeptember 10. His Frenchcounterpart Florency Parly isalso likely to be part of theevent besides holding bilateraltalks on further enhancingdefence ties between the twocountries.
The first batch of fiveRafale jets, manufactured byFrench aerospace majorDassault Aviation, arrived atthe Ambala air base on July 29.The jets are yet to be formallyinducted into the IAF. DefenceMinister, Chief of Defence StaffGeneral Bipin Rawat and theentire top military brass of thecountry will attend the event atthe Ambala air base, sourcessaid here on Friday.
India had signed an inter-governmental agreement withFrance in September 2016 forprocurement of 36 Rafalefighter jets at a cost of aroundRs 58,000 crore.
Out of the 36 Rafale jets,30 will be fighter jets and sixwill be trainers. The trainerjets will be twin-seater andthey will have almost all the
features of the fighter jets.While the first squadron of theRafale jets will be stationed atthe Ambala air base, the sec-ond one will be based at the
Hasimara base in West Bengal.All the 36 jets will be in theIAF by 2022.
The next edition of the pres-tigious international aero-
space exhibition ‘Aero India2021’ will be held at its tradi-tional venue Bengaluru. The
event will be held fromFebruary 3-5, sources saidhere. The Defence Ministrytook the decision to hold thebiennial event as scheduled fol-lowing inputs from the domes-tic defence industry and glob-al aerospace majors.
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The Central IndustrialSecurity Force (CISF) has
created an in-house mobileapp “Pensioners Corner” onandroid platform for pension-ers of the Force.
The latest digital initiativehas been undertaken underthe guidance of CISF DirectorGeneral Rajesh Ranjan and theapp will help the Force to get intouch with the pensioners andto bring them on to the digital
platform. “Pensioners Corner will be
available in both web andandroid platforms with thefacility for pensioners to accesstheir data on the move. Withthe launch of this new digitalinitiative, pensioners will getconnected to the CISF unitsspread across the geographicalstretch of the country. SMS invi-tations will be sent to pension-ers on important occasionshappening in the nearest CISF
unit,” the CISF said in a state-ment on Friday.
Apart from an inbuilt griev-ance redressal mechanism, allimportant circulars like jobopportunities and benefits per-taining to pensioners can alsobe accessed using this App.
To tackle the unforeseenCovid situation and ensure thecontinuity of the functions inthe offices, CISF had recentlyalso launched web application“e-Karyalay”.
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New Delhi: The Delhi HighCourt on Friday restrainedSudarshan TV from telecastingits programme titled ‘BindasBol’, whose latest promoclaimed that the channel was allset to broadcast a ‘big exposeon conspiracy to infiltrateMuslims in Government ser-vice’.
The show was scheduled toair tonight at 8 pm.
Justice Navin Chawlaissued notice and soughtresponses of CentralGovernment, the Union Public
Service Commission,Sudarshan TV, and its Editor-in-Chief, Suresh Chavhankeon a petition filed by formerand present students of JamiaMillia Islamia.
The high court listed thematter for further hearing onSeptember 7.
The plea contended thatthe proposed broadcast soughtto defame, attack and incitehatred against Jamia MilliaIslamia, its alumni, and theMuslim community at large.
Veteran Gandhian and anti-cor-ruption crusader Anna Hazare
on Friday rejected Delhi BharatiyaJanata Party (BJP) president AdeshGupta’s recent invitation to come andlaunch an agitation against the AamAadmi PartyGovernment along thelines of a Lokpal agitation he undertookin 2011.
Reacting to a statement issuedrecently by Gupta to the media invit-ing Hazare to co-operate with the BJPby coming to the national capital andlaunching an agitation like the Lokpalstir he had undertaken in 2011, Hazaresaid:,“I felt bad reading your letter. YourBharatiya Janata Party has been rulingthe country for the past six years. Yourparty has a maximum number ofyouths as members. Your party claimsas the biggest party in the world thathas a largest number of members”
“Anna Hazare is an 83-year-old
man who lives in a 10 feet X 12 feetroom located in a temple. He does nothave money. Nor does he have prop-erty or power. It is rather unfortunatethat you are calling such a man tolaunch an agitation in the national cap-ital against the AAP government,”Hazare wrote in his letter.
“You have your government at theCentre. Many of the matters relating tothe Delhi government come under thepurview of your government. Youhave CBI, ED, Vigilance and the Delhipolice are under your control. ThePrime Minister repeatedly claims thatthe Centre is taking stringent steps toeliminate corruption in the country.That being the case, if it thinks that theDelhi government has indulged in cor-ruption, why is the BJP-led governmentnot acting against the Arvind Kejriwalgovernment? Or is its claim of elimi-nating corruption failed,?, Hazareasked.
Maintaining that he had been cru-
sading against corruption in the stateand at the Centre during the last 22years and undertaken 220 fasts duringthe period, Hazare said that he hadundertaken the Lokpal agitation in2011 as the people across the countrywere fed up with rampant corruptionprevalent in the country. There wasunrest in the country.
At such a juncture, Anna Hazarehad undertaken the agitation. Realisingthat Anna Hazare was agitating forthem, the people had taken to streetsthen. Subsequently, your governmentcame to power at the Centre afterpromising corruption-free govern-ment”.
“But, after your party came topower at the Centre, the problems ofpeople remain as before. What we arewitnessing is one party blaming anoth-er party. I feel that a political partyshould indulge in self-introspection andspeak about the faults within its ownset up”.
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What the Opposition BJPcalled her rattling of the
sabre in public a “routine pre-election exercise” Bengal ChiefMinister Mamata Banerjee onFriday dared Prime MinisterNarendra Modi to shun his“Bhashan” (speech-making)arranged before a “pre-deter-mined tutored audience” andface the genuinely concernedstudents appearing for theNEET/JEE and other suchexams in his “so called” Mannki Baat programme.
Banerjee who was speakingat the foundation day pro-gramme of TrinamoolCongress Chatra Parishad —the students’ arm of the rulingTrinamool Congress — came
down heavily on the CentralGovernment for its “insensi-tivity” towards the impendingcorona crisis and “pushinglakhs of students to grapplewith the risks of the pandem-ic.”
Stopping short of namingModi, the Bengal ChiefMinister said “there are somepeople who offer big Bhashan(tall speeches) in Man ki Baat…. I ask them to face the aspi-rants of the NEET/JEE andother exams in the Man ki Baat… and the tutored ones whoare employed for the purpose,”Banerjee said.
On the Supreme Courtorder she however said that herState had no problem holdingthe final exams anytimebeyond September.
Kolkata: If all goes well for thefans then heartthrob of millionsSunny Leone could be sittingalongside many of her admir-ers in a Kolkata classroom or ina classroom of a college some30 miles down the Hooghly.
The Bollywood cine starhas “bagged” the numero unospot in prestigious AshutoshMukherjee College in SouthKolkata. The actor however isnot so lucky in striking it so bigin the second college, this timein the Budge Budge region ofSouth 24 Parganas where hername has appeared in the 151stplace --- both in BA EnglishHonours stream, sources said. PNS
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The joint teams of security forces onFriday gunned down one of the top
commanders of Al-Badr terror outfitalong with three other terrorists in abrief encounter in Kiloora area of South Kashmir's Shopian dis-trict.
The encounter took place in thearea barely hours after the recovery ofthe dead body of a slain Panch fromKhonmoh area of Srinagar.
According to police, Nisar AhmadBhat , an elected Panch, had gone miss-ing since August 19.
His dead body was recovered aftersome locals in the Dangam area raisedan alarm.
The dead body, with marks of bul-let injuries, was buried in an orchard in Dangam area of Shopian.
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Aday after Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan declaredKerala as the globally safest region vis-à-vis coron-
avirus, the State diagnosed 2,543 positive cases on Friday,the highest number of patients to be confirmed on a sin-gle day till date. Seven persons died in the State becauseof the pandemic, according to a press release by theDepartment of Health.
The death tally announced on Friday is the numberof fatalities confirmed by the National Virology Institute.Details about deaths in other parts of the State are to beconfirmed by the Institute in coming days before officialannouncement.
The disease is spreading fast in Kerala. In yet anoth-er proof of community transmission, 2,260 persons con-tracted Covid-19 through social transmission/contact. Arecord number of 229 patients failed to furnish the sourcefrom which they contracted the disease.
On Friday, 2,541 persons diagnosed with the pandemicwere admitted to hospitals. The State has increased thenumber of persons who are being tested on a daily basis.On Friday, 41, 860 persons were tested.
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Congress leaders and work-ers in Kerala stand “solid-
ly” behind party chief SoniaGandhi and former party pres-ident Rahul Gandhi, said seniorparty leaders in the State.
“For party workers andleaders in Kerala, Congressmeans Sonia Gandhi andRahul Gandhi. There is noneed to think about any changeof leadership in the party,” saidK Muraleedharan MP whowas former KPCC president.He said it was unfair and an actof indiscipline to speak againstparty leadership when the chipsare down.
Kodikkunnil Suresh MPand former union minister,said that Congress workersand leaders from Kerala areunited in their support forSonia Gandhi and RahulGandhi. “The KPCC hasexpressed its unanimous desireto have Rahul Gandhi as thepresident of the party,” saidSuresh while speaking toreporters at the capital city onFriday.
Both the leaders(Muraleedharan and Suresh)disapproved the kind of dissi-dence being shown by SashiTharoor MP who was one ofthe signatories of the letter sentby a group of veteran leaders tothe party’s High Command.
“Tharoor is a GlobalCitizen and had joined theCongress hardly a decade ago.It would be better if he focussedmore on Global issues than thatof Congress affairs. There aremany leaders and workers inthe Congress who have dedi-cated their lives to the partyand the Nehru-Gandhi clan,”said Muraleedharan.
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Upset with Hathras MP Rajveer Diler, Gram Pradhanof Daurau Chandpur gram panchayat Ashok Azad
and his elder brother Ram Gopal have claimed for reli-gious conversion along with their family. On Thursday,Ram Gopal has asked permission for religious conver-sion in a written letter to the District Magistrate.According to Gram Pradhan Ashok Azad, ladies of thehouse already removed all the idols of Gods from thehouse and all 20 members of the family will accept Islamsoon after getting permission.
According to Ashok Azad and Ram Gopal, HathrasMP Rahveer Diler is a native of gram panchayat DaurauChandpur. In 2015, his wife Rajni Diler contested for thepradhan election against him but faced defeat, since thenHathras MP Rajveer Diler continuously harassing andimplicating the family in false cases.
Ashok Azad said that four-five months ago, on MPinstruction, his house was demolished after beingshowed that it was constructed on the land of GramPanchayat.
The matter is under consideration in court. I own aland in Gata number 86 and there also boundary has beenmade.
It is alleged that the nephew of the MP's relation hasfiled a false case of a deadly attack against six people ofhis family. Ashok Azad said that he is compelled to con-vert his religion along with his family members.
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Despite of the High Court'sorder and complaints of
inhabitants of the city, the ille-gal animal slaughtering hasnot stopped yet.
It is a common practice inMuslim populated areas likeSarai Rehman, Sarai Mian,Makdoom Nagar andShahjamal to slaughter ani-mals. Animals are slaughteredhere in the open every morn-ing.
