5 ˇ 6 c! , ˇ ˜ˆ ) ˜ 7 78, ,7 ˝ 7 + ˛ 987 :3˜ , ˆ % (35-!3’e 6-%3’0 ......2020/11/05...

12
T he race for the White House appears to be head- ed towards an uncharted terri- tory with the Trump and Biden campaigns gearing up for a protracted legal battle in the US Supreme Court as the election r es u l ts in s o m e of the key bat- tleground States like Pennsylvania, Wisconsin and Michigan still being counted. All eyes are now on States like Pennsylvania, Michigan, Wisconsin, Nevada, North Carolina and Georgia. Counting of mail-in-ballots, which was voted in record numbers this time, might take time. Officials in Pennsylvania said on Wednesday that they expect all votes to be counted by Friday. The Biden cam- paign believes that they have a definitive edge on this, while the Trump campaign fears that there could be electoral mal- practice during the counting of votes. “We want the law to be used in a proper manner so we’ll be going to the US Supreme Court. We want all voting to stop. We don’t want them to find any ballots at 4:00 in the morning,” President Donald Trump said to his sup- porters at the White House in the wee hours of Wednesday. Earlier, Trump claimed vic- tory in the election and called it “a fraud on the American public” and said, “Frankly, we did win this election.” He also said he planned to take the battle to the Supreme Court to stop the counting of votes. “All of a sudden every- thing just stopped. This is a fraud on the American public. This is an embarrassment to our country. We were getting ready to win this election. Frankly, we did win this elec- tion,” Trump said, without cit- ing any evidence of a fraud in the electoral process. According to latest projec- tions, Trump is set to win 213 electoral college votes while his Democratic rival Joe Biden is projected to have taken a lead with 238 electoral college votes. Either of them needs at least 270 electoral college votes to be declared as the winner. Counting of votes have resumed in the battleground States. In his brief remarks in Delaware, Biden said, “We knew because of the unprece- dented early vote and the mail in vote that it’s gonna take a while. We’re gonna have to be patient until we —the hard work of tallying votes is fin- ished. And it ain’t over till every vote is counted. Every ballot is counted.” Biden said. Both the sides firmly believe that they are the winner. “I’m here to tell you tonight, we believe we’re on track to win this election,” Biden said. Mainstream American media reported that it might take days before the winner is known. “A sense of uncertain- ty-and fear-crept into the minds of voters on either side of the political divide,” The Wall Street Journal reported. “The morning after a chaotic, suspenseful Election Day, Americans awoke on Wednesday to the spectre of hours or even days of uncer- tainty ahead, as several states counted millions of ballots in razor-thin contests that could tip the balance to President Trump or former Vice President Joseph R. Biden Jr,” The New York Times reported. “The nation awoke to uncertainty Wednesday, with no winner in the bitter presi- dential contest. Democratic nominee Joe Biden urged patience even as President Trump prematurely declared victory before millions of votes were counted in key states,” The Washington Post reported. Democrats, the newspa- per said, failed to reap the deci- sive national repudiation of Trump that Biden had sought, arguing that the president has mismanaged the deadly coro- navirus pandemic and cleaved the country with racially divi- sive rhetoric. “Democrats also sustained unexpected losses to their majority in the House and faced diminished prospects to take control of the Senate, despite expectations,” it said. The Washington Post alleged that Trump broke democratic norms by asserting that he had already won, despite the paths to victory that remain for Biden. “He claimed he will ask the Supreme Court to intervene in the election process, saying that voting must stop and false- ly claiming that by continuing to count votes already cast, the Democrats would be stealing the election. Polls have closed, and no more votes are being cast, only tallied,” the daily said. Disappointed Democrats drove toward extending their control of the House of Representatives for two more years but with a potentially shrunken majority as they lost at least seven incumbents and failed to oust any Republican lawmakers in initial returns. By midmorning on Wednesday, Democrats’ only gains were two North Carolina seats vacated by GOP incum- bents after a court-ordered remapping made the districts more Democratic. Though they seemed likely to retain control of the House of Representatives, their perfor- mance was an unexpected dis- appointment for the party, which hoped for modest gains of perhaps 15 seats. Related reports on P8 D elhi has seen a jump in the number of new Covid-19 cases in the last few days and it can be called a “third wave”, Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal said on Wednesday, assuring the people that they need not panic as his Government is closely monitoring the situation regularly. Delhi’s highest single-day spike of 6,842 fresh Covid-19 cases takes tally to over 4.09 lakh with death toll 6,703 and 51 new fatalities reported from the city. Kejriwal said while there are adequate beds for Covid-19 patients in the city, there is a shortage of ICU beds with ventilators in a few private hospitals which will be addressed in the next one or two days. The national Capital has been witnessing a fresh surge in coronavirus cases. On Tuesday, Delhi recorded over 6,000 fresh cases for the first time. The city recorded over 5,000 daily cases for five days on the trot, ending Sunday when the count stood at 5,664. “Delhi has witnessed a jump in the number of Covid- 19 cases. I think we can call it a third wave...We have been monitoring the situation con- tinuously and there is no need to panic. We will take whatev- er steps are needed,” the Chief Minister told reporters. He said during September end and beginning of October, the number of coronavirus cases was less than 3,000 in the city. On October 6, Kejriwal had said Delhi is past the peak of the second wave of coron- avirus and the situation has been controlled to a large extent. “Delhi hit the peak of the second wave of Covid-19 on September 17 when 4,500 cases were reported across the city,” he had said. The national Capital had recorded more than 4,000 cases for several days around mid-September. The AAP Government’s priority is to give the best treatment and healthcare facil- ities to Covid-19 patients in Delhi and to keep the death rate as low as possible, Kejriwal said on Wednesday. He said a high-level meeting has been called on Thursday to review the Covid-19 situation. Continued on Page 2 I n a major reform, the Armed forces have proposed to increase the age of officers and review the pension formula of those opting for premature retirement (PMR). The two- pronged approach will help in retaining skilled manpower and reducing the burgeoning pension bill. The proposal moved by the Department of Military Affairs (DMA), headed by Chief of Defence Staff (CDS) General Bipin Rawat, comes at a time when the Armed forces are also considering increase in age of jawans. At present, they retire after 15 years of service and still in prime of their youth. The DMA proposes to increase the retiring age of Colonels from the existing 54 to 57, for Brigadiers from 56 to 58 and for Major Generals from 58 to 59. The same is applicable to equivalent ranks in other Services. “It is proposed that a draft Government sanction Letter (GSL) may be kindly processed for perusal by Secretary DMA by November 10,” a letter issued by Office of Secretary DMA dated October 29 said. The age of retirement of Junior Commissioned Officers (JCO) and Other Ranks in Logistics, Technical and Medical branch- es is also proposed to be increased to 57 years. Explaining the rationale for these proposals, the DMA noted that many personnel retired due to lesser vacancies and some service restrictions. At the same time, there were several specialists and super specialists who were trained for high skill jobs in the services who left the services to work in other sectors. “Such loss of high-skilled manpower results in void in the services skill matrix and is counter-productive to the armed forces,” the letter said, adding that in view of this it had been decided to review the pension entitlements. The pension is proposed to be reviewed in four slabs for PMR of personnel. For 20-25 years of service, 50 per cent of entitled pension; for 26-30 years of service, 60 per cent of entitled pension, for 31-35 years of service, 75 per cent of entitled pension and full pen- sion for 35 years and above ser- vice. “There will be no change of pension entitlements of bat- tle casualties,” the letter said. At present, the existing pension is 50 per cent of the last salary drawn for an officer for 20-25 years of service. If the proposal is approved, pension will be halved. Sources said this proposal may not be welcome by the serving officers who are about to retire and various ex-ser- vicemen organisations. They also said the DMA created last year along with the institution of the CDS does not have the mandate to alter pension for- mula any may lead to clutch of law suits. Continued on Page 2 C ongress leader Rahul Gandhi on Wednesday described Electronic Voting Machine (EVM) as “Modi Voting Machine” (MVM), and asserted the youth of Bihar is “angry” this time and will vote out the NDA Government “whether its EVM or MVM”. Raking up the EVM issue for the first time in this election, he said, “The name is not EVM (Electronic Voting Machine. The name is MVM i.e Modi Voting Machine. E is written just like that. But there is anger among the youth of Bihar this time around. So whether its EVM or MVM, the mahagath- bandhan (Grand Alliance) is going to win,” he said. Wrapping up his campaign for the ongoing election in Bihar, he addressed two rallies during the day, and slammed Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Chief Minister Nitish Kumar over the migrant issue, handling of the coronavirus cri- sis, unemployment and the new agricultural laws. In his first rally at Madhepura’s Bihariganj, from where veteran socialist leader Sharad Yadav’s daughter Subhashini Yadav is contesting the poll on a Congress seat, Rahul said the CM had promised he would provide jobs and “change” Bihar, but he “could not deliver”. Continued on Page 2 T he Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) is no more welcome in Kerala. The Kerala Government took the decision to “ban” the elite investigation agency in the State in the weekly Cabinet meeting held on Wednesday. Majority of the Opposition ruled States have already done the same. The decision of the Kerala Government means that the CBI would not be able to file cases on its own in the State. The CBI will now need the per- mission of a court of law to launch a probe in the State. The State Government retains the right to refer a case to the CBI. Kerala is witnessing a shad- ow war between the Centre and the State in view of the probe launched by NIA, ED and Customs into cases like gold smuggling scam, money laun- dering, corruption, and terror financing. Kerala Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan and the CPI(M) were upset and annoyed over the CBI’s move to register a criminal case based on the complaint filed by a Congress lawmaker Anil Akkara about alleged corrup- tion and misappropriation of funds in the LIFE Mission, a flagship development pro- gramme of the Government. Anil’s charge was that kick- backs worth crores of rupees changed hands in the con- struction of residential apart- ments at Wadakkancherry in Thrissur district as part of LIFE Mission. Since this pro- ject involved Red Crescent, an international NGO based in the UAE, the CBI launched an investigation. But the Kerala Government approached the Kerala High Court challenging the propriety of the CBI to investigate the case. The CBI had summoned U V Jose, CEO of the LIFE Mission, for ques- tioning. The High Court had initially stayed the questioning of Jose by the CBI while on a later hearing it altogether ruled that the CBI need not probe the LIFE Mission. T he Ministry of Civil Aviation on Wednesday said domestic airlines can oper- ate 60 per cent of their pre- Covid flights till February 24 next year. The decision has been taken by the Civil Aviation Ministry due to the prevailing Covid-19 situation in the country. The Ministry had informed the airlines about the 60 per cent limit through an official order on September 2 but it had not told them the period for which the cap would remain in place. On October 29, the Ministry issued a new order clarifying that the September 2 order “shall remain in force until February 24, 2021 or until further orders” due to the “prevailing situation of Covid- 19”. On June 26, the Ministry had allowed the airlines to operate a maximum of 45 per cent of their pre-Covid domes- tic flights. In the last 24 hours (till Wednesday morning), India recorded 46,253 fresh cases of the infection as against 38,310 on Tuesday. The Ministry had resumed domestic services from May 25, after a gap of two months due to the coronavirus-triggered lockdown. However, the air- lines were allowed to operate not more than 33 per cent of their pre-Covid flights. Continued on Page 2 I n the global battle against coronavirus pandemic, sci- entists have come up with a new “ultrapotent” vaccine can- didate that has produced “extremely high levels” of pro- tective antibodies in animal models. Researchers in their study, published in the journal Cell, said the vaccine generates 10 times more neutralising anti- bodies in mice. It also shows a strong B-cell immune response after administration. This, they said, is a sign of higher dura- bility of the vaccine’s effect. When the vaccine was given to a nonhuman primate, scientists explained it produced neutralising antibodies, tar- geting different sites on the spike protein of the coron- avirus, which it uses to enter human cells. The researchers also said the vaccine could ensure pro- tection against mutated strains of the coronavirus. According to the study, the molecular structure of the vaccine rough- ly mimics that of a virus, which may account for its enhanced ability to provoke an immune response. “We hope that our nanoparticle platform may help fight this pandemic that is causing so much damage to our world,” said Neil King, a co- author of the study from UW Medicine. “The potency, stability, and manufacturability of this vac- cine candidate differentiate it from many others under inves- tigation,” King added. Presently, as many as 150 potential vaccines are being developed and tested globally, with 38 in human trial stage. Early development of vaccine will be a game-changer in the battle against the Covid-19 outbreak, which has killed mil- lions of people around the planet while causing econom- ic, physical, social and mental catastrophe. In India, Bharat Biotech is planning to launch its vaccine “Covaxin” for Covid-19 in the second quarter next year for and it has got approvals from the regulatory authorities after the phase 3 trials. P unjab Chief Minister Captain Amarinder Singh along with MLAs and MPs and party workers on Wednesday staged a dharna at Jantar Mantar against the controver- sial farm laws even as over 500 farmers groups under the ban- ner of All India Kisan Sangharsh Coordination Committee have planned to block roads across the country on November 5, as part of an all-India “chakka jam”. While the Punjab CM accused the Centre of “chok- ing” the State by suspending goods trains, the Railways claimed it has lost 1,200 crore revenue from freight due to the farmers’ protest at 32 locations in several parts of Punjab and Haryana. Continued on Page 2 A sserting that the people of Bihar prefer “sushashan ki rajneeti” (politics of good gov- ernance), Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Wednesday said only the NDA can provide security, employment and new opportunities of self-employ- ment to the youth of the state. He also said the youth and women of the State have always been with the NDA and they see hope in the alliance. In a series of tweets in Hindi, Modi said he had the opportunity to meet his “broth- ers and sisters” of Bihar and seek their blessings during his election rallies in the State in the last few days. Detailed report on P2

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Page 1: 5 ˇ 6 C! , ˇ ˜ˆ ) ˜ 7 78, ,7 ˝ 7 + ˛ 987 :3˜ , ˆ % (35-!3’E 6-%3’0 ......2020/11/05  · ready to win this election. Frankly, we did win this elec-tion,” Trump said,

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The race for the WhiteHouse appears to be head-

ed towards an uncharted terri-tory with the Trump and Bidencampaigns gearing up for aprotracted legal battle in the USSupreme Court as the electionresults in some of the key bat-tleground States likePennsylvania, Wisconsin andMichigan still being counted.

All eyes are now on Stateslike Pennsylvania, Michigan,Wisconsin, Nevada, NorthCarolina and Georgia.Counting of mail-in-ballots,which was voted in recordnumbers this time, might taketime.

Officials in Pennsylvaniasaid on Wednesday that theyexpect all votes to be countedby Friday. The Biden cam-paign believes that they have adefinitive edge on this, whilethe Trump campaign fears thatthere could be electoral mal-practice during the counting ofvotes. “We want the law to beused in a proper manner sowe’ll be going to the USSupreme Court. We want allvoting to stop. We don’t wantthem to find any ballots at 4:00in the morning,” PresidentDonald Trump said to his sup-porters at the White House inthe wee hours of Wednesday.

Earlier, Trump claimed vic-tory in the election and calledit “a fraud on the Americanpublic” and said, “Frankly, we

did win this election.”He also said he planned to

take the battle to the SupremeCourt to stop the counting ofvotes. “All of a sudden every-thing just stopped. This is afraud on the American public.This is an embarrassment toour country. We were gettingready to win this election.Frankly, we did win this elec-tion,” Trump said, without cit-ing any evidence of a fraud in

the electoral process.According to latest projec-

tions, Trump is set to win 213electoral college votes while hisDemocratic rival Joe Biden isprojected to have taken a leadwith 238 electoral college votes.Either of them needs at least270 electoral college votes to bedeclared as the winner.Counting of votes haveresumed in the battlegroundStates.

In his brief remarks inDelaware, Biden said, “Weknew because of the unprece-dented early vote and the mailin vote that it’s gonna take awhile. We’re gonna have to bepatient until we —the hardwork of tallying votes is fin-ished. And it ain’t over till everyvote is counted. Every ballot iscounted.” Biden said.

Both the sides firmlybelieve that they are the winner.

“I’m here to tell youtonight, we believe we’re ontrack to win this election,”Biden said.

Mainstream Americanmedia reported that it mighttake days before the winner isknown. “A sense of uncertain-ty-and fear-crept into theminds of voters on either sideof the political divide,” The WallStreet Journal reported.

“The morning after achaotic, suspenseful ElectionDay, Americans awoke onWednesday to the spectre ofhours or even days of uncer-tainty ahead, as several statescounted millions of ballots inrazor-thin contests that couldtip the balance to PresidentTrump or former VicePresident Joseph R. Biden Jr,”The New York Times reported.

“The nation awoke touncertainty Wednesday, withno winner in the bitter presi-dential contest. Democraticnominee Joe Biden urgedpatience even as PresidentTrump prematurely declaredvictory before millions of voteswere counted in key states,” TheWashington Post reported.

Democrats, the newspa-per said, failed to reap the deci-sive national repudiation ofTrump that Biden had sought,arguing that the president hasmismanaged the deadly coro-navirus pandemic and cleavedthe country with racially divi-sive rhetoric. “Democrats alsosustained unexpected losses to

their majority in the House andfaced diminished prospects totake control of the Senate,despite expectations,” it said.

The Washington Postalleged that Trump brokedemocratic norms by assertingthat he had already won,despite the paths to victory thatremain for Biden.

“He claimed he will ask theSupreme Court to intervene inthe election process, sayingthat voting must stop and false-ly claiming that by continuingto count votes already cast, theDemocrats would be stealingthe election. Polls have closed,and no more votes are beingcast, only tallied,” the daily said.

Disappointed Democratsdrove toward extending theircontrol of the House ofRepresentatives for two moreyears but with a potentiallyshrunken majority as they lostat least seven incumbents andfailed to oust any Republicanlawmakers in initial returns.

By midmorning onWednesday, Democrats’ onlygains were two North Carolinaseats vacated by GOP incum-bents after a court-orderedremapping made the districtsmore Democratic. Thoughthey seemed likely to retaincontrol of the House ofRepresentatives, their perfor-mance was an unexpected dis-appointment for the party,which hoped for modest gainsof perhaps 15 seats.

Related reports on P8

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Delhi has seen a jump in thenumber of new Covid-19

cases in the last few days andit can be called a “third wave”,Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwalsaid on Wednesday, assuringthe people that they need notpanic as his Government isclosely monitoring the situationregularly.

Delhi’s highest single-dayspike of 6,842 fresh Covid-19cases takes tally to over 4.09lakh with death toll 6,703 and51 new fatalities reported fromthe city.

Kejriwal said while thereare adequate beds for Covid-19patients in the city, there is ashortage of ICU beds withventilators in a few privatehospitals which will beaddressed in the next one ortwo days. The national Capitalhas been witnessing a freshsurge in coronavirus cases. OnTuesday, Delhi recorded over6,000 fresh cases for the firsttime.

The city recorded over5,000 daily cases for five dayson the trot, ending Sundaywhen the count stood at 5,664.

“Delhi has witnessed ajump in the number of Covid-19 cases. I think we can call ita third wave...We have been

monitoring the situation con-tinuously and there is no needto panic. We will take whatev-er steps are needed,” the ChiefMinister told reporters.

He said during Septemberend and beginning of October,the number of coronaviruscases was less than 3,000 in thecity.

On October 6, Kejriwalhad said Delhi is past the peakof the second wave of coron-avirus and the situation hasbeen controlled to a largeextent.

“Delhi hit the peak of thesecond wave of Covid-19 onSeptember 17 when 4,500 caseswere reported across the city,”he had said. The nationalCapital had recorded morethan 4,000 cases for severaldays around mid-September.

The AAP Government’spriority is to give the besttreatment and healthcare facil-ities to Covid-19 patients inDelhi and to keep the deathrate as low as possible, Kejriwalsaid on Wednesday. He said ahigh-level meeting has beencalled on Thursday to reviewthe Covid-19 situation.

Continued on Page 2

�� ��� ����� "4��45+2

In a major reform, the Armedforces have proposed to

increase the age of officersand review the pension formulaof those opting for prematureretirement (PMR). The two-pronged approach will help inretaining skilled manpowerand reducing the burgeoningpension bill.

The proposal moved by theDepartment of Military Affairs(DMA), headed by Chief ofDefence Staff (CDS) GeneralBipin Rawat, comes at a timewhen the Armed forces are alsoconsidering increase in age ofjawans. At present, they retireafter 15 years of service and stillin prime of their youth.

The DMA proposes toincrease the retiring age ofColonels from the existing 54to 57, for Brigadiers from 56 to58 and for Major Generalsfrom 58 to 59. The same isapplicable to equivalent ranks

in other Services.“It is proposed that a draft

Government sanction Letter(GSL) may be kindly processedfor perusal by Secretary DMAby November 10,” a letterissued by Office of SecretaryDMA dated October 29 said.The age of retirement of JuniorCommissioned Officers (JCO)and Other Ranks in Logistics,Technical and Medical branch-es is also proposed to beincreased to 57 years.

Explaining the rationalefor these proposals, the DMAnoted that many personnelretired due to lesser vacanciesand some service restrictions.At the same time, there wereseveral specialists and superspecialists who were trained forhigh skill jobs in the serviceswho left the services to work inother sectors.

“Such loss of high-skilledmanpower results in void in the

services skill matrix and iscounter-productive to thearmed forces,” the letter said,adding that in view of this ithad been decided to review thepension entitlements.

The pension is proposed tobe reviewed in four slabs forPMR of personnel. For 20-25years of service, 50 per cent ofentitled pension; for 26-30years of service, 60 per cent ofentitled pension, for 31-35years of service, 75 per cent ofentitled pension and full pen-sion for 35 years and above ser-vice. “There will be no changeof pension entitlements of bat-tle casualties,” the letter said.

At present, the existingpension is 50 per cent of the lastsalary drawn for an officer for20-25 years of service. If theproposal is approved, pensionwill be halved.

Sources said this proposalmay not be welcome by theserving officers who are aboutto retire and various ex-ser-vicemen organisations. Theyalso said the DMA created lastyear along with the institutionof the CDS does not have themandate to alter pension for-mula any may lead to clutch oflaw suits.

Continued on Page 2

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Congress leader RahulGandhi on Wednesday

described Electronic VotingMachine (EVM) as “ModiVoting Machine” (MVM), andasserted the youth of Bihar is“angry” this time and will voteout the NDA Government“whether its EVM or MVM”.

Raking up the EVM issuefor the first time in this election,he said, “The name is not EVM(Electronic Voting Machine.The name is MVM i.e ModiVoting Machine. E is writtenjust like that. But there is angeramong the youth of Bihar thistime around. So whether itsEVM or MVM, the mahagath-bandhan (Grand Alliance) isgoing to win,” he said.

Wrapping up his campaignfor the ongoing election inBihar, he addressed two ralliesduring the day, and slammedPrime Minister Narendra Modiand Chief Minister NitishKumar over the migrant issue,handling of the coronavirus cri-sis, unemployment and thenew agricultural laws.

In his first rally atMadhepura’s Bihariganj, fromwhere veteran socialist leaderSharad Yadav’s daughter

Subhashini Yadav is contestingthe poll on a Congress seat,Rahul said the CM hadpromised he would providejobs and “change” Bihar, but he“could not deliver”.

Continued on Page 2

����� 83&+2

The Central Bureau ofInvestigation (CBI) is no

more welcome in Kerala. TheKerala Government took thedecision to “ban” the eliteinvestigation agency in theState in the weekly Cabinetmeeting held on Wednesday.Majority of the Oppositionruled States have already donethe same.

The decision of the KeralaGovernment means that theCBI would not be able to filecases on its own in the State.The CBI will now need the per-mission of a court of law tolaunch a probe in the State. TheState Government retains theright to refer a case to the CBI.

Kerala is witnessing a shad-ow war between the Centre andthe State in view of the probelaunched by NIA, ED andCustoms into cases like goldsmuggling scam, money laun-dering, corruption, and terrorfinancing.

Kerala Chief MinisterPinarayi Vijayan and theCPI(M) were upset and

annoyed over the CBI’s move toregister a criminal case basedon the complaint filed by aCongress lawmaker AnilAkkara about alleged corrup-tion and misappropriation offunds in the LIFE Mission, aflagship development pro-gramme of the Government.

Anil’s charge was that kick-backs worth crores of rupeeschanged hands in the con-struction of residential apart-ments at Wadakkancherry inThrissur district as part ofLIFE Mission. Since this pro-ject involved Red Crescent, aninternational NGO based in theUAE, the CBI launched aninvestigation.

But the KeralaGovernment approached theKerala High Court challengingthe propriety of the CBI toinvestigate the case. The CBIhad summoned U V Jose, CEOof the LIFE Mission, for ques-tioning. The High Court hadinitially stayed the questioningof Jose by the CBI while on alater hearing it altogether ruledthat the CBI need not probe theLIFE Mission.

����� "4��45+2

The Ministry of CivilAviation on Wednesday

said domestic airlines can oper-ate 60 per cent of their pre-Covid flights till February 24next year. The decision hasbeen taken by the CivilAviation Ministry due to theprevailing Covid-19 situationin the country.

The Ministry hadinformed the airlines aboutthe 60 per cent limit through anofficial order on September 2but it had not told them theperiod for which the cap wouldremain in place.

On October 29, theMinistry issued a new orderclarifying that the September 2

order “shall remain in forceuntil February 24, 2021 oruntil further orders” due to the“prevailing situation of Covid-19”. On June 26, the Ministryhad allowed the airlines tooperate a maximum of 45 percent of their pre-Covid domes-tic flights. In the last 24 hours(till Wednesday morning),India recorded 46,253 freshcases of the infection as against38,310 on Tuesday.

The Ministry had resumeddomestic services from May 25,after a gap of two months dueto the coronavirus-triggeredlockdown. However, the air-lines were allowed to operatenot more than 33 per cent oftheir pre-Covid flights.

Continued on Page 2

����� "4��45+2

In the global battle againstcoronavirus pandemic, sci-

entists have come up with anew “ultrapotent” vaccine can-didate that has produced“extremely high levels” of pro-tective antibodies in animalmodels.

Researchers in their study,published in the journal Cell,said the vaccine generates 10times more neutralising anti-bodies in mice. It also shows astrong B-cell immune responseafter administration. This, theysaid, is a sign of higher dura-bility of the vaccine’s effect.

When the vaccine wasgiven to a nonhuman primate,scientists explained it producedneutralising antibodies, tar-geting different sites on thespike protein of the coron-avirus, which it uses to enterhuman cells.

The researchers also said

the vaccine could ensure pro-tection against mutated strainsof the coronavirus. Accordingto the study, the molecularstructure of the vaccine rough-ly mimics that of a virus, whichmay account for its enhancedability to provoke an immuneresponse.

“We hope that ournanoparticle platform may helpfight this pandemic that iscausing so much damage to ourworld,” said Neil King, a co-author of the study from UWMedicine.

“The potency, stability, andmanufacturability of this vac-cine candidate differentiate itfrom many others under inves-tigation,” King added.

Presently, as many as 150potential vaccines are beingdeveloped and tested globally,with 38 in human trial stage.Early development of vaccinewill be a game-changer in thebattle against the Covid-19

outbreak, which has killed mil-lions of people around theplanet while causing econom-ic, physical, social and mental

catastrophe.In India, Bharat Biotech is

planning to launch its vaccine“Covaxin” for Covid-19 in the

second quarter next year forand it has got approvals fromthe regulatory authorities afterthe phase 3 trials.

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Punjab Chief MinisterCaptain Amarinder Singh

along with MLAs and MPs andparty workers on Wednesdaystaged a dharna at JantarMantar against the controver-sial farm laws even as over 500farmers groups under the ban-ner of All India KisanSangharsh CoordinationCommittee have planned toblock roads across the countryon November 5, as part of anall-India “chakka jam”.

While the Punjab CMaccused the Centre of “chok-ing” the State by suspendinggoods trains, the Railwaysclaimed it has lost �1,200 crorerevenue from freight due to thefarmers’ protest at 32 locationsin several parts of Punjab andHaryana.

Continued on Page 2

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Asserting that the people ofBihar prefer “sushashan ki

rajneeti” (politics of good gov-ernance), Prime MinisterNarendra Modi on Wednesdaysaid only the NDA can providesecurity, employment and newopportunities of self-employ-ment to the youth of the state.

He also said the youth andwomen of the State have alwaysbeen with the NDA and theysee hope in the alliance.

In a series of tweets inHindi, Modi said he had theopportunity to meet his “broth-ers and sisters” of Bihar andseek their blessings during hiselection rallies in the State inthe last few days.

Detailed report on P2

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New Delhi: Asserting that thepeople of Bihar prefer"sushashan ki rajneeti" (politicsof good governance), PrimeMinister Narendra Modi onWednesday said only the NDAcan provide security, employ-ment and new opportunities ofself-employment to the youth ofthe state. He also said theyouth and women of the statehave always been with theNational Democratic Alliance(NDA) and they see hope in the

alliance.In a series of tweets in

Hindi, Modi said he had theopportunity to meet his "broth-ers and sisters" of Bihar andseek their blessings during hiselection rallies in the state overthe past few days.

"From the first rallyin Sasaram to the last rally inSaharsa, the public gave me a lotof love as always," Modi said.

Bihar has always consid-ered the values of democracysupreme and, therefore, thepeople of Bihar like "sushashanki rajneeti" (politics of goodgovernance), Modi said.

"The biggest enemy ofdevelopment is corruption. Itsnatches away the rights of the

poor," he said.Modi asserted that by link-

ing bank accounts, Aadhaarand mobile phones, the NDAgovernment has given rights tothe poor and closed manyavenues for making blackmoney.

Now the money of mostschemes is directly transferredto the bank accounts of thepoor, the prime minister said.The Nitish Kumar-led govern-ment in Bihar has made "goodgovernance (sushasan)" itsmajor poll plank and has hit outat the RJD-led grand allianceover the issues of corruptionand law and order under LaluYadav's tenure as the chief min-ister.

Modi said that in an 'aat-manirbhar' Bihar, the NDA'sgoal is maintaining rule of lawand ensuring the welfare of thepoor. "Our mission is:opportunities to the youth andsecurity for women, our mantrais: 'Sabka saath, sabka vikaas aursabka vishvaas'," Modi said.

The poor of Bihar are con-vinced that "their servant froma backward society, born inpoverty, is working in Delhitoday and making sure that nota single poor goes to sleep hun-gry".

In this difficult time of thecoronavirus pandemic, freeration and assistance is beingensured for the poor, he said.

Talking about the NDA

campaign rallies for the Biharassembly polls, he said therewas a commonality in themwhich was increased participa-tion by the youth and thewomen. If the NDA is con-tinuously winning, it is becauseof their support, he said."It is their blessings that give usthe energy to work continu-ously. The youth and women ofBihar see hope in the NDA," heasserted. Modi's commentsfollow 12 rallies he addressed inthe run-up to the assemblypolls, including two on Tuesday.

"As a public servant,the 'touching of feet' of Bihar'sland makes me more commit-ted to public service. Frompolitical consciousness to social

brainstorming, from festivals tofood, Bihar is amazing," Modisaid. From the Jan DhanYojana to Mudra loan scheme,from the Swachch BharatMission to Ayushman Bharatscheme, from the UjjwalaYojana to Jal Jeevan Mission,Bihar has covered many impor-tant milestones of develop-ment, he said. "The peo-ple of Bihar have decided thatthese rapid strides on the pathof progress will not stop," Modisaid.

"Only the NDA can providefacilities, security, employmentand new opportunities of self-employment to the youth of thestate," he said. Modipointed out that unprecedent-

ed investment on modern infra-structure is creating newemployment opportunities inBihar.

Rupees one lakh crore isbeing given to Bihar under theMudra Yojana and Stand UpIndia scheme, the prime min-ister said. In his tweets, Modialso stated that no one has everdone as much the NDA hasdone and is doing for farmers.

Mega food parks, moderncold chains, agro-processingclusters will provide modernagricultural infrastructure toBihar, he said. "Growingnumber of agricultural pro-duction associations willincrease the strength of smallfarmers, linking them to larg-

er markets," he said.Noting that there are prod-

ucts in every district of Biharwhich have their own identity,Modi said many things likefood, fruits, vegetables, paint-ings, handicrafts are associatedwith the identity of Bihar."Every Bihari has always beenvocal for local. The NDA iscommitted to promoting thisidentity nationally and inter-nationally," he asserted.While the first two phases ofvoting have taken place for theongoing Bihar assembly polls,the third and final phase will beheld on November 7, followedby counting of votes for all 243assembly seats on November10. PTI

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In an offshoot of a reconcilia-tion of deaths carried out by

the health authorities in Punewhere the number of fatalitiesshot up by 175, the daily Covid-19 toll went up by 300 inMaharashtra on Wednesday,while and 5,505 people testedpositive for Covid-19 in variousparts of the state.

In addition to 125 deathsreported from various parts ofthe state, the state authoritiesadded 175 fatalities to the tally,taking the total number of deathsfor the day to 300.

“Because of the reconcilia-tion process of deaths in Punetoday, there has been an increasein the progressive death figuresof Pune rural and PuneMunicipal Corporation by 116and 59 respectively. Therefore,the total death figure of the statehas increased by 175,” the dailymedical bulletin stated.

With fresh infections, thetotal infected cases jumped from16,92,693 to 16,98,198. Similarly,the Covid-19 toll rose from44,248 to 44,548.

As 8728 more people weredischarged from various hospi-tals the number of people dis-

charged from the hospitals afterfull recovery since the secondweek of March this year went upto 15,40,005. The recovery ratein the state rose from 90.46 percent to 90.68 per cent.

Of the 300 deaths (whichincluded 175 old deaths) report-ed on Wednesday, Mumbaiaccounted for a maximum for 29deaths, followed by 19 in Pune,13 in Nagpur, 11 in Thane, 7each in Nashik, Ahmednagarand Chandrapur, 5 in Solapur, 4in Sangli, 3 each in Raigad andSatara, 2 each in Palghar,Parbhani, Latur, Yavatmal andGondia and one death each in

Jalgaon, Kolhapur, Aurangabad,Jalna, Beed, Buldhana andGadchiroli.

With 29 deaths, the Covid-19 toll in Mumbai rose from10,323 to 10,352 while the infect-ed cases increased by 983 to totrigger a jump in the infectionsfrom 259,857 to 260,840.

Meanwhile, the number of“active cases” in the state droppedfrom 1,16,543 to 1,12,912. Themortality rate in the state stoodat 2.62 per cent. Currently,13,35,681 people are in homequarantine while 11,648 peopleare in institutional quarantine.

Pune district, which con-

tinued to be the worst-affectedcity-district in Maharashtra, sawthe total number of casesincrease from 3,35,679 to3,36,430 while the total numberof deaths in Pune increasedfrom 6784 to 6978.

Thane district remained inthe third spot --after Pune andMumbai – after the total num-ber of infections rose from2,24,823 to 2,25,470, while thepandemic toll climbed from5208 to 5219.

Meanwhile, out of 91,85,838samples sent to laboratories,16,98,198 have tested positive forCOVID-19 until Wednesday.

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From Page 1The farmers’ organization

have decided to hold an all-India“chakka jam” (road blockade)between 12 noon and 4 pm onNovember 5. The federations,which included the All IndiaKisan Sangharsh CoordinationCommittee (AIKSCC), also gavea call for ‘Dilli chalo” (come toDelhi) to farmers on November26 and 27.

According to farmers lead-ers who have received supportfrom 200 other unions associat-ed with AIKSCC, they will beblocking all national highways

between 12 noon to 4 pm. InPunjab, they will be blocking allState and national highways.Other than this, it has beendecided to continue the gheraoof businesses owned by corpo-rate houses - toll plazas, petrolpumps and retail businesses,and outside the houses of BJPleaders in Punjab.

Amarinder alleged that theCentre has failed to pay Punjabits quarterly Goods and ServicesTax dues and was cutting offaccess to the Disaster ReliefFund. “We’re buying power fromNational Grid from funds we’releft with,” he said. “The consti-tutional guarantee of receivingquarterly GSTs has not been ful-filled and is pending sinceMarch. Rs 10,000 crores is due.This step-motherly treatment iswrong.” We don’t have money,our coal stocks are over,” he said.

Amarinder began the day bypaying his respects to MahatmaGandhi at Rajghat. He later pro-ceeded to Jantar Mantar to kick-start the dharna along withPunjab Congress MPs andMLAs. The Chief Minister saidthough they had earlier planneda relay ‘dharna’ at Rajghat butthey had to shift to Jantar Mantaras Delhi police clamped section144 at the area.

According to officials,Punjab State electricity board onTuesday announced that it wouldhave to impose power cuts of atleast two-three hours from theevening as three private thermalplants have shut down and twoelectricity stations nearly runningout of coal. The Punjab StatePower Corporation Limited(PSPCL) has been forced topurchase 1,500 to 1,700 MWpower from the power projects.An estimated Rs 5-10 crore isbeing spent on buying powerevery day. Non-movement of thecoal rakes has forced the author-ities and private thermal powerplant owners to shut the unitsbringing the power generation toa grinding halt.

Stoppage of goods trainshas resulted in shortage of vari-ous essential items such as coal,petroleum products, urea, di-ammonium phosphate and jutebags. The shortage of jute bagsis likely to impact procurementof paddy. While 30 percent ofjute bags are provided by the

authorities, 70 per cent are pro-cured by the rice sellers. Theblockade of rail and road trans-port has hit the supplies. Punjabmostly gets Jute bag suppliesfrom West Bengal. Similarly,Punjab needs 14.5 lakh tonnes ofurea for winter crops, but theState has only about 75,000tonnes, according toGovernment officials.

At the protest, the ChiefMinister said they had askedPresident Ram Nath Kovid toexplain the situation in Punjabbut he has not replied.

From Page 1The DMA is responsible

for human resources issuesbesides coordination between the Army, Navy andIAF.

Justifying the move toreview the existing pensionformula, sources said the needfor such a step was felt as thereis concern over the increasingpension bill after the grant of

One Rank One Pension(OROP).

The pension bill in the cur-rent financial year is pegged atRs 1,33, 819 crore which ismore than 29 percent of theDefence Ministry budget of Rs4,71, 372 crore.

From Page 1Modifying its previous

order of June 26 where it had

put the 45 per cent limit on thenumber of domestic flights, theMinistry issued an order onSeptember 2 stating that, “45per cent capacity may be read

as 60 per cent capacity.”Scheduled international pas-senger flights continue toremain suspended in the coun-try since March 23 due to thepandemic. However, specialinternational flights have beenoperating under the VandeBharat Mission since May andunder bilateral air bubble pactssigned with various countriessince July.

From Page 1“The Delhi Government

had increased their numbers(ICU beds in private hospitals)but, unfortunately, the DelhiHigh Court stayed our decision.We are moving the SupremeCourt today to urge it to vacatethe stay,” Kejriwal said.

In September, the DelhiHigh Court had stayed theAAP Government’s decision toreserve 80 per cent ICU beds forcoronavirus patients in 33 pri-vate hospitals.

On October 29, HealthMinister Satyendar Jain hadsaid the AAP Government hadchanged its anti-coronavirusstrategy by conducting aggres-sive tracing and testing in thecity, citing it as one of the rea-sons for a sudden spike inCovid-19 cases in the past fewdays. The 6,725 fresh cases,recorded on Tuesday, came outof the 59,540 tests conducted theprevious day.

The previous highest single-day spike -- 5,891 cases -- was

recorded on Friday. Forty-eight new fatalities were record-ed, pushing the death toll in thenational capital to 6,652. Thecity recorded 4,001 Covid-19cases on Monday with the pos-itivity rate hovering around 11per cent. The Centre had attrib-uted the sudden surge in dailyincidences in the last few daysto greater movement of peopleduring the festive season andlaxity in adhering to safetynorms. The active cases tally onTuesday stood at 36,375.

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From Page 1“When youths today ask

Kumar during his public meet-ings about the jobs he hadpromised, he threatens them,chases them away and getsthem thrashed,” Rahul alleged.

“He (Nitish) tells them hedoesnt need their votes. Finethen. The youth of Bihar willnot vote for you,” he said.

He said he was not scared“whether its MVM or Modijika Media (Modi jis media)”.“Truth is truth, justice is jus-tice. I am fighting a war of ide-ology against this man. We arefighting against their thoughts.We will defeat their thoughts,”

he said.“I wont budge an inch

until I defeat Narendra Modi,”he said. He also raised the issueof Minimum Support Price formaize and paddy and said themoney that the farmers shouldbe getting is actually going tothe middleman.

He alleged that the PM,through the three recentlypassed agricultural laws, has“cleared the way for new mid-dlemen. Not the smaller onesbut the bigger ones -- Ambaniand Adani”. “You would neverhave seen the Prime Ministerholding the hand of a poorfarmer, but must have seenhim embracing Ambani andAdani,” he alleged.

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Page 3: 5 ˇ 6 C! , ˇ ˜ˆ ) ˜ 7 78, ,7 ˝ 7 + ˛ 987 :3˜ , ˆ % (35-!3’E 6-%3’0 ......2020/11/05  · ready to win this election. Frankly, we did win this elec-tion,” Trump said,

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Vice-Chairman of Delhi JalBoard (DJB) Raghav

Chadha on Wednesday metwith Union Minister G KishanReddy regarding the mountingarrears of Rs 607 crore onDelhi Police towards the civicbody and requested his inter-vention in recovering dues sothat the financial challenges ofthe Board can be overcome andmany far-reaching welfare pro-jects be greenlit.

Chadha apprised theMinister of how the DJB hadsent multiple show causenotices to Delhi Police but gotno response. "This has hin-dered the smooth expedition ofthe functions and duties of theBoard which is doing thegroundwork for expanding itsoperations and bringing aboutrevolutionary changes in thecurrent structure of water sup-ply as well as water manage-ment. All of this requires reg-ular flow of finances. As such,releasing the dues owed toDJB would go a long way inmeeting with necessary andimmediate expenses," he said.

Chadha explained that dueto the COVID-19 pandemic,the economic condition of thestate government is in badshape therefore, the Delhi gov-ernment is in the view to fin-ish all such pending transac-tions in a bid to improve itseconomic condition, whichwill only go to serve the largerpublic.

“Delhi continues to reel inthe aftermath of an extraordi-nary situation of the COVID-

19 pandemic. While the city istreading cautiously towards asemblance of normalcy, anamount as high as what is duefrom the Delhi Police can besurmounted if the DJB receivesits shares of outstanding dues,”said Chadha.

The Vice Chairman alsosaid “We cannot ignore themost fundamental means ofcoping with financial chal-lenges that we face today.Therefore, it is incumbent uponthe aforementioned CentralGovernment-run body, as wellas the respective MCDs toexpeditiously respond to oursincere and repeated requestsand cooperatively work for thebenefit and welfare of our soci-ety.”

“The pandemic and all ofthe other factors cumulatively,have now put DJB in a finan-cially unsteady situation. If thedues are not cleared within thestipulated time, the Board shallbe constrained to initiate coer-cive actions until the full andfinal payment is recovered. I dohope and wish that the need topress into service the rigours ofpenal provisions shall notarise," he said.

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With farmers protestingand blocking the rail-

ways lines in Punjab over thenew Farm Bills, the Railwayscontinue to lose revenue and tilldate more than 2225 freightrakes could not be operatedupon carrying vital commodi-ties.

According to official, lossis already expected to havecrossed Rs 1200 crore and agi-tators have continued dharna atPlatforms and near Railwaytrack.

“Train movement has beenagain suspended due to oper-ational and safety considera-tions as agitators have suddenlystopped some train movementsand sporadic blockade contin-ued at various places like espe-cially around Jandiala, Nabha,Talwandi Sabo and BathindaAs per the report at 06:00 hrstoday, the agitation was con-tinuing at Total – 32 Places,”said the official.

The Minister of Railwayshad also written to the ChiefMinister of Punjab on October26 seeking assurance about

safety of tracks and runningstaff to resume operations.

“Due to the continuedblockages at sections of tracksin Punjab, there has been amajor adverse impact onFreight movement and henceon availability of vital com-modities for the farm, indus-trial and infrastructure sectoras well,” said the official.

“All passenger trains pass-ing through the state of Punjabhad also been adverselyimpacted too. Till date morethan 1350 passenger trainshave been cancelled, diverted

or short terminated. This hascaused tremendous inconve-nience to travellers in COVIDtimes,” said the official.

“All inward and outwardGoods transportation includ-ing essential commoditieshave been affected adverselyin Punjab, Jammu andKashmir, Ladakh andHimachal Pradesh. A numberof freight trains includingloaded trains remained struckas such for periods upto 15-20days. Many freight customers,after having suffered busi-ness losses, are getting divert-

ed to other modes of trans-portation,” he said.

“Outward Loading too hasbeen affected from the PunjabArea . Movement of Foodgrain,Container, Automobile,Cement, Pet coke, Fertilizer hastaken a hit Average Loss ofLoading per day in Punjab is 40rakes per day. While, inwardTraffic to Punjab has beenaffected (Outward from otherthan Punjab Area) and nowContainer, Cement, Gypsum,Fertilizer, POL are not beingable to reach to key locations inPunjab,” he said.

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Delhi Chief Minister ArvindKejriwal on Wednesday

visited the Hiranki Village inthe Narela constituency toinspect the efficacy of the bio-decomposing solution devel-oped under the guidance of thePUSA Institute and sprayed bythe Delhi Government on thefarmlands across the nationalCapital.

The Delhi Governmenthas launched different cam-paigns to combat winter airpollution as on Tuesday alsothe overall Air Quality Index (AQI ) was at 333 while stubbleburning contribution inParticular Matters ( PM( 3.5

was only 5 percent .Citing farm fire a major

worry recorded 40 percent infew days earlier, Kejriwal said

where the practice of stub-ble burning is prevalent, shouldimplement the alternative with-out any excuses.

“The farmers are highlydistressed due to the absence ofalternatives to stubble burning,due to which they are left withno option but to burn stubbleand bear the brunt of pollu-tion,” he said.

Briefing media after hisvisit, he said, “Every year, thesmoke from stubble burningpollutes Delhi. The mediareports and satellite imagesshow that the practice of stub-

ble burning is quite prevalentin the neighbouring states ofDelhi, especially Punjab.”

On one hand, the farmersare themselves very troubledbecause their families and thevillages have to bear the bruntof pollution.

The neighbouring stategovernments have done noth-ing to provide relief to thefarmers, because of which thefarmers are forced to burnstubble which leads to majorpollution across NorthernIndia. To provide an alternativeto stubble burning, the Delhigovernment has taken a crucialstep in association with thePUSA Institute. We hadsprayed the bio-decomposer

solution on the farmlandsacross Delhi around October13, which was developed by theDelhi government under theguidance of the PUSA Institute.

Today is November 4, theentire stubble has convertedinto manure and the fields areready for sowing again. Delhi,along with the PUSA Institute,

has given a cheap and effectivealternative to stubble burning.I hope that this is the last yearwhen we have to suffer frompollution. No government canmake any excuse, they shouldstop agonizing their farmers. Ihave spoken to several farmersin Punjab and Haryana, and Iknow that they do not want toburn stubble anymore. Wewould present this alternativein front of the Supreme Courtowing to the effectiveness ofthis alternative.

“The farmers and the sci-entists of the PUSA Institute arevery satisfied with the output ofthe solution. No governmentcan make an excuse that theyhave no alternative or solution

to the problem of stubble burn-ing, because a very cheap alter-native is available. We havesprayed the solution acrossDelhi in just Rs. 20 lakhs."

CM Kejriwal said, "I havebeen trying to meet the UnionEnvironment Minister for along time now. Around 15days before starting the bio-decomposing process in Delhi,I wrote to the UnionEnvironment Minister andsought an appointment to meethim to discuss the alternative.He must have been busy, andso I talked to him on thephone. I told him that wemight be late in providing thisalternative to the farmers, theCentre must try and stop stub-

ble burning as much as theycan in Punjab, Haryana, andUttar Pradesh.”

Meanwhile, EnvironmentMinister Gopal Rai said thisyear also, the spike in pollutionis due to the massive stubbleburning in Punjab andHaryana. Last month under theleadership of Chief MinisterShri Arvind Kejriwal, the Delhigovernment started sprinklingthe bio-decomposer and todaywe have witnessed that 90 per-cent of the stubble has con-verted to manure. It shows howeffective this process is. Webelieve that the central gov-ernment and the state govern-ments should also implementthis method."

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An on duty Delhi Police con-stable was injured after he

was run over by a speedingBMW car in Sarita Vihar areaon the intervening night ofTuesday-Wednesday. Police saidthat they have initiated a man-hunt to nab the two accusedwho fled from the spot after thecrime.

Police said that the consta-ble, Jitender, sustained frac-tures in both his legs and hiscondition is stated to be stable.

According to R P Meena,the Deputy Commissioner of

Police (DCP), Southeast dis-trict, the incident took place onthe intervening night ofTuesday and Wednesday whenconstables Jitender and Ankurwere on patrolling duty inSarita Vihar.

“At around 12:05 AM whenthey reached H-Pocket market,they saw a BMW, bearing aHaryana registration number,was parked near an ATM. Acake was kept on the car and afew people were making noise.There were around eight to 10people. The constables askedthem to go back home, but theystarted arguing instead. They

said they were locals and wouldcelebrate there only,” said theDCP.

“Ankur called the emer-gency response vehicle (ERV) ofSarita Vihar police station. Afterseeing the ERV, they (accused)ran towards Janta Flats,Madanpur Khadar. They werefollowed by police. The BMWtook a turn near K-Pocketdivider and ran towards A, B, Cpockets. The constables sig-nalled them to stop,” said theDCP.

“The driver of the BMWtried to hit Ankur but hejumped and managed to save

himself. Thereafter, the driverhit Jitender with the intention tokill him, ran over his legs andfled from the spot. The BMWwas chased and found to havehad an accident near UmerMasjid, Khadar Mod. Aninjured person was also foundthere,” said the DCP.

“The police team also founda bottle of beer inside the car. Itsairbags were also found open.The car was found registered inthe name of one Amit Bhadana,a resident of Faridabad, whohad given the vehicle to hiscousin Kuldeep Bidhuri, a res-ident of Madanpur Khadar,”

said the DCP.“A mobile phone was found

in the vehicle. It belongs toBidhuri, who was celebrating hisbirthday with his friends. Thetwo accused were in the BMWat the time of the incident. Bothof them are absconding. Policeteams are raiding various placesto arrest them. There will bemore clarity once the accusedare arrested,” said the DCP.

“A case under relevant sec-tions of the Indian Penal Codeand the Motor Vehicle Act hasbeen registered and investiga-tion is being conducted,” headded.

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A23-year-old man was killedallegedly by five men fol-

lowing a quarrel between themover asking money to pur-chase liquor in southeast Delhi.Police said that they have alsoarrested the accused involvedin crime.

The man, identified asAkif, was found dead inside apark at Lajpat Nagar 2 insoutheast Delhi on Tuesdayevening. Police said that he wasdeclared as a "bad character" ofLajpat Nagar police stationand was previously involved inat least two cases, including thatof robbery and snatching.

The accused have beenidentified as Rakesh (24), Rahul(22), Shyam (24), Mukesh (24)and Mahesh (22), all residentsof Aadiwaashi Camp in NehruNagar.

According to R P Meena,

the Deputy Commissioner ofPolice (DCP), Southeast dis-trict, the incident took place onTuesday evening when Akif,along with five other men, wasplaying rummy near a drainnear at a park in Lajpat Nagar-2.

“A quarrel broke outbetween them after the victimdemanded money to purchaseliquor for himself. It then led toa fight and Akif was laterattacked with a spade, follow-ing which he died,” said theDCP.

“A police control room(PCR) call was received around6.00 PM regarding a manfound dead in a park at LajpatNagar 2. A spade with blood-stains was also found near thebody. The man was later iden-tified as Akif, a resident ofNehru Nagar,” said the DeputyCommissioner of Police(DCP).

“A case under section 302(murder) of the Indian PenalCode was registered and thefive accused involved in thekilling were arrested,” he said.

“During interrogation, theaccused disclosed that theywere playing rummy alongwith Akif near a drain near thepark when Akif asked them togive Rs 100 each for liquor andstarted quarrelling with them.He slapped Rakesh and wenttowards the park,” said theDCP.

“They all followed him tothe park where they had aquarrel with him. Initially, Akiftried to attack them with aspade. Later, Rakesh, Rahuland others overpowered him,following which Rahul andRakesh attacked him with aspade,” said theDeputyCommissioner of Police (DCP)adding that all the accusedwork in a wedding band.

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A32-year-old man died afterhe was stabbed multiple

times by unknown persons inWest Delhi’s Moti Nagar area.The incident took place onTuesday near Moti Nagar fly-over after which robbers fledwith the cash. The deceasedidentified as Jitender Sharma, aresident of Burari was stabbedmultiple times on the backside of his body.

According to DeepakPurohit, the DeputyCommissioner of Police (DCP),West district, police receivedinformation regarding the inci-dent at 10.07 pm.

“The caller told police thata person has received stabinjuries and he needed help, fol-lowing which police rushed tothe spot. He was shifted toAcharya Bhikshu Hospital, MotiNagar where he was declaredbrought dead,” said the DCP.

“Sharma was a munim witha company Hemukunt Transportand Bombay Kandala Transportbased in Transport Center, AzadPur Sabzi Mandi. On Tuesday, hecollected Rs 32,600 fromHemukunt and Rs 1,83,000 fromKandala around 9.30 pm for dis-tribution to truck drivers ofthese companies for theirexpenses,” said the DCP.

“When he reached nearZakhira round-about, someunknown persons interceptedhis bike, stabbed him multipletimes and later fled with moneykept in his bag,” said the DCP.

“A case has been registered”,the DCP added.

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After a banned pro-Khalistan outfit, Sikhs for

Justice (SFJ), threatened to dis-rupt two Air India flightsscheduled to leave for Londonon November 5, security hasbeen beefed at Indira GandhiInternational (IGI) airport in

national Capital.On Wednesday, a meeting

was also held between officialsof Central Industrial SecurityForce (CISF), Delhi Police, AirIndia and Delhi InternationalAirport Limited on Wednesdayto discuss the massive securi-ty arrangements put in place.

Similarly, a meeting was

held on Tuesday in this regardby CISF officials and DelhiPolice officials also attended themeeting, police said.

Police said that UnitedStated (US)-based SFJ hadissued a call to boycott AirIndia flights and urged thevictims of the 1984 anti-Sikhriots to occupy the airport tointernationalise the issue.

“Police have tightenedsecurity arrangements afterinputs were received that Sikhsfor Justice has threatened todisrupt operations of two AirIndia flights scheduled forLondon tomorrow,” said RajeevRanjan, the DeputyCommissioner of Police(DCP), IGI Airport.

“Though the airport is asecure place but based on theinputs received by the policeadequate security arrangementshave been made for the safetyof passengers,” said the DCP.

SFJ, which has been push-ing for Sikh Referendum 2020as part of its separatist agenda,was banned by the governmentfor its alleged anti-nationalactivities.

���%%�������� "4��45+2

Delhi Police on Wednesdayorganised a job fair for

YUVA candidates in NationalCapital’s Southern range. Morethan 600 under 18 years of ageand YUVA aspirants appearedin the online interview andaround 16 reputed companiesparticipated in the programme.Police also provided the jobs tojuveniles trained under the‘Sankalp scheme’ in West Delhi.

Delhi PoliceCommissioner, S N Shrivastavaaddressed the participants andencouraged the aspirants togive their best in their field ofduty and also desired that theyshould continue to keep goingon the path they have chosenand should never look back atthe mistakes they had done inthe past.

He also stressed upon thededication of Delhi Police toengage with youth in a con-structive manner at all levels.He directed all to continue thisinitiative with full vigour.

YUVA is a novel ínitiativeof Delhi Police for rehabilita-tion of such youth, who hadeither got involved in petty

offences, but now not active incrime and otherJuveniles/youth, who need tobe weaned away from path ofcrime/anti-social activities aswell as the youth (both boys

and girls) from weaker sectionof the society, having propen-sity towards crime, to bringthem back to the mainstreamof Society and make them livetheir lives with dignity.

According to officials,Delhi Police is dedicated for therehabilitation of juveniles andyouth, who may go astray forwant of better opportunitiesunder the able guidance of CP

Delhi and patronage of DelhiLieutenant Governor.

“Delhi Police concludedthree days Virtual Mega JobFair (November 2-4, 2020)organized at GOs Mess NorthDistrict at Alipur Road, CivilLines, Delhi. More than 600interested candidates from all15 Districts of Delhi Police par-ticipated in the Job Fair, virtu-ally connected from their des-ignated places in respectiveDistricts. These aspirantsappeared in the online inter-view for 16 ReputedCompanies for getting suitableplacements at a monthly salaryof Rs. 12,000- Rs. 20,000/- permonth,” said the official.

���%%�������� "4��45+2

A16-year-old rape victimgave birth to a child on the

terrace of her house in northDelhi’s Burari area and left thebaby abandoned near a shop inthe area.

According to a seniorpolice official, a police controlroom (PCR) call was receivedon October 31 that a newbornbaby in north Delhi’s Burariarea is wrapped in a clothfrom Burari, but no furtherinformation was receivedregarding the baby.

“Police reached the spotand rushed the baby to hospi-tal. When we checked theCCTV footage of the area, thebaby was found with a girl.Police traced the girl who toldpolice that she was raped by a60-year-old shopkeeper

months ago. The victim gotscared and didn’t tell her moth-er about the rape,” said thesenior police official.

“When the girl gave birthto the child on the terrace, shetried to lower the infant withthe help of a rope and polybag.However, the baby started cry-ing and the girl picked up thebaby. She covered the baby witha cloth and put the baby neara shop far from her house andleft the spot,” he said.

“A case under sections ofrape and Protection ofChildren from Sexual OffencesAct was registered and theshopkeeper has been arrested.The girl lives with her mother,who works as a domestic help,in Burari area. The accusedallegedly raped her eight tonine months ago,” he furtheradded.

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As stalemate continues at theLine of Actual

Control(LAC), India andChina will hold the eighthround of Corps Commanderlevel talks on November 6.The two top military officerswill review the current situationat the border and devise waysto hasten disengagement andde-escalation, sources said hereon Wednesday.

The last round of militarylevel parleys were held onOctober 13 at Chushul-Moldoborder meeting at the LAC inLadakh. The two sides agreedto sustain the momentum ofdialogue and maintain peaceand tranquility at the LAC.

Incidentally, the forth-coming talks will see a newIndian Corps Commander LtGeneral P G K Menon. Hispredecessor Lt GeneralHarinder Singh has taken overas the Commandant of theprestigious Indian Military

Academy(IMA), Dehradun.He held the previous sevenrounds of talks with hisChinese counterpart MajorGeneral Liu Lin.

The next round of talkscomes in the backdrop of themilitary and diplomatic levelparleys so far not making muchheadway. The sixth round ofCorps Commander level talkson September 21 saw both thesides issuing a joint statementfor the first time stating thatboth the countries should notsend more troops to the border.

While India has all alongfavoured talks to resolve theborder dispute now on for thelast six months, the securityestablishment is prepared for along haul.

The Army has pumped inadditional 30,000 troops inLadakh and they join the exist-ing force levels for deploy-ment in the winter monthsthere. Moreover, the last fewmonths saw the Indian armyaided by the IAF ramping up its

winter stocking in terms oflogistical supplies and prefab-ricated huts. The special win-ter clothes and insulated hutswill help the soldiers with-stand harsh cold when tem-peratures dip to minus 20 to 25degrees. The Chinese are alsotaking similar measures.

Meanwhile, the two sideshave reaffirmed their resolve tofollow the five-point planmutually agreed by ExternalAffairs Minister S Jaishankarand his Chinese Wang Yi inbilateral talks in Moscow onSeptember 10. The two minis-ters also stressed the need forcontinuing the dialogue in aneffort to disengage as soon aspossible. The talks were held onthe sidelines of the ShanghaiC o o p e r a t i o nOrganisation(SCO)foreignministers conclave.

At present, the entire 1,700km long LAC in Ladakh istense with both the armiesdeploying a total of more thanone lakh troops besides heavyweapons.

Moreover, the next roundof talks will take place when theQuad countries includingIndia, US, Japan and Australiaare taking part in the Malabarseries of naval exercise off theBay of Bengal. China hadobjected to the inclusion ofAustralia in the exercise heldannually. However, India wentahead and invited theAustralian navy for the presti-gious event.

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The Congress on Wednesdayalleged that the prices of

edible oil are “skyrocketing”because of the “faulty” policiesof the Government and eventhe festival spirits have beendampened due to it.

Former Congress chiefRahul Gandhi tweeted whilefarmers are already bearing theprice of the Centre’s faulty farmpolicies, consumers are feelingthe pinch of rising retail prices.

Congress spokespersonSupriya Shrinate said peoplewere already “struggling” withprices of onion, potato, tomatoand now around the festival sea-son, they are also grappling withthe high prices of cooking oil.

“Prices of edible oil areskyrocketing because of thefailures of the central govern-ment,” Shrinate said at AICCPress briefing.

Prices of groundnut oil,soya bean oil, mustard oil,sunflower oil and peanut oilhave risen only because of the

“faulty” policies of thisgovernment, shealleged.

“Oil is used byeveryone who cooks inIndia. So from thepoorest person to therichest man and thereis no elast icity indemand here,” she said.

“They (the govern-ment) should have taken careof this. You cannot make basiccommodities unaffordable.You have made a basic com-modity unaffordable in India,”Shrinate said.

She said the poor werestruck by a “double whammy”as unlike high prices earlier,the rise in prices now havebeen being preceded by joblosses and wage cuts.

“Which is where this gov-ernment is immoral, which iswhere this government is inef-ficient and we strongly call outinefficiency and immorality oftheirs,” Shrinate said.

The UPA government hadstarted a big mission, but thisgovernment did not take it toits logical conclusion and thatis why the price of edible oilshas increased between 33 percent and 50 per cent, shesaid.

“Today, we see that thedishes before the festivalshave been devoid of theirsweetness, because the pricesof the oil they will be cookedin are on fire,” Shrinate said.

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The Election Commission isorganising an

International Virtual ElectionVisitors Programme 2020(IEVP) for foreign ElectionManagement Bodies (EMBs)and Organisations fromNovember 5 to 7, in the con-text of the ongoing BiharLegislat ive AssemblyElections. Delegates from over40 countries across the worldincluding Afghanistan,Australia, Bangladesh,Cambodia, Indonesia, Malawi,Maldives, Moldova, Mongolia,Mauritius, Nepal, Philippines,Suriname, Trinidad andTobago, Ukraine, Uzbekistanand Zambia etc. and 3 inter-national organisations (viz.International IDEA,International Foundation ofElectoral Systems (IFES) andAssociation of World ElectionBodies (A-WEB) have beeninvited to participate in theIEVP.

In the past, EC has orga-nized International ElectionVisitor Programmes (IEVPs)for foreign

EMBs/Organisations in2014 Lok Sabha elec-tions; elections for a fewState Assemblies inFeb/March 2017 and LokSabha Elections in May2019.

The programmeIEVP 2020 comprises anonline briefing session onNov 5 which would provide tothe participants an overviewof the large canvas of Indianelectoral process, the new ini-tiatives taken by EC on voterfacilitation, transparency andaccessibility of electoral sys-tem; and EC’s response tothe changing needs of trainingand capacity building.

On the second day, theProgramme will provide aunique over view of theCommission’s flagship pro-gramme for voter awareness –SVEEP (Systematic Voters’Education and ElectoralParticipation).

The Chief Electoral Officerof Bihar will share the State’sexperiences with the globalaudience.

On the last day, the partic-ipants are being invited to a vir-tual tour of polling stations inBihar.

The visit will be amplifiedby exclusive footage, a walk-through of the electoral process,and various arrangements at thepolling station for a free, fair,participative and safe election.

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The Supreme Court onWednesday refused to

entertain a plea seeking a direc-tion to the Centre to frameguidelines to regulate the workand domain of private detec-tives till a codified act comesinto existence.

The plea had also soughtdirections to the government toset up a mechanism to preventtransmission of unlawfully pro-cured personal details of Indiancitizens to foreign countries.

“You please withdraw it orwe will dismiss it,” a benchheaded by Justice R F Narimantold senior advocate VibhaDatta Makhija, who wasappearing for the petitioner.

Makhija, who argued thatsnooping by private agencies isnot regulated and the issue isneeded to be considered, with-drew the petition.

The plea, filed by aHaryana-based woman, allegedthat two private detectives whoare directors of a Delhi-basedcompany had illegally record-ed and filmed her personaldetails without authorisationfrom any authority and for-warded them to a person basedin the US.

The petition alleged thatthe US national is using those“fraudulently procured details”in a court of law there.

During the hearing con-ducted through video-confer-encing, the bench askedMakhija, “You only tell us as tohow we can issue a writ ofmandamus to a private body”.

“Can we issue writ to suchpersons,” the bench, also com-prising justices Navin Sinhaand Krishna Murari, said.

The petitioner’’s counselsaid that writ of mandamus canbe issued to the Ministry ofHome Affairs and there is nolaw to regulate this.

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The Institute of CharteredAccountants of India

(ICAI) told the SupremeCourt on Wednesday that itcannot hold the upcomingCA exam online as suggestedby some of the candidates, inview of COVID-19, as it teststhe analytical capabilities ofthe examinees.

The ICAI said its 3-hourexam is of a different patternaltogether, which havedescriptive answers and nottick marks.

A bench of Justices A MKhanwilkar, DineshMaheshwari and SanjivKhanna asked the ICAI topublish on its website thesteps taken for students wel-fare with regard to COVID-19 and disposed of the peti-t ion seeking a detai ledStandard Operat ingProcedure (SOP) for theexaminees in the upcomingCA exams.

The CharteredAccountant exams are sched-uled to be held on November21 to December 14.

During the hearing, senioradvocate Ramji Srinivasan,appearing for the ICAI, saidthat they don’t have any iso-lation room as examinationcentres and don’t have thefacilities for doctors.

He said that as directed bythe top court in its last hearing, they have examinedall the suggestions given byadvocate Bansuri Swaraj, representing the petitioners.

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Extensive lung damagecaused by the persistence of

coroanvirus induced abnor-mal “fused cells,” is the reasonfor long sufferings such astiredness and lack of breath ofthe Covid-19 infected patients,a study published in TheLancet’s eBioMedicine has said.

The observation by thescientists explains the reasonsfor Covid-19 patients’ com-plaining of fatigue and breath-lessness besides other symp-toms.

Rresearchers led by King’sCollege London analysed theorgans of 41 patients who diedof Covid-19 at the UniversityHospital of Trieste, Italy. Theteam took lung, heart, liver, andkidney samples to examine thebehaviour of the virus.

The findings showedextensive lung damage in mostcases, with patients experienc-ing profound disruption of thenormal lung structure and thetransformation of respiratorytissue into fibrotic material.

Almost 90 per cent ofpatients showed two addition-al characteristics that were

quite unique to Covid-19 com-pared to other forms of pneu-monia.

First, patients showedextensive blood clotting of thelung arteries and veins (throm-bosis). Second, several lungcells were abnormally largeand had many nuclei, resultingfrom the fusion of differentcells into single large cells.

This formation of fusedcells (syncytia) is due to theviral spike protein, which thevirus uses to enter the cell.When the protein is present onthe surface of cells infected bythe Covid-19 virus, it stimulates their fusion withother normal lung cells, whichcan be a cause for inflamma-tion and thrombosis,” theauthors wrote in a paper pub-lished in

The Lancet’s eBioMedicine,by King’s College London incollaboration with University ofTrieste and the InternationalCentre for Genetic Engineeringand Biology in Italy.

Additionally, researchshowed the long-term persis-tence of the viral genome inrespiratory cells and in cells lin-ing the blood vessels, along

with the infected cell syncytia. The presence of theseinfected cells can cause themajor structural changes

observed in lungs, which canpersist for several weeks ormonths and could eventuallyexplain ‘long Covid’.

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If you are showing gastroin-testinal symptoms such as

nausea, vomiting, abdominalpain and diarrhea, thenchances are high that youmight be infected with Covid-19.

A team of researchers,after examining findings from36 studies published throughJuly 15, said “There’s a grow-ing amount of literature show-ing that abdominal sympto-matology is a common pre-sentation for Covid-19.”

Abdominal radiologistsmust remain vigilant duringthe pandemic while imagingpatients, said the researchers intheir study published in thejournal Abdominal Radiology.

Mitch Wilson, a radiologistand clinical lecturer in theUniversity of Alberta inCanada said “that In additionto gastrointestinal symptoms,they also determined potentialsigns radiologists should lookfor while conducting abdom-inal imaging that could beevidence of COVID-19 infec-

tion.”Those signs include

inflammation of the small andlarge bowel, air within thebowel wall (pneumatosis) andbowel perforation (pneu-moperitoneum). The signs arequite rare, said the researchers,and could indicate patientswith advanced disease.

“Seeing these things is notnecessarily telling us a patienthas COVID-19,” said Wilson.

“It could be from a varietyof potential causes. But one ofthose potential causes is infec-tion from the virus, and in anenvironment where COVID-19 is very prevalent, it’s some-thing to consider and poten-tially raise as a possibility to thereferring physician,” he said.

The researchers cited tenstudies of 23 patients (2 ofwhich are pediatric cases)demonstrating thickening ofvarious regions of the smalland large bowel wall.Hyperemia and mesentericthickening have also beenobserved in tandem withbowel wall thickening, theysaid.

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Asingle cough droplet —under wind speed of two

metres per second — cantravel up to 6.6 metres andeven further under dry airconditions due to dropletevaporation, researchers havefound after they incorporat-ed important aspects of fluidphysics to deepen the under-standing of viral transmission.

In a paper published inthe journal ‘Physics of Fluids’,researchers from the Instituteof High PerformanceComputing in Singapore con-ducted a numerical study ondroplet dispersion using high

fidelity air flow simulation.“In addition to wearing a

mask, we found social dis-tancing to be generally effec-tive, as droplet deposition isshown to be reduced on a per-son who is at least one metrefrom the cough,” said studyauthor Fong Yew Leong.

A typical cough emitsthousands of droplets acrossa wide size range.

The scientists found largedroplets settled on the groundquickly due to gravity butcould be projected one metreby the cough jet even withoutwind.

Medium-sized dropletscould evaporate into smaller

droplets, which are lighterand more easily borne by thewind, and these travelled fur-ther.

The researchers offer amore detailed picture ofdroplet dispersion as theyincorporated the biologicalconsiderations of the virus,such as the nonvolatile con-tent in droplet evaporation,into the modelling of the air-borne dispersion of droplets.

“An evaporating dropletretains the non-volatile viralcontent, so the viral loadingis effectively increased,” saidauthor Hongying Li.

“This means that evapo-rated droplets that become

aerosols are more susceptibleto be inhaled deep into the lungs, which causesinfection lower down the res-piratory tract, than largerunevaporated droplets”.

The researchers usedcomputational tools to solvecomplex mathematical for-mulations representing airflow and the airborne coughdroplets around human bodies at various wind speedsand when impacted by otherenvironmental factors.

The findings are hugelydependent on the environmental conditions,such as wind speed, humidi-ty levels.

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After registering afall in weekly new

coronavirus cases,dropping to almost38,000 on Monday,India registered a riseon Wednesday incases with 46,253fresh infections, taking theCovid-19 tally to 83,13,876.The good news is that 53,357patients have been recoveredand discharged in the last 24hours, higher than those whowere infected during the sameperiod.

The total recovered casesare more than 76.5 Lakhs(76,56,478) thereby enhanc-ing the difference with respectto the active cases. In another

achievement, the nationalRecovery Rate has surpassed 92per cent, said the Union HealthMinistry.

The death toll has spiked to1,23,611 after 514 more fatali-ties were reported, as per theMinistry. The average dailyCovid deaths have declinedfrom 1,165 recorded during theCovid peak in mid-Septemberto about 500 in the past week,the Ministry has said.

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The Supreme CourtWednesday laid down

guidelines for interim com-pensation and quantum ofmaintenance in matrimonialcases to ensure uniformityand consistency in practiceadopted by different courts.

A bench of Justices InduMalhotra and R SubhashReddy said directions arerequired to be passed to over-come the issue of overlappingjurisdiction and avoid con-flicting orders.

The apex court issuedguidelines on aspects of --Issue of overlapping jurisdic-tion, payment of interimmaintenance, criteria fordetermining the quantum ofmaintenance, date fromwhich maintenance is to beawarded and Enforcement /Execution of orders of main-tenance.

On overlapping jurisdic-tion, the top court directedthat where successive claimsfor maintenance are made bya party under dif ferentstatutes, the court would con-sider an adjustment or set offof the amount awarded in the previous proceeding/s whiledetermining whether any fur-ther amount is to be awarded in the subsequentproceeding.

“It is made mandatoryfor the applicant to disclosethe previous proceeding andthe orders passed therein, inthe subsequent proceeding. Ifthe order passed in the pre-vious proceeding/s requiresany modification or variation,it would be required to bedone in the same proceeding,”

the bench said.The bench directed that

to avoid conflicting orders ina subsequent maintenanceproceeding, the applicantshall disclose the previousmaintenance proceeding, andthe orders passed therein.

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Enforcement Directorate officialswho reached Thiruvanantha-

puram on Tuesday conducted ‘raids’on in the residence of BineeshKodiyeri, son of Marxist strongmanKodiyeri Balakrishnan, and his busi-ness premises in the capital city onWednesday. A simultaneous ‘raid’ washeld in the residence of Bineesh’s busi-ness associate at Kannur.

It was known from Tuesdayitself that the house and businesspremises of Bineesh and his associ-ates would be raided on Wednesday.Bineesh has been arrested by the EDfrom Bangalore and he is being ques-tioned about his alleged role in

financing drug trafficker AnoopMohammed, who was arrested by theNarcotics Control Bureau for drugtrafficking.

The ED team went to the residenceof Bineesh at a suburb in the capital city.But the house remained locked sincethe other inmates, Bineesha’s fatherKodiyeri Balakrishnan, motherVinodini and wife had shifted to thepenthouse apartment of the CPI(M) inthe city centre.

The house was opened in thepresence of Bineesh’s family membersand examined by the sleuths. Later,they inspected Car Palace, UAFXSolutions, Torres Remedies, CapitoLights and the office of KK RockQuarry spread across the city.

Padmanabhan, whose son Anand isthe managing director of TorresRemedies, told reporters that therewas nothing illegal about the func-tioning of the company and all arefree to inspect the papers. He said heknew Bineesh, a good gentleman, formore than a decade.

But ED officials said that therewere discrepancies in the details fur-nished by Bineesh to the Income Taxdepartment as well as the ED.“Though his taxable income for thelast seven years has been shown asRs 1.22 crore, the bank accounts inhis name show he had received Rs5.17 crore. The explanation given byhim is not convincing and there aremany discrepancies,” said an official.

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The Union Territory ofJammu & Kashmir is set to

witness maiden polls in whichWest Pakistani Refugees aregoing to exercise their right tofranchise to fill the seats ofDistrict Development Councils(DDC) in eight phases begin-ning November 28. With theannouncement of the pollschedule the model code ofconduct has also been imposedwith immediate effect.

Addressing a press confer-ence here in Jammu onWednesday, newly appointedState Election CommissionerKK Sharma along with theChief Electoral OfficerHridesh Kumar announcedthat elections for the vacantseats of sarpanchs and panchsand Urban Local Bodies(ULBs) will also be held simul-taneously with the DDC polls.

The eight phase poll sched-ule will begin from November28 and will conclude onDecember 22. Elaborate secu-rity arrangements wouldremain in place to ensure inci-dent free polls. “We are alsotaking care of Covid-19 guide-lines to ensure safety of voters,especially senior citizens andCovid-19 positive patients,”State Election Commissionersaid.

The first formal notifica-tion for the first phase of elec-tions will be issued onNovember 5, Sharma said.

He said delimitation hasbeen done for the constituen-cies and 280 DDCs have beenidentified across the J&K UT.“The term of the DDC will befor five years,” Sharma said.

“Each DDC in J&K has 14 con-stituencies,” Sharma said.

Welcoming the pollannouncement, President ofthe West Pakistan RefugeeAction Committee Labha RamGandhi told The Pioneer, “Weare gearing up to participate inthe District DevelopmentCouncil polls and Urban Localbodies”. He said, “previously weonly voted for Parliamentarypolls and in the absence of vot-ing rights in the Assembly andPanchayat elections we werekept out of the grass roots pol-itics. Now we can field our can-didates and support them tostrengthen the grass roots pol-itics on ground zero”. The ChiefElectoral Officer HrideshKumar told reporters thatpolling will take place throughElectronic Voting Machines(EVMs) while postal ballotswill be available for Covid-19patients in isolation, seniorcitizens and physically unwellpatients.

State ElectionCommissioner KK Sharma saidthat electoral rolls used inSarpanch and Panch electionsthat have been updated onJanuary 1, 2020, will be used forthe DDC polls.

Polls will also be held sub-sequently for 228 vacant seatsof ULBs. Sharma said thatafter taking feedback from var-ious security agencies, a prop-er security mechanism willremain in place and “all con-cerns have been taken into con-sideration.”

He said the expenditurelimit for the DDC polls percandidate is Rs 5 lakh, 1 lakhfor Sarpanch seat and Rs 50,000for Panch seat.

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As part of the unlocking of Covid 19-trig-gered lockdown, the Maharashtra

Government on Wednesday announced itsdecision to allow re-opening of cinema halls,drama theatres, multiplexes, swimmingpools, indoor sports centres and yoga insti-

tutes to reopen outside containment zonesfrom Thursday.

However, despite demands from theOpposition BJP and other organisations forthe re-opening of temples and places of wor-ship, the State Government made noannouncements to this effect in its notifica-tion. In its notification, the MaharashtraGovernment said that the cinema halls, mul-tiplexes and drama theatres would be allowedto operate with 50 per cent of seating capac-ity and no eatables will be allowed inside.

The Maharashtra Government, which

has extended the lockdown till November30, announced that all indoor sports likebadminton, tennis, squash and indoorshooting ranges will also be allowed to oper-ate from Thursday.

The State Government also announcedthat Yoga Institutes outside the containmentzones would be allowed to function fromNovember 5. “Swimming pools being used fortraining of State, National and Internