˘ ˇ ˆ ˆ˙˝ · 2020. 8. 29. · accompanied by an escort vehicle of the mumbai police. after...

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The Centre on Saturdayallowed operation of Metro

trains from September 7 andpublic gathering up to 100people from September 21with strict social distancingnorms. But cinema halls andswimming pools will continueto remain shut.

The schools and collegeswill be shut up to September30, but the Centre has allowed50 per cent of teachers andnon-teaching staff to come toinstitutions from September21 for the conduct of onlineand tele-counseling.

The Ministry of Home’snew Unlockdown-4 Guidelinessaid that students from 9thstandard can visit the campus-es with the consent of parentsfrom September 21 to meet theteachers.

The Ministry of Housingand Urban Affairs has con-vened a virtual meeting with allmetro companies onSeptember 1 to discuss thestandard operating procedures(SOP).The SOPs says cus-tomised entry/exit will beallowed at each station to con-trol footfall.

The Metro train operationwill be starting only in gradedmanner and intake of passen-gers as well as their entry to theplatforms will be “controlled.”

The CISF will also be partof these procedures, especiallyin handling the passengermovements. The guidelinessaid that open-air theaters willbe allowed to start fromSeptember 21.

“Metro rail will be allowedto operate with effect from 7thSeptember 2020 in a gradedmanner, by the Ministry ofHousing and Urban Affairs(MOHUA)/ Ministry ofRailways (MOR), in consulta-tion with MHA. In this regard,Standard Operating Procedure(SOP) will be issued byMOHUA.

“Social/ academic/ sports/entertainment/ cultural/ reli-gious/ political functions andother congregations will bepermitted with a ceiling of

100 persons, with effect fromSeptember 21. However, suchlimited gatherings can be heldwith the mandatory wearingof face masks, social distanc-ing, provision for thermalscanning and hand wash orsanitizer,” said the guidelines.

The MHA said extensivediscussions took place withStates on the opening ofschools and colleges. Thoughclasses will be not conductedtill September 30, partial activ-ities will start from September21. The Centre has asked theStates to develop opening upprocedures on this regard.

“After extensive consulta-tion with States and UTs, it hasbeen decided that schools, col-leges, educational and coachinginstitutions will continue to

remain closed for students andregular class activity up to30th September 2020. It addedthat the following activitieswill be permitted in areas out-side the Containment Zonesonly with effect fromSeptember 21 for which, SOPwill be issued by the Ministryof Health & Family Welfare(MoHFW): a.States/ UTs maypermit up to 50% of teachingand non-teaching staff to becalled to the schools at a timefor online teaching/ tele- coun-seling and related work.

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India on Saturday crossedover 3.53 million coronavirus

cases, with average 72,000-76,000 cases per day during thelast four weeks. It took 15 daysfrom 2.5 million cases onAugust 14 to cross 3.5 millionmarks.

Now the third-most-affect-ed country by total cases, sec-ond by active cases, and fourthby death toll, the latest coron-avirus trends over the last fourweeks are extremely worrying.With this rate of the spike,India is expected to pip Brazilto the second spot bySeptember 10.

The States that have beenworst affected by a total tally ofcases are Maharashtra, TamilNadu, Andhra Pradesh,Karnataka and Uttar Pradesh.The States that have reportedthe biggest 24-hour jump inactive cases are Maharashtra,Andhra Pradesh, Karnataka,Odisha and Telangana.

Maharashtra on Saturdayreported a single-day highestspike of 16,867 coronaviruscases which pushed its case tally

to 7,64,281. With 328 new fatal-ities, the death toll due to thepandemic reached 24,103. Theearlier highest one-day increasein the number of patients was14,888 on August 26. There are1,85,131 active cases. 11,541patients were discharged duringthe day, taking total recoveriesto 5,54,711. In State capitalMumbai, 1,432 new cases and31 deaths were reported. Thetotal number of Covid-19 casesin the city rose to 1,43,389 anddeath toll to 7,596.

An IPS officer who was partof the Mumbai Police's teamwhich was probing actorSushant Singh Rajput suicidecase has tested positive forcoronavirus infection.

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Actress Rhea Chakrabortywas grilled by the CBI for

seven hours on the secondconsecutive day on Saturdayover her alleged role in the cir-cumstances leading to SushantSingh Rajput’s death. A dayafter she was questioned for 11-long hours by the CBI, Rhea —who has been accused bySushant’s family of abettingthe actor’s death — arrived atthe Defence Research &Development Organisation(DRDO)’s guesthouse at SantaCruz’s Kalina area for ques-tioning at 1.30 pm for the sec-ond day of questioning. Herquestioning went on seven-long hours.

Around 8.30 pm, Rheastepped out of the DRDOguesthouse along with herbrother Showik, who wasgrilled for the third consecu-

tive day and drove her to Juhuresidence, in her car. She wasaccompanied by an escortvehicle of the Mumbai police.

After Rhea lodged a com-plaint with the Santa Cruzpolice station against somemedia persons on Fridaynight for allegedly trying toenter her residence, theMumbai police had providedher protection and escort totake her for questioning at theDRDO and bring her backfrom there after seven-hour-long grilling.

Her brother Showik, whohad also accompanied Rhea,was questioned separately forthe third consecutive day.

Meanwhile, Goa-basedhotelier Gaurav Arya, whosename has figured in drug-related issues involvingSushant, Rhea and others,will appear before the ED forquestioning on Monday.

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Amid continuing tension atthe Line of Actual Control

(LAC), India has decided not totake part in a multi-nationexercise next month in Russiawhere China and Pakistan mil-itary contingents will also bepresent. A 200-team of theIndian armed forces was earli-er scheduled to take part in theexercise from September 14-30.

The prestigious exercisenamed named “Kavkaz-2020”wil l be conducted inAstrakhan area of SouthRussia. India will officiallyconvey its decision to with-draw from the event to Russiashortly.

This step has now cast ashadow over the forthcominghigh-prof i le visits of Defence Minister RajnathSingh and External AffairsMinister S Jaishankar toRussia to attend the ShanghaiCooperation Organisation(SCO) ministerial-level con-clave.

Meanwhile, open-sourcesatellite imagery indicatesthat China may be developing

two new air defence positionsto cover the disputed borderin the Doklam and Sikkimsectors as well as an areawhere Indian and Chinesetroops had clashed in May.

The satellite imagery hasbeen shared by the open-source intelligence analystwho uses the name @detres-fa on Twitter. It suggests thatChina may be developingsurface-to-air missile facilitiesin these two locations.

With China refusing tobudge, a high-level meetingattended among others byJaishankar and Chief ofDefence Staff (CDS) GeneralBipin Rawat decided againsttaking part in the militaryexercise in Russia in view ofthe presence of China andPakistan, sources said.

While Rajnath is expectedto visit Russia next week toattend the SCO meeting,Jaishankar is likely to arrive inMoscow on September 10.Earlier, there were speculationthat both the Indian Ministersmay also meet their Chinesecounterparts during the meet.

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One doesn’t really have to watch thelatest web series on the OTTplatform to know that Neena Gupta

is a great actor. In a career of nearly fourdecades and movies like Swarg, Yalgar andBadhaai Ho under her belt, she has onceagain given a performance that is great. InMasaba Masaba where she pairs up withher daughter in a fictionalised version oftheir lives, she shines beautifully. Here, onegets to see her insecurity as an actor, herstruggle as a mother who wants the bestfor her daughter and makes her strong andindependent in a dog-eat-dog world ofentertainment and fashion. Her excitementon meeting Farah Khan for a role is notonly cute and sweet, it is amusing as well.Another scene that really brings a smile is

�What is your role in Aye MereHumsafar?

I play Pratibha Devi Kothari, abusinesswoman who has lost herhusband. However, she has to step out ofthe house to earn in order to bring up mychildren. I pound masalas at home andsell it to people.

The show is set in Rajasthan and theseries shows how tough it is for a womanwith no husband support to standindependently. But this is what I do sinceI want the best for my children.�The show has a message. What is it?

Through my character, the showwants to let women know that there is aneed to stand independently. While theshow is set in Rajasthan, the series is astory on women across India. Thosewomen who get married off at an earlyage and unfortunately lose theirhusbands, need to stand on their ownand be financially independent likePratibha Devi does. The othermessage is women don’t have tothink about what the society has tosay. Just because she is a womandoesn’t mean that she has to live therest of her life at home. She can livewith dignity and work as well.�How did you get on board theproject?

I got my first project Diya Aur BaatiHum from Shashi Sumeet Production.Due to the present pandemic, it was notpossible for me to go for auditions butwe did have a few calls back and forthand zoom meetings. Saying yes to thisshow is like coming back home. I wastold that both Shashi and Sumeetdecided that they were looking forPratibha Devi, they were in agreementthat I would be a perfect role to play asthe mother. All I was told that I wouldplay an independent woman, this wasenough for me.

The production house had given memy first show, there was no way I wouldturn them down. Also, the show is to beaired on Dangal TV. I have only heardgood things about this channel. On dayone of the shoot Shashi ma’am came onthe sets and told me that she had got herPratibha Devi. It was great to get so muchlove and respect.�Did you think that Bhabho wouldbring you so much fame — Diya AurBaati Hum?

Not at all. When I had started to playthis character, I had not fullycomprehended the character. It took metime to understand the role. However, asthe show progressed and got feedbackfrom the channel, Shashi ma’am andSumeet sir on how to play this character

and how to behave. This helped me playthis role so well. I owe the fame ofBhabho to the team, they were the onethat made her so big. To give an example.I was in Chandigarh for a shoot and amother with her son had come to metme. She said: ‘Bhabho iske sar par haanthrakhdo, yeh bhi Suraj ban jayega’. Theymade Bhabho a Goddess.�You took a small break, what kept youbusy?

I had been working non-stop for nineyears. I was never able to spend time withmy children during their schooling all

through. But then my son came inClass XII and I told him that Iwould be there for him. For this Itook a break. Now, that the examsare over, I am back at work.�How did your journey begin?

I come from a very mediocreRajasthani family. I always tried toearn extra so that I could help myfamily financially. My brother woulddo the same. I used to take up stageshows. Today, with God’s grace I amwhere I am. I am thankful for this.Now, I have a house in Boravali,Mumbai.�You were very young, only 11,was it tough to act at such a youngage in films?

Actually, I used to play around onthe sets. I didn’t realise what was

happening. Most times, I would bescolded for prancing around when I

should have been busy getting readysince I was the heroine. The film was

about child marriage. Balika Vadhu isinspired from this film. The film was ahit and I ended up doing 55 movies as alead. I have done films with KiranKumarji, Govinda, Asif Shiekh, Jagdeepji,Rakesh Roshanji to name a few. Yourwork and honesty always pay.�How do you choose your projects?

I take up roles that my gut tells meto take up. If I feel right about thecharacter that I am being offered, I neversay no to it.�Were there never any Bollywoodplans?

Like I said, I come from an ordinaryMarwari family. They had to sacrifice alot to let me work in films. I neverrealised that I would end up doing TVshows as well. My parents told me thatI needed to restrict myself to this onlyand not go beyond.�What next?

For now, I am concentrating ondoing this show. I hope the viewers willlike the series. I request people to watchthe show that goes on air on August 31,2020 at 7 pm from Monday to Friday.

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So this was the one with 20million negative views tothe trailer! One wonders

why such hullabaloo becausefor such a strong reactionthere needs to be somethingbig that is bad or somethingthat is good. Sadak 2 is neither.It is a rippleless movie on atwisted, 90s subject withMahesh Bhatt trying hard togive life lessons on familialbetrayal, superstition and faithin dhongi babas.

All that is fine, but itseems Bhatt has not movedwith the times because Sadak2 , despite the toweringpresence of Sanjay Dutt andthe arresting beauty andhistrionics of Alia Bhatt, not tomention the wasted role of

Aditya Roy Kapur who is atbest a sidekick of a sidekick inthe film, the movie really has

no story of worth to tell.Alia Bhatt is an activist

heiress on the run, all the way

to Mt Kailash if you please, andshe carries with her the weightof a quickly sewn together

intrigue of Godmen andrelatives who are after her lifefor no apparent reason.

Why they want her killed isnot convincingly told in theroad trip where Dutt is fightinghis ghosts after losing hisoriginal Sadak wife to anaccident and living with theagony of having buried astillborn child.

Mahesh Bhatt has beenstorytelling with much morechutzpah, better music and anunderstanding of an issue butin Sadak 2 he is jaded, all overthe place, almost directionlessand somehow gives you thefeeling of having lost his wayon a Sadak he so well-definedlast time round.

No need to get too hassledabout this one. It is not worthtoo much of a reaction, whichis sad because Alia is good asusual, so is Dutt with hisveteran looks and acting skillsas he knows them.

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how she haggles with the sabziwala for �3 for pyaz (notkanda) — a typical Dilliwala attitude.

Despite the disclaimer that the series is a fictionalaccount of the mother-daughter, there is relatability if

one is from the fashion andentertainment industry. For theothers, they can take heart and beentertained in the six-episodeseries of 32 minutes each as itprogresses giving a sneak peek inwhat their life would actually havebeen — the drama, to be judgedand under scrutiny all the time.

While this is Masaba Gupta’sfirst stint as an actor, even thoughshe had judged a show — MTVSupermodel of the Year last year onMTV India channel, she appearsat ease here. Her relaxed demeanorand rather good performancecould be due to the presence of hermother.

The other starcast that needsa mention here are Neil

Bhoopalam and Rytasha Rathore.Bhoopalam as the broodinginvestor in House of Masabafashion, is interesting to watcheven though he doesn’t have manydialogues. Rathore, who playsMasaba’s onscreen BFF, is great.

She is funny and thefriendship between the two comesout so naturally, it is amazing.Another actor who needs amention is Amairah Awatanyewho plays little Masaba Gupta. Sheis cute. There are places wheredirector Sonam Nair has put in herplace of the grown up Masaba, itis endearing.

Overall, an interesting watch,especially Neena Gupta.

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Amid the ongoing debateon whether it is fair to

conduct the JEE and NEETexams during the Covid-19pandemic, many students ofUttarakhand stated that theseexams can be conductedwhile fol lowing al l thenecessary protocols like everyother work is being managedand done in the country.Expressing their concernabout the possiblecancellation or delay of theseexams affecting their future,the students said that thosewho want to delay are eitherthose students who did notprepare for the exams or thepoliticians who just raiseobjection against any decisionmade by the CentralGovernment. "People should

not politicise issues like theseexams. The JEE and NEETexams have already beendelayed twice before due to

Covid-19 which I completelyunderstand but thegovernment has now allowedalmost every activity with

certain restrictions as thework is being done in bothprivate and public sectors.So, this situation can be

handled like other situationstoo.

Those who are opposingare either students who havenot studied for these exams orthe people indulging in cheappolitics because more than 75per cent students downloadedthe admit cards of JEE andNEET exams within 24 hourswhich clearly shows that thestudents want to appear forthe exams," said a NEETaspirant from Rudrapur,Nidhi Sharma.

Another candidate of JEEexam, Rohan Singh, statedthat postponing such examsanymore will jeopardise thefuture of every student whoprepared for the exams for solong. Singh said, "I was takingcoaching classes for the lasttwo years for this exam. Istudied daily and scored a

good percentage in class XIItoo. I feel prepared to give theexam but even if I do notperform well in the exam, Iwant to know where I stand.We are already behind byseveral months in planningabout our college and ourfuture, so it is not a good ideato delay or cancel the examsbecause our whole year wouldbe wasted then."

Though, most of thestudents are eager to appearfor the said exams, a few areagainst it too.

Besides, some of theparents are also not too keento allow their children toappear for the JEE and NEETexams stating it to be too riskyin the current pandemicscenario. "I do not mindattending my NEET exambut my parents think the

exam should be postponed tillthe situation gets better here.The posit ive cases areincreasing everyday so it isnot going to happen anytimesoon but I am sure everyonewill understand that theseexams are important forstudents and if anybody doesnot want to appear for theseexams this t ime due to certain reasons, they can trythe next year," said HarshitaNagoi, a NEET aspirant fromDehradun.

Meanwhile, PankajKumar Samrat who runs theAlpha Beta Gamma Academyin Dehradun providingcoaching classes to JEE andNEET aspirants also opinedthat the exams should not bepostponed otherwise it willseverely affect the future ofthe students.

He said that there are alimited number of attempts toappear for these exams andbesides this, the number ofaspirants will also rise thenext year which will createmore chaos because thenumber of seats are not goingto increase next year with thecancellation of these exams.

Talking about the risk ofcontagion among studentsdue to these exams, Samratsaid that everyone is working,going outside and leadingtheir life and so, the studentscan possibly catch the Covid-19 virus from anybody intheir family too. "Therefore, Ithink the exams can beconducted with observance ofthe standard guidelines byeveryone involved in theexams," added Samrat.

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The northward march ofthe novel Coronavirus

(Covid-19) is showing nosigns of slowing down inUttarakhand. Amid fears ofthe virus entering the dreadedcommunity spread stage,eleven deaths and 658 freshcases of Covid-19 werereported on Saturday. Thetally of the disease in the Statehas now mounted to 18,571while the death toll stands at250. On Saturday, 400 patientsof the disease were dischargedfrom different hospitals ofthe state after which thenumber of recovered patientsincreased to 12,524. The

recover y percentage forCovid-19 in the state is 67.44percent and out of the totalsamples tested 5.32 percenthave tested positive for thedisease. The doubling rate ofthe disease is 23.41 days anda total of 19,721 samples areremaining to be tested indifferent labs of the state.

Six patients of the diseasewere reported dead at AllIndia Institute of MedicalSciences (AIIMS) Rishikeshon Saturday. The dead hereincluded a 14 year old boy.Three patients of Covid-19were reported dead at SushilaTiwari Government HospitalHaldwani on the day.Similarly, one patient eachwas reported dead fromMahant Indiresh hospital andGovernment Doon MedicalCollege (GDMC) hospital.

The provisional statecapital Dehradun continued

to reel under the onslaught ofthe virus as authorit iesreported 179 patients of thedisease on Saturday. Haridwarwas close behind with 161patients. In Udham SinghNagar 90 patients werereported while Tehri reported64, Almora 54, Nainital 45,Uttarkashi 19, Bageshwar 16,Pithoragarh 11, Champawatand Pauri six each, Chamolifive and Rudraprayag twocases of the disease.

Out of 400 patientsdischarged after recovery 187are from Udham Singh Nagar,82 from Dehradun and 51from Nainital.

The state now has 5735active patients of the diseasewith Haridwar jumping tothe top position in the table ofactive patients with 1308patients.

Dehradun is in secondposition with 1268 active

cases while Udham SinghNagar slipped to third spotwith 1245 active cases of thedisease. Nainital has 754

active patients of Covid-19while Tehri has 303,Uttarkashi 184, Almora 141,Champawat 134, Pauri 122,

Pithoragarh 82, Bageshwar76, Champawat 70 andRudraprayag 48 activepatients of Covid-19.

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The positive test report forCovid-19 of President of

Uttarakhand BJP, BansidharBhagat has created panicamong the polit icians,bureaucrats and others whomet him during the last fewdays. The state headquartersof Uttarakhand BJP wasclosed for two days and thespeaker of UttarakhandVidhan Sabha, PremchandAgar wal went into selfisolation after Bhagat wastested positive.

The information that hehas tested positive for Covid-19 was provided by Bhagathimself on Saturday morning.On Friday his son was alsofound positive for the diseasein Haldwani.

On Saturday evening

Bhagat was admitted in theGovernment Doon MedicalCollege (GDMC) hospital. Inhis message, the BJPpresident also asked all thosewho had come into hiscontact to get tested andexpressed hope that he wouldovercome the disease.

The Chief MedicalOfficer (CMO) of Dehradun,Dr Anup Dimri told ThePioneer that Bhagat is stableand was admitted in thehospital considering hisadvanced stage.

He said that the personswho came into close contactwith the leader should gettested for Covid-19.

Meanwhile, a worriedstate unit of BJP announcedclosure of its office for two

days. The party decided that

the office would be sanitisedfor two days. The speakerPremchand Agarwal wentinto isolation at his YamunaColony residence. Agarwalhad recently met Bhagat.

The speaker has cancelledall his public engagementsand has decided to gethimself and family memberstested for Covid-19.

Incidentally the statepresident of BJP was veryactive in the last few days. OnAugust 24, Bhagat had shifted to his new officialresidence at Yamuna Colony.

Here a house warmingceremony followed by aLunch was held. Largenumber of people includingthe Ministers and leaders had attended the programmein which the Khanpur MLAPranav Singh Champion wastaken back into the party'sfold.

Now all those who metBhagat in the last few days areworried and are eitherisolating themselves or areundergoing tests.

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Politics heated up in theaftermath of the BJP

president becoming Covid-19positive. Taking a pot shot atstate BJP, the vice president ofUttarakhand Congress, SuryaKant Dhasmana said that hewishes Bhagat a speedy recoveryfrom the disease. He howeverquestioned the presence ofhundreds of people in the housewarming ceremony of BansiDhar Bhagat. He alleged thatthe BJP leaders are behavingirresponsibly in dealing with thedisease and said that it appearsthat they are under the notionthat they are resistant to thedisease. Dhasmana also attackedthe state administration foradopting separate standards fordealing with the leaders of BJPand opposition. He said thatadministration is slapping caseson the Congress leaders for notfollowing social distancingnorms during programmes andlooking the other way whensimilar and more blatantoffences are committed by theBJP leaders.

While Dhasmana wasaggressive in his attack on BJP,the Pradesh CongressCommittee (PCC) PresidentPritam Singh was more guardedin his approach. Responding tothe questions of media persons,he merely said that he wishes aspeedy recovery to BansidharBhagat from Covid-19. He saidthat the politicians lead a sociallife and at times the norms ofsocial distancing are notfollowed properly. He addedthat those in public life cannotengage in pick and choosepolicy for meeting with thepublic. When prodded by themedia persons to comment onthe ceremony held at the newofficial residence of Bhagat, thePCC president merely said thathe doesn't want to makepolitical comments on thesubject.

The spokesperson ofUttarakhand BJP, DevendraBhasin said that theUttarakhand Congress shouldlook into itself beforecommenting on the issue. Hesaid that it is really unfortunatethat some Congress leaders areengaging in petty politics on thesubject. Bhasin remindedCongress that many of itsleaders were in quarantine andthey organised programmeslike Bullock cart march whichaffected anti Covid activities.

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The Aam Aadmi Party(AAP) has alleged nepotism

in appointment of daughter ofDehradun Mayor Sunil Uniyal‘Gama’ on the post ofaccountant in the IndianMedical Association. Thedaughter of the Mayor wasgiven a contractualappointment under the agencyPrantiya Rakshak Dal (PRD).Launching an attack on theMayor and BJP, thespokesperson of AAP,Uttarakhand, Ravindra SinghAnand said that it isunfortunate that on one handunemployed like Sandeep arecommitting suicide while onthe other hand, the influentialand those who are close toChief Minister are getting jobsfrom backdoor.

He said that the chairmanof the council has clarified thatnames of suitable candidateswere sought from the PRDand it provided the candidates.Anand said that now a questionarises that under whosepressure did only the name ofMayor’s daughter was sent whilehundreds of unemployed areregistered with PRD.

He claimed that the wife ofthe present Mayor was alsoadjusted in the Assemblyservices by former SpeakerHarbans Kapoor. “It has alsocome to the notice that for thelast several months, she is notgoing on duty but is getting athick pay packet,’’ he said. TheAAP leader alleged that theMayor Gama is considered veryclose to CM Trivendra SinghRawat.

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The State’s Tourism andCulture Minister Satpal

Maharaj has written to theUnion Home Minister AmitShah and the Defence MinisterRajnath Singh asking that theinner line be established againat Jauljivi. This is requiredconsidering internal andexternal securityconsiderations, he said.

Maharaj pointed out thatByans, Chaundas and Darmavalleys in Dharchula Tehsil ofPithoragarh district are linkedto the borders with China andNepal which makes them verysensitive from the strategicand geo-political points ofview. He has written to Shahand Singh requesting that theinner line be established onceagain at Jauljivi to check theentry of outsiders. In his lettersto them, the minister has statedthat the inner line existed atJauljivi for a long time due tostrategic reasons.

It was removed fromJauljivi and transferred withoutany practical evidence in 1990-91 to Marchha and Chiyalekhin Darma and Byans valleysrespectively.

Marchha and Chiyalekhadjoin the border with Nepaland are about 40 kilometresfrom the Indo-China border.He pointed out that due to theongoing border dispute ofChina with India and China’sexpansionist policy it remainsa threat through Nepal to India’sinternal and external security.

The peace loving Bhotiatribals residing in Byans,Chaundas and Darma who arean integral part of this region’sheritage are feeling insecure dueto the inner line being near theinternational border and risingcriminal activities in the region.This can also create a seriouschallenge for the nation’ssecurity.

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The city based Luxmi Dentallaser and implant centre

became the first dental carecentre in Uttarakhand to installthe 3 D technique based ConeBeam Computer Tomography(CBCT) unit in dentaltreatment. Informing aboutthe state of the art machine,senior dental surgeon, DrNitesh Kamboj said that theItalian machine is a blessingand is many times moreefficient than the CT scan. Hesaid that based on MorphologyRecognition Technology(MRT), this machine used theleast amount of radiation andprovides a 3 D vision of the jawand sinus.

Apart from it many typesof image filters are fitted in themachine which gives thedental surgeon a best possibleanalysis of tooth gum. “This

machine also helps in earlydetection of cyst in the gumand jaws. If undetected thesecysts are a major cause ofmouth cancer. A 3 D image ofthe whole of the jaw comes upon the computer screen whichis of immense help to dentalsurgeons.

The machine also helps ingetting a view of jaw bone andteeth implant,’’ he said.

The dental surgeon furtherinformed that the machinealso helps in detecting sleepapnoea as it provides airwaysspace analysis for measuringbreathing capacity.

Dr Kamboj said that thecentre used modern techniquefor dental surgery and othertreatment and the familymembers of the patients canview the surgery in themonitors placed outside theoperation theatre with the useof ‘ live streaming connecttechnology’.

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Chief Minister TrivendraSingh Rawat has said that

the State Government iscommitted to holding the 2021Kumbh Mela in a divine andgrand form. He said this whilemeeting the Akhil BharatiyaAkhada Parishad (ABAP)head, general secretary andother office bearers to discussthe Kumbh Mela to be held inHaridwar next year.

Reviewing theconstruction works beingundertaken for the KumbhMela, Rawat directed that allpermanent and temporaryworks should be completedbefore December 15. On thesuggestions received from the

Akhadas, the CM directed thatthe bathing ghats beingconstructed at Neeldhara andother places be named after thetutelary deities of the 13Akhadas.

The Mela should beorganised in the same area asin 2010, the Mansa Devi hillbypass should be used duringthe Mela and the constructionof internal roads should be

expedited, he directed.Referring to Covid-19pandemic, he said that thewhole world is grappling withthis crisis which has hamperedthe speed of works at all levels.Decisions would be takenaccording to the place, timeand situation as it is difficult toforecast how the situation willbe in the future.

Urban Developmentminister Madan Kaushik,ABAP head Mahant NarendraGiri, Kumbh Mela officerDeepak Rawat also spoke inthe meeting. Chief secretaryOm Prakash, director general(Law and Order) AshokKumar and office bearers ofthe ABAP were also present inthe meeting.

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Various issues were discussedin the 11th meeting of the

Dehradun Smart City advisoryforum here on Saturday.Members of the forum said thatworks under the project shouldcause least inconvenience to thepublic due to monsoon relatedissues like water logging, trafficblock and inconvenience topedestrians. The debris resultingfrom works for smart road andwater supply augmentationshould be cleared immediately.Regarding the cycle for changechallenge, it was stated that abetter proposal will besubmitted to the Government ofIndia which has initiated thischallenge to encourage cyclingand boost public health. The 11cities which submit goodproposals under this challenge

will be provided a grant of Rsone crore. Dehradun mayorSunil Uniyal Gama, publicrepresentatives and othermembers of the forum werepresent in the meeting.

The Dehradun Smart CityLimited (DSCL) CEO andDehradun district magistrateAshish Kumar Shrivastavaalso reviewed the worksunderway in Parade Groundand Paltan Bazaar along withthe contractors and officials

concerned. Learning about problems

being faced by thecontractors, he directed thatthe work be completed ontime while ensuring quality.Necessary insecticides shouldalso be sprayed at theworkplace from time to timeto prevent the spread ofdengue and malaria whilealso ensuring that rules arefollowed for protection fromCovid-19.

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The Mussoorie DehradunDevelopment Authority

(MDDA) sealed the premisesfrom which the WorldIntegrity Centre wasfunctioning in the city onSaturday. According to theofficials, the restaurant andclub made in an unregulatedmanner by Sachin Upadhyayunder SM Hospitality at Rajpur Roadwas sealed following orderspassed by the MDDA vicechairman Ranveer SinghChauhan.

MDDA assistant engineerMK Joshi, additional engineerVinod Chauhan and otheroff icials a long with theDalanwala police station in-charge and other policepersonnel were also presentduring the sealing of thepremises.

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Himachal Chief Minister JaiRam Thakur on Saturday

visited the Atal Tunnel inRohtang and reviewed theprogress work of the tunnelwith the officers of the BorderRoad Organisation (BRO),directing the officials to expe-ditiously give final touch to thetunnel to be inaugurated byPrime Minister Narendra Modiby the end of next month.

Presiding over a meetingwith the senior officers of Broat Headquarter (Project) AtalTunnel, Rohtang, Thakur saidthat the ambitious Atal Tunnelwould provide all weather con-nectivity to Leh and forwardareas of Ladakh, which remaincut off for nearly six monthsfrom the rest of the country dueto heavy snowfall on the pass-es enroute. This is extremelysignificant from the militarylogistics point of view, headded.

Thakur said the PrimeMinister was showing keeninterest in early completion ofthis mega project, which wouldbe not only important fromstrategic point of view, butwould also give boost totourism activities in Lahaul-Spiti district of the State besidescreating employment and self

employment avenues in thearea.

The Chief Minister saidthis project would be complet-ed by spending an amount ofRs 3500 crore, adding that cut-ting through the Pir Panjalrange, the tunnel has reducedthe distance between Manaliand Leh by 46 km. He said thatthe Atal Tunnel would be aboon to the residents of Lahauland Spiti Valley who remaincut off from the rest of thecountry in winters for nearlysix months due to heavy snow-fall. The tunnel will providealmost all-weather connectiv-ity to the troops stationed inLadakh, he added.

Thakur said for full all-weather connectivity upto Leh-Ladakh, additional tunnelswould have to be built on theManali-Leh route so that thehigh passes do not impede

movement due to heavy snow-fall. He said that a 13.2 km longtunnel would have to be builtto negotiate the 16,040 feet highBaralacha pass and another14.78 km long tunnel would berequired at the Lachung La passat 16,800 feet and third 7.32km long tunnel would berequired at Tanglang La pass at17,480 feet.

The Chief Minister saidsnow galleries have also beenbuilt at the approach road tothe tunnel from Manali side,and this would ensure all-weather connectivity. He saidthat bridges on the approachroad to the tunnel from thenorth portal (on Lahaul Spitiside) and the south portals havealso been completed. He saidthe tunnel has several userfriendly features which includean emergency escape tunnel,which has been built under the

main tunnel. This would pro-vide an emergency exit in caseof any untoward incident,which may render the maintunnel unusable, he added.

Originally designed as a8.8-km long tunnel, the freshGPS readings taken by theBRO after the work on it wascompleted, showed that it was9 km in length. The tunnelwould be the world’s longest atan altitude of 3,000 metresand will reduce the distancebetween Manali and Leh by 46kilometres.

Chief Engineer BRO Brig.K.P. Purshothaman, assuredthe Chief Minister that the pro-ject would be completed in astipulated time period. He saidthat the tunnel also provides atelephone facility on every 150metres, fire hydrant on every 60metres, emergency exit onevery 500 metres, turning cav-

ern on every 2.2 km, air qual-ity monitoring on every onekm, broadcasting system andautomatic incident detectionsystem with CCTV cameras onevery 250 metres.

Tribal DevelopmentMinister Ram Lal Markanda,Education Minister GovindThakur, MP Ram SwaroopSharma, MLA Banjar SurenderShourie, Chief Secretary AnilKhachi, Secretary GADDevesh, ADGP Venugopal,Deputy Commissioner KulluRicha Verma and otherOfficers of BRO attended in themeeting.

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Stating that it was due to theeffort of the government that

Haryana has achieved numberone position in the field ofsports, Chief Minister ManoharLal Khattar on Saturday said theGovernment is constantly pro-viding facilities to the players.

Khatta, who held a videoconference meeting with districtsports Officers and SeniorOfficers of the sports depart-ment in which Minister of Statefor Sports and Youth Affairs,Sandeep Singh was also present,said that due to these efforts ofthe government, many interna-tional level talents have emergedfrom rural areas, who haveperformed exceptionally well allover the world.

He extended warm wishesand boosted the morale of play-ers of the State on the occasionof National Sports Day and thebirth anniversary of veteranhockey player Major DhyanChand.

During the video confer-encing, Sandeep Singh extend-ed greetings to the sports fra-ternity on the birth anniversaryof Major Dhyan Chand. He saidthat with the guidance andsupport of Union Minister ofState for Youth Affairs andSports, Kiren Rijiju, constantefforts are being made to makeKhelo India-2021 a success.

During the last Khelo India

organized in Guwahati, Assam,he had himself visited there andtook stock of the situation, so asto ensure that preparations canbe done properly in Haryana fororganizing the Khelo India 2021games. He said that ample stay-ing arrangements can be madefor the players in Tricity includ-ing Chandigarh, Panchkula andMohali.

Players from all across thecountry will arrive in Panchkulato participate in Khelo India2021. The efforts will be madeto ensure that no inconvenienceis caused to any player. TheMinister directed all DistrictSports Officers that work shouldbe started immediately on thegames which can be improved.

The Sports Minister saidthat to overcome the problem ofeconomic expenses faced by theplayers for the preparation ofOlympics and Paralympics, theState Government has recentlyannounced to give Rs. 5 lakh inadvance after they get selected.He said that in the government'sBeti Bachao Beti Padhao cam-paign, priority is also beinggiven to inspire girls to partic-ipate in sports and it has beenrecently decided that a womencoach and manager will beappointed for women’s team sothat while playing out of stationWomen players do not feeluncomfortable. The womenplayers and their parents hadwelcomed this decision.

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They say “every blood donoris a life saver”. The unprece-

dented times of COVID-19has however made regularblood donors wary of going tohospitals and donation campsfor fear of contracting theinfection.

The deadly COVID-19,which the world has not seenin the last century, has led to apotentially ominous downsidei.e. sharp decline in blooddonations. A significant impacton blood availability due toreduced voluntary blood dona-tion is seen across India duringthe pandemic which hasalready caused a health crisis.

At the Post GraduateInstitute of Medical Educationand Research, Chandigarh,there is a growing concernover the decreasing bloodreserves due to the blood sup-ply chain being disturbed amidthe COVID-19 (Coronavirus)pandemic.

“Various challenges havebeen hampering voluntaryblood donation during theCOVID-19 crisis. More than 85percent of the blood supplyused to come from voluntaryblood donors at PGIMERbefore the pandemic hit thecountry,” says Dr Ratti RamSharma, Head, Department of

Transfusion Medicine (BloodBank), PGIMER while talkingto The Pioneer.

Blood banks are dependenton voluntary blood donations,he says adding that “During thenormal times, the daily bloodcollection was between 200-250units and even more than thatsometimes. But now the col-lection has reduced by 50 per-cent and come down to 100-150 units per day here.”

“As per the demand on adaily basis, more than 200units are being issued by theblood bank. At present, we havestock to meet the daily demandbut given the current circum-stances and sudden surge inCOVID-19 cases, we foresee ascenario where it could becomedifficult to maintain inventoryfor daily supplies,” Dr Sharmaadds.

The PGIMER here notonly caters to the city denizensbut also patients from theneighboring states of Punjab,Haryana, Himachal Pradesh,Uttar Pradesh, Jammu &Kashmir, Uttarakhand andother states.

The Department ofTransfusion Medicine,PGIMER provides round theclock support for blood andblood components require-ments for needy patients fromall over India. As per thePGIMER’s estimates, the

Department collects around60,000 units of blood annual-ly and supplies more than 1.5lakh blood components.

“The Thalassemia patients,anemic pregnant women, can-cer patients, surgery casesundergo blood transfusions.Blood transfusion is a life-sav-ing measure for these patients.By and large, we have managedto stay afloat till now butdecline in supply is leading toa shortage in the bloodreserves,” tells Dr Sharma.

While the COVID-19 hasput millions of lives at risk, peo-ple suffering from Thalassemiaare worst affected across thecountry. Blood transfusion isthe mainstay of care for indi-viduals with Thalassemia majorand many with intermedia.The recommended treatmentfor Thalassaemia majorinvolves lifelong regular bloodtransfusions, usually adminis-tered every two to five weeks,to maintain the pretransfu-sion Haemoglobin level above9–10.5 g/dl.

There are around 350 peo-ple who are registered with theThalassaemic Charitable Trust,PGIMER. 30-40 blood units aresupplied from the blood bankdaily for the Thalassemiapatients, says Dr Sharma.

In India, anyone above 18years of age is allowed todonate blood as long as they

fulfill certain health criteria. Onaverage, a person can donateblood after every three months.

The World HealthOrganisation recommends thatfor every 1,000 people in anycountry, a target of 10-20donors is needed to provideadequate supplies. Nonetheless,some studies suggest that thenumber underestimates thereal volume of blood neededfor many countries and dona-tion targets should instead varyby country.

Even before the COVID-19pandemic, the country wasdealing with a shortage ofblood units. “India has theworld’s largest shortage ofblood, with all states togetherbattling a huge shortfall of 41million units and demand out-stripping supply by over 400percent. And, the demand isrising,” says the first of its kindstudy published in the journal

The Lancet last year.Talking about the chal-

lenges that the PGIMER isfacing to convince people forblood donation, Dr SuchetSachdev, Department of BloodTransfusion, PGIMER says,“The Nehru ExtensionHospital, PGIMER is aCOVID-19 dedicated hospital.And, COVID has triggered afear psychosis.”

“Regular donors are notproactively coming to hospitalsdue to the fear of contractingCOVID-19. On an average 30-50 donors are turning up at ourCentre to donate blood duringthe present times while thenumber was almost doubleduring pre-COVID times,” saysDr Sachdev.

Notably, the NHE atPGIMER is a COVID-dedi-cated hospital for critical pos-itive patients and patients fromChandigarh, Punjab, Haryana,

Himachal among other statesare currently undergoing treat-ment here.

Apart from this, the city-based government hospitals -Government Medical Collegeand Hospital, Sector 32 andGovernment Multi SpecialtyHospital, Sector 16 -are alsot r e a t i n gCoronaviruspatients.

It was inthe month ofApril duringC O V I D - 1 9triggered cur-few inChandigarhwhen the city-based govern-ment hospi-tals were leftwith only aweek or 10days’ worth ofblood stock.However withrelaxations inMay, bloodd o n a t i o ncamps wereorganized anddaily collec-tion improvedg r a d u a l l y .Commentingon the limitednumber ofblood dona-tion camps

being organized now, DrSachdev tells, “The schoolsand colleges shutdown havetremendously impacted theblood donation drive. We usedto conduct blood donationcamps in schools and collegesevery week. Every year, 400-450blood donation camps are

being organized on an averageby PGIMER with the help ofvoluntary organizations acrossthe tricity. But this year, blooddonation camps held duringfestivals, in schools and collegeswere cancelled in the past fivemonths due to the threat ofCoronavirus.”

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Punjab Chief Minister CaptAmarinder on Saturday dis-

missed the Akali charge ofrunning away from burningissues on the pretext of Covid,saying it was the SAD whichhad taken refuge in the pan-demic to keep away fromFriday's session, as they did notwant to be party to the resolu-tion rejecting the anti-farmerOrdinances of the UnionGovernment.

Having supported theOrdinances as part of theNDA-ruled Government ofIndia, the Akalis could notafford to vote for the resolution,and yet did not want to appearto be anti-farmer, said theChief Minister, adding that inthe circumstances, they foundan easy way out in the guise ofthe pandemic to stay out of theVidhan Sabha completely.

“The Speaker and I hadseparately appealed to thoseMLAs who had come in con-tact with any infected legisla-tors not to attend the session,but not a single Akali memberturned up for the session,” saidCapt Amarinder. It was clear-ly the Akalis who were runningaway, he quipped, adding thatat no point were OppositionMLAs asked not to attend andthe appeal/advice was for allmembers, including the rulingparty.

“In any case, if the Akalisare really so concerned aboutspreading the Covid and heed-ed the advice to stay away

from the House on this ground,then why are they continuingwith their street protests despitemy repeated pleas to all polit-ical parties not to indulge insuch activities, which endangerthe lives of our people,” theChief Minister asked.

Capt Amarinder alsoridiculed the SAD demand foranother session of the VidhanSabha next month, when thestate’s Covid figures are pro-jected to peak. They could notattend a day’s session becauseof Covid and want a full-fledged session at a time whenthe situation is expected to beworse, he remarked. He point-ed out that despite several of itsown ministers and MLAs test-ing positive, his governmenthad decided to go ahead withthe one-day session to meet theConstitutional requirement inthis regard, as was being doneby other states. CaptAmarinder cited the example ofneighbouring Haryana, whichhad cut short its original 3-dayAssembly session to one dayamidst the pandemic crisisafter several of their MLAs test-ed positive. “Haryana is run bya BJP government and BJP is apart of the same NDA-led gov-ernment of which the Akalisare a part,” he pointed out, ask-ing the SAD if Haryana wasalso being undemocratic bytruncating their Vidhan Sabhasession.

Despite several of its ownministers and MLAs testingpositive, his government haddecided to go ahead with the

one-day session to meet theConstitutional requirement inthis regard, the Chief Ministersaid, pointing out that it was theShiromani Akali Dal (SAD)which had kept away in theguise of the Covid situation.

While the Akalis wereknown for making unnecessarynoise over non-issues, theyhad clearly hit a nadir in theirdirty politics by resorting topetty politicking over a graveissue like the Covid, said theCM.

Instead of supporting thestate government and strength-ening its hands in the fightagainst the pandemic, like anygood Opposition party shouldbe doing, they (SAD) were onlyinterested in promoting theirvested political interests, henoted. “The people of Punjabare not fools, they can seethrough your theatrics andantics, and will not forget orforgive,” he said.

SAD ASKS SPEAKER TO

RECOMMEND REGISTRA-TION OF CRIMINAL CASESAGAINST KULBIR ZIRAAND BALBIR SIDHU

The Shiromani Akali Dal(SAD) on Saturday askedVidhan Sabha Speaker Rana KP Singh to take note of the riskCongress legislator KulbirSingh Zira had put chief min-ister Capt Amarinder Singhand the entire Vidhan Sabha aswell as facilitation of his illegalentry into the assembly byHealth minister Balbir SinghSidhu and recommend regis-tration of a criminal caseagainst both of them immedi-ately.

Talking to reporters, SADlegislative group leaderSharanjit Singh Dhillon andformer minister Bikram SinghMajithia said the SAD expect-ed the Speaker to act in a total-ly unbiased manner keeping inview the rich traditions of theVidhan Sabha.

“However if he does not dothis and plays a partisan role tojustify the illegal acts of Zira aswell as the unbecoming con-duct of the Health ministerwho was supposed to guardCOVID-19 protocols, the SADwill be constrained bring fortha notice for removal of theSpeaker from his chair”.

Dhillon and Majithia saidKulbir Zira had been tested forCOVID-19 on August 26 atFerozepur and had recorded apositive test report. The lead-ers said instead of abstainingfrom attending the Vidhan

Sabha session on August 28,Zira claimed Balbir Sidhu pro-cured a COVID negative reportfor him on the morning ofAugust 28 on the basis ofwhich the MLA attended thesession. “Simultaneously theHealth officials have gone onrecord to state that theyinformed the Health ministerabout Zira’s positive report onAugust 27. The Health minis-ter has apparently violated theprotocols of his own depart-ment and should be sacked anda criminal case should be reg-istered against him”.

Dhillon and Majithia saidthe Speaker as well as the chiefminister did not want theMission Fateh exercise to beexposed for what it was – aMission Jhooth and a MissionLoot.

“That is why both theSpeaker and the chief ministeradopted double standards bynot preventing Congress legis-lators who had come into con-tact with their COVID positivecolleagues from attending thesession.

This policy can have dan-gerous fallout with the 80 yearold chief minister, who has co-morbidities, also being com-promised. Who will be respon-sible if some untoward incidenthappens?

The Speaker should takestern action against thoseresponsible for this dangerousviolation of health and safetyprotocols or be ready to beexposed in a no confidencemotion”.

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C h a n d i g a r h : H a r y a n aGovernment on Saturdayissued posting and transferorders of 8 IPS officers withimmediate effect. Alok KumarRoy, ADGP (Modernizationand Police Welfare) has beengiven additional charge ofADGP (prisons). KalaRamachandran, awaiting posting orders on returnfrom central deputation hasbeen posted as ADGP (HeadQuarters) with an additionalcharge of CAW. Charu Bali, ADGP, CAW has

been posted as ADGP/IRB,Bhondsi with Additionalcharge of State Crime Branch,Gurugram.Shashank Anand,awaiting posting orders onreturn from deputation toChandigarh Administrationhas been posted as DIG, CID.Naazneen Bhasin, SP, Rewarihas been posted as SP, RTC,Bhondsi.Sulochana Kumari, SP,Mahendragarh has been post-ed as Commandant, IV Btn,IRB Manesar, Abhishek Jorwal,SP, Ambala has been posted asSP, Rewari. Chandramohan,DCP East, Gurugram withAdditional Charge of DCPTraffic and CEO Mobility,GMDA has been posted as SP,Mahendragarh. One HPS offi-cer, Rajesh Kalia, SP, CID hasbeen posted as SP, Ambala.

PNS

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The contagion of Covid-19 isbecoming more fatal in

Haryana with each passing dayeven as fresh cases of the dis-ease are continuing to pile up.On Saturday, the State Healthauthorities reported the high-est single-day spike ever of1391 cases. The State now has61,987 patients of the diseaseout of whom 50,711 haverecovered.

Haryana Power MinisterRanjeet Singh tested positivefor coronavirus. He had got histest done just before the one-day Assembly session onWednesday and his reportreturned negative. However,he developed symptoms afterthe session and got himself test-ed again. "I got my Covid test

done again and the reportcame positive. My health isalright, but I am under homequarantine on the advice ofdoctors," the minister tweeted.

Meanwhile, according toofficials, Chief MinisterManohar Lal Khattar, admittedto Medanta hospital on August25, is making satisfactoryprogress and is comfortable.The percentage recovery forCovid-19 in the State is 81.81percent and the disease is get-ting doubled in 34 days.

The Health departmentregistered nine deaths due tothe disease which increasedthe death toll to 670 in the State.The NCR districts of the Statecontinue to reel under theonslaught of the virus.Faridabad’s Covid-19 tally nowstood at 12,462, highest in the

State with 158 new cases, fol-lowed by Gurugram at 11, 693with 124 fresh cases on the day.Sonepat recorded 75 cases, tak-ing tally at 4251 cases. 110 newcases reported in Rewari while98 in Rewari, 65 in Panipat, 140in Karnal, 78 in Hisar, 96 inPanchkula, 61 in Bhiwani, 75 inKurukshetra, 87 inYamunanagar and 73 in Kaithal,according to the bulletin.

As many as 11.03 lakhsamples have been sent for test-ing while the tests per millionpopulation stands at 43, 544,the bulletin stated. As many as101001 more recovered coronapatients were discharged fromvarious hospitals. 10, 606 casesare still 'active'. The infectionrate has mounted to 5.65 per-cent in the State, according tothe bulletin.

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Prime Minister NarendraModi on Saturday said the

Government is committed tothe development of drought-prone Bundelkhand region andaround 500 projects worthover �10,000 crore have beensanctioned for improving wateravailability. In his address afterthe virtual inauguration of col-lege and administration build-ings of Jhansi-based RaniLakshmi Bai CentralAgricultural University, aprominent institute of theBundelkhand region, the PMModi said that India has con-trolled the spread of crop-threatening migratory pestdesert locusts by usingadvanced technologies, includ-ing drones, and ensured therewas not much crop damage.

Observing that the benefitof water from three rivers,Ken, Betwa and Yamuna, wasnot reaching the Bundelkhandregion, Modi said the pro-posed Ken-Betwa river linkingproject has the potential tochange the fortune of the areaand the Centre is in discussionwith both Uttar Pradesh andMadhya Pradesh on this issue.Besides water projects, Modisaid thousands of crores worthof projects are being imple-mented in this region, includ-

ing Bundelkhand Expresswayand Defence Corridor, thatwill create job opportunities.

PM Modi stressed on theneed to promote greater use oflatest technologies in the farmsector. Modern technology ishelping deal with the challengesrelated to agriculture. Oneexample of it was how theGovernment used technologyto minimise damage caused bylocust attack in about 10 Statesrecently,” he said.

“In May, the Bundelkhandregion had faced locust prob-lem. ...I was told the regionfaced the locust attack after 30years. Not only Uttar Pradesh,

more than 10 states faced thelocust problem,” the PM saidwhile talking about the locustattack in Bundelkhand.

Talking about the stepstaken to minimise the prob-lems faced by the people dur-ing the coronavirus pandemic,the PM said free rations arebeing provided to crores ofpoor and rural families inUttar Pradesh.

Around 10 lakh poorwomen in Bundelkhand havebeen given free gas cylindersduring this period. UnderGarib Kalyan Rojgar Abhiyan,over 7 hundred crore rupeeshave been spent in UP so far,

under which employment wasprovided to lakhs of workers.

After the inauguration, thePrime Minister interacted withuniversity students and askedabout ways to address certainchallenges like reducing importof edible oils and increasingfood processing, especially infruits and vegetables.

Modi asked a studentwhether awareness amongfarmers can be created aboutmicro, drip and sprinkler irri-gation in the drought-proneBundelkhand region. Duringthe interaction, the PrimeMinister stressed on promotingrecycling of water and rainwa-ter harvesting through innov-ative and less costlier technol-ogy in the region.

Invoking Rani LakshmiBai’s Quote that “I will not givemy Jhansi”, the Prime Ministergave a clarion call for ‘MeriJhansi- Mera Bundelkhand’and urged the people of Jhansiand Bundelkhand to makeAtmanirbhar Bharat Abhiyan asuccess.

The Prime Minister notedthat Agriculture has a majorrole to contribute in ‘MeriJhansi- Mera Bundelkhand’Atmanirbhar Bharat Abhiyan.He said self-reliance inAgriculture targets at makingFarmers both- producer as wellas entrepreneur. PM said in line

with this spirit, several historicagricultural reforms were taken.Just like other industries, nowFarmers can also sell their pro-duce anywhere in the country,wherever they fetch betterprices.

Rani Lakshmi Bai CentralAgricultural University startedits first academic session in2014-15 and is offering bothunder-graduate and post-grad-uate courses in agriculture,horticulture and forestry. It iscurrently operating from theIndian Grassland and FodderResearch Institute, Jhansi as themain buildings were gettingready.

Speaking on the occasion,Agriculture Minister NarendraSingh Tomar said the inaugu-ration was long awaited and willbenefit farmers not only in theBundelkhand region but theentire country. There is scopefor promoting organic farmingin the region towards which thegovernment is working, he said,and added that the governmentis working towards doublingfarmers’ income by 2022.

Uttar Pradesh ChiefMinister Yogi Adityanath saidsetting up of a central agricul-tural university in Jhansi willbenefit the drought-proneBundelkhand region and helpfarmers become self-reliant.

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As the Monsoon Session ofParliament is set to start

from September 14, it will be a‘new normal’ for the MPs inview of the ongoing Covid-19pandemic.

Union Health Minister DrHarsh Vardhan on Saturdayinstructed the Health Ministryto develop standard operatingprocedures (SoPs) for theMembers of Parliament (MPS)and the Legislative Assemblysessions comprising Covid pro-tocols and preventive mea-sures.

The directions were givenby the Union Health Ministerduring the 20th meeting of thehigh-level Group of Ministers(GoM) on COVID-19. TheGoM was briefed on the cur-rent status of Covid-19 in thecountry.