The animal body partsspread foul smell in the sur-rounding areas and the bloodof slaughtered animals flows inthe colony drains.
Those people, who are notaccustomed to animal slaugh-ter, undergo a harrowing expe-rience while passing throughthese areas and their feelingsare hurt. The illegal animalslaughter if not checked canplunge the hypersensitiveAligarh in an unwarrantedcommunal clash anytime.
Surprisingly, the NagarNigam and the Aligarh districtadministration are turning ablind eye towards this provoca-tive issue. No preventive mea-sures have been taken by them.
A related problem is themushrooming of several meatshops in the entire town againstnorms.
These shops have comeup near schools, colleges, tem-ples and other public places,much to the dislike of residents.In these shops, old andunhealthy goats and buffalo arebeing slaughtered, which maygive disease to the consumers.
The contractor of the gov-ernment slaughterhouse andthe health department staffare also involved in the illegalslaughtering racket.
KOCHI: Despite the NIA andED failing to make any progressinto the gold smuggling scamprobe, the CPI(M)-led KeralaGovernment has lost a lot ofsheen.
Friday turned out to beanother shocker for the LDFGovernment as it was disclosedthat the LIFE Mission apart-ments being built in Thrissurdistrict with financial assistancefrom Red Crescent of the UAEdoes not have the mandatoryapproval from the Centre.
When Pinarayi Vijayan wasappointed as the Secretary of theCPI(M)’s Kerala wing in 1998,journalists asked V SAchuthanandan, the thenstrongman of the party why theformer who was hardly 53 waselected to the post overlookingother veterans. “It is a longterm investment for the party,”replied VS.
VS was proved right as theCPI(M) grew from strength to
strength over the next twodecades under the watchful eyesof Vijayan. Till three monthsago, the CPI(M) in Kerala wasinvincible and looked like itwould break a jinx haunting theruling parties in the State. Recenthistory has never seen the rul-ing party returning to power inthe next election because ofstrong anti-incumbency wave.Though the CPI(M) had earnedthe wrath of the Hindu votersduring the 2019 Lok Sabha elec-tion on account of its mishan-dling of the Sabarimala Templeissue, the party had recoveredthe lost ground by winningthree of the six assembly seatswhich saw by-elections.
Though there were noshortages of corruption chargesagainst the CPI(M), theCongress-led UDF had failed tocapitalise on them and all alle-gations got washed away onaccount of a pro-CPI(M) mediain the State. PNS
Taking advantage of the inclementweather conditions prevailing
along the line of control in the fron-tier districts of Rajouri and Poonch,the Pakistan Army is desperatelylooking for an opportunity to launchits Border Action Teams (BAT), com-prising the Pakistan Army regularsand terrorists, in order to inflictmaximum casualties on the IndianArmy.
According to the ground reports,“the alert Indian jawans have beenregularly recording suspicious move-ment of heavily armed infiltratorsacross the line of control near someof the notorious Pakistan Army postsin Poonch and Rajouri sector”.
Some of the recent intelligencereports also suggested that thePakistan Army is desperately tryingto target some of the forward Indianposts and attempting to launch its
Border Action Teams (BAT) to inflictmaximum casualties on the Indianforces. In the recent months, thePakistan Army has suffered extensivedamages in retaliatory action by theIndian Army in the region. Due toheightened alert along the LoC thePakistan Army has failed to push alarge number of infiltrators throughtheir traditional routes of infiltration.
Official sources on ground zerorevealed the Pakistan Army isattempting to mislead the alert Indianjawans by way of resorting to crossLoC firing at different locations at thesame time.
“In some of the cases the Pakistanarmy is attempting to provide coverfiring to the small groups of heavilyarmed infiltrators, stationed acrosslaunch pads in Pakistan OccupiedKashmir (PoK) to infiltrate inside theIndian territory”, official sourcesclaimed.
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Uttar Pradesh BJP presi-dent Swatantra Dev Singh
has appointed regional presi-dents for six regions in the state.
According to an officialrelease on Friday, MohitBeniwal will be the regionalpresident for west UP,Rajnikant Maheshwari will bein charge of Braj region andManvendra Singh will hold charge of Kanpurregion.
Shesh Narain Mishra hasbeen named the head of Avadhregion, Mahesh Srivastava will
be in charge of Kashi regionand Dharmendra SinghSainthwar will be the head ofGorakhpur region.
According to party sources,the six regional presidents havebeen appointed to mobilisethe party cadres for the 2022Assembly polls and also thepanchayat elections that will beheld next year.
“The appointees willensure that the achievements ofthe Modi and Yogi govern-ments reach down to the grass-roots levels and the partymachinery remains well-oiledtill the village level,” said a partyfunctionary.
In a clear pointer to the fact thatit is still not out of the woods in
terms of the continued spread ofCovid-19, Maharashtra on Fridaywitnessed 14,361 infections, while331 more people succumbed to thepandemic in various parts of thestate.
With fresh infections and fatal-ities, the total number of infectedcases in the state jumped to7,47,995, while the number ofdeaths mounted to 23,775.
Of the 331 fatalities reportedon Friday, Pune topped the list with58 deaths, while there were 32deaths in Thane, 30 in Mumbai, 29in Nashik, 24 in Sangli, 22 inKolhapur, 21 in Nagpur, 13 inJalgaon and 12 inAurangabad.
In addition, there were 9 deathseach in Dhule, Solapur and Satara,8 each in Latur and Amravati, 6each in Palghar and Raigad, 5 inBeed, 4 each in Sindhudurg,Ratnagiri and Parbhani, 3 each inAhmednagar, Nandurbar and
Hingoli, 2 each in Osmanabad,Yavatmal and Washim and onedeath each in Jalna, Nanded andBuldhana.
There was a spurt in numberof deaths in Nashik, Sangli andKolhapur districts, while six dis-tricts in the state reported zerodeaths.
The number of deaths is drop-ping steadily in Mumbai. After itrecorded 20, 22 and 30 deathsrespectively on Tuesday,Wednesday and Thursday respec-tively, Mumbai witnessed 30 freshdeaths, tasking the toll in themetropolis increased from 7,535 to7,565 while the number of infect-ed cases increased by 1,217 to touch142,108.
Pune district with 1,65,592infected cases continued to be theworst-affected city in Maharashtra.The number of deaths in Puneincreased from 3,916 to 3974.
Thane district remained on thethird spot --after Pune andMumbai – with 128,685 total cases,while the pandemic toll rose from3,677 to 3709.
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Taiwan has been at thecentre of a global supplychain in recent monthsnot only for its effectiveresponse in handling the
Coronavirus pandemic but alsofor providing medical aid to othercountries and helping them fight thevirus. Simultaneously, there hasbeen increased military and defenceengagement between Taipei andWashington, DC, even as China isincreasingly heaving down on theformer.
Taiwan has also gainedunprecedented attention in India’sforeign policy discourse during thepandemic period. Several expertshave advocated enhanced bilateralties as part of India’s comprehensivestrategy to deal with China, follow-ing the recent military clash betweenthe two countries in eastern Ladakh.Even two BJP MPs — MeenakshiLekhi and Rahul Kaswan — attend-ed Taiwanese President Tsai Ing-wen’s swearing-in ceremonythrough video conference in May,indicating a change in the ModiGovernment’s approach.
However, the idea of expandingbilateral relations with Taiwan is notnew. In fact, domestic, regional andglobal factors had led the NarasimhaRao Government to establish an“unofficial relationship” in the1990s, with the establishment of theIndia-Taipei Association (ITA).Ever since, the relationship betweenthe two nations has seen very lim-ited cooperation. But recent devel-opments have underscored theneed for India and Taiwan to trans-form their “unofficial engagement”into a comprehensive partnership.
In doing so, it is imperative forNew Delhi and Taipei to identifytheir shared strategic, economic,regional and other interests as alsocommon means to achieve theirgoals. One such shared interest is,of course, to deal with China’sassertive posturing effectively. Therecent border standoff between theIndian and Chinese armies in east-ern Ladakh once again under-scored the fact that deception anddenial have been the hallmark ofChina’s India policy. Thus, as Indiacontinues to explore diplomatic,political and other channels torestore status quo ante along theborder, New Delhi must also weighin other options to fight back theChinese threat.
While the China factor isresponsible for the transformedrelations between India and the US,
improved ties with Taiwan can beequally beneficial for us. This canbe gauged from the fact thatTaiwan also faces an existentialthreat from the Chinese. More so,it has a better understanding ofChina’s strategic depth because ofits proximity to it. Both nationsalso share linguistic and cultur-al ties. Indeed, Taipei can helpNew Delhi comprehend China’sstrategic thinking in a better way.But for this to happen, Indianeeds to foster military andsecurity engagement at theGovernment level and increaseinteraction between think-tankson both sides.
With Taiwan and Indiabeing the two strong pillars of theTrump administration’s Indo-Pacific strategy, India can take astep ahead to include Taiwan inthe Quadrilateral SecurityDialogue, which now consists ofthe US, Japan, India andAustralia. This move will helpIndia strengthen its counter-Chinese strategy and at the sametime boost Taiwan’s independentidentity. It will also help it ensurethe freedom of navigation in theSouth China Sea through which50 per cent of India’s trade takesplace. At the same time, Indiaalso has an interest in ensuringthe uninterrupted exploration ofoil and gas in the said region.
Ties with Taiwan shouldnot be solely viewed throughChina’s lens. Sure, the econom-ic relationship has been thelynchpin of the unofficial rela-
tionship between India andTaiwan, with the volume of bilat-eral trade having reached to$7.5 billion in 2019. In fact, sev-eral initiatives have been taken toinstitutionalise the economicrelationship between the twosides. In 2014, the IndiaElectronics and SemiconductorAssociation and the TaipeiComputer Association signed amemorandum to promote localmanufacturing in the field ofsemiconductors and electronics.In August 2015, Hon HaiPrecision Industry Co, alsoknown as Foxconn, one of thelargest hardware manufacturersin the world, announced aninvestment of $5 billion in India.
The first Taiwan Expo washeld at Pragati Maidan, NewDelhi, from May 17 to May 19.The Institute for InformationIndustry has joined India’s Centerof Excellence in Wireless andInformation Technology todevelop 4G broadband wirelesstechnologies and other products.Over the past 10 years, Acer, D-Link Corp and Transcend haveinvested about $1 billion in Indiaand China Synthetic Rubber hasexpressed its desire to investabout $330 million in the Stateof Andhra Pradesh. Further,China Steel has also proposed tomake a $180 million investmentin India. CPC Corp, Taiwan, hasproposed a $6 billion investmentin India, which would surelyboost the Make in India pro-gramme in the petrochemical
industry.Despite these investments,
it is true that the two sides are stillfar off from realising the fullpotential of economic coopera-tion. It will be in India’s interestto expand economic and socio-cultural ties. Given its expertisein the fields of hardware manu-facturing, construction, infra-structure, mine exploration, elec-tronic manufacturing, logistics,automobiles, food processingand others, such avenues must beutilised optimally. Taiwan canplay a vital role in the success ofthe Modi Government’s Make inIndia, Digital India and SkillIndia initiatives. It is also a hubof high-tech manufacturing.
