AGENCIES

Bhubaneswar, July 4: Five moreCovid-19 deaths were reported inOdisha taking the death toll to 34in the state, informed the Health de-partment Saturday. The casualtiesreported Saturday— five— was thehighest in a span of 24 hours inthe state. The state also reported 495new corona positive cases in thelast 24 hours.

Three fatalities were reportedin Ganjam district and two inKhurda district.

A 51-year-old male fromBhubaneswar, who was sufferingfrom Pleural Tuberculosis and a64-year-old male from the state cap-ital city suffering from diabetessuccumbed to the virus, informedthe health department.

A 50-year-old male from Ganjam,also suffering from diabetes andhypertension, 27-year-old male and35-year-old male from the Ganjamtoo succumbed to the deadly virus.

Out of 495 fresh positive cases, 355cases have been detected from dif-ferent quarantine centres and 140are local cases. Ganjam registeredthe highest 216 fresh cases. Thetotal positive cases mounted to 8,601in the state. The active cases standat 2,624 and recoveries at 5,934.

2 IAS, 6 OAS officersdeputed to Ganjam

BHUBANESWAR: The Odisha gov-ernment Saturday deputed two IASand six OAS officers to Ganjam dis-trict to manage the situation there.

The General Administration &Public Grievance department videan order issued Saturday appointedParul Patawari, deputy Secretaryin the Works department as spe-

cial ADM, Ganjam in-charge ofChhatrapur subdivision for themanagement of Covid-19.

Similarly, Vishal Singh, PD,DRDA, Puri was appointed as spe-cial ADM, Ganjam in-charge ofBhanjanagar subdivision for themanagement of Covid-19.

“In exercise of the powers con-ferred under Section 20(2) of theCode of Criminal Procedure 1973(Act II of 1974), the State Governmentdoes hereby appoint Shri VishalSingh, IAS as the Additional DistrictMagistrate in the district ofGanjam,” the notification read.

According to the official notifi-cation released by the General

Administration & Public Grievance(GA &PG) department, the six OASofficials deputed to the districtare— Sudhakar Nayak, PadmanavBehera, Lokanath Dalabehera,Shaktikanta Ray, ChittaranjanMohanta and Suvendra Kumar.

The notification said the con-cerned OAS officers will be relievedfrom their offices forthwith to en-able them to report before GanjamCollector with immediate effect.

Ajay Devgn is set to make a film basedon Galwan Valley attack on

Indian soldiers

MOVIE ON MARTYRDOM

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An Indian expat misses a jumbo jet flying 427stranded Indians to Kerala after he fell asleepin Dubai Airport

HE MISSED FLIGHT

INTERNATIONAL | P10

VOLUME 10, ISSUE 94 | www.orissapost.com BHUBANESWAR | SUNDAY, JULY 5 | 2020

LEISURE | P2

Taking a cue from Mizoram, the Nagalandgovt bans the trade and consumptionof dog meat TWO STATES | P7

DOG MEAT BANNED

12 PAGES | `4.00

IRREGULAR by MANJUL

I’m not enjoying my work this time. Life’s already

in a standstill!

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WEATHERBHUB

33.2° 34.5°CTK

25.4°MAX

MINTE

MP

Humidity 90% 97%Rainfall 6.4mm 19mm

Forecast

Generallycloudy sky

27.2°

AGENCIES

Geneva/London, July 4: The WorldHealth Organization has updated itsaccount of the early stages of theCovid-19 crisis to say it was alerted byits own office in China, and not byChina itself, to the first pneumoniacases in Wuhan.

The UN health body has been ac-cused by US President Donald Trumpof failing to provide the informationneeded to stem the pandemic and ofbeing complacent towards Beijing,charges it denies. April 9, WHO pub-lished an initial timeline of its com-munications, partly in response tocriticism of its early response to theoutbreak that has now claimed morethan 5,21,000 lives worldwide.

In that chronology, WHO had saidonly that the Wuhan municipal healthcommission in the province of Hubeihad December 31 reported cases ofpneumonia. The UN health agencydid not, however, specify who had no-tified it.

WHO chief Tedros AdhanomGhebreyesus told a news conferenceApril 20 that the first report had comefrom China, without specifying whetherthe report had been sent by Chineseauthorities or another source. But a newchronology, published this week bythe Geneva-based institution, offers amore detailed version of events.

It indicates that it was the WHO of-fice in China that December 31 notifiedits regional point of contact of a caseof “viral pneumonia” after having

found a declaration for the media ona Wuhan health commission websiteon the issue.

The same day, WHO’s epidemic in-formation service picked up anothernews report transmitted by the in-

ternational epidemiological surveil-lance network ProMed — based in theUnited States — about the same groupof cases of pneumonia from unknowncauses in Wuhan.

After which, WHO asked the Chineseauthorities on two occasions, January1 and January 2, for information aboutthese cases, which they providedJanuary 3.

WHO emergencies director MichaelRyan told a news conference Friday thatcountries have 24-48 hours to officiallyverify an event and provide the agencywith additional information about thenature or cause of an event.

Ryan added that the Chinese au-thorities immediately contacted theWHO as soon as the agency asked toverify the report.

PNN & AGENCIES

New Delhi/ Bhubaneswar,July 4: Petrol and dieselprices remained unchangedfor the fifth straight day,Saturday, as the state-ownedoil companies paused a hikein rates. As the rates re-mained unchanged, dieselcontinued to be pricier thanpetrol in the capital city ofDelhi.

June 7, state-run oil mar-keting companies IndianOil, Hindustan Petroleumand Bharat Petroleum –which account for the ma-jority of petrol and dieseloutlets in the country –restarted the normal sys-tem of daily price reviewsin line with costs followingan 82-day hiatus. Since then,till June 28, prices werehiked for 21 days.

The recent increase inpetroleum and diesel priceshas left denizens aggrieved.Experts say that this fuelhike may pave the way foran altogether change in themode of transport but doubtthat it would be radical.

Ramesh Sahu, a con-struction engineer inBhubaneswar, says, “My jobinvolves travelling places.

My company provides metravelling allowance (TA)but with the pandemic af-fecting my firm’s businessand petrol prices on the rise,my TA remains stagnant.”“I am thinking of replac-ing my diesel car with anelectronic vehicle but thoseare too expensive.” “Youcan’t ride a bicycle inBhubaneswar Heat, canyou,” he asked.

Mohan Dash, a snackstrader, says, “I am a small-time snacks trader and Ikeep a low margin as I justpick up the goods from adealer and sell it to smallshops. You say, how much Ican earn now with this newfuel rates.”

IMRAN KHAN VOWSCOMPLETING CPEC AGENCIES

Islamabad, July 4: Pakistan Prime MinisterImran Khan vowed Friday that his governmentwould complete the ambitious China-PakistanEconomic Corridor (CPEC) at “any cost” as the$60 billion project is a manifestation of the all-weather friendship between the two countries.

Addressing a meeting held here to reviewprogress on the CPEC projects, Khan said it isan excellent project for Pakistan’s socio-eco-nomic development. The “gigantic multi-facetedinitiative would guarantee a bright future for thenation,” the Dawn newspaper reported himquoting. Lauding the performance of the CPECAuthority, he said measures must be taken to im-prove its working as well as capacity.

“The corridor is a manifestation of Pakistan-China friendship and the government will com-plete it at any cost and bring its fruit to everyPakistani,” Khan said.

Khan’s statement came a day after ChineseForeign Minister Wang Yi discussed the CPECprojects with his Pakistani counterpart ShahMahmood Qureshi during a phone conversation.

Wang called for the two countries to speed upthe projects under the CPEC to help Pakistan’seconomic recovery. He also hoped that thePakistani government would provide more pro-tection for Chinese companies and citizensworking in the country.

AGENCIES

Mumbai, July 4: A reportedlycash-strapped Maharashtra gov-ernment has cleared the purchaseof six luxury cars for ministers,deputies and senior officials of thesports and education departmentsat a total cost of `1.37 crore, said areport.

Each car – a Toyota Innova Crysta– costs ̀ 22.8 lakh and the purchasehas been cleared by both the Financedepartment and Chief MinisterUddhav Thackeray.

This comes two days after VijayWadettiwar, a cabinet minister in-charge of relief and rehabilitation,said the state would have to take outa loan to pay the salaries of gov-

ernment employees.“Situation of the state is such

that we will have to take a loan topay salaries of government em-ployees next month. Except forthree-four departments, expenseshave been cut,” he said this week.

Wadettiwar blamed the Centre forthe lack of funds but also said“there is no cash crunch for han-

dling Covid-19 situation in thestate.”

In March, the government saidsenior officials, including minis-ters and other elected representa-tives, would be paid only 40 percent of their monthly salary, withthe rest due over two installments.

The state government’s decisionto spend ̀ 1.37 crore on luxury carsat this sensitive time has been crit-icised by the Opposition BJP.

“This Maharashtra governmenthasn’t supported their people. Theyhaven’t protected the police, who arefrontline warriors and they can’t paythe salaries of their employees.But they have money to buy luxurycars for their ministers,” BJP’sRam Kadam said.

AGENCIES

Mumbai, July 4: While Uber isreportedly shutting down itsMumbai office, Air France is lay-ing off more than 6,000 employeesas part of cost-cutting measuresdue to Covid-induced economiccrisis.

After laying-off almost one-fourth of its staff in India (600employees) in May, ride-hailingfirm Uber has shut down itsMumbai office, said a person awareof the development asking not tobe named. Uber’s Mumbai em-ployees will continue to work fromhome until December, the personsaid. It is not clear if the em-ployees will be moved to anotheroffice in Mumbai next year.

A spokesperson for Uber

declined to comment on the de-velopment but added that it will con-tinue to provide “a high level ofservice to all its riders in Mumbai.”

Uber’s Mumbai office closurecomes almost a month after theride-hailing firm announced aglobal downsizing exercise thataffected around 6,700 employeesworldwide.

Air France-KLM plans to cutmore than 7,500 jobs at its Frencharm as the airline industry reelsfrom the coronavirus crisis.

Europe’s second-biggest airlinewill cut 6,560 staff at Air France,with its regional French carrier,Hop!, losing 1,020 jobs, the companysaid Friday. In a statement, thefirm said: “Recovery looks set tobe very slow” due to uncertaintiesaround Covid-19.

AGENCIES

Chennai, July 4: Media reports havesurfaced which say that the cops whowere involved in custodial killingsof the father-son duo— Jayaraj andBenix— are also linked to anothercase of police brutality in Tuticorin.

A 28-year-old man namedMahendran was forcefully taken

by Sathankulam SI Raghuganeshand his team from the residence ofhis maternal grandmother in thewee hours of May 23.

Guess, what could have been hismistake?

Mahendran’s elder brother Durai,35, was one of the nine suspects ina murder case and was untrace-able. Raghu Ganesh and his teamtook Mahendran into custody toget to Durai.NO WARRANT

Perumal, Mahendran’s mater-nal uncle said, “They had removedthe number plate in the front andback of the car they came in, RaghuGanesh had a gun with him andwas in mufti. They released himonly the following night. WhenMahendran came home he was re-

ally weak and was not able to moveone side was his body.”

Vadivu, Mahendran’s mother, adifferently-abled woman, said, “Hewas not able to move his hand andleg on one side, and I kept asking himwhat happened to him. He kept ask-ing me to keep quiet.”

“I saw that he was very unwell and

not even able to drink water, thenI took him to the hospital inTuticorin and there they scannedhis head and said there were sud-den infractions in the head. I ad-mitted him to the hospital Thursdayand Saturday he died.”BRAIN DAMAGE

Mahendran was a daily wager

and with the pandemic putting themout of work the family was strugglingto make ends meet. After two weeksof suffering at home and three moredays in the hospital, the 28-year-oldman lost the battle. The MRI reportof the youngster showed that hehad suffered acute left MCA terri-tory infract and thrombosis (mean-ing clotting) in the brain.COVID EXCUSE

The family recalls how the hos-pital denied performing a post-mortem on Mahendran’s body. “Wewanted a post-mortem to be done butthey said there are coronaviruscases and asked us to take himaway,” said the family.

June 20, Vadivu accompanied by thesarpanch had approached the TuticorinSP but the SP refused to listen.

Now, WHO says China didn’t alert it about coronaMISINFORMATION OR DISINFORMATION

DECEMBER 31, 2019: WHO office in Chinanotifies its regional office of ‘viral pneumonia’ case after a report on aWuhan health commission website

THE SAME DAY: WHO’s epidemic information serv-ice picks up another report by an internationalepidemiological surveillance network based inthe US — about the same group of cases ofpneumonia from unknown causes in Wuhan

WHO asks Chinese authoritieson two occasions, Jan 1 andJan 2, for information aboutthese cases, which they provided Jan 3

WHO says the Chineseauthorities immediatelycontacted the WHO assoon as the agency askedto verify the report

BUT, APRIL 9: WHO saysWuhan health commissionDec 31 reported pneumoniacases; WHO doesn’t specifywho had notified it

TN CUSTODIAL DEATHS

Weeks ago, the same cops brutalised another manThe victim, a daily wager,

was apprehended by SIRaghuganesh-led team

without a warrant, beatenup till brain damage leading to his death

in two weeks

Jayaraj and Benix

In 24 hrs, state lost5 lives to COVID-19

Bhubaneswar records two deathswith co-morbid conditions

NEW CASES

495(down from 561 Friday)

TOTAL CASES: 8,601ACTIVE CASES: 2,624RECOVERIES: 5,934

DEATHS: 34

Silver Cityshuts down

till July 8CUTTACK: Keeping in mind the surg-ing Covid-19 cases, a complete shut-down has been ordered in Cuttackcity. The shutdown will remain inforce till July 8 midnight as per anotification issued by CuttackMunicipal Corporation (CMC). SeniorCMC Officials informed that all thenon-essential shops will remainclosed and non-essential travel willbe completely prohibited. The orderwill come into force from Saturday.However, all the essential shops likegrocery, vegetable and milk shopswill remain open from 5am till 6pm.The essential shops will have tostrictly adhere to the Covid-19guidelines and follow requisitesocial distancing norms or face theimposition of heavy fines and pun-ishment. MORE P4

Uber’s Mumbai office shut, Air France may lay off 7.5K

Amid COVID, Uddhav does notmind his govt buying ritzy cars

Fuel prices remainunchanged for fifth day in a row

There was a time whenhike in fuel prices made

headlines but as theCentre continued to milk

the common man fordays, a pause in hike is a

news to be celebrated

It will rain catsand dogs fortwo more daysPOST NEWS NETWORK

Bhubaneswar, July 4: The IndiaMetrological Department (IMD)Saturday predicted very heavyrainfall over several parts of thestate over next two days.

Very heavy rainfall is likely tooccur at one or two places in Angul,Dhenkanal, Sambalpur, Deogarh,Keonjhar, Cuttack, Jajpur,Kendrapara, Mayurbhanj, Sonepurand Jagatsinghpur, said IMD in aweather bulletin.

Similarly, heavy rainfall is alsolikely to occur at a few places inMayurbhanj, Keonjhar, Balasore,Sundarg arh, Jharsuguda,Sambalpur and Bargarh, Monday.

In the same time, light to mod-erate rainfall will continue tooccur in many other places, the Metdepartment said. Thunderstormwith lightning is likely to occur atone or two places in north coastalOdisha including in Keonjhar,Mayurbhanj and Khurda.

POST NEWS NETWORK

BHUBANESWAR: A week-long on-line painting exhibition conductedby Eastern Foundation of Art andCulture(EFAC), a Balasore-based or-ganisation thatpromotes andpreserves tra-ditional formsof art and cul-ture, concludedFriday. Theshow was at-tended by asmany as 120artists from var-ious states ofthe country. Theparticipants,during the six-day-long digitalinteractive ses-sions, ex-changed ideasand discussedabout the futureof painting inthe prevailingscenario.

On the firstday, poet andpainter PradoshSwain sharedhis thoughts onmodern paint-ings while Yathee Kasargod, an em-inent painter from Kerala spoke onthe contemporary style of paintingon the second day. Panchanan Samal,

a renowned painter and dean ofDhauli College of Art and Craft fromBhubaneswar discussed about vi-sual art, its aesthetic value and rel-evance on the third day of the we-binar. The painting of Pradipta

Kishore Das, an-other prominentartist from thestate, on humanthinking and it’sreflection on thesociety in variedhues was exhib-ited on the con-cluding day of thedigital seminar.

The art work ofOdia painterNikunja BihariDas garnered ap-preciations frommany nationallevel artists dur-ing the event.

PaintersfromRajasthan,Punjab, WestBengal,Chhattisgarh,New Delhi,Odisha, TamilNadu, Gujarat,Jammu andKashmir and

Kerala participated in the exhibi-tion. EFAC member Keshab Barnotriproposed the vote of thanks on thelast day.

National onlineart exhibitioncomes to an end

Mumbai: Actor-producer Ajay Devgn is all set to an-nounce a film based on the attack on Indian soldiersby Chinese troops in Ladakh’s Galwan Valley.

According to the film’s description, it will narratethe “story of the sacrifice of 20 Indian army men whofought the Chinese army”.

It is not clear if Ajay will star in the film. The castand other crew are under finalisation. The film willbe co-produced by Ajay Devgn Films and Select MediaHoldings LLP.

Twenty Indian soldiers lost their lives in a violentfaceoff in Galwan Valley in eastern Ladakh with theChinese forces June 15. The Galwan clash occurred atthe south bank of the river, which flows in an east-westdirection, before its confluence with Shayok river.

It was the first casu-alties faced by the

Indian Army in aclash with the

ChinesePeople’s

Liberation Armysince 1975, whenan Indian patrol

was ambushed byChinese troops in

ArunachalPradesh.

IANS

Mumbai: Kangana Ranaut’s socialmedia team Saturday accused Taapsee

Pannu of ‘reaping the fruits of’ the former’sstruggles and ‘ganging up on her’.

Team Kangana made the allegation in atweet tagging Taapsee.

“Many chaploos outsiders consistentlytry to derail d movements started by Kangana,dey want to b in moviemafia good books, deygt movies and awardsfr attacking Kanganaand dey take partin open harass-

ment f a woman,shame on u

@taapsee ureap the

fruits fhr

struggles bt gang up on hr,” the tweet said.Taapsee did not directly respond to the

allegations. Rather, she quoted motiva-tional Tony Gaskins to point out that ‘bit-ter people’ always find ‘something nega-tive to say about anything positive’.

“A couple of things have followed in mylife, especially the last few months. Reallyhelped in seeing life in a better light. Brought

me a lot of peace n perspective so shar-ing it,” tweeted the actress.

This is not the first time Taapsee hasfaced heat from Kangana’s team.Earlier, Kangana’s sister RangoliChandel had taken a dig atTaapsee calling the actress a‘sasti copy’ (cheap imita-tion) of Kangana.

IANS

P2 MONAE SLAMS MISOGYNY IN MUSIC INDUSTRY

leisureActress-musician Janelle Monae has calledout the prevalent misogyny in the musicindustry, saying she wants to ‘hear womenrapping’. “The amount of misogyny frommost of men in rap and music is infuriating,”she wrote in her Twitter account.

CLAIRE HOLT OPENS UP ON POSTPARTUM ANXIETYThe Vampire Diaries fame actress ClaireHolt has revealed that she suffered withpostpartum anxiety after the birth of herson James. In an Instagram post, Claireopened up about her battle withpostpartum anxiety, reports dailymail.co.uk

SUNDAY | JULY 5 | 2020 | BHUBANESWAR

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AQUARIUSThere is nothing like hav-ing a good time with yourbrothers and sisters.Generally, you plan outyour routine and activities by yourself,but it is a different day today. Your sib-lings will make plans for you and youwill just go along with the flow, pre-dicts Ganesha.

PISCESYou will have frequentmood swings today butyou will still manage to fixa work related goal. Yourmood will be better if you focus on work.You might feel stressed about some per-sonal matter, but Ganesha says it is nota matter to worry.

SAGITTARIUSThe pressing needs ofyour loved ones call forextra attention today.You may have a few fam-ily friends over for lunch or dinner, andend up chatting a good deal with them.Ganesha says an intimate tête-à-têtewith your better half would fare you well.

LIBRAWedding bells are ring-ing, and you are about toget very lucky! Ganeshaforesees a plethora ofmarriage proposals coming your wayon this day full of special occasions, asyou turn up your charisma and sweepthe enthralled opposite sex off theirfeet with your charm.

SCORPIOYou are in a dilemma andfeel like standing at acrossroads of life. Someimportant decisions of life need timeand that's what you want right now.However, keep personal life and workseparate to avoid confusion and distur-bance. As per Ganesha's advice, it's allright if decision making takes sometime, but avoid taking hasty decisions.

LEOFew and rare are thedays when creativitytakes flight. After all,even Picasso couldn'tmake a masterpiece every day. So makethe most of this auspicious day, urgesGanesha, during which your imaginationpeaks and touches new heights.

VIRGOIt is not the time torest on your past lau-rels, and you will haveto carry on with yourwork unabated. You will have to keepyour focus steady and remain organisedto get the same level of success that youhad in the recent past.

GEMINIToday, you will realisethat close relationshipsneed care and concern togrow, predicts Ganesha. You will have newresponsibilities and achieve huge profits inall your dealings. Pay special attention toyour personal health.

CANCERYou will be quite sharpat work, and equallypenetrating in the mat-ters of the heart.Though, you may temporarily lose focus,your mind will bring you back to the realworld. You will work at a break-neckspeed, only to be able to spend as muchtime as possible with your sweetheart.

ARIESToday, you will turn anattentive ear to yourinner voice. As a result,you will able to execute all your planswith precision. Besides being cheerful,you will even take disappointmentswith a pinch of salt. Why just today,says Ganesha, you can have this rarequality for keeps.

FORTUNE FORECAST

TAURUSThe competitive streak inyou might relent today asyou look for a lifestylethat is more relaxed and laid-back. The ratrace is tiring and you will feel the urge toget away, far from the maddening crowdand the never-ending routine.

CAPRICORNMoney will flow in fromvarious quarters today,but it will also find itsway out of your pockets.Keep a tab on your income and moreon your expenses, says Ganesha.Situation at work may get a little try-ing, but you will overcome all problemsby means of your innate and acquiredskills, and past experience.

BREVITY

CALVIN AND HOBBES

PEANUTSCROSSWORD

SUDOKU

SOLUTIONS

CRO

SSW

ORD

SUD

OKU

CHECK FOR SOLUTIONS OF THE PUZZLES TOMORROW

postTo solve the Sudoku puzzle, each row, column and box must contain the numbers 0 to 9 and the letters A to E.

accused of gangingup on Kangana

Mumbai: After almost amonth of social media detox,actress Jennifer Winget hasmade a comeback onInstagram with a gleamingpicture.

“Coming up for air on pop-ular demand. Not MIA butRIA (Resting In Action)...andlot's of it. A li'l Social mediadetox didn't hurt nobody!No?,” Jennifer wrote onInstagram announcing hercomeback.

She also shared a picturewherein she flashes her smileas she poses for the camera.She kept her tresses open,

and flaunts her glowing skinsans make-up. She is seenwearing a plain blue T-shirt.

Back in May, Jennifer gar-nered nine million followerson Instagram. She has latelyimpressed fans with her per-formance as Maya Mehrotrain Beyhad 2. In fact, her roleof Maya, across two seasonssince 2016, has been a majorreason of her soaring popu-larity.

Her other popular per-formances on the smallscreen are Kumud Desai inSaraswatichandra and ZoyaSiddiqui in Bepannah. IANS

Winget ends hersocial media detox

Mumbai: Actress Flora Saini has unveiled her app.She hopes to connect with fans and ‘get toknow each other well’ through the platform.

“Absolutely delighted to launch my ownapp on app store and play store. Can’t waitto connect with you all and get to know eachother well,” she posted on social media.

There will be unseen photos and videosof her on the app. Fans can get person-alised video messages from her, chatwith her and watch her live ses-sions, too.

Flora has featured in manyTelugu, Kannada, Tamiland Hindi films, but sheis best known for act-ing as the ghost in theHindi film Stree. Shewas recently seen inthe OTT show Aarya.

She has also appearedin the web series GandiBaat. IANS

Flora Saini launches her app

Ajay plans movieon Galwan martyrs

Creation of Sanchita Ganguly

P3 PRECIOUS DROPS

People collect drinkingwater from a tank nearKalpana Square inBhubaneswar,Saturday

RAIN-SOAKED CITY

A crane roams on aroad amid rain inNuagaon area ofBhubaneswar,Saturday downtown

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SUNDAY | JULY 5 | 2020 | BHUBANESWAR

POST NEWS NETWORK

Bhubaneswar, July 4: Making amockery of security arrangementby Commissionerate Police on thefirst day of the weekend shutdownthis month, bike-borne miscreants,Saturday, targeted two commutersincluding a woman government of-ficial in Nayapalli area here.

According to sources, RitaraniPatnaik, an employee of Forest de-partment, was on her way to the of-fice at Sahid Nagar for some ur-gent official work as per theinstructions of the District ForestOfficer (DFO). The miscreants whowere waiting for an opportunityon the flyover followed Patnaikafter she passed by them near

Baramunda bust stand. The miscreants snatched away the

vanity bag of Patnaik after hittingher near Jayadev Vihar Square.However, she managed to keep herbalance on the two-wheeler aftershe was hit by the miscreants.

The bag contained her mobilephone worth over `20,000, `5,000in cash and some important officialdocuments. On being informed,the cops on duty at Jaydev Vihartook a scared Patnaik to Nayapallipolice station where she lodged a

complaint in this regard. In another incident, Nayapalli

police managed to capture two othersnatchers from Salia Sahi underthe police station after a long chase.Sources claimed that some alert lo-cals called the police when two bike-borne miscreants were trying tosnatch the gold chain of a lady nearHotel Mayfair.

Cops from Nayapalli police sta-tion in three PCR vans soon rushedto the spot but they succeeded in giv-ing police a slip. However, the policeofficials arrested the snatchers afterchasing them at Nialchakra Nagarslum in Salia Sahi area. History-sheeters nabbed

On the other hand,Commissionerate Police, Saturday,

arrested three members of a loot-ers’ gang who were involved in sev-eral incidents of snatching andburglary at Mancheswar,Laxmisagar and Badagada area inthe city.

The accused have also confessedto have committed 11 burglariesthat include seven in Mancheswar,two each in Laxmisagar andBadagada areas.

Besides, they were involved inmore than 20 cases earlier.

The cops seized a gold braceletweighing 20.60 gm, six gold chains,2 pairs of gold earrings, three goldrings, two pair of silver anklets,other valuable ornaments usedby Odissi dancers from their pos-session.

Robbers cocka snook at

police in Capital city

THE MISCREANTSSNATCHED AWAY THE

VANITY BAG OF THE LADYAFTER HITTING HER NEARJAYADEV VIHAR SQUARE

THE BAG CONTAINEDHER MOBILE PHONE

WORTH OVER `20,000,`5,000 IN CASH AND SOMEIMPORTANT OFFICIALDOCUMENTS

PNN/AGENCIES

Bhubaneswar, July 4: The stategovernment Saturday decided notto allow ‘Bol Bom’ devotees, alsoknown as ‘Kanwariyas’, to offerprayers at Shiva temples acrossthe state, to contain the spread ofnovel coronavirus.

Special Relief Commissioner(SRC) Pradeep Kumar Jena saidno 'Bol Bom' devotees or‘Kanwariyas’ will be allowed tocongregate, carry water from waterbodies and walk on public roads topour water on Shiva lingas.

In the month of Shravan(July/August), people carry waterfrom rivers, walk barefoot for sev-eral miles and pour the water onShiva lingas at several shrines oneach Monday of the holy month.

The 'Bol Bom' devotees usuallystart their jour ney onSaturday/Sunday/Monday by col-

lecting water from one religiousplace and walk till next Mondaymorning and pour the collectedwater on a Shiva linga, said the SRC.

“We believe that everyone will co-operate with the administrationin this regard,” Jena added.

Similarly, the district adminis-trations are also required to takeconcrete steps to enforce the orderand ensure that no 'Bol Bam yatra'takes place this time, Jena said.

The government's decision toprohibit the yatra comes as thepublic health crisis continues tomount alarmingly not only in thestate but also across the country.

Odisha has so far reported 8,601Covid-19 cases and 34 fatalities. Asmany as 1,536 novel coronaviruscases have been reported in thestate since July 1 alone.

Earlier, the Dhenkanal admin-istration had clamped Section 144at 14 major Shiva temples in the dis-trict to prevent congregation of‘Bol Bom’ devotees on every ShravanMonday in view of COVID-19 pan-demic.

Notably, the state governmenthas ordered that all religious placesor places of worship will continueto remain closed for the public andall social, political and religiousfunctions and congregations areprohibited till July 31.

POST NEWS NETWORK

Cuttack, July 4: His passionfor collecting foreign as wellas Indian currencies has led1 7 - ye a r- o l d D e b a rch a nDibyang here to have an en-viable pool of coins from 160countries and notes from 140countries.

Debarchan belongs toSikharpur area of Silver city.He started his collection in acoin-album that he named as‘My Mini Museum’. He as-pires to collect currencies ofall countries of the world.Along with studies, Debarchan

has created his own identityas a young collector of cur-rencies in the state.

“I started collecting notesand coins at the age of justseven. The desire to collectcoins aroused in me as myfamily members go for outingto foreign countries every year.

My father had once taken usto Nepal and I got some cur-rencies from there. That wasthe beginning of my journey.Later, I added some old coinsof India to my collection whichwere then possessed by mygrandfather”, Debarchan ex-pressed.

“Usually, I ask my friendsand relatives to bring cur-rencies for me, whenever theygo out to foreign countrieson a tour. I also place ordersfor notes and coins throughdifferent websites. As of date,I have managed to collectsome rare currencies be-longing to Mughal era,”Debarchan adds.

Debarchan has been felici-tated by different organisa-tions and at several exhibi-tions for his hobby. He aspiresto be placed in Limca Book ofRecords and Guinness WorldRecords as well, in future.

PANDEMIC BLOW

No Bol Bom instate this year

No 'Bol Bom' devotee will be allowed to congregate, carry waterfrom water bodies andwalk on roads to pourwater on Shiva lingas

File photo of Bol Bom devotees in Odisha

Young numismatist Debarchan aspires to set milestones

Numismatist Debarchan Dibyang

My father had once taken us toNepal and I got some currenciesfrom there. That was the beginningof my journeyDEBARCHAN DIBYANG

POST NEWS NETWORK

Puri, July 4: This year’s Rath Yatracame to an end Saturday with thereinstallation of Lord Jagannath andhis siblings Lord Balabhadra andDevi Subhadra at the sanctum sanc-torum of Srimandir in the HolyCity.

However, the annual mega fes-tival, which was organised with-out the congregation of devotees inthe wake of Covid-19 outbreak, hasadded a new chapter to theSrimandir history, said many re-searchers and locals.

According to researchers, thepresiding deities of Srimandir hadbeen shifted out of the shrine sev-eral times in the past due to fre-quent attack from hostile elements.Consequently, the annual CarFestival of the deities could not beheld for several years.

However, the annual mega eventwas once org anised insideSrimandir secretly in the past. “Forthe first time in the history ofSrimandir, the Rath Yatra, BahudaYatra, Suna Besha and Adharapanarituals were held on the Grand

Road without the congregation ofdevotees. Devotees as well as thepeople of Odisha would rememberthis year’s Rath Yatra forever,” saida researcher.

Srimandir, the abode of LordJagannath, was shut for people to-wards the end of March this year dueto the outbreak of novel coron-avirus. The ‘Rath Anukula’ ritualwas performed on Srimandirprecincts on the occasion of AkshayaTrutiya April 26. However, the char-iot construction work could not becarried out due to the lockdown.

After much hiccups, the chariotconstruction work started May 5, atleast 12 days behind the schedule.The Centre had given conditionalapproval for chariot constructionat Rath Yard. But, it had autho-rised the state government to take

a call on holding the mega festivalby assessing the Covid-19 situation.

The Orissa High Court also putthe ball at the state government’scourt while disposing some peti-tions seeking cancellation of RathYatra.

In the meantime, the ShreeJagannath Temple ManagingCommittee and many servitors’ as-sociations of Srimandir pleadedfor the organisation of Rath Yatrawithout the presence of devotees onthe Grand Road.

However, the Supreme Court or-dered for the cancellation of CarFestival due to Covid-19 while hear-ing a petition June 18. The ApexCourt’s order created a lot of re-sentment among the devotees andSrimandir servitors.

Gajapati king Dibyasingha Deb,

Puri ShankaracharyaNischalananda Saraswati and manySrimandir servitors demanded or-ganisation of Rath Yatra with Covid-19 restrictions. Several petitionswere filed with the Supreme Courtseeking modifications to the ApexCourt’s June 18 order on Rath Yatra.

The state government also filedan affidavit in the SC and supportedRath Yatra with restrictions inplace. Finally, a three member benchof the SC at 4 pm June 22 allowedconduct of Car Festival in Puri.

With just a few hours in handfor the mega festival, the state gov-ernment pulled out all the stops tohold the festival amid the pandemicJune 23. At least three ministers, theChief Secretary and the DirectorGeneral of Police reached the HolyCity to supervise the arrangements.

POST NEWS NETWORK

Bhubaneswar, July 4: TheMedical Council of India (MCI) hasallowed opening of new DM (doc-torate) in pulmonary medicinecourse in SCB Medical Collegeand Hospitals, Cuttack from 2020-21 academic session.

The course will be imparted insuper specialty department of pul-monary medicine in the collegefrom the current session. SCBwould be the first state-run med-ical college in eastern India and10th medical institute in the coun-try to offer the course, Health de-partment sources said here,Saturday.

DM Pulmonary Medicine is thecourse of topmost level in the fieldof respiratory medicine. Two seatsin the course will be managed bythe Centre of Excellence, SCB.This will cater to state-of-the-arthealthcare and quality research inthe field of respiratory medicinefor the people of eastern India,the source said.

High-end sophisticated instru-ments for diagnosis and treatmentof respiratory disease will be avail-able for this course as per the MCIguidelines. In future, paramed-ical course will also be startedunder the Centre of Excellence,they stated.

POST NEWS NETWORK

Bhubaneswar, July 4: The stategovernment has appointed retiredIAS officer Pradipta KumarMohapatra as officer onspecial duty (OSD) to ChiefMinister Naveen Patnaikfor a period of one year.

“In pursuance of theprovision contained inPara-4 of the GeneralAdministration departmentResolution No.23750/Gen dated27.8.2014, Pradipta Kumar

Mohapatra, IAS (Retd), ex-addi-tional secretary to the Chief Ministeris re-engaged as officer on specialduty in the rank of special secretary

in the residence office ofChief Minister for a pe-riod of one year with im-mediate effect,” read anorder issued by the GA de-partment.

According to sources,Mohapatra has retired

from the services June 30 this yearand was re-engaged by govern-ment from July 1.

Pradipta Mohapatraposted as OSD to CM

Senior IPS officer duped of `2.10LPOST NEWS NETWORK

Bhubaneswar, July 4: A senior IPSofficer on state government’s dutyin New Delhi has fallen prey to thefraudsters.

A case has been lodged atChandrasekharpur police stationon the basis of a complaint filed bythe victim, Ravi Kant.

According to sources, Delhi-basedRajesh Ambwani, the fraudster,came in contact with Kant, who iscurrently deployed as the residentcommissioner at the Chief ResidentCommissioner’s (CRC) office inNew Delhi. Ambwani along with hisaides has allegedly duped Kant of

`2,10,000 on the pretext of provid-ing a flat/plot in Bhubaneswar.

Ambwani, who identified himselfas a real estate developer, had toldKant that his firm was undertak-ing several real estate projects inBhubaneswar and that many suchprojects were completed.

Kant had given Ambwani twocheques of `1, 18,900 and `91,000October 25, 2017.

The fraudsters withdrew the amount from a New Delhibranch of a nationalised bankFebruary 1 and March 8, 2018 re-spectively.

However, Ambwani and aidesstarted avoiding Kant after re-

ceiving the amount. They neitheravailed the flat or land nor re-sponded to Kant’s phone calls. Theyeven reportedly threatened Kantof dire consequences if he asks forthe refund of the amount.

Kant lodged a complaint withthe Chandaraskeharpur police June2, 2020.

When contacted, Kant refusedto comment on the issue.

The IIC of Chandrasekharpurpolice station, Biswaranjan Nayaksaid, “We have registered a caseon the basis of the complaint filedby Ravi Kant. However, both theparties are trying to settle the issueamicably.” A servitor carries a pot of syropy rasagollas to the deities ahead of the Niladribije ritual in Puri, Saturday OP PHOTOS

Lord Balabhadra, Devi Subhadra and Lord Jagannath being taken to the sanctum sanctorum of Srimandir from their respective chariots through Goti Pahandi on the occasion of Niladribije, Saturday

Now, doctoratein pulmonary medicine at SCB

SCB would be the firstgovt-run medical college in eastern Indiaand 10th in the countryto offer this course

The presiding deities ofSrimandir had been shifted

out of the shrine several times inthe past due to frequent attackfrom hostile elements

Consequently, the annual CarFestival of the deities could

not be held for several years

For the first time, Rath Yatra,Bahuda Yatra, Suna Besha

and Adharapana rituals wereheld without the congregation ofdevotees

FEST SANS DEVOTEES

2020 adds a new chapter in temple history

downtownSUNDAY | JULY 5 | 2020 | BHUBANESWARP4

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POST NEWS NETWORK

Cuttack, July 4: Amid rising coronaviruscases in Cuttack Municipal Corporation(CMC) area here, the civic body Saturday de-clared shutdown in its jurisdiction till July8 midnight as it would help curb the spreadof COVID-19.

According to the civic body, all non-es-sential shops will remain closed and non-es-sential travel is strictly prohibited in its ju-risdiction.

“However, all essential shops like those ofgrocery, vegetable and milk will remainopen from 5 am to 6 pm. Medicine shopsare allowed to open at regular hours. Thisapart, online delivery of essential items isalso allowed during the shutdown,” an orderfrom the civic body said, adding that emer-gency services like electricity and watersupply will function as usual.

Meanwhile, the Cuttack deputy com-missioner of police (DCP) took to the Twitterto call for cooperation from the people.

“We urge our citizens to please cooper-ate & support our stand in these difficulttimes. Let’s come together to fight & breakthe chain of #COVID19. Violation to this willinvite stringent lawful action (sic),” theDCP twitted.

MALISAHI DECLARED CONTAINMENT ZONEA few hours after detection of multiple

COVID-19 cases at Malisahi in Ranihat area(Ward no. 31) in the Silver City here, theCMC Saturday declared the locality as con-tainment zone.

“Some COVID-19 cases were detected at

Malisahi in Ranihat (Ward-31) which is adensely populated area. Hence, the localityrequires detailed measures for active con-tact tracing. To facilitate this, it is necessaryto declare the area as containment zone and

restrict the movement of people in and outof the zone,” read a notification from theCMC. Dedicated officials have been en-trusted with the task of ensuring avail-ability of essentials in the containment

zone, said the civic body.The civic body, meanwhile, carried out sani-

tisation activities at several market placesincluding Chhatra Bazar and Malgodown area.

CMC CLAMPS SHUTDOWN TILL JULY 8

(Clockwise from left) Sanitisation work under way at CDA Sector-6 in Cuttack, Saturday; police checking vehicles at Badambadi Square; shopsremain closed at Malgodown while Ranihaat Malisahi area has been declared as a containment zone OP PHOTOS

POST NEWS NETWORK

Bhubaneswar, July 4:With COVID-19 situation deteriorating in Ganjamdistrict with each passing day, thestate government Saturday deputedtwo IAS and six OAS officers tothe district to manage the situa-tion there.

The General Administration &Public Grievance Department videits order issued Saturday appointedParul Patawari, deputy secretaryin the works department as spe-cial ADM, Ganjam in-charge ofChatrapur subdivision for the man-agement of COVID-19.

Similarly, Vishal Singh, PD,DRDA, Puri was appointed as spe-cial ADM, Ganjam in charge ofBhanjanagar subdivision for themanagement of COVID-19. “In ex-ercise of the powers conferredunder section 20(2) of the Code ofCriminal Procedure 1973 (Act II of1974), the state government dohereby appoint Vishal Singh, IASas the Additional District Magistratein the district of Ganjam,” the no-tification read.

According to the official noti-

fication released by the GeneralAdministration & Public Grievance(GA &PG) department, the sixOAS officials deputed to the districtare Sudhakar Nayak, PadmanavBehera, Lokanath Dalabehera,Shaktikanta Ray, ChittaranjanMohanta and Suvendra Kumar.

The notification said the con-cerned OAS officers will be re-lieved from their offices forthwithto enable them to report beforeGanjam Col lector with immediate effect.

8 babus deputed toGanjam for nCoV

TIGHT MONITORING

SHUTDOWN IN MANY FRAMES

A man plucks blackberries duringthe shutdown inKharavel Nagararea of the Capital city

A man pulls acycle-load of firewood home inDhauli area ofBhubaneswar,Saturday OP PHOTOS

1

2

3

Two more IAS and six OASofficers will manage the

deteriorating situation in thedistrict, worst hit by COVID-19

The OAS officials are SudhakarNayak, Padmanav Behera,

Lokanath Dalabehera,Shaktikanta Ray, ChittaranjanMohanta and Suvendra Kumar

MANISH KUMAR, OP

Bhubaneswar, July 4: With theemergence of COVID 19 outbreak,several companies are now allow-ing their employees to work fromhome for hassle free workflow andreduce the chances of infection.

Health professionals claim thatin the light of more people workingfrom home than normal, they needto take special care to thwart chancesof impact on their overall bonehealth. Orthopedic doctors claimthat long hours of sitting in un-suitable furniture and bad posturescan scale up orthopedic patients

among the employees working from home.

“Many people, while workingfrom home, sometimes sit in a po-sition which compels them to bendtheir neck to see their computerscreen due to either small chair ormore than longer chain. This putsextra pressure on the neck and canspike neck and back pain,” saidDr Satya Ranjan Patra, an ortho-pedic surgeon from the city.

He said the height of chair andtable should be such that the screenshould be in front of the face. He alsoadvised people not to use recyclingchair when working for long on

computer. “While working fromhome, many people tend to use re-cycling chair for work. The bestidea is to use straight chairs so

that the posture of the person re-mains straight to avoid strain ontheir backbone. Moreover, chairswith hand rest are preferred for

long hours of work otherwise thehand and shoulder will feel thestrain,” he added.

Other doctors also advised peo-ple to take a break between theirmoves to relax their body. “Longersittings at chair for work can addstrain to your body and eyes. Oneshould often try to take a breakevery 1-2 hours. One can walk alittle bit and relax themselves andtheir muscles,” said Dr Pooja Sah,another doctor.

Sah also advised people to takemorning sunlight to keep theirbone healthy and avoid chances ofVitamin D deficiency.

Work from home needs special ortho care: ExpertsKEEPING FIT

n Don’t use recycling chair for longworking hours

n Maintain right posture forworking on computers

n Straight chairs with arm rests arebest for computer works

Take breaks in between to avoidstrain on muscles and joints

Take morning sunlight to keepbone health at par

Bulls have a free run at Rajmahal Square in Bhubaneswar during the shutdown over novel coronavirus

POST NEWS NETWORK

Bhubaneswar, July 4: The BJP andthe Congress Saturday criticized thestate government over what theycalled mismanagement of COVID-19 pandemic in the state and raisedquestions on the testing strategy ascases continued to rise in the state.

Speaking to reporters here, stateBJP general secretary PrithvirajHarichandan said, “The ChiefMinister has appealed to people toremain cautious as COVID-19 casesare expected to rise in July. However,it seems that the state governmentis not taking proactive measures tocontain the virus.”

Referring to removal of nine

IAS officers from special duties forCOVID-19, he said, “Though theruling party spokesperson hadclaimed that new officers will beappointed for COVID-19, none hasbeen given charge.” Congress MLASantosh Singh Saluja said the sit-uation in Odisha is getting worse likeMumbai. Raising questions on thetesting strategy of the government,he said the actual COVID-19 countwould be over 1 lakh in the state.

“The government is testing per-sons, who have symptoms and otherhealth complications. The state gov-ernment should immediately rampup COVID-19 testing to include thosein quarantine and temporary med-ical camps,” he demanded.

OPPN RAPS GOVT OVER COVID

POST NEWS NETWORK

Bhubaneswar, July 4: The O&GDepartment of Apollo Hospitalshere has added another feather toits cap by performing a rare gy-naecological surgery and savingthe lives of both mother and thebaby. A healthy baby was deliveredfrom a patient with issues of rareuro genital & congenital abnormalities.

The 30-year old patient came toOPD with continuous vaginal bleed-ing with severe pain abdomen.After all investigations, USG ab-domen and pelvicit was found thatthe young lady is suffering fromOhvira Syndrome. “Since they havealready consulted many surgeonsin Odisha, they asked me for diag-nostic laparoscopic surgery, but Idenied, said Dr Sarojini Joshi, Srconsultant of O&G at ApolloHospitals.

First operation was done inApollo Hospitals by excision of the

vaginal septum and drainage of500 ml of blood with clots. Thenthe vaginoplasty was done by DrLaxmikant Mishra, Sr consultantplastic & reconstructive surgery.The patient was given three monthsof healing period with normal men-struation with close observation.Counselling and ovulation induc-tion was given after which she con-ceived in the first month.

The first USG was normal ateight weeks of gestation. But therewas appearance of a fibroid in the

same gravid uterus which was theadded challenge. Then all the pre-natal assessment was done within20 weeks and a tumour was foundgrowing. Pregnancy was continu-ing with close vigilance. The pa-tient was booked for LSCS on 38+gestations but she was admittedwith labor pain and rupture ofmembrane one day earlier in emer-gency, said Dr Joshi.

After initial measures, LSCS wasdone and a term live male baby wasborn. Myomectomy was not con-sidered in the same sitting, addedDr. Joshi.

It is a rare case where a babywith a big uterine fibroid in HWWS(Herlyn Wer ner WunderlichSyndrome) was delivered withoutany complication to both mother andbaby in spite of so many challenges.Dr Bikash Agarwal, sr radiologist,Dr Sipra Lenka, sr registrar O&Gand Dr Debabrat Dash, sr anaes-thesiologist of Apollo Hospitals as-sisted Dr Joshi in this case.

Rare gynaecological surgery at Apollo Hospitals

UNITED NEWS OF INDIA

Bhubaneswar, July 4: The EastCoast Railway (ECoR) has carried45.80 million tonnes of freight in12,680 trains during the lockdown.The ECoR carried 27.06 milliontonnes of coal in 7,100 trains fromits jurisdiction between March 22and June 30.

Out of this, 16.14 million tonnesof indigenous coal from Talcherarea in 4,157 trains and 10.92 milliontonnes of imported coal from dif-ferent ports under ECoR jurisdic-tion were transported to variouspower houses and industries acrossthe country. During this period,ECoR carried 0.95 million tonnes offood grains, especially rice to differentstates like Tamil Nadu, Karnataka,Andhra Pradesh, Telangana, Biharand Jharkhand in 333 trains.

ECoR handles 45.80 MT of freightduring lockdown

POST NEWS NETWORK

Bhubaneswar, July 4: TheDepartment of Social Security andEmpowerment of Persons withDisabilities (SSEPD), which re-cently made the pension systemonline, is planning to ensure min-imum human involvement duringCOVID 19 threat.

It has asked Collectors to makepeople aware of the facility of on-line services for pension disburse-ment. The department has nowmade its pensions schemes, its ap-plications, tracking and others on-line to reduce paper work and cor-ruption.

This has been planned to avoidunnecessary visits of people fromrural areas to cities. The onlinesystem has gained importance in thelight of the expanding COVID 19threat.

In a communication to Collectors,

the department has asked officialsto disseminate information aboutthe transition to online system tomore people.

“Anyone today can apply for so-cial security pension under theNational Social AssistanceProgramme (NSAP) and MadhuBabu Pension Scheme (MSBY). The

entire process starting from sub-mission of applications by a personto sanction by competent authori-ties has been made online and theapplicant can get updated statusof his/her application,” the de-partment said.

It also added, “This online systemis an essential safety requirement

in view of the current pandemic.Printing of application forms underboth NSAP and MBPY will now beunnecessary.”

In a letter to the Collectors, thedepartment said, “You were there-fore requested to switch to onlinesanction of pension. You are nowrequested to take necessary stepsfor wide publication and aware-ness generation among the bene-ficiaries and also for impartingtraining to officials concerned atall levels.

“Under this system, the appli-cation is faster and the applicant cantrack the development of his pleain real time. Within a month, the fateof the application is decided and up-loading of documents is done. Thenodal officials are bound to passthe applications in the prescribedtimeframe,” a senior official fromthe SSEPD department told thiscorrespondent.

Govt aims to make pension work paperlessCollectors have beenasked to make peopleaware of the facilityof online services for

pensiondisbursement

The SSEPDdepartment has madeits pensions schemes,

its applications,tracking and others

online in order toreduce paperwork

and corruption

stateSUNDAY | JULY 5 | 2020 | BHUBANESWARP5

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POST NEWS NETWORK

Sambalpur, July 4: Even as Covidinfection cases are on the rise inSambalpur, four more staff of VeerSurendra Sai University ofTechnology (VSSUT) in Burla inSambalpur district tested positivefor COVID-19.

Given the situation, section 144has been imposed at three places inBurla town for five days. The districtwas shut down for Sunday. Thiswas informed by Collector SubhamSaxsena Saturday.

The four employees of VSSUT aremale and asymptomatic. All of themhave been shifted to the dedicatedCOVID facility and further contacttracing is underway, said a seniorofficial.

Earlier, a lady lecturer of VSSUThad tested positive for COVID-19. Theconcerned lecturer’s husband, whowas a senior official of NALCO,had died of COVID-19.

The concerned lecturer is now un-dergoing treatment at COVID hos-pital in Cuttack. Following the de-tection of the positive case, a massivecontact tracing was undertakenand the varsity was sanitised.

With detection of four newCOVID-19 cases, VSSUT authori-ties have decided to close the var-

sity till July 11 so as to prevent thespread of the virus.

The VSSUT notification furtherstated that in pursuance to COVID-19 rules, the university will remainclosed till July 11 for evolved COVIDcontamination situation.

“Further, all are instructed toremain in the headquarters, failingwhich disciplinary proceedings asper OCS (CC&A) rules 1962 will beinitiated and penalty will be im-posed,” it added.

The VSSUT employees have beendirected to remain in headquarters. Similarly, the em-ployees, who are currently outsideheadquarters, have been directed toreport to the registrar about theirarrival and stay in self-quarantinefor a period of 14 days, it was statedin the notification.

4 VSSUT staff test Covid +ve, varsity shut till July 11NUAPADA: Nuapada is known formigration of labourers. Owing tothe Covid situation, the district iswitnessing a reverse migration ofworkers from other states sinceUnlock-1 came into force.

Reports said, 65,344 migrantlabourers, who were stranded inother states, have come back to thedistrict till date. The mandatoryquarantine period for 63,988 of themhas ended. They are supposed toremain in home quarantine for aweek, but most of them violate theguideline and are found movingfreely in villages, causing panicamong people when the Covid in-fection cases are increasing in thedistrict. The administration shouldrestrict them from venturing outof their houses, or else others willface the consequences, locals ob-served.

Almost all migrant returneeshave no work at hand to lead theirlives at this crisis time. When askedabout it, some lamented that asthey have nothing to eat and drink,

they feel compelled to venture outwith hopes of getting work andfood.The influx of migrants hasthrown a challenge to the admin-istration when it comes to provid-ing livelihood and income-gener-ation activities to daily wagers andreturnees. The state governmentlaid stress on creating a scope of in-come generation for workers.

Now, officials are not checkingtheir health status of migrants atregular interval, it was alleged.Swab tests of 4043 people were con-ducted while 82 cases come positive.CDMO Kalicharan Behera said thesituation is being monitored.

Returnees trigger panic in Nuapada

BUGUDA: With COVID-19 posi-tive cases recording a steady risein Buguda block of Ganjam dis-trict and the fear of communitytransmission looming large, thedistrict administration has an-nounced an eight-day-long shut-down from Tuesday - July 7.

As of Saturday, there are 24COVID-19 positive cases in theblock including 22 policemen(OSAP) and a couple fromKanasuka village in Gouduiaborada

panchayat. All the patients havebeen shifted to COVID-19 hospi-tals, a district administration official said.

To find a way out to make thefight against the invisible enemymore effective, Buguda block de-velopment officer (BDO) conveneda meeting at Dak Bungalow Friday.Among others, tehsildar, IIC, NACexecutive office, CHC officer, jour-nalists, advocates and members ofmarket associations took part in themeeting. It was decided in the meet-ing that there would be an eight-daylong shutdown starting Tuesdayin the Buguda town.

8-day shutdown in Buguda from July 7 GANJAM: A COVID-19 warriordied in line of duty at Buguda in thisdistrict Saturday. The deceasedhas been identified as an Anganwadiworker, posted at KholakhaliAnganwadi centre and was work-ing at a quarantine centre. She hadbeen suffering from cold and coughfor a week. Yet, she was coming tothe centre and discharging her dutydiligently.

Like any other day, she was work-ing at the quarantine centreSaturday when she suddenly fellill. Other staff at the centre imme-diately rushed her to Buguda gov-ernment hospital. But it was too

late. The doctors there declared herbrought dead.

Alleging that the administrationis not taking steps for the bettermentof COVID-19 warriors as it should,family members and local residentsstaged a road blockade putting thebody on Buguda main road. Theydemanded compensation for thebereaved family. However, they with-drew the blockade after the local ad-ministration interfered.

Notably, Ganjam reported 216new COVID-19 cases and threedeaths Saturday. With this, the tallyand toll in the district has gone upto 2066 and 20 respectively.

COVID WARRIOR DIES IN DUTY IN GANJAM

Local infections onrise in MayurbhanjBARIPADA: As COVID-19infections are on the rise inMayurbhanj, emergence of localcases in some pockets of thedistrict has left people and theadministration worried, a reportsaid. 28 new cases of COVID weredetected in Mayurbhanj Saturday,taking the tally to 253. Of 28 freshcases, two are Covid warriors, 14cases were detected fromquarantine centres while 12 werefound at the local level.Freshcases were reported from areasincluding Badashi, Kaptipada,Gopabandhunagar, Baripada,Shymakhunta, Betanoti, Jashipur,Khunta, Kusuma and Karanjia.

POST NEWS NETWORK

Rayagada, July 4: After the crazefor Dongria shawls, the demandfor Dongria masks has caught upwith people due to its beautiful de-sign patterns and stitching by thewomen of the primitive DongriaKondh community, a report said.

This is an effort to supplementtheir income amid the Covid-19pandemic when people of all sectionsin society have been severely hitby the coronavirus induced lock-down. Many people have lost theirlivelihood and work hard to earn aliving. The primitive Dongrias liv-ing in the Niyamgiri hills are no lessgood as they have been equally hitby the Covid-19 induced lockdown.

However, the Dongrias making themost of their skills and with the sup-port of the state government havebeen able to earn livelihood dur-ing these difficult times. The masks

with traditional Dongria Kondh mo-tifs have the scope to be marketed asstyle statements. Red, yellow, greenand brown threads are used to em-broider the traditional designs.

The Dongria women were sit-ting idle when the Dongria KondhDevelopment Agency (DKDA) cameto their rescue and showed them anew road for survival. The DKDAtaught them to stitch masks withtheir traditional designs as the facewear has become a must for everyperson in view of the rapid spreadof the pandemic.

The Dongria women startedstitching the masks with assistancefrom the state government andwithin a short time their masksbecame a hit. Stitching of masks hashelped them earn a living during thislockdown

Sources said over 40 Dongriawomen of Khambesi, Khajuri, Kurliand Hundijali villages of Kurli pan-

chayat under Bissam Cuttack blockin Rayagada district are engaged inmask stitching and weaving duringthis lockdown from May 21.

The women, all members of theself-help groups, stitch the masks andearn Rs 7 per piece. Later, the womenmake embroideries of traditional

designs for which they are paidRs 50 per mask by the DKDA.The DKDA provides cloth, nee-dles and thread for embroideryworks.

A mask is sold at Rs 100 whilea sum of Rs 95 is spent on raw ma-terials and wages. The women

have stitched over 750 masks whilereceiving fresh orders for sup-ply. The masks are marketed byt h e T r i b a l D eve l o p m e n tCooperative Corporation (TDCC)in Bhubaneswar and have beensold in KISS, Bhubaneswar,Rayagada, Ganjam, Kalahandi

and Bolangir districts. The women of the Dongria com-

munity were known for theirbeautiful artworks and traditionalpattern of designs on clothes.The shawls made by the Dongriawomen have high demand in na-tional and international markets.However, their business has comedown due to the lockdown.

Sukri Kadraka, a Dongriawoman, said stitching of masksand weaving designs on the maskshas helped them manage theirhousehold. This has also madethem feel happy as the maskswoven by them helps in check-ing the spread of the pandemic.

When contacted, SudarshanPadhi, project manager, DKDAsaid they have plans to marketthe masks in the national and in-ternational markets which hasbecome a source of livelihood forthe primitive community.

DONGRIA KONDHS TAKE TO MASK STITCHING FOR A LIVING

AWARENESS DRIVE

Rebels threaten locals topay `10L or leave villagePOST NEWS NETWORK

Baripada, July 4: Raruan policerecovered a Maoist poster fromBaria village under Sukruli blockin Mayurbhanj district Friday af-ternoon. The villagers are in panicas Maoists have demanded Rs 10lakh from them failing which theyhave asked all villagers to vacatetheir houses.

Local police have started inves-tigation to ascertain if the posterwas made by Maoists. The posteris written in red ink on a whitepaper which was affixed on a pri-vate wall here two days ago.

The poster read, “Our targetand our work is our god. We alwaysstick to our words. We have al-ready entered into Baria village.Our condition is that the villagerswould have to either pay us ex-tortion money or vacate their re-spective houses.”

“Moreover, villagers may giveus 100 quintals of rice instead byJuly 2. If they forget to do so, we willcreate havoc in Baria very soon,”

the suspected Maoist poster read. “As two days have already

passed, we apprehend danger atany time. We appeal to Mayurbhanjdistrict administration for im-mediate help as lives and prop-erties of our family members areat stake,” Baria villagers expressedwith tears in their eyes.

Reacting to this, Raruan policestation IIC Dibyakanti Lakra said,“We have already started inves-tigation into this. Presence ofMaoists in Baria village has notyet been ascertained.”

Artists are busy doing a wall painting as part of an awareness campaign on environment protection in Baripada OP PHOTO

POST NEWS NETWORK

Jajpur, July 4: Tension mountedin Kalinganagar area of Jajpurdistrict Friday after local workersstaged a demonstration in front ofJUSCO office, citing delay in pay-ment of arrears and lack of jobs forthe local people.

Jamshedpur Utility and ServicesCompany (JUSCO), a Tata group

company, has its unit atKalinganagar area. Local workersalleged that JUSCO authorities arenot paying monthly salaries andexploiting them. Hundreds of localworkers Friday gathered in front ofthe company gate and demanded im-mediate disbursal of their arrears.

“If the demands of the workersare not met immediately, we wouldtake to the streets. We will also take

the matter to the court," saidSatyabrata Das - a worker in the com-pany. Several other employees in-cluding Hemananda Rout, TrilochanMohapatra and Purna ChandraRout said the company owes themmore than Rs 25 lakh in outstand-ing and that JUSCO authoritieshave been dilly-dallying in mak-ing the payment.

On being contacted, JUSCO proj-ect head Soumitra Sarkar said,“The allegations made by workerswill be investigated. Necessarysteps will be taken in this regardafter discussing with the companyhigher-ups”.

JUSCO has been associated withseveral other industrial ventures ofTata g roup since 2015. ThisJamshedpur-based company waslater renamed as Tata Steel Utilityand Infrastructure Services Limited(TSUIS) in 2019.

Tension mounts as workersprotest in front of JUSCO

Locals staging protests OP PHOTO

POST NEWS NETWORK

Dhenkanal/Champua, July 4:Herds of elephants have been caus-ing havoc in some villages ofDhenkanal and Keonjhar districtsover several days, reports said.

Reports from Dhenkanal said,people in Sadangi range were pan-icked as a herd of elephants hasbeen on a rampage in forested areaslike Rupabalia under Joranda sec-tion for the last five days.

The animals have damaged crops,leaving the farmers worried. Localssaid, in the last five days, elephantshave caused loss to crops and veg-etables at Mahapada.

Vegetables grown on an acre of

land of Himadri Nath were com-pletely damaged. Meanwhile, forestofficials have launched a drive toflush out the animals.

Ranger Goutam Pradhan said ifthe affected farmers come out withcomplaints at the forest divisionoffice, their loss will be compen-

sated on the basis of the assess-ment report by the department of-ficials. Similarly, Telkoi areas inKeonjhar district has been wit-nessing elephant menace over pastfew days. The animals have damagedhouses and destroyed crops.

People in several villages underthis tribal-dominated block havebeen spending sleepless nights aselephants keep frequenting these vil-lages creating a havoc, a local for-est official said.

The jumbos have pulled downtheir mud-made houses and de-stroyed their recently sowed paddycrops, the official said. They de-stroyed acres of vegetables and dam-aged houses in Padanga village.

Jumbos on rampage in Dhenkanal, Keonjhar

POST NEWS NETWORK

Balasore, July 4:Balasore town po-lice station inspector-in-chargeSarojini Nayak has gone mysteri-ously missing since July 1.

Her disappearance has now beena talk of the town here.

The cop was last seen at the po-lice station from 1 pm to 7 pm Friday.She had disappeared after 7 pmand none of the cops or staff knewanything about her whereabouts.Assuming her disappearance asnormal, they did not attach muchimportance to it.

It was at 8 pm when a vigilanceteam reached the police stationsearching for the IIC, the policestation staff grew suspicious.

The Balasore vigilance SP saidthat her mobile phone was switched

off most of the time. At times,though the calls were possible butthere was none from the other endto answer them.

The IIC’s disappearance has nowbeen the fevered gossip across thetown. Notably, vigilance sleuthscaught Balasore town police sta-tion sub inspector Bimal Kar redhanded while accepting Rs 25,000from a middleman to settle a landdispute July 1. Both were arrestedand have been lodged in jail.

A theory is going around thatthe holed up cop may have a role inthe above mentioned case.

Lady IIC of Balasore town PS missing

POST NEWS NETWORK

Kabisuryanagar, July 4: A manhanged himself after he heard thenews of his only son due to coro-navirus Friday evening.

The shocking incident was re-ported from Kabisuryanagar areain Ganjam district, the worst Covid-hit district in Odisha.

The deceased was identified as55-year-old Rajkishore Satpathy.He worked as a tax collector atKabisuryanagar NAC.

According to sources,Seemanchal, 27, was a teacher atSunarijhola Panchayat School.

After complaining of breathingproblems, he was admitted to SUMCOVID-19 hospital in BhubaneswarJuly 1. His swab samples were col-lected before he was tested posi-tive for COVID-19 Thursday. Hepassed away the next day.

Even as the deceased’s friendsand relatives knew about the inci-dent, but they kept it a secret fromRajkishore and his wife. However,he came to know about the incidentFriday afternoon and was deeplyshocked. He quietly went out ofthe house in the evening. Localpeople spotted his body hangingfrom a tree in Sapuabasa jungle.

Man hangs self after son dies of Covid

ULTRAS’ ULTIMATUM

POST NEWS NETWORK

Champua,July 4: In a shock-ing incident, a woman allegedlybludgeoned her husband to deathin a fit of rage during a feud atDhaladihi under Champua policelimits in Keonjhar, Saturday.Champua IIC ManoranjanPradhan said Bishal Munda andhis wife Chand Munda had a tiffFriday night over some familymatter. Bishl went to sleep afterhis dinner.

Since the quarrent broke out,Chand was seethinmg withanger. At dead of night, she at-tacked her husband with a stone.Bishal was grivoudly woundedand died later, the IIC added.Police started an investigationand arrested the accused. Thestone was seized while the bodywas sent for post mortem.

Woman bludgeonshubby to death

NAVIGATING THRU CRISISOver 40 Dongria women of Khambesi, Khajuri,Kurli and Hundijali villages of Kurli panchayatare engaged in mask stitching

A mask is sold at `100 while `95 is spent onraw materials and wages. The women havestitched over 750 masks while receiving freshorders for supply

The masks are marketed by TDCC inBhubaneswar and have been sold in KISS,Bhubaneswar, Rayagada, Ganjam,Kalahandi and Bolangir districts

BATTLE AGAINST PANDEMIC

WORDSWORTH

power post P6

F or writers it has become difficult to pick which disaster to write aboutthis week. There are so many. An embarrassment of riches, or actuallywhatever the opposite of it is.

Let us start with health. On Friday, 22,000 Indians tested Covid positiveand over 440 died of the plague. We are registering 10 per cent of global casesnow and will be third highest in terms of number of cases by Monday. Bythe end of July we will have 50,000 cases a day, the same number as the UnitedStates now does and 1,000 daily deaths. By the end of August, it will be alakh cases a day. At that point, how many doctors and workers will showup for work and how many will be able to issomething to consider.

There is no point in thinking about Septemberand October but consider that the places thatare going through the peaks now are Delhi,Mumbai and Chennai which have the besthealth facilities in India. When the diseasespreads rapidly in places without urban health-care, what will come is not difficult to imagine.

Let us turn to the economy. India has a fewhigh frequency indicators that can tell us thecurrent state of the economy and the change.The best such indicator we have is automobilesales because at the beginning of each monthmanufacturers put out the number of unitsthey have sold to dealers. We can compare thenumber to the same month last year to see howthings are going.

Passenger vehicle sales in January 2020dropped to 2.6 lakh from 2.8 lakh in January 2019.This is before Covid, and two months before thelockdown. Commercial vehicle sales, meaningtruck and other transport and cargo vehicles thatindustry requires, fell from 87,000 units inJanuary 2019 to 75,000 in January this year.

Two wheeler sales fell from 15 lakh to 13lakh. Across the middle class, the lower middleclass and industry there is decline. In February,commercial vehicle sales fell by 32 per cent,passenger vehicle sales by 7 per cent.

After zero sales in April, we should have hada huge bump in May and June but both months are negative in substantialterms. There is something that is hurting the Indian economy and this painbegan before the lockdown. The government has not admitted it, though thedata is clear, and therefore the government is not doing anything to correctit. The pain will continue and our economy will continue to suffer.

As if these two problems were not substantial enough we face the graveststrategic threat of the last two decades. China is bullying us and occupyingparts of Ladakh that we used to patrol till March. We do not know whyChina is doing this and we do not know what it wants. This government hasa former spy as its national security advisor, a position that is usually takenby scholars. We have a chief of defence staff whose focus has been on counterinsurgency in Kashmir and who was confident that the LAC with China wassettled. He was wrong. Now we are moving troops to the area from thePakistan front and rushing to buy new warplanes.

Strategic affairs analyst Pravin Sawhney has reported the reason thetalks with China are taking so long and not progressing. It is that the Chinesewant India to acknowledge the current positions their army is occupying,meaning a shift in the LAC. Of course this cannot be conceded by us, but itcannot even be discussed properly because the prime minister has saidthere is no intrusion while the defence minister and the foreign minister haveconceded that China has violated the LAC and its army is on our side.