The direction for framingSoPs came a day after LokSabha Speaker Om Birla saidthat MPs will be requested toget themselves tested forCOVID-19 at least 72 hoursbefore the start of the MonsoonSession of Parliament.

Besides MPs, all those whoare expected to enter theParliament premises, includingofficials from ministries, rep-

resentatives from the mediaand staff of Lok Sabha andRajya Sabha secretariats, willget tested for the coronavirusbefore the start of the session,Om Birla had said.

The GoM also expressedconcern over the forthcomingfestival season and advisedeveryone to adopt safe andCovid-appropriate behaviour.Vardhan expressed satisfactionat the various coordinatedefforts of the CentralGovernment and those of thestates and union territories.

It was noted that despitebeing resource constrained anddensely populated, timely lock-down and rapid augmentationof infrastructure by India haveenabled the cases per millionand deaths per million toremain considerably lowercompared to other countries.

Dr Sujit Singh, DirectorNCDC (National Centre forDisease Control) presented adetailed report on surveillanceefforts undertaken in Indiaduring the pandemic throughthe IDSP (Integrated DiseaseSurveillance Programme) net-work. He highlighted the chal-lenges faced and the learningsfrom the various States.

He also threw light on thetrajectory of COVID in some

States and elaborated on theirresponse and management.

The major concern areasin the country were high-lighted. It was mentioned thatthere needs to be continuedattention on promotion ofwearing of masks, physicaldistancing and respiratory eti-quette.

Dr Vinod K Paul,Chairperson of theEmpowered Group-1 on theMedical Emergency manage-ment plan, apprised the GoMof the process of a Covid vac-cine development in Indiaand around the world. Hestated that 29 candidates,including 2 Indian ones, are inClinical Trials out of which 6are in Phase III. In India,Bharat Biotech’s vaccine can-didate based on inactivatedvirus procured by ICMR is inPhase II trial along with ZydusCadila’s candidate which isbased on viral DNA.

The Oxford vaccine can-didate developed by SerumInstitute of India is already inPhase III trial in Maharashtraand some other States. RajeshBhushan, Health Secretary,apprised the GoM of theefforts made by the HealthMinistry towards mentalhealth during the pandemic.

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Healthcare systems aroundthe world need to devel-

op ways of supporting peoplein the community who arerecovering from Covid-19,researchers have said as theynoted that more than one-third of the people who havebeen severely ill with the dis-ease could have long-termsymptoms, some of themdebilitating.

The top three could befatigue, breathlessness and

psychological distress,observed the researchersbased on their study, results ofwhich have been published inthe Journal of RehabilitationMedicine.

“Although COVID-19starts as an acute infection ofthe lungs, it can develop intoa “multi-system illness” leav-ing people with symptomsthat can last for months andyears - including breathless-ness, fatigue, weakness, pain,cardiac problems, cognitiveand psychological problems,”said the study by experts from

the University of Leeds, LeedsTeaching Hospitals NHSTrust, Leeds CommunityHealthcare NHS Trust andNHS Leeds ClinicalCommissioning Group.

Dr Manoj Sivan, AssociateClinical Professor at theUniversity of Leeds and aConsultant in rehabilitationmedicine in the NHS Trustssaid: “It has been estimatedthat to date, 23 million peopleworldwide have been infectedby the disease. Most will haveexperienced a mild illness buta sizeable minority, up to onemillion, will have after-effectsthat will last for many monthsand possibly years.

“We know from previousoutbreaks of Spanish flu,SARS and Ebola that up to athird of survivors can sufferfrom long term problems,particularly chronic fatiguethat has implications on fam-ily life, work and health econ-omy.

“With COVID-19, there isan opportunity to interveneearly, provide timely special-

ist rehabilitation, and ensurepeople have the best func-tional recovery and return totheir vocation as early as pos-sible.”

People who have beenseverely ill with Covid-19were screened after they wererecovered.

The screening identifiedsymptoms that need to beurgently assessed by relevant

specialist healthcare profes-sionals in secondary or pri-mary care services. Servicesinclude respiratory medicine,pulmonary rehabilitation,physiotherapy, occupationaltherapy, psychology or com-bined multidisciplinary clin-ics.

Dr Ian Clifton, HonorarySenior Lecturer at theUniversity of Leeds and

Consultant in RespiratoryMedicine, added: “One of thechallenges we face is thatCOVID-19 is a new diseaseand we do not yet know thecourse that people will followas they recover. It is essentialthat recovery services haveinput from a range of special-ties, so expert help is on handwhen and where it is needed.”

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The National InvestigationAgency (NIA) arrested

Lashkar-e-Tayyaba (LeT) ter-rorist Shabeel Ahmed afterbeing deported from SaudiArabia late last night. Ahmedis linked to 2007 Glasgow air-port attack mastermind KafeelAhmed.

Shabeel is the cousin of theUK airport attack plotter Kafeel.Ahmed was also wanted inIndia in a case registered by theDelhi Police Special Cell in 2015and was declared a proclaimedoffender by a Delhi court inJuly, 2016, NIA officials saidwithout revealing much abouthis deportation citing involve-ment of foreign relations.

In India, the role of Ahmedcame under scrutiny after theSpecial Cell busted a major AlQaeda in Indian Subcontinent(AQIS) network with the arrestof Cuttack-based cleric AbdulRehman and others inDecember 2015, they said.

Rehman had told the secu-rity agencies that he had metAhmed in Bengaluru in 2009,shortly after the latter hadreturned from the UK afterserving a prison term in con-nection with the 2007 attack inthe UK in which a person waskilled.

Ahmed is said to havemoved from Bengaluru toSaudi Arabia in 2010-11 andwas staying there since then.

Another AQIS suspect SyedMohammed Zishan Ali,believed to be married toAhmed`s sister, was broughtfrom Saudi Arabia in August2017.

The NIA will subject thealleged LeT operative to sus-tained interrogation and also

take him to places likeBengaluru to unravel his larg-er network in the country.Ahmed is a big catch and hisquestioning will be crucial forthe anti-terror probe in whichofficials of the sister agencieswill also take part, they added.

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Students unions on Saturdaymounted pressure on the

Government to stall the con-duct of NEET and JEE entrancetests beginning next week withthe AISA writing to ChiefMinisters to invoke the StateDisaster Management Act andthe Congress-backed NSUImembers sitting on a hungerstrike.

The All India StudentsAssociation (AISA) urged theChief Ministers to invoke theState Disaster ManagementAct to postpone or cancel theNEET and JEE exams sched-uled next month.

“Students who are appear-ing for exams conducted by theCentral Government are resi-dents of your State, and itbecomes your Government’sprerogative to safeguard theirhealth and interests. It was awelcome step by few state gov-ernments to file a review peti-tion in Supreme Court askingit to review its order-demand-

ing holding of exams.However, it is more importantfor your government to standby your students, as you arewell aware of the threat of pan-demic and havoc it has had onthe lives and livelihoods ofmany families,” the letter toCMs states.

Also three leaders of theCongress-affiliated NationalStudents Union of India(NSUI) sat on indefinitehunger strike at Panaji Goademanding that JEE and NEETexaminations be postponed.The leaders, including NSUI’s

Goa unit chief Ahraz Mulla,Prasenjeet Dhage and NaushadChawdhari who also demadedthat college fees be waived by60 percent in view of theCOVID-19 situation.

While some of the protest-ing States like Jharkhand haveopened up their public trans-port to facilitate students andparents movements for thepurpose of exams, all eyes areon the Supreme Court which islikely to take up the matter ofStates’ on Monday as Six stateshave appealed for postpone-ment of the NEET and JEE.

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The Supreme Court is sched-uled to pronounce on

August 31 its verdict on thequantum of sentence to beawarded to activist-lawyerPrashant Bhushan, convictedfor contempt of court over histwo tweets against the judicia-ry.

A bench headed by JusticeArun Mishra will pronounce itsverdict against Bhushan, whofaces simple imprisonment ofup to six months or with a fineof up to Rs 2,000 or with both

as punishment underContempt of Court Act.

On August 25, the topcourt was urged by senioradvocate Rajeev Dhavan toshow “judicial statesmanship”and not make Bhushan a “mar-tyr” by punishing him for con-tempt over his tweets criticis-ing the judiciary, after theactivist-lawyer rejected freshsuggestions from the court foran apology.

As the top court reservedits verdict on the sentence tobe awarded to Bhushan,Justice Arun Mishra, who

presided over a three-judgebench, at the fag end of thenearly three-hour-long hear-ing had asked why he cannotseek an apology and whatwas wrong in using this word.

Justice Mishra is demit-ting office on September 2.

The apex court on August14 had held Bhushan guilty ofcriminal contempt for his twoderogatory tweets against thejudiciary saying they cannotbe said to be a fair criticism ofthe functioning of the judi-ciary made in the public inter-est.

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The EnforcementDirectorate has busted ille-

gal Chinese betting apps host-ed on websites operating out ofIndia and froze �46.97 croreheld in four HSBC bankaccounts of the racket worthover �1,300 crore.

The ED conducted search-es on Friday at 15 locationsspread across Delhi, Gurgaon,Mumbai and Pune in a moneylaundering case on the regis-tered offices of the companies,their Directors and CharteredAccountants involved in ille-gally running Online BettingAPPs from websites which arehosted from outside India ledto the seizure of 17 Hard disks,five laptops, phones and crucialincriminating documents.

During the searches, EDhas identified multiple bankaccounts mostly held withHSBC Bank. Analysis of twoaccounts of DokypayTechnology Private Limitedrevealed that, in the last year,the account has seen collectionof �1,268 Crore out of which�300 crore came via Paytmpayment gateway and around�600 Crore was transferredout via Paytm payment gate-way.

Account analysis ofLinkyun Technology revealeda similar pattern. Outwardforeign remittances for pay-ments to the extent of �120crore from these accounts wasalso revealed.

Large unexplained finan-cial transactions are also seenwith other Indian companiesthat are running OnlineChinese Dating APPs forIndian customers. There is asuspicion that, apart fromindulging in banned activitieslike online betting, this net-work of companies with theirreliance on online wallets andtheir lax regulatory systems

could have been used forhawala transactions as well.ED is in the process of obtain-ing information from onlinewallet companies, HSBCBank and Registrar ofCompanies.

The ED had initiatedinvestigation underPrevention of MoneyLaundering Act (PMLA)based on the FIRs lodged byCyber Crime Station (CCS) ofHyderabad Police under var-ious IPC Sections relating tocheating and criminal con-spiracy besides provisions ofthe Telangana State GamblingAct 2017, Prize Chits &Money Circulation SchemeAct against DokypayTechnology Private Limitedand Linkyun TechnologyPrivate Limited and others.

Three persons werearrested by Police Yan Hao,24, working as Manager ofBeijing Tomorrow PowerCompany, permanent resi-dent of Room 1009, WestFlourishing road, Haidain distreet, Beijing, China; DhirajSarkar and Ankit Kapoor.

“These accused wereadopting a novel modusoperandi for doing onlinebetting scam, the ED said ina statement.

The PMLA proberevealed that, with the help ofsome Indian CharteredAccountants, some Chinesenationals floated multipleIndian Companies. Initiallydummy Indian Directors wereused to incorporate the com-panies and, after some time,Chinese nationals travelled toIndia and took Directorshipin these companies. Somelocals were hired and used toopen Bank Accounts withHSBC Bank and open tradeaccounts with online walletsnamely Paytm, Cashfree,Razorpay and the like, theagency said.

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Sweden: At least 10 peoplewere arrested in southernSweden and several police offi-cers were injured in violencewhich broke out after an anti-Muslim Danish politician wasblocked from attending aQuran-burning rally, policesaid Saturday.

Protesters threw stones atpolice and burned tyres on thestreets of Malmo late Friday,with violence escalating as theevening wore on, according topolice and local media.

The demonstration ofabout 300 people was con-nected to an incident earlier inthe day in which protestersburned a copy of the Islamicholy book, police spokesmanRickard Lundqvist told Swedishtabloid Expressen.

Between 10 and 20 pro-

testers were arrested late Fridayand “have all been released,”police spokesman Patric Forstold AFP.

The violence had subsidedby Saturday morning.

Rasmus Paludan, who

leads the far-right Danish anti-immigration party Hard Line,was due to travel to Malmo tospeak at Friday’s event, whichwas being held on the same dayas weekly prayers for theMuslim sabbath. AFP

Dubai: The president of theUnited Arab Emirates hasissued a decree cancelling a lawon boycotting Israel and allow-ing trade and financial agree-ments between the two coun-tries, the UAE official newsagency WAM reported onSaturday.

The decree from UAEPresident Khalifa bin Zayed AlNahyan aims at “supportingbilateral cooperation in order toarrive at (the establishment) ofbilateral relations”, the agencysaid.

The announcement comesas El Al Airlines plans to oper-ate Israel’s first direct flightbetween Tel Aviv’s Ben GurionAirport and the UAE’s capitalAbu Dhabi, carrying an Israelidelegation and top aides to U.S.President Donald Trump, whobrokered an Aug. 13 accord to

normalise Israel-UAE ties.Trump’s senior adviser Jared

Kushner will be among theU.S. officials on the El Al flightdeparting on Aug. 31 at 10 a.m.(0700 GMT), a U.S official said.

The Israel-UAE deal awaitsnegotiations on details such asopening embassies, trade andtravel links before it is official-ly signed.

There are no official airlinks between Israel and theUAE, and it was unclearwhether El Al would be able tofly over Saudi Arabia, which hasno official ties with Israel, to cutdown on flight time.

In May, an Etihad Airwaysplane flew from the UAE to TelAviv to deliver supplies to thePalestinians to use for the novelcoronavirus epidemic, markingthe first known flight by a UAEcarrier to Israel. AGENCY

Beijing: Chinese President XiJinping has called for buildinga “new modern socialist” Tibet,constructing an “impregnablewall” against separatism in thesensitive Himalayan region and“sinicisation” of the TibetanBuddhism, the official mediareported on Saturday.

Xi, also the GeneralSecretary of the rulingCommunist Party of China(CPC), in his address to theseventh Central Symposiumon Tibet Work, said that effortsmust be made to build Tibetthat is united, prosperous, cul-turally advanced, harmoniousand beautiful, Xinhua newsagency reported.

Underlining the need tofully implement the CPC’s poli-cies on governing Tibet for anew era, Xi, in a comprehensiveaddress on the Himalayanregion, called for efforts to builda “new modern socialist” Tibet.

He told officials attendingthe two-day symposium that

they should make efforts to“ensure national security andenduring peace and stability,steadily improve people’s lives,maintain a good environment,solidify border defence andensure frontier security,” thereport said.

Tibet, officially referred toas the Tibet AutonomousRegion (TAR), remaineddeeply devoted to Buddhismwhere the Dalai Lama isrevered as the spiritual headdespite his self-exile to Indiasince 1959 after China tookcontrol of the region in 1950.It also shares borders withIndia, Bhutan and Nepal.

President Xi said that thework in Tibet must insist onmaintaining the unity of themotherland and strengtheningnational unity as the focus.

“It is necessary to strength-en the education and guidanceof the masses, extensivelymobilise the masses to partic-ipate in the struggle againstseparatism, and form animpregnable wall for main-taining stability,” he said.

While Beijing views theDalai Lama as a separatist and“splittist” who seeks to splitTibet from China, the 1989

Nobel Peace Prize laureate sayshe only seeks greater rights forTibetans, including religiousfreedom and autonomy.

The 14th Dalai Lama fledto India in 1959 following acrackdown on an uprising bythe local population in Tibet.India granted him politicalasylum and the Tibetan gov-ernment-in-exile is based onDharamsala in HimachalPradesh since then.

Xi also spoke of “sinicisa-tion” of the Tibetan Buddhism.

“It is necessary to dig out,sort out and publicise the his-torical facts of the exchangesand integration of all ethnicgroups in Tibet since ancienttimes, guide the people of allethnic groups to see the direc-tion and future of the nation,deeply realise that the Chinesenation is a community of des-tiny, and promote exchangesand integration of all ethnicgroups,” Xi said.

“Sinicisation” broadlyrefers to bringing non-Chinesecommunities under theChinese culture and politicalsystem being pursued by theCPC under the broad defini-tion of socialism with Chinesecharacteristics. PTI

Washington: Kamala Harris is“not competent” to be president,US President Donald Trump hassaid as he launched an attack onthe Indian-origin senator’s cre-dentials for the top post.

Addressing his supportersat a Republican campaign rallyin New Hampshire on Friday,Trump said he would supportseeing a female president in theUS but suggested that hisdaughter and senior WhiteHouse adviser Ivanka Trumpwould be a better candidate forsuch a role.

Harris, 55, was a presiden-tial aspirant until last yearbefore she dropped out of therace because of lack of popularsupport. Harris returned topolitical limelight after JoeBiden, the Democratic Party’spresidential candidate, pickedher as his running mate in theNovember 3 election.

Born to a Jamaican fatherand an Indian mother, Harrisis the first Indian-Americanand first Black woman to bepicked by a major Americanpolitical party for the top post.

“You know I want to seethe first woman president also,but I don’t want to see a womanpresident get into that positionthe way she’d do it, and she’s notcompetent,” Trump said.

“She’s not competent,” hesaid amidst applause from hissupporters, a few of whom

screamed Ivanka Trump, at anelection rally on Friday.

“They’re all saying, ‘wewant Ivanka’. I don’t blameyou,” he said responding to hissupporters.

This was Trump’s first elec-tion rally after he formallyaccepted the nomination of theRepublican Party on Thursdayfor the presidential election.

Trump said Harris with-drew from the DemocraticParty’s presidential race beforeprimary season kicked off asher popularity dropped downto single digit.

“How about her? Sheerbeauty? What a beauty though.They pick a woman who startsoff...She (Harris) starts off (herpresidential campaign) sort ofstrong. She’s one of thefavourites. Within a period ofa few months, she goes down,down 15, 12, 11, nine, eight,five, three, two,” he said, under-lining the popularity downslideof Harris in the few monthsafter her highly impressivecampaign launch.

“Then she goes, I’m goingto leave because I’ve decidedthat I want to leave. I want toleave. She left (the race ofpresidency) because she would-n’t have gotten any votes. Shewas terrible. And this would beyour president possibly. I don’tthink so. I don’t think so,”Trump said, speculating onthe possibility that Harris couldemerge as a Democratic pres-

idential candidate in 2024. Attacking Biden, Trump

said he is running on the mostextreme, far left platform of anynominee in American history.

“And of our foreign adver-saries who are devising a planto destroy the United Statesfrom within all they have tolook, is that the Biden-Harris(ticket),” he said.

Hours before Trump deliv-

ered his acceptance speechfrom the South Lawn at theWhite House, Harris allegedthat the president’s policieshave been “a reckless disregard”for the danger a pandemicwould pose to American lives.

She said Trump has “failedat the most basic and importantjob of a President of the UnitedStates. He failed to protect theAmerican people”. PTI

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Washington: Indian-originSenator Kamala Harris, the USDemocratic Party’s vice-presi-dential candidate, has pledged torejoin the Paris climate agree-ment and re-enter the Irannuclear deal to restore “ourplace in the world” and win backthe “trust and support” of theUS’s Asian and European alliesif her party wins the Novemberpresidential election.

Kamala Harris, 55, is therunning mate of Democraticpresidential candidate Joe Biden.At a virtual fundraiser on Friday,she was asked how a Biden-Harris administration wouldrestore the “trust and support ofour European and Asian allies.”

In response, Kamala Harrisslammed President Donald

Trump and pledged to “rejoin”the Paris agreement on ClimateChange and “strengthen and re-enter” the Iran nuclear deal.

“Joe Biden and our admin-istration is gonna have a mas-sive job to repair the damagedone by Donald Trump and hisadministration, and to restoreour place in the world,” she said.

In 2017, Donald Trumpannounced his decision to with-draw from the Paris deal, say-ing the accord would have costAmerica trillions of dollars,killed jobs, and hindered the oil,gas, coal and manufacturingindustries.

In 2018, Trump pulled outof the 2015 Iran nuclear deal.

“Part of our strength when,when we as a country, histori-

cally, walk into that roomaround the globe. Part of thestrength of our standing it’’s notjust about our military it’s notjust about our economicstrength. It’s about the fact thatfolks believe that when we saysomething we mean it,” theSenator from California said.

“We are loyal to our friendsthat we keep our word, includ-ing when we make commit-ments, be it to NATO or to theParis agreement that we will fol-low through. And DonaldTrump, he just doesn’t get it. Imean it’s such an extension ofhis character as a human beingI believe that he doesn’t under-stand the importance of integri-ty and consistency in one’’sword,” Ms Harris said. PTI

-������)���������������:� �*������������������6� ����� � �1������

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%'#������!�� ��������+!������������� ��� ���������� ��Moscow: Belarus, shaken by

three weeks of massive protestsagainst its authoritarian presi-dent, on Saturday cracked downhard on the news media, deport-ing some foreign journalistsreporting in the country andrevoking the accreditation ofmany Belarusian journalists.

Two Moscow-basedAssociated Press journalists whowere covering the recent protestsin Belarus were deported toRussia on Saturday. In addition,the AP’s Belarusian staff weretold by the government thattheir press credentials had beenrevoked. “The Associated Pressdecries in the strongest termsthis blatant attack on pressfreedom in Belarus. AP calls onthe Belarusian government toreinstate the credentials ofindependent journalists andallow them to continue report-ing the facts,” said LaurenEaston, the AP’s director ofmedia relations. AP

Bamako: Tensions mounted onSaturday between Mali’s mili-tary junta and the country’slongtime political oppositionafter the coup leaders failed toinvite prominent oppositionfigures to a planned forum onthe country’s political future.

The meeting ultimatelywas cancelled and the juntaleadership instead met withimam Mahmoud Dicko, anopposition leader who onFriday urged the junta to speed

up the transition to civilian ruleso the West African countrycould avoid further crushingfinancial sanctions.

“I ask them to be part ofthe solution and not anotherproblem,” he said.

Only a week earlier, theopposition coalition known asM5-RFP that includes Dickohad publicly backed the coup,with thousands of their sup-porters taking to the streetsafter the junta’s overthrow of

President Ibrahim BoubacarKeita. M5-RFP had led sever-al months of demonstrationscalling for his resignation threeyears before his final term wasdue to end. In a statement lateFriday, one M5-RFP leadersaid the alliance regretted notbeing invited to take part inSaturday’s planned discussionsbetween the junta and variouspolitical actors. AP

����������� ������������$���(����������������Beijing: At least 17 peopledied on Saturday when arestaurant in northern Chinacollapsed, state media said,with rescuers pulling dozens ofsurvivors from the rubble andsearching for others believed tobe trapped.

The two-storey buildingused for banquets came downin the morning in Xiangfencounty, in Shanxi province,according to broadcaster

CGTN.Xinhua news agency

reported that “45 people havebeen brought out, of which 17were dead, seven seriouslyinjured and 21 slightly injured.”

Rescuers in orange overallsand hard hats combed thecrumbled ruin of the building,images on the CGTN websiteshowed, with a decorativepainting seen on one of the fewwalls still intact. AFP

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Washington: In the span of 48hours, two Black men in UScities hundreds of miles apartwere shot by police in episodesthat set off a national conver-sation about the need for offi-cers to open fire on peoplewalking away from them.

The Jacob Blake shootingin Kenosha, Wisconsin, andthe killing of Trayford Pellerinin Lafayette, Louisiana, twodays earlier have thrust intothe spotlight a thorny andlong-running legal issue thathas on several occasions goneall the way to the US SupremeCourt.

And the Blake shooting hasraised a host of other questions,including why the officer feltthe need to shoot him seventimes in the back at close

range, and the prudence ofpolice opening fire with chil-dren nearby.

Wisconsin authorities areinvestigating those questions asthey weigh charges against theofficer in a case that has reignit-ed national protests over racialinjustice.

The shootings come less than three months afteralmost daily clashes betweenpolice and protesters inresponse to the death of GeorgeFloyd after a Minnesota officerknelt on his neck for severalminutes.

Laws governing the use ofdeadly force differ from state tostate, and past shootings ofpeople who were fleeing fromofficers have played out differ-ently across the country. AP

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Kenosha (US): Family mem-bers of Jacob Blake, a Blackman who was paralyzed after aKenosha police officer shothim in the back, are leading amarch and rally Saturday to callfor an end to police violence.

Event organizers said thedemonstration would include amarch to the Kenosha CountyCourthouse and speeches bymembers of Blake’s family, Lt.Gov. Mandela Barnes, U.S.Rep. Gwen Moore and othercommunity leaders.

“We are heartbroken andenraged, but we are steadfast inour demand for justice,” TanyaMclean, a Blake family friendwho helped organize the event,said in a statement. She saidBlake’s shooting is not an iso-lated incident, but part of a“brutal, racist system.” AP

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The centre in a letter to thestates has promised it

would clear their goods andservices tax (GST) dues despitethe massive shortfall in GSTcess collection amid the coro-navirus pandemic, a situationthat has been described as “anact of God” by FinanceMinister Nirmala Sitharaman.The government in the lettersaid it wants to stay clear of“avoidable borrowing at thecentral level when it could bedone at the state level” as cen-tral revenues are under “greatstrain” due to the pandemic.

The Union FinanceSecretary and the Expenditure

Secretary will hold an onlinemeeting on September 1 toanswer queries of the states ontwo options that the centre hasproposed - the first being stateswon’t have to service debt orrepay it from other sources, andthe second being states won’thave to repay the principalamount from any othersources.

The central Governmenton Saturday wrote to States sug-gesting options of borrowingmoney to make up for the�2.35 lakh crore shortfall inGST revenues expected in theongoing fiscal.

Two days after first sug-gesting to states to borrowmoney to make up for theshortfall at the GST Councilmeeting, the Finance Ministrywrote to State Governmentssaying they could borrow eithervia a special window it willfacilitate through the RBI orraise debt from the market.

While the Centre has rea-soned its recommendations on

premise that it is already sad-dled with a large borrowingrequirement given the slow-down in revenue collectionsdue to a slump in the economy,non-BJP ruled states such asPunjab, Kerala, Delhi and WestBengal have already stated thatraising debt is not an option foralready stretched state finances.

In a letter to finance sec-retaries of all states and unionterritories, Union FinanceSecretary Ajay Bhushan Pandeysaid while additional borrow-ing by the Centre influences theyields on central governmentsecurities (G-secs) and hasother macro-economic reper-cussions, the yields on statesecurities do not directly influ-ence other yields and do nothave the same repercussions.

“Hence, it is in the collec-tive interest of Centre andstates and in the interest of thenation and of all economicentities including the privatesector, not to do any avoidableborrowing at the central level

when it could be done at thestate level,” Pandey wrote in theletter. Compensation paymenthas been an issue since August2019 with GST collections fal-tering.

In the current fiscal, thecompensation requirement ofstates has been estimated at �3lakh crore, of which�65,000crore would be funded fromthe revenues garnered by levyof cess.

This leaves a shortfall of�2.35 lakh crore.

The Centre has estimatedthat of this �2.35 lakh crore,�97,000 crore compensationrequirement is due to GSTrollout and the remaining is onaccount of the impact ofCovid-19 on the economy.

In the GST Council meet-ing on August 27, FinanceMinister Nirmala Sitharamanhad said that Covid-19 is an“Act of God” and it was neces-sary to differentiate betweenGST shortfall and the pan-demic-related shortfall.

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There should not be a furtherdelay in appointing mem-

bers of the National ConsumerDisputes RedressalCommission (NCDRC), theSupreme Court has said, askingthe Centre to complete theprocess soon.

A bench of Justices LNageswara Rao, Hemant Guptaand S Ravindra Bhat made theobservation while extending

the term of an NCDRC mem-ber who is scheduled to retireon Sunday. “The finalisation ofthe selections and appoint-ments of members of NCDRCdoes not brook further delay,”it said. “We hope and trust thatthe appointments to theNCDRC shall be made soon.”

The apex court was con-sidering a plea by the NCDRCmember who has filed anapplication seeking a direc-tion for extension of his servicetill the regular appointmentsare made. Attorney General KK Venugopal submitted thatthe recommendations madeby the selection committeewere under the consideration ofthe appointments committee ofthe cabinet (ACC).

The top court said as theapplicant was due to retire onAugust 30, the term of hisappointment was extended fora month.The apex court hadearlier expressed its displeasureover pending vacancies in theNCDRC and said the issue hadto be addressed urgently.

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In a tweet, Tesla CEO ElonMusk solved a mystery

involving a 27-year-oldRussian, an insider at anunnamed corporation and analleged million-dollar paymentoffered to help trigger a ran-somware extortion attack onthe firm.Prosecutors declinedto name the target, but Muskwas happy to oblige.Accordingto the billionaire, the schemetook aim at the electric carcompany’s 1.9 million-square-foot factory in Sparks, Nevada,which makes batteries for Teslavehicles and energy storageunits.”This was a seriousattack,” Musk tweetedThursday night, responding toa Tesla blog post that detailedthe brazen scheme.DefendantEgor Igorevich Kriuchkov triedto recruit a fellow Russianspeaker who worked at theplant, according to a criminalcomplaint filed in US DistrictCourt in Nevada.

Reaching out to theunnamed worker via WhatsAppin July, Kriuchkov allegedlyflew to the United States with aRussian passport on a touristvisa and sought to entice theworker to betray Tesla.Kriuchkov allegedly took theworker, who he’d he’d first metin 2016, on a road trip to LakeTahoe before offering the per-son $ 1 million to plant malwareon computer systems at “VictimCompany A”. Kriuchkov float-ed the scheme at a Reno area baron August 3 after the two drankheavily until last call, the com-plaint says. But the plant work-er informed Tesla, which con-tacted the FBI and won theemployee’s cooperation. In sub-sequent meetings monitoredand recorded by federal agents,Kriuchkov laid out a scheme tohave the worker infect Teslacomputers with a program thatwould steal valuable data beforescrambling plant systems withransomware, according to thecomplaint.

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The GST Network onSaturday started providing

auto-drafted input tax credit(ITC) statement GSTR-2Bwhich would assist the taxpay-ers in determining their ITCliability.

GSTN handles the IT back-bone of Goods and ServicesTax (GST).

GSTR-2B will be generat-ed on GST portal for every reg-istered person on the basis ofthe information furnished byhis suppliers and will be madeavailable for each month, on

the 12th day of the succeedingmonth, GSTN said in a state-ment.

“It is expected that GSTR-2B will help in reduction intime taken for preparingreturn, minimising errors,assisting reconciliation andsimplify compliance relating tofiling of returns,” it said.

Jaipur: Rajashthan HousingCommissioner Pawan Arorasaid a large number of peopleplanted saplings at City Park,Mansarovar by registering on

Mandal’s RHB Green app.People came in two slots from8am to 10 am and from 4 pmto 6 pm in the park.

PNS

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The economic impact ofCovid-19 on India’s GDP is

expected to be anywhere inbetween 17 per cent and 30 percent during Q1FY21.

According to leading econ-omists, the measures to curbthe pandemic heavily dentedmanufacturing, services andother sectors apart from agri-culture during the quarter.

The country had observedmobility restrictions as man-dated under the lockdownmeasures for the better part ofthe first quarter of FY21.

It was only on June 1 thatpartial unlock measures were

implemented.However, a contraction at

this scale has not been wit-nessed since the quarterly seriesbegan in the late 1990s.

In financial parlance, aGDP contraction not only indi-cates the economy’s movementtowards a recession, but alsounderlines the reduction inpurchasing power along withlower taxes for the government,higher defaults on debt andfalling Capex spends.

“We estimate a contractionof 17 per cent in Q1FY21 GDPas a direct result of lockdown,supply side constraints, and lowto nil activity in non-essentialmanufacturing and services.While a robust growth in agri-culture during this period isgoing to provide some cushionto the GDP growth, it will beinsufficient to substitute the

downfall arising out of thecontraction caused in the man-ufacturing and services sector,”Sunil Kumar Sinha, PrincipalEconomist, India Ratings &Research, told IANS.

“Local or regional or week-end lockdowns and healthrelated concerns of the gener-al public are continuing to actas hindrances towards nor-malcy of economic activityand the eventual sustainabilityof growth.

“Given the evolving situ-ation, there is an urgent needto prop-up demand in theeconomy which had been lan-guishing from even beforethe Covid-19 related lock-down, otherwise supply sidemeasures announced so farwill soon run into difficultydue to lack of demand,” Sinhaadded.

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After company law, theGovernment has now set

out to decriminalise variousoffences under the GST lawsto improve ease of doingbusiness and ensure bettercompliance.

As part of the changesbeing considered by theFinance Ministry, a group ofofficers has been constitutedby the Central Board ofIndirect Taxes and Customs(CBIC) to hold stakeholderconsultations and get inputsfrom the industry.

A final proposal will thenbe moved to the Cabinet.

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Tom Banton’s explosive 71 off42 balls proved to be in vain

for England as the firstTwenty20 international againstPakistan was abandoned as a noresult because of rain inManchester.

The opener smashed fourfours and five sixes in an enter-taining knock featuring lustyhitting and unorthodox scoops,helping England score 131-6 in16.1 overs before it started torain at Old Trafford on Friday.

Pakistan never got to bat inwhat would have ended upbeing an unsatisfactory five-over match, with the ground-staff unable to get the wet out-field in a fit state to play.

England will be concernedthat Banton’s departure sparkedthe loss of four wickets for 14runs in 19 balls before thestoppage.

Before that, opener JonnyBairstow was out for 2 andDawid Malan made a run-a-

ball 23 after Pakistan won thetoss and decided to field firstunder floodlights below gloomyskies.

England had scored just 34-1 after six overs, the team’s low-est powerplay total since the2016 World Twenty20 final.

Imad Wasim (2-31) andShadab Khan (2-33) werePakistan's best bowlers inManchester, where there wereno spectators because of coro-navirus restrictions. The othermatches in the series are onSunday and Tuesday. Englandwon a rain-affected test series1-0.

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The Arjuna Award has come his way after13 years of toil in international cricket

and motivated by the recognition, veteranIndia pacer Ishant Sharma plans to contin-ue in top flight till the time his “body allows”.

Ishant, 31, made his international debutin both Tests and ODIs in 2007 and playedhis first T20I the following year.

He remains a vital player in Test crick-et.

“I realised my passion for cricket at avery young age and since then I have beenstriving to give my 100 per cent effort dayin and day out. Every step I took toimprove my game was aimed at takingIndia’s name to a higher level,” he said in astatement.

“Till the time my body allows, I willcontinue to do so, and by God's grace afterthat as well,” the pacer added in the state-ment that he shared on his official Twitterhandle. The 31-year-old, who has played 97Tests, 80 ODIs and 14 T20Is for India, is oneof the 27 sportspersons who have been hon-oured with the Arjuna Award this year. He,

however, could not attend the online cere-mony due to his IPL commitments here.

“I sincerely thank the (sports) ministryfor this recognition.

“Lastly, a huge shout out to BCCI forgiving monumental support in this journeyand the journey going forward. Not to for-get, congratulations to all the fellow ArjunaAwardees,” he added.

Ishant is here with his Delhi Capitalsteammates for the 13th edition of the IndianPremier League (IPL), which is slated to startfrom September 19.

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Royal Challengers Bangalore captainVirat Kohli on Saturday posted

pictures from his training session withhis teammates. This was the squad's firstpractice session after they completedtheir six-day quarantine in the UAEahead of the 13th edition of the IndianPremier League (IPL) which is set tobegin on September 19.

“Been 5 months since the last timeI stepped onto the field. Felt like 6 dayswhen I got into the nets. Great first ses-sion with the boys @royalchallengers-bangalore (sic.),” said Kohli in his cap-tion to the pictures on his social mediahandles.

The team had earlier indulged in ateam-building session after completingtheir mandatory quarantine period.

The 2020 season of the IPL had tobe shifted to the UAE due to theCOVID-19 situation in India. Thetournament was originally scheduled tostart on March 29 and was initially post-poned till April 15. It was then put offindefinitely due to the lockdown in thecountry that was imposed to deal withthe virus.

The 31-year-old last played inIndia’s Test series in New Zealand. Hewas set to lead the side in an ODI seriesat home against South Africa in March.While the first match of the series inDharamsala was washed off, theremaining matches were called offdue to the pandemic and the SouthAfrican side were escorted back to theircountry.

����� ������ ��

Two cricketers among a total of13 COVID-19 cases and all-

rounder Suresh Raina’s pulloutowing to “personal reasons” causedquite a bit of turbulence for theupcoming IPL on Saturday withChennai Super Kings being theworst hit franchise.

Raina, who retired from inter-national cricket earlier this month,decided to “return home for per-sonal reasons" as his team CSKgrappled with 13 confirmedCOVID-19 cases in its camp. Thetournament starts September 19and will be played across three citiesin the UAE.

“Thirteen personnel have test-ed positive of which 2 are players.All the affected personnel as well astheir close contacts are asympto-matic and have been isolated fromother team members. They arebeing monitored by the IPLMedical Team,” the BCCI pressrelease stated without naming thefranchise.

The two players who have test-ed positive include a white-ball T20specialist seamer for India and atop-order India A batsman. TheBoard did not reveal any names.

The BCCI stated that a total of1,988 RT-PCR COVID-19 testswere carried out between August 20and 28 across all participant groups

in the UAE.The ones tested include players,

support staff, team management,BCCI staff, IPL operational team,hotel and ground transport staff.

“As per the IPL 2020 Healthand Safety Protocols, testing on allparticipants will be conducted reg-ularly throughout the IPL 2020Season,” it further stated.

All positive cases need to gothrough a 14-day quarantine peri-od following which they will haveto return two negative RT-PCR testsbefore being allowed inside the bio-bubble for the tournament.

Raina’s pullout came as a shock-er and so far, it is being attributedto his desire for some downtime

with his young family in these test-ing times. The player is yet to issuea formal statement on his reasonsfor coming back.

“Suresh Raina has returned toIndia for personal reasons and willbe unavailable for the remainder ofthe IPL season. Chennai SuperKings offers complete support toSuresh and his family during thistime,” CSK tweeted CEO KasiViswanathan’s statement.

CSK’s quarantine period inDubai has already been extendedtill September 1.

“Suresh’s absence will be a bigblow for the CSK and also, he is oneof the biggest draws in IPL. But inthese times, if any player doesn’t feel

100 per cent and has some otherpressing priorities, any teamrespects that and CSK is no differ-ent,” a senior IPL official privy todevelopment in CSK camp told PTIon conditions of anonymity.

While it couldn’t be officiallyconfirmed but speculation was rifethat a family tragedy coupled witha spike in COVID-19 cases in theteam might have disturbed theformer India left-hander whoretired on August 15 alongside hisskipper Mahendra Singh Dhoni.

Amid all this, there was somegood news as well with RajasthanRoyals fielding coach DishantYagnik recovering from COVID-19to join the squad in Dubai.

He has completed his 14-dayquarantine along with two negativereports as he joined the squad inDubai.

While it is understood that thehigh-profile event is not underthreat as of now but one franchisebecoming a “COVID-19 hotspot”is slowly becoming an issue forother teams as well as the BCCI.

“If there are 13 cases from onlyone franchise then it is an issue forsure for everyone. The biggestaspect will be whether foreigncricketers will now start being pan-icky as they are more touchy aboutthese issues,” an official said.

“We need to keep a tab on play-ers’ mental health,” he added.

����� ������ ��

India’s sporting heroes werebestowed the annual national

awards in an unparalleled onlineceremony amid the COVID-19pandemic during which athleteslogged in from multiple cities to behonoured by President Ram NathKovind on Saturday.

This year a whopping 74 win-ners were picked for the nationalhonours, including an unprece-dented five Rajiv Gandhi KhelRatnas and 27 Arjuna awardees. Ofthese, 60 attended the virtual cere-mony conducted across 11 SportsAuthority of India (SAI) centres invarious cities.

Cricketers Rohit Sharma (KhelRatna) and Ishant Sharma (Arjuna)missed out due to their IPL com-mitments in the UAE, while starwrestler Vinesh Phogat (KhelRatna) and badminton playerSatwiksairaj Rankireddy (Arjuna)had to pull out of the ceremony aftertesting positive for the dreadedvirus.

The other three Khel Ratnawinners — TT player Manika Batra,Paralympic gold-medallistMariyappan Thangavelu andwomen’s hockey captain RaniRampal — attended the ceremony.

While Batra logged in fromPune, Thangavelu and Rampaljoined from Bengaluru.

President Kovind applaudedas names of the attending awardeeswere called out and their achieve-ments were cited as is the conven-tion. Missing, however, was thegrandeur of the RashtrapatiBhavan’s Durbar Hall.

“This is the first awards cere-mony in COVID times duringwhich the President has participat-ed,” Sports Minister Kiren Rijiju saidat the beginning of the ceremony.

The athletes can look forwardto enhanced cash awards this year.The prize money for the KhelRatna was increased to Rs 25 lakhfrom the previous amount of Rs 7.5lakh this morning.

Arjuna awardees, 22 of whoattended the ceremony, were given

Rs 15 lakh, which is Rs 10 lakh morethan the previous sum.

The Dhronacharya (Lifetime)awardees, who were earlier given Rs5 lakh, were awarded Rs 15 lakh,while the regular Dhronacharyacame with Rs 10 lakh instead of Rs

5 lakh per awardee.Dhyanchand Awardees were

given Rs 10 lakh instead of Rs 5lakh.

The strict COVID-19 protocolmeant that for the first time in 44years' history of the awards, the win-ners, guests and dignitaries did notgather at the Durbar Hall to berecognised for their excellence.

President Kovind congratulat-ed all the winners and exudedconfidence that India can achieve itsgoal of finishing among top-10countries in the 2028 Los AngelesOlympics.

“My heartiest congratulations toall the award winners! All of you,through your performance, haveprovided unforgettable moments ofcollective success to all Indians,”Kovind said in his address duringthe ceremony, which lasted littlemore than hour.

“I am confident that with thecollective efforts made on thestrength of everyone’s participation,India will emerge as a sportingsuperpower.

“Our goal is to be in the top-10podium finisher countries in the2028 Olympic Games. We will def-initely achieve this goal.”

Kovind said India needs todevelop a sporting culture andeveryone should work towardsachieving that.

He said the entire sportingworld has been affected by the pan-demic, but hoped athletes willcome out stronger from this expe-rience.

“COVID-19 also has a hugeimpact on the sports world.Olympic Games have been post-poned...In our country too, allsports activities have been affected.Players and coaches may be lessmotivated by practice and compe-tition stops,” he said.

“I believe that the people ofsports will come out of this test withmore mental strength and will cre-ate new history of achievements.”

The top Arjuna awardees thisyear included star sprinter DuteeChand, woman cricketer DeeptiSharma, golfer Aditi Ashok and

men's hockey team strikerAkashdeep Singh.

The Dronacharya award in thelife-time category was bestowed oneight coaches, the prominentamong them being archery coachDharmendra Tiwary, NareshKumar (tennis), Shiv Singh (boxing)and Romesh Pathania (hockey).

In regular category, there werefive recipients of the Dronacharya,including hockey coach Jude Felixand shooting coach Jaspal Ranaamong others.

In a tragic turn of events ofFriday, a Dronacharya (Lifetime)winner, athletics coachPurushottam Rai, died in Bengaluruafter suffering a heart attack.

The Dhyan Chand award thisyear was given to 15 individuals,including Sukhvinder Singh Sandhu(football), Trupti Murgunde (bad-minton) and Nandan Bal (tennis)among others.

Aditi Ashok and former foot-baller Sukhwinder Singh Sandhudid not attend the award functionas they are out of the country.

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No 1-ranked Novak Djokovicand former top-30 memberVasek Pospisil would be the co-

presidents of a new group they are try-ing to set up to represent men’s pro-fessional tennis players.

A letter emailed to players — andobtained by The Associated Press onFriday — pushes the formation of aProfessional Tennis PlayersAssociation, abbreviated PTPA.

Sent around shortly beforeMonday's start of the US Open, the let-ter says its objective is “to solicit sup-port from players to form an associ-ation with a mandate to promote, pro-tect and represent the interests of itsplayers ... And protect the future oftennis.”

Tennis players never have had aunion the way North American teamsports do. Each player is consideredan independent contractor.

“Unlike many other professionalsports, men’s professional tennis hasnever had a representative body thatis represented for players by players,”the email said.

The men’s tennis tour is organisedby the ATP; the women’s tennis touris run by the WTA. Djokovic is thepresident of the ATP Player Counciland Pospisil has been a member fortwo years, but he tweeted Friday

night that he was resigning.“It has become clear that, as a play-

er council member within the currentstructure of the ATP, it is very diffi-cult, if not impossible, to have any sig-nificant impact on any major decisionsmade by our tour,” Pospisil wrote.

There was talk earlier this year,prompted largely by tweets from 20-time Grand Slam champion Roger

Federer, about the possibility of merg-ing the men's and women’s tours.

This proposal would set up some-thing just for men ranked in the top500 in singles and top 200 in doubles.

“The goal of the PTPA is not toreplace the ATP but to provide play-ers with a self-governance structurethat is independent from the ATP andis directly responsive to player-mem-

bers’ needs and concerns,” the emailsaid.

The letter said the PTPA would begoverned by board of trustees with upto nine members, elected annually.

The trustees would appoint twoco-presidents with two-year terms—and that first leadership duo would beDjokovic, a 33-year-old from Serbiawho owns 17 Grand Slam singles tro-

phies, and Pospisil, a 30-year-oldfrom Canada who won the 2014Wimbledon doubles title and is cur-rently No 92 in singles.

Among the areas the PTPA wouldlook into, according to the email: ATPand tournament rules and regulations,revenue sharing, disciplinary actions,pensions, travel, on-site food andamenities, insurance and medicalcare.

There would be a dues structurewith players paying an amount basedon their ranking — from a high in sin-gles of USD 1,500 for those from 1-50 down to USD 75 for those in spots401-500, and a high in doubles of USD1,000 for those 1-30.

The total fees listed in the letterwould bring in USD 317,500 each year.

The email asks players to sign aletter backing the PTPA, and says “ifa significant number of players sup-port this initiative we will move for-ward” with writing bylaws and propos-ing a board of trustees.

At least one player is on the recordas saying he'll sign on: 2016Wimbledon runner-up Milos Raonic.

“Players have had plenty of timeto think and reflect and take a look atcertain parts which they may not behappy with and discuss," Raonic saidFriday after reaching the Western &Southern Open final.

“A lot of us were kept in the darkby our leadership for six months. Wewere disappointed with many things.I voiced my opinion on many things,such as ... Executives in other sportstaking pay cuts to support us. As ten-nis players, we weren’t making adime for months and months. ...Lower guys weren’t making a dime,”Raonic said.

“But our executives were stayinghome and didn’t feel it necessary totake any pay cuts. I pushed for that onevery single phone call we had.”

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Naomi Osaka pulled out ofthe Western & Southern

Open final Saturday becauseof a left hamstring injury, giv-ing the title to VictoriaAzarenka in a walkover.

The tournamentannounced Osaka’s decisionabout 90 minutes before thechampionship match wassupposed to begin in LouisArmstrong Stadium at thesite of the U.S. Open.

The Western & SouthernOpen normally is held inOhio but was moved to NewYork this year because of thecoronavirus pandemic as partof a two-tournament "con-trolled environment.”

The U.S. Open startsMonday. One of Osaka’s twoGrand Slam titles came atFlushing Meadows in 2018.

“I’m sorry to have towithdraw today with aninjury,” Osaka said in a state-ment released by the Western& Southern Open.

“I pulled my left ham-string yesterday in the secondset tiebreak and it has notrecovered overnight as I hadhoped. This has been anemotional week and I want tothank everyone for the out-pouring of support.” Osaka,a 22-year-old who was bornin Japan and is now based inthe U.S., brought the push for

racial justice to the tennistour by saying she was notgoing to play in her semifi-nal, joining athletes in theNBA, Major League Baseballand other sports in sitting outthis week in reaction to thepolice shooting in Wisconsinof a Black man, Jacob Blake.

Osaka’s stance promptedthe tournament to say it wastaking a “pause” to back thecause and scrapping allscheduled matches forThursday.

When play resumedFriday, Osaka did compete,and she beat Elise Mertens 6-2, 7-6 (5). But Osaka grabbedher left hamstring after chas-ing a ball during thetiebreaker.

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England batsman Ollie Popewill be out of action for up

to four months after dislocat-ing his left shoulder in thethird and final cricket testagainst Pakistan.

Pope landed awkwardlyMonday after diving to pre-vent a boundary on Day 4 of

the drawn match. Englandwon the series.

The timing of the injurymay help Pope.

“It is hoped that Popewill return in time forEngland's winter tours of SriLanka and India starting in

the early part of 2021,” theEngland and Wales CricketBoard said in a statement onFriday.

The 22-year-old Pope leftthe field immediately and willundergo an operation in thenext couple of weeks.

Pope out for up to 4 months with shoulder injury

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Pandemic has resulted into chal-lenges for all. The pressure toperform has increased amidstall the changing businessrequirements. Many organisa-

tions are restructuring, and a few peopleare losing their jobs. Airbnb recently hadto let go 25% of their staff. Sometimes awhole unit is shutdown but many timesit is downsizing by a percentage. Peoplejudged to be lower in performance arebeing let go.

But who judges your performance?The buck usually stops with your manag-er. In the post-pandemic world whenyou are working remotely this is evenmore so. Now, there is a limited opportu-nity to showcase your work beyond yourmanager and chances are that he/she hasmore influence on your career.

What if you are working for a micro-manager? It was tough to please themanager even when you were in office.Now the manager may feel even moreinsecure when you are not in front ofhis/her eyes and suspects or even blamesyou of shirking work and taking thingslightly. Manager is under pressure to per-form and may believe that you are onewho is letting him/her down. In the postpandemic world, as the manager may bethe only tether with which you are con-nected to the organisation, you do notwant to be in this situation. So how doyou handle a micromanager and comeout as a winner not just a survivor?

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A tough manager may not necessari-ly be a micromanager. A manager whopushes you to do more may also not be amicromanager. A workaholic managermay not be the micromanager you sus-pect him/her to be. Consider the follow-ing to determine if you are working for amicromanager.

● Decision making: A micromanag-er likes to keep all the decision making tohimself/herself. The manager wants youto come up with options for him/her tomake the choice. Each option needs to bedeveloped to a certain level for their con-sideration, multiplying your work. Themanager will remind you about the lastdecisions he/she took and the impact itmade and make you feel incompetent tomake decisions of your own.

● Find faults: When the managerreviews your work, he/she will find faultsfirst. A micromanager will not take thetime to acknowledge the improvementsfrom last time, he/she will highlight theproblems and start working on it them-selves. He/she do not trust you to do agood job. Instead of helping you becomebetter by providing feedback, he/she willsend you the final copy, asking you tolearn from your “mistakes”. The managerbelieves he/she is better than any of theteam members.

● Frequent Updates: The managerseeks frequent updates / reports onprogress. He/she expects you to slackoff, expects problems in your work, giveyou less time than required for the jobbecause he/she believes that he/she willhave to work on it anyways. If youspend more than 10% of your timemaking reports for your manager, itmay mean that you are working for amicromanager.

● Create Dependence: The managerkeeps critical connections/knowledge/information to themselves and create a

dependence on himself/herself. Themanager believes that you cannot betrusted with more or that you may not beable to handle it. The manager will makeyou feel that you still have a long way togo and without his/her help, you may notbe able to take a step.

● Create Undue Pressure: Since themanager is the critical piece in any work,he/she may be overwhelmed. He/she willcome to review your task only close tothe deadline and then find faults in itrequiring you to work outside of officehours to make the changes. And stillhave the audacity to tell you that, ‘Youshould know better’ and that he/she hasto work hard just because he/she has todeal with your incompetence. Themicromanager keeps on the edge.

��������� ���������� �The main thing is to take charge of

the situation. Instead of being the victimof circumstances, become the master ofyour own destiny. Not every pointer willwork for your situation as each situationis unique. So, take your pick from thefollowing suggestions.

LOOK INSIDE!Do begin with an introspection and

self-awareness. Does the manager behavethe same with all? Or does he/she reservea special treatment for you alone. Thereare chances that you are the reason for allthe micromanaging that you are getting.

● Observe: Find out what treatmentyour colleagues are getting. It was easierwhen you were in office, but you shouldget some opportunities to observe thebehaviour of your manager towardsother colleagues during staff calls. Youcan also schedule one on one discussionswith some colleagues to discuss experi-ences and compare notes. If others arefacing similar challenges, then it pointsto the fact that you may not be the cul-prit here.

● Seek Feedback: You can also seekfeedback from friendly colleagues. Keepan open mind. Feedback can be ugly, andit may be difficult to accept it. Seek feed-back from at least a couple of people, donot depend on one person’s views. Whenseeking feedback make sure that youseek specific instances and relevantdetails to gain insights from them. If youreceive non-specific feedback that tellsyou that things are generally good thatmay not mean much. People may be shy-ing away from telling you about your

shortcomings. This may mean that youmust work on your team relationships.

If you receive specific feedback aboutcertain elements, then that will becomethe starting point. In the next sectionsyou will see many pointers to help youdeal with specific issues as you work tomakeover your image.

DO EXPRESSYour manager may not even know

about what you are feeling unless youtake the opportunity to talk about it. It isimportant to express your concern in theright way.

● Not a complaint: Do share yourfeelings. The feedback in not about aperson but a situation. It should be howyou felt and how it impacts you. Also feelfree to share what would make you feelbetter.

● Be specific: What was said, whenit was said and what you felt, why youfelt that way should definitely beincluded.

● It is about both: When you share,make sure that it should notcome as you are talking onlyabout his/her behaviour. Beopen to listen. Seek feedbacktoo.

BE DEPENDABLE● Deliver on time, every time: Even

if the manager is not satisfied with thequality of work you deliver, make surethat you are dependable when it comesto timely submission of work.

● Make agreements early in thecycle: Whenever you get a new task,make sure to get an agreement onthe structure/agenda. Seek time todiscuss the plans with your manag-er and get his/her inputs. This will showhim/her that you take your work serious-ly and that you are sincerely trying yourbest. Also, this will help set a boundaryon deliveries and check-ins.

● Regular and consistent reporting:The micromanager wants to feel in con-trol and wants to be sure that things areprogressing. He/she will appreciate thefact that the progress is being sharedwith him/her regularly. Instead of send-ing out a dedicated email on the topic,use the new tools such as Microsoftteams, SharePoint, OneDrive, GoogleDocs or Google drive to create a shareddocument or space where the updatedstatus is available on a regular agreed fre-quency. This may take pressure off andyou will start building some confidence.

● Support in management report-ing: The manager sends out reports tothe leadership team on the progress ofvarious projects. He/she may be using aspecific format for your projects and maybe doing some extra work to convertyour inputs into a report more consum-able by the leadership. If you can provideyour inputs in such a way that the man-ager does not have to rework, that willshow the manager that you are willing togo the extra mile.

BUILD BONDS & STRENGTHENTHE RELATIONSHIP

Human beings want to reciprocate. Ifyou do good to someone, they feel oblig-ated to return the favour. You can readmore about it in The 100/0 Principle: TheSecret of Great Relationships by Al Ritter.

● Seek mentorship and career guid-ance: Regularly connect with the manag-er for discussing career development.

Seek his/her guidance. Connectingmonthly is a good practice. Make sureyou share your personal and professionalaspirations with the manager and seekhelp to make advancements. The manag-er may initially give you a lot of feedback.Some of that will help you understandhis/her perception of your abilities. Seekguidance and make efforts to improve.Be consistent and share these efforts dur-ing your regular reviews.

● Work closely with colleagues:Help your colleagues when they needyou. Support them as they present theirprojects. Seek their help when you needit. The better you are connected to theteam the better it is.

SEEK TO UNDERSTAND THE BIGPICTURE

● Know the why: Your ability torelate to organisational and departmentalgoals will help you refine your work.Make sure that you incorporate theimprovements in the projects/worksbased on your understanding of ‘why’.When you bring these perspectives inyour communication and work, yourmanager will be more confident of yourabilities.

● Align with the how: Eachorganisation has their own values.Make sure that the work you do alignswith those values. For example, if oneof the values is “Customer First” andyou are working on a cost reductioninitiative, make sure that you do notcompromise on this value. You mayhave to work harder to find a way toreduce the cost while delivering better

experience to cus-tomers but in the

long run yourefforts will pay.

Again, make surethat you highlight

what you are doing andexplain the why.

MAKE YOUR MANAGER SUCCESSFUL● Understand any concerns: The

manager may be insecure about some-thing — the overall success of the projector his/her own reputation or his/her owncareer progress. If you proactively under-stand concerns, it will help you under-stand how you can be in alignment withthe manager’s goals. The more you alignto the goals the better your relationshipwith the manager. You can seek someinputs in your one-on-one with the man-ager to understand the top priorities. Incurrent environment, do prefer to havethese calls as video calls where possible.

● Work with stakeholders: Everyproject that has linkages with otherdepartments can only be successful withthe support from other stakeholders. Itwill be great if you can be proactive andseek inputs from other stakeholders asyou work. If you keep them informedand engaged the projects will havegreater acceptability. The manager will bemore confident on your work.

● Get credit to your manager too:Make sure that you highlight the contri-butions of the manager in the success ofthe project. You must never seek to getall the credit yourself. If your managergets his/her due, he/she will feel morealigned and secure with you.

These steps will help you navigatethe situation and develop more align-ment with your manager, try them out!

The writer is an author. She has justpublished Get Your Next Promotion with

SAGE Publications India

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Hit by the coronavirus storm, economies are cluelessand running for cover. Champions of free marketeconomy often quote Adam Smith’s Invisible Hand

doctrine as the panacea for all economic ills. No differentthis time. They suggested that an economy can work in afree market where every one strives for personal interest. Thatwas Laissez Faire, advocated over two centuries ago. Therewere many takers and with collapse of Marxism the worldbecame a global village for free market votaries leading tonew models of disruption and growth. Social Darwinism wasthe new mantra. But, man proposes, God disposes. So onehuge disruption by the nature upset the apple cart.Economies fell like nine pins as the pandemic brought theglobe to a screeching halt. Taken unawares, the free markettheorists were at their wit’s end as the IMF believed that glob-al economy was in distress. With global forecasts project-ing gloom, answers to the loss of livelihoods are hard to find.The big question for humanity is where to find solace. Theobvious answer seems to lie now in the visible hand, withthe invisible one vanishing completely. The control and com-mand structure of Governments that were thought super-fluous appear to be the only silver lining. As the big govern-ment returns, strategies are being worked out for coping withthe current global economic crisis. What to do and how todo are the questions to be addressed. Indian History has someclues. The 1784 famine of Lucknow (then Awadh) had throwna similar challenge to the then Nawab, Asaf-ud Daula. Thefamine persisted for long, affecting both the rich and the poor.There was a great pressure on the Nawab to keep the econ-omy going and protect lives and livelihoods. He decided togo for a huge construction project. But there was a uniqueangle to the project. While the poor labourers would carryon the construction work in the day time, the noblemen andthe rich were asked to demolish the constructed structureat night. This continued and the Nawab could sail throughthe crisis. For those who are interested in history, it was thiseconomic strategy that was behind the construction of thenow famous monument of Lucknow in India, the BadaImambara. Interestingly, this economic prudence of theNawab to stimulate the economy worked much before Keynespropounded his theory. What the Nawab visualised, andKeynes realised 150 years later, was that governmentspending has a catalysing effect on reviving an economyunder distress. Economic stimulation is a process that mustbe initiated by government spending, and once the revivalstarts, the private capitalists start putting in money. It is thisfiscal multiplier effect that pulls out an economy from a reces-sion. It is thus the visible hand that does the trick in timesof a crisis when the invisible hand has failed. Unconventionaltimes call for unconventional approaches. As democracieslike US, European Union and India struggle to revitalise theireconomies, the approach of the Indian Nawab adopted overtwo centuries and a quarter ago makes sense. But it is impor-tant to understand that big governments do not always haveto use the heavy hand. At times it is the big heart that makesthe important difference. The invisible hand theory, then,works in fair weather.

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We are always carrying out actswith our bodies, minds andspeech. In this classification,

the mind and the speech are mentionedseparately, because their functions needto be highlighted. Mind is always busythinking about all sorts of things. It issaid that there are on average 50,000thoughts per day. Even during sleepwhen the brain is active, the mind mustbe too. The speech has been singled outof all the senses, because it makes a bigdifference in our lives. Suppose we speakangrily to someone, we evoke a nega-tive reaction almost instantly. On theother hand, if we appreciate someone,we endear ourselves to that person.

There are two types of acts — mate-rial and spiritual. Material acts are basi-cally in relation to material objects likethe use of hands to do some physicalwork or walk to go to some place.Spiritual acts are in relation to the spir-it, that is either soul or God. Prayer saidto God is one example, and treat oth-ers as equal souls, irrespective of theirbodies is another. (The Gita 13.27)

To start with the material acts, allacts done either by the body or the mindor the speech come to fruition. Mostly,there is a time lag but some acts bringinstant result. Some of the acts come tofruition in future lives. That is what dis-tinguishes horoscopes of different peo-ple. Then, some acts bring smallrewards like a labourer working all daygetting paid meagre wages at the end ofthe day, while a scientist may make animportant discovery and earn mil-lions. What one gets is overseen bydivine authorities. God has set rules,which divine authorities implement.They have no independent jurisdiction.However, it is difficult for us to knowwhat exactly is in store for us. Both the

timing and the type are generallyshrouded in mystery. Material actshave no permanence; we do them andwe are rewarded or punished.

On spiritual acts, Lord Krishna hasspoken about them extensively in TheGita. For example, in the verse #2.40, hehas stated that neither there is waste ofeffort in it nor there is opposite effect.Such acts are only beneficial. He has saidthat even a small spiritual act protectsone from great fear. Such acts are neverextinguished like the material acts.They keep on accumulating to our cred-it. If these acts relate to God, He getsinvolved personally in rewarding thedoer. Of course there are many differ-ent types of spiritual acts, and they allplease God. The Lord has mentionedmany such acts in the twelfth chapterof The Gita (12.13-19). Lord Krishnaspecifically mentions those faithful,who have made Him their shelter, whofollow the nectar of wisdom spoken byHim, are exceedingly dear to Him.(12.20) In another place, the Lordmentions those who preach Hissupreme secret knowledge amongst His

devotees. He states that no other thanthem please Him more. (18.68-69)

God rewards doers of spiritualacts in many ways. They get theirdesired objects. Sanjaya mentions a fewsuch rewards; they get opulence, victo-ry and wealth. (18.78) The Lord doesmention two types of devotion. One isfor material gains like an artharthi (seek-er of wealth) or an artah (distressed per-son). This is ‘sakama’ bhakti. Theother type of bhakti is nishkama inwhich the focus is on gaining liberation.The later one is of course higherbecause getting liberated from thecycle of birth and death is the ultimategain for the small soul.

While material acts may or may notbe rewarded, spiritual acts come underthe exclusive jurisdiction of God. Healways takes note of all spiritual acts.One must remember, God is never adebtor; He does not have to be. He mustreward anyone who pleases Him insome way or other. God is unbelievablygenerous. 2���������������������������������������������

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Understanding the com-plexity of the human brainhas been a key scientificquest for a long time.What our ancient sages

talked about thousands of years ago isbeing slowly discovered. For instance,when evolved beings are present, com-munication occurs through anexchange of thoughts or telepathy.Today advanced computers accessingthe brains of people in two separatelocations show that what one personis visualising, another can see — albeita somewhat garbled but clear enoughimage of the ‘thought’ it is.

� ��Over the years the concept of seva

or the act of helping others has beenadvocated in numerous scriptures andreligions. Sikhism, Islam, Christianityand all other religions have preachedthe importance of serving others andgiving to the needy and underprivi-leged. Highlighted in the book, KarmaSutra, the criticality of not just doingseva but also the methods, the reasonsand even the internal progression oneundergoes whilst actually performingthe act of seva, provide much food forthought. It is human nature to starthelping others with the intent of gain-ing societal admiration. This is why wesee many people being publiclyapplauded for their philanthropicefforts. As the person progresses on thespiritual path, the intent behind his or

her seva shifts to becoming more outof a sense of duty and gratitude for allthat he or she has got. And finally, itbecomes a habit wherein the persondoes not even take doership or own-ership for the act. I believe that help-ing others is actually a ‘selfish’ actbecause of the positive karmic debtearned by the blessings and good wish-es of the receiver. So rather thanbeing a selfless act, seva becomes self-ish, albeit in a positive way — the giveralso becomes the taker here! The ulti-mate goal is to rid ourselves from the‘doership’ of the act itself.

But what actually happens insidethe brain when one goes out onto thestreet and feeds people or helps anelderly lady cross the road? The answeris more complex than simply ‘feelinggood’. The spirit which rests inside eachone of us takes a ‘selfie’ in that moment,capturing a wholistic image of whothey are, which becomes better look-ing with each good deed. Almost all ofthe human form thrives on beingappeased by their ‘selfie’ which isactually just their self-esteem (gener-ally at a more physical level than spir-it level). Every act of seva raises the self-esteem and self-impression of theindividual concerned. You could callthis ‘seva mein meva’.

The more we study the humanbrain, the more the data points to thisdirection. Studies show that doing sevareduces the activity in the amygdala,an area that is linked to emotional

responses, especially fear.Neurobiologists also agree that whenwe help others, our brains release oxy-tocin, serotonin and dopamine bring-ing about the feel good factor. Thesehormones have the effect of boostingour mood and counteracting the effectof cortisol (the stress hormone).Moreover, research has found thatengaging in such activities can also dullthe sensation of pain. This doesn’t havejust a singular benefit. Done on a reg-ular basis, a general sense of positivi-ty prevails that further encourages youto perform more acts of seva, leadingyou from the initial phase of doing itto feel good about something you did,to a habit and finally not thinking ofit as your deed at all.

�����We all know that dhyan or medi-

tation has a calming effect and bringsus a sense of peace and internal bal-ance. Advanced meditators have beenthrough lab experiments where theyhave been able to significantly alterbody temperatures, shut off and switchon parts of their body that convention-al science doesn’t believe possible.

However, the impact of meditationon the brain was something relativelylesser known till more recently. Theresults are fascinating. It has beenfound that the brains of experiencedpractitioners of meditation have struc-tural differences from those of others.

There is observable thickening in

the cerebral cortex in areas associatedwith attentional and emotional integra-tion. There is also a significant increasein grey matter density in the part of thebrain associated with self-awareness,compassion and introspection.

The posterior cingulate, which isinvolved in mind wandering, and self-relevance saw a difference too. Thosewho meditate have a higher ability tofocus and very interestingly self-rele-vance that links to self-esteem. This isanother interesting area raised in thebook, Aatma Sutra, where the conceptof self-worship is discussed. While thisis a function of realising the divinitywithin, the journey begins with self-love. What is also shared is that whenwe watch ourselves as doing the ‘rightthings’ such as serving other beings,planting trees or impacting the envi-ronment positively, our self-imagegets positively impacted. This in turnmakes us feel better about ourselvesand therefore raises our levels of self-esteem.

It is therefore no surprise that therewas also a difference in the tem-poroparietal junction in the brain, orTPJ, of meditators. This is associatedwith empathy and compassion… bothindicators of a higher level of spiritu-al evolution. Apart from all the otherpositives, yet another was a significantdecrease in grey matter density in theamygdala, which plays a role in fear,anxiety and stress.

What is quite interesting to knowthat meditation can act as a ‘dampen-er’ for the anti-aging creams andserum market. A powerful side effectof meditation has been found to be itsability to diminish age-related effectson gray matter and reduce the declineof our cognitive functioning therebypotentially making us less prone to ail-ments such as dementia. Now couldthis be a reason why a lot of ourancient yogis are said to be 100s if not1000s of years old. I guess we will justhave to wait for science to discover thistoo.

While scientists today have justabout started to prove the impact ofseva and dhyan on the brain, theunknowns are still far more than theknown. If we were to go by what ourscriptures and texts say, these not onlychange the course of our current life,but also that of future lives and steadi-ly help us along the path of spiritualprogress. These give us the one kindof wealth that we can carry into theafterlife — karmic currency.

So the final question that arises is,what next? The right time to begin, isnow. Just look around you and if theintent is present- many doors willopen!

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The American-German poet, CharlesBukowski’s simple yet astoundinggravestone reads: “Don’t Try”. To

many it might appear to be underestimat-ing, but to a larger audience the two wordsask them to be just natural. Instead ofbreaking a sweat to reap benefits fromsomething that doesn’t raise your eyebrows,Bukowski asks them to wait patientlybecause something innate, will surface.Instincts and innate talent is what Bukowskiasks one to delve into.

Life coaching, streamlined as it sounds,seldom does it converse with the inner con-voluted realms of an individual. Life coach-es are suggested to or consulted by peoplefrom different walks of their lives. A stu-dent. An aspiring entrepreneur. An execu-tive recently promoted in the company’s topbrass seat. To each one their own. Theneeds could be varying per the situationdemanding. But, as history is evident, nomatter how many lessons does one note intheir diary to react in a similar way juxta-posing their situation with someone else’s;when it comes to application, nothing buttheir instincts are in charge of the leashguiding their horses.

As late American business magnate,Steve Jobs voiced: “Your time is limited, sodon’t waste it living someone else’s life.Don’t be trapped by dogma — which is liv-ing with the results of other people’s think-ing. Don’t let the noise of other’s opinionsdrown out your own inner voice. And mostimportant, have the courage to follow yourheart and intuition. They somehow alreadyknow what you truly want to become.Everything else is secondary.”

Jobs here refers to the call we have with-in ourselves. One can connect to their dom-inant inner being and can unravel newavenues only if he goes within himself.There are timeless pearls of wisdom inancient scriptures and books to peek into

for valuable lessons and guidance, but in anutshell, during these challenging times, it’sall about ideating ways of how to cope withour day-to-day situation and to find moremeaning in what we are doing. Corporateleaders, good artists, scientists, and busi-nessmen of the bygone era, were visionariesdriven by sheer confidence. However, thisconfidence was ignited by something assimple as a gut feeling to achieve it, for thatis what quenched their burning desire. Topaint the worldly canvas by bringing theirthoughts to existence.

It’s not only the hard work that deter-mines a person’s success, but it’s the inspiredaction that comes from within, especiallywhen a person identifies his innate strengthand vision. Although most of the manage-ment theories deal with quick-fix approach-es, what a corporate leader needs are lessonsof wisdom where they can connect truly totheir inner vision.

As the whole world is gripped by fearand uncertainty, people are losing theirexpectations and faith, and are faced withanxiety, stress and fear. These negative emo-

tions take a toll on our mental health whichin turn affect our immune system. This isthe time where we all need to calibrate our-selves to the strength of our inner wellbeing,which is dominant and inherent in us.Spirituality is nothing but tapping thoseinnate strengths. We usually tend to openour inner world only when the noise of theexternal world subsides. So now, when weare isolated completely, all of the chaos ofthe external world is naturally shut down,and we get ample time to reflect and goback within ourselves. Our mind-madeclutters will slowly wither away, and whenthere’s nothingness, a new world wouldslowly emerge.

It reels us back to learning from howpeople of repute in the ancient times didn’thave professional individuals/life coaches torun to and seek help from during turbulentphases of their careers, but it was thethumping voice within that directed thecourse for them to achieve the unprecedent-ed feat.

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�������(�����.��1������������,�������������������Thialand s currently gripped

by a wave of students’protests. Though initially thedemonstrators raised the ban-ner of revolt against theGovernment of Prayuth Chan-ocha, gradually they are tryingto bring forth an alternative tothe existing political system.The young protesters are vent-ing their ire against the Thairoyalty as well. This is quiteserious as it may emboldenother political actors like thesupporters and sympathisers offormer Prime MinistersThaksin Shinawatra andYingluck Shinawatra. HoweverThaksin’s party, known as ThaiRak Thai Party (TRT), hasbeen banned in the countryafter his political exile in Dubaisince 2008. But Yingluck’s PheuThai Party is fully active inThailand. Moreover, the RedShirt Movement volunteerswho have been rallying behindthe fight against the Bangkokelite might give the protests anew twist.

Today the students arevoicing their rage against thetwo eternal symbols of powerin Thailand i.e. two M’s — themonarchy and the military.But why?

The long held demandsand frustration of the peoplehave finally surfaced, but thistime, the Thai students havetaken the lead. The studentmovement, known as “FreeYouth”, has been able to gath-er thousands at the DemocracyMonument in the heart ofBangkok.

The protesters have out-lined broadly three maindemands: First, the dissolutionof the Parliament i.e. resigna-tion of the PrayuthGovernment and new elec-tion; second, amendments tothe Constitution of Thailand;and third, an end to intimida-tion and persecution of polit-ical opponents.

Apart from other demands,the new movement also high-lights two very striking issues:One is the reversal of a 2019order that allowed two armyunits to be positioned rightunder the King’s own com-mand, and second, anotherlaw passed in 2017 which gavethe King complete control overthe crown’s all property hold-ings. These laws, along withother unpopular initiativeslaunched by the Prayuthregime time and again haveirked the public. The studentsand other youth in Thailandhave really acted as agents ofchange. The movement, start-ed in January, has however wit-nessed slight loss in momen-tum due to the Covid pan-demic.

In fact, there has been amarked decline on the power,prestige and long arm of rev-erence of the Thai Monarchywith the death of truly people’sking Bhumibol Adulaydej in2016. And when the mantlepassed on to his lesser knownand very unpopular son MahaVajiralongkorn, the aura andcharisma around the palaceand the King graduallydeclined. King MahaVajiralongkorn today mostlylives in Germany and he canrightly be called as a King-in-

absentia who simply wantsstability and peace back home.And for these compulsions ofthe King, the nominally civil-ian Government of Prayuth isruling the country with the fullbacking of the armed forces.

Since the coup of 2014, theactivists ranging from the RedShirts to the present have beenaccusing Prayuth of using theThai military’s proximity to themonarchy to enhance his owngrip on power. However,Prayuth and his cronies denysuch allegations; what cementshis closeness with the King isthe sustained stability that hehas guaranteed so far to thecountry. After overthrowingthe popularly electedGovernment of YingluckShinawatra, the men-in-uni-form took over under the lead-ership of Prayuth. And he hasruled the country with theNational Council for Peaceand Order since then to 2019,when he nominally ended thejunta rule, with a blatantlyrigged election to shed hisuniform. And it is very clear toall that the military retains fullcontrol over all political insti-tutions across the country.

Lately, Prayuth is serious-

ly concerned about the grow-ing demonstrations around thecountry, particularly in thecapital city. What is aggravat-ing his problem is the call byanother student group whoissued an unusually clear 10-point demand for reform in thepolitical system. Thousands ofdemonstrators are chanting“Long live democracy” anddemanding the resignation ofPrayuth who took over in 2014coup and to put an end to mil-itary domination in politics. Infact, these students have set anexample by questioning theactual role and powers of themonarchy that used to be ataboo for decades in Thailand.But whsat surprises the inter-national community is howanyone within Thailand daresto question or criticise theKing or the monarchy. It is acountry that zealously guardsthe royalty. Hence, the uniquelaw called “Lese Majeste” is inaction in the country whichleads to severe punishments toanyone who tries to defame themonarchy. This law might landa person who criticises theKing in prison for 15 years. Itis considered one of thestrictest in the world. It has

been increasingly enforcedsince the coming of the Prayuthregime simply to clamp downfree speech and anti-govern-ment protesters. Even the topglobal governance bodies suchas the UN have been repeatedlycalling Bangkok to amendthese draconian laws.

Meanwhile Prayuth haswarned the protesters againstdragging the monarchy into themovement. But what comes asa big relief to the demonstra-tors is that the King has askedthe Government not to bookanyone under the infamous“Lese Majeste” law.

Around the same time,Thailand’s economy is on freefall. It is witnessing the worst-ever economic downturn sincethe Asian financial crisis 2008.The political crisis in Thailandshows the grotesque ineffi-ciency crept long into the civil-military set-up of the country.The student movement mightlead to a showdown betweenthe military-backed PrayuthGovernment and the studentgroups who are demandingimmediate reforms.

International human rightsorganisations such as theAmnesty International say that

the Thai Government is usingthe police forces to suppress thestudents’ movement. And thegroup argue that this appear tobe a new crackdown on free-dom of expression.

Political instability inThailand has its roots in theturbulent past of the country.Many say that Thailand enjoysa “coup season” now and then.Therefore the country has notbeen able to be either governedby a democratic leadership ora full-fledged military regimefor a long time. The power-tus-sle between the urban andelite minority and the poorurban majority is there at theheart of Thai politics. It seemsto be a permanent stalemate forthis middle income group EastAsian nation. Other two factorsthat strongly influence thecountry are — coups as ameans to resolve political cri-sis and the indecisive perenni-al role of the royalty in politics.

Youngsters played key rolesin a multitude of political, eco-nomic and social movementsaround the world. What theylook for and demand is change.Fiercely reclaiming their spacesin public squares, the youngpeople are literally threatening

the very existence and rele-vance of ones who are at thethreshold of power. However,unseating the governors wouldnot herald any immediate solu-tion to the governed, includingthe young. The road ahead forstability and peace could onlybe an earmarked plan for piece-meal engineering i.e. gradualchange. Probably accompa-nied by constitutional amend-ment or change in due courseof time.

The fragile democracy inThailand has always beenunder threat. Its breathingspace is limited. In fact, theassault of assorted collectivistideologies such as militarism,socialism, imperialism, author-itarianism, etc, has carefullyhastened the march of liberal-ism in the 19th, 20th and 21stcenturies all along. AndThailand has not been anexception. Is it leading to anArab Spring kind of scenario inThailand? Like all those protestmovements marked by theabsence of charismatic leadersand a definite agenda and pro-pelled by young anger andsocial media activism, if thecurrent Thai movement quick-ly passes into oblivion, then it

would be very depressing forthe movement itself.

Questioning the King andthe military-backedGovernment of the country hashighlighted the current move-ment around the world. Butthen the protesters need torealise that the deep symbiosisbetween the Thai palace andthe military is still intact.Though the political repre-sentatives who are in powerdisdain the very system theyare running, they are not dis-lodged from the seat of powerby anyone. It indicates howweak and unorganised theopposition political forces arein Thailand. Certainly, the stu-dent activism has altered thepolitical scenario in the coun-try. And it is the right momentfor the Opposition, includingthe Thaksin followers, to rallybehind the youngsters. Thismight force the King and thepower brokers in Bangkok torethink opening of politicaldialogues involving all com-peting forces. This mightrestore the lost democraticheritage of Thailand.

(The writer is an expert oninternational affairs)

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Even as Thaliand is witness-ing an unprecedented open

criticism of King MahaVajiralongkorn, whose much-admired father King BhumibolAdulyadej ruled for sevendecades, the Government ofPrayuth Chan-ocha has beenable to pressurise Facebook toblock in Thailand a group withmore than a million membersthat engages in open discussionabout the Thai monarchy, aninstitution that is staunchlyprotected from criticism bystrict laws.

Protesting students’ opendefiance of the taboos aroundspeaking ill of the monarchyhas infuriated ultra-conserva-tives and the military, who areunlikely to let it go without aresponse. Security forces inrecent weeks already had beentrying to intimidate students

and other activists from hold-ing demonstrations.

With key Cabinet postsstill in the hands of former gen-erals, voices have grown loud-er against the enduring militaryinfluence and Prayuth’s per-formance.

And therefore, PrimeMinister Prayuth Chan-ochahas tried to paint the move-ment as a trigger for politicalpolarisation and has warnedthat it could destroy the nation.“If each side insists on defeat-ing the other politically, ourcountry will collapse,” he toldreporters. “If that happens,just wait and see, everyone willlive on a fiery land, consumedby flames. If that happens I amat a loss for what to do.”

Prayuth said at a newsbriefing following a Cabinetmeeting on August 25 that the

government asked Facebook toblock the page because it vio-lates Thai law. He said the gov-ernment would stand firm onits stance if a legal challenge tothe request is made.

The Thailand Governmentis determined to crack down onthe social media use by the pro-testers as it called them “illegal”online sites. A top official inThailand on August 26 saidthat his country will step upaction against online contentthat breaks its laws, two daysafter forcing Facebook to blocka group that was posting mate-rial critical of the monarchy.

Minister of DigitalEconomy and SocietyBuddhipongse Punnakantatold a news conference that hisdepartment would get a courtorder within 48 hours to blockaccess in Thailand to any web

address deemed to containillegal material.

The platforms would thenhave 15 days to comply or facelegal action.

“We are protecting oursovereignty, which may notmean protecting physical bor-ders in the traditional sense butrather, as I said yesterday, thatwe are protecting our cybersovereignty,” saidBuddhipongse. He declaredthat such attacks “happen fastand are constantly damagingThais.”

Buddhipongse said Thaiauthorities had asked Facebookto close the offending “RoyalistMarketplace” site, and it was upto the tech company’s judge-ment whether to block it onlyin Thailand or globally.

Facebook said that whilepeople in Thailand can no

longer access Facebook group“Royalist Marketplace,” it isstill available in other places,adding that the company plansto “legally challenge” the gov-ernment’s request.

“After careful review,Facebook has determined thatwe are compelled to restrictaccess to content which theThai government has deemedto be illegal,” the companysaid in a statement.

Pavin Chachavalpongpun,a 49-year-old academic whocreated Facebook group“Royalist Marketplace” in April,bemoaned the decision, andquickly set up a similarFacebook group that alreadyhas hundreds of thousands ofmembers.

“I’m furious, you know,because this is something thatI am passionate about. I am

passionate because I just wantto see Thailand becoming moreand more democratic,” Pavin,who lives in exile in Japan, saidin an online interview.

Pavin was not in Thailandwhen the country’s currentPrime Minister, Prayuth Chan-ocha, orchestrated a militarycoup in 2014, when he was thearmy chief. Following the coup,the ruling junta summonedcritics of the government andmonarchy, including Pavin,who decided to remain abroad.

Pavin, who is an associateprofessor at Kyoto University’sCenter for Southeast AsianStudies, said “RoyalistMarketplace” achieved 1 mil-lion members just a few daysago. He criticised Facebook forthe move. “By accepting therequests, whether you like it ornot, you become a part of

that, you become a part of thesupport that you gave to theauthoritarian regime inThailand,” he said.

Facebook acknowledgedthe seriousness of blocking thepage, saying that such govern-ment requests “have a chillingeffect on people’s ability toexpress themselves.” “We workto protect and defend the rightsof all internet users and arepreparing to legally challengethis request,” the company saidin its statement.

Pavin said that after theFacebook group was blocked,he immediately created anoth-er one that is essentially thesame, called “RoyalistMarketplace-Talad Luang.”“Talad Luang” is Thai for“Royalist Marketplace.”

The new group has alreadyattracted more than half a mil-

lion members, with many fromthe original one migratingover. The monarchy is consid-ered sacrosanct in Thailandand any criticism is normallykept private. A lese majeste lawcalls for a prison sentence of upto 15 years for anyone foundguilty of defaming the king.

Earlier, pro-democracyhashtags linked to high schoolprotests were trending on socialmedia with photographs andvideos showing young stu-dents at schools in a number ofcities lined up on playgroundsand giving the salutes duringthe compulsory daily singing ofthe national anthem. The dis-plays of solidarity began inearly August and are a remark-able show of defiance within aneducational system that stress-es obedience to elders.

(With inputs from AP)

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Couple of years ago, a lady cameseeking guidance on how toimprove her relationship with

husband, which had become sour. Shewas advised to look within, identify andacknowledge her own fault lines, andaddress them before expecting her part-ner to behave. When she began reflect-ing upon herself, she realised that sheimpulsively reacts and responds to exter-nal trigger on instinctive judgment,without applying forethought. Sheworked upon her fault line, and theirrelationship improved.

Later, her aunt gave me particularsof a girl and wished to know about hermarital prospects. After analysing herchart, I confronted the lady: “Is she notmarried yet?” “That is what I wish toknow”, said the lady. “It appears that youare hiding something. From my analysis,it appears that she must have got mar-ried under unusual circumstances tosomeone belonging to another race orreligion.” I countered. “Well, this chartbelongs to the other twin of the girlwhom you had counselled earlier. Theircharts look similar. They were broughtup under similar conditions. How comeone girl had a traditional marriage and

the other one opted for an unconven-tional route?” The lady asked.

Well, what apparently looks similar,at the subtle level there are wide differ-ences, which only a well versedastrologer can figure out. How does itmatter whether it was the case of othertwin? Only parentage and how one isbrought up, will not define a person’smindset. Bear in mind; every being isborn unique, reflects varying desire andmind-trends, coming as it may withindividualistic Karmic carryover fromthe past, and hence the difference.“Please explain astrologically as I under-stand the subject a bit as 7th housemarked with marriage and their lordremains the same in both the cases”, thelady asked.

Well, instead of the 7th house, betterlook at their 7th cusp sub-lord for theanswer. In case of the elder one, the 7thcusp falls at 19 degrees, 31 minutes and5 second in Virgo sign, jointly ruled byMercury as sign lord, Moon as constella-tion lord and Mercury again as sub-lord.Now, Mercury occupies the lunar con-stellation ruled by benevolent Jupiter, theone marked with conventionality, andso, won’t allow breaking established soci-

etal norms. She, therefore, had a tradi-tional marriage with her own caste fel-low.

In case of the younger one, the 7thcusp falls at 22 degrees, 53 minutes and49 seconds in Virgo sign, the sign andconstellation lords remaining the sameas the elder one, the sub-lord is the Sunin debilitation, which occupies the con-stellation owned by erratic Rahu. Rahu isplaced adverse to Mars, which gave herthe courage to take a bold stand. Rahuagain, ill-disposed off to Uranus markedwith unconventionality, made her defysocietal norm. Saying sorry for trying totest me, the lady later revealed that theyounger one ran away with an Englishboy, stayed with him as live-in-partnerfor a year before getting married.

Recently, I had the occasion to coun-sel twin girls the same day. The elderone was receptive and responsive. Theyounger one was stuck to what tempedher in immediate terms, rather than pur-suing the discipline which she had origi-nally pursued. Why such oppositetrends?

Being a question pertaining to per-sonality, here, a look at the lagna cusp ofthe two charts becomes imperative. Incase of the elder one, lagna cusp fell at

20 degrees, 27 minutes and 25 secondsin Gemini sign jointly ruled by Mercuryas the sign lord, Jupiter as the constella-tion as well as sub-lord. Jupiter occupiesits own sign Sagittarius, a dual sign, andis conjunct Moon. Because of being adual sign, though she would be subjectto vacillation by herself, but whenexposed to reason, she will be receptiveand responsive, as would conjunction ofbenefic Jupiter with mind signifyingMoon mean.

On the contrary, the lagna cusp ofthe younger one fell as 25 degrees, 40minutes and 06 seconds in Gemini sign,where the sign and constellation lordremaining the same, the sub-lordbecomes Mercury. Mercury occupies afixed sign Aquarius ruled by Saturn,implying a fixated one track mind, notopen to listening or counsel. Mercury isill-disposed off to mischievous Neptune,which makes her stuck to self-delusionalideas, and not keen for a reality check.Also, it accounts for her insensible rea-soning and judgement. And the result isthere to see.

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