Similarly, India, too, shouldexplore the possibility of coop-eration in the fields of artificialintelligence and medical equip-ment. In fact, Taiwan hasreceived global appreciation forsuccessfully controlling the pan-demic.
New Delhi and Taipei needto institutionalise their cooper-ation in the technology sector soas to achieve their shared inter-ests. At the same time, by provid-ing a big market, India can sig-nificantly reduce the deepeningeconomic ties between Chinaand Taiwan, a stated goal of theTsai administration as part of herNew Southbound Policy.Meanwhile, with the use ofTaiwan’s agro-technology, Indiacould transform its agriculturesector as well. Since the Modi
Government has attached hugeimportance to soft diplomacy aspart of India’s foreign policy toachieve its national interests,promoting tourism with Taiwancould also be an attractive way ofcementing ties between the twonations, given that Buddhism isthe religion of the majority ofTaiwanese and India is its home-land.
As the Indian Governmenthas decided to review local chap-ters of Confucius institutes inIndia, agreements betweenIndian and Chinese institutes asalso several MoUs regarding theChinese language programme,New Delhi can strengthen tieswith Taiwan to run the Chineselanguage programme in thecountry. But these efforts wouldbe more effective in cementingties between the two sides onlywhen the Indian leadershipdecides to institutionalise therelationship in an effective form.In this regard, India can take acue from the US’ adherence toimproving ties with Taiwan,despite accepting the “One ChinaPolicy.” It remains to be seen ifIndia and Taiwan succeed intransforming their bilateral coop-eration or the relationship con-tinues to be hostage to the shad-ow of the Dragon.
(SP Shahi is principal, ANCollege, Patna and Sumit Kumaris ICSSR Post-Doctoral Fellow,New Delhi, and former TaiwanFellow, National ChengchiUniversity, Taipei)
Sir — This refers to the edito-rial, “Strapped for cash” (August28). The Reserve Bank of India’sbleak report on the state of theeconomy only reinforces thatthe COVID relief package hasproved hollow. In this huge dis-ruption to the supply-demandequilibrium, normal financialtools alone are inadequate.Borrowing becomes a must toaddress the health interventioncosts of the virus and for sus-taining an idle economythrough the downturn. Thepost-COVID era belongs toinnovative economies that arecommitted to growth and notshackled by fiscal purity.
R NarayananNavi Mumbai
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Sir — This refers to the article,“Rot within, threats without”(August 28) by Ajoy Kumar.Media and psychic violencehave brought out the sad state ofaffairs in a world which wasonce the hallmark of the truth,but has now become a mediumof promoting and reporting
anything but truth just for TRPs. The owners and anchors of
prominent media channels seemto be guided by political and reli-gious leanings that have plunged
their respectability to a newlow. The media coverage of theSushant Singh Rajput case is allbut repulsive. Television chan-nels are now airing “never-
before-seen” pictures of theactor’s lifeless body, interviewingRhea Chakraborty’s watchmanand deciphering her WhatsAppchats. The so-called “exclusives”
have taken an even uglier turn.The Indian media has hit an all-time new low. This is not whatwas expected of the fourth pil-lar of democracy.
ShishirVia email
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Sir — This refers to the editor-ial, “Strapped for cash” (August28). It seems the stage is set fora major confrontation betweenthe Centre and the States overgoods and services tax (GST)compensation. The Governmenthas made it clear that in the cur-rent scenario, it is impossible forit to compensate the States. Onthe other hand, State leadershave contended that the Unionis legally bound to send themoney. Putting the blame-gameaside, what is needed right nowis that the Government mustborrow more. The Reserve Bankof India, too, must work withStates to help them raise moneyto compensate for a shortfall inGST collections.
When patriarchy in the Koraga tribe, a tra-ditionally matrilineal society, began tomanifest itself in myriad ways, including
domestic violence, it sparked a quiet revolutionamong the women. Instead of waiting for someoneelse to make the difference, the women decided totake matters into their own hands. It was theircourage to question the personal laws of the com-munity and demand concrete mechanisms to dealwith the problem of violence that led to the insti-tution of a community court. With the court mem-bers being chosen by the community after beingtrained and vetted by the district legal aid author-ity, the women were satisfied that justice would bedone to reinforce the gender equality that tradition-ally existed in the matrilineal system.
It was this resurgence of women against the dis-regard of matrilineal values that gave those impact-ed by violence the self-assurance to plead their casesbefore the court. The collectivisation also reaffirmedself-belief in many women that they always had theright to take their own decisions. This is whenManjula realised that she had not done herself anygood by keeping quiet about the mental and phys-ical torture by her husband. The support of otherwomen gave Manjula the confidence to finally leaveher violent husband. She has remarried since thenand is happy she was able to take the decision tochange her life.
In fact, when the going gets tough, it is theKoraga women who get going. This is exactly whatMamta Koraga did when she saw her husband slid-ing into indebtedness and poverty because of hisalcoholism. Although alcoholism is a common prob-lem among men of this Karnataka-based particu-larly vulnerable tribal group (PVTG), Mamtadecided it was time for a change. She encouragedhim to join a de-addiction camp. Mamta came toknow of the camp through an awareness andempowerment campaign run by the KoragaFederation, a community organisation, in collabo-ration with the Samagra Grameena Ashrama andActionAid India, two non-profits working for themarginalised. Then, once he successfully complet-ed the treatment, she joined him in cultivating jas-mine as a livelihood rehabilitation option.
However, Mamta did not stop there. Sheensured that they had equal decision-making pow-ers in keeping with the progressive values of thematrilineal system and also shared householdexpenses. A major part of the profits that her hus-band makes from selling the jasmine is ploughedback into improving cultivation. The rest is con-tributed towards household payments.
Mamta, too, contributes an equal share from theincome that she earns from selling costume jewellery.She used the training given by the Government’sIntegrated Tribal Development Programme tolearn how to make and sell costume jewellery afterthe jasmine cultivation venture stabilised. While apart of her income is earmarked for the household,Mamta deposits the remaining into her bankaccount. With both working and sharing expens-es, the couple no longer needs to take loans to maketwo ends meet.
Assertions of gender equality also came fromyounger girls and women of the community.Susheela always wanted to pursue academics but waspersuaded by her father to agree to marriage.However, when realisation dawned that she would
no longer be able to study if she got mar-ried, Susheela, then a student of Class VIII,called off her engagement. She knew shewould be going against traditional soci-etal norms and the diktat of her father. Butso strong was her aspiration for educationthat she was willing to risk her father’swrath. Her gamble and determinationpaid dividends. As the first girl in her vil-lage to acquire a postgraduate degree,Susheela is a role model for many othergirls in the community. She doesn’t con-sider marriage the ultimate goal. It is pos-sible to be single and happy, she tells othergirls in the community as women in amatrilineal society have freedom of choicein all matters.
Manjula, Mamta and Susheela arepart of larger groups of women who reg-ularly meet to discuss how to preservetheir culture, traditional practices and wayof life, especially within the matrilineal sys-tem. They strategise ways to return to thepractices which valued girls and whichwere an inherent way of life for them.
They want equal representation ofwomen in the Koraga Federation, thenodal organisation comprising commu-nity members that takes key decisions.They see it as one way to sustain theprogress achieved by their campaign forgender equality.
In fact, when Gowri Kenjur was elect-ed the first president of the KoragaFederation, it provided a big fillip to theirmovement. A vocal campaigner, Kenjurpressed for greater participation of womenfrom the community and encouragedthem to stand up for their rights. She moti-vated self-help groups (SHGs), formedwith the assistance of Samagra GrameenaAshrama, to take control of their resourcesand fight for their rights.
So inspired were the groups that whenlocal Government authorities overlooked
their concerns while formulating plans forlocal development, over 42 women SHGmembers staged a sit-in protest. They saton the dharna until the heads of the localGovernment agreed to develop an actionplan in accordance with the suggestionsgiven by the women regarding educationand drinking water for the children.
The torch for gender equality lit byKenjur was carried forward by SushilaNada who became a household name notjust in Nada, her village in Udupi district,but also in all districts in Karnataka wherethe federation works.
This was not just because she was anarticulate and innovative federation pres-ident but also because Nada used her pow-ers to promote gender equality. Concernedthat the traditional matrilineal values ofthe Koragas were being eroded by patri-archal attitudes, Nada organised rallies onevents like Women’s Day and theInternational Day for the Elimination ofViolence against Women to sensitise thecommunity.
She also represented the communi-ty at national and international fora toshare how gender equality was an integralpart of their matrilineal system. TheKoragas celebrate the birth of a girl childunlike the practice in other parts of India,including the Koragas’ home State ofKarnataka, where girls are usually killedbefore birth because of the preference fora son. In fact, in Karnataka, the sex ratioat birth declined by 108 points between2007-2016 according to the Office of theRegistrar-General of India.
Incidentally, the sex ratio forScheduled Tribes in Karnataka is 990females per 1,000 males, which is higherthan the national average of 964 forScheduled Tribes as well as the State over-all average of 973 girls per 1,000 boys.
Another big difference is that there is
no system of dowry among the Koragas.So no Koraga woman was killed for bring-ing a poor dowry or for the lack of it. Infact, being a matrilineal society, the girldid not leave her natal home to live in hermarital home after marriage. It was herhusband who left his house to live withher. This system gave Koraga women eco-nomic and social empowerment.
However, the Koragas are the mostbackward of all tribal groups in southernIndia. Nada and the federation havefought hard for the restoration of prideamong the community and to end thepractice of anjalu in which Koragas are fedleftovers by upper castes to ward off evilspirits.
Plus, being considered untouchablemeant that Koraga children were deniedadmission to Anganwadis. Awarenesscampaigns by Nada, also an Anganwadiworker, and the federation, facilitated theentry of Koraga children to Anganwadis.Mamta Koraga was among the first tosend her daughter to the Anganwadi inher village. Although her daughter was theonly Koraga child there, she didn’t haveto face any discrimination thanks to theenabling environment created by womenof the community. Even older women whohad dropped out of school because of dis-crimination have been inspired to restarttheir education.
What makes their movement laudableis that even while pushing for genderequality within, the Koraga women havebeen equally vociferous in drawingGovernment attention to the plight of theentire community. They have been at theforefront of the community’s struggles toreclaim their right to traditional land, evencourting arrest by the police. They are thetrue beacons in the fight for gender equal-ity.
Cultural diversity is a fact ofmodern life and it exists nowin practically all countries of
the world. In addition to convention-al elements such as race, religion andlanguage, cultural diversity is accen-tuated by new factors, includingglobalisation, the breakdown of thetraditional moral consensus, theemphasis on individual choiceregarding issues like the place of reli-gion in public life, family discipline,relations between parents and chil-dren and so on.
Yet cultural diversity is at the rootof most conflicts, tension and uncer-tainties in the contemporary world.Some have attributed the present“international insecurity” to theclash of civilisations while others
advocate dialogue of religions andcultures to prevent such conflicts andbitterness. In 2001, the UnitedNations General Assembly (UNGA)adopted the Global Agenda forDialogue among Civilisations and theUnited Nations Educational,Scientific and Cultural Organisation(UNESCO) endorsed theInternational Declaration on CulturalDiversity.