Modi’s visit to Ladakh on Friday was to correct that confusion. His war-like speech is to confirm that the threat is real and the Chinese need to goback. He has still refused to name China but perhaps that will come soon asit becomes obvious that we have a long and difficult road ahead to get the Chinese to vacate.

One must say here that we have lost valuable time because of our refusalto accept the reality for whatever reason, whether it is embarrassment or thePM’s image. We could have mobilised support around the world if we hadsaid openly and clearly that China was violating the LAC, but there’s no pointin crying over spilt milk. We still have the opportunity when Modi goes tothe G7 in a few months though it is not clear if China will have cemented itsintrusion by then.

So we have a full blown epidemic, an economic recession with the high-est unemployment in Indian history, and a powerful enemy whose aggres-sive and offensive actions we did not anticipate.

At the beginning of the year I would have said that the biggest problemin our nation was the fact that the ruling party was trying to divide Indians.For long term that remains our primary self-induced worry. But for now wehave to unite to combat the immediate threat to our people and our nation.

COVID-19 has shown how along-recognised but under-appreciated global risk can

suddenly materialise and wreaksocial and economic devastationin a matter of weeks. The impli-cation is clear: While the world isfocused on battling the pandemic,firms and governments must alsorecognise and plan for other risks,particularly climate change, which,like a pandemic, could upend theeconomy if not managed properly.

That is not a conclusion we ar-rive at lightly. At the McKinseyGlobal Institute, we spent a year as-sessing the possible socioeconomicimpacts of climate change overthe coming three decades. Whatwe found is these effects alreadyexist and are increasing, often innon-linear ways.

As part of our analysis, we con-ducted nine case studies acrossregions to gauge potential effects,linking climate models with eco-nomic projections in each case.We estimated inherent physicalrisk, absent climate adaptationand mitigation, to assess the sizeof the challenge and highlight thecase for action.

Climate researchers frequentlyuse Representative ConcentrationPathway (RCP) scenarios, rangingfrom lower (RCP 2.6) to higher (RCP

8.5) atmospheric carbon dioxideconcentrations. We adopted thehigher-emission RCP 8.5 scenarioin order to assess inherent physi-cal risk in absence of further de-carbonisation. Our studies pro-duced several key findings. First,the most at-risk societies and sys-tems are already close to physicaland biological thresholds. Moreover,increasing climate hazards maymake such systems vulnerablewhen they reach such thresholds,often resulting in non-linear in-tensification of effects.

For example, increasing heatand humidity in India mean thatby 2030, and under an RCP 8.5 sce-nario, between 160-200 million peo-ple could live in regions with a 5 percent average annual probabilityof lethal heatwaves. As heat and hu-midity levels rise, outdoor workcould become extremely chal-lenging. We estimate that by 2030,the average number of effectiveworking hours lost in India couldplace 2.5-4.5 per cent of GDP atrisk annually.

Second, economic and financialsystems have been designed and op-timised for a certain level of risk.For example, many global supplychains and food-production sys-tems prioritise efficiency over re-silience, making them vulnerable

to failure if intensifying climate haz-ards affect critical production hubs.

Furthermore, whereas propertyinsurance is generally repriced an-nually, homeowners often havelonger-term time horizons of 30years or more on their real-estate in-vestments. This mismatch exposeshomeowners to the risk of highercosts, including rising premiums orreduced insurance coverage.

Third, financial markets couldpull forward risks in affected re-gions, potentially triggering capi-tal reallocation and asset repricing,as well as changes to cost and avail-ability of insurance. In Florida,for example, estimates based onpast trends suggest increased riskof tidal flooding alone could de-value exposed homes by $30-80 bil-lion, or 15-35 per cent, by 2050, otherthings being equal.

Fourth, while the direct impactof climate change is local, it canhave knock-on effects across re-gions and sectors as a result of in-terconnected socioeconomic andfinancial systems (as is case withCOVID-19). For example, we esti-mate that the direct damage to in-frastructure assets from a 100-yearflood in Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnamcould increase from about $300 mil-lion today to as much as $1 billionby 2050, while knock-on costs to the

economy could rise from $100-400 mil-lion to between $1.5-8.5 billion.

Finally, climate change could af-fect the most vulnerable popula-tions disproportionately, and couldfoster inequality by simultane-ously benefiting some regions whileharming others. Climate eventscould double the likelihood of har-vest failure in agricultural bread-baskets by 2030. This could lead tohigher food prices, hitting the poor-est communities the hardest.

To mitigate the risk that ongoingclimate change will jeopardise morecommunities and economies, busi-nesses and governments must adaptto the inevitable global warming thatwill occur over the next decade asa consequence of past emissions.There is a range of actions to consider.Businesses could weigh climate con-siderations in their capital allocation,product and service development, andsupply-chain management. Citiescould put climate risk at the centerof their urban-planning decisions,while financial institutions coulddo the same when managing investment portfolios.

Hauke Engel is a partner atMcKinsey & Company. MekalaKrishnan is a senior fellow at theMcKinsey Global Institute.

@ PROJECT SYNDICATE

Taking climate risk seriously

FOR CONTROL OF NARRATIVE I

n a very well known socialscience experiment, a sampleof randomly selected people isasked whether they under-

stand how a bicycle worked. Aswould be expected, an over-whelming majority would say theydo! Yet on asking to draw a roughsketch of the bicycle, most wouldget it remarkably wrong! This phe-nomenon seems to apply equallywell to most subjects and mostgroups of people irrespective oftheir background, education, so-cial status, race, gender or na-tionality.

The well-known theory in so-cial psychology known as theDunning-Kruger effect was first in-troduced in 1999. It relates to thephenomenon of the human ten-dency to overestimate our ownknowledge or competence. It isknown as a cognitive bias whichis generally corrected as we learnmore about the subject over a pe-riod of time. This theory was fur-ther generalised into what waslater termed as the Illusion ofExplanatory Depth or IoED bypsychologists Leonid Rozenblitand Frank Keil in 2002. As perthis theory, most people feel theyunderstand the world with fargreater detail, coherence, anddepth than they really do. This tome goes a long way in explainingthe predicament we face with theavalanche of information we en-counter all the time which makesus feel as if we know a lot of thingsin great depth contrary to reality.

Such a cognitive bias leads tomost of the uninformed, fruitless,and rancorous debates online onmost subjects. The sooner more ofus realise the truth about the shal-lowness of our knowledge on mostsubjects, it would help make ushumbler and more open to ideasof others. It would help us betterappreciate the opinion of thoseon subjects they have spent a con-siderable amount of time and ef-fort in mastering.

One of the fastest-growing chal-lenges today is carrying out a civ-ilized discussion on any topic -particularly on social media with-out degenerating into partisan

bickering. The world is more di-vided than ever before with lead-ers like Trump, Bolsonaro, Duterte,Putin, Johnson, Modi, and the likeboth helping to create and alsotaking advantage of those divi-sions for partisan and populistpolitical interests. Such tenden-cies are clearly visible most promi-nently on social media platformslike Twitter and Facebook. Whatmakes it really dangerous is the av-alanche of fake information mostlyin the guise of legitimate news.Such misinformation can rangefrom innocent pranks to deliber-ate campaigns that are politicallymotivated with nefarious endsin mind. The emergence of paidtroll armies has made it easy forpolitical parties and other entitiesto control the narrative howeverincredible i t might be.Unfortunately, the impact of thesetrends is no longer limited to on-line conversations only but fre-quently spills over to real-lifewith deadly consequences.Whether in the case of recentcommunal riots in Delhi or the on-going Covid-19 pandemic, thethreat of fake news and misin-formation campaigns has provento be most lethal. Even nationalelections as important as that forthe President of USA have be-come subject to manipulation by

third party actors with a vestedinterest. Left unchecked this trendwill have catastrophic results formankind.

In this context, the traditionalsources of authentic informationhave come under deadly fire asthey are the biggest threat to thosewho stand to benefit from thespread of fake news. Ironically,powerful persons like DonaldTrump take a lead in destroyingthe reputation of all mainstreammedia that are traditionally re-spected for their long-standingcredibility by labelling them asfake news, particularly as theytry to hold him accountable forhis actions. Such examples canbe also found closer home in Indiawhere intellectuals and media nottowing the official line on anyissue and asking uncomfortablequestions are labelled anti-na-tional. A recent report suggestedthat more than 50 journalists havebeen booked by Indian police onone pretext or the other just in thepast few months since the start ofthe Covid-19 outbreak. PrimeMinister Modi has not helped thecause by denigrating institutionsand intellectuals of proven cal-iber and reputation. Allowing thesystem to prosecute importantvoices that stand up for humanrights, for the environment, for

probity in public life has had achilling effect on civil society.Numerous non-profits have beenharassed to the extent of beingforced to close operations often inthe name of national interest whichoften turns out to be corporate in-terest. The war between truth andfalsehood seems to be razing andthe outcome will have a decisive im-pact on our future as a society.

The cognitive bias in most ofus to have an overestimation ofour ability to understand issues andthereby underestimate voices ofsanity and reason, goaded by pop-ulist leaders is turning out to bea deadly cocktail. Understandingthis conundrum, explaining com-plex ideas in simple terms withoutloss of their essence will be a cru-cial skill in the future in order forthe wise to be heard over the ca-cophony of the ongoing discourse.One of the redeeming features ofa genuine expert or an intellec-tual (as opposed to one who pretendsto be one) with a certain depth ofexpertise in any field is the evi-dent humility. As the Sanskrit say-ing goes - ‘Namranti FalinaVrikhsya’, which means ‘trees fullof fruits tend to bend down’. Suchhumility comes with the knowledgethat ‘the more you know, the moreyou realise how much more thereis to know’! It’s an easy and almostcertain measure of the value of aperson’s opinion especially inhis/her area of expertise.

Long before the ideas ofDunning-Kruger or IoED were in-troduced, the famed philosopherBertrand Russell had capturedthe essence almost perfectly insimple words as follows: “Thewhole problem with the world isthat fools and fanatics are alwaysso certain of themselves, and wiserpeople so full of doubts.”

And there lies the source ofmost of our current troubles!

The author is an academician currently

visiting Hong Kong Universityof Science and Technology asa Research Scholar. He can be

reached by email atdhanadam@gmail.com

LOL

FOCUS

SPECTRUM

Ironically, powerful persons like Donald Trumptake a lead in destroying the reputation of allmainstream media that are traditionallyrespected for their long-standing credibility bylabelling them as fake news, particularly asthey try to hold him accountable for his actions

THREE-PRONGEDTHREAT

FISHING ON THE LAKE

Afamous admiral and an equallyfamous general were fishing

together when a sudden squall cameup. When it died down both eminentwarriors were struggling helplessly inthe water.The admiral floundered his way backto the boat and pulled himselfpainfully in. Then he fished out the

general,using

an oar.Catching his

breath, he puffed:“Please don’t say a word about this toanyone. If the Navy found I can’t swimI’d be disgraced.”“Don't worry,” the general said. “Yoursecret is safe. I’d hate to have my menfind out I can’t walk on water.”

SUNDAY | JULY 5 | 2020 | BHUBANESWAR

Pain is the hammer of the Godsto break a dead resistance inthe mortal’s heart.

SRI AUROBINDO

RESILIENCE MANAGEMENT

THE COGNITIVEBIAS IN MOST OF

US TO HAVE ANOVERESTIMATION

OF OUR ABILITY TOUNDERSTAND

ISSUES ANDTHEREBY

UNDERESTIMATEVOICES OF SANITY

AND REASON,GOADED BY

POPULIST LEADERS, IS

TURNING OUT TO BE A

DEADLY COCKTAIL

Dhanada KMishra

WISDOM CORNERAll the world’s a stage, and all the men and women merely players:they have their exits and their entrances; and one man in his timeplays many parts, his acts being seven ages. WILLIAM SHAKESPEARE

In the long run, we shape our lives, and we shape ourselves. Theprocess never ends until we die. And the choices we make areultimately our own responsibility. ELEANOR ROOSEVELT

We cannot solve our problems with the same thinking we used whenwe created them. ALBERT EINSTEIN

CREDIBILITY

Readers of Orissa POSTare most welcome to contribute letters(200 words), articles andcolumns (between 750-1250words). Contributors arerequested to send theircontact numbers and fullpostal address/email ID. They may alsosend in their valuable comments, opinionand suggestions, preferably by email, to: edit@orissapost.com

B-15, Rasulgarh Industrial Estate,Bhubaneswar-751010

LettersTO THE EDITOR

CLIMATE CHANGECOULD AFFECT

THE MOST VULNERABLE

POPULATIONS DISPROPORTIONATELY,

AND COULD FOSTERINEQUALITY BY

SIMULTANEOUSLY BENEFITING SOME

REGIONS WHILE HARMING OTHERS

Hauke Engel andMekala Krishnan

Masks as medical waste

Sir, it is very disheartening to see used masks being thrown on streetsand footpaths in Bhubaneswar. Generally, people who go for a morningwalk or engage in any physical activity in the morning are consideredto be most disciplined and health conscious but the reckless dumpingof used masks can cause major damage to the health of others. Used facemasks may carry the coronavirus or other viruses, which can survivefor one or two days in these humid conditions. It may also cause poten-tial danger to garbage collectors when they use hands to pick up the masks.Thus, it is important for the government to treat masks as medicalwaste and encourage people to use reusable masks over single use sur-gical masks and also ensure that used masks are safely recycled and dis-posed of. As responsible citizens, it is our duty to ensure that we spraydisinfectant on both sides of our used masks and fold them up before put-ting them into a sealed plastic bag and in the dustbin. For the safety ofothers and ourselves, let’s take care of our used masks. Disinfecting themwill help ensure the used masks do not become a second source of coro-navirus or any other virus. Face masks can save us from this pandemicbut negligent and careless disposal of masks can cause equal trouble.

K. Ravi, BHUBANESWAR

Ayurveda for COVID

Sir, ‘Ayurveda’ is the renowned name of the Indian system of alternativemedicines and notable personalities from our country’s past suchas Sushruta, Charaka and Patanjali have popularised Ayurveda overthe ages. In allopathic medicine all the possible drugs are under trialfor COVID-19 and Hydroxychloroquine (HCQ) is given only to theaffected patients. In Homoeopathy people are familiar with thenames of Arsenic Alb and Bacilinum used as preventive medi-cines for the coronavirus and almost everyone has taken the dosesas these names are widely spread throughout our country andthere is high demand of these homoeopathic medicines. But the AYUSHMinistry, Government of India, is still maintaining silence andnot naming common Ayurvedic medicines which could be used asprevention for coronavirus. The COVID-19 outbreak started in ourcountry in the month of February but the Ministry of AYUSH hasnot yet disclosed the names of preventive Ayurvedic medicines. Thenation is still waiting to know the names of possible preventiveAyurvedic medicines for COVID -19 and expects them to be dis-tributed to the public free of cost or at bare minimum price withoutany further delay. Ramdas Ray, BHUBANESWAR

cmyk

cmyk

Stotting

You’ve probably seen nature films in which antelope or gazelle are suddenlysurprised by a cheetah. Before they run away, and also while they are

running, the animals do a weird pouncing prance, in which they leap into theair, all four legs stiff and back arched. This is stotting.Quite why they do it isn’tunderstood, though it may be a form of alarm signal, or a good way to get abetter view of the ground ahead, or they may have been bribed by theproducer to make the pictures more interesting. The word comes from Scots,where it means to bounce, or to make something bounce against a surface.

Aakar PatelWe have a full

blown epidemic, aneconomic recession

with the highestunemployment in

Indian history, anda powerful enemywhose aggressive

and offensiveactions we did not

anticipate

cmyk

cmyk

KARN

ATAK

A

SUNDAY | JULY 5 | 2020 | BHUBANESWARP7 NO

RTHE

AST

INDO-ASIAN NEWS SERVICE

Bangalore, July 4: A 55-year-oldKarnataka police constable is writ-ing the Secondary School LeavingCertificate (SSLC) board exam atKolar to get promotion before hisretirement in 2025.

“Karnataka State Reserve Police(KSRP) constable KR Manjunath isappearing for the SSLC board examsas an external candidate at theGovernment Girls’ Junior Collegeat Kolar, which is an enrollment cen-tre,” district nodal officer NagendraPrasad told IANS.

Kolar is about 100km east ofBangalore. The SSLC board examsare being held across the state sinceJune 25 as per the lockdown guide-lines, which makes wearing mask,washing hands with sanitiser andmaintaining social distancingmandatory. Manjunath appeared forthe 6th and last exam in third lan-guage Friday after completing pa-pers in five subjects so far.

“Manjunath is attempting topass in all 6 subjects for the secondtime, as he failed in 2 subjects in thefirst attempt 4 years ago. He will getpromotion and become head con-stable if he passes this time,” saidPrasad.

Though Manjunath studied up toClass VII in the town over fourdecades ago, he secured a job inthe state police department in Dgroup and was promoted as a con-stable over a decade ago on service

record.“As Manjunath wants to retire as

head constable, he has to pass theClass-X exam, which is a mini-mum for the promotion. He is con-fident of passing in all subjectsthis time as he claims to have donewell,” said Prasad.

The constable has opted to writethe exam in his home town (Kolar)though he is posted in Bangalore.

“On learning that a senior po-liceman was writing the Class-Xboard exam, state EducationMinister S. Suresh Kumar enquiredabout him during his official visitto Kolar June 29,” Prasad recalled.

Eyeing promotion, 55-yr-oldcop writes Class-X exam

INDO-ASIAN NEWS SERVICE

Guwahati, July 4: Amidst wide-spread protests against a proposedordinance to allow conversion ofland without multiple clearancesfrom authorities for setting upMicro, Small and MediumEnterprises (MSMEs), the Assamgovernment Friday denied allega-tions that it was planning to ‘sell off’the state’s land resources.

Various political parties, tribal andsocial organisations, and students’bodies, including the influentialAll Assam Students Union (AASU),launched agitations after the cabi-net, chaired by Chief MinisterSarbananda Sonowal, June 29 ap-proved the "MSME Ordinance". Theordinance, when promulgated,would allow investors to set upMSMEs without any hurdle andwithout multiple clearances of landfrom different authorities.

Industry and Commerce MinisterChandra Mohan Patowary Fridaysaid that the reactions on the pro-posed ordinance might be becauseno one has seen its proposals, which,he sought to clarify, did not touchtribal blocks and areas, reserveforests and eco-sensitive regions.

“Hazardous units would not beallowed to be set up. The ordinancewas aimed to facilitate generationof jobs to the state's 20 lakh regis-tered unemployed as well as some3.5 lakh people who have been job-less since returning from otherparts of India before and during theCovid-19 lockdown,” he clarified.

Patowary said under the pro-posed MSME Ordinance, maxi-

mum quantum of investment wouldbe `50 crore for medium, `10 crorefor small and `one crore for microindustrial units. He said only fewstates like Gujarat, Rajasthan andKarnataka have brought out suchordinance and acts to facilitate set-ting up of MSMEs. “This Ordinancewill not affect the land rights ofindigenous people of Assam asprotected by the Assam AgriculturalLand (Re gulation ofReclassifications and Transfer forNon-Agricultural Purpose) Act2015,” he said.

Noting that due to the pandemic,the state's economy has been ad-versely affected and business en-vironment depressed, the Ministersaid that in such situations, the or-dinance would create a conduciveenvironment, drive domesticgrowth, attract investment and ac-celerate industrial development inthe state. The opposition Congress,however, said that they were not con-vinced by the government clarifi-cations. State Congress PresidentRipun Bora said the easy transfer

of land for industrial purposeswould effortlessly allow major in-vestors. “The ordinance would goagainst the very interest of the in-digenous people,” he argued.

The All Indian United DemocraticFront President and Lok SabhaMember Maulana Badruddin Ajmalalso criticised the ordinance as aploy to sell off large areas of Assam'sland resources to corporate housesposing as MSME aspirants.

Agitators from the AASUThursday as part of their state-wide agitations burnt copies of theordinance, which await GovernorJagdish Mukhi's assent. The AASUprotestors called the "MSMEOrdinance" as a "betrayal of trust"by the Bharatiya Janata Party-ledstate government that had cometo power in 2016 promising to pro-tect 'jati' (race), 'mati' (land) and 'b-heti' (hearth).

The Delhi-based Rights and RisksAnalysis Group has urged theGovernor not to give his assent tothe "disastrous MSME Ordinance"in the veil of promoting MSMEs.

Amid row over MSME Ordinance, Assam denies selling resources

The Ordinance, when promulgated, would allow investors to set up MSMEs without any hurdle and without the need for multiple

clearances of land from different authorities

INDO-ASIAN NEWS SERVICE

Kohima/Aizawl/Agartala, July4: Taking a cue from Mizoram, theNagaland government has banned thetrade and consumption of dog meat.

State Chief Secretary TemjenToy in a tweet Friday said: “TheState Government has decided to bancommercial import and trading ofdogs and dog markets and also thesale of dog meat, both cooked anduncooked. Appreciate the wise de-cision taken by the State's Cabinet(on Thursday).” The Chief Secretarytagged his tweet with former unionminister and well known animalrights activist Maneka Gandhi,who is currently a BJP MP.

Journalist and former parlia-mentarian Pritish Nandy urginghis followers to join a movement toban the sale and consumption ofdog meat in Nagaland markets,Wednesday said in a tweet: “This isurgent. You can help make historyby sending an email tonight toNagaland Chief Secretary saying

Nagaland must stop dog markets,dog restaurants, and smuggling ofdogs into the state. Eating dog meatis inhuman, not just illegal.”

The Mizoram government had

also recently taken steps to checkthe open slaughtering of dogs in thestate and in March the MizoramAssembly unanimously passed theAnimal Slaughter Bill 2020. Humane

Society Inter national/India(HIS/INDIA) said in a statementthat Mizoram is the first state innortheast India that has taken astep towards ending its dog meat

trade, by amending the law to re-move dogs from the definition of an-imals suitable for slaughter.

The HIS/INDIA statement, is-sued in Aizawl recently, said that theconsumption of dogs is prohibitedunder India’s food safety regula-tions. “However, the regulationsnot enforced properly and thou-sands of dogs each year are cru-elly and illegally captured from thestreets or stolen from their homes,packed into plastic and jute bags withtheir mouth stitched or tied, andtransported over many days toMizoram,” HIS/INDIA said.

