New Delhi, Sep 29 (IANS) Union Environ-ment Minister Prakash Javadekar said on Tuesday that a state environment ministers

meeting will take place this Thursday over the issue of pollution while asserting that various measures have already been taken in order to curb it. He added that it needs to be understood that pollution stays

for 2-3 months and it also has a “geographic” reason for it. Javadekar said that given that air pollution affects not according to state limits but according to air shed which affects Delhi, Ghaziabad, Noida,

Faridabad, Gurugram and other cities alike, Thursday’s meeting will be attended by environ-ment ministers and en-vironment secretaries of 5 states and UTs -- Delhi, Punjab Haryana, Uttar Pradesh and Rajasthan.

National English Daily

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Published from New Delhi & Hyderabad

Punjab CM seeks inputs on

protecting farmer interests

P-5 P-11P-8

New Delhi, Sep 29 (IANS) Union Agriculture and Farm-ers Welfare Minister Naren-dra Singh Tomar has accused the Congress of misleading the farmers and playing poli-tics in their name. He says that those who are opposing the new agricultural laws are pursuing their vested inter-ests in the name of farmers.

Talking to IANS, the Agri-

culture Minister said that the two important bills related to agriculture are not being opposed by farmers, but the Congress is giving it political colour in pursuit of vested interests. To a question on the cause of dispute of the law brought in to reform the agriculture sector, the Union Minister said: “The cause of the dispute is political and

selfi shness. Both Bills are benefi cial for the farmers. Their standard of living is go-ing to improve. Those who do not like this are opposing the bills and are trying to give them a political colour. Three important legislations related to agriculture - the Farmers Produce Trade and Com-merce (Promotion and Facili-tation) Bill, 2020, the Farmers

Two-thirds of US voters don’t expect winner on

election night

DC win toss and bowl against SRH, Ishant

Sharma returns

Congress misleading farmers on new farm laws: Tomar

(Empowerment and Protec-tion) Agreement on Price As-surance and Farm Services Bill, 2020, and the Essential Com-modities (Amendment) Bill, 2020 were passed in the Mon-soon Session of Parliament.

Jammu, Sep 29 (IANS) Pakistan resorted to un-provoked ceasefire viola-tion on the line of control (LoC) on Tuesday target-ing Indian positions in Jammu and Kashmir’s Poonch district. Col. De-vender Anand, spokes-man of Defence Ministry said that at 4.30 a.m., Pakistan initiated unpro-voked ceasefire violation by firing with small arms and shelling with mortars along the LoC in Mankote sector of Poonch district. “Indian army retaliated

befittingly,” he added. Since the beginning of this year, Pakistan has been violating the bilat-eral ceasefire agreement signed by India and Paki-stan in 1999. A total of 24 civilians were killed and over 100 injured in more than 3,186 ceasefire violations by Pakistan on the LoC so far this year. Thousands of people living in villages close to the LoC are living life on the edge as shelling from across the border endan-gers their lives.

Pak resorts to unprovoked ceasefire violation on LoC

New Delhi, Sep 29 (IANS) With a spike of 70,589 coro-navirus cases and 776 deaths in 24 hours, India’s tally on Tuesday breached the 61 lakh-mark with a total of 61,45,291 cases.

Out of these, 9,47,576 are currently active; 51,01,397 have been discharged, while 96,318 lost the battle against

the viral disease. On July 17, India had logged 10 lakh cases, which then doubled to 20 lakh on August 7. The country added another 10 lakh on August 23 and went past 40 lakh on September 5. In 11 days, it added another 10 lakh cases thus taking the total to 50 lakh cases. Thir-teen days later the tally has

mounted to 61 lakh. While the recovery rate stands at 82.58 per cent, one of the highest in the world; the fa-tality rate has come down to 1.57 per cent, the data from the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare said. Ma-harashtra continues to be the worst-hit with a total of 13,39,232 cases, including

35,571 deaths; followed by Andhra Pradesh, Tamil Nadu and Karnataka. According to the data from the Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR), 11,42,811 sample tests were conducted across the country in a single day on Monday, taking the total number of samples tested so far to 7,31,10,041.

With 70K new cases, India’s corona tally crosses 61 lakh

Delhi, Sep 29 (IANS) Warn-ing Beijing against advancing its untenable unilateral inter-pretation, India on Tuesday said that it has never accepted the 1959 definition of the Line of Actual Control (LAC) with China. In response to que-ries on a recent media report quoting a Chinese Foreign Ministry statement regarding China’s position on the LAC, the official spokesperson of the Ministry of External Af-fairs, Anurag Srivastava, said, “India has never accepted the so-called unilaterally defined 1959 Line of Actual Control (LAC). This position has been consistent and well known,

including to the Chinese side.” Under various bilateral agreements, including the 1993 Agreement on Mainte-nance of Peace and Tranquil-ity along the LAC, the 1996 Agreement on Confidence Building Measures (CBMs) in the military field, the 2005 Protocol on Implementation of CBMs, the 2005 Agree-ment on Political Parameters and Guiding Principles for Settlement of the India-China Boundary Question, both In-dia and China have commit-ted to clarification and con-firmation of the LAC to reach a common understanding of the alignment of the LAC.

Delhi, Sep 29 (IANS) Union Defence Minister Rajnath Singh on Tuesday launched a startup challenge to achieve self-reliance in the military sector under the ‘Aatmanirbhar Bharat’ campaign. Singh launched the Defence India Startup Challenge (DISC 4) featur-ing initiatives aimed at expanding the horizons of the Innovations for Defence Excellence (iDEX) ecosystem. “The iDEX4Fauji ini-tiative and the Product Manage-ment Approach (PMA) guidelines were also launched by the Defence Minister during the event. Each of these initiatives is expected to facilitate iDEX-DIO to scale up

the programme qualitatively and quantitatively,” the Ministry of Defence said in a statement. It is a first of its kind initiative launched to support the innovations identi-fied by the members of the Indian armed forces and will bolster fru-

gal innovation ideas from the sol-diers. There are more than 13 lakh service personnel working in the fields and on the borders, handling extreme conditions and equip-ment and would be having many ideas to improve such equipment.

New Delhi, Sep 29 (IANS) Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Tuesday hit out at the op-position for raising questions about the Rafale deal and de-manding proof of the surgical strike carried out in PoK. He was inaugurating six projects under the ‘Namami Gange Mis-sion’ for Uttarakhand and said, “Today money is not wasted in water but spent on it”.

After recalling the opposi-tion’s “problems” with the Ra-

fale deal, Modi said, “Four years ago, around this time, the nation’s bravehearts had carried out a surgical strike and destroyed terror bases. But these people were asking for proof of the surgical strike. By op-posing the s u r g i c a l strike, they have cleared their intention in front of the country.” Speaking

on the projects that he virtually inaugurated

on Tuesday, Modi said, “The condition

here was such that an im-p o r t a n t s u b j e c t like water

was divided into many ministries

and departments. In these ministries, there was no coor-

dination, nor any clear guide-lines for working towards the same goal.” He said that the campaign is now being taken to a new level. Apart from the cleanliness of the Ganga, there is now a focus on the develop-ment of the economy and en-vironment of the entire area adjacent to the Ganga. The government has planned to connect all the people of Utta-rakhand with organic farming, Modi said.

India has never accepted 1959 definition of LAC

with China: Govt

Hathras gang rape: Cong says law and order has

collapsed in UPNew Delhi, Sep 29 (IANS) The opposition Congress alleged that law and order had collapsed in Uttar Pradesh as the Yogi Ad-ityanath government had “failed to protect women” in the state. The statement came after a Dalit gang rape victim from Hathras passed away in a Delhi hospital on Tuesday. Congress General Secretary Priyanka Gandhi al-leged that “Law and order had collapsed in the state and there was no protection to women, even as criminals are roaming freely in Uttar Pradesh.” She said Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath was answerable for the safety of women in the state. Congress Spokesperson Supriya Shrinate said: “Yogi Adityanath govern-ment kept sitting for eight days. Why was no action taken against the culprits all these days? It was only when the case was high-lighted that the administration woke up.” She said that civil and police officials were in denial mode over the crime and even dubbed it “fake news”.

Rajnath launches startup challenge to promote self-reliance in defence sector

Modi hits out at opposition as he talks ‘clean Ganga’

Landslide closes Srinagar-Leh

highway

Srinagar, Sep 29 (IANS) A massive landslide has closed the Srinagar-Leh highway as scores of vehicles are strand-ed on the two sides of the Zo-jila Pass. Traffic officials said a massive landslide hit the India Gate area in the Zojila Pass on Monday evening af-ter which traffic on the over 340-Kms long Srinagar-Leh highway was halted. “Ef-forts are going on to clear the landslide and restore traffic on the highway”, traf-fic officials said. Meanwhile, scores of vehicles including trucks and light vehicles are stranded on the two sides of the Zojila Pass that con-nects the cold desert Ladakh region with the rest of the country. The highway re-mains closed from Novem-ber to April each year due to heavy snowfall on the Zojila Pass. To ensure round-the-year connectivity, a tunnel is being constructed from Bal-tal in Ganderbal district to Gumri in Kargil district.

Delhi, Sep 29 (IANS) The current situation along the eastern Ladakh border with China is in an “uneasy no war no peace status” and Indian forces were prepared for any eventuality, Indian Air Force chief Air Chief Marshal R.K.S Bhadauria said on Tuesday.

“The IAF has responded with resolve to counter any misadventure. Air power will be a crucial enabler in our victory in any future confl ict. It is, therefore, im-

perative that IAF obtains and maintains technologi-cal edge over our adver-saries,” Air Chief Marshal Bhadauria said during a

webinar jointly organised by Centre for Air Power Stud-ies and Society of Indian Defence Manufacturers. He added that the recent in-

duction of Rafale fi ghter jets along with C-17 transport aircraft, Chinook heavy lift helicopters, Apache attack helicopters and other air-craft fl eets, has provided IAF with “substantial tactical and strategic capability en-hancement.” The IAF chief also said that the air force is looking at 450 new aircrafts, including helicopters over the next two decades. “Not to count around 300 aircraft upgrades that will take place in this period,” he said.

Situation along Ladakh border in uneasy ‘no war no peace’ status: IAF chief

Javadekar says 5 states to meet on Thursday over pollution

CITY Indian HorizonWednesday, September 30, 20202

2G case: Delhi HC to hear pleas against acquittals from Oct 5New Delhi, Sep 29 (IANS)

The Delhi High Court will from October 5 hear on day-to-day basis the ED and CBI appeals against the acquittal of the ac-cused in the 2G spectrum case.

Justice Brijesh Sethi passed an order to this effect while al-lowing the applications for ear-ly hearing filed by the Enforce-ment Directorate (ED) and the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI). After hearing the argu-ments of all the accused and the two agencies, the court had reserved its order on Septem-

ber 22.During the hearing, Addi-

tional Solicitor General (ASG) Sanjay Jain -- who represented the ED and CBI -- submitted that substantial public time had already been consumed and pressed for immediate hearing of the matter since Jus-tice Sethi, who is handling the case, is all set to demit office in November.

“A Judge can always decide how much time is required to hear a matter... if genuine ef-forts are made and assistance

is rendered, it’s possible to take this matter to a logical conclu-sion,” the ASG said while re-sponding to submissions made by the counsel for the accused, who opposed the petition for early hearing on the ground that the accused won’t get re-quired time to put forth their stand in case of hurry.

“It’s my duty to unravel the truth,” the court remarked while hearing Jain’s submis-sions while pointing out that he had never stopped a coun-sel from arguing in the last four

years at the High Court.Jain denied the submissions

by the accused that case record was bulky and required assis-tance would not be possible for the accused during the corona-virus pandemic.

On Monday, the accused had opposed the pleas moved by the ED and CBI. Advocate Manu Sharma, appearing for former Union Minister A Raja, argued that there was no cause to grant an out-of-turn urgent hearing to the appeals amid the pandemic.

HC adjourns hearing on Mehul Choksi’s plea against Netflix’s documentary

New Delhi, Sep 29 (IANS) The Delhi High Court on Tues-day adjourned till October 13 the hearing on the plea filed by diamantaire Mehul Choksi, who is an accused in the PNB scam, against Netflix’s docu-mentary titled “Bad Boy Bil-lionaires: India”.

A division bench of Chief Justice D.N. Patel and Justice Prateek Jalan, hearing Choksi’s petition against the order of a single-judge bench, which had dismissed his earlier plea seek-ing pre-screening of the docu-mentary, deferred the matter to October 13.

On the previous date of hear-ing, the bench was informed that Choksi left India prior to registration of a case and hence, his not being in India shall not be read against him.

“Mr. Mehul Choksi left India prior to any registration of FIR by the CBI and thus, his not being in India cannot be read against him,” said advocate Vijay Aggarwal before a divi-

sion bench of the high court presided by Chief Justice D.N. Patel and Justice Prateek Jalan.

The arguments were made while the court was hearing an appeal filed by Choksi chal-lenging a single bench order dismissing his plea seeking postponement of the release of Netflix’s Upcoming venture “Bad Boy Billionaire: India”.

Aggarwal’s submissions came in response to the argu-ments made by senior advo-cates Sanjay K. Kaul and Dayan Krishnan, who were appear-ing for Netflix submitted that

Choksi is not entitled to any relief, as he is not a Citizen of India, as he has forsaken his citizenship, and therefore, not entitled to protection of any fundamental right.

While the said arguments were made, the bench said, “The Single judge has not closed your (Mehul Choksi) re-lief. You have the relief of a civil suit but you want to invoke a 226 jurisdiction and for that your conduct and issues are also important.”

“You have changed the Citi-zenship, you are no more a citi-

zen of India,” Justice Jalan said. Responding to the queries of the court, Aggarwal said that Article 21 of the Constitution does not require Choksi to be an Indian Citizen.

Kaul argued that the entire writ petition filed by Choksi was based on a trailer which did not even mention or re-fer to him. “He does not know what his grievance is because the trailer does not mention about him at all,” said Kaul.

“No writ can be issued in a vacuum. My Lords asked him five times that which trial is on...There is a red corner no-tice issued against him... And here he makes a magnanimous offer to join the investigation with video conferencing,” said Kaul.

Kaul further stated that he has watched the said series in question and can assure that it is nothing more than an amal-gamation of various interviews of which are already out in the public domain.

Punjab Youth Cong chief detained in Delhi’s tractor-burning case

ITPO CONFERS AWARDS FOR EXECELLENCE IN USE OF OFFICIAL LANGUAGE

New Delhi, Sep 29 (IANS) A day after a group of Indian Youth Congress activists set afire a tractor in Delhi to register their protest against the three new agriculture-related laws, Delhi Police on Tuesday said it had detained

Punjab Youth Congress chief Brinder Dhillon in the case.

The police said that its in-vestigation in the case was underway and it was trying to identify others involved in the incident reported near

India Gate on Monday.Six persons were arrested

after police registered an FIR under relevant provi-sions of the IPC, apart from the non-bailable Section in the Prevention of Damage to Public Property Act, and Disaster Management Act, and Epidemic Diseases Act.

“As many as six accused have been arrested so far and two vehicles seized,” a senior police officer said.

Around 15-20 unidenti-fied supporters and mem-bers of the Punjab Youth Congress had rallied at In-dia Gate here on Monday to protest against the farm laws.

New Delhi, Sep 29 (IANS) The Election Commission of India (ECI) has decided not to announce by-elections to sev-en Assembly seats in Assam, Kerala, Tamil Nadu and West Bengal owing to “difficulties in conduct of elections”.

Rangapara and Sibsagar seats are vacant in Assam; Kut-tanad and Chavara in Kerala; Tiruvottiyur and Gudiyattam in Tamil Nadu; and Falakata in

West Bengal.The Commission has re-

ceived inputs expressing dif-ficulties in conduct of elec-tions and issues related to it

from Chief Secretaries or Chief Electoral officers from four states: Assam, Kerala, Tamil Nadu and West Bengal, where the term of House is upto May 31,2021; June 1, 2021; May 24, 2021; and May 30, 2021 re-spectively.

In view of the inputs, the Commission has decided not to announce the conduct of elections at this stage in the seven vacant seats in the leg-

islative assemblies of Assam, Kerala, Tamil Nadu and West Bengal.

Regarding other, recent va-cancies in the Parliamentary Constituency and Legislative Assembly, the Commission will decide after taking neces-sary inputs from the state con-cerned. The decision to defer the by-elections was taken largely in view of the Covid-19 situation.

New Delhi, Sep 29 (IANS) Continuing to voice opposition to the new agricultural laws brought forth by the central government, Congress leader Rahul Gandhi on Tuesday claimed that these legislations tantamounted to “a dagger through the hearts of farmers” and “breaking their back”.

He also interacted with farmers virtually for around 10 minutes over the new laws

that have generated consider-able political heat across the country, with farmers voicing their opposition in a number of states.

“We were told that the de-monetisation (in 2016) was aimed at fighting black money but that was a lie. The main aim was to financially hurt the farmers and workers,” the Congress leader added.

“Similarly, the rollout of the

Goods and Services Tax (GST) avowedly had the same aim. During the coronavirus pan-

demic too, money needed to be given to the poor but the government did not give any.”

“The NDA government’s aim is to break the back of farmers and workers. There is no dif-ference between demoneti-sation and the farm laws. Or, between the rollout of GST and the farm laws. The only differ-ence is that the three farm laws are like a dagger through your hearts. I am very clear that we need to oppose this not just for the farmers alone but for the country,” he said.

The former Congress Presi-dent said that they (BJP) never fought for India’s Indepen-dence as they sided with the British rulers and also do not have any understanding of farmers’ issues.

During the interaction, farmers from states like Pun-jab, Bihar, Haryana and Maha-rashtra aired their views on the farm laws and concerns over the minimum support price,

earning from farm produce and other topics.

Rahul Gandhi recalled his involvement in protests over the land acquisition law in Ut-tar Pradesh’s Bhatta Parsaul during 2011-12. “In Bhatta Parsaul, during the farmers’ protest, I witnessed that indus-trialists not only wanted land but also wanted crop produce. At that time, the media target-ed me,” he recalled.

New Delhi, Sep 29 (IANS) Days of memorizing are gone, it’s time for applica-tion, was BJP President JP Nadda’s advice to students of Jaipur’s Pratap Univer-sity who were graduating on Tuesday.

“Education is not about memorizing. We all memo-rize before the examination

and go to the examination hall and write. I would like to tell all of you that those days are gone. Now, it is the time for application and concept,” Nadda told the students through video conferencing. He added, “When you get into practical life, you believe in the concept more than mem-ory. Only then will your edu-

cation be useful for society.”While referring to India as

an education hub by bring-ing in Nalanda and Takshila, the BJP President raised the issue of the new National Education Policy. “The new education policy that Prime Minister Narendra Modi has created is related to the origin of India. After incorpo-rating everyone’s ideas, this education policy was made,” Nadda remarked.