A common assumption inspiresboth covenants. A multi-culturalsociety needs to find ways andmeans to accommodate diversitywithout losing its cohesiveness andunity. Two approaches are rejected.Assimilation which requires minori-ties to abandon their own distinctiveinstitutions, cultures and values tomerge into the prevailing culture isto be avoided.
This way is sociologically unlike-ly to succeed and is morally unten-able in view of people’s deep adher-ence to normative values such as reli-gion. Similarly, unbounded multi-culturalism, which entails giving upthe concept of shared values andidentity in order to privilege ethnicand religious differences, presumingthat a nation can be replaced by a
number of diverse minorities, isunacceptable. Such a course of actionusually results in undemocratic back-lash, support for extremist parties,populist leaders and anti-minoritypolicies. It is morally unjustified asit does not accept the values and insti-tutions upheld by society at large.
Regions that break away fromdemocratic societies hoping toachieve a larger measure of self-gov-ernment are not likely to enhanceself-government and may ratherweaken it.
Cultural pluralism values diver-sity and implements policies of inclu-sion that cater to the requirements ofall groups. The sensitivities of theminorities as well as of the majorityneed attention. Fundamental rightsand fundamental freedoms of all areto be protected. The rights of theweaker sections are particularlyimportant in a society that respectscultural pluralism.
Inter-cultural dialogue is neces-sary both at the national and at theglobal levels so that contentiousissues are resolved amicably. Themore a nation harmonises differencesat home, the greater is its ability tocontribute to dialogue at the interna-
tional level. The stronger the coop-eration and goodwill among nations,the lesser the need to spend hugeresources on arms and militarystrategies.
Education has a crucial role toplay in providing ethical and spiri-tual value systems that facilitateunderstanding of other cultures andcivilisations. The UNESCOConstitution begins with the words,“Since wars begin in the minds ofmen, it is in the minds of men thatthe defences of peace must be con-structed.”
Education ought to promote tol-erance, respect for diversity andfriendship among peoples andnations. Educational institutionsmust be provided with a learningenvironment which contributes totolerance, understanding and respectfor diversity. They should be protect-ed from teachings that promoteextremism, intolerance and violence.
The State of Goa has made sig-nificant progress in the field of edu-cation over the last 50 years. This ismainly due to Government-aidedand private institutions. Governmentschools themselves are in anappalling condition. Attendance at
several Government primary schoolswhich I visited over the last few yearswas almost 100 per cent but in thecircumstances in which most ofthem function, there is not muchlearning to be done.
Four classes are often taughtsimultaneously in one classroomand in some cases, eight classes intwo languages. There are no black-boards or they are not repaired. Ricebags (for the mid-day meal), discard-ed furniture, school record and so onare all bundled together in the sameclassroom along with the children.
The teachers in Governmentschools are as hard-working and thestudents are as bright and intelligentas their counterparts in privateschools. What is lacking is the min-imum infrastructure. As a result allthose who can afford it enrol theirchildren in private schools.
The children in Governmentprimary schools come from thepoorer sections of society and theirparents are usually illiterate. Thesestudents require special attention buton the contrary they get no attentionat all. Government primary schoolshave suffered from what might becalled a “social attention deficit”, a
sheer lack of attention and concernby the community at large, includingpolicymakers at all levels.
India is home to diverse lan-guages, religions, races and lifestyles.It is a vast country where questionsof unity and diversity interplay. Yet,India emerges with an excellentrecord at managing diversity. Thismakes it possible to survive as anation and to move ahead as thelargest democracy in the world.
The Constitution of Indiaensures that all citizens have equalrights and equal opportunities. Inparticular, the principle of secularismenshrined in our Constitution is thebest method to accommodate reli-gious diversity and could be emulat-ed across the globe.
In a multi-cultural society, theState cannot be identified with anyreligious or cultural group and itshould either be neutral or even-handed in its approach to all suchgroups. Unity in diversity is the high-est possible civilisational attainment.It is made possible through respectfor choice in an atmosphere of mutu-al trust.
Beijing: Chinese ForeignMinister Wang Yi, on a rarevisit to Norway, warned Osloagainst granting the NobelPeace Prize to Hong Kongpro-democracy activists muchon the lines of awarding theprize to China’s human rightsactivist Liu Xiaobo and Tibetanspiritual leader the Dalai Lamain the past, causing strains inbilateral ties.
Wang, who is currently ona tour of European Unioncountries to shore-up supportfor China in the face of theincreasing pressure mountedby the US, is the first ChineseForeign Minister to visit Osloin 15 years.
Relations between Chinaand the US are at an all-time lowover the coronavirus pandem-ic and strained trade ties. Thetwo countries also recentlyclosed each other’s consulates inHouston and Chengdu.
Wang’s visit comes in thebackdrop of Norway preparingto take up a rotational seat onthe United Nations SecurityCouncil, of which China is apermanent member.
Wang also held talks withNorwegian Foreign Minister
Ine Eriksen Soreide onThursday.
Later, when asked duringmedia interaction on howChina would react if the Nobelprize would go to Hong Kongprotesters in future, Wang said“I would only say one thing: Inthe past, today, and in future,China will firmly reject anyattempt by anyone to use theNobel Peace Prize to interferein China’s internal affairs”.
“China is rock firm onthis principle. We don’t want tosee anyone politicise the NobelPeace Prize,” the Hong Kong-based South China MorningPost quoted him as saying.
He called on Norway tocherish the current relation-ship, saying “If we can contin-ue to respect each other andtreat each other as equals …
our bilateral relationship cancontinue to develop in a sus-tained and sound manner, andthe political foundation of thebilateral relationship can befurther consolidated.”
Both officials stressed thatthis was the first visit toNorway by a Chinese foreignminister in 15 years – a subtlereference to the previouslyfrozen diplomatic relationshipbetween 2010 and 2016, afterthe Oslo-based Nobel PeacePrize committee awarded theprize to Chinese dissident Liu,the Post report said.
China was also cut up withthe Nobel Peace Prize to theDalai Lama in 1989.
Till 2012, the Nobel Prizewas viewed with contempt byChina and its official media asit was awarded to the DalaiLama for his peaceful strugglefor the betterment of Tibetansand to Liu.
However, Beijing wel-comed the Nobel Prize for lit-erature to Chinese writer MoYan in 2012, saying that Mo’s“victory reflects the prosperi-ty and progress of Chinese lit-erature, as well as the increas-ing influence of China”. PTI
Minneapolis: After a Blackman fatally shot himself on apedestrian plaza in downtownMinneapolis, rumours ofanother police shooting in thecity still reeling from the deathof George Floyd began spread-ing quickly on social media,sending concerned residentsand activists to the area —many of them anxious andsome of them misinformed.
Tensions and anger havebeen running high inMinneapolis since Floyd’s May25 death, and some activists saycommunity members aremobilizing more quickly asincidents occur — refusing towait for explanations from acity police department theydon’t trust.
But others say the unrestthat unfolded Wednesday —
which damaged multiple busi-ness and resulted in more than130 arrests — had nothing todo with anger, but was due toopportunists intent on com-mitting crimes.
“I just think that thingshave reached a boiling pointand people are fed up,” saidcommunity activist NekimaLevy Armstrong. “Now we’re ata breaking point where there isno tolerance for even a hint ofpolice abuse or police murder.”
Emotions have remainedraw over the death of Floyd, ahandcuffed Black man whodied after a white Minneapolispolice officer pressed his kneeagainst Floyd’s neck for nearlyeight minutes. Floyd’s deathsparked protests worldwide,including several nights of vio-lence in Minneapolis. AP
Islamabad: Pakistan PrimeMinister Imran Khan has saidthat allowing former premierNawaz Sharif to leave thecountry for medical treatmentin the UK was a “mistake” andhis government “regretted”the decision.
Sharif, 70, was allowed toleave for London in Novemberlast year after the Lahore HighCourt granted him a four-week permission to go abroadfor treatment.
The three-time premierhad submitted an undertakingto the court to return toPakistan, citing his record offacing the law and justice,
within four weeks or as soonas he is declared healthy andfit to travel by the doctors.
In an interview with ARYNews on Thursday, Khan saidit was a “mistake” on his partto al low Sharif to leavePakistan. He said his govern-ment “regretted” the decisionto lift a ban on Sharif.
“Now we feel embarrassed.Now he (Nawaz) has starteddoing politics [from] there aswell and, when you see him, itseems like there is nothing(wrong) with him,” Khan said.
In May, a fresh picture ofSharif having tea at a Londoncafe along with his family
went viral on social media,sparking a debate on his healthwith the ruling PakistanTehreek-i-Insaf membersdemanding his return to facecorruption cases.
In the picture, he was seensitting at a roadside cafe withhis granddaughters. He sport-ed a blue shalwar kameez anda cap and apparently looked inbetter health.
The government cameunder criticism when last weekSharif ’s photos surfaced,showing him strolling in astreet, prompting calls fromwithin the ruling party tobring him back. PTI
������!�������!����2�����$�� ��$��(�����9'�� ������� Washington: Seeking another
four years in the White House,US President Donald Trumphas slammed Democratic rivalJoe Biden’s record as a “shame-ful roll call of the most cata-strophic betrayals” and said hisvictory will endanger thenation and destroy theAmerican greatness.
Speaking from the SouthLawn of the White House,Trump, 74, said that no one willbe safe under a Biden admin-istration.
Launching a blisteringattack on his November chal-lenger, Trump said: “Joe Bidenis not the saviour of America’ssoul.” “He is the destroyer ofAmerica’s jobs, and if given thechance, he will be the destroy-er of American greatness.”
“Biden’s record is a shame-ful roll call of the most cata-strophic betrayals and blundersin our lifetime. He has spent hisentire career on the wrong sideof history,” Trump said in hisacceptance speech after theRepublican Party re-nominatedhim as its presidential candidate.
Trump and Vice PresidentMike Pence are being chal-lenged by Biden and hisIndian-origin running mateSenator Kamala Harris in theNovember 3 election.
“Biden voted for the
NAFTA disaster, the singleworst trade deal ever enacted; hesupported China’s entry into theWorld Trade Organisation, oneof the greatest economic disas-ters of all time. After thoseBiden calamities, the UnitedStates lost 1 in 4 manufacturingjobs,” Trump alleged.
During the 2016 campaign,Trump had pledged to replacethe North American Free TradeAgreement (NAFTA). Trumplater replaced it with the UnitedS t a t e s - M e x i c o - C a n a d aAgreement (USMCA).
Trump said that despite allof the American greatness as anation, everything that the UShas achieved is now endangered.
“This is the most impor-tant election in the history ofour country. At no time beforehave voters faced a clearerchoice between two parties,two visions, two philosophies,or two agendas,” he said. PTI
Washington: Indian-originSenator Kamala Harris, theDemocratic Party’s vice-presi-dential candidate, has blastedPresident Donald Trump forfailing to protect the Americanpeople from the deadly coron-avirus pandemic by being “fix-ated on the stock market” andcaving in to China.
In a blistering speech hoursbefore Trump delivered hisacceptance speech to theRepublican NationalConvention from the SouthLawn at the White House,Harris alleged that the presi-dent’s policies have been “areckless disregard” for the dan-ger a pandemic would pose toAmerican lives.
“Donald Trump has failedat the most basic and importantjob of a President of the UnitedStates. He failed to protect theAmerican people. Plain andsimple. Trump showed whatwe, in the legal profession,would call a reckless disregardfor the well-being of theAmerican people,” Harris said.
With the Republican lead-ers attending the four-day con-vention largely downplayingthe impact of the COVID-19pandemic, which has killedover 180,000 people and infect-ed over five million others inthe US, Harris pointed out thatTrump’s failure to address thehealth emergency more aggres-sively is emblematic of a tweet-driven presidency.
“Here’s what you have tounderstand about the nature ofa pandemic: It’s relentless. Youcan’t stop it with the tweet,” the55-year-old Senator fromCalifornia told Trump.
Instead of rising to meet themost difficult moment of hispresidency, Trump froze andwas scared. And he was pettyand vindictive, she said.
She said Trump “doesn’tunderstand the presidency” andbelieves it is “all about him.”
The Republican conven-tion is designed for one pur-pose: To soothe the president’sTrump’s ego, to make him feelgood, Harris said. PTI
Donald Trump as the “people’spresident” and listing out hisadministration’s “people-friendly” policies during hisfirst term, his daughter IvankaTrump delivered a fiery speechin support of her father’s re-election bid.
“America doesn’t needanother empty vessel who willdo whatever the media and thefringe of his party demands.Now more than ever, Americaneeds four more years of awarrior in the White House,”38-year-old Ivanka said in heraddress to the RepublicanNational Convention onThursday from the SouthLawn of the White House.
“Tonight, I stand beforeyou as the proud daughter ofthe people’s president. He’s ourcommander-in-chief, cham-pion of the American workers,defender of common senseand our voice for the forgottenmen and women of this coun-try. He is our president, and myfather, Donald J Trump,” shesaid amidst loud cheer fromthe Republican Party support-ers. PTI
Beirut: The office of Lebanon’spresident said Friday that bind-ing consultations with mem-bers of Parliament to designatea new prime minister willbegin early next week.
Monday’s consultationswill coincide with a visit byFrench President EmmanuelMacron to Lebanon, a formerFrench protectorate. He willoffer French support after the
devastating Aug 4 port explo-sion but also ensure that mil-lions in international aid go tothose who need it.
Prime Minister HassanDiab’s government resigned onAug. 10, six days after nearly3,000 tons of ammoniumnitrate exploded at Beirut’s portwhere they had been stored forsix years. The blast, the mostdestructive single incident in
Lebanon’s history, killed morethan 180 people and left near-ly 300,000 people homeless.
Lebanon is also mired in itsworst economic and financialcrisis in decades and Westernnations have said they will nothelp the tiny country beforeserious reforms are carried outbecause corruption and mis-management are widespread.
AP
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Torrential rains and flashfloods have claimed 39
lives in several areas ofPakistan with its financial hubKarachi pounded by heavyshowers that submerged roadsand underpasses, paralysedbusiness activities and broughtnormal life to a complete halt.
At least 16 people, includ-ing a woman and two children,were killed and eight othersinjured due to flash floodscaused by torrential rains innorthwest Pakistan’s KhyberPakhtunkhwa (KPK) district, a
disaster management officialsaid on Friday.
Eight people died in UpperKohistan district, six in Swatand two in Shangla district ofthe province due to the floodson Thursday night, an officialof the Provincial DisasterManagement Authority(PDMA) said, adding that 40houses were damaged in theseareas.
The flood water inundat-ed houses in Shahgram andTeerat area of Swat districtfrom where six deaths andinjuries to eight people werereported.
Cairo: Egyptian police arrest-ed a high-level leader in the out-lawed Muslim Brotherhood athis hiding place in Cairo, anInterior Ministry statementsaid Friday.
Investigators recentlylearned that Mahmoud Ezzat,the acting Supreme Guide ofthe country’s oldest Islamistorganisation, was hiding in anapartment on the outskirts ofCairo, the statement said.
After searching the apart-ment, the police found com-puters and mobile phones withencrypted software that allowedthe 76-year-old Ezzat to com-municate with group mem-
bers in Egypt and abroad, thestatement said.
Documents bearing thegroup’s “destructive plans” werealso found, according to police.The statement did not say whenthe raid took place.
It wasn’t immediately clearif Ezzat had an attorney.
Ezzat had been at largesince the summer of 2013, afterthe military removed Egypt’sfirst democratically electedpresident, Mohamed Morsi,who hailed from the ranks ofthe Muslim Brotherhood.Morsi’s short-lived rule proveddivisive and provoked massprotests nationwide. AP
Port Louis:At least 40d o l p h i n shave myste-riously diedin an area of Mauritius affect-ed by an oil spill from aJapanese boat, officials andwitnesses said on Friday, as awitness described the momentone mother dolphin died infront of him.
Residents who had ven-tured out in a boat alertedReuben Pillay to a mother dol-phin swimming around herdying baby. He sped off to tryto find them; the baby had diedby the time he arrived, he said,but the mother initially lookednormal.
“But in a few minutes shewent on her side, one fin in thewater, and one out of the waterand then she started flappingher tail really really rapidly,”said Pillay, a professional droneoperator and environmentalistwho is providing video toReuters. AGENCY
India has been ranked a lowly72nd among 106 countries in
terms of the average wage permonth, while Switzerlandtopped the chart, according toa global ranking of averagewages prepared by Picodi.Com.
With an average monthlywage of �32,800 (USD 437),India has been ranked a lowly72nd among 106 countriessurveyed by Picodi.Com, aninternational e-commerce plat-form which provides discountcoupons.
Switzerland, where theaverage wage converted intorupees amounts to �4,49,000(USD 5,989), topped the rank-ing, while in Cuba the average
wage is the lowest at �2,700(USD 36), it said.
Switzerland was followedby Luxembourg and the UnitedStates, whose citizens on anaverage earn �3,00,900 (USD4,014) and �2,64,900 (USD3,534), respectively.
Others in the top ten listinclude Denmark (USD 3,515),Singapore (USD 3,414),Australia (USD 3,333), Qatar(USD 3,232), Norway (USD3,174), Hong Kong (USD3,024) and Iceland (USD2,844).
India, with the averagewage of �2,800, outrankedcountries such as Kazakhstan(�32,700), Brazil (� 26,000), orEgypt (�16,400), the reportsaid.
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The income tax departmentwill soon start sending out
intimation to assessees under-going scrutiny that such caseswould now be handled underfaceless assessment, a tax offi-cial said on Friday.
CBDT AdditionalCommissioner Jaishree Sharmaalso said that domestic trans-fer pricing cases too will becovered under the facelessassessment mechanism.
Asked whether the previ-ous notices still stand valid,Sharma said, “Previous noticeswill not become redundant.First, an intimation would besent out that your case wouldnow be assessed under facelessassessment scheme and if theAssessing Officer of theAssessment Unit feels that heneeds some more informa-tion, he will send fresh (notice)under 142(1).” A Section142(1) notice is sent to anassessee to inquire about detailsand documents before makingassessment under the IncomeTax Act. Speaking at a webinarorganised by industry body
PHDCCI, Sharma saidreassessment cases would alsobe part of the faceless scheme.
“So all the 148 cases thatwere going on, they have beentransferred to the facelessassessment scheme and NeACwill be sending out intimationin all such cases which wouldnow be assessed under thefaceless assessment scheme. Soby September 15 or before that,you can expect an intimationfrom NeAC,” Sharma said.
The Central Board ofDirect Taxes (CBDT) had ear-lier this month notified theNational e-Assessment Centre(NeAC) at Delhi for all com-munication with taxpayersunder the faceless assessmentscheme. Since August 13, allincome tax returns picked upfor scrutiny, except those relat-ing to search and seizure andinternational tax, are beingassessed under faceless assess-ment. Under faceless scrutinyassessment, a central comput-er picks up tax returns forscrutiny based on risk para-meters and mismatch and thenallots them randomly to a teamof officers.
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The rupee on Friday surgedby 43 paise to close at
73.39 to the US dollar, its bestclosing level in nearly sixmonths, buoyed by sustainedforeign fund inflows and weak-er greenback against key rivals.
At the interbank forexmarket, the domestic unitopened on a flat note but soongained strength and finallyended 43 paise higher at 73.39against the American curren-cy - the best closing level sinceMarch 5.
During the day, the localunit touched an intra-day highof 73.29 and a low of 73.87.
Also, this was the thirdconsecutive day of gains for therupee.
During which it advancedby 94 paise. On weekly basis,the Indian currency appreciat-ed by 145 paise against the USdollar.
Foreign institutionalinvestors were net buyers in the capital market as they pur-chased shares worth ��1,004.11 crore on Friday,according to exchange data.
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The country’s largest lender StateBank of India (SBI) on Friday
said it has got global recognition forits HR initiative ‘Nayi Disha’ whichover the course of 1.5 years hastouched more than 2.40 lakh employ-ees.The bank has won three BrandonHall Excellence Awards, also knownas the Academy Awards of Learning& Development, SBI claimed in astatement. It recognizes the bestorganizations that have successfullydeployed programs, strategies,modalities, processes, systems, andtools to achieve measurable results,it said. Through Nayi Disha, SBIappreciated the workforce for itscommitment towards customer ser-vice excellence while serving with thesame rigour in even the remotest cor-ners of the country, SBI ChairmanRajnish Kumar said.
“Our belief that Nayi Disha willinfuse a fresh sense of optimismamongst our valuable employees,has been proven right, and we willendeavour to engage our human cap-ital in best possible manner at alltimes,” he said.
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Equity benchmarks defiedgravity for the sixth straight
session on Friday followingsmart gains in bank andfinance stocks, while globalmarkets were mixed despite theUS Fed outlining a moreaccommodative stance.
A sharp jump in the rupeeand unabated foreign fundinflows further bolstered sen-timent, traders said.
After touching an intra-daypeak of 39,579.58, the BSESensex ended 353.84 points or0.90 per cent higher at39,467.31.
The NSE Nifty surged88.35 points or 0.76 per cent toclose at 11,647.60.
During the week, theSensex soared 1,032.59 pointsor 2.68 per cent, while the Niftyadvanced 276 points or 2.42 percent.
IndusInd Bank was thetop gainer in the Sensex packon Friday, spurting 8.43 percent, followed by Axis Bank,ICIC Bank, Sun Pharma, SBIand Kotak Bank.
On the other hand,PowerGrid, Infosys, NTPC,Asian Paints, HUL, M&M and
Tata Steel were among themajor laggards, shedding up to1.24 per cent.
Global equities weremixed after US Federal ReserveChairman Jerome Powell saidthe central bank will remainaccommodative and shift to amore relaxed approach oninflation. However, lack ofspecifics disappointed mar-kets, analysts said.
“Global markets were trad-ing uncertain following theUS Fed Reserve’s policy shift tofocus on economic growth andless on inflation.
However, the indicationthat the US Fed would contin-ue to let interest rates remainlow and expectation of morestimulus to follow, boosted theIndian markets.
“The stimulus and theassociated liquidity are impor-tant to our markets since thathas been one of the drivers forthe current stock market run.As per NSDL, FPI net invest-ments into equity, as a whole,have been around Rs 45,000crore, which makes it one of thebest months for net inflows,”said Vinod Nair, Head ofResearch at Geojit FinancialServices.
BSE bankex, telecom,finance, oil and gas, energy andrealty indices rallied as much as4 per cent, while auto, utilities,IT, FMCG and metal closedlower.
In the broader markets,the BSE mid-cap index rose0.55 per cent, while the small-cap gauge fell 0.23 per cent.
Strong foreign fundinflows, led by high global liq-uidity and decline in US dollar,also fuelled the markets, traderssaid.
The rupee soared 43 paiseto end at 73.39 against the USdollar on Friday.
In rest of Asia, bourses inShanghai, Hong Kong andSeoul ended with gains. Japan’sNikkei tumbled after PrimeMinister Shinzo Abe resigneddue to health reasons.
Stock exchanges in Europewere trading on a mixed notein early deals.
Global oil benchmarkBrent crude was trading 0.35per cent lower at USD 45.44 perbarrel.
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Industry body Solar PowerDevelopers Association
(SPDA) on Friday pitched forpostponement of imposition ofbasic customs duty on solarcells and modules.
The body is of the viewthat the imposition of basiccustoms duty (BCD) canseverely slow down the plan ofhaving 100 GW solar energy by2022. In June, Power MinisterR K Singh had indicated aboutimposition of BCD on solarcells, modules and invertorsfrom August to discouragedumping and encourage thedomestic industry.
SPDA, a national associa-tion representing India’supcoming solar power gener-ators and developers, said in astatement that the governmentmust reconsider its decision ofimposing BCD on solar cellsand modules.
The implementation ofsafeguard duty on cells andmodules has been extended bya year recently, hence settingadditional tariff barriers at thisstage is not appropriate as it willdamage the sector’s prospects,
it noted. SPDA recommends that
the imposition of BCD bepostponed by 18 months so
that financial burden on thealready bid out projects ofcapacity around 50 GWs can beavoided, it stated.
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Housing and Urban AffairsSecretary Durga Shanker
Mishra on Friday hailed theMaharashtra government’sdecision to reduce stamp dutyon registration of propertiesand advised other states to dothe same to boost demand inthe real estate sector.
Addressing a webinarorganised by industry bodyPHDCCI, he assured theindustry that the ministrywould examine its variousdemands, including oneregarding need for a change inincome tax law to enablebuilders reduce their sellingprices of apartments.
The secretary said aninvestment of �9,300 crore hasbeen approved from the�25,000-crore stress fund,which was set up to completethe stalled housing projectsacross the country.
On the demand for stampduty reduction to boost slug-gish sales during this COVID-19 pandemic, Mishra said, “Wehad given suggestions to all thestates to reduce it. TheMaharashtra government hasdone it. We will pursue withothers (states). It’s a good stepby the Maharashtra govern-ment. It will have a positiveimpact on cost reduction.”
On Wednesday, theMaharashtra governmentdecided to slash stamp duty onsale deed documents by 3 percent from September 1 toDecember 31, 2020, and by 2per cent from January 1, 2021to March 31, 2021.
Currently, the rate is 5 percent in urban area and 4 percent in rural area.
Stamp duty is the transac-tional tax, collected by thegovernment on property pur-chases. It is one of the majorsources of revenue.
Bhattacharyajoined NTPC
in the year 1984as Ninth Batch ofE n g i n e e r i n gE x e c u t i v eTrainees and wasinitially posted atNTPC Korbawhich was then situated in MadhyaPradesh. He is an Electrical EngineeringGraduate from Jadavpur University,Kolkata. He has also completed his PGDiploma in Management from MDI,Gurgaon.
Bhattacharya started his career inGreen Field Project Construction, fol-lowed by working in the areas of PowerPlant Operation & Maintenance,Renovation & Modernization,Environment Management and TechnicalServices at NTPC Farakka (1600 MW) inWest Bengal. After serving in Farakka invarious departments, he moved to NTPCTalcher Thermal (450 MW) in Odisha, anold and underperforming asset, taken overfrom State Electricity Board.
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Till now you must haveheard about the incidents
of theft of various types of valu-ables, but the GhaziabadMunicipal Corporation is cur-rently in a dilemma about thecase of mobile toilets, 28installed by the MunicipalCorporation at various placesin the city. Six of the mobile toi-lets have disappeared. The costof a mobile toilet is stated to befive lakh rupees Each. Recently,newly appointed MunicipalCommissioner MahendraSingh Tanwar conducted sur-prise inspection, the mattercame to light. The city com-missioner handed over theinvestigation in this regard toAdditional MunicipalCommissioner RN Pandey onThursday and directed to sub-mit the inquiry report withinthree days. The special thing isthat a few months ago underthe Swachh Bharat Mission,these mobile tiles were pur-chased.
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The Banks Board Bureau(BBB) on Friday recom-
mended SBI’s senior-mostmanaging director DineshKumar Khara as the next chair-man of the country’s largestlender.
Khara will replace SBIChairman Rajnish Kumar,whose three-year term comesto an end on October 7.
Members of BBB, the head-hunter for state-owned banksand financial institutions, inter-viewed four managing direc-tors of State Bank of India (SBI)on Friday for the upcomingvacancy.
“Keeping in view their per-formance in the interface andtheir overall experience, theBureau recommends...DineshKumar Khara for the vacancy
of Chairman in State Bank ofIndia (and) Challa SreenivasuluSetty as the candidate on theReserve List for the said vacan-cy,” BBB said in a statement.
As per convention, the SBIchairman is appointed from apool of serving managingdirectors at the bank.
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The issue price for the sixthtranche of the Sovereign
Gold Bond Scheme has beenfixed at �5,117 per gram, theRBI said in a statement onFriday. The Sovereign GoldBond Scheme 2020-21 seriesVI will open for subscriptionon August 31, 2020 and closeon September 4, 2020.The issueprice for the bonds (series V),which were open for subscrip-tion from August 3 to August7, was �5,334 per gram ofgold.“The nominal value ofthe bond based on the simpleaverage closing price for gold of999 purity of the last three busi-ness days of the week preced-ing the subscription period, i.E.August 26 – August 28, 2020,works out to �5,117 per gramof gold,” the Reserve Banksaid.It further said the govern-ment, in consultation with theRBI, has decided to offer a dis-count of �50 per gram less thanthe nominal value to thoseinvestors applying online andthe payment against the appli-cation is made through digitalmode.
On April 4, 1984, the thenPrime Minister IndiraGandhi had asked our first
cosmonaut and Squadron LeaderRakesh Sharma, Upar se Bharatkaisa dikhta hai aapko?” When heanswered, “Main bina kisi jhijhakke keh sakta hoon, Saare Jahan SeAchcha,” our national song hadfound a new meaning. Not just that,India herself had found a new iden-tity. For the first time afterIndependence, while Russia and theUS were competing in the spacerace, our country was achieving itslandmark mission of sending thefirst Indian man to space.
India’s passion to reach the starsis that of grit and glory, and at thecentre of that story lies the inspir-ing tale behind the Indian SpaceResearch Organisation (ISRO),established in 1969. From launch-ing small rockets to heavy-liftlaunchers, from conducting humanspaceflight projects to carryingout communication satellites,ISRO’s journey has stories of greatchallenges but, above all, of evengreater achievements and peoplelike Vikram Sarabhai, HomiBhabha and Aryabhatta.
Documenting the ‘rags-to-Mars’ 60-year-old history andbringing some of these stories tolife, Spotify has launched MissionISRO, a podcast hosted by cricketcommentator Harsha Bhogle.Talking about the iconic conversa-tion between Gandhi and Sharma,he says, “I was 23 when this hap-pened. I had just started out as acommentator at the All India Radioin Hyderabad. Like millions of myfellow Indians at that time, Iremember reading about this con-versation in the newspaper, feelingcompletely exhilarated, even a lit-tle emotional. India’s space aspira-tion had gained its enduring sym-bol. An Indian had finally managedto break free from the glass of gravity.”
Well, as a journalist once said,
“When Harsha Bhogle begins totalk, you cannot but sit and listen!”Excerpts:
�Why do you think talking aboutISRO and India’s space missionsis important?
I think it is very important toknow and celebrate the work ofsome great Indians who achievedoutstanding things with very littleor whatever was available to them.They had this fire of doing good forIndia and putting the country onthe right path. It shows us what ispossible and the benefits havebeen there for everyone to see rightfrom the first site education pro-gramme.
Through this podcast, we havealso tried to bring forward the storyof Vikram Sarabhai, who was unde-terred by the insufficient trainingand basic facilities and a limitedbudget. The team set out to assem-ble and launch their very firstsounding rocket into space!
�Do you think there is also a needto inform the youth about howIndia’s space history has evolvedwith time and what it still lacks?How does the series address this?
Without doubt, yes. It’s impor-tant to make them aware of how lit-tle India had and that what they areenjoying today is a result of the pio-neering work of those who camebefore; to remind them that in theearly years of Independence, Indiahad its priorities right and weshould never forget that. The pod-cast addresses this by celebratingnot just the achievement of thespace programme but the incredi-ble, very romantic stories of someriveting characters like Bhabha,Sarabhai, Satish Dhawan and APJAbdul Kalam, of heartbreakingfailures, and the success of anagency that powered modernIndia’s space fantasy.
�Being a cricket commentator,how did you adapt to narrating
stories of a completely differentsubject — space? Did it come outwith the same level of excitementwhich you have while comment-ing on cricket?
Cricket commentary is one ofthe things I do. I have an enjoyablelife outside it and have alwaysenjoyed the audio format. I washoping someone would ask me totell a story that must stand by itselfwithout the crutch of pictures toembellish it. A good story can besimply told and this is one of those.Yes, it was exciting because it wasbeautifully written and the dramabuilds up. Telling a story is differ-ent from live sport because it buildsup. I hope this works on that front.
�You have recalled a memory inthe podcast that you were 23when you heard about the firstIndian man making it to space...
Yes. I feel it was uplifting to bean Indian because it was still a timeof scarcity and we were still recov-
ering from the plunder of colonial-ism. This news had thrilled me. Itwas wonderful.
�In today’s world of enhancedvisual effects, why do you think apodcast will turn out better forstorytelling?
Well, both have their place.One doesn’t have to be better thanthe other. As long as it tells the storyand takes it to people, it shouldn’tmatter. Also, in many ways, audiois a more intimate narrative. It feelslike you are listening to a friendnarrating a story and that is some-thing that the world of visualeffects cannot do. It does its job dif-ferently but it wows, it doesn’tsoothe as well as a simple voicedoes.
�Why do you think podcasts aredominating the media landscapetoday?
Honestly, I don’t know but theyaren’t easy. The rigour in Mission
ISRO was an eye-opener. I still thinkthese are early days for podcasts inIndia but just remember, our story-telling tradition is quite old.
�What was your research work forthe podcast? How much did youlearn in the process?
To be fair, the research wasdone by the team from all thingssmall. They did a fantastic job andmade it much easier for the narra-tor of the story. In effect, they wrotethe story, and I am telling it.
�Any anecdotes that you’d like toshare.
Just simply that, when I wasgrowing up, scientists were lookedat as heroes and it is good to havereal heroes being talked aboutagain — simple people who didtheir job proudly and put into it allthat they had.
(The first season will have 12episodes, with one episode releasingevery Friday on Spotify.)
�What’s the concept of the show,Funhit Mein Jaari?
It is basically a breather for theviewers. It is going to take the audienceon a two to three-minute-long laugh-ing spree, every weekend. The adbreaks are going to get very interest-ing now as we will bring some funnygags for them, based on a few topicsfrom around the world. It is not a showthat you need to sit and watch for halfan hour altogether. These small gagswill come in between the shows onweekends and will give you the much-needed laughter break. I am sure theviewers are going to enjoy the idea somuch that they will actually findthemselves waiting for ad breaks tocome so that they can enjoy hilariousgags.
�What made you be a part of thisshow?
It is always exciting to be working
with Bharti (Singh). Our camaraderieis on a different level. So, when I wasoffered this show, I was told that I willbe working with Bharti, I didn’t eventhink twice to say yes. The concept ofthe show is very interesting and differ-ent from what I have previously done.It’s basically an attempt to bring hap-
piness in people’s lives during thesechallenging times.
�How does it feel to be a part of theSony SAB family as this is your veryfirst show?
It is a lovely experience workingwith the channel. Since the time I have
started doing television, I have been apart of the Sony family. I have previ-ously performed and hosted the SABke Anokhe ke Awards.
But this is the first time I am doinga show for SAB, it is a very excitingfeeling for me that I cannot express inwords.
�How has the experience been so farworking with the entire cast?
It is really fun shooting for theshow. The entire cast and crew wouldlaugh so much while shooting the gagsthat sometimes our cameras wouldalso shake because of people laughing.Bharti and I enjoyed a lot while play-ing so many different and interestingcharacters for various gags. I hope ourviewers enjoy them too.
�Were you skeptical about shootingin these unprecedented times?
It was very different in the begin-ning and was a little difficult too as wewouldn’t understand who my make-up man or hair dresser is becauseeveryone would be in masks and PPEkits (laughs). However, it wasn’t thatchallenging as we all were more excit-ed to be back shooting after sitting athome for four-five months. Everyonewas very cautious and we all main-tained proper distance and followed allthe safety protocols while shooting.Although it was a bit of a differentexperience, we were more excitedbecause we love doing comedy andentertaining our viewers.
�Any favourite gag that you’d shoot?It’s actually quite difficult to choose
one because all of them are packedwith equal punch and deliver the rightkind of entertainment to the audience.However, for me, my favourite is theBaahubali gag — The Adventures ofRajmata. Its interesting thing is that thelooks have been worked upon so nice-ly and with detail that it actually bringsin the entire vibe of the film.
Actor Ali Fazal has been ona roll lately. After the mas-
sive announcement of Death ofthe Nile last week, the muchawaited Mirzapur’s second sea-son is ready for release. Withthe show’s final edit underway,it’s being said that the show willbe delivered to theplatform by the endof this month. It’sindeed a doublecelebration forthe actor and hisfans. Well, both theprojects arrivetogether onOctober 23.
A l isaid, “Ia mh ap pyt h a tt h eworldw i l lget tos e etheset w ov e r ydiffer-ent cin-e m a t i ce x p e r i -ences ofmine inthe sameyear. Andgiven the fact
that Death on The Nile will beone of the first films to releaseworldwide in theatres, I feel itwill be a fresh change for theaudience across the board. Ifonly there was a panel sittingsomewhere watching my work,they’d see the range I am aim-ing for. Both the releases have
their audiences and certain-ly are two different
ends oft h espec-trum.T h e
oppor-tunities
presentedin front of me
have opened upthis range. And for
an actor, it is nectar.Right now, I am justhoping that Death OnThe Nile gets a the-atr ical release inIndia.”
The first seasonof Amazon PrimeOriginal’s Mirzapurended on acliffhanger and thesecond one promis-es an unseen kindof bhaukaal withAli’s GudduBhaiyya, a centralf igure in thescheme of things.
Once upon a time, ashow like Star Trek —based in the twenty-
third century — was a fascinat-ing thought. Where would weend up, many of us as kidsasked, our imagination run-ning free and wild. There wereonly trees to climb, so we hadplenty of time for dreaming.Now when we hear that theside-tilting selfie is keepingmany a doctor in business, fix-ing endless instances of cricksin the neck, we know we havereached somewhere “whereno man has gone before” — toborrow the phrase from theoriginal series of the 1960s.Now we have kids lookingalmost robotic, online identi-ties merging into one another,days flowing into nights…This is a generation of childrenthat has an entire galaxy offriends and yet, they could nothave been on a lonelier plan-et...”
Journalist and authorJyotsna Mohan Bhargava pensthese lines in the context of thechanging landscape of theworld of teenagers today. Herbook, Stoned, Shamed,Depressed, is a narrative oftoday’s school life in urbanIndia and an insight into thelives of teens. It attempts toinvestigate and chronicle thelives of children as theyembark on a confused journeyto adulthood — a road that isfull of temptations and easyadventure, where the bound-aries get blurred and wherewhat happens today can haverepercussions for years tocome. Excerpts:
�The book subtly looks attopics like the impact of socialmedia, body neutrality, trustissues, anxiety and morewhile talking of journey toadulthood. How did you con-ceptualise it?
I have written articles onsome of these issues for sever-al publications over a period oftime and the deeper I went, themore I realised that I was onlytouching the tip of the iceberg.Controversial incidents likethe Bois Locker Room disap-pear from public memory aftera news cycle. Yet in the back-ground it all continues to playout. A person I have a lot ofrespect for suggested that I col-late all my work into a holisticnarrative and I realised that itwas indeed the best way to geta reality check on issues thatour urban teenagers are con-stantly facing, away from theoccasional limelight.
�What was your first point ofresearch? How long did it taketo complete the book?
I finished writing the bookin a year but my research start-ed almost two years prior to thatwhen I started writing blogs andopinion pieces on bullying,body shaming and the normal-
isation of the word ‘rape’ in theteenage vocabulary. My sourcesand interviews were made eas-ier because it was already a workin progress when I started onthe book.
�When you began yourresearch, the idea revolved
around late teenage. However,it now speaks broadly aboutmiddle school battlegrounds...
Yes, I would say that wasone of the startling revelationsI made as I went along. Ithought I would be tackling theissues of 17 to 18-year-olds,instead social media and its
repercussions seem to be moreprominent in urban India’s mid-dle schools. In fact, a schoolprincipal told me that whileclass XII is out of her hands, sheis putting all her energy into sav-ing students of classes VI to IX,which are now considered theepicentre of social media use.Today, kids, whose ages are noteven in double digits, are behav-ing the way teens did 10 yearsago. Their exposure is differentand so are the expectations.
�As a society, it seems thatanything uncomfortable is toosensitive to debate or question.But if there’s no conversation,there will be no answers. Howdoes the book aim to initiatea conversation around thiswithout being preachy?
This book is a reflection ofwhat is happening in real timewith children we all know orassociate with. It is not limitedto the rich and the elite and isinstead a narrative across townsand cities. I believe it will res-onate among many families forthe pervasive nature of socialmedia and even addiction.Through the stories of childrenin the book, I hope familiesmake informed decisions goingforward because no two fami-lies may have the same issues.They have to ultimately decide
what works for their childrenand themselves.
�What does the title, Stoned,Shamed, Depressed, signify?
The title reflects the rangeof realities of modern day urbanIndian teens and the issuesthey face, which are not alwayssomething we are willing to faceas a society. For instance, whenit comes to mental health andchildren, it is so far down ourradar that we forget accep-tance, we are not even ready toconfront it. Similarly, bodyshaming is also something wedismiss as a phase that schoolchildren may face. But thesedays, because of social mediacompulsions and desperation,even girls’ behaviour towardseach other is an eye opener.
�Why do you call it “secretlives” of urban teens?
A lot of what this book nar-rates is through stories andcase studies of children whichhave been seconded by coun-selors and school authorities.But as we always say, the fami-ly learns about things the last.In some cases, though they doknow what their child is up to,there is denial. This generationis also very good at hidingthings, whether it is the weedthey are smoking, theirInstagram accounts beinghacked or the sexual bullyingepisodes they may have faced.Many parents will tell you thatfor this generation what theirpeers say is sacrosanct. Most ofthe issues that I covered are noteasy to uncover if you aren’tlooking for them or are aware.
�As children learn to navigatethrough the online and theoffline world, the paths lead-ing to adulthood might be tax-ing and confusing. What’syour take on this?
For this generation, thereare too many temptations andmany counselors admit thatwe adults would perhaps not beable to multi-task the way thesechildren do. We are also send-ing them conflicted signals. Onone hand, you give them freeuse of a gadget and on the otherhand, you have left them opento the repercussions withoutmonitoring their use. As fami-lies we need to sit down and
Even though over the years wehave all witnessed our favourite
film stars play some extremelydiverse roles, there are some char-acters which have not really fadedaway in the Hindi cinema. Speakingof which, we have had variousBollywood actors portraying therole of taxi drivers in some cult films.Right from veteran Dev Anand inTaxi Driver to perfectionist AamirKhan in Raja Hindustani, everycharacter has touched cinegoers init’s own special way, which is whythese films continue to remain trulyiconic.
Meanwhile, in today’s modernera, we now have A Suitable Boyactor Ishaan Khatter who’s current-ly gearing up for his next Khaali Peeli
that features him playing the role ofa young taxi driver. As much excit-ed we are to see him, below we listdown Bollywood’s truly unconven-tional on-screen taxi drivers. Take alook..
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One of the most loved films of
Dev Anand is Chetan Anand’s TaxiDriver. Released in 1954, the filmsaw the actor playing the role of arough and tough taxi driver, Mangal,whose rustic side gets charmed byMala (played by Kalpana Karthik) inthe romantic drama. He rescuesMala when two thugs try to molesther. They fall in love with each other,
but Mangal’s affinity towards a clubdancer drives Mala away.
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Directed by Ravi Tandon,Khuddaar comes with an ensemble starcast of Amitabh Bachchan, ParveenBabi, Sanjeev Kumar, Prem Chopra,
Mehmood, Vinod Mehra, Tanuja andBindiya Goswami in the lead. The 1982release starred Big B playing the roleof a taxi driver and marked his last pro-ject with the late actor Sanjeev Kumar.
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This Dharmesh Darshan directo-rial starring Aamir Khan and KarismaKapoor is the story of a super-richheiress falling in love with a lowlyguide and driver. Portraying the roleof a taxi driver, Aamir shared a greatchemistry with Karisma. His perfor-mance in Raja Hindustani is consid-ered to be one of the finest in his morethan two decade long career. PardesiPardesi continues to be one of the mostpopular songs of Hindi cinema tilldate.
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Helmed by Maqbool Khan andproduced by Ali Abbas Zafar, themasala entertainer features Ishaanplaying the role of a taxi driver for thevery first time. Starring oppositeAnanya Panday, Ishaan has alreadybeen making headlines with hisrugged avatar and tapori dialect in thefilm. The teaser of Khaali Peeli hasalready gone viral and we sure can’twait to see him driving his yellow andblack taxi around the city of dreams— Mumbai, and take us on a thrillingroller-coaster ride.
take the time to really talk to ourchild and teach them how tomake their way through theonline maze. A lot of these temp-tations like vaping, gaming, socialmedia are not going anywhere.Many of the online actions are adirect reaction to what happensoffline and we have to normalisetheir existence without normal-ising their use. For that, ourgeneration first needs to confrontthese issues.