According to the Federation ofIndian Animal ProtectionOrganisations, thousands of dogsare smuggled regularly to Nagalandand Mizoram from Assam, WestBengal and other states. A healthybig dog, caught in Assam for `50, issold for `1,000 in Nagaland’s whole-sale market. Dog meat sells for `200per kg in Nagaland, said FIAPO,which works with over 160 organi-sations across 70 cities in India.

After hullabaloo,Nagaland bansdog meat trade,

consumption

Frequent media reports said dogs weretransported from neighbouring

northeastern states and adjoiningcountries including Myanmar andBangladesh and traded in Mizoram,Nagaland and other northeastern states

Nagaland and Mizoram-bound vehiclescarrying dogs tied in gunny bags with

their heads sticking out are frequentlycaught in Assam and Tripura. But a lot ofsuch vehicles slip through the securitybarricades

Animal rights activists said the crueltransport and slaughter of dogs

violates several provisions of thePrevention of Cruelty to Animals Act, 1960,the IPC, and Food Safety and StandardsAuthority of India regulations

ANIMAL RIGHTS

Around 30 million dogs and 10 million cats are killed across Asiafor human consumption annually, with the trade most

widespread in China, South Korea, Indonesia, Cambodia, Laos,Vietnam and several parts of northeast India. However, HongKong, the Philippines, Taiwan, Thailand and Singapore havebanned dog meat trade and consumption

INDO-ASIAN NEWS SERVICE

Bangalore, July 4: KarnatakaHigh Court Justice Krishna Dixitexpunged the controversial remarkshe made against a rape victim in anorder granting anticipatory bail tothe accused, an official said Saturday.

“On an application by the stategovernment, the judge expungedthe controversial remarks madeagainst the rape victim, while grant-ing anticipatory bail on June 22 tothe accused, as they were also ob-jected to by lawyers and civil activistsacross the country,” the state legaldepartment official said here.

In the revised order, the judgesaid he deemed it appropriate toexpunge the last four lines in para

number 3 (c) at page 4 of the June22 judgement, as sought in the stategovernment application.

Granting anticipatory bail to theaccused, an employee in a privatefirm owned by the victim, Justice

Dixit had made the remarks in thejudgement.

“Taking note of the contents ofthe respondent (state's applica-tion)..., and no objection by the pe-titioner-accused, I deem it appro-

priate to expunge the last four linesin the para of the subject judgmentdated 22.06.2020, as sought for by gov-ernment pleader Nageshwarappa,”said the revised order.

The judge clarified that his ob-servations shall not influence theinvestigation in the case and itslikely trial.

Voicing concern over the con-troversial remarks, lawyers andcivic groups, advocate Aparna Bhatlast week wrote to Supreme CourtChief Justice SA Bobde and JusticesR Banumathi, Indu Malhotra andIndira Banerjee of the apex courtto issue an advisory to all courts torefrain from commenting on theconduct of victims of sexual of-fence.

AGENCIES

New Delhi, July4: Union MinisterJitendra SinghSaturday said thewomen in the northeastare taking the lead in thefight against the coronavirus pan-demic and helping the regionemerge as a model for COVID-19management.

Interacting with various self-help groups associated with theNorth Eastern Region CommunityResource and ManagementProgramme (NERCORMP) througha webinar, Singh said the womenpower (‘matrashakti’) of the north-eastern region is also taking the leadin all spheres of economic activityafter a successful management ofthe coronavirus pandemic.

“Women have excelled in the

fight againstthe pandemicand helped the

northeasternregion emerge as

a model ofcoron-

avirus man-agement with very limited numberof cases and just 17 deaths in all theeight states so far,” he said.

Singh, the Union Minister forDevelopment of North EasternRegion (DoNER), said the region hasalso emerged as a model of devel-opment in the last six years underthe Narendra Modi governmentat the Centre.

He said the northeastern regionwill take the lead for India to emergeas an economic power with thesupport of its huge natural andhuman skill resources in the post-COVID-19 era.

INDO-ASIAN NEWS SERVICE

Bangalore, July 4: With the COVID-19 induced lockdown stalling horseraces since March 25, the Karnatakagovernment is in favour of allow-ing punters betting on their favouritestallions online, a top official saidSaturday.

“The state government has pos-itively responded to our request toallow betting online, as puntersand fans are banned from attendinghorse races if resumed as per thelockdown guidelines in the racecourse grounds in the city centre,”Bangalore Turf Club (BTC)Chairman D Vinod Shivappa toldIANS here.

Admitting that suspension ofhorse racing over the last threemonths had badly disrupted thepeak turf season for stallions andstakeholders, Shivappa said thestate government had agreed inprinciple to permit racing withoutthe presence of punters and spec-tators in the stands to prevent thevirus spread.

“As we have already lost one rac-ing season during the summer va-cation and in the process of losingrace events in the monsoon period,with no let-up in the virus spread,legalising online betting will en-able us to resume races sans pun-ters and spectators,” assertedShivappa.

“We will soon submit a proposalto the state government on how

betting can be legally conductedas in other countries so that wecan soon resume horse racing, withpunters and fans participating on-line to revive the exciting sport andmake up for losing crores in ru-pees due to the ban,” said Shivappa.

"With the state government ap-proval, we will develop a smart-phone application (app) for down-loading it by our members, punters

and spectators to bet their moneyon a winning horse and yet watchthe show live or later," said Shivappa.

PRESS TRUST OF INDIA

Imphal, July 4: On returning fromDelhi where he met Union HomeMinister Amit Shah and BJP pres-ident J P Nadda, Manipur ChiefMinister N Biren Singh has said thepolitical crisis which recently en-gulfed the state will settle down soon.

This was Biren's first visit to thenational capital after braving res-ignations by four ministers from allyNational People's Party (NPP) andtheir subsequent return to the NDAfold following intervention of Shahand Nadda. On arrival from DelhiFriday evening, the chief minis-ter underwent a coronavirus test atImphal airport itself and left forhome only after the sample testednegative for the virus.

"Delhi visit was quite well andcentral leaders were very happyabout the crucial victory in theRajya Sabha election in Manipur,"he told reporters at the airport.

In the June 19 election for thelone Rajya Sabha seat from Manipurthat took place in the backgroundof the political crisis triggered byresignations of nine ruling coali-tion members, BJP's candidateLeishemba Sanajaoba had defeatedthe Congress rival.

Besides the four NPP ministers,three BJP rebels, the lone All IndiaTrinamool Congress legislator andan Independent MLA had quit theBJP-led coalition in Manipur on

June 17. After deft handling of thesituation by BJP's key leader inthe Northeast Himanta BiswaSarma and Meghalaya ChiefMinister and NPP national presi-dent Conrad Sangma in close co-operation with the central leader-

ship, the four NPP legislators latersubmitted letter of support in favourof Biren Singh to Governor NajmaHeptullah. Responding to queriesabout the portfolios which are yetto be announced for NPP minis-ters, Biren said, “Central leader-ship doesn’t interfere much. Oursis a national party. It is my duty toseek the advice and suggestions ofthe national leaders.”

Distribution of portfolios in thecabinet was one of the important rea-sons cited by the NPP ministerswhile walking out of the govern-ment. “I think, at the earliest, therewill be a solution for everything withthe blessings of the central leadersfor the convenience of all,” he said.On being allotted Z security cover, hesaid he had no knowledge and cameto know about it after meeting theUnion Home Minister July 1.

“I myself did not have any knowl-edge of it and I was surprised,” hesaid, adding that it must be based onthe inputs of intelligence agencies.

Days after overcoming the po-litical crisis, Biren Singh had goneto Delhi Tuesday to meet NDA'scentral leadership to discuss allo-cation of portfolios to his ministers.

After end of the political trouble,Biren Singh is facing another chal-lenge in meeting ministerial aspi-rations of his own party MLAs andalso allies for which he is likely toseek guidance from the centralleaders.

Constable KR Manjunath

Political problem in Manipur will settle down soon: CM

‘Women leading fightagainst COVID in NE’

NUMBER GAME

While the four NPP legislators areall set to regain their position in

the cabinet, the chief minister has todeal with the heightened aspirationsof some BJP legislators to becomeministers, besides those of the for-mer Congress legislators who haddefected to the saffron party shortlyafter the last state election in 2017

Out of the seven defectingCongress MLAs whose cases

under the anti-defection law wereheard by the Manipur High Court andthe Speaker's Tribunal, the member-ship of four has been restored andthey even voted in the Rajya Sabhaelection for the lone Manipur seat

Womenhave excelled in

the fight against thepandemic and helped the

northeastern region emergeas a model of coronavirus

management with verylimited number of cases and

just 17 deaths in all theeight states so far

JITENDRA SINGH I UNIONMINISTER

HC judge expunges remarks on rape victim

Karna mulls online betting for horse racing

Aban on all sport activities, including horse racing has

disrupted normal life and livelihoodof all stakeholders since the lockdown was suddenly enforced andextended, with restrictions on manyoutdoor sports

The 150-year-old Bangalore TurfClub has about 350 members and

hundreds of affiliated members fromother turf clubs across the country,participating in various racesthroughout the year, with homegrown studs riding in Mysuru andOoty races during their seasons

The online betting on a seamlessplatform will also ensure

transparency, removing bookmakersand illegal betting that thrive offline otherwise

RACING IN COVID TIMES

Mizoram had also recently taken steps to checkopen slaughtering of dogs and in March its

Assembly unanimously passed the Animal Slaughter Bill 2020

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nationalSUNDAY | JULY 5 | 2020 | BHUBANESWAR

The way thethenCommerce

Minister (KamalNath) gaverelaxation to Chinain imports, itappears it was done in lieu ofgranting assistance to thefoundation

KAMAL PATEL | MADHYA PRADESH MINISTER

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PatrioticLadakhis areraising their

voice againstChinese intrusion.They are screaminga warning. Ignoringtheir warning will cost India dearly

RAHUL GANDHI | CONGRESS LEADER

Now thegovernment isin a desperate

mood to sell a greatchunk of one of ourlargest nationalasset s- the Indianrailways

ADHIR RANJAN CHOWDHURY |LEADER OF CONG IN LS

Rules thathelp Chinese

companies areoutdated and shouldbe reviewed innational interest andfor the interest ofIndian firmsNITIN GADKARI | UNION MINISTER

Shankar Kurade, a residentof Pimpri-Chinchwad inPune, has got himself amask made of gold withminute holes worth `2.89 Lakh

PUNE MAN WEARS GOLD MASKWORTH `2.89 LAKH

Naxal commandergunned down Gadchiroli: A Naxal who wasgunned down by the police inMaharashtra’s Gadchirolidistrict has been identified asa commander of a unit, whohad Rs 8 lakh reward on hishead. The personnel from C-60, a specialised combat unitof the district police, were onan operation in a jungleunder Hedri police helpcentre in Mauza YeldamiFriday when an exchange offire took place with Maoistultras. The police haveidentified the deceased asPermili Dalam commanderKote Abhilash alias Chander.

Terrorist hideoutbusted in J&KJammu: A terrorist hideoutwas busted in a remotevillage in Rajouri district ofJammu and KashmirSaturday, leading to therecovery of a huge cache ofarms and ammunition,officials said. The hideoutwas unearthed during thecourse of a joint searchoperation by police and theRashtriya Rifles in Dardasanvillage of the Thanamandiarea, the officials said. Theysaid the recoveries madefrom the hideout includedtwo Chinese pistols withtwo magazines, an UnderBarrel Grenade Launcher(UBGL) with 11 riflegrenades, 14 magazines ofAK assault rifle with 920rounds and a Chinese handgrenade.

Two cousinselectrocuted Raisen: Two cousin sisters,aged 18 and 20 years, died ofelectrocution after they camein contact with a barbed wirefence at a farm in Raisendistrict of Madhya Pradeshwhile working in a paddyfield, police said Saturday.The incident occurred inSultanpur, about 40-kmsfrom the districtheadquarters, Fridayevening, Sultanpur policestation in-charge AmrishBohre said.

Two killed inbomb explosion Kolkata: Two people werekilled and around four injuredwhen the bombs they wereallegedly manufacturingwent off inside a house inMurshidabad district, asenior police officer saidSaturday Their identitieswere yet to be established asthe condition of those injuredand undergoing treatment ata hospital was still “critical”,he said. The thatched roof ofthe house, where they wereallegedly making bombs, alsoblew off in the explosion,which occurred at Suti townin Jangipur.

SHORT TAKES

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INDO-ASIAN NEWS SERVICE

New Delhi, July 4: Banned pro-Khalistan group Sikhs For Justice(SFJ) Saturday launched its much-publicised online voter registrationfor ‘Referendum 2020’ for people inPunjab through a Russian portal.

The Ministry of Home Affairs hadin July last year banned the SFJ foradvocating Referendum 2020, anonline campaign to demandKhalistan, which seeks a separatehomeland for the Sikhs.

As per the inputs, the SFJlaunched the Referendum 2020 voterregistration through the Russianwebsite www.punjabfree.ru, ap-pealing to the people in Punjab andaged 18 or above from any religionas well as the Sikhs living any-where else in India to register theirvotes for participation in the non-governmental Punjab IndependenceReferendum.

Detailed information regardingthe registration process was putup in English and Punjabi lan-guages on the Russia-based web-site, which mentions three stepsfor registration of votes and thesign-up to receive updates aboutthe Referendum 2020.

The SFJ has a ground-level planto ensure that voter registrationform for Referendum 2020 reachesevery household in Punjab, despitethe Indian government’s crack-down on the pro-Khalistan activists.

Designated US-based terroristGurpatwant Singh Pannun made thevoter registration announcementthrough a video, putting PunjabPolice as well as Central securityagencies in a tizzy.

The Indian government has sincebeen in touch with the authorities con-cerned as to how the SFJ used Russiancyberspace to launch the voter reg-istration for Referendum 2020.

In the backdrop of July 1 com-mitment of Indian Prime MinisterNarendra Modi and RussianPresident Vladimir Putin to furtherstrengthen the “special and privilegedstrategic partnership between the twocountries in all spheres”, use of aRussian portal by the anti-India

campaign is a matter of concern.The development has also raised

questions on the India-Russian his-torical ties. As Russia has one of themost stringent legal frameworksfor web portals to operate from itssoil, the matter has been taken upthrough diplomatic channels as tohow SFJ managed to use the cy-berspace of that country to fulfil itsagenda against India.

Meanwhile, Punjab Police cor-doned off the area around theGolden Temple complex in Amritsarcity apart from the deployment ofa posse of policemen around theshrine and barricades at vulnera-ble spots.

The sources said July 4 was cho-

sen by the SFJ for voter registrationfor Referendum 2020 as the gov-ernment had “ordered the police toenter the Golden Temple precinctsto disperse assembled separatistSikh volunteers on this day in 1955”.

The radical group SFJ is supportedby Pakistan-based handlers to providemoney and logistical support to rad-ical Sikh elements in Punjab to carryout subversive activities.

The SFJ is headed by Avtar SinghPannun and Gurpatwant SinghPannun, who have started advo-cating Khalistan as well as the on-line secessionist campaign forReferendum 2020.

SFJ’s key member Pannun is amongnine individuals who were designatedterrorists by the Ministry of HomeAffairs July 1, 2020, for trying to revivemilitancy in Punjab through anti- na-tional activities and involvement in theKhalistan movement.

Punjab Police booked Pannunand SFJ in April for seditious au-tomated calls aimed at instigatingthe people, particularly the youth,against the state government dur-ing the COVID-19 curfew.

Cases have been registered againstPannun and US-based SFJ underSection 124A of IPC, and Sections10 (A) and 13 (1) of the UnlawfulActivities (Prevention) Act, 1967,at the State Special Operations Cellin Mohali. The Punjab police has reg-istered 10 cases against the SFJ andits members.

Pro-Khalistan SFJ begins voter registration for ‘Referendum’

Banned pro-Khalistangroup SikhsFor Justice(SFJ)launchedonline voterregistrationfor‘Referendum2020’ forpeople inPunjabthrough aRussianportal

Detailed information regarding the registration mentionsthree steps for registration of votes and the sign-up to

receive updates about the Referendum 2020

The Ministry of Home Affairs had in July last year banned the SFJ foradvocating Referendum 2020, an online campaign to demand Khalistan

REUTERS

New Delhi, July 4: Social mediaapp TikTok distanced itself fromBeijing after India banned 59Chinese apps in the country, ac-cording to a correspondence seenby this news agency.

In a letter to the Indian govern-ment dated June 28th, TikTok ChiefExecutive Kevin Mayer said theChinese government has never re-quested user data, nor would thecompany turn it over if asked.

TikTok, which is not available inChina, is owned by China’sByteDance but has sought to dis-tance itself from its Chinese rootsto appeal to a global audience.Along with 58 other Chinese apps,including Tencent Holdings Ltd’sWeChat and Alibaba Group HoldingLtd’s UC Browser, it was banned inIndia this week following a borderclash with China.

“I can confirm that the Chinesegovernment has never made a re-quest to us for the TikTok data ofIndian users,” Mayer wrote, addingthat data for Indian users is storedin servers in Singapore. “If we doever receive such a request in thefuture, we would not comply.”

The letter was sent ahead of alikely meeting next week betweenthe company and the government,one source familiar with the mattersaid. One Indian government sourcetold Reuters this week the ban wasunlikely to be revoked soon. Lawyershave said a legal challenge was un-likely to be successful, given India has cited national security con-

cerns for the ban.The ban, which upset India’s

growing legion of TikTok stars,has also given a lift to local rivalssuch as Roposo, which added 22million new users in the 48 hoursafter the ban took effect.

TikTok has committed to spend$1 billion in the region. Since itslaunch in 2017, it has become oneof the fastest- growing social mediaapps. India is its largest market byuser, followed by the United States.

In the letter, Mayer played upthe company’s investment in the re-gion, highlighting more than 3,500direct and indirect employees andcontent available in 14 languages.

“The privacy of our users, andthe security and sovereignty ofIndia, is of utmost importance tous,” Mayer wrote.

TikTok distances fromBeijing after app ban

In a letter to the Indiangovernment, TikTokChief Executive KevinMayer said the Chinese governmenthas never requesteduser data, nor wouldthe company turn itover if asked

INDO-ASIAN NEWS SERVICE

New Delhi, July 4: The contro-versial proposal to annex Gilgit-Baltistan region of Pakistan-occu-pied Kashmir (PoK), which is tochange the semi-autonomous statusof the region, is being pushed byPakistan to help China secure theChina-Pakistan Economic Corridor(CPEC), security agencies have toldthe government.

The developments in Pakistanrelated to Gilgit-Baltistan and di-minishing role of terrorist leadersand separatists operating againstIndia is not just accidental. It hasmassive strategic depth and the se-curity perimeter around it withChina playing a major role.

Arguably the most importantfactor, top security officials said,

is increasing interference of Chinain Pakistani affairs.

The 3,218-kilometre CPEC, adream project of Chinese PresidentXi Jingping, in which China hassunk about $19 billion, runs alongthe disputed area.

Last August Prime MinisterNarendra Modi scrapped specialstatus of Jammu & Kashmir bring-ing it under federal control.Statements reiterating India’s claimover the Gilgit-Baltistan are be-lieved to have sparked further ap-prehension about Gilgit-Baltistan.There were three meetings inIslamabad to end the autonomousstatus of Gilgit-Baltistan. As themeetings were happening inPakistan, the security agencies un-derline Chinese started incursionsin eastern Ladkah region.

Sources detailing the manoeu-vres said that the first meeting washeld last year in Islamabad and itwas presided over by Pakistan’stop army officers. In the meeting,

Kashmiri separatists leaders basedin Pakistan were called in to discussthe issue to annex Gilgit-Baltistanwith Pakistan. The Kashmiri sep-aratists shot down the proposal.

This irked the Pakistan Army andInter-Services Intelligence.

Subsequently, the third meetingwas held in February 2020 and it waspresided over by another topPakistan army officer. The meet-ing was also attended by Pakistan’slaw minister, PoK law minister, PoKPrime Minister, Gilgit-BaltistanChief Minister, both factions ofHurriyat and Jammu KashmirLiberation Front representatives.

In the meeting, a detailed presen-tation by Pakistan army on the his-tory of Gilgit-Baltistan was madewherein it was stated it was never partof Jammu & Kashmir and was forciblyannexed by Dogra Maharaja andBritish. The Hurriyat leaders sup-ported the idea. However, JKLF nom-inee and Kashmir-based SAS Geelani’srepresentative remained quiet.

Explaining the shadowy war,sources said that those militantswho had gone to PoK and stayedthere since 1990s are not a fightingforce anymore. “They are seekinga role in political affairs. Hurriyatleadership is not allowing them,since they have developed vested in-terests. They are not vacating theirpositions,” said sources adding thatGeelani has been backing the for-mer Hizbul cadre, who want a po-litical space within Hurriyat.

“The old hawks occupying thetop positions are not allowing theyounger lot to join. Also, in PoK,many separatists’ leaders are livinga luxurious life, which is also beingresisted by the younger lot. They hadeven complained to Geelani againstthe old Hurriyat leaders based inPoK," sources further added.

Chinese hand in ISI’s Gilgit-Baltistan move hits separatists The developments in Pakistan related to Gilgit-Baltistan and diminishing role of terrorist leaders and separatists operating against India is not just accidental

A monk of Mahabodhi Temple offers flowers to Bodhi tree on the occasion of Dharma Chakra Diwas in Bodh Gaya,Saturday PTI PHOTO

DHARMA CHAKRA FLOOD RESCUE WORKS

NDRF deploys over90 teams across India PRESS TRUST OF INDIA

New Delhi, July 4: The NationalDisaster Response Force (NDRF)has deployed more than 90 teamsfor flood rescue works across thecountry with a “strong focus” onsanitisation of men and materialin view of the ongoing COVID-19pandemic, a senior official saidSaturday.

Union Home Minister AmitShah had reviewed the prepared-ness for monsoon rains and floodsin the country at his office inNorth Block and directed officialsto develop a well-planned schemeto reduce damage and casualties.

“We have earmarked over 90teams across the country for floodrescue related works,” NDRFDirector General (DG) SN Pradhantold this news agency. An NDRFteam for flood rescue has about 45personnel and it is equipped withgadgets and inflatable boats.

The DG said some new strategieshave been put in place for rescuedrills and rescuers in view of thecoronavirus pandemic. The de-ployment of NDRF teams will takeplace with full preventive and pro-tective precautions with a strongfocus on sanitisation and hygieneof men and material, Pradhan said.

He said the force has written tothe chief secretaries and specialrelief commissioners of statesseeking ample space for its res-cue teams and personnel in viewof the Centre issued COVID-19guidelines related to physical dis-tancing, sanitisation and hygiene.

INDO-ASIAN NEWS SERVICE

New Delhi, July 4: A good vaccineusually takes at least 18 months, be-fore it could be rolled out for pro-duction after fast-tracking all themandatory regulatory approvals,said NK Ganguly, former directorgeneral of Indian Council ofMedical Research (ICMR).

It is expected that India's first in-digenous COVID-19 vaccine,Covaxin may be released August 15under a fast-track mechanism.According to the government’s topmedical research body, a dozen in-stitutes have been selected for clin-ical trials of the indigenous COVID-19 vaccine (BBV152 COVID vaccine).Ganguly said the strain of the viruswas given to BBIL in May end, andin July, human trials have beenscheduled.

Elaborating on thelengthy process in-volved in vaccine de-velopment, he insistedthat after spendingmany months and in-fusing a lot of funds,the uncertainty continues to linger.“It may be difficult to say whetherthe vaccine is successful or not”, headded. The ICMR in a letter said, “Itis envisaged to launch the vaccinefor public health use latest by August15, after completion of all clinical tri-als. BBIL (Bharat BiotechInternational Limited) is working ex-peditiously to meet the target, how-ever the final outcome will dependon the cooperation of all clinical

trial sites involved in this project.”Before the vaccine is tested on hu-

mans, challenge studies are doneon mice and monkey, then a toxi-cology report is prepared, to checkif the developed vaccine producesharm to cells, and it takes at leastthree to four months to finalizethis report, said Ganguly. Afterthis phase, the vaccine is tested ontwo rodents and a large animaland after successful completion ofthis stage the vaccine is ready forhuman trials.

“In Phase 1, the age group pro-filing is done (wherein vaccinestudy is done on people in differentage groups). In Phase 2, nearly 600to 700 people are vaccinated, and ifthe vaccine performs successfullyin this phase then it progressesinto Phase 3, which is called the ef-

ficacy study(in this phase,thousands ofpeople are en-rolled). Evenafter fasttracking reg-ulatory ap-

provals, it will take at least 18months to develop a good vaccine”,said Ganguly.

He insisted that the vaccine beingdeveloped by Moderna (RNA vac-cine is set to begin Phase 3 trials laterthis month and targets a vaccine by2021) and BioNTech-Pfizer (Phase3 trial is expected to begin in July).Gennova biopharmaceutical is alsoworking on a vaccine and it lookspositive, Ganguly added.

‘It takes 18 months todevelop a vaccine’

INDO-ASIAN NEWS SERVICE

New Delhi, July 4: The RajyaSabha Secretariat is exploring seat-ing members of the upper house inthe House’s chamber as well as thegalleries in conformity with thenorm of physical distancing and toenable virtual participation of othermembers from either the CentralHall or Balayogi Auditorium in theParliament premises for the mon-soon session.

As the Lok Sabha Secretariatcame out with new rules for re-convening parliamentary panelmeetings, Rajya Sabha Chairman

Venkaiah Naidu too held detaileddiscussions on various options forconducting the proceedings of theUpper House during the ensuingMonsoon Session of the Parliament.The Secretary General and othersenior officials of the Rajya SabhaSecretariat were present in thehour-long discussions.

However, virtual participationis considered to be limited, in viewof the capacity constraints of NICat present to enable such virtual par-ticipation of all MPs. But, Naidu saidthat there is a need to scale up ca-pacities for larger virtual Parliamentin due course.

The chamber and the galleries ofthe Rajya Sabha can accommodate 127members while adhering to the phys-ical distancing norms. Sources saidthat all the galleries, except the mediagallery, would be utilised for seatingthe members.

But given the limited seating ca-pacity in the chamber and the galleriesof the House, Naidu asked the officialsto draw up appropriate plans for seat-ing based on the strength of variousparties in the House or any other ef-fective criteria like preparing a list ofthe participants in the proceedingsof the House for the day who wouldbe accommodated accordingly.

RS gets ready for Monsoon session

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nationalSUNDAY | JULY 5 | 2020 | BHUBANESWAR

The world hassuffered much this year,and I sincerely wish thatthis sacred day heralds anew ray of hope andgrants a glimpse ofhappinessRAM NATH KOVIND | PRESIDENT

Indian space agency Friday released animage of Phobos, the closest and biggestmoon of Mars clicked July 1 by the MarsColour Camera on board the Mars OrbiterMission (MOM)

MARS ORBITER PHOTOS OF REDPLANET'S BIGGEST MOON RELEASED

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For the thirdtime in aweek, the PM

did not name Chinaas the aggressor.Why? What is thepurpose of talkingabout an unnamed 'enemy' to thepeople of India and the jawans inLadakh?

P CHIDAMBARAM | FORMER UNION MINISTER

of theday uote

New tourist permits proposed New Delhi: The Ministry ofRoad Transport andHighways (MoRTH) hasproposed to amend theNational Permit regime underthe Central Motor VehiclesRules 1989 in a bid topromote tourism across thecountry. The Ministry islooking to provide seamlessmovement to the touristpassenger vehicles after thesuccess of goods carriagevehicle under National PermitRegime. The “All India TouristVehicles Authorization andPermit Rules, 2020” has beenalready documented andpublished vide GSR 425(E)dated 01 July 2020 for publicand stakeholdersconsultation.

Seven held fortheft of holy bookChandigarh: In a five-year oldheinous crime of the Sikhholy book – Guru GranthSahib, a Special InvestigationTeam led by Jalandhar RangeDeputy Inspector GeneralRanbir Singh Khatra arrestedseven Dera Sacha Saudafollowers from Punjab’sFaridkot district earlySaturday. They were arrestedfor stealing a 'bir' of the GuruGranth Sahib from BurjJawahar Singh Wala village.Among the arrested accusedare Sukhjinder Singh, Neela,Ranjit Bhola, Nishan, Baljitand Narinder Sharma, allresidents of Faridkot district.

UP minister, wifetest COVID +veLucknow: Uttar Pradesh RuralDevelopment MinisterRajendra Pratap Singh (MotiSingh) and his wife havebeen admitted to the SanjayGandhi Post GraduateInstitute of Medical Scienceshere after they testedpositive for COVID-19. Askedabout his health, Singh saidSaturday, “I am fine.” Askedhow long he is expected tostay in the hospital, he said,“I came here only on Friday. Iwill follow the doctors’advice.”

High tide hitsMumbaiNew Delhi: The weatheroffice has issued a red alertfor Mumbai, Raigad andRatnagiri in Maharashtra,forecasting “extremely heavyrainfall” over the next 24hours in many places inPalghar, Mumbai, Thane andRaigad districts. Earlier, theIndia MeteorologicalDepartment (IMD) had saidthe metropolis andsurrounding areas could getintermittent moderate toheavy rain with “thepossibility of very heavy toextremely heavy rainfall atisolated places” Saturday.

SHORT TAKES

We wantpermanentsolutions to

the perennial floodproblem in areaslike that of Bihar,Uttar Pradesh andNorth Eastern states

AMIT SHAH | UNION HOME MINISTER

The (state)governmenthas purchased

corona relatedequipment(medical), worthmore than `3,000crore. Prima facie it looks thegovernment has paid more pricethan the market price

SIDDARAMAIAH | K’TAKA LEADER OF OPPN

NSUI activists arrive via cycles from Jabalpur during a protest against the hike in fuel price in Bhopal, Saturday PTI PHOTO

RAISING VOICE

PRESS TRUST OF INDIA

New Delhi, July 4: With 22,771people testing positive for coron-avirus in a single day, the highestso far, India’s COVID-19 tally climbedto 6,48,315 Saturday, while the deathtoll rose to 18,655 with 442 new fa-talities, according to the UnionHealth Ministry data.

With a steady rise, the numberof recoveries stands at 3,94,226 andone patient has migrated. Thereare 2,35,433 active cases of coron-avirus presently in the country,the updated data at 8 am showed.

“Thus, around 60.80 per cent ofpatients have recovered so far,” anofficial said.

The total number of confirmedcases also includes foreigners.

According to ICMR, a cumulativetotal of 95,40,132 samples have beentested up to July 3 with 2,42,383samples being tested on Friday.

This is the second consecutive daywhen coronavirus cases have in-creased by more than 20,000. Therehas been a surge of 4,57,780 COVID-19 cases from June 1 till date.

Of the 442 deaths reported inthe last 24 hours, 198 are fromMaharashtra, 64 from Tamil Nadu,59 from Delhi, 21 from Karnataka,18 each from Gujarat and WestBengal, 14 from Uttar Pradesh, 10from Rajasthan, eight each fromAndhra Pradesh and Telangana,five from Punjab, four each fromHaryana, Madhya Pradesh andJammu and Kashmir, three from

Bihar, and two each from Assamand Odisha.

Of the total 18,655 deaths re-ported so far, Maharashtra ac-counted for the highest 8,376 fa-talities, followed by Delhi with 2,923deaths, Gujarat with 1,904, TamilNadu with 1,385, Uttar Pradeshwith 749, West Bengal with 717,Madhya Pradesh with 593,Rajasthan with 440 and Karnatakawith 293.

The COVID-19 death toll reached283 in Telangana, 255 in Haryana,206 in Andhra Pradesh, 157 inPunjab, 119 in Jammu and Kashmir,80 in Bihar, 42 in Uttarakhand, 29in Odisha and 25 in Kerala.

Jharkhand has registered 15deaths, Chhattisgarh and Assam 14each, Puducherry 12, HimachalPradesh 10, Chandigarh six, Goafour and Meghalaya, Tripura,Ladakh and Arunachal Pradeshhave reported one fatality each,according to the Health Ministry.

More than 70 per cent deathstook place due to comorbidities,it said.

Maharashtra has reported thehighest number of cases at 1,92,990followed by Tamil Nadu at 1,02,721,Delhi at 94,695, Gujarat at 34,600,Uttar Pradesh at 25,797, West Bengalat 20,488 and Telangana at 20,462,according to the ministry data.

The number of COVID-19 caseshas gone up to 19,710 in Karnataka,19,052 in Rajasthan, 16,934 in AndhraPradesh, 16,003 in Haryana and14,297 in Madhya Pradesh.

COVID cases hitrecord high amidmonsoon rains

COVID-19TRACKER

TOTAL CASES

6,48,315NEW CASES

22,771DEATHS

18,655

INDO-ASIAN NEWS SERICE

Patna, July 4: Fifteen more peo-ple lost their lives due to light-ning amid heavy rain and thun-derstorms in seven districts ofBihar in the last 24 hours.

According to the information re-ceived from the districts, 15 per-sons were killed by lightning dur-ing the past 24 hours in the state.Of these, six persons died inVaishali, two in Lakhisarai, threein Samastipur and one each inGaya, Banka, Nalanda and Jamuidistricts.

The meteorological departmenthas issued an alert for thunder-storms in more than a dozen dis-tricts, including Patna, Bhojpur,Vaishali and Nalanda in the state.

Chief Minister Nitish Kumarhas appealed to the people to be vig-ilant and follow the guidelines is-sued by the disaster managementdepartment for protection againstlightning in the inclement weather.He suggested that people stay athome and be safe.

On Thursday, 26 persons dieddue to lightning striking differ-ent districts. These included sixin Patna, four in east Champaran,seven in Samastipur, three inKatihar, two each in Shivharand Madhepura and one eachin Purnia and west Champarandistricts.

Last Tuesday, 11 persons died aslightning fell in various districtsof Bihar while June 26, 96 per-sons perished as lightning struckdifferent parts of the state.

Lightning kills15 more in Bihar

INDO-ASIAN NEWS SERVICE

New Delhi, July 4: A Delhi Policesub-inspector posted with the PCRunit hit a 60-year-old woman withhis car and dragged her to somedistance in Chilla village of EastDelhi Friday evening.

The woman is under treatmentat a hospital. The accused, iden-tified as Yogendra, 56, has beenarrested.

According to the police, the copwas under the influence of alco-hol at the time of accident, whichwas captured on a CCTV camerain the area.

The video, which went viral onsocial media, shows the womanfalling off the bonnet of the carafter being knocked down. A mancan be seen signalling the driverto stop while the passers-by helpedthe woman. The driver tried torun over another person, whenthey stopped him.

Drunk cop runs overelderly woman in Delhi

INDO-ASIAN NEWS SERVICE

New Delhi, July 4: Prime MinisterNarendra Modi on the occasion ofAsaadh Poornima and the inau-guration of the Dharma ChakraDay, Saturday, said India wants tofocus on connectivity to Buddhistsites to improve tourism.

The Prime Minister’s remarkcame at a time when the country ispassing through its worst economicphase and needs improvement in allsectors including tourism to at-tract revenue. “We want to focus onconnectivity to Buddhist sites. A fewdays back the Indian Cabinet an-nounced that Kushinagar airportwill be an international one. Thiswill bring people, pilgrims andtourists,” Modi said.

Addressing through video con-ferencing, Modi said he is very hope-ful about the 21st century and thishope comes from young friends. Helauded the efforts of youths in start-up sectors saying, “If you want to seea great example of how hope, inno-vation and compassion can removesuffering, it is our start-up sectorled by our youths,” Noting that brightyoung minds are finding solutions to

global problems, the Prime Ministersaid India has one of the largeststart-up eco-systems and I wouldurge my young friends to also stay con-nected with the thoughts of LordBuddha so that they could be moti-vated and find the way ahead.

The Prime Minister said thatthe event is also known as GuruPurnima. “This is a day to re-member our gurus who gave usknowledge. In that spirit, we payhomage to Lord Buddha,” PM said.

“The eight-fold path of LordBuddha shows the way towardsthe well-being of many societies

and nations. It highlights the im-portance of compassion and kind-ness. The teachings of Lord Buddhacelebrate simplicity, both in thoughtand action,” he said.

Buddhism teaches respect for peo-ple, the poor and women, for peace andnon-violence. “Therefore, the teach-ings of Buddhism are the means toa sustainable planet.” “In his veryfirst sermon in Sarnath, and histeachings after that, Lord Buddhaspoke on two things – hope and pur-pose. He saw a strong link betweenthem. From hope comes a spirit of pur-pose,” the Prime Minister said.

India to focus on connectivityto Buddhist sites, says PM

Geelani quitting politics exposes myth of ‘peaceful resistance’

INDO-ASIAN NEWS SERVICE

Srinagar, July 4: The resignationof hardline separatist leader, SyedAli Shah Gealani from the all-partyHurriyat conference has exposed themyth of ‘peaceful resistance’ againstIndian rule in Kashmir.

Geelani’s disenchantment withthe separatist politics marks a wa-tershed moment which will weighheavily on all those who chose to fol-

low his footsteps.Serious allegations have been lev-

elled by Geelani against those heclaims to have hijacked the sepa-ratist movement against the “Indianrule in Kashmir”. In his letter of de-spair, Geelani has blamed the con-stituents of the separatist con-glomerate to have brazenly used it foraccumulating wealth and using theirclout for personal aggrandisement.

Despite feeling bad about the al-

legations levelled against them byGeelani, his erstwhile comradescannot publicly criticise him.

The reason is simple, they have glo-rified Geelani as the “Amir-e-Karwan”, (Leader of the movement)for over 30 years and speaking againsthim now will only result in deeperchinks in the separatist armour.

“Thou can do no wrong”: This ishow Geelani was seen in Kashmir’sseparatist camp and finally dis-covering that he had feet of clay isdefinitely going to force a re-think-ing on whether the path chosen bythe separatist leaders is still theright thing to do, feels many.

The fact that Geelani’s supremacy

in all party Hurriyat conferencehas been challenged by its new con-vener, Mohammad Hussain Khatib,who belongs to Doda district ofJ&K and is now based inMuzaffarabad, has sent a clear mes-sage to Kashmiri separatist leaders.

Pakistan has decided to give upproxies in Kashmir and handle theseparatist politics directly fromacross the border. The creation of'The Resistance Front' (TRF) haspreceded Geelani's ouster from theHurriyat. It is believed that whilethe TRF would coordinate and rep-resent all terror outfits to coordinateattacks against the security forcesin Kashmir, the takeover of Hurriyatby Muzaffarabad-based Khatib sig-nals the takeover of separatist pol-itics by Islamabad.

This new development leavesvery little to look for in the separatistcamp for the so-called moderates orthose who claim to be fighting for

an independent Kashmir.Street violence had its heroes

like Geelani’s man Friday, MasaratAlam who is in detention underthe public safety act (PSA).

Despite precious lives lost duringthose orchestrated violent protests,instead of gaining ground againstIndia, the separatists are faced withabrogation of article 370 and the lossof statehood for J&K.

Geelani's disgruntlement withhis cherished idea to give an over-ground political platform to the un-derground armed separatism hasfailed.

Those who control the gun willalso control the separatist politics.

Geelani’s disenchantment with the separatist politicsmarks a watershed moment which will weigh heavily on

all those who chose to follow his footsteps

INDO-ASIAN NEWS SERVICE

Amaravati, July 4: Telugus fromAndhra Pradesh settled in variousparts of the world have expressedsolidarity with the people ofAmaravati, whose protests againstthe state government's decision totrifurcate the state capital entered200th day Saturday.

Holding placards and candlesand raising slogans, NRIs stagedprotests in major cities across theworld, urging YSR Congress Party(YSRCP) government to withdrawthe move and continue developingAmaravati as the only state capital.

An estimated one lakh TeluguNRIs staged protests in morethan 300 cities across the world,expressing solidarity with thefarmers and other people ofAmaravati opposing the gov-ernment’s move.

In response to the call by JayaramKomati, a prominent NRI in the US,

Telugus in various countries stagedprotests. Telugu NRIs from the UnitedStates Ireland, Kuwait, South Africa,France, Germany, Austria, Canada,Saudi Arabia, and other countrieshave come forward to voice their sol-idarity with the slogan 'Don't Kill

Amaravati, Build Amaravati'.According to leaders of the op-

position Telugu Desam Party (TDP),the idea was to express solidarityin 200 cities all over the world tomark the 200th day of the movementbut in the US itself, NRIs have joinedthe solidarity event from more than230 cities and the global numberwent up to 300. Women, men, chil-dren, elderly all expressed theirsupport to the cause. The rulerswere stunned to see such a mas-sive support to Amaravati cause,said Jayaram Komati.

This event was conducted acrossthe world in full adherence toCOVID rules. NRIs from differentcountries joined the Amaravatisolidarity event as per the rulesof the local governments. Due toCOVID-19 concerns, they partici-pated in the event in small groupsof 15-20 people. Many more par-ticipated in the event from theirhomes in virtual mode.

Andhra NRIs show solidaritywith Amaravati movement

An estimated one lakh Telugu NRIs staged protests in more than 300 cities acrossthe world, expressing solidarity with the farmers and other people of Amaravati

Kanpur killings: ChaubepurStation Officer suspendedINDO-ASIAN NEWS SERVICE

Kanpur, July 4: A day after eightUttar Pradesh Police personnelwere shot dead and six others se-riously injured in Bikru villageunder Chaubepur police circle inKanpur, IGP (Kanpur Range) MohitAggarwal Saturday suspendedStation Officer Vinay Tiwari on thecharge of laxity in duty.

Tiwari was taken into custodyby the Special Task Force (STF),which is presently questioninghim. The charge of the police sta-tion has since been handed overto Pushpraj Singh.

Tiwari was suspended for al-leged laxity in the police raid atthe gangster's house in the weehours of Friday. It was learnt thata case would be registered againstTiwari in case his role in thewhole affair is found suspicious.

History-sheeter Vikas Dubeyand his gang had fired at a po-lice party that had gone to thevillage to arrest him. The de-ceased included Bilhaur CircleOfficer Devendra Kumar, who

was leading the team, three sub-inspectors and four constables.

Chief Minister Yogi Adityanathhad directed the STF to take overinvestigations and ensure arrestof the criminals.

Inspector General of PoliceAggarwal said that those foundcomplicit in the case would notonly be dismissed from service butalso arrested and prosecuted.

As for the demolition of theBikru village house of VikasDubey, the police officer said thatvillagers had told authoritiesthat the gangster had built thehouse after illegally occupying thepiece of land, about which the vil-lagers were angry. Meanwhile,sources said that Station OfficerVinay Tiwari had gone to VikasDubey's house Wednesday fol-lowing a complaint by RahulTiwari, who was beaten up bythe gangster in the presence of thepolice officer.

When the SO tried to inter-vene, Dubey allegedly snatched themobile phone of Vinay Tiwariand behaved rudely with him.

An artist’s impression of the proposedAmaravati city, which was to becomeAndhra Pradesh’s only capital

P10SUNDAY | JULY 5 | 2020 | BHUBANESWAR

internationalIranians whodo not wear

masks will be deniedstate services andworkplaces that fail tocomply with healthprotocols will be shutfor a weekHASSAN ROUHANI | IRAN PRESIDENT

A crucial meeting of Nepal'sruling communist party to decidethe political future of embattledPM KP Sharma Oli waspostponed until Monday to allowmore time for the top leadershipto iron out their differences

MEET DEFERRED

cmyk

cmyk

I'm worriedabout ageneration

that is scarred bycoronavirus — wedon't want to losethat generation.There's no reason for that tohappen if we can get these next fewbits right. For me this is really aboutsocial justice. I look at the situation,and I'm desperate for all thosepeople to go back to the jobs thatthey had at the beginning of all ofthis

RISHI SUNAK |UK CHANCELLOR OF THE EXCHEQUER

of theday uote

North Koreahas no plansto resume

nuclear negotiationswith the UnitedStates unlessWashingtondiscards what it describes as“hostile” polices toward Pyongyang

CHOE SON HUI | NORTH KOREAN FIRST VICE

FOREIGN MINISTER

Canada issuspending itsextradition

treaty with HongKong as part of apackage ofresponses to thenew security law China hasimposed on the city

JUSTIN TRUDEAU | CANADA PM

Qureshi testsCovid positiveIslamabad: Pakistan ForeignMinister Shah MehmoodQureshi confirmed that hehas tested positive for thenovel coronavirus, but wasfeeling "strong andenergetic". In a tweet onFriday, Qureshi said that hehad a slight fever earlier onFriday and had immediatelyquarantined himself athome, reports Dawn news."I have now tested positivefor COVID-19... I feel strongand energetic. I willcontinue to carry on myduties from home..."Several politicians,including members of theruling Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI), have beendiagnosed with the virusover the past few months asit continues to spread inPakistan.

Many evacuatedTokyo: Japan askedthousands of people toevacuate their homes onits southern island ofKyushu, media saidSaturday, followingunprecedented torrentialrains in which 15 peopleare feared dead and ninemissing. With the regionfacing the risk of furtherfloods and landslides,authorities told 92,200households in theprefectures of Kumamotoand Kagoshima to vacatetheir homes, the Kyodonews agency said.

Officer killedToledo: An officer who wasresponding to a disturbancecall in a store parking lot wasshot and killed earlySaturday morning by anintoxicated man holding abeer, police said. ToledoOfficer Anthony Dia was shotin the chest just aftermidnight in the parking lot ofa Home Depot, and laterpronounced dead at ahospital, Police Chief GeorgeKral said at a newsconference.

Seven cops hurtLondon: Seven police officialswere injured in violence at anunlicensed musical event inthe British capital as theysought to break up a crowdthat posed a risk to publichealth during the coronaviruspandemic, police saidSaturday. Those at Friday’sevent became violent andthrew projectiles at police asthey entered an estate atHavelock Close in WestLondon, the police said in astatement.

SHORT TAKES

REUTERS

South Dakota, July 4: PresidentDonald Trump on Friday accused“angry mobs” of trying to erasehistory with efforts to remove or re-think monuments to U.S. historicalfigures and used a speech at MountRushmore to paint himself as abulwark against left-wing extrem-ism.

The pre-July 4 holiday eventdrew 7,500 people, packed into an out-door amphitheater. Many did notwear masks, defying the advice ofhealth officials who have urgedAmericans to avoid large gatheringsto slow the spread of COVID-19.Trump has not worn a mask inpublic and made only limited ref-erence to the pandemic in his re-marks.

Speaking underneath the famedlandmark depicting four U.S. pres-idents, Trump warned that thedemonstrations over racial in-equality threatened the founda-tions of the U.S. political system.“Make no mistake, this left wing cul-tural revolution is designed to over-throw the American revolution,”Trump said. “Our children aretaught in school to hate their owncountry.”

In the nationwide unrest fol-lowing the death of George Floyd,a Black man who died in policecustody in Minneapolis, protest-ers in several cities have vandalized

the statues of leaders, includingConfederate generals who led a re-bellion against the U.S. govern-ment during the 1861-65 U.S. civil war.

Protesters in one instance un-successfully tried to pull down astatue of U.S. President AndrewJackson outside the White House.Jackson, known for his populistpolicies, owned slaves and forcedthousands of Native Americansfrom their homes. “Angry mobs aretrying to tear down statues of ourfounders, deface our most sacred me-morials, and unleash a wave of vi-olent crime in our cities,” Trumpsaid. Trump, a Republican who has

emphasized a “law and order” ap-proach to the demonstrations, hasopposed proposals to rename U.S.military bases that are named afterConfederate generals. The programwas not an official campaign event,but Trump touched on key themesmeant to energize his base ahead ofthe Nov. 3 election. Many in thecrowd wore Trump memorabiliaand chanted “Four More Years” be-fore the program began. Trumptrails presumptive Democratic pres-idential nominee Joe Biden in opin-ion polls in key states and is eagerto boost his campaign through atough response to social unrest.

Trump blasts ‘left-wingcultural revolution’

Manydid not wear

masks, defying the adviceof health officials who

have urged Americansto avoid large

gatherings to slowthe spread of

COVID-19

Speakingunderneath the

famed landmark depictingfour US Presidents, Trump

warned that the demonstrationsover racial inequality threatened

the foundations of the USpolitical system

President Donald Trump smiles at Mount Rushmore National Memorial, nearKeystone, S.D. PTI PHOTO

INDO-ASIAN NEWS SERVICE

Washington, July 4: KimGuilfoyle, the girlfriend of DonaldTrump Jr. and a top Trump cam-paign official, has tested positivefor the novel coronavirus, it wasreported.

Guilfoyle, who travelled toMount Rushmore to attendPresident Donald Trump's July 4kick-off address on Friday, wasnot in contact with him and did nottravel on Air Force One, Politiconews said in a report.

Sergio Gor, chief of staff forthe Trump Victory FinanceCommittee, said in a statementon Friday: "After testing positive,Kimberly was immediately iso-lated to limit any exposure. She'sdoing well, and will be retestedto ensure the diagnosis is correctsince she's asymptomatic, butas a precaution will cancel all up-coming events.

"Donald Trump Jr was testednegative, but as a precaution isalso self isolating and is can-cel l ing al l public events."Guilfoyle however, did not havecoronavirus symptoms prior tothe rally, Politico news quoted aNew York Times report as say-ing.

Guilfoyle, a former Fox Newspersonality who now works forthe Trump campaign, is the lat-est person close to the Presidentto test positive for coronavirus.In May, a member of the US mil-itary who worked in the WhiteHouse tested positive for the virus.

Days later, Katie Miller, VicePresident Mike Pence's spokes-woman, also tested positive.

Trump Jr’s girlfriendtests Covid positive

REUTERS

Washington, July 4: Two U.S. air-craft carriers were conducting ex-ercises in the disputed South ChinaSea Saturday, the U.S. navy said, asChina also carried out militarydrills that have been criticised bythe Pentagon and neighbouringstates.

China and the United States haveaccused each other of stoking ten-sion in the strategic waterway ata time of strained relations overeverything from the new coron-avirus to trade to Hong Kong.

The USS Nimitz and USS RonaldReagan were carrying out opera-tions and exercises in the SouthChina Sea “to support a free andopen Indo-Pacific,” the navy said ina statement. It did not say exactlywhere the exercises were beingconducted in the South China Sea,which extends for some 1,500 km (900miles) and 90% of which is claimedby China despite the protests ofits neighbours.

“The purpose is to show an un-ambiguous signal to our partnersand allies that we are committed toregional security and stability,”Rear Admiral George M. Wikoff

was quoted as saying by the WallStreet Journal, which first reportedthe exercises.

Wikoff, commander of the strikegroup led by the Ronald Reagan, saidthe exercises were not a responseto those being conducted by China,which the Pentagon criticised thisweek as “counter-productive to ef-forts at easing tensions and main-taining stability”.

China dismissed the U.S. criticismof its drills on Friday and sug-gested the United States was toblame for increasing tensions. U.S.carriers have long carried out ex-ercises in the Western Pacific, in-cluding in the South China Sea,according to the U.S. navy. At onepoint recently, the United Stateshad three carriers in the region.

UNAMBIGUOUS SIGNAL

China and the United States have accused each other ofstoking tension in the strategic waterway at a time of

strained relations over everything from the new coronavirus to trade to Hong Kong

Big message to Chinaas US sends carriers

REUTERS

Shanghai/Beijing, July 4: China’sMinistry of Agriculture and RuralAffairs said Saturday that the so-called “G4” strain of swine flu virusis not new and does not infect orsicken humans and animals eas-ily, rebuffing a study published ear-lier this week.

That study, by a team of Chinesescientists and published by the U.S.journal Proceedings of the NationalAcademy of Sciences (PNAS),warned that a new swine flu virus,

named G4, has become more in-fectious to humans and could be-come a potential “pandemic virus”.

However, China’s agricultureministry said in a statement that thestudy has been interpreted by themedia “in an exaggerated and non-factual way.”

An analysis by the ministry con-cluded that sampling of the pub-lished study is too small to be rep-resentative, while the article lacksadequate evidence to show the G4virus has become the dominantstrain among pigs.

The ministry said it drew its con-clusions after holding a seminaron the G4 virus’s impact on the hogindustry and public health.Participants included Chinese vet-erinarians and anti-virus experts,as well as the leading authors ofthe PNAS study.

The participants concurredthat the G4 virus is not new, thestatement said. Furthermore, sucha strain has been monitored con-tinuously by the World HealthOrganization (WHO) and relatedagencies in China since 2011, the

statement said, citing a seniorWHO official.

In addition, the authors of thepublished study agreed that theG4 virus does not effectivelyreplicate in the human body andcause disease, according to thestatement.

The ministry’s statement wasauthored by Yang Hanchun, aswine viral disease scientist atChina Agricultural Universitywho also serves the role of ex-pert on a ministry anti-epidemiccommittee.

G4 swine flu virus doesn’t infect humans easily: ChinaTHE AUTHORS OF THE PUBLISHED STUDY AGREED THAT THE G4 VIRUS DOES NOT EFFECTIVELY REPLICATE IN THE HUMAN BODY AND CAUSE DISEASE

INDO-ASIAN NEWS SERVICE

Washington, July 4: Three policeofficers in the US state of Coloradohave been sacked after they sharedphotos re-enacting a chokeholdused on a black man last year wholater died.

Elijah McClain, a 23-year-oldAfrican-American in Aurora,Colorado, was killed last Augustafter an encounter with policewhile walking home. The officerswho were fired were identified asJason Rosenblatt, Erica Marreroand Kyle Dittrich. The fourth,Jaron Jones, has earlier resignedon Tuesday.

Vanessa Wilson, the acting po-lice chief in the Denver suburb ofAurora, where the McClain inci-dent took place, called the imagesa crime against humanity and de-cency. "We are ashamed, we aresickened, and we are angry aboutwhat I have to share," the BBCquoted Wilson as saying at a newsconference on Friday.

"While the allegations of this in-ternal affairs case are not crimi-nal, they are a crime against hu-manity and decency. To even thinkabout doing such a thing is be-yond comprehension and it is rep-rehensible."

One of the pictures showsDittrich and Jones imitating aneck hold, while Marrero smilesto their left. Rosenblatt was sentthe photos by text and responded"ha ha".

Chief Wilson said she held offreleasing the photos until shecould share them with McClain'sfamily. McClain's case attractedrenewed focus in the wake of thedeath of George Floyd, anotherunarmed African-American whodied in police custody on May 25in Minneapolis.

US COPS FIREDFOR MOCKINGMAN’S DEATH

Members of the Indian-American community stage a demonstration against China, demanding to boycott Chineseproducts at Times Square in New York, Saturday PTI PHOTO

‘BOYCOTT CHINA’

INDO-ASIAN NEWS SERVICE

Dubai, July 4: An Indian expatworker, who was eagerly waitingto be repatriated after cancellinghis visa, missed a jumbo jet flying427 stranded Indians to Keralaafter he fell asleep in the DubaiInternational Airport, the mediareported.

P. Shajahan, 53, who worked asa storekeeper with a company inMusaffah in Abu Dhabi, told GulfNews Friday that he had fallenasleep as he had not slept onWednesday night waiting for con-firmation about the flight andhad caught an early morning taxito reach Dubai.

He was supposed to fly on theEmirates jumbo jet toThiruvananthapuram in Kerala,

which was chartered by the KeralaMuslim Cultural Centre (KMCC)Dubai. After finishing the check-in procedures and rapid test, hereached the waiting area of theboarding gate at Terminal 3 inthe afternoon.

"I sat away from most of theothers. But I fell asleep," he said.

S. Nizamudeen Kollam, who co-ordinated the charter flight, saidairline officials could not traceShajahan when the flight was totake off.

"He woke up and called us afterthe flight left. It is sad that hemissed the flight, which was thefirst ever jumbo jet chartered forrepatriation. We are now tryingto send him on another Emiratesflight that we are chartering onSaturday," Kollam said.

In March, Gulf News had re-ported that Arun Singh, anotherIndian expat, who also had fallenasleep in the same terminal andmissed the last flight home be-fore flights were suspended due tothe COVID-19 pandemic. He wasstranded here for over 50 days be-fore getting repatriated.

Indian dozes off at airport, misses flight

He was supposed to flyto Thiruvananthapuram

in Kerala

REUTERS

Istanbul, July 4: A Saudi con-sulate worker in Istanbul told aTurkish court Friday he had beenasked to light a tandoor oven lessthan an hour after Saudi journal-ist Jamal Khashoggientered the buildingwhere he was killed.

Zeki Demir, a localtechnician whoworked for the con-sulate, was giving ev-idence on the first dayof the trial in absen-tia of 20 Saudi offi-cials over Khashoggi’skilling, which sparkedglobal outrage andtarnished the image ofSaudi Arabia’s defacto ruler.

Demir said he had been called tothe consul’s residence afterKhashoggi entered the nearby con-sulate to seek his papers. “Therewere five to six people there... Theyasked me to light up the tandoor(oven). There was panic,” he said.

Khashoggi disappeared aftergoing to the consulate to get pa-pers for his marriage in October2018. Some Western governments,as well as the CIA, said they be-l ieved Saudi Crown PrinceMohammed bin Salman had or-

dered the hit - an accusation Saudiofficials denied.

Turkish officials have said onetheory police pursued was thatKhashoggi’s killers may have triedto dispose of his body by burningit after suffocating him and cut-ting up his corpse. The indictmentaccuses two top Saudi officials, for-mer deputy head of Saudi Arabia’sgeneral intelligence Ahmed al-Asiri and former royal court adviserSaud al-Qahtani, of instigating“premeditated murder with mon-strous intent”.

It says 18 other defendants wereflown to Turkeyto kill Khashoggi,a prominent andwell-connectedjournalist whohad grown in-creasingly criti-cal of the crownprince. The de-fendants are beingtried in absentiaand are unlikelyever to be handedover by SaudiArabia, which hasaccused Turkey

of failing to cooperate with a sep-arate, largely secretive, trial inRiyadh last year.

In December a Saudi court sen-tenced five people to death andthree to jail for the killing, butKhashoggi’s family later said theyforgave his murderers, effectivelygranting them a formal reprieveunder Saudi law. A Saudi prose-cutor said at the time there wasno evidence connecting Qahtanito the killing and dismissed chargesagainst Asiri.

KHASHOGGI MURDER CASE

Trial told oven was lit after killing

Zeki Demir, a localtechnician who worked

for the consulate, was givingevidence on the first day ofthe trial in absentia of 20Saudi officials overKhashoggi’s killing, whichsparked global outrage andtarnished the image of SaudiArabia’s de facto ruler

Khashoggi disappearedafter going to the

consulate to get papers forhis marriage in October 2018

P11

businessSUNDAY | JULY 5 | 2020 | BHUBANESWAR

We’veimplementeda robust

economic strategyto tackle COVID-19and the devastationcaused by Amphan.Proof lies in Bengal’sunemployment rate for the monthof June which stands at 6.5%, farbetter than that of India at 11%

MAMATA BANERJEE | CM, WEST BENGAL

of theday uote

One big issuefaced by theindustry is

liquidity challengefor quite some time.Many stalledprojects do notqualify for getting last mile fundingfrom the `25,000 crore specialwindow created by the government

RAJIVE KUMAR | CHAIRMAN, RERA (UTTAR

PRADESH)

The changesin paymentchallan by the

I-T dept will nowenable the paymentof equalisation levyby foreigncompanies. However, the industrywas expecting its deferralconsidering the lack of clarificationon few issues

AMIT SINGHANIA | PARTNER, SHARDUL

AMARCHAND MANGALDAS & CO

Commercialisation of coalmining in India is the need

of the hour to enhanceproduction to meet the growingenergy requirement. No governmentcompany had shown interest to takeup the offered coal blocks since theyare very difficult to mineBN SHUKLA | CHAIRMAN-CUM-MD, MCL

Bangalore-based edtech unicorn BYJU'S, is intalks to acquire Mumbai-based startup WhiteHatJr in a $300mn deal, media reports said. WhiteHatJr was founded by former Discovery NetworksIndia CEO Karan Bajaj in November 2018 and isbacked by Nexus Venture Partners, OmidyarNetwork India and Owl Ventures

BYJU'S IN TALKS TO BUY WHITEHAT JR

Magic Bus, Mahagovt join handsMumbai: Non-profitorganisation Magic BusSaturday said it has joinedhands with the Maharashtragovernment to provide reliefto vulnerable families acrossMumbai amid thecoronavirus outbreak and theongoing lockdown. Magic BusIndia Foundation haspartnered with both privateand governmentorganisations to ensure thatthe ongoing city-wide foodand hygiene reliefdistribution efforts remaindata-led, aligned andfocused, it said in astatement. The initiative willenable concernedMumbaikars to support foodand hygiene relief efforts.

Coal strikeenters 3rd dayNew Delhi: The three-daynationwide strike by coalworkers, which entered thethird day Saturday, has been"100% peaceful", a tradeunion leader said. Five tradeunions, including RSS-affiliated Bharatiya MazdoorSangh (BMS), of Coal India(CIL) have been on strikesince Thursday to protest against thegovernment's decision tostart commercial coalmining. The five unions havea virtual meeting scheduledon Saturday to decide thenext course of action.

PGCIL gets newDir (Finance)New Delhi: State-owned PowerGrid Corporation Saturday saidM Taj Mukarrum has assumedcharge as its Director (Finance).Prior to taking up thisassignment, he was working asExecutive Director (Finance) inPower Grid Corporation, thecompany said in a statement."M Taj Mukarrum has assumedthe charge of Director (Finance)of Power Grid Corporation(PGCIL) on 4 July, 2020," thestatement said.

Dapagliflozingets DCGI nodNew Delhi: Drug firmAstraZeneca Pharma IndiaSaturday said it has receivedapproval from DrugsController General of India(DCGI) for Dapagliflozintablets for treatment ofpatients suffering from heart failure with reducedejection fraction. Thecompany has received importand market permission fromDCGI in Form CT-20(Marketing Authorisation-Additional Indication).

SHORT TAKES

cmyk

cmyk

WhatsApp rolls out brand promotion in IndiaPRESS TRUST OF INDIA

New Delhi, July 4: WhatsAppSaturday said it is launching its'It's Between You' brand campaignin the country showcasing storiesabout how Indians are using theFacebook-owned platform to com-municate in a secure manner.

WhatsApp collaborated withBollywood director Gauri Shindealong with BBDO India to createtwo ads that highlight how its featureslike texts, video calls or even a voicemessage (which is end-to-end en-crypted) help replicate in-personconversations, it said in a statement.

With over 400 million users, Indiais among the biggest markets forWhatsApp.

"The campaign narrates real sto-ries about how Indians communi-cate daily on WhatsApp with theirclosest relationships...When pri-vacy is deeply felt, relationshipsfeel more intimate and real...

"WhatsApp continues to serve

as a crucial lifeline for people relyingon the platform to intimately com-municate with their friends andfamily while separated across longdistances," Facebook India’s Director,Marketing Avinash Pant told PTI.

One of the ads features an elderly

woman and her caregiver, whilethe second one is about two sisters.WhatsApp had run a similar cam-paign in Brazil earlier this year.

Pant said the campaign in Indiawill run for 10 weeks across Indiaon a number of national and re-

gional television channels and dig-ital platforms.

"Throughout this year, the cam-paign will see multiple creative ex-ecutions land in high profile cul-tural moments across the year fromfestivals to cricket (IPL). Over thecourse of the campaign, these filmswill be available in English andseven regional languages that includeHindi, Bengali, Assamese, Odia,Gujarati, Marathi and Kannada,"he added. Pant said shooting thesefilms remotely was a "new and achallenging experience" for every-one involved. The campaign was shotin the early days of lockdown, andthe production happened remotelyfollowing utmost standards of safetyand precaution, he added.

A COMPLETE GUIDE TO HEALTH INSURANCE CLAIMS

Owing to the rising

medicare costs in re-cent years, the gap be-tween healthcare costsand its affordability has

also proportionately increased. Anadequate Health Insurance is hencebecoming crucial for bridging thisgap. Due to significant rise in lifestylediseases, health insurance is nowseeing a gradual uptake among cus-tomers. However, many still remainunaware on availing insurance ben-efits during a claims scenario. Thislast minute hustle can easily be re-solved if you are well versed withthe process and methods of filinghealth insurance claims.

Most of the indemnity products,pay claim up to the treatment ex-penses after deducting non-medicalcharges and other deductions as perpolicy terms and conditions. The

claim will be reimbursed by the in-surer known as reimburse-ment claims or cus-tomer can opt forcashless facility atdesignated hospi-tals.Cashless claims:

Usually thecashless claimsfacility is providedfor medical treat-ment in one of thenetwork hospitalsof your

insurer. The insured is not requiredto shell out any sum for the treat-

ment except for the non-medicalitems. The insurance company

settles the payment directlywith the hospital depend-ing on the insurance pol-

icy terms and conditionsand the sum insured thatthe customer has optedfor. One can avail the ben-efits of cashless claim fa-cility for both planned

medical treat-

ment/surgeries and unplannedmedical exigencies.

In order to avail the cashlessclaims benefit, a customer needsto follow below mentioned pro-cedure:-1) In case the hospital admission

is planned, customer shouldapproach insurance desk ofthe hospital which guides themon cashless facility. The in-surance desk forwards entirecase with pre-authorizationapplication form to insurer.Basis the case details and pol-icy T&C, insurer approves thecashless facility. Generally, thisapproval should be taken 4 - 7days prior to the treatment.

2) Once you connect with yourinsurance company, they willinform you about the docu-ments that may be required.

Post sharing these documentsand medical details with the in-surer through insurance desk,it evaluates the treatment de-tails as per policy terms andconditions and informs theconcerned hospital and in-sured.

3) The customer needs to pro-duce following documents at thenetwork hospital in addition tothe documents that are speci-fied by the insurer:-

i. Pre-Authorisation letter (com-pleted by insurance desk)

ii. ID card issued by the insur-ance company

iii. Health Insurance Policy iv. Aadhar Card, Pan card / Form

60 (For KYC purpose)Reimbursement health in-

surance claims:Another process that one can opt

for settling a health insurance claimis the reimbursement mode. This sit-uation mostly arises when a pa-tient chooses the hospital as perhis choice and convenience and thehospital is not empanelled with theinsurer. In such scenarios, a pol-icy holder has to make the paymentfor all the medical bills that are re-lated to the said treatment and lateron file the claim for reimburse-ment.

A health insurance is a stitch intime. However to ensure that it isa backstitch, it is highly advised tobe aware of what your policy of-fers at the time of purchase itself.A detailed understanding of what’scovered and what’s not helps you toavoid any last minute ordeal.

(The writer is Head- HealthClaims, Bajaj Allianz General

Insurance)

June GST adds up to `759cr

POST NEWS NETWORK

Bhubaneswar, July 4: With thenumber of relaxations granted bythe GST Council, June witnessed amarked improvement in GST col-lections in the state. The OGST col-lection for June 2020 is marked`759.17 crore. Commissioner (CT& GST) SK Lohani reviewed thetax collections.

The OGST collected`759.17 croreagainst the collection of `804.49crore during the corresponding pe-riod last year which is less by `45crore (-) 5.6%. However, the OGSTcollection of the 1st quarter of 2020-21 (Apr-June) registered a nega-tive growth of 32.79% as the totalcollection could be`1560.20 crore asagainst`2321.39 crore collected dur-ing the same period in the preced-ing year.