“The biggest thing in the new education policy is that the language of education should be the mother tongue till the fifth grade. So that the child can get primary educa-tion in the language spoken at home and its base can be strengthened,” he added.

NEW DELHI-29-09-2020--Col. Shri Pushpam Kumar, Of-ficer on Special Duty in India Trade Promotion Organiza-tion (ITPO) presented awards for excellence in use of official language in the organization at Pragati Maidan, New Delhi on September 28,2020.

The awards alongwith the certificates were given away to the winners in different competitions. These include: Hindi noting, drafting, trans-lation and spelling correc-tion. In hindi noting and

drafting( staff category), Smt. Amrita Ghai, Asstt. Manager as well as Smt. Durgesh Nandni Batra, Manager was honored

with the first awards in the officer category. Sh. Suresh Kumar Chawla, Dy. Manager and Sh. Purshotam Sharma,

Sr. Stenographer were giv-en away the first award in translation. and Sh. Harish, Attendant was honored with the first award in spelling cor-rection competition. (list of other awardees enclosed)

Besides, Shri Ramesh Ku-mar Khatri , Assistant , Smt. Santosh Sethi, Sr. Assistant and Shri Surender Singh , Deputy Manager were also confered award for their performance in exclusively doing official jobs in hindi throughout the year.

New Delhi, Sep 29 (IANS) The appointments commit-tee of Cabinet on Monday ap-proved 16 new appointments of Joint Secretaries or those equivalent to it, in different Union ministries and key gov-ernment bodies.

Shyam Bhagat Negi, a 1990 batch IPS officer, has been appointed the joint Secretary in the Coal Ministry while 1992 batch IRS officer Am-itabh Kumar named the Joint Secretary in the Department of Commerce.

M. Angamuthu was ap-pointed made the Chairman of the Agricultural and Pro-cessed Food Products Ex-

port Development Authority (APEDA) which comes under the Commerce Ministry. Meanwhile, Ashish Chatterjee was made the new Senior Di-recting Staff, SDS (Civil) in the prestigious National Defence College.

While Anurag Bajpai is the new Joint Secretary of the Department of Defence Production, Sanjay Lohiya is the new JS in the Minis-try of Mines and Sukhendu Jyoti Sinha is made an Ad-viser in the Niti Aayog. The Panchayati Raj has also got a new JS in form of Rekha Ya-dav, while the Department of Personnel & Training has

got two Joint Secretaries in Asheesh Sharma and Ra-hul Singh. Nitin Gadkari’s Ministry of Road Transport and Highways which has been steering a lot of work amid the lockdown has also got a new hand - Mahmood Ahmed, as its JS.

Kesang Yangzom Sherpa was made the Member Secre-tary of the National Council for Teacher Education which comes under the Depart-ment of School Education & literacy. Chetan Prakash Jain is the new JS and Finan-cial Adviser in the Council of Scientific and Industrial Re-search (CSIR).

BJP President’s tips for graduating students

EC: No by-elections yet for 7 vacant Assembly seats

New farm laws a dagger through farmers’ hearts: Rahul

Cabinet appointments committee gives nod to 16 new postings

Dream Sports Foundation launches ‘Back on Track’, to support the Indian sports ecosystem

Mumbai, September 29, 2020: On the occasion of the National Sports Day, Dream Sports Foundation (DSF), the philanthropic arm of Dream Sports, India’s leading sports technology company, announced the launch of a unique program ‘Back on Track’.

The initiative aims to support and provide finan-cial aid to vulnerable ath-letes, sports professionals, academies and associated stakeholders who are part of the Indian sports eco-system.

Talking about Back on

Track, Bhavit Sheth, COO & Co-Founder Dream Sports said, “Our Vision at Dream Sports is to ‘Make Sports Better’ not just for sports fans but also for the entire sports ecosystem.

This initiative aims to ensure that people whose livelihood is dependent on sports do not drop-out due to lack of opportunities and resources.

Joining the nation in the fight against Covid-19, ear-lier this year Dream Sports Foundation supported over 6 Lakh Indians during the crisis by providing cooked

meals, dry ration, and hy-giene kits to the underprivi-leged and protective gear to the frontline workers of Govt of Maharashtra and BMC (Brihanmumbai Mu-nicipal Corporation).

DSF has also contributed to the PM CARES and CM Relief fund for COVID-19. In 2019, DSF trained 200 young Athletes, from the slums of Mumbai, in pro-fessional basketball in part-nership with Hi-5 Founda-tion.

Since 2018, DSF has part-nered with FIFS ‘Stars of Tomorrow’ that has been

supporting India’s future sporting talent in non-mainstream sports such as Sailing, Squash, Tennis, Swimming and Golf.

CITYIndian HorizonWednesday, September 30, 2020 3

Chinese espionage case: Delhi court denies bail to journalist

Congress slams Yogi for not allowing Durga Puja ‘pandals’ in UP

Task cut out for Kamal Nath & Cong in MP, Gujarat bypolls

Delhi hospital doctors halt OPD services to protest assault Delhi’s killer cop surrenders after shooting GF,

murdering father-in-law

Major rejig at senior level in Delhi Police

Can’t voluminous matters be heard through video conferencing: Delhi HC

New Delhi, Sep 29 (IANS) A Delhi court on Tuesday dis-missed the bail application filed by freelance journalist Rajeev Sharma, who was ar-rested for allegedly working for Chinese intelligence.

Denying him bail, Chief Met-ropolitan Magistrate Pawan Singh Rajawat noted that if a journalist, who is an impor-tant brick in the fourth pillar of democracy, decides to act with the intention to destabi-lise and negatively impact the sustainability and survival of democracy, it would be dark-est day in the free press move-ment.

“The preliminary electron-ic evidence collected by the investigating agency points towards involvement of the accused in commission of of-

fence under the Officials Se-crets Act. I am satisfied that if accused Rajeev Sharma is released on bail at this stage, he may attempt to hamper the investigation. Accordingly, bail application stands dismissed,” the court order said.

On September 14, Delhi Po-lice’s Special Cell had arrested Sharma, 61, for allegedly work-ing for Chinese intelligence. During the search of his house,

a laptop, some confidential documents related to Indian defence and incriminating papers were seized. He is cur-rently in judicial custody.

Sharma had moved the court seeking bail on the grounds that he is suffering from various ailments, which include acute sinus problems, has undergone two surgeries for sinus and is at a high risk of Covid-19.

The prosecution had vehe-mently opposed his bail plea, claiming that the accused re-ceived huge sums of money from some companies and cash was collected on behalf of the accused from such com-panies. The Additional Public Prosecutor further submitted that the source of secret docu-ments found in the possession of the accused is yet to be es-tablished, and his alleged for-eign handlers are also to be traced.

The present case was regis-tered on the basis of secret in-puts received from Indian in-telligence agencies about links of Sharma with foreign intelli-gence officers and that he was receiving funds, through ha-wala and Western Union mon-et transfer, from his foreign

handlers for conveying sensi-tive information on national security and foreign relations.

A case under Sections 3 (possession of any sketch, plan, model, article, note, doc-ument or information, which relates to munitions of war), 4 (Communications with foreign agents) and 5 (Wrongful com-munication of information) of the Official Secrets Act was registered on September 13 and Sharma arrested the next day.

On interrogation, Sharma allegedly disclosed his involve-ment in the procurement of se-cret and sensitive information and conveying the same to his Chinese handlers Michael and George, based in Kunming, China, through different digi-tal channels.

New Delhi, Sep 29 (IANS) Ahead of Durga Puja which is slated for the last week of October, the Congress has raised the cause of Bengalis in Uttar Pradesh and lashed out at the UP government for not allowing Durga Puja ‘pan-dals’ in the state.

Congress’ newly-ap-pointed Bengal in-charge Jitin Prasada, raising the concerns of the Bengali community said, “Massive political rallies can be al-lowed in Madhya Pradesh but the same BJP govern-ment in UP will not allow the Bengali community to celebrate Durga Puja with restrictions. Only shows that for the BJP faith is a

matter of convenience while the only thing that matters to them is poli-tics.”

The Congress leader who has just been ap-pointed the state in-charge and has been meet-ing state leaders has raised the issue to corner the BJP in Bengal which has high political stakes. The BJP is rising in the state politi-cally and Congress has a tough challenge to retain its position in the state.

The Congress has pitched this issue after the matter was raised by Swapan Dasgupta who is a nominated MP but close to BJP, and he has termed it discriminatory.

New Delhi, Sep 29 (IANS) Political stakes are high for former Chief Minister Kamal Nath in the bypolls for 28 As-sembly seats in Madhya Pradesh and for the Con-gress in neighbouring Gujarat, where eight seats are vacant.

All these seats were in Congress’ kitty after the Assembly elections, but slipped out of its hands after the party MLAs resigned -- in Madhya Pradesh, they opted to support Jyotiraditya Scin-dia in March 2020 and walk into the camp of a waiting BJP to ensure the fall of the then govern-ment led by Kamal Nath; and in Gujarat, they re-signed to ensure the de-

feat of the Congress nom-inee in the contest for the second Rajya Sabha seat in June 2020.

The Congress will need to bag all the 28 seats in Madhya Pradesh to again get a majority in the As-sembly, which is a tough task.

The party has already

announced 24 candi-dates.

On the other hand, the ruling BJP needs only nine seats to reach the magic figures of 116. In case the Congress wins less than 28 seats but manages around 24, it will still be in the game. Otherwise, it will have to depend on In-

dependents, two MLAs of Bahujan Samaj Party and the lone Samajwadi Party MLA.

In the 230-member Madhya Pradesh Assem-bly, the BJP has 107 MLAs, Congress 88, BSP 2, SP 1 while 4 are Independents.

“The Congress will come back to power again. We will defeat the BJP on these seats.

The people will give a befitting reply to those who dishonoured the public mandate and mur-dered democratic values,” Kamal Nath said.

Congress leaders Kamal Nath and Digvijaya Singh are visiting each of the 28 Assembly segments to ensure their party’s vic-tory, though it remains to

be seen what they can do since most vacant seats are in the Gwalior-Cham-bal belt -- considered a Scindia stronghold.

However, the Congress is banking on the fact that the belt has a sizeable population of Scheduled Castes (SCs) and Other Backward Classes (OBCs).

The party is also hope-ful of reaping the public goodwill due to waiver of farm loans announced by then Chief Minister Ka-mal Nath and the ongoing agitation by the farmers over the new farm laws.

In Gujarat, the Con-gress MLAs had resigned, which led to the defeat of Congress leader Bharat Singh Solanki on one Ra-jya Sabha seat.

New Delhi, Sep 29 (IANS) Barring emergency cases, the Resident Doctors As-sociation (RDA) of Delhi government’s Maharishi Valmiki Hospital on Tues-day announced all essential and non-essential services provided by its members had been withdrawn to protest against an assault on a doctor.

The RDA said it protested the hospital administra-tion’s action not to lodge an institutional FIR against a patient and her attendant for assaulting an on-duty doctor on Saturday.

The RDA formally in-formed the hospital Medi-

cal Superintendent about the protest through a no-tice.

The notice read: “Since no confirmation has been made till date, we are left with no alternative but to withdraw resident doc-tors from essential ser-vices from 10 a.m. today, for which intimation was given to you on September 26 and again on September 28.”

“We are disheartened by the way this issue is be-ing handled. The doctor concerned is under severe mental stress, and things may worsen for him if he doesn’t get institutional

support on priority,” it said.“Who will be responsible

if something goes wrong with the resident doctor? We don’t want the patients to suffer and want to re-sume duties at the earliest, but not at the cost of threat to our lives, integrity, and respect towards the profes-

sion,” the RDA warned.Meanwhile, RDAs of vari-

ous government hospitals also expressed their soli-darity with the victim doc-tor.

The RDAs of Safdarjung Hospital, Lady Hardinge Medical College, Baba Sa-hib Ambedkar Medical

College and Hospital, and Guru Teg Bahadur Hospi-tal extended support to the protest by the doctors and also the demand to lodge an institutional FIR in the case of assault.

“We condemn the as-sault, extend our deepest support and stand unani-mously and in solidarity with the protesting Resi-dent Doctors Association of Maharishi Valmiki Hospital and demand immediate appropriate action by the authorities against the ac-cused,” the RDAs said.

The doctors’ associa-tions are furious that the FIR in the case was lodged

in the name of an individ-ual rather than the institu-tion, which allegedly goes against the directions of the Delhi and central gov-ernments.

On Saturday, Dr Rahul Jain was allegedly assault-ed by a patient, identified as Priyanka, and her at-tendant Naresh when the doctor asked them to come by turn in the operation theatre. He had also asked them to wear masks.

Later, Dr Jain lodged an FIR against both at the Bawana police station un-der Sections 186, 188, 353, 332, 506 and 34 of the IPC and other relevant laws.

New Delhi, Sep 29 (IANS) The Delhi High Court, while allowing the applications of the Central Bureau of Investi-gation (CBI) and the Enforce-ment Directorate (ED) seeking early hearing on their appeals against the acquittal of the 2G spectrum scam case accused, held that “it is difficult to ac-cept” that “the matter being voluminous in nature cannot be argued or heard by video conference”.

“In this age of advanced technology, there are speedy and effective modes of com-munication through which people can easily connect, even though sitting at long distances. Since, technology has advanced, it is difficult to accept the submissions that matter being voluminous in nature cannot be argued or heard by video conference,” said a single-judge bench of

Justice Brijesh Sethi.The observation came in re-

sponse to the submissions by the counsel for the accused in the case that it will be difficult to connect with the clients and they will not be able to make effective submissions.

The bench has allowed the appeals and has slated the matter for hearing on day to day basis commencing from October 5.

While the matter was being heard through video confer-encing, counsel for the ac-cused also argued that Justice Sethi should not proceed with

the matter as it is not urgent in nature.

Justice Sethi, however, ruled that when he has heard the matter in detail though in part, he should not leave the said case and other cases in-conclusive for another bench to hear afresh as this would result in “wastage of precious judicial time and putting un-necessary burden on public exchequer”.

“The court should not shirk from its duty and at the same time, all the learned counsel are also expected to assist and cooperate with this Court in

expeditious disposal of these petitions.

“No doubt, the documents are voluminous in nature and had the petitioners moved these applications two or three months earlier, it would have been easier to decide the petitions. However, even if it has not been done, this court should not make it a ground for refusing early hearing and in fact, should make all en-deavour to hear the petitions undaunted by the fact that the record is voluminous and the arguments are going to be in detail,” he said.

While the matter was be-ing heard, Additional Solici-tor General Sanjay Jain, rep-resenting the probe agencies, submitted that substantial public time has already been consumed and since Justice Sethi, who is hearing the mat-ter currently.

New Delhi, Sep 29 (IANS) Two days after killing his father-in-law in Haryana’s Rohtak and shooting his female friend in Delhi, the 35-year-old Sub-Inspector of Delhi Police Sandeep Dahiya surrendered before the po-lice on Tuesday.

Before his surrender in the North district of Delhi, he also wrote a WhatsApp note in which he elaborated on the reasons why he shot dead his father-in-law and fired shots at his girlfriend in Delhi. He has been taken into custody and interrogation is on.

Delhi Police Sub-Inspector Sandeep Da-hiya fled after shooting and injuring his girl-friend following a quarrel in Delhi. Later, he shot dead his father-in-law in Rohtak on Monday morning.

He was on the run with his service revolver that he used to shoot the two people.

The 36-year-old policeman’s wife and he have been estranged for many years and the two had been living separately.

Dahiya was in a relationship with another woman for the past one year whom he re-portedly shot during a quarrel and left by the roadside on the GT Karnal Road in north Delhi’s Alipur area on Sunday.

According to the police, Dahiya shot the woman when the two of them were fighting inside his car. The injured woman was then rescued by another Sub-Inspector Jaiveer who reportedly spotted her while crossing the Sai Mandir on the GT Karnal road.

New Delhi, Sep 29 (IANS) The Delhi Police have undergone a major reshuffle with at least 26 officers getting transferred.

According to a new order from the Ministry of Home Affairs, Anand Mohan (1994 batch IPS officer) has been transferred to Puduch-erry from Delhi, while S.S. Yadav (1997 batch IPS officer) has been transferred from Pu-ducherry to Delhi. Shibesh Singh (2005 batch IPS officer) has been transferred from Lak-shadweep to Delhi while Sharat Kumar Sinha (2008 batch IPS officer) has been moved from Delhi to Lakshadweep.

Asif Mohd Ali (2009 batch) has been trans-ferred to Arunachal Pradesh from Delhi while Shweta Chauhan (2010 batch) has been transferred to Delhi from Arunachal Pradesh.

Usha Rangnani (2011 batch) has been transferred to Delhi from Andaman and Nicobar Islands, while Sanjay Kumar Sain (2011 batch) has been moved to Delhi from Arunachal Pradesh.

Sanjay Bhatia, who was posted as DCP Cen-tral Delhi, has been transferred to Arunachal Pradesh.

Pranav Tayal (2011 batch) and Guriqbal Singh (2012 batch) have been transferred to Delhi from Arunachal Pradesh.

Dasgupta said in a tweet: “UP Govt’s order that Dur-ga Puja should be done at home is unfair and even absurd. Like the allow-ances for Ram Lila, Durga Puja should be permitted with harsh but sensible restrictions. Otherwise it is discriminatory. Bengali Hindus in UP appeal to @myogiadityanath to review order.”

The UP government has issued guidelines regarding Durga Puja and has asked the worshippers to do wor-ship at home but has di-rected authorities that Ram Lila should be only with 100 people due to Covid-19 protocols and to curb the spread of the virus.

India does not need more Smart Cities, says Urban Affairs SecyNew Delhi, Sep 29 (IANS)

Even as work is underway on building 100 Smart Cit-ies across the country, there is no need for more as learnings from the ongoing mission can be replicated for other cities and towns in the country, a top official of the Union Ministry of Housing and Urban Affairs said on Tuesday.

“Learnings from 100 Smart Cities Mission is very important... people often ask me about the next round of Smart Cities and I tell them that it is not re-quired because we can uti-lise the learnings from our ongoing mission, replicate the same and move ahead,”

Housing and Urban Affairs Secretary D.S. Mishra said at a webinar on “Digital Transformation of Smart Cities in India and path ahead”.

Quoting examples of various smart cities - In-dore, Bhopal, Chennai, Coimbatore, Hyderabad and others, he said: “We have learnt a lot of things that can be replicated in shoring up infrastructure in other cities to achieve our goal of improving our citizens’ lives and promote ease of living, be it in terms of health, education, public transport, safety and sur-veillance and other such aspects.”

South4 Indian HorizonWednesday, September 30, 2020

Will oppose Vijayan’s move to stall CBI probe through Ordinance: Chennithala

Thiruvananthapuram, Sep 29 (IANS) Leader of Opposition Ramesh Chennithala on Tuesday said he will take legal and political steps against any move by the Pinarayi Vijayan government to bring an Ordinance to keep out the CBI from the ongoing probe into the Life Mission project.

The CBI on Friday not only filed a detailed report in the special court here on the Kerala government’s now

controversial Life Mission housing project, but also registered a case that was filed at the Ernakulam Chief Judi-cial magistrate court.

Chennithala said this while speak-ing to the media here and claimed that he has got information that the law department is taking steps to come out with an Ordinance, which will keep the CBI out of the ongoing Life Mission housing project probe.

“You all can also find out and if this happens, I will take legal steps and also take it up politically. First we will go and meet the Governor and brief him about what’s happen-ing and will request him not to sign the Ordinance. If things do not end with it, then it will be legal steps,” said Chennithala.

“The CBI has registered the case as foreign exchange rules have been vio-lated and they have already begun the probe also. All along Vijayan was say-ing they are ready for any probe and it was he who himself wrote to the Cen-tre seeking probe by national agen-cies. Now they know they are trapped and hence they are coming out with this Ordinance. This is in violation of all Constitutional norms and it will be opposed by us,” added Chennithala.

The Life Mission project, a pet one for Vijayan ever since he assumed office in 2016, was floated to build houses for the homeless and land-

less, using funds from sponsorships. The role of the state government was limited to providing the land. The project, however, ran into trouble when Anil Akkara, the Congress leg-islator from Wadakkanchery in Thris-sur, first raised questions about the wrongdoings in a building project in his constituency, with funds from UAE-based charity organisation Red Crescent.

Though Vijayan had been main-taining that the state government, apart from handing over the land had no role in the project, but things began changing since the Kerala gold smuggling case surfaced.

This particular project was routed through the UAE Consulate, where main accused Swapna Suresh and P.S. Sarith, whose arrest led to the un-covering of the scam, both worked. It turned murkier, when news surfaced that the son of state Industries Min-ister E.P. Jayarajan was also close to Swapna. It was the media advisor of Vijayan, John Brittas who said that Rs 4.50 crore commission was paid and it was endorsed by two State Minis-ters also.

Kochi (Kerala), Sep 29 (IANS) The Marine Prod-ucts Export Development Authority (MPEDA) is set to work with the Cochin Port Trust (CPT) to modernise Cochin Fisheries Harbour at a cost of Rs 140 crore.

A special purpose vehicle (SPV) is being launched to implement the develop-ment plans.

MPEDA Chairperson K. S. Srinivas signed a memo-randum of understanding (MoU) with his CPT coun-terpart A. M. Beena and the funds for it will be raised from various Central gov-ernment schemes.

The 1928-founded CPT runs the harbour which facilitates the berthing and landing of more than 500 vessels.

Commissioned in 1978, the harbour has a daily av-erage landing of 250 tonne fish.

The MPEDA-CPT agree-ment will see a host of in-frastructure facilities which include air-conditioned auction halls, besides a packing hall and bays for loading and unloading.

It will also have an ice plant, a reverse osmosis plant and a rainwater har-vesting system besides au-tomation equipment such as tripods, conveyor belts and pallet jacks for easier and better movement of fish within the harbour.

Electrical substations, an effluent treatment plant, a retail market, fish-dressing unit and net-mending area, besides offices, dormitories,

a food court, canteen, driv-ers’ waiting area and park-ing lots for vehicles will also be part of the harbour.

Srinivas pointed out that the MPEDA had proposed to the Centre in February this year to renovate 25 se-lect fishing harbours across the country and the DPR (detailed project report) for Kochi was readied with Ernst and Young as the con-sultants.

“These 25 major fish-ing harbours contribute a lion’s share of landings in the country for export. At present, India’s value addi-tion of marine products is a mere 5 per cent. We must increase it manifold given that the figure for South-East Asian countries is 50 per cent,” said Srinivas.

Rs 140-cr MoU inked for modernising Cochin Fisheries Harbour

MECL starts exploration in Kolar Gold Fields, rekindles hope among people

No announcement on bypolls for 2 Kerala seats

Bengaluru, Sep 29 (IANS) After nearly two decades of its closure, Bharat Gold Mines Lim-ited (BGML) in the Kolar Gold Field (KGF) again saw a ray of hope for its revival with Union Min-ister for Coal, Mines and Parliamentary Affairs Pr-alhad Joshi directing the Mineral Exploration Cor-poration Limited (MECL)

to start exploration work in these mines. Nearly 100 km from Bengaluru, KGF is a town known for gold mining for more than a century. The mines were closed on February 28, 2001 due to the fall in gold prices. The pyro-clastic and pillow lava at Kolar Gold Fields have been declared a National Geological Monument by

the Geological Survey of India (GSI) for their pro-tection, maintenance and encouragement of geo-tourism.

Joshi took to Twitter to announce this decision on Monday, saying,”Happy to convey that explor-atory drilling at Betrayas-wamy block of Kolar Gold Fields commenced today (Monday).”

He also shared photo-graphs on Twitter of the commencement of the activities. Joshi said the mining would help re-solve Bharat Gold Mines Limited (BGML) issue over exploration in KGF that has been pending for the last 16 years.

The exploration started after Joshi’s meeting with Karnataka Chief Minister B. S. Yediyurappa on Au-gust 28. Joshi said he had directed MECL to carry out immediate explora-tion in the mining lease area of BGML after meet-ing Yediyurappa.

In the meeting, Yediy-urappa and Joshi had also decided that either the high-value minerals at BGML are explored or handed over to the In-dustries department for setting up an industrial cluster to start large-scale economic activities there.

One of India’s first pow-er-generation units in Shivanasamudra, which

is 100 km from Bengalu-ru’s Mandya district, was built in 1889 to support mining operations. To its credit the mine com-plex hosted some particle physics experiments be-tween the 1960s and 1992.

The Kannada block-buster film “K.G.F: Chap-ter 1” and its sequel “K.G.F: Chapter 2” were set here. The Kolar gold mines were nationalised in 1956 and provided over 900 tonne gold until it was shut. Mining operations were closed by the Union government on February 28, 2001 for environmen-tal and economic reasons citing production did not justify the investment.

Thiruvananthapuram, Sep 29 (IANS) The Election Com-mission decision not to hold bypolls for the two Assembly seats of Chavara and Kut-tanad was welcomed in dif-ferent quarters in Kerala on Tuesday.

Tamil Nadu Chief Electoral Officer Tikka Ram Meena told the media that the decision was on expected lines and was welcome. “I wrote to the EC in May about the situa-tion here and followed up the matter a few times thereafter. Then came the decision taken at an all-party meeting. So, it’s a good decision.”

An all-party meeting pre-sided over by Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan earlier in September decided to urge

the Election Commission not to hold by-elections.

Leaders of different politi-cal parties maintained that those winning the two seats in the bypolls would get just a few months to work since the present Assembly’s term ends in May 2021.

Senior Congress leader AA Shukoor said that he wel-comed the decision not to hold the bypolls to the two seats. “The coronavirus situa-tion in Kerala is very serious. Had bypolls been held in such a situation, it would have be-come very difficult. Moreover, with winners getting just a few months to function as MLAs, it would have been a huge waste of resources,” the former legislator said.

Palghar (Maharashtra), Sep 29 (IANS) Amid the coronavi-rus pandemic, authorities in Palghar have issued an alert for the deadly Crimean Congo Hemorrhagic Fever (CCHF), or Congo fever, believed to spread from animals to humans, top officials said here on Tuesday.

The collectorate has direct-ed all meat and poultry sell-ers and consumers to remain on alert and take precautions as the Congo fever has a high mortality rate between 10-40 per cent even as no vaccine is available for treatment.

“We have asked all meat sellers to take necessary mea-sures for hygiene and clean-liness, spray of insecticides, use of gloves, gumboots, masks, and proper checks on all animals brought into Maharashtra via the Guja-rat borders in consultation with the departments con-cerned,” Collector Dr Manek Gursale told IANS.

District Civil Surgeon Kan-chan Vanare said that though there were no Congo fever cases yet in Palghar, precau-tions have been listed after infectees of this disease were found in neighbouring Gu-jarat, which borders Talasari taluka in the district.

“Though much is not known about the disease, it is believed to spread through Hyalomma tick, a parasite which thrives on

the blood or flesh of infected animals, fowls, or other birds. Anybody consuming infected meat may experience symp-toms of high fever, head and body aches, nose-bleeding, stomach pains, red eyes etc,” Vanare explained.

Animal Husbandry Depart-ment Deputy Commissioner Dr PD Kamble cautioned in a circular that since CCHF cases were found in some districts of south Gujarat bor-dering Maharashtra, it was likely to spread to this state. Animal Husbandry Depart-ment Deputy Commissioner Dr PD Kamble cautioned in a circular that since CCHF cases were found in some districts of south Gujarat bordering Maharashtra, it was likely to spread to this state.

“If it is not diagnosed and treated in time, nearly one third of the patients suc-cumb. As per the World Health Organisation, it has a fatality rate of 10-40 per cent, with no vaccines available for either humans or ani-mals,” read the circular. “If it is not diagnosed and treated in time, nearly one third of the patients succumb. As per the World Health Organisa-tion, it has a fatality rate of 10-40 per cent, with no vac-cines available for either hu-mans or animals,” read the circular.

Panneerselvam meets party officials, skips Collectors’ meeting

Bengaluru, Sep 29 (IANS) State-run Hindustan Aeronautics Ltd (HAL) has rolled out the 300th Dhruv multi-utility advanced light helicopter (ALH) from its hanger in the city’s eastern sub-urb, an official said on Tuesday. “The evolution from ALH Mark-I to Mark-IV has been phenomenal and is a boost to the indigenous design and development of heli-copters,” said HAL Chairman R Madhavan on the occasion.

Additional Director General (south zone) YK Sharma of the Di-rectorate General of Aeronautical Quality Assurance handed over the ALH’s rollout certificate to the company’s helicopter complex

chief executive GVS Bhaskar here. “The 300th ALH is a testimony to the capability the defence behe-moth has built over the years due to the efforts of its employees and customer support,” Bhaskar said in a statement.

With 2,80,000 flying hours, Dhruv has proven to be a multi-role helicopter for any mission, any place, and any time.

The military variant of Dhruv is flown by the Indian Air Force, Indian Army, Indian Navy, and the Indian Coast Guard, while its civil variant has been in use by several states and private customers for multiple opera-tions over the last 18 years.

Satna (Madhya Pradesh), Sep 29 (IANS) Satna district Superintendent of Police Riaz Iqbal was transferred on Monday evening after a mob attack on a police sta-tion following an alleged custodial killing of a theft accused.

Family members of Ra-jpati Kushwaha, 45, alleged the drunk police inspector Vikram Pathak had shot him dead in the Singhpur police station in Narainpur village from point blank range.

Villagers gathered out-side the police station and pelted stones. The police

cane-charged the rampag-ing crowd and burst tear gas shells leaving several per-sons injured.

Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan ordered the transfer of Satna superin-tendent of police Riyaz Iqbal over the custodial death and subsequent violence. Chou-han called the incident un-fortunate and announced Rs 10 lakh ex-gratia assis-tance to the family of the deceased.

Police said Singhpur po-lice had picked up Kush-waha on Sunday night from his house in Narayanpur

about 50 kms from Satna on suspected involvement in a theft case. He was reported to have been killed by bullet injuries, Omkar Kushwaha, nephew of the deceased, had alleged his uncle was killed by the police inspector

The police tried to give the killing of Kushwaha a sui-cide spin. “Singhpur police station inspector Vikram Pathak had kept his service revolver on the table (inside the police station). Kush-waha snatched the weapon and shot himself dead,” the SP told reporters on Mon-day.

Chennai, Sep 29 (IANS) A day after the ruling AIADMK announced that its Chief Ministerial candidate for the 2021 assembly polls will be announced on October 7, party Coordinator and Deputy Chief Minister O. Panneer-selvam met several party leaders at his residence here.

Panneerselvam also skipped a meet-ing held by Chief Minister K. Palaniswa-mi with the District Collectors on con-trolling coronavirus.

The party’s Deputy Coordinator K.P. Munusamy, Rajya Sabha Member R. Vaithilingam, Manoj Pandian and oth-ers were present at Panneerselvam’s residence.

Speaking to reporters Munusamy said the meeting was a routine one.

On his part Vaithilingam said the party will come back to power post the 2021 elections and he supports both

Panneerselvam and Palaniswami.Earlier Fisheries Minister D. Jayaku-

mar said there was a healthy exchange at the party’s Executive Committee meeting held here on Monday. At the Executive Committee meeting there

were views expressed by leaders to an-nounce the party’s Chief Ministerial candidate for the 2021 assembly polls.

While some party officials spoke in favour of Palaniswami, some oth-ers supported Panneerselvam. There

were some sharp exchanges between Palaniswami and Panneerselvam with the former stating that the latter had voted against the government when the confidence motion was moved.

To that Panneerselvam replied that it was done as a move against V. K. Sa-sikala, then party leader and now in a Karnataka jail.

Meanwhile there is also a strong view that the party should face the upcom-ing polls with the existing set up, as any change in the Chief Ministerial candi-date will turn out to be a negative fac-tor. “There will not be any change in the current set up. The status quo will continue. The party will face the elec-tions with Palaniswami heading the caretaker government while Panneer-selvam stays party Coordinator,” the senior official, who did not want to be identified, told IANS.

HAL rolls out 300th Dhruv chopper in B’luru

Police officer in MP shifted over custodial death

Alert for deadly Congo fever in Maharashtra’s

Palghar

Nation 5Indian HorizonWednesday, September 30, 2020

RLSP, BSP and JP-S join hands for Bihar Assembly polls

Punjab CM seeks inputs on protecting farmer interests

Patna, Sep 29 (IANS) Parting ways with the Mahagathbandhan in Bihar, the Rash-triya Lok Samta Party (RLSP) of former MP Upendra Kushwaha on Tuesday announced to join hands with the Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) and Janvadi Party (Socialist) to con-test the Assembly elections.

Kushwaha, a former Union Minister of State, announced the coalition in the pres-ence of the BSP and JP-S state unit chiefs in Patna.

He said the coalition will contest all the 243 seats in the Assembly.

Kushwaha said that he would welcome other like-minded political parties to come on board, if they wished.

Earlier, Jan Adhikar Party President Rajesh Ranjan alias Pappu Yadav said that Kush-

waha should come with him. Kushwaha formed the new political front after his talks with Chief Minister Nitish Kumar and Lead-er of Opposition and RLD leader Tejashwi Yadav on seat-sharing failed to bear fruit. Lashing out at Nitish Kumar, the RLSP chief said: “In the last 15 years, Nitish Kumar has just saved his own chair and nothing else. And to achieve it, he made several compro-mises. His claims on development in all sec-tors in Bihar are just false and nothing else. The ground reality is completely different from what he is claiming.”

Kushwaha also alleged that the education sector in Bihar was at its lowest whereas the crime graph and corruption was the high-est. “Nitish’s rule is similar to that of the RJD government’s 15 years,” he remarked. Kush-

waha also attacked the Rashtriya Janata Dal, alleging that the opposition party was “run by an undermatriculate”.

“We have two CMs (Lalu Prasad and Rabri Devi) who failed to ensure matriculation by their sons Tejashwi and Tej Pratap. Now, they have given the party command to one of them,” the former MP said.

“I asked top RJD leaders for a change in party leadership but they turned it down. Hence, I decided to part ways with the Grand Alliance,” Kushwaha claimed.

“On the other hand, the saffronisation of Nitish Kumar and his Janata Dal-United is complete. I even have doubts that the RJD is also under the influence of BJP and Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh,” the RLSP chief said.

Chandigarh, Sep 29 (IANS) Punjab Chief Minister Amarinder Singh on Tuesday sought inputs and suggestions from legal experts, including legal rep-resentatives of the farmer unions, on the next course of action for protecting the interests of the farmers against the Centre’s new farm laws.

He has directed Advocate General Atul Nanda to collate and consider all such suggestions, which may be re-ceived on a specially created email id - agri.law@punjab.gov.in.

The directives were issued by the Chief Minister during a high-level meeting with top government officials to deliberate on all aspects of the issues arising out of the three Central acts on agriculture, which were recently passed

by Parliament and notified after the President’s assent.

According to a spokesperson of the Chief Minister’s Office, during the course of the meeting, all suggestions given by leaders of various farmers’ unions earlier in the day, were dis-cussed. The meeting also mulled the legal options available before the state.

If the legal experts advised amendment(s) to the state laws to fight the central laws, a special session of the Vidhan Sabha would be immediately called for the purpose, he said.

The Chief Minister made it clear that his government had no qualms about convening an Assembly session if that was the best course in the cir-cumstances.

843 vehicles with illegal min-ing material seized in Haryana

This UP woman official faces 17th transfer in 13 years

Punjab CM seeks in-puts on protecting

Gurugram, Sep 29 (IANS) In a major crackdown on illegal mining, a special en-forcement team of the Hary-ana police has confiscated 843 vehicles being used in il-legal mining activities across 12 districts of the state over the last eight months. A penalty of Rs 23 crore was imposed on the vehicle owners for transporting il-legal mining material. More than 50 cases were regis-tered against them. Drilling machines were also seized.

The police confiscated ve-hicles bearing Haryana reg-istration numbers along with the illegally mined material. Assistant Commissioner of Police (ACP) Preet Pal Sang-wan was given the charge of the Gurugram and Nuh regions. The ACP along with

25 police officials was tasked with tracking the movement of vehicles illegally trans-porting mining material from the Aravallis to various construction sites and crush-er zones in the region.

“The illegal activity was going on more in the border areas and efforts were afoot to keep tabs on vehicles ferrying mined material or without the requisite docu-ments,” Sangwan said.

Of the 843 vehicles con-fiscated, nearly 241 were seized at Narnaul in Ma-hendragarh district, 172 in Faridabad, 145 in Guru-gram, 67 in Charkhi Dadri, 50 in Mewat, 49 in Rewari, 48 each in Palwal and Bhi-wani districts, 10 in Hisar, nine in Jhajjar, three in So-nipat and one in Rohtak.

Meerut (Uttar Pradesh), Sep 29 (IANS) The transfer of a woman official -- 17th in a row -- has led to a ma-jor controversy in the state.

The woman PCS (lower) official posted in Meerut was transferred in ‘public interest’ after over a year-long tenure which was marked with several spats with controversial Sardha-na BJP MLA Sangeet Som.

The officer Amita Va-run was transferred for the 17th time in her 13-year ca-reer. Varun is a 2007 batch official and had been serv-ing as an Executive Officer (EO) of Meerut’s Sardhana municipal corporation

since September last year.In the last three years,

she was shifted at least 10 times due to her working style that pitted her against local politicians. On Sun-day night, she was shifted to Jahangirabad in Buland-shahr.

The Provincial Civ-il Service (PCS) official troubled by the frequent transfers had moved the Allahabad High Court in 2018. A two-judge bench of the Court had then set aside her transfer after observing,”Such an exer-cise is nothing but an exer-cise of power founded on malice in law.”

Chandigarh, Sep 29 (IANS) Punjab Chief Min-ister Amarinder Singh on Tuesday sought inputs and suggestions from legal ex-perts, including legal rep-resentatives of the farmer unions, on the next course of action for protecting the interests of the farmers against the Centre’s new farm laws.

He has directed Advocate General Atul Nanda to col-late and consider all such suggestions, which may be received on a specially cre-ated email id - agri.law@punjab.gov.in.

The directives were issued by the Chief Minister during a high-level meeting with top government officials to de-

liberate on all aspects of the issues arising out of the three Central acts on agriculture, which were recently passed by Parliament and notified after the President’s assent. The directives were issued by the Chief Minister during a high-level meeting with top government officials to de-liberate on all aspects of the issues arising out of the three Central acts on agriculture, which were recently passed by Parliament and notified after the President’s assent.

According to a spokesper-son of the Chief Minister’s Office, during the course of the meeting, all suggestions given by leaders of various farmers’ unions earlier in the day, were discussed.

HC dismisses Raj plea for post-poning municipal polls in 3 cities

843 vehicles with illegal mining material seized in Haryana

Jaipur, Sep 29 (IANS) The Rajasthan High Court on Tuesday dismissed the application filed by the state govern-ment for extending the poll dates from October 31 to March 20, 2021 for Jaipur, Jodhpur and Kota Municipal Corporations. Now, the government will have to hold the elections in these three places by October 31.

The Congress leaders were taken aback by the decision. The party in Rajasthan has been operating with a one-man army after the Pradesh Con-gress Committee (PCC) was dissolved a few months back following the re-moval of Sachin Pilot as the state par-ty chief.

Presently, state Education Minis-ter Govind Singh Dotasara is the PCC chief. However, the new PCC mem-bers are yet to be inducted across dis-tricts.

A senior Congress leader speaking to IANS said, “It’s too short a time for us to prepare for these crucial polls. Let’s see what the state government decides; maybe it will file a fresh ap-peal in the Apex Court.”

State BJP spokesperson Ramlal Sharma said, “Recently Panchayat polls were held where 85 per cent polling was registered in villages. Similarly, these polls can be held if the administration follows the Elec-tion Commission’s guidelines

The state government had recently filed an application in the High Court to postpone the elections to the six Municipal Corporations in Jaipur, Jodhpur and Kota. The government had sought permission to hold elec-tions by March 31, 2021.

The polls have been continuously postponed in these three cities since the formation of two municipal cor-porations in each of these three cit-ies. The polls have been continuously postponed in these three cities since the formation of two municipal cor-porations in each of these three cities.

Earlier, the High Court on July 22 had permitted the state government to conduct elections by October 31 when the state government filed a plea seeking permission to conduct elections by December 31, 2020.

Gurugram, Sep 29 (IANS) In a major crackdown on illegal mining, a special enforcement team of the Haryana police has confiscated 843 vehicles being used in illegal mining activities across 12 districts of the state over the last eight months.

A penalty of Rs 23 crore was im-posed on the vehicle owners for transporting illegal mining material. More than 50 cases were registered against them. Drilling machines were also seized.

The police confiscated vehicles bearing Haryana registration num-bers along with the illegally mined material.

Assistant Commissioner of Police (ACP) Preet Pal Sangwan was given the charge of the Gurugram and Nuh regions.

The ACP along with 25 police officials was tasked with tracking

the movement of vehicles illegally transporting mining material from the Aravallis to various construc-tion sites and crusher zones in the region.

“The illegal activity was going on more in the border areas and efforts were afoot to keep tabs on vehicles ferrying mined material or without the requisite documents,” Sangwan said.

Of the 843 vehicles confiscated, nearly 241 were seized at Narnaul in Mahendragarh district, 172 in Faridabad, 145 in Gurugram, 67 in Charkhi Dadri, 50 in Mewat, 49 in Rewari, 48 each in Palwal and Bhi-wani districts, 10 in Hisar, nine in Jhajjar, three in Sonipat and one in Rohtak. According to the police, il-legal mining is most prevalent in Gurugram, Nuh, Narnaul, Mahen-dragarh and Faridabad.

Ahmedabad, Sep 29 (IANS) Leading boat owners associations in Gujarat on Tuesday highlighted the challenges to their lives and livelihoods. The fisheries sector and fishing communities in the state and around the country are chal-lenged by the lack of access to modern digital connectivity at sea. The Veraval’s Boat Owners’ Association, Shree Kharva Sanyukta Machhimar Boat Association, supporting Indian fishermen for tech-nology adoption, have written to Prime Minister Narendra Modi to seek his direct intervention to address their concerns.

They have highlighted need for adopt-ing next-generation digital and satellite communications technologies to raise productivity of fishing harvests, create world-class competitiveness, ensure the safety of fishermen on the high seas, while accelerating the modernization

and growth of the fisheries sector. Tul-sibhai Gohel, President of Veraval’s Boat Owners’ Association, Kharva Sanyukta Machhimar Boat Association, elaborat-ing on the community’s challenges, said,

“There are perpetual issues that en-danger our lives and our livelihoods, deeply impacting the well-being of our community and families. Fishermen are often trapped mid-sea and lose their lives due to a lack of timely information and lack of SoS data capability. Our ves-sels and fishermen are routinely appre-hended by neighboring countries; Paki-stan detaining 49 of Gujarat Fishermen on September 15 is only the latest such incident. We take great pride in our mis-sion of feeding India, and risk our lives every day to do so -- we are in need of urgent Government intervention to keep us secure”.

Mumbai, Sep 29 (IANS) The Maharashtra-based Shiv Sena will soon take a decision on contesting the upcoming Bihar Assembly elections, party MP and Chief Spokesperson Sanjay Raut said here on Tuesday.

“There are a lot of demands from our people there. We shall discuss it with party Presi-dent and Chief Minister Ud-dhav Thackeray and decide on whether to contest the Bihar Assembly polls or not,” Raut told mediapersons.

On the move by ex-top police official of Bihar, former DGP Gupteshwar Pandey’s decision to join politics, the Sena leader said he was free to do whatever he wants since that’s his per-sonal choice.

“Our objection was to the manner in which he painted the Mumbai Police in a bad light in the Sushant Singh Ra-jput case. He tried to drive a wedge between the police and people of the two states for his advantage when he was the

DGP,” Raut said. To a question whether the Sushant case was a conspiracy to tarnish the im-age of state Tourism Minister Aditya Thackeray, Raut replied in the affirmative, but declined to elaborate.

However, he pointed out that the Shiv Sena has emerged unscathed from the entire epi-sode, but those who attempted to throw muck at the party, screaming at the top of their lungs on television channels, will meet a similar fate.

“They were criticising the Mumbai Police probe in the Sushant case. Now, the probe is with the CBI for over a month. The people want to know what’s the outcome. If they (Sena critics) have the guts, then they should be ask-ing questions to the CBI now, just as they demanded answers from Mumbai Police earlier,” Raut dared.

Referring to the fracas sur-rounding his meeting with Bharatiya Janata Party’s Leader

of Opposition Devendra Fad-navis, Raut put at rest all specu-lation and claimed that “it was purely to finalise the interview schedule” between Sena and Fadnavis.

He reiterated that the Maha Vikas Aghadi alliance govern-ment of Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray -- comprising the Sena, Nationalist Congress Par-ty and Congress will complete its full five-year term, despite all effort by the state Opposi-tion to topple the coalition

Ranchi, Sep 29 (IANS) The Elec-tion Commission of India on Tues-day announced that the bypolls to the Assembly seats of Dumka and Bermo in Jharkhand would be held on November 3.

Counting of votes will be taken up on November 10.

While the JMM will fight the Dumka seat, its ally Congress will field a candidate from Bermo. The opposition BJP is likely to field candidates on both seats.

The Dumka seat was vacated by Chief Minister Hemant Soren after he won the 2019 Assembly elec-tions from Dumka and Barhet. The Bermo seat fell vacant due to the death of Congress legislator Ra-jendra Singh.

The bypoll outcome could re-flect public sentiments about the Soren-led alliance government in power in Jharkhand. Soren became the Chief Minister on December 29 last year. The bypoll outcome could reflect public sentiments

about the Soren-led alliance gov-ernment in power in Jharkhand. Soren became the Chief Minister on December 29 last year.

The bypoll in Dumka will be in-teresting as both the Jharkhand Mukti Morcha and the Bharatiya Janata Party have won it in the past. Soren had defeated then Minister Louis Marandi in the 2019 Assembly polls whereas Marandi had defeated Soren in the 2014 poll battle. The bypoll in Dumka will be interesting as both the Jharkhand Mukti Morcha and the Bharatiya Janata Party have won it in the past. Soren had defeated then Minister Louis Marandi in the 2019 Assembly polls whereas Marandi had defeated Soren in the 2014 poll battle.

Soren had lost in Dumka in 2014 even though he was the Chief Minister. “We are ready for the by-election. We will certainly win both the seats,” BJP leader Rabi Bhatt said.

Gujarat boat owners SoS PM on safety of fishermen

Shiv Sena to decide soon on contesting Bihar polls

Bypolls for two Jharkhand Assembly seats on Nov 3

EDIT6

US in a changing order

Curbing farm firesPunjab, Haryana should gear up

to minimise incidents

Repeal of archaic laws doesn’t affect reform

Manoj JoshiDistinguished Fellow, Observer

Research Foundation, New DelhiAs the US reaches the last phase of

its presidential election campaign, it may be time to reflect what an Amer-ican approach to the world with-out Trump may be like, and what it would be, were he to return.

His departure would remove the sharper edges of Trumpism, but they will not be gone. Because Trump represents a strong political trend in the US which feels that global com-mitments have impoverished the US and that the world has, somehow, exploited American generosity. The policy towards China, for example, has now developed a bipartisan edge and, in fact, minus Trump it may even become more effective, given his penchant for personalised deci-sion-making, as evident in the case of the reprieve he gave ZTE in 2018, or the handling of TikTok this year.

The world Trump or Biden would

face in 2021 would be one shaken up by the Covid experience. The old verities about ‘American leadership’ would have been proved wrong.

Given Covid, it is easy to forget that Trump had just struck a huge trade deal with China in January, one that would have sharply enhanced the US-China engagement had it run its course. Instead, Trump has veered off and now leads a campaign to isolate and humble China. The only explanation for this radical change is that he needed to attack China to cover up his own monumental fail-ure to control the outbreak.

Speaking at the virtual UN General Assembly session last week, Trump’s message outlined his perspective. Where the UN embodied the notions of world government, and required nations to shed some of their sov-ereignty for the common interest, Trump declared, ‘We reject the ideol-ogy of globalism and accept the doc-trine of patriotism.’ His unabashed

assertion of sovereignty goes against the very charter of the United Na-tions. A second Trump term would most certainly mean the end of the world order as we have known it till now. The US has already pulled out of the WHO and the chances are that it could also do so from other bodies like the WTO and, perhaps, even the UN itself.

More than anything, the Trump administration’s handling of the pandemic has bewildered the world. Instead of assuming the leadership of what is clearly a global challenge, the US retreated into itself. With its huge scientific and monetary resources, it is likely to come up with a vaccine against the virus sooner than later. But Trump’s Operation Warp Speed to hasten the development of a vac-cine, funded by billions of dollars, has been aimed at the US electorate, rather than the world community.

The US has bluntly declared that it will not join the Covid-19 Vac-

cines Global Access (COVAX) fa-cility, a global effort by 170 coun-tries to develop, manufacture and equitably distribute a vaccine. The main reason is that COVAX is aimed at ensuring that the poor and backward countries do not get left out of the vaccine distribu-tion. It does not sit well with the ‘America First’ trope of the Trump administration since the US be-lieves that it will ‘win’ the vaccine race and make decisions based on its own national interest.

Meanwhile, the world will not stand still. Like it or not, China would still be around, perhaps more re-silient and self-contained, but an equally daunting but different kind of challenge to the world order. With Trump, there would be no certainty of a coherent response. This would encourage countries to sit on the fence for fear of alienating either power.

IANS

UNDER fire from the Supreme Court

over the years, Punjab and Haryana face

the uphill task of paddy straw manage-

ment during the harvest season that

began mid-September. Punjab has de-

ployed 8,000 nodal officers to keep a vigil

on the farms and farmers for incidents of

stubble burning. The officers face their

first test in the Majha area as it has already

become a hotspot, with plumes of smoke

arising from some fields. Their mandate,

which is a mix of facilitation and penalty

envisioned by the government, should

goad more peasants to shun this undesir-

able practice. With over 23,000 more agri-

machines — an increase of nearly 50 per

cent from last year — to be made available

to the peasants, along with the stick of red

entries in the land records of the offend-

ers, a further dip in the number of blazing

instances is expected. It would be a boost

to the encouraging, though slow, trend

of reduced instances witnessed since the

practice of setting fire to paddy straw to

prepare the land for the next sowing was

banned.

Likewise, on the basis of crop residue-

burning instances last year, Haryana’s

Agriculture and Farmers’ Welfare De-

partment has identified red, orange and

green zones and the state is ready with a

multi-crore-rupee plan to aid small farm-

ers in getting access to agricultural imple-

ments. No doubt, with wide-scale aware-

ness campaigns, punitive measures as

also amenities provided, farmers of the

northwest region are coming around

to the advantages of adopting scientific

methods of disposal, but the cost factor

remains the major hurdle to making a

perceptible difference on the ground.

Though, as per the Economic Survey

of 2019-20, various efforts led to a ‘sig-

nificant reduction’ last winter in the to-

tal number of farm fires recorded, they

have not been effective enough. Serious

concerns continue to be raised about

the rising air pollution, with the lethal

particulates-laden hazy cover extending

up to the National Capital Region. They

continue to trigger various health issues

as people in the affected areas gasp for

clean air, their respiratory systems com-

promised. With its attendant lung issues,

the Covid-19 pandemic this time neces-

sitates a stricter vigil and action.

Tahir MahmoodThe statute book of India has been

overcrowded with outdated laws, some of them being over a century old. Having outlived their objects and utility, they needed to be repealed as per the worldwide practice of weed-ing out ‘spent’ laws. Since the 1990s, three state-appointed bodies — the PC Jain Committee, the Law Com-mission of India and the Ramanujam Committee — identified such laws. On the basis of their recommenda-tions, Parliament enacted six Acts one after the other during 2015-19 to repeal a large number of outdated Acts. Each of them, however, clarified beyond doubt that such repeal of any old Act would not undo the legal re-form it had made.

Among the hundreds of laws so repealed were a few family law stat-utes, including the Caste Disabilities Removal Act of 1850. Its repeal has created confusion in certain sections of society, especially among the law students, which needs to be effec-tively dispelled.

Under the religious laws of all communities, conversion by a per-son to a different religion would re-sult in loss of family and succession rights. In the early years of the 19th century, the British rulers had de-cided to deactivate such provisions of personal laws, for which they had the support of the Brahmo Samaj. In

1832, a Bengal Presidency Regulation proclaimed that the laws of Hindu and Muslim “religions shall not be permitted to operate to deprive such party or parties of any property to which, but for the operation of such laws, they would have been entitled.”

After the establishment of a Cen-tral legislature in 1833, the govern-ment decided to extend the procla-mation referred to above, in general terms, to the whole of British India. As among various castes and sub-castes of the Hindu community, ex-communication — expulsion of a person from his or her caste by birth under orders of caste organisations — also resulted in the loss of family and succession rights, the Brahmo Samaj leaders prompted the govern-ment to also address this social evil under the newly proposed Central law. Eventually, a law for both these purposes was enacted in 1850. It had, like several other laws of the time, no short title. The Indian Short Titles Act of 1897 later titled it as the Caste Dis-abilities Removal Act.

The Act had declared that “so much of any law or usage now in force within India as inflicts on any person forfeiture of rights or prop-erty, or may be held in any way to im-pair or affect any right of inheritance, by reason of his or her renouncing, or having been excluded from the communion of, any religion, or be-

ing deprived of caste, shall cease to be enforced as law in any court.” The provision had the effect of supersed-ing the contrary provisions of all re-ligious, personal and customary laws under which persons who converted to a religion other than their reli-gion by birth were to be deprived of their family and succession rights. It also superseded the rules of the tra-ditional Hindu law under which the customary excommunication from a caste or sub-caste would have a simi-lar effect.

Judicial opinion was divided on the issue if the Act of 1850 under ref-erence protected the rights of both the converts and their descendants or only the former — various High Courts in British India taking differ-ent views. In a case decided in 1888, the Allahabad High Court decided that the Act also covered the descen-dants of persons changing their re-ligion. The Madras High Court gave a contrary decision in 1917, hold-ing that only actual converts were protected by the Act. In an appeal against a decision of the Chief Court of Oudh, which had followed the Ma-dras viewpoint, the Privy Council up-held the Chief Court’s decision. Since then, the law was that the Act of 1850 under reference was applicable only to persons changing religion and not to their children or future genera-tions.

The Act was in force at the time of the advent of independence and re-mained in force in accordance with the provision of Article 372 of the Constitution protecting pre-inde-pendence laws unless repealed by a competent authority. Its interpreta-tion by the Privy Council cited above may have been in the minds of the framers of the Hindu Succession Act of 1956 when they laid down in it that children born to a convert from the Hindu religion after his conversion will not inherit property from their Hindu relatives.

As laid down in each of the recent Repealing Acts, the technical repeal of the Caste Disabilities Removal Act of 1850 cannot mean revival of the rules of any personal law which it had superseded. Its provision saying that a person’s conversion to a different religion, or excommunication from a caste, will not deprive him of his fam-ily and property rights fully remains in force. The misimpression that the repeal of this Act means restoration of the rules of any religious law or custom under which conversion re-sults in loss of family rights strikes at the root of the recent Repealing Acts cited above, none of which intended to put the clock back by undoing a well-established legal reform of the past.

IANS

Jagat Ram & Rakesh KochharTHE Covid-19 pandemic has

devastated the world in the past nine months. Many countries in Europe are witnessing a recur-rence and the numbers are still not showing a downward trend in the US. In India, we are seeing a continuous surge. Recently, there were reports of short-age of oxygen supplies in some states. The country has fought the virus bravely with one of the lowest case fatality rates in the world. The deaths per million of population has been a cause of some solace, but the caseload has breached the 60-lakh mark.

The spate of new cases in September has been a worry-ing trend with about 13 lakh patients being added in the first fortnight. A study at the Hyder-abad campus of BITS-Pilani has projected 70 lakh cases by early October.