�The virtual world is usuallylooked at under a bad light forteenagers. However, you seemedto balance it with the offlineworld and equally emphasisedits merits...
I am not a fan of kids and thevirtual world, but I also know thatit is an integral part for this gen-eration. COVID-19 has exagger-ated that use, whether it is onlinestudying or gaming excessivelywith no outdoor outlet. I feel theonly solution lies in how respon-sibly we harness its use by ourchildren. I see no reason for a six-year old to be gifted an iPad, nordo I understand why an eight-year old has a smartphone. If weare looking to ease our lives, wemay have a lot to answer in time.There is already a lot of angst andaggression amongst some oftoday’s school children and in bet-ter times, I can’t emphasiseenough the importance of a childplaying a sport.
�How do you think school-leveleducation in India can maketeenagers reflect on their choic-es? What does it lack now?
I think schools have to gobeyond traditional teaching andembrace a wider canvas of learn-ing. It can no longer just be aboutwhat is in the books, we have toteach them about issues like con-sent, misogyny, slut shamingamong others. A classroom is nolonger a place where a childcomes, studies by the textbookand goes home. Social media has
ensured that schools are now aplaying field for many otherthings and just like our society,schools too need to accept thatthings are happening. Recently, Iheard about how a girl questionedher school in the Bois LockerRoom and the school tried tohush it down and clamped downon the girl instead. Sex education,counselors on campus — theseare the issues that schools need tostep up on. From what many chil-dren say, it is still at a nascentstage.
�What do you think socialmedia is — a good or a badinfluencer?
It all depends on how you asa family embrace it. A twelve-yearold may be the smartest kid inclass and yet be outplayed by theanonymity of social media. Theage that you use it at, how you useit, the amount of freedom given,all adds up. I see girls as young aseight and nine constantly makingvideos, I wonder why their par-ents allow it? The thrill for thisgeneration to be online is enor-mous. If they have one upload onInstagram, they will stare at thelikes for the next 24 hours. It isextremely unhealthy and I canonly hope that the older the childis, the more equipped s/he is tohandle its pressure. I have spokento many people in their twentieswho are doing brilliant thingsthrough social media.
�Parents constantly face thedilemma of giving in to theirchild’s demands versus what’sright for them. Does the bookaddress parents’ concerns overcertain challenges they facewhile handling teenagers?
It is not a parenting book butone that highlights the lives thaturban Indian teens are currentlyexperiencing. It attempts to por-tray the true story of a section ofa generation and then hope thatparents can make an informedchoice going forward. As they say,knowledge is power. I sadly feelthat with such intense peer andsocial media pressure, the fairytale is over before its time for thisgeneration.
(The book, published byHarperCollins, releases onSeptember 3.)
of the Chennai Super Kingscontingent who have testedpositive for Covid-19, forcingthe IPL franchise to extend itsquarantine period in Dubaiand causing upheaval ahead ofthe event starting September19.
The franchise is yet toissue a formal statement but aleague source told PTI that thenumber of positive cases couldbe between 10 and 12.
“Yes, a right-arm mediumfast bowler, who has recentlyplayed for India in white-ballcricket, along with a few staffmembers have tested positivefor Covid-19. The numbercould be as high as 12,” thesenior IPL source said.
The development hasforced the Mahendra SinghDhoni-led side to extend thequarantine period til lSeptember 1.
While there is panic in theBCCI’s rank and file after thisbut it is understood that for thetime being, there is no immi-nent threat to the league, shift-ed out of India this year due tothe pandemic.
The scheduling conven-tion followed in the IPL is two
finalists of the previous yearplaying the inaugural gamewhich would have beenChennai Super Kings anddefending champions MumbaiIndians this season.
However, it’s still not clearif CSK would be ready for theSeptember 19 league opener.
The source revealed thatall Covid-19 positive resultscame during day 1, 3 and 6 oftesting after the contingent’sarrival in Dubai.
“As far as we know, one ofthe senior-most officials ofthe CSK management, an offi-cial’s wife, and at least twomembers of their social mediateam are also Covid-19 posi-
tive,” he said.According to the BCCI’s
Standard Operating Procedure(SOP), all those who test pos-itive are mandated to gothrough an additional seven-day quarantine.
They can enter the bio-secure bubble only afterreturning negative in tests to beconducted after the extended
isolation.It is understood that all the
members of the jumbo contin-gent, who tested positive, are“largely asymptomatic”.
The biggest challenge willbe tracing those who came incontact with these contingentmembers as it is understoodthat most of them contractedthe virus in Chennai, where theteam had a short trainingcamp before heading to Dubai.
“If you see, they all hadtested negative for Covid dur-ing the two RT-PCR tests con-ducted in Chennai ahead oftheir departure. Had they beenpositive, they wouldn’t havebeen able to board the flight inthe first place,” the leaguesource stated.
It is understood those who
have tested negative will beallowed to enter the bio-bub-ble. However, the IPL sourcebelieves that the likelihood ofthe team’s camp starting onSeptember 1 is slim.
“I don’t think they can startthe camp from September 1. Itwill take at least till September5 before they can even think ofresuming the camp,” he said.
In the BCCI corridors,there was bewilderment overthe team’s decision to have acamp in Chennai beforeboarding the flight to Dubai.Tamil Nadu has recorded morethan 4 lakh cases so far.
“CSK practised three daysin Chennai out of the five days.Was there any tangible gainachieved from that camp?” aBCCI official said.
It remains to be seen whatprotocols will be followed forall those players who will bearriving late after the conclu-sion of the Caribbean PremierLeague and the England vsAustralia limited-over series.
It couldn’t be immediate-ly confirmed whether theBCCI will be coming out withan officialrelease on theissue confirm-ing the nameof the playerand the staffmembers.
2020 US Open title couldinclude a semi-final againstStefanos Tsitsipas orAlexander Zverev under thetournament draw unveiled onThursday.
The 33-year-old Serbianstar, a 17-time Grand Slamwinner who has captured fiveof the past seven men’s singlesSlam crowns, begins his questfor a fourth US Open titleagainst 107th-ranked DamirDzumhur.
Austrian second seedDominic Thiem, who pushedDjokovic to five sets beforefalling in this year’s AustralianOpen final, was placed on theopposite end of the bracket,setting up the possibility of arematch in the championshipmatch on the FlushingMeadows hardcourts.
With fellow Big Threeplayers Rafael Nadal andRoger Federer absent,Djokovic has a prime chanceto close the gap on his recordrivals in a field of 128 that ismissing several standouts.
Swiss legend Federer, whois injured, owns a record 20men’s Grand Slam titles withSpaniard Nadal, the 2019 USOpen winner, next on 19.
The tournament beginson Monday in a spectator-lessquarantine bubble at the USNational Tennis Center inNew York, with Covid-19 test-ing and other measuresdesigned to safeguard playersfrom the deadly virus that
forced Wimbledon to becalled off.
Djokovic would meeteither Britain’s Kyle Edmundor Kazakhstan’s AlexanderBublik in the second roundwith US 16th seed John Isnera potential fourth-round foe.His highest-ranked possiblequarter-final opponent wouldbe Belgian seventh seed DavidGoffin.
The other draw quarter inthe upper half of the men’sbracket has Greek fourth seedTsitsipas and Germany’s fifth-seeded Zverev as possiblequarter-final opponents. Eachyoung star is chasing a firstSlam crown.
Another former US Openwinner, Britain’s Andy Murrayopens against Japan’sYoshihito Nishioka withCanadian 15th seed FelixAuger-Aliassime a possiblesecond-round opponent.
Also on the bottom half ofthe draw, Russian third seedDaniil Medvedev, last year’sUS Open runner-up, opensagainst Argentina’s FedericoDelbonis.
In the women’s section,third seed Serena Williamshas tricky path in search ofrecord 24th Slam.
Serena could see plenty offellow Americans in herrecord quest, includingAustralian Open championSofia Kenin in a semi-finalmatch.
She could meet 2017 USOpen champion SloaneStephens in the third roundand 2017 US Open runner-upand seventh seed MadisonKeys in a quarter-final beforea chance at Kenin in the semisand potentially Czech topseed Karolina Pliskova in thefinal.
And that’s not even count-ing a possible fourth-roundmatchup against Greek 15thseed Maria Sakkari, who oust-ed Williams from this week’sUS Open tuneup event inNew York.
Williams lost in the USOpen and Wimbledon finalseach of the past two years, andwith the England grass eventwiped off the schedule by thepandemic, the US Openmarks a chance to breakthrough and claim a seventhtitle on the same courts whereshe captured her first Slamcrown in 1999.
Top seed Pliskova willopen against Ukraine’sAnhelina Kalinina withFrance’s Caroline Garcia orItaly’s Jasmine Paolini await-ing if she makes the second
round. Croatian eighth seed Petra Martic couldawait in the quarter-finals.
Japanese fourth seed Naomi Osaka, the 2018US Open and 2019 Australian Open champi-on, could face Czech sixth seed Petra Kvitovain the quarter-finals and Pliskova in a semi-final.
Osaka opens against Japan’s Misaki Doi andfaces a potential third-round matchup againstUS teen Coco Gauff.
NAGAL FACES KLAHNIndia’s Sumit Nagal will take on United
States’ Bradley Klahn in the first round of themen’s singles draw at US Open.
Prajnesh Gunneswaran, who was among thealternates and flew to New York, missed themain draw by one spot and will not be part ofthe bio-secure bubble. Due to the new rules, adoubles player will get in the draw now if a sin-gles spot opens up.
Nagal, ranked 122 in the world currently,takes on Klahn (world No 128) and should heovercome his opponent, faces a daunting taskin the second round. Second seed DominicThiem, who takes on world No 104 JaumeMunar from Spain, will face the winner of Nagalversus Klahn in the round of 64.
��������4%������5,��������3���.��/����0,�),�" Jurgen Klopp said onThursday there is “no chance” ofLiverpool signing Lionel Messi,but the German admits theunsettled Barcelona star wouldbe a great addition to thePremier League.
Messi has told Barcelona hewants to leave after growingunhappy with the club’s prob-lems on and off the pitch.
The Argentina forward hasbeen linked with a move toManchester City, where he couldlink up with his former Barcaboss Pep Guardiola.
Paris Saint-Germain, InterMilan and Juventus have alsobeen mooted as potential desti-nations for Messi if he gets hiswish to quit the Camp Nou.
Klopp insisted he wouldlove to have Messi, but made itclear the 33-year-old would notend up at Anfield.
“Interest? Yeah, who does-
n’t want Messi in their team. Thenumbers are absolutely not forus. We don’t even start thinkingabout it. No chance! But... goodplayer,” Klopp told reporters.
Liverpool finished 18 pointsahead of second placed City lastseason as they won the Englishtitle for the first time since1990. And Klopp concededLiverpool’s bid to retain thePremier League crown wouldclearly be under threat if Messijoined City.
But the former BorussiaDortmund boss believes itwould be a significant coup forEnglish football to have one ofthe world’s greatest ever playersin the Premier League.
“It would make it even moredifficult to beat them (City)which was already very difficult,”Klopp told a news conferenceahead of Community Shieldclash. AFP
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