Similarly, the Gross GSTCollection (CGST, IGST, SGST &Cess) in the first quarter of 2020-21(Apr-June) is `5192.30 cr as against`8019.44 cr during the precedingquarter of 2019-20 registering anegative growth rate of (-) 35.25%.However, the situation has im-proved in June, 2020 which regis-tered a collection of `2693.75 cr asagainst`2923.47 Cr achieved duringlast June. Thus, the shortfall was

only by (-) 7.86% during June 2020.Further, imposition of nation-

wide lockdown to contain COVID-19 adversely affected timely filingof returns for the tax periods ofFebruary, March and April 2020also. Realising the difficulties ofthe taxpayers, the governmentwaived the late fee for the delay inreturn filing and also allowed latepayment of tax due without inter-est/reduced interest @ 9%.

Similarly, taxpayers havingturnover up to `5 crore were re-quired to file returns for Marchtax period by July 5, 2020 and forApril tax period by July 9, 2020with no interest. Failure to fileGSTR 3B by the above mentioneddates will attract interest @ 9% im-

mediately after the due dates. Alltaxpayers are hereby, advised tofile returns by the due date to avoidpayment of interest.

In a major relief to GST tax-payers, the government has fur-ther decided to cap the maximumlate fee for Form GSTR-3B at `500per return for the tax period July2017 to July 2020.The reduced fee willbe levied only if returns are filedbefore September 30, 2020.

It has also notified that there will beNIL late fees if there is no tax liability.In order to further simplify the processof returns filing, GSTN has already in-troduced filing of monthly and quar-terly sales statements (GSTR 1) and taxreturn (GSTR 3B) through SMS forthose tax payers having NIL liability.

Modi unleashesinnovation challengeAGENCIES

New Delhi, July 4: Days after thegovernment banned 59 Chineseapps, Prime Minister NarendraModi Saturday invited the startupand tech community to participatein the "Atmanirbhar Bharat AppInnovation Challenge".

In a tweet, Electronics andInformation Technology (IT)Minister Ravi Shankar Prasad saidthat the prime minister haslaunched the challenge to encour-age Indian application developersand innovators.

Prime Minister Modi also saidthat it will help create an"Atmanirbhar App Ecosystem"."Who knows, I may also use someof these apps made by you," hesaid in a write-up on LinkedIn.

Today there is immense enthu-siasm among the tech and start-up community to create world class"Made in India Apps", Modi said.

"To facilitate their ideas andproducts, the Ministry ofElectronics and InformationTechnology along with the AtalInnovation Mission are launchingthe 'Aatmanirbhar Bharat AppInnovation Challenge'," the prime

minister tweeted sharing the linkto the LinkedIn post.

Modi had given a call for an"Atmanirbhar Bharat (a self-re-liant India) and had urged peopleto be "vocal for local" products.

He said the app innovation chal-lenge is for those who have such aworking product or if they feelthey have the vision and expertiseto create such products.

"I urge all my friends in the techcommunity to participate," he saidwhile sharing the write-up "Let usCode for an Atmanirbhar Bharat".

India has a very vibrant techand start-up ecosystem, which hasdone India proud nationally as wellas globally, Modi said.

The country’s youth have ex-celled in providing tech solutionsacross sectors, he said.

State claims to cut interestrate of liquidity infusionPOST NEWS NETWORK

Bhubaneswar, July 4: State MSMEand Energy minister Dibya ShankarMishra has urged the central gov-ernment to reduce the interest rateof liquidity infusion funding byREC and PFC.

The Energy minister asked forreduction from 9.5% to 6% and toextend the said assistance for therevenue shortfall due to less de-mand of power in FY’2020-21.

Mishra was speaking at the PowerMinisters’ conference held Fridayvia a video conferencing chaired byUnion Power Minister RK Singh. Thebenefit of the reform based distri-bution scheme applicable for the stateshaving done Purchasing power par-ity (PPP) in their states for betterservices to the consumers.

He emphasised that the proposedscheme should be such that thetribal children who have been leftneglected for long, get access toeducation, telemedicine and in-

formation similar to their urbancounterpart. Mishra stated thatthis can be achieved if a stable andquality power is facilitated to themin the far and isolated regions.

The Minister also stated thatthe consumption/demand fromthe commercial and industrial con-sumers continues to be very low andabout 25% lower than the expectedlevels. Therefore, the discoms areunable to schedule the power ofcentral Gencos like NTPC. He re-quested to provide the rebate ofthe fixed charges component ofunscheduled power for full year2020-21 as the impact will continue.

Paradip Port handleshighest volumeof cargo in Q1

POST NEWS NETWORK

Bhubaneswar, July 4: As theCOVID-19 pandemic continues tostifle the global supply chain, themaritime industry is facing adaunting task to function smoothly.In spite of all the obstacles, theParadip Port Trust (PPT) has comeout with flying colours and hasclocked a remarkable 25.73 mil-lion metric tonnes cargo handlingmark in the first quarter (April-June) of current financial year.

With this achievement, it be-came the no. 1 port among majorports in the country. PPT ChairmanRinkesh Roy and deputy chair-man AK Bose have conveyed theirgratitude to all employees, unions,state government, district ad-ministration, importers, exporters,stevedores, steamer agents, portusers and other stakeholders.

Chief Minister Naveen Patnaikand Union Petroleum and SteelMinister Dharmendra Pradhanhave also congratulated theParadip port authorities for han-dling the highest volume of cargoin the country.

Last fiscal during April toJune, Paradip had handled atotal cargo of 28,205 MillionMetric Tonnes.

PRESS TRUST OF INDIA

Bhubaneswar, July 4: TheRourkela Steel Plant (RSP) claimedthat it has registered a nationalrecord by clocking 48 blows in a sin-gle day in a single converter ofsteel making shop 2 (SMS-2).

The feat was possible becauseof perfect coordination and tremen-dous contribution by different de-partments, the RSP said in a state-ment Friday.

Hot metal of requisite qualityand quantity was supplied by theblast furnaces on Thursday, whiledepartments such as productionplanning and coordination (PPC),calcining plant-2, oxygen plant,material recovery department,research and control lab (R&CLab), refractory engineering serv-ices, instrumentation and au-tomation, traffic and raw mate-rial worked in tandem andprovided timely inputs seam-lessly, the statement said.

It also said that on the sameday the steel plant set anotherbenchmark as its hot metal torpedoladle number-5 surpassing its pre-vious record of 2,331 lining life.

The torpedo ladle is still in serv-ice and ready to scale new peaksof excellence, it said.

T he CEO of RSP, DipakChattaraj, visited both SMS-IIand Ladle Repair Shop Fridayand congratulated the collectivefor the stupendous performance,the statement said.

BIZ BUZZ

Mumbai monorail: 3Indian cos interested Mumbai: As many as three Indian com-panies have shown interest in manu-facturing rakes for the monorail proj-ects, weeks after town planningauthority MMRDA scrapped the bids bytwo Chinese firms. Last month, theMumbai Metropolitan RegionDevelopment Authority (MMRDA)scrapped the `500 crore contract forsourcing 10 rakes for the Jacob Circle-Wadala-Chembur monorail projectwherein two Chinese firms had

expressedtheir inter-est to sup-ply therakes,statingthat the

companies were "dictating" terms. "3Indian firms have shown interest indesigning and developing Mono railrolling stock," the authority tweeted.MMRDA Commissioner RA Rajeev hadearlier said that the authority was intalks with BHEL and BEML for the con-tract. Another private sector playerTitagarh has also expressed interest.

Ambani’s RILrolls out JioMeetNew Delhi: After raising billions of dol-lars from the likes of Facebook andIntel for its digital business, billionaireMukesh Ambani’s Reliance IndustrieshaslaunchedJioMeetvideoconfer-encingapp withunlimitedfree call-ing that is being seen as rate war onrival Zoom. The JioMeet video confer-encing app is available across Android,iOS, Windows, macOS and web sinceThursday evening after beta testing.According to the company website,JioMeet supports HD audio and videocall quality with up to 100 participantsand offers features like screen sharing,meeting schedule feature and more.But unlike Zoom, it does not impose a40-minute time limit. Calls can go on aslong as 24 hours, and all meetings areencrypted and password-protected,the company said.

STEEL MELTINGSHOP CONVERTER

RSP registersnational record insingle-day blowing

BHASKAR NERURKAR

IT’S BETWEEN YOU

WhatsApp collaborated withBollywood director Gauri Shinde

along with BBDO India to create two adsthat highlight how its features helpreplicate in-person conversations

The campaign narrates real storiesabout how Indians communicate

daily on WhatsApp with their closestrelationships

THIS YEAR’S GST COLLECTION IS `45 CR (-) 5.6% LESS THANTHE CORRESPONDING PERIOD LAST YEAR

ATMANIRBHAR BHARAT APP

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Printed and published by Tathagata Satpathy on behalf of Navajat Printers and Media Pvt. Ltd. and printed at Navajat Printers, B-15 Industrial Estate, Rasulgarh, Bhubaneswar -751010, Odisha;Phone:7894447142(Marketing). Editor: Tathagata Satpathy, RNI No. ORIENG/2011/371591

Morata doubleprops Atletico

ASSOCIATED PRESS

Barcelona, July 4: Alvaro Moratascored twice to lead Atletico Madridto a 3-0 win over Mallorca and ex-tend its strong finish to the Spanishleague.

Diego Simeone’s team has longbeen out of the title race being dis-puted by leader Real Madrid and sec-ond-placed Barcelona, which theytrail by eight points.

But Atletico is one of the hottestteams as La Liga ticks down be-fore it shifts focus to the ChampionsLeague final eight to be played inPortugal next month.

In March when the league washalted, Atletico was struggling tosecure a Champions League berthfor next season. It is now well oncourse to finishing third.

Atletico has remained undefeatedin seven matches since the Spanishleague resumed following a three-month stoppage for the COVID-19pandemic.

“We were in a complicated situ-ation before the stoppage, but wehave been playing well since wegot back to playing and have beenplaying with a great attitude,”Morata said.

Simeone’s side dominated therelegation-threatened Mallorcafrom kickoff. Morata earned apenalty when he was pulled downby Aleksandar Sedlar in the area.

Goalkeeper Manuel Reina blockedhis strike, but a video review helpedthe referee order a redo of the spotkick after Sedlar entered the areatoo early.

Morata stepped back up and on

a second try rifled the ball into thetop corner in the 29th minute.“Missing and then getting back upand trying again is part of foot-ball,” Morata said about the penalty.

The former Chelsea and RealMadrid striker was back on thescoreboard in first-half injury timewhen Koke stole the ball and playedMarcos Llorente clear to reach theend line, where he found Morata atthe far post to tap home.

The goals were Morata’s 10thand 11th of the season in league play.Mallorca could not muster a come-back and Renan Lodi hit the cross-bar for Atlético before Koke scoredin the 79th.

His shot deflected off a defenderto give Reina no chance to save.Mallorca was left five points fromsafety with four games left.

AGENCIES

Barcelona, July 4: FormerBarcelona great Xavi has report-edly agreed to replace Quique Setienat the end of this season.

The 61-year-old Setien has en-dured a tough tenure at the helm ofthe Catalan giants since replacingErnesto Valverde in January, andspeculation has mounted that theclub’s board are tempted to wield theaxe already.

And according to ‘MundoDeportivo’, a ‘firm agreement’ hasbeen finalised which would seeXavi take up the reins at the end ofthe season.

It is believed that talisman LionelMessi – who has reportedly been con-sidering his future at the club –and his teammates are satisfiedwith what would be a sensationalappointment.

Xavi, who current manages Al-Sadd in Qatar, has been touted toearn 5.4million pound per yearfrom his new bumper contract.

He had taken over at Al-Saddlast summer after bringing an endto his trophy-laden time on the fieldwith the same club.

However, Barcelona appear tohave come knocking once again

after being rejected originally whensearching for Valverde’s successorat the beginning of the year.

The midfield maestro made 767

first-team appearances for the LaLiga giants, and joined the clubaged 11 before progressing throughtheir world-renowned La Masia

academy system. Xavi himself admitted last month

that he and his coaching staff arepreparing to take charge ofBarcelona in the future.

The four-time Champions Leaguewinner told a video conference:‘The biggest hope I have now is tobe Barca coach and get Barca backto winning ways. Not me but theseplayers and Barca triumphing. Andas a consequence, our technicalstaff, who are preparing for it a lotand it makes us really excited.”

Despite turning down the roledue to his perceived lack of expe-rience coaching at the highest level,Xavi appears to have been temptedto accept the offer this time round.

The 40-year-old is unlikely tohave enjoyed watching the top-flighttitle challengers’ struggles to re-tain their crown this season – witha mixed string of results havinghanded rivals Real Madrid the ad-vantage.

Setien is now fighting for his fu-ture, with many expecting him tobe sacked at the end of the campaign.The board harbour concerns overrecent performances, and playershave also reportedly turned againstthe tactician due to confusion overhis instructions.

XAVI TO REPLACE SETIEN: REPORTS

Alvaro Morata (L), with teammates, celebrates one of his goals against Real Mallorca, Friday

AGENCIES

London, July 4: Lionel Messicould end up making a sensationalmove to Juventus to play along-side old rival Cristiano Ronaldonext summer, according toBarcelona icon Rivaldo, amid re-ports that the Argentine is deeplyunhappy at the Nou Camp.

With the Catalan giants in tur-moil, Spanish radio station ‘CadenaSER’ reported that Messi wouldsee out his 500,000 pound-per-weekcontract at the club before movingon next summer.

Messi is deeply unhappy withthe club’s current hierarchy, fol-lowing the sale of Arthur and theclub’s half-baked attempt to re-signNeymar from PSG.

And Rivaldo claims a move toTurin is already being dreamed up,creating one of the most star-stud-ded attacks in footballing history.

“With all this speculation, I be-lieve that some agents are alreadydreaming about a Messi-Ronaldodouble at Juventus and how big itwill be around the globe,” Rivaldotold ‘Betfair’.

“If that happened there wouldbe a world ‘boom’, and I believeJuventus would quickly recover

a ny i nve s t m e n t o n t h eArgentinian thanks to the boostthey would get from visibilityand marketing.

“It would be historical to seeboth playing together and I’m suremany Juve sponsors would love tohelp financially, so, it’s also a pos-sibility for Messi.

“If there are rumours about hisexit, then of course every club willbe thinking about how they cansign him. That said, the two bestplayers in the world for the past 10years playing at the same clubwould be massive.”

Should Messi decide to leave theNou Camp, another potential des-tination would be Etihad – a movethat would see Messi reunite with

former boss Pep Guardiola.“If he is considering leaving the

club, then something mustn’t begood in the Barcelona dressingroom and perhaps he is tired withall the constant problems that havesurrounded the club in the last fewmonths,” Rivaldo added.

“When Messi’s contract ends,he will be 34, but with his class Ithink he could still easily play inPremier League. It will be sad to seehim leaving Barcelona once hiscontract ends eventually, but I stillhope that he can stay for now.

“Despite his connection to theclub, he has the right to move ifhe wants and reuniting with PepGuardiola at City will be temptingfor him, as the two of them formeda great coach and player partner-ship at Barca.”

While Messi is fed up with howthe Catalan club is currently run,there are huge doubts that he’s al-ready decided what he will do in 12months’ time.

If the club are unable to per-suade Messi over their new winning‘project’ before his contract is up,then it would signal an end of anera for the Argentine in Catalonia.However, a move away from theNou Camp is very unlikely.

‘Agents already dreaming aboutMessi-Ronaldo double at Juve’

REUTERS

London, July 4: Arsenal’s BrazilU-23 striker Gabriel Martinellihas signed a new long-term con-tract at the Premier League club.The news comes 48 hours afterfellow teenager Bukayo Saka, 18,also agreed a new long-term dealwith the Gunners.

The 19-year-old Martinelli –who penned his new contract ex-actly a year after joining Arsenal- has scored 10 goals in 26 gamesfor the club since moving fromBrazilian side Ituano last year.

He has been sidelined for the restof the season after suffering aknee injury in training which re-quired surgery.

“He is a very talented youngplayer and he has impressed uswith his performances, attitude andwork-rate. We are looking forwardto getting him back to full fitnessand to watching his developmentat our club,” manager Mikel Artetatold the club website.

Martinelli is the first teenagerto score 10 goals in a season forArsenal since Nicolas Anelka over20 years ago.

PRESS TRUST OF INDIA

Manchester, July 4: Wicket-keeperJonny Bairstow and spin bowlingall-rounder Moeen Ali were Saturdayleft out of England’s 13-man squadfor the first ‘bio-secure’ Test againstWest Indies, starting July 8.

Ben Stokes will lead the side asEngland’s regular captain Root willmiss the game to be with his wifefor the birth of their second child.

The squad features pacers JamesAnderson, Stuart Broad, JofraArcher and Mark Wood in addi-tion to all-rounders Stokes andChris Woakes. In the spin depart-ment, England have gone withDominic Bess. Jack Leach has beenleft out of the main squad and isamong reserves.

The most Notable omissions fromthe 30-man training squad includeBairstow and Moeen. Bairstow’sposition in the side had first be-

come uncertain in 2019 after a pro-longed run of low scores. He wasinitially left out of England’s squadfor their tour of New Zealand butwas able to find a spot due to injuryto Joe Denly.

Bairstow then got a spot on thetour of South Africa but scoredonly 10 runs in two innings of theone Test he played. That left himwith a tally of only 334 runs in 2019at an average of 18.55.

Moeen took a break from red-

ball cricket after being droppedfrom England’s set up mid-waythrough the Ashes. He went wicket-less his first bowling innings inthe warm-up match and picked uptwo wickets in the second, but Bessand Leach both got more wickets.

THE SQUAD: Ben Stokes (C),James Anderson, Jofra Archer,Dominic Bess, Stuart Broad, RoryBurns, Jos Buttler (wk), Zak Crawley,Joe Denly, Ollie Pope, Dom Sibley,Chris Woakes and Mark Wood.

Nasser recallswaiting forSourav at toss

ASSOCIATED PRESS

Spielberg (Austria), July 4: RedBull has lost an appeal it lodgedagainst the dual assistant steer-ing system unveiled by FormulaOne (F1) rival Mercedes duringwinter testing in February.

The DAS helps the Mercedes car’scornering and reduces its tire wear.On-board footage from testing inSpain showed Lewis Hamiltonpulling the steering wheel back andforth on the front straight, apparentlychanging the angle of the front tires.

Other teams were caught cold bythe innovation, with Red Bull claim-

ing in its protest that the DAS is bothan aerodynamic and a suspensiondevice. But stewards said it waspart of the steering system aloneand cleared Mercedes late Fridaynight following a hearing.

“DAS is part of the steering sys-tem, albeit not a conventional one,”the FIA said in a statement. “Thekey challenges to the legality ofthe DAS rely on it not being part ofthe steering system. If this were in-deed the case, then it would bebreaching (regulations).”

The system will be banned asfrom 2021 but can be used by Mercedesand other teams this season.

LIN DAN HANGS UP HIS RACQUET

Martinelli penslong-term dealwith Gunners

PRESS TRUST OF INDIA

Beijing, July 4: Legendary Chineseshuttler Lin Dan, the first men’ssingles player to retain the Olympictitle, Saturday announced his re-tirement, bringing down curtains ona two-decade long illustrious career.

Considered as one of the great-est players in history, the two-timeOlympic champion, popularlyknown as ‘Super Dan’, announcedhis retirement on China’s twitter-like social media ‘Weibo’.

“From 2000 to 2020, after 20 years,I have to say goodbye to the na-tional team. It is very difficult to sayit out loud,” the 36-year-old, whohad claimed gold medals at the 2008and 2012 Olympics, wrote.

“Being a 37-year-old, my physicalcondition and injuries no longerallow me fight alongside my team-mates. There is gratitude, reluc-tance and frustration. In the daysto come, I hope to spend more timewith my family, and I will also look

for a new ‘competition’,” he said, ac-cording to ‘Xinhua’.

He said he dedicated everythingto the sport he loved. “After goingthrough four Olympic cycles, I havenever thought about leaving, nor

would I want to think about it.‘Persistence’ is the word I told my-self in every suffering moment inorder to keep my career longer.

“Rather than simply pursuingrankings as a young shuttler, I’m

challenging my physical limits asan ‘old’ athlete under the sportsspirit of never giving up.”

During his glorious career, LinDan has also won five WorldChampionship title and six AllEngland champion crowns. Heended with 666 singles titles, be-sides numerous medals for his coun-try. “My thanks also go to my ex-cellent ‘opponents’ who inspiredme,” he said.

Malaysian legend Lee ChongWei, who had retired just over ayear ago, paid glowing tribute to LinDan, against whom he had ragedmany epic battles with the two dom-inating the international stage formore than a decade.

“We knew this day would arrive,Heavy moment of our lives; Youpulled down the curtain gracefully,You were king where we fought soproudly; Your final wave all four dis-appear, Within the hush of silenttear. #lindan,” Chong Wei wroteon his twitter handle.

Bairstow, Moeen ignored for 1st Test

Red Bull loses appeal against Mercedes’ DAS

INDO-ASIAN NEWS SERVICE

Mumbai, July 4: Former Indiaskipper Sourav Ganguly and for-mer England skipper NasserHussain have had quite a few epicbattles on the cricket pitch andwhile they are both good friends offit, the former English captain hasadmitted that he hated the Indianskipper for making him wait atthe toss. But with time Nasser hasrealised that the current BCCIPresident is a lovely person.

Speaking on Star Sports show‘Cricket Connected’, Hussain spokeabout his Team India counterpartback then. “I have always said,and this is a generalisation, but Ihave always said about Ganguly,that he made India a tougher side.

“So, before Ganguly, there werevery talented side, but you felt theywere also a nice side, very down toearth, would meet you with morn-ing greetings, morning Nasser, itwas a very pleasant experience.

“Playing against a Gangulyside, you knew you were in a bat-tle, you knew that Ganguly un-derstood the passion of Indiancricket fans and it wasn’t just agame of cricket. It was more im-portant than a game of cricket.

“He was feisty and he pickedfeisty cricketers whether it wouldbe Harbhajan or Yuvraj or whoeverfeisty in your face that when youmet him away from the game, werelovely, nice. Sourav’s like that.

“When I played against Sourav,I hated him, he used to make mewait for the toss every single timeand I’ll be like, Ganguly, its 10.30,we have to toss. But now I work withhim for the last decade on com-mentary, he’s such a nice, calm, he’sstill late for his commentary stints,but he is a lovely bloke.

“And that’s the way cricketersshould be. When you play with himor against him, you don’t like himand when you meet up with himlater in life, they’re nice people.”