In the absence of a definite treatment for the novel coro-navirus, the WHO advocated containment and preventive measures. As part of these, In-dia also imposed a lockdown which helped prevent the ini-tial spread. It also gave time to improve the health infrastruc-

ture, increase ICU beds and add more ventilators. From a stage of importing PPE kits, we have reached a stage of export-ing them. Similarly, testing for Covid-19 has been ramped up with over 11 lakh tests being conducted every day. Testing remains one of the mainstays of containment as positive in-dividuals need to be isolated. In the field setting at the com-munity level, a check is also possible with rapid antigen test which is cost-effective and takes around 30 minutes. In a hospital setting, rapid antigen testing is proposed for patients requiring admission to ICU or Emergency. Those testing posi-tive can be triaged early and the negative cases need to be recon-firmed with RT-PCR. We believe flattening the curve is possible by testing, treating and tracing.

The medical fraternity has also learnt how to treat the disease better. There being no effective antiviral drugs, treat-ment is primarily supportive. We have learnt that hydroxy-chloroquine is not useful, the role of plasma therapy is not yet established, that the use of anti-coagulants and steroids is

helpful in specific stages of the disease, and drugs like Tocili-zumab and Remdesivir help some and that ventilator is not the panacea it was thought to be. The ICMR has updated its proposed algorithm of treat-ment. Resultantly, more pa-tients can be effectively treated if the guidelines are followed.

A vaccine for Covid-19 has been in the offing for some time now. Despite over 200 candi-date vaccines, only a few have reached the stage of clinical tri-al, including two from India. It is projected that though one or more vaccines may be cleared for use by the end of 2020, it will be only in the first quarter of 2021 that they can be available for mass usage. This implies that for the next many months, we have to rely on measures other than vaccines to prevent the virus from spreading.

That brings us back to the three basic tenets of fighting Covid-19 — use of a mask, so-cial distancing and hand hy-giene, besides isolating those testing positive. Unfortunately, the emphasis on this basic pro-tocol has been getting diluted. With a rapid upsurge in cases,

it is time to reiterate these mea-sures strongly. Most people feel they need not wear a mask with their friends as it would be safe, or with relatives because they would be non-infective or even with colleagues, for the same reason. For our own and others’ safety, each one of us should wear a mask. A group of researchers in the US has suggested that wearing a mask even helps in building immu-nity against the virus.

The mask scales down the viral particles filtered out of it, reducing the inoculum. Thus, the low viral load transmitted to the other person acts akin to a live vaccine. Notwithstanding this hypothesis, wearing a mask definitely protects the wearer. In that sense, a triple layer mask is the best, but a home-made cloth mask is also quite effec-tive, provided it is washed daily. Masks like N-95 are to be used by high-risk individuals like health- care workers. Wearing a handkerchief or a bandana-type wrap is not that effective, and in fact, they have been shown to be counterproductive.

The importance of social dis-tancing is easy to understand,

but often ignored. There are instances of attendees in mar-riages turning positive. Simi-larly, attending meetings has been followed by a spread of the virus. A few months back, many officials in the health depart-ment of Madhya Pradesh got infected from a single employee who had tested positive. When the lockdown was lifted, most people observed the two-me-tre-distance norm quite regu-larly, but not anymore. We can-not ignore the fact that Covid-19 spreads through close contact and proximity. Hand hygiene is the other preventive measure.

One issue, which has been ig-nored, is the role of healthcare facilities. In May this year, many Mumbai hospitals had been shut down, as they had become hotspots for the spread of infec-tion. As tricity hospitals get a lot of patients from the neighbour-ing states, it is imperative to test the patients. There have been instances of the spread of virus in healthcare facilities linked to the attendants. At many hospitals, including government institutes, only those attendants are allowed who have tested negative.

IANS

Fight against Covid-19 needs renewed

Indian HorizonWednesday, September 30, 2020

Readers Response and contribution Welcome

Wednesday, September 30, 2020Wednesday, September 30, 2020

Indian Horizon

OPED7What Trump’s tax returns mean for America’s future

The bombshell New York Times re-port on Donald Trump’s tax returns is a remarkable feat of journalism. The team deserves special praise for mak-ing their findings comprehensible to general readers and not getting lost in the details.

Yet like many other revelations in the Trump era, the tax news falls into the category of “shocking but not sur-prising.” Many observers had already surmised that Trump paid little or no

taxes, that his claims of brilliant busi-ness success were a fiction, and that he is deep in debt. Now all of that is virtually confirmed. But what does it mean for America’s future?

Everyone will come at this question from their own angle. When I read the Times report, I quickly found myself thinking about ... the theory of busi-ness capital structure. No, really.

For many people, no doubt, the main takeaway from the tax revela-

tions will be “$750? Really?” The fact that Trump paid less in taxes than tens of millions of hardworking Amer-icans struggling to make ends meet is an outrage. It’s also easy to explain in a few seconds, which is why it’s the theme of a quickly released ad from the Biden campaign.

From a substantive point of view, however, Trump’s tax avoidance is less important than the confirmation of what many already suspected: His carefully cultivated image of being a hugely successful businessman is, as he would say, fake news. In fact, he has done a terrible job of running his businesses.

Why does this matter? Voters often seem to believe that effective business leaders have the skills and knowl-edge to lead the nation as a whole. They’re wrong about that. Even genu-inely great businesspeople — people like, say, Herbert Hoover — are often very bad at public policy, including economic policy, because the skills needed to run a business and those required to steer a nation are very dif-ferent.

Midas in reverseIn Trump’s case, however, the old

joke is true: He isn’t a great busi-nessman, he just played one on TV. It should come as no surprise, then,

that he has been consistently hap-less at devising policy. On just about every front, from diplomacy to infra-structure to trade wars to fighting a pandemic, he has been Midas in re-verse.

How much will the revelation that he has always been a fraud hurt him? Many of his supporters will prob-ably refuse to acknowledge the truth, perhaps because they won’t admit to themselves how completely they were scammed. But assuming that the news will have no effect at all is probably too cynical. And remember, Trump is running behind Joe Biden, so he has to do more than keep his base — and this may not do much to win over undecided voters.

The most important revelation from the Times report, however, is its con-firmation of another thing many ob-servers already suspected: Trump has hundreds of millions in personal debt. It’s unclear whether he has the resources to repay it.

Personal financial trouble has always been a red flag when it comes to filling sensitive government positions because it’s an open invitation to corruption. So the confirmation that the nation’s chief law enforcement and national security official — whose business empire already offers many opportunities for undue in-

fluence — is drowning in debt is chilling.Substantial risk of bankruptcyBeyond that, analysts of business

finance — I told you I’d get there — have long known that high levels of debt, enough to pose a substantial risk of bankruptcy, create destructive incentives. Instead of investing in the future, the owners of highly indebted businesses are tempted to engage in asset stripping, getting the money out before the creditors stake their claims. This is, by the way, the charge being levelled at Eddie Lampert, the former chief executive of Sears (and Steven Mnuchin, the secretary of the Treasury).

Owners of debt-hobbled business-es are also tempted to take big risks, even at bad odds, because if they get lucky, they might save themselves; if they don’t, it’s someone else’s prob-lem. Heads they win, tails the credi-tors lose.

So now we have a deeply indebted business owner with every incentive to engage in malfeasance — except that in addition to running his busi-ness, he’s running the United States of America.

But he may be about to lose that special position and whatever finan-cial defence it may provide.

Gulf News

Damascus: Fifty years ago, on this day Gamal Abdul Nasser was putting an end to the war in Jordan, otherwise known as Black September. It had been fought on the streets of Amman between King Hussein’s army and the Egypt-backed Palestinian Liberation Organisation of Yasser Arafat.

After announcing success seeing off Arab kings and presidents to the airport, he suf-fered a heart attack and died at 6pm on September 28, 1970. He was only 52.

The date, September 28, had already been inscribed into Arab history books. It was on this same day back in 1961 that Nasser had faced the first defeat in his illustrious career, when Syrian army officers launched a coup in Damascus, toppling the Syrian-Egyptian Union that he had co-created with Syrian President Shukri Al Quwatli. Nasser hated that date, not knowing that it would become that of his passing just nine years later.

A career of much success, and failureUntil then, Nasser had encountered noth-

ing but astounding success since toppling the Egyptian monarchy in 1952. He came to power in 1954, at the young age of 36. In July 1956 he successfully nationalised the Suez Canal and fought off a tripartite war launched against his country in October by Great Britain, France, and Israel.

In 1958, Syrian officers came to his door-step, begging him to merge their coup-plagued country with Egypt. He promised that the union republic would last 100-years but it collapsed just 43-months later in Sep-tember 1961.

September 28 would once again become a day to remember when in 2000, the sec-ond Palestinian intifada was launched after Ariel Sharon’s visit to the Al Aqsa Mosque in occupied Jerusalem.

“Nasser’s legacy continues to cast a long shadow” said Syrian historian Fadi Esber, explaining: “His overwhelming charisma and political machinations drove Syria into a union with Egypt. The fateful marriage had a lasting impact on Syria’s politics and economy. Nasser upended the economy of post-independence Syria through agrarian reform laws and nationalization, paving the way for a socialist system that would last for nearly half a century.”

Speaking to Gulf News, he added: “Many Syrians, nevertheless, especially those ar-dent Arab nationalists, mourned Nasser on September 28, 1970, and still mourn him today.”

Many Syrians blame Nasser for introduc-ing hardline socialism into their economy, seizing private banks and factories while confiscating lands of the urban notability, which had ruled the country since Ottoman times.

Others remember him for making Egypt the bastion of Arab nationalism. “He intro-duced Arabism to Egypt” said Kamal Khalaf Al Tawil, a medical doctor, political analyst, and specialist on Gamal Abdul Nasser.

His promises to the nation included, ac-cording to Al Tawil, “sufficiency and justice, planning, equal opportunity, industriali-sation, free education, national indepen-

dence, Arab unity, and war on imperialism.” Those promises, he added, “still live within us.”

One of his most important achievements was striking at the Egyptian Muslim Broth-erhood, which he prophetically expected to bring nothing but anguish and terrorism to the Arab World.

Six Day WarHis biggest defeat, however, and without

shadow of a doubt, was the Six Day War of 1967. That war led to the occupation of the West Bank, Sinai, and the Syrian Golan Heights. Historians disagree on who was to blame for the defeat, Nasser himself or his right-hand-man Abdul Hakim Amer, commander of the Egyptian Army who was subsequently arrested and died in prison in September 1967.

Nasser himself preferred to take personal blame for what happened in 1967, stepping down while setting a precedent in Arab pol-itics. In what has now become an all-time classic in Arab speeches, he coined the de-feat as a “naksa” or disaster, delegating his trusted colleague Zakariya Muhiddine to run the affairs of Egypt.

Spontaneous demonstrations broke out Cairo, Baghdad, Beirut, and Damascus, pleading Nasser to reconsider. King Husse-in famously remarked: “Only Abdul Nasser got us into this and only Abdul Nasser can get us out.”

“The defeat of 1967 did not break Nasser but actually encouraged him to lead a war of attrition against Israel” said Al Tawil. “The

three years of attrition were Nasser’s mo-ment of glory,” he added. It convinced the Americans to unwillingly accept him as an interlocutor, on his terms, especially after he had invited the Soviets to Egypt and two of his allies to power in Libya and Sudan.”

Since then, many Arab leaders have tried walking in Nasser’s footsteps, inspired by

his revolutionary rhetoric and Arab nation-alism. Hafez Al Assad of Syria was one of those presidents, who came to power just two months after Nasser’s passing. So were Arafat and Muammar Gaddafi, who pre-miered in Libya back in September 1969, often citing Nasser as his role model.

Gulf News

Away from the rough and tumble of politics is an issue that touches the lives of millions of young students but can’t seem to get a place on the radar of the country’s policymakers. It is the restart of educational activities in the presence of the looming even if greatly-reduced

threat of the return of Covid-19.Generally, Pakistan has not done bad-

ly during the pandemic. When most of the more resourceful countries are still bending and even breaking their backs trying to tame the virus, the country has gone for a full-throttle reopening of

activity in every sphere of national life. Schools, colleges and universities, too, are limping back to regular teaching hours. This week the final leap of faith — reopening junior classes — will be taken. Yet unlike business, commerce, trade and travel, the return to educa-tion has not been smooth or worry-free.

The COVID-forced digital learning, while much talked about as a value-ad-dition to tools of teaching and learning, has not been a national success. The pu-pils in the majority of resource-starved schools had no clue about the use edu-cational technology nor was there any infrastructure to provide them with a crash course in distance learning. As a result, a vast majority — general esti-mates are about 70 per cent of the total school-going children — remained off the education grid during the past six months of the Covid-19 shutdown.

This introduced a new disparity in an already uneven educational terrain, which, according to a Unicef report, has deep structural problems. With the world’s second-highest number of out-

of-school children (about 22.8m or 44 per cent of the total population in the age bracket of 5-16) and extreme edu-cational deprivation along gender and poverty lines, the setback to millions of students is big. Parents have pulled children out of school, and as always this has affected girls more than the boys.

With the schools reopening, these problems should have been addressed. But this isn’t the case. At present Paki-stan’s schools are using the so-called hybrid model, alternating regular school hours with distance learning and dividing students into groups that are required to attend classes strictly under Covid-19 standard operating guidelines on their designated days. Predictably, not every school can pull it off. Many are housed in shack-like structures. Others have severe shortage of teachers. Yet others have staff that is underpaid and has no motivation to measure up a challenge that requires spending extra time and heavy energy expenditure.

There are other problems too. Cur-riculum has had to be cutdown consid-erably to fit into limited teaching hours available. This has huge learning costs. Alternate school days disable students from finding the momentum and rou-tine of showing up for regular classes. Most miss out both categories of learn-ing.

Parents are still reluctant to let chil-dren spend time in schools and their ap-prehensions are reinforced by daily news of this or that campus being shut down for either violating SOPs or for discovery of infected individuals. Private school administrators complain of the govern-ment’s unscientific bias against school reopening. They rightly say that the tough conditions applied to the educa-tion sector are nonexistent elsewhere like shopping malls and cinema and marriage halls, for instance. All of this speaks of a fairly large educational disarray even as governments in the provinces and at the centre congratulate the nation on “the-return-to-the-school good news”.

Gulf News

‘Nasser’s legacy continues to cast a long shadow’

As Pakistan reopens schools thousands of students remain unimpressed, even angry

Indian HorizonWednesday, September 30, 2020

The views expressed in these columns are the writers’ own and do not necessarily reflect the views of Indian Horizon or its management.-Editor

INTERNATIONAL Indian HorizonWednesday, September 30, 20208

Geneva, Sep 29 (IANS) At least 120 million affordable, high-quality rapid Covid-19 tests will be rolled out for low and middle-income countries, the World Health Organization (WHO) said in an announcement.

According to a statement issued on Monday, the organisations involved in agreement include the Africa Centres for Disease Control and Prevention (Africa CDC), the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, the Clinton Health Access Initiative (CHAI), the Foundation for Innovative New Diagnostics (FIND), Global Fund, Unitaid, and the WHO.

The WHO and the leading partners will ahead with the project despite it not being fully funded yet.

“As part of this comprehensive, end-to-end effort, the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation has executed separate volume guarantee agreements with rapid diagnostic test (RDT) producers Abbott and SD Biosensor.

“These two arrangements will make available to LMICs 120 million antigen rapid diagnostic tests (Ag RDTs) over a period of six months,” the WHO statement said.

It further said that these tests provide results in 15-

30 minutes, rather than hours or days, and will enable expansion of testing, particularly in countries that do not have extensive laboratory facilities or trained health workers to implement

molecular (polymerase-chain reaction or PCR) tests.

An emergency-use listing was issued by the WHO last week for the antigen-based rapid Covid-19 diagnostic tests which cost $5 each.

“High-quality rapid tests show us where the virus is hiding, which is key to quickly tracing and isolating contacts and breaking the chains of transmission,” Monday’s statement quoted WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus as saying.“The tests are a critical tool for governments as they look to reopen economies and ultimately save both lives and livelihoods.”

As of Tuesday, the overall number of global coronavirus stood at 33,273,720 million, while the deaths have increased to 1,000,825, according to the Johns Hopkins University.

‘120mn rapid Covid-19 tests to be rolled out for poorer nations’

Washington, Sep 29 (IANS) Law enforcement agencies across the US reported 911 outages, which were restored within an hour, according to a media report.

At around 7 p.m. on Monday, agencies in the states Minnesota, Arizona, Pennsylvania, Delaware and

Nevada said their 911 systems were not operational, The Hill news website reported.

But most of them said that the system was restored in about an hour.

The cause of the outages was not immediately clear.

The Minnesota Department of Public Safety’s Emergency Communications Board tweeted it was in contact with CenturyLink, a telecommunications company, to determine the cause.

Also taking to Twitter, the Minneapolis Police Department said their 911 systems were “not operational nationwide” before posting an update almost two hours later.

911 outages reported across US

Washington, Sep 29 (IANS) A top Republican lawmaker has urged a probe into the sources of a media report which revealed that President Donald Trump did not pay his income tax for 10 of the 15 years before the 2016 election.

In a statement on Monday, Texas Republican Kevin Brady said a “felony crime was committed” by The New York Times report that revealed the President’s tax records and financial dealings, which also revealed that Trump paid only $750 in 2016 and in his first year in the White House, The Hill news website reported.

“While many critics question the article’s accuracy, equally troubling

is the prospect that a felony crime was committed by releasing the private tax return information of an individual - in this case the President’s.

“To ensure every American is protected against the illegal release of their tax returns for political reasons, I am calling for an investigation of

the source and to prosecute if the law was broken,” Brady added. The New York Times newspaper revealed the information on Sunday after obtaining Trump’s tax information for the last 20 years.

The Times said it reviewed tax returns relating to the President and the companies

owned by the Trump Organization going back to the 1990s, as well as his personal returns for 2016 and 2017, reports the BBC.

It said the President paid just $750 in income taxes in both 2016 and 2017, while he paid no income taxes at all in 10 of the past 15 years, “largely because he reported losing much more money than he made”.

Trump has denied the report and called it “totally fake news”. Trump has faced legal challenges for refusing to share documents concerning his fortune and business.

He is the first US President since the 1970s not to make his tax returns public, though this is not required by law.

Top Republican urges probe into Trump tax revelations ‘Arrivals to Aus from Covid-19 safe nations could quarantine at home’

Afghan-Taliban contact groups in Doha resume talks

Canberra, Sep 29 (IANS) Australian Prime Minister Scott Morrison said on Tuesday that people arriving in the country from “Covid-19 safe” nation could be allowed to quarantine at home, than at a hotel.

Since late March, international arrivals to Australia were to spend two weeks in hotel quarantine at their port of entry, the Australian Broadcasting Corporation (ABC) said in a news report.

Addressing the media, the Prime Minister said that the Australian Health Protection Principal Committee (AHPPC), the government

health advisory body, was currently mulling the move to allow people coming in from “safe” countries to quarantine at home.

“I think home quarantine can play a role in the future and it’s something that is being considered by the

AHPPC, particularly as we move beyond the phase we’re in now.

“(As) we do look to have our borders open up at some point to safe locations, whether it be New Zealand or parts of the Pacific, or places like South Korea or Japan, or countries that have had a much higher rate of success, then there are opportunities to look at those alternative methods,” the ABC news report quoted Morrison as saying.

The development comes as the number of confirmed coronavirus cases in Australia has increased to 27,044, while the death toll stood at 875.

Doha, Sep 29 (IANS) The contact groups comprising Taliban and Afghan government delegates have resumed their talks after three days of delays.

On Sunday evening, the groups, which were formed by the two sides on the opening day of the intra-Afghan talks here on September 12, held meetings for several hours but did not manage to agree on

two important points in the procedural rules, TOLO News quoted a member of the government team as saying on Monday.

“We are holding discussions to move the talks forward. What we need is to decide on the two basic points, which are a collection of the values that makes the framework of today’s Afghanistan and future Afghanistan, which are quite important in terms

of identity,” another member was quoted as saying.

Negotiators have however, said that no one can predict when these disagreements will come to an end.

Meanwhile, the Taliban has insited that without recognizing the February 29 deal it signed with the US as a main foundation of the peace process in Afghanistan, the continuation of the talks will have “no meaning”.

Islamabad, Sep 29 (IANS) Abdullah Abdullah, Chairman of Afghanistan’s High Council for National Reconciliation, has thanked Pakistan for its efforts to take the Afghan peace process to its logical conclusion, the media reported.

Abdullah, who arrived in Islamabad on Monday on a three-day visit, lauded Pakistan’s role in the peace process during a meeting

with Foreign Minister Shah Mahmood Qureshi here later in the day, reports Dawn news.

Qureshi said Pakistan backed a peaceful and durable political solution of Afghanistan’s conflict through an Afghan-led and Afghan-owned peace process.

The Minister said the February 29 US-Taliban agreement and the September 12 intra-Afghan dialogue held in Doha had raised the prospects of long-lasting peace in Afghanistan.

He said the Afghan leadership should seize this “historic opportunity” and undertake serious efforts to take the peace process to its conclusion.

Addressing a press conference after the meeting, Qureshi said Pakistan had always maintained that there was no military solution to the Afghan conflict, which could be ended only through a political settlement.

Brussels, Sep 29 (IANS) The European Union (EU) has reiterated of mulling legal options if the UK breaches the Brexit Withdrawal Agreement with the controversial Internal Market Bill, which will override some parts of the deal, it was reported.

The remarks were made by Maros Sefcovic, Vice-President of the European Commission

for Interinstitutional Relations, after a meeting with UK Cabinet Office Minister Michael Gove on Monday, Euro News said in a report.

“The Withdrawal Agreement is to be implemented, not to be renegotiated, let alone unilaterally changed, disregarded or disapplied,” Sefcovic was quoted as saying to reporters.

“It cannot be stressed enough that the (Ireland/Northern Ireland) Protocol is specifically designed to protect the Good Friday (Belfast) Agreement and the achievements of the peace process, including avoiding a hard border on the island of Ireland,” he added.

The Good Friday Agreement refers to a pair of deals signed

on April 1998 that ended most of the violence of the Troubles, a political conflict in Northern Ireland that had been ongoing since the 1960s.

It served as a major development in the Northern Ireland peace process of the 1990s.

Sefcovic further said that the EU has given the UK until the end of the month to

withdraw the Internal Market Bill and that it is “considering all legal options available” and will “not be shy” in using them if London fails to do so.

In a statement issued after the meeting, the UK’s Cabinet Office said: “The measures set out in the Internal Market Bill are designed to create a ‘safety net’ to ensure the communities of Northern

Ireland are protected.“The UK is clear that those

measures would not be withdrawn.”

The Internal Market Bill proposed by the Johnson-led government would override that part of that agreement when it came to goods and would allow the UK to modify or re-interpret “state aid” rules on subsidies for firms in

Northern Ireland, in the event of the two sides not agreeing a future trade deal.

Prime Minister Boris Johnson has said that the bill would provide belt-and-braces protection against extreme interpretations of the Brexit protocol, adding that the law-breaking powers will only be used in extreme circumstances.

Abdullah thanks Pak for facilitating peace process

EU mulling legal options if UK breaches Brexit treaty

Tel Aviv, Sep 29 (IANS) Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has said that hospitals should be ready to treat at least 1,500 seriously ill coronavirus-infected patients by October 1, as the infection rate in the country has continued to increase unabated.

As of Monday evening, the number of seriously ill Covid-19 patients in Israel stood at 763, while

the overall tally increased to 233,118 with 1,499, The Times of Israel quoted the Health Ministry’s latest update as saying.

In a statement issued by his office on Monday evening, Netanyahu believes that the ongoing complete lockdown could be extended if the rate of infection continued to increase. Following discussions on Sunday, the Prime Minister directed

authorities to submit plans aimed to curb the virus spread on Wednesday when the coronavirus cabinet convenes.

According to The Times of Israel report, the cabinet is also likely to discuss other key issues, including vaccines, use of rapid Covid-19 tests, enforcement of regulations, as well as increasing fines and sanctions for violators.

On September 26, Netanyahu admitted that his government made mistakes in emerging from Israel’s first national lockdown earlier this year.

“Did we make mistakes in the past? Of course,” The Times of Israel quoted the Prime Minister as saying in a Hebrew video released by his office.

Prepare for 1,500 seriously ill patients by Oct 1: Netanyahu

Portland, Sep 29 (IANS) Oregon Governor Kate Brown has issued a new ban on residential evictions from September 30 through December 31 amid the ongoing Covid-19 pandemic and the devastation caused by historic wildfires in the US state, it was reported.

The new order signed on Monday will extend the state’s ban on non-payment residential

evictions through the end of the year, the Portland-based KGW TV station said in a news report.

While announcing the order, Brown said: “Housing is a critical human need, and, as we enter cold and flu season during a pandemic and as many students learn remotely from home, it is absolutely critical that people not be turned out of their homes.

“While my action today will address the immediate issue of preventing residential evictions through the end of the year, it is my hope that, when the Legislature next meets, they will take up the larger issues we need to address regarding housing relief.”

She had signed a similar moratorium on evictions in March that ran for 90 days when the pandemic was in its early stages.

Dhaka, Sep 29 (IANS) The Bangladesh government’s Postal Department has released a commemorative stamp to mark Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina’s 73rd birthday. Posts and Telecommunications Minister Mustafa Jabbar unveiled the commemorative stamp worth Tk 10 during a programme on Monday, reports bdnews24.

The Department said that a commemorative envelope worth Tk 10 and a data card worth Tk 5 along with a special seal were also released to mark the occasion.

The stamps and envelopes went on sale from Monday at the Philatelic Bureau of Dhaka GPO.

These will later be sold at all the main post offices and GPOs across the country.

“Digital infrastructure is a

big tool of Sheikh Hasina’s struggle to establish a digital Bangladesh,” bdnews24 quoted Jabbar as saying.

Describing the ‘Digital Bangladesh’ initiative as a milestone in the country’s progress, he added: “As a worthy successor to Father of the Nation Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman, Sheikh Hasina has left an indelible mark of honesty, self-sacrifice, foresight and patriotism - this is her greatest achievement.”

Hasina, the longest serving Bangladeshi Prime Minister, turned 73 on Monday.

For the first time since she was elected premier for a second time in 2008, she celebrated her birthday at home this year as the day coincides with the UN General Assembly in New York annually, bdnews24 reported.

New ban on residential evictions issued in Oregon

B’desh govt releases stamp to commemorate PM’s b’day

BUSINESSIndian HorizonWednesday, September 30, 2020 9OIL’s 2019-20 profit 2,584 cr, revenue Rs 13,649 cr: CMDGuwahati, Sep 29 (IANS)

State-owned Oil India Ltd (OIL) has posted a profit after tax of Rs 2,584 crore with rev-enue of Rs 13,649 crore in fis-cal 2019-20, its Chairman and Managing Director (CMD) Sushil Chandra Mishra said on Tuesday.

Addressing the 61st Annual General Meeting (AGM) virtu-ally, he said that during 2019-20, OIL’s annual domestic production of crude oil stood at 3.133 million metric tonnes and domestic natural gas production was 2,801 million metric standard cubic metres.

“OIL reported revenue of Rs 13,649 crore and profit after tax of Rs 2,584 crore,” he said, describing 2019-20 as a chal-lenging year with weak global economic growth, resulting in weaker demand across sec-tors.

“Lower average crude oil prices, as compared to the previous year, and other fac-

tors beyond control affected the company’s activities in the main producing area, es-pecially in the last quarter of 2019-20. However, despite the difficulties, OIL complet-ed the year 2019-20 on a posi-tive note, leveraging the best of available advantages and building on available oppor-tunities,” Mishra said.

“The OIL drilled 11 explor-atory wells in the PML (Pe-troleum Mining Lease) areas in Assam and Rajasthan with

a success rate of over 70 per cent. The company has made one more HPHT (High Pres-sure High Temperature) gas discovery in the NELP (New Exploration Licensing Policy) Block in KG basin.” The CMD also told the AGM that the suc-cess of the Cyclic Steam Stim-ulation process, implemented in 2018-19, led to production increase of 168 per cent from OIL’s Rajasthan field.

Meanwhile, the company recorded its highest-ever divi-

dend from overseas business.“Production from over-

seas assets corresponding to OIL’s participating interest was 2.177 MMTOE. Cumula-tive dividends till March 31 corresponding to OIL’s share received from producing as-sets in Russia stood at $406 million, equivalent to about Rs 3,000 crore.

“OIL recovered close to 47 per cent and 29 per cent of its investments in Vankorneft and Taas Yuriakh, respective-ly,” he said.

Mishra also said that OIL has drawn up ambitious plans for the future, including fast tracking of exploration in Aruna chal Pradesh and developing the Baghewala heavy oil field in Rajasthan besides strengthening OIL’s presence in other sectors of the hydrocarbon industry.

“OIL committed to success of the ‘Aatmanirbhar Bharat Abhiyan’ recently launched

by the Prime Minister. With a view to expedite action in this direction, OIL has created a new department ‘INDEG’ for development of items indig-enously,” he said.

In the renewable energy sectors, the CMD told the AGM that total installed ca-pacity of OIL stood at 188.10 MW as on March 31, consist-ing of 174.10 MW of wind projects and 14 MW of solar projects, and a total revenue of Rs 138 crore was generated from these assets in 2019-20.

He also that during 2019-20, a new joint venture company (JVC), the Purba Bharati Gas Private Ltd, was incorporated with equity participation of OIL, GAIL-Gas and AGC to develop CGD networks in two areas of Assam.

Also, HPOIL Gas Private Ltd (HOGPL), a 50:50 JVC with HPCL, was set in respect of Kolhapur and Ambala-Kuruk-shetra areas, Mishra added.

Mumbai, Sep 29 (IANS) Amid a largely volatile trade session, the key Indian equity indices traded on a positive note on Tuesday morning, al-though they trimmed gains and retreated from the day’s highs.

Selling in banking, finance and telecom stocks weighed on the indices. Around 10.25 a.m., Sensex was trading at

38,111.84, higher by 130.21 points or 0.34 per cent from the previous close of 37,981.63.

It opened at 38,176.86 and has so far touched an intra-day high of 38,235.94 and a low of 37,995.83 points.

The Nifty50 on the National Stock Exchange was trading at 11,271.90, higher by 44.35 points or 0.4 per cent from its previous close.

Bengaluru, Sep 29 (IANS) Around 85 per cent small and medium businesses (SMB) selling products on Amazon expect an increase in their sales in the upcoming festive season, according to a survey.

The survey, commissioned by Amazon and conducted by Nielsen, showed that around 74 per cent sellers also expect a recovery in business.

Around 89 per cent respondents expect to reach out to new customers and 78 per cent mentioned an increase in the visibility of their products as their expectation from the festive season.

The survey also showed that around 29 per cent of the surveyed sellers are planning to make additional investments in seasonal hiring, training

personnel, boosting inventory, and marketing-related activities to ensure a successful festive season.

The survey showed that around 27 per cent of the sellers will launch new products this festive season.

Manish Tiwary, VP, Amazon India, said: “One of our key metrics for the festive season events is how our sellers gain. This festive season, helping our sellers recover and accelerate this business is more important than ever before. The findings from the study indicate that our efforts are in alignment with the needs and requirements of the sellers and small businesses.”

The study was conducted by Nielsen among over 2,000 Amazon sellers during September 12-22 in NCR-Delhi.

Mumbai, Sep 29 (IANS) Profit booking, along with volatile global cues, subdued the Indian equity markets on Tuesday, with both the BSE Sensex and NSE Nifty50 closing on a flat-to-negative note.

Segment-wise, heavy selling was witnessed in banking, FMCG, infra, pharma and energy stocks. However, metals, IT and auto stocks gained.

On the global front, Asian markets ended on a mixed note after a mildly higher opening on Tuesday ahead of the first US presidential debate later in the day, with investors also remaining cautious over the global

economy’s prospects as coronavirus deaths surpassed the 1-million mark worldwide.

Similarly, European shares slipped as investors awaited the first US presidential debate, and eyed progress of a fiscal stimulus package in Washington.

The BSE Sensex closed at 37,973.22, lower by 8.41 points, or 0.02 per cent, from the previous close of 37,981.63.

The Nifty50 on the National Stock Exchange closed at 11,222.40, lower by 5.15 points, or 0.05 per cent, from its previous close.

“Investors took some profits due to recent gains

in the markets, reflected in a negative advance decline ratio,” said Deepak Jasani, Head of Retail Research at HDFC Securities.

“Some sector and stock rotation seems to be happening. Nifty could face resistance from the 11,306-11,322 band in the near future.”

Vinod Nair, Head of Research at Geojit Financial Services, said: “After a gap-up opening, the benchmark indices grew volatile, before ending the day flat. Global markets were also undecided and slightly negative for the day as the outcome of the first US presidential debate was awaited.”

New Delhi, Sep 29 (IANS) Automobile major Maruti Suzuki India on Tuesday said that it has enrolled five new start-ups under its MAIL (Mobility and Automobile Innovation Lab) programme that supports start-ups by co-creating innovative business solutions.

start-ups ‘Clean Slate, Peer Robotics, Vicara, Hyper Reality, and URJA’ on board, Maruti Suzuki said, it has engaged with 14 start-ups under MAIL programme in the last 18 months.

“The auto industry is extremely dynamic and frequently faces new

challenges. The lookout for new technological aids to assist the industry to continue working efficiently is an ever-evolving task.

Our flagship MAIL programme is now in its 3rd cohort and in each round we come across several innovative ideas that solve real-life industrial challenges,” said Kenichi Ayukawa, Managing Director and CEO, Maruti Suzuki India.

“MAIL programme focusses on offering a platform to these early stage start-ups where they can translate their big ideas into business solutions. Besides, they also get a unique opportunity to get the idea validated and approved by Maruti Suzuki’s domain experts.

Equities trim gains amid volatility, Sensex up 130 points

Amazon sellers expect sales growth in upcoming festive

Profit booking, global cues subdue markets, banking stocks fall

Maruti Suzuki enrols 5 new start-ups in innovation lab programme

New Delhi, Sep 29 (IANS) The Indian Railways decision to not provide bed sheets and pillow covers etc to passengers travelling in air-conditioned coaches in view of the coronavirus pandemic has left weavers and artisans involved in making khadi products as well as KVIC officials sweating.

Reason: Khadi India had received orders worth Rs 39.25 crore from the Railways to supply bed sheets, pillow covers, towels and other items, over which uncertainty looms large now. These 57

orders were made through various Railway zones.

A Railway Ministry source said that Khadi India Chairman Vinai Kumar

Saxena had written to Railway Board Chairman and CEO VK Yadav that in case the Railways cancelled the orders or refused to take

delivery, “our Khadi artisans and institutions will suffer irreparable losses”.

The Khadi and Village Industries Commission (KVIC) said that it owed gratitude to the Ministry in supporting social causes and empowering khadi spinners and weavers belonging to the marginalised sector even during the pandemic.

The KVIC chief said that the 57 purchase orders were reported “pending” for acceptance by the respective Railway zones.

Saxena pointed out that

bed rolls and pillow covers manufactured under the aegis of KVIC for the Railways sport logos of the national transporter and thus cannot be sold in the open market.

IANS messages to the Railway Board Chairman for comments on the issue did not elicit a response.

The Railways had suspended its passenger, Mail and Express train services from March 25. It started Shramik Special to ferry stuck migrant workers, students, pilgrims and tourists from May 1.

New Delhi, Sep 29 (IANS) Diversified FMCG major Mother Dairy foresees business revival as the demand contraction triggered due to Covid-19 pandemic weans-off.

Talking to IANS, Mother Dairy Fruit & Vegetable’s Managing Director Sangram Chaudhary not only disclosed an upbeat sense of demand revival but al so cited the company’s plans to launch new health-based products.

“With the unlock phases, things are gradually coming back in place a nd we are positive to see a revival in the business as well as consumer sent iments across the areas where we operate in,” Chaudhary said.

“The overall volumes in the household segments are well in-line with the pre-Covid levels. We are certainly optimistic for the future given the positive strides being made towards revival.”

The dairy segment, he elaborated, saw a limited impact in the initial phases of the lockdown, however, it sailed through due to the fact of it being in the essential commodities category.

“Operations of many general retail and modern trade outlets were con fined during this time, however, our existing infrastructure of owned exclusive outlets catered to the consumers throughout the lockdown period,” he explained.

“In addition, we further expanded our sales infrastructure with around 100 exclusive touchpoints. These outlets played a crucial role in reaching out to maximum consumers, supplying milk and necessary food options even in the containment zones.”

However, the last 6-7 months witnessed a decline in demand from the institutions due to the restrictions and regulations put in place.

Nonetheless, with in-house consumption picking up, the company has focused synergies towards catering to the consumers at their homes

with consistent supplies.It initiated home delivery

of ice creams through orders being placed on its website.

“We also tied up with an e-commerce channel to supply fresh fruits a nd vegetables from our horticulture brand - Safal at consumers’ doorsteps,” he said. Resultantly, the company has witnessed over 100 per cent increase in sales via online platforms.

According to Chaudhary, consumer preference has shifted to essential food options, with focus towards nutritional offerings. “The lockdown period gave rise to the demand for convenient and immunity-related food products,” he said.

Khadi artisans feel heat due to uncertainty over Railways’ order

Bounce back: Mother Dairy sees revival, plans more health-based products

New Delhi, Sep 29 (IANS) Mukesh Ambani, Chairman of India’s most valued firm Reliance Industries, continues to top the IIFL Wealth Hurun India Rich List 2020 for the ninth consecutive year, with a total wealth of Rs 6.58 lakh crore. His total wealth has surged by 73 per cent in the last 12 months, propelling him to become the richest individual in Asia and fourth richest person in the world.

Indians with more than Rs 1,000 crore wealth cross the 828-mark in the 2020 edition of the rich list.

London-based Hinduja brothers (SP Hinduja, along with his three brothers) with a joint wealth of Rs 1.43 lakh crore bagged the second position. HCL Founder Shiv Nadar with a wealth of Rs

1.41 lakh crore ranked third, followed by Gautam Adani and family at fourth spot and Azim Premji at fifth spot. Radhakishan Damani, the founder of Avenue Supermarts, debuted in the top 10 wealthiest individuals ranking in the IIFL Wealth Hurun India Rich List 2020.

“A 28 per cent of the upswing in wealth on the list has been bestowed by Mukesh Ambani, bespeaking Ambani’s meteoric success post diversifying from oil to telecom and retail. A further 21 per cent of the additional wealth has been generated by pharma, mainly on the back of the rise in healthcare spends and a realigned priority towards personal healthcare stimulated by the Covid-19,” Anas Rahman Junaid, MD

and Chief Researcher, Hurun India said.

With rising new wealth creators such as innovative startups, family businesses with strong professional management, investors who believe in the India story, and a demographic advantage that is inferior to none, the India’s wealth creation story is still yet to reach the half-way mark, the report said.

“Assuming that for every one Hurun rich lister we have found, we have

probably missed two, it is likely that India today has 2,000 individuals with Rs 1,000 crore,” continued Anas Rahman Junaid, MD and Chief Researcher, Hurun India.

The cut-off for the top 10 rose by 6 per cent to Rs 76,000 crore this year, a 10 per cent increase compared to the previous year. The cumulative wealth of IIFL Wealth Hurun India Rich Listers have increased by 20 per cent compared to that of last year.

Mukesh Ambani tops IIFL Hurun Rich List for 9th straight year with Rs 6.58L Cr asset

BUSINESS Indian HorizonWednesday, September 30, 202010

New Delhi, Sep 29 (IANS) Calling the recent FIR by Chennai Financial Markets and Accountability (CFMA) against Franklin Templeton India, the fund house has said the Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI) was best placed to handle any issue related to mutual fund investments.

In a letter to the investors, Sanjay Sapre, President of Franklin Templeton Asset Management (India) Pvt. Ltd, however, said the company has not seen the contents of the FIR.

He noted that since the business has been carried out “in compliance with the applicable laws” and all decisions were taken in the best interest of the unit holders, the company was confident about the

outcome of any true and fair investigation conducted in this regard.

“We have the utmost respect for all statutory authorities, including EOW. However, we believe that Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI), the specialized regulator for the securities market, is best placed to handle any issues related to mutual fund investments,” the letter said.

Sapre said the press

release by CFMA citing the FIR is replete with various misleading and baseless allegations, besides being inappropriate, as the matter is currently sub-judice.

“We are not aware of the antecedents of CFMA and as admitted by them in their original complaint, none of their members were unit holders in the six impacted schemes,” he added.

He said mutual funds are well-regulated and assets of

these schemes were held with independent SEBI-registered custodians. Portfolios of these schemes retain value according to their respective NAVs which are published daily, based on the valuation of two reputed independent valuation agencies, he added.

“We have already communicated the reasons for winding up (specifically the impact of the Covid-19 pandemic) and request you not to be swayed by unverified or speculative reports in the media,” the letter said.

He also said CFMA had previously made similar misleading and baseless allegations against the company and the industry.

He noted that since April 24, 2020, the schemes under winding up have received

more than Rs 7,184 crore from maturities, pre-payments and coupons and four out of the six schemes were already cash positive.

Last week, the Economic Offences Wing (EOW) of the Chennai police registered a first information report (FIR) against Franklin Templeton Asset Management India Pvt. Ltd (FTAMIL) and Franklin Templeton Trustee Services Pvt. Ltd. (FTTSPL) for allegedly hatching a criminal conspiracy to defraud three lakh investors by causing wrongful loss to them and unlawful gain to themselves by committing various offences under the IPC.

The EOW registered the FIR after investigating a complaint filed by CFMA, the investors’ group and a few others with EOW.

SEBI best placed to probe MF-related issues: Franklin Templeton

Chennai, Sep 29 (IANS) Gearing up for the festive season, Amazon India on Tuesday said it has launched a specialised fulfilment centre in Tamil Nadu, along with the expansion of an existing centre.

The expansion will contribute to the economic growth in the state while creating thousands of work opportunities for locals, Amazon India said.

The new centre will offer close to seven lakh cubic feet of storage space, housing lakhs of products in the large appliance and furniture category.

With this infrastructure expansion, Amazon.in will

now offer storage capacity of close to three million cubic feet across five fulfilment centres to its more than 43,000 sellers in Tamil Nadu.

“Tamil Nadu is an important market for us and we are delighted to further invest and expand our infrastructure in the state.

This expansion will work as an enabler for SMBs in Tamil Nadu helping them with faster delivery of their products to a wider customer base,” Abhinav Singh, Director - Amazon Transportation Services, Amazon India, said in a statement.

The expansion in Tamil Nadu is a part of Amazon India’s recently announced plans to add 10 new fulfilment centres and expand seven existing sites across India

Amazon launches new fulfilment centre in Tamil Nadu

New Delhi, Sep 29 (IANS) The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) has extended the interim relaxations it made for the state governments earlier this year to ease the restrictions on their borrowing limits, given the outbreak of the Covid-19 pandemic.

Accordingly, the timeline for state and Union Territory (UT) governments to avail increased provisions via the ‘ways and means advances’ (WMA) limit has been extended from September 30, 2020 to March 31, 2021.

On April 17, the RBI had announced an increase in WMA limit of the states or UTs by 60 per cent over and above the level as on March 31, 2020.

In financial parlance, the

‘ways and means advances’ (WMA) is a mechanism used by the RBI, under its credit policy, to provide advances to states, banking with it, to tide over temporary mismatches in the cash flow of their receipts and payments.

This is repayable in each case, not later than three months from the date of making the advance.

Similarly, the relaxations in

overdraft (OD) regulations has also been extended till March 31, 2021.

The OD regulations relaxation was given in order to provide flexibility to state governments to tide over their cash flow mismatches, with effect from April 7.

Consequently, the relaxation increased the number of days for which a state or UT can be in overdraft

continuously to 21 working days from 14 working days, and the number of days for which a state or UT can be in overdraft in a quarter to 50 working days from 36 working days.

“Both these relaxations are currently available till September 30.

“On a review, it has been decided to extend the above-mentioned measures announced on April 17, 2020 and April 7, 2020 with regard to increase in WMA Limits of states/UTs and OD regulations, respectively, for a further period of 6 months till March 31, 2021. All other stipulations remain unchanged,” the Reserve Bank said in a statement.

RBI extends interim relaxations in WMA limits, OD regulations Diesel fall continues as petrol holds firm

Samsung partners Microsoft to scale enterprise 5G deployment

New Delhi, Sep 29 (IANS) Diesel is getting cheaper by the day in the country on the back of subdued product prices and almost steady crude oil prices globally.

On Tuesday, pump price of the auto fuel fell by 8 paisa per litre across all major metros.

In the national capital, diesel is now priced Rs 70.63 per litre, 8 paise down from Rs 70.72 a litre on Monday.

Similarly, prices of the fuel

also fell in the other metros.In Mumbai, Chennai and

Kolkata, the fuel was sold at Rs 77.04, Rs 76.10 and Rs 74.15, respectively on Tuesday, compared to the previous levels of Rs Rs 77.12, Rs 76.18 and Rs 74.23 per litre.

Diesel prices have now fallen for five consecutive days. In earlier months as well, diesel had maintained a consistent fall.

Oil marketing companies,

however, kept petrol prices unchanged for the six consecutive days. In Delhi, Mumbai, Chennai and Kolkata, petrol was priced at Rs 81.06, Rs 87.74, Rs 84.14 and Rs 82.59 per litre, respectively. The recent fuel price fall is on the back of expectation of slowing demand for oil globally as a second wave of coronavirus spike threatens further derail economic activity.

Brent crude price is also subdued around $42 a barrel.

For domestic auto fuel consumers, the price fall has been a bonanza amidst the current tough economic conditions.

With the price cut on Tuesday, diesel has now become cheaper by Rs 2.93 per litre in Delhi this month.

New Delhi, Sep 29 (IANS) Samsung on Tuesday announced a collaboration with Microsoft on an end-to-end, Cloud-based private 5G network solution to drive innovation that lowers the barrier to entry for deployment of private 5G networks in enterprises.

Through a Cloud-based approach to the market, the companies said they aim to achieve greater cost efficiencies in 5G deployments.

Samsung is a pioneer in the successful delivery of 5G end-to-end solutions ranging from chipset, radio and core

network. “We’re excited to be working with Microsoft to help enterprises transform the way they operate through next-generation communications,” said Wonil Roh, Senior Vice President and Global Head of Product Strategy, Networks Business at Samsung Electronics.

“Combining Samsung’s virtualised 5G solutions and Microsoft Azure cloud, we look forward to delivering a best-in-class 5G solution that advances opportunities in

the private network sector”.Enterprises like retail

stores, smart factories and entertainment venues, such as stadiums, will be benefitted.

Implementing fully-virtualized 5G solutions on a cloud platform also enables vast improvements in the scalability and flexibility of networks for mobile operators and enterprises.

“The combination of Microsoft Azure and Samsung’s virtualised 5G offerings will enable new solutions and lower the barriers to entry for private 5G networks.

New Delhi, Sep 29 (IANS) The Centre backed massive infra creation push has rekindled construction equipment major JCB India’s expectation of a sustained business revival despite the persistent battering by the Covid-19 pandemic.

In a conversation with IANS, JCB India’s newly appointed Deputy CEO and MD Deepak Shetty cited recommencement of infra projects as ‘green shoots’ for the sector.

The performance of the construction equipment segment within the capital goods industry is considered as a gauge to measure the overall health of the economy.

Key products such as backhoe loaders, excavators, wheeled loaders and

compactors are produced by this sector.

“With the phase-wise unlocking and recommencing of economic activities, we are seeing a revival of construction activity in the country.

“Infrastructure projects are restarting, which is leading to a positive sentiment in the construction equipment industry. A strong focus, along with a sustained spend on infrastructure development, would result in multiple long-term benefits,” Shetty said.

Nearly all infrastructure development projects had come to a standstill in April and May due to the nationwide lockdown imposed to curb the spread of the Covid-19 pandemic.

“We are seeing movement in the sector -- the months

of June, July and August have seen good revival,” he said.

He credited this revival to the Centre’s impetus on construction of roads and highways, which has played a pivotal role in the growth of the sector.

“With the improvement of consumer sentiment in urban areas and the increasing demand from the rural regions, we are hopeful of a brighter future.

“Additionally, the focus on creating 100 new airports, smart cities and metro projects will certainly open up newer opportunities,” he explained. However, he cautioned that the situation can change quickly, and everything depends on how the pandemic plays out.

“It is important to see how

the second half of the year goes. It is critical that the momentum remains.

“We will continue to have a cautious approach for the remaining part of the year and will scale our supply chains accordingly to adjust the demand-supply as per our customers’ sentiment,” Shetty said.

On the sales front, Shetty did not divulge any targets but indicated that some revival in the construction equipment demand has been witnessed in June, July and August.

“As per the initial reports of September, we are seeing some growth and are hopeful that this momentum will continue till the year-end. So presently we are cautiously optimistic about growth till the festive season,” he said.

Infra push to buoy demand, says JCB India Deputy CEO and MD

New Delhi, Sep 29 (IANS) Xiaomi subsidiary Mi India on Tuesday forayed into the smartwatch and smart speaker categories, along with launching other affordable smart home products for the India market ahead of the festive season. The Mi Watch Revolve wearable, that comes for a starting price of Rs 10,999, will be available for Rs 9,999 till Diwali while Mi Smart Speaker will cost Rs 3,999.

‘With ‘Smarter Living 2020’, we are getting into newer categories - smart watch, smart speaker and smart soap dispenser while also coming up with newer products in the smart fitness band, smart lights and shoes categories,” said Raghu Reddy, Chief

Business Officer, Mi India.Mi Watch Revolve comes

with a 46mm (1.8) dial and sports over 110 watch faces, along with five different options of straps. It comes in two colours - midnight black and chrome silver.

The watch features ‘Smart Always on Display’ that shows time without any click and automatically goes off when it detects the user is not wearing the watch. It also comes with the ‘Firstbeat Motion’ algorithm for advanced performance analytics for stress, recovery and exercise. The ‘VO2 Max’ feature captures how much oxygen your body is able to utilise during maximum activity.

The Mi Smart Speaker features a metal mesh with

10,531 sound holes and a 63.5mm sound driver. The product is powered by Google Assistant and can be easily set up with the Google Home app.

The company also launched an advanced smart fitness tracker Mi Smart Band 5 for Rs 2,499 with daily fitness regimes. It boasts a 28 mm AMOLED display with 20 per cent more screen than Mi Smart Band 4. The company also launched an automatic soap dispenser for Rs 999, Mi Athleisure shoes for Rs 1,499 and a smart LED Bulb for Rs 499.

The dispenser uses a low-noise motor and an infrared sensor to dispense soap foam in a contact-less manner in the social distancing times.

Xiaomi’s Mi India forays into smart home category in India

New Delhi, Sep 29 (IANS) Online travel major MakeMyTrip on Tuesday announced its partnership with electric ride-hailing platform BluSmart to launch electric vehicles (EV) for airport transfers.

With this new offering, the company aims to encourage customers to consciously opt for eco-healthy travel options while choosing and booking first and last-mile transportation.

“At MakeMyTrip, as we remain deeply rooted in promoting responsible tourism,

we have found a great partner in BluSmart which shares a common philosophy of making travel sustainable,” Parikshit Choudhury, Chief Business Officer - Ground Transport of MakeMyTrip, said in a statement.

“With this partnership, we hope to improve accessibility of cost-efficient, go-green transit options while promising safety at all times for travellers as well as driver partners.” The new offering is currently available for customers in Delhi and Delhi-National Capital Region.

“Now MakeMyTrip users will have an option to choose a clean mobility service, which in these Covid times is ensuring the highest standards of sanitisation, for their airport travel needs in Delhi NCR,” said Anmol Singh Jaggi, Founder & CEO, BluSmart Mobility.

Bengaluru, Sep 29 (IANS) Keeping the upcoming festive season and growing online frauds in mind, Flipkart on Tuesday announced a partnership with Bajaj Allianz General Insurance Company to offer ‘Digital Suraksha Group Insurance for customers in the country. The “Digital Suraksha Group Insurance” policy will cover financial losses caused by various kinds of online frauds and cyber attacks that might occur during digital transactions.

The customers can choose for a one-year cover at premiums as low as Rs 183 for a cover of Rs 50,000, Rs 312 for Rs 1 lakh,

and Rs 561 for Rs 2 lakh for a 12-months tenure, with covers also extending up to Rs 10 lakh.

“As the festive season nears, we want to ensure that the customers’ online shopping experience, across any digital medium, is devoid of stress and apprehensions,” said Ranjith Boyanapalli, Head, Fintech and Payments Group, Flipkart.

The policy can be availed while buying certain models of mobiles, laptops, tablets, and audio devices on Flipkart.

The insurance compensates for direct financial loss (up to the sum insured) due to unauthorised digital financial transactions as a result of identity theft arising out of cyber attacks, phishing/spoofing and SIM-jacking.

The policy covers online transactions for debit cards, credit card, digital wallets.

MakeMyTrip partners BluSmart to launch EVs for airport transfers

Flipkart partners Bajaj Allianz to offer cyber fraud insurance

SPORTS11 Indian HorizonWednesday, September 30, 2020

Tokyo Olympic torch relay to begin from March 25, 2021 in Fukushima Looking to learn new skill sets from pro boxing: Vikas KrishanLausanne, Sep 29 (IANS) The

Tokyo Olympic torch relay will start its journey on March 25, 2021 from the J-Village National Training Centre in Fukushima Prefecture and then traverse all 47 prefectures across Japan over a period of 121 days, the International Olympic Com-mittee (IOC) has announced.

Originally scheduled to be held from July 24 to August 9 this year, the Tokyo Olym-pics was in March postponed to 2021 due to the outbreak of coronavirus. It is now set to be held from July 23 to August 8 next year.

The torch will reach Tokyo on July 9 in time for the flame to light the cauldron in the Olym-pic Stadium at the opening cer-

emony of the Games on July 23. In principle, the route and the schedule of the relay will re-main as originally planned, the IOC further said.

Those previously confirmed as Olympic torchbearers will be given preference to run in next year’s Relay, the Tokyo 2020

organisers have said. Around 10,000 torchbearers are set to take part in the event.

IOC also said that as 2021 will mark the 10th anniversary of the 2011 Great East Japan Earthquake, the rescheduled Tokyo 2020 Olympic torch re-lay will aim to showcase the

recovery of the areas worst af-fected by the disaster, in line with the relay concept of ‘Hope Lights Our Way’. IOC also said that as 2021 will mark the 10th anniversary of the 2011 Great East Japan Earthquake, the re-scheduled Tokyo 2020 Olympic torch relay will aim to showcase the recovery of the areas worst affected by the disaster, in line with the relay concept of ‘Hope Lights Our Way’.

In wake of the COVID-19 pan-demic, it will additionally sym-bolise the light at the end of the current dark tunnel; a beacon of hope for the world in the run-up to the Tokyo 2020 Games, themselves a symbol of the re-silience, unity and solidarity of humankind, it added.

New Delhi, Sep 29 (IANS) Asian Games gold medallist Vikas Kris-han said that he is looking to incul-cate some new skills from profes-sional boxing before he returns to the amateur arena in time for the Tokyo Olympics. The 28-year-old Haryana boxer said that his expe-rience in pro boxing will help him win an Olympic medal, something that is missing from his otherwise illustrious career.

“I am focusing on learning a new skill-set from professional boxing that will help me at the Olympics. Only four-five months ahead of the Olympics, I will return to amateur boxing and shape myself and play two-three tournaments to get in the groove,” the Indian pugilist,

who competes in the 69 kg cat-egory, said in an interaction with Indian paddler Mudit Dani on the latter’s online chat show ‘In The Sportlight’.

Currently training in Virginia, Krishan is one of eight Indian box-ers who have qualified for the To-kyo Olympics. The risk factor is high in professional boxing com-pared to amateur boxing and Kri-sha spoke about how his family is still reluctant about him making the switch. “My family didn’t want me to turn professional because you have to deal with many kinds of injuries. It’s a tough sport. Also, you have to stay away from home for a longer period during your matches,” he said.

DC win toss and bowl against SRH, Ishant

Sharma returns

In a first, Bumrah fails to win Super Over for

Mumbai Indians

Ellyse Perry out of New Zealand series due

to injury

Abu Dhabi, Sep 29 (IANS) Delhi Capitals won the toss and chose to bowl first against Sunrisers Hy-derabad at the Sheikh Za-yed Stadium in Abu Dhabi on Tuesday. DC captain Shreyas Iyer said that senior fast bowler Ishant Sharma is fit to play, having missed the first two matches due to injury.

SRH captain David War-ner said that star batsman Kane Williamson finally gets a place in the squad, replacing Mohammad Nabi while 18-year-old Abdul Sa-mad replaces Wriddhiman Saha. SRH captain David Warner said that star bats-man Kane Williamson final-ly gets a place in the squad,

replacing Mohammad Nabi while 18-year-old Abdul Sa-mad replaces Wriddhiman Saha.

Sunrisers Hyderabad (Playing XI): David Warner (c), Jonny Bairstow (wick-etkeeper), Manish Pandey, Kane Williamson, Priyam Garg, Abdul Samad, Ab-hishek Sharma, Rashid Khan, Bhuvneshwar Ku-mar, K Khaleel Ahmed, T Natarajan

Delhi Capitals (Playing XI): Prithvi Shaw, Shikhar Dhawan, Rishabh Pant (wicketkeeper), Shreyas Iyer(captain), Shimron Het-myer, Marcus Stoinis, Axar Patel, Amit Mishra, Kagiso Rabada, Ishant Sharma, An-rich Nortje

Dubai, Sep 29 (IANS) The Indian Premier League (IPL) 2020 wit-nessed another thrilling contest between Royal Challengers Bangalore and Mumbai Indians which the Virat Kohli-led side were able to win in the Super Over.

On Monday, Bangalore posted 201/3 while bat-ting first, riding on bril-liant half centuries from Aaron Finch (52), Devdutt Padikkal (54) and AB de Villiers (55). In response, the Rohit Sharma-led side managed to match the score, courtesy bril-liant knocks of 99 and 60 not out from Ishan Kishan and Kieron Pollard re-spectively in their allotted 20 overs.

The result of the match was decided through a Su-per Over in which Mumbai Indians could muster seven runs and then RCB chased down the 8-run target on the last ball of the over

bowled by Jasprit Bumrah at the Dubai International Cricket Stadium.

This was the first in-stance for Mumbai In-dians where they lost a match in the Super Over bowled by Bumrah.

Earlier on April 29, 2017, Bumrah had won the match for Mumbai Indi-ans against Gujarat Lions when he managed to de-fend 11 runs. Bowling to the likes of Aaron Finch and Brendon McCullum, the Indian pacer gave just six runs from his six de-liveries at the Saurashtra Cricket Association Sta-dium in Rajkot.

Then on May 2, 2019, Bumrah again won the match for his franchise against SunRisers Hyder-abad when he conceded just eight runs in the Su-per Over which Mumbai Indians chased down within the first three de-liveries at the Wankhede Stadium in Mumbai.

Brisbane, Sep 29 (IANS) Aus-tralia all-rounder Ellyse Perry will be missing the remainder of the limited-overs series against New Zealand, skipper Meg Lan-ning confirmed on Tuesday.

Perry, who tore her right hamstring during the Women’s T20 World Cup in Australia in March, had hoped to resume against the Kiwis but aggravated the injury during training.

Australia have already secured the ongoing three-match T20I series after winning the first two matches and will be eyeing for a clean sweep when they take on the White Ferns in the final game on Wednesday at the Allan Border Field. After the T20Is, the two teams will contest in three ODIs scheduled to be played from October 3-7.

“Unfortunately she had some hamstring awareness and has got a low-grade strain, so she

won’t be available for the rest of this series. She’ll remain with the team to continue her rehab and training in the hope of be-ing available at some point dur-ing the WBBL,” ESPNcricinfo quoted Lanning as saying.

“So she won’t be playing any part in this series. It’s the same hamstring but a different muscle within the hamstring. It’s on the minor end, so hopefully doesn’t delay it too much,” she added. “So she won’t be playing any part in this series. It’s the same hamstring but a different muscle within the hamstring. It’s on the minor end, so hopefully doesn’t delay it too much,” she added.

The star all-rounder will now hope to make a comeback in competitive cricket for the Syd-ney Sixers in the upcoming edi-tion of the Women’s Big Bash League slated to be played in Sydney from October 25.

Dubai, Sep 29 (IANS) Kings XI Punjab skipper KL Rahul and his teammate Mohammad Shami con-tinue to hold Orange and Purple Caps, respectively, following the conclusion of Monday’s Indian Premier League (IPL) 2020 match between Royal Challengers Ban-galore and Mumbai Indians which the Virat Kohli-led side won in the Super Over.

Rahul has so far scored 222 runs in three matches, including one hundred and a half century for Kings XI and sits at the top of the charts in the list of leading run scorers. He is followed by team-mate Mayank Agarwal (221 runs in three games) and Chennai Super

Kings’ Faf du Plessis (173 runs in three games).

In the bowlers’ list, Shami leads the bowling chart with seven wick-ets in three matches. Delhi Capitals’ Kagiso Rabada (five wickets in two games) and CSK pacer Sam Curran (five wickets in three games) are the next two top wicket-takers.

These running caps are present-ed to the leading run scorer and wicket-taker, and keep changing hands throughout the duration of the tournament.

Meanwhile, the Shreyas Iyer-led side currently stand at the top of the points table with four points, having won both their opening games so far in the league. They

are followed by Rajasthan Royals (four points from two games) and Royal Challengers Bangalore (four points from three games).

On Tuesday, Delhi Capitals are slated to take on SunRisers Hyder-abad (SRH) at the Sheikh Zayed Stadium in Abu Dhabi.

Auckland, Sep 29 (IANS) The New Zealand men’s cricket team will begin their home season against the West Indies with a three-match T20I series slated to start from November 27 at Eden Park. After the T20Is set to be played till Novem-ber 30, the teams will play two-Test series from De-cember 3 to 15.

Apart from the West In-dies, Pakistan, Australia and Bangladesh are also set to visit New Zealand in the upcoming months.

Pakistan will be playing three T20Is and two Tests against the Black Caps from December 18 to January 7. The first Test against Paki-stan at the Bay Oval will be

the eighth Boxing Day Test in New Zealand and the first since the Black Caps beat Sri Lanka at Hagley Oval in 2018. Wellington (five Tests) and Christchurch have hosted the others.

Then the Kiwis will take

on Australia (five T20Is) and Bangladesh (two ODIs and three T20I) in February and March.

“Hosting these tours is in-credibly important to us for two reasons: international cricket brings in revenue

that funds the entire game of cricket in New Zealand and, also, it’s crucial that we look after the fans of the game and sport in gen-eral, especially during these difficult times,” said New Zealand Cricket’s CEO Da-vid White in a statement. “Hosting these tours is in-credibly important to us for two reasons: international cricket brings in revenue that funds the entire game of cricket in New Zealand and, also, it’s crucial that we look after the fans of the game and sport in general, especially during these dif-ficult times,” said New Zea-land Cricket’s CEO David White in a statement.

White said NZC was aware

of the challenging circum-stances in which many New Zealanders had found themselves in the wake of the Covid-19 crisis and would be cutting the price of a adult ticket by almost half, to acknowledge this.

“It might sound counter-intuitive to be lowering ticket prices at a time of great additional cost and expense to the game, but we think it’s the right thing to do,” he said.

While no international side would be in New Zea-land through the bulk of January and early-February, White said Kiwis could still look forward to top cricket.

“One of the silver linings is that our Super Smash competition, which will be played in that window, will now be boosted by the presence of Black Caps and White Ferns.

Lahore, Sep 29 (IANS) The Paki-stan Cricket Board (PCB) on Tuesday signed a Memorandum of Under-standing (MoU) with the Punjab Infor-mation Technology Board (PITB) for the implementation of e-Filling and Office Automation System (e-FOAS) at the cricket headquarters.

Wasim Khan and Azfar Manzoor signed the MoU on behalf of the PCB and PITB respectively after the latter fulfilled the PCB’s requirements of providing a software that could im-prove day-to-day operations and also enhance the organisation’s archiving capabilities, stated PCB in a media release. PCB General Manager - IT,

Junaid Babar Khan: “The PCB was search-ing for a solution for electronic approvals with tracking to avoid delays in approvals as well as the manage-ment of office files for a quick reference/re-trieval of information pertaining to any offi-

cial matter or approvals or history.“The e-FOAS has been developed by

PITB with rich tools to help the PCB in its day to day office operations. This will not only help saving time and cost but also bring efficiency, enhancement and control that how official approvals are processed and data is maintained plus help archiving the old data,” he added.

PITB Chairman Azfar Maznoor said, “e-FOAS is a product of PITB and has been developed with the vision to fully automate the official disposal of work electronically which will re-sult into better efficiency and will be a step towards paperless environment at PCB.”

IPL: KL holds on to Orange, Purple Cap stays with Shami

New Zealand to start home summer against West Indies from Nov 27

PCB signs MoU with PITB for e-FOAS

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Email: indianhorizon2010@gmail.com feedbackhorizon@gmail.com

Claiming that the probe into the death of Bollywood actor Sushant Singh Ra-jput has gone silent, a Maharashtra minister on Monday sought answers from the Central Bureau of Investiga-

tion which is now handling the case. State Home Minister Anil Deshmukh sought to know the status of the CBI probe, more than six weeks after it took up the investigation. "You all

know that the investigation into the Sushant death case was being done very professionally by the Maharash-tra Police and Mumbai Police. But it was abruptly handed over to the CBI," Deshmukh told mediapersons. "We eagerly want to know... Even the peo-ple are now asking whether Sushant died by suicide or if he was murdered.

We want the details of the CBI probe to come out," Deshmukh told media-persons. Shortly after the minister's statement, the CBI issued a statement on the issue from New Delhi."The CBI is conducting a professional investiga-tion related to the death of Sushant Singh Rajput in which all aspects are being looked at and no aspect has

been ruled out as of date. The inves-tigations are continuing," CBI spokes-person R.K. Gaur said. While the CBI is conducting the overall probe focusing on the actor's death, two other central agencies, the Enforcement Director-ate (ED) and the Narcotics Control Bureau (NCB) are probing the finan-cial and drugs angle.

EntErtainmEntIndian HorizonWednesday, September 30, 2020 12

The Delhi High Court on Tuesday directed the Ministry of Information and Broad-casting among others to file a status report by October 15 on steps taken to restrain media following actor Rakul Preet Singh's plea indicating harass-ment based on conjecture as she submitted being a "non-smoker and teetotaller" after being named in drug case. The Ministry and others were asked to indicate the steps taken in view of the court's earlier order on a plea filed by actress Rakul Preet seeking ur-gent interim directions for re-straining media from running shows or publishing articles against her in connection with

the drug probe that emerged out of the death of Bollywood actor Sushant Singh Rajput.

Justice Navin Chawla of the single judge bench directed the Ministry, Press Council of India and News Broadcast-ers Association to file the sta-tus report by the next date of hearing (October 15).

While the matter was being heard through video confer-encing, advocate Aman Hin-gorani, appearing for Rakul Preet argued that none of the statutory bodies have shown any urgency to their concerns. "The High Court has ample powers to stop the publication even when the proceedings are at investigation stage," he

said. "I have been summoned as a witness in the case. Fake news is being spread that I am taking drugs and stocking it. I am a non smoker, teetotaller," submitted Hingorani on be-half of the actress.

Meanwhile, the NBA through its counsel submitted that many of the channels are not even a part of it and the issue which is currently be-ing dealt with is factual and would require the channels to respond. Additional Solicitor General (ASG) Chetan Sharma appearing for the I&B Min-istry informed the court that the Ministry is in the process of addressing the actor's com-plaint. "We are looking into

the matter...I can understand that my friend's client would be under mental agony," said the ASG.

On September 17, the Delhi High Court while asking the Centre, National Broadcast-ers Association and others to respond to the petition filed by Rakul Preet's plea against media reports on her relating to drug case involving Rhea Chakraborty. "There has to be so me restraint. Media gets to know info even before the officers themselves. Reputa-tions are getting tarnished," Rakul's plea had said.

On September 26, Rakul had again knocked the Delhi High Court seeking urgent

interim directions from the court restraining media from running shows or publishing articles against her in connec-tion with the Sushant case.

The petition filed through advocates Himanshu Yadav, Aman Hingorani and Shweta Hingorani claims that Rakul Preet has been in Hyder-abad for a film shoot and was shocked to see media reports in the evening of 23.9.2020 to the effect that the Narcotics Control Bureau, Mumbai has summoned her to appear be-fore it in Mumbai in the morn-ing of 24.9.2020 in connection with the ongoing investiga-tion in the Rhea Chakraborty's narcotic drugs case.

I'm non-smoker, teetotaller: rakul Preet to DelhI hC

Actress Kajol hopes compas-sion will outlast and out-grow Covid. She shared her

thought in a new post on social media.In a new Instagram selfie, Kajol looks at the camera, with her specs placed on her head.

"C for celfie, C for Compas-sion, C for COVID, aiming for the first two to outlast and out-grow the last one. Keep on swim-ming! #CFor #GrowAndGlow," she wrote. Kajol's sister and ac-tress Tanishaa Mukerji took to the comment section and wrote: "Miss you".

On the work front, Kajol is set to make her digital debut with "Trib-hanga", directed by Renuka Sha-hane. It is a drama set in Mumbai, weaving a complex tale that goes back and forth through three gen-erations of the same family, from the late 1980s to present day.

IanS

kajol hoPes 'CelfIe' anD

'ComPassIon' wIll outlast

CovIDActress Anushka Shar-

ma is keen to see Bollywood bounce

back after the Covid pan-demic and feels the indus-try is good at taking pre-cautions.

"Our industry is very good at taking precautions to ensure the safety of the cast and crew. Going for-ward, the atmosphere on set will definitely be dif-ferent, but we all need to embrace the changes as we know there is a good rea-son for these.

We owe it to each other to stay cautious during this pandemic," said the actress.The pandemic has made Anushka introspec-tive. "Living in the mo-ment is the only thing that makes sense to me now, it makes me feel calm. The

minute I start planning or thinking of the future, I have to bring myself to the present and deal with what I have to deal with right now," she said.

Anushka is happy that she has achieved a work-life balance after over three years of trying to perfect it since her wedding.

She says she is happy that she has become less judgemental."I've been introspective over the last three years. I don't want to think that my only value is what I've achieved in life.

Peace of mind is my pri-ority and I'm happy that I have become more com-passionate and less judg-mental," she says.

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anushka sharma : we owe It to eaCh other to stay CautIous DurIng PanDemIC

Actress Taapsee Pannu has started working on her diet

to get an athletic frame for the upcoming sports film, Rashmi Rocket.

The actress shared a pic-ture of her morning meal on Instagram.

"This is how prepping for #RashmiRocket looks like! Starting off my day with this carb-rich break-fast planned by my fuss free @munmun.ganeri-wal. As she says, working to get an athletic bod isn't about eating only pro-teins. Keeping the right balance is important. On

my plate are sweet po-tato tikkis which @munmun.ganeriwal recommends for its high fibre content and I recommend for its great taste! Bon appetit," she wrote along with the picture, which shows her enjoying her breakfast.

The actress will start shooting for her the film in November."Getting back on track, one lap at a time! #Rash-miRocket to start

shooting this November," she wrote on Instagram. Along with it, she posted a picture of her look in the film.

The Akarsh Khurana di-rectorial is about a runner from the Rann of Kutch, who fights for her identity and becomes an athlete.

Actor Priyanshu Painyuli will be seen

playing the role of Ta-

a p s e e ' s husband in the project.

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taaPsee eats rIght to aCquIre athlete's look for 'rashmI roCket'

saIf alI khan's autobIograPhy to be out next yearActor Saif Ali Khan is all

set to write an autobi-ography. The book will

be out in 2021.The 50-year-old actor will

share his experiences in life, talk of his family, acting ca-reer, highs and lows, and in-spirations, among many oth-er things. He hopes to open up with all his heart and a dash of humour.

"So many things have changed and will be lost with time if we don't record them. It would be nice to look back; to remember and to record. It

has been funny and moving, and I must say, this is quite a selfish endeavour.

I do hope others enjoy the book, too, of course," Saif said about his yet-untitled autobiog-raphy, to be published by Harp-erCollins Publishers India.

Saif and his wife, actress Kareena Kapoor, recently an-nounced they are expecting their second child after son Taimur, who was born in 2016.

Saif also has daughter Sara and son Ibrahim from his ear-lier marriage to Amrita Singh.The son of late legendary crick-

eter Mansoor Ali Khan Pataudi and actress Sharmila Tagore, Saif made his Bollywood de-but in 1993 with Yash Chopra's "Parampara".

His upcoming release is the YRF-produced "Bunty Aur Babli 2", co-starring Rani Mukerji and Siddhant Chaturvedi.

He also has Pavan Kripalani's "Bhoot Police" lined up, co-star-ring Fatima Sana Shaikh and Ali Fazal.Saif Ali Khan being trolled and questioned for writing his autobiography is a new low for social media users

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jaCquelIne fernanDez shares a snippet on her

social media

what's next on the table?

Jacqueline Fernandez is popularly known as Bol-lywood Miss Sunshine and

over the years she has given phenomenal characters.

The lockdown caused due to the pandemic has defi-nitely restricted the move-ment but Bollywood's Miss Sunshine recently took to her social media and shared a photograph of her reading a script and captioned it as, `Bulletproof XYZA 🌸"

The picture has a beauti-ful background with a cup of coffee, XYZA, and a script. What is the actress reading? Is it a new script? or is it related to Kick 2 we can't wait for the final reveal.

After the recent announce-ment of Kick 2, is there some-thing new that's cooking? Well, time will surely tell.

The actress has had a great 2020 with back-to-back song releases and her recent debut on OTT with a dark character

in Mrs Serial Killer was loved by all. The actress has also joined hands with Amanda Cerny for a podcast and is partnering with l Action Against Hunger Foundation.

CourteSy : Santabanta

Actor-singer-filmmaker Farhan Akhtar on Monday spoke out against what he

feels is vitriolic news reporting."Combined with Lata-ji's

birthday and Shaheed Bha-gat Singh's birth anniversary, here's some more good news today. Sincerely hope that the top brands in question follow through on their valid concern about vitriolic news reporting," tweeted Farhan from his verfied account. His tweet comes in reaction to a news piece that reads: "India's top brands want news channels to stop being toxic, warn they could pull the plug on advertising." Recently, veteran screenwriter and lyricist Javed Akhtar took a jibe at news channels for covering the news about Karan Johar's last year's house party, which is making headlines for allegedly being a drugs party. "If Karan johar had invited some farmers too for his party life would have been easier for our TV channels.

'Aladdin' star Siddharth Nigam to flaunt horse-

riding skill on show

What's the status of Sushant probe? Maha minister asks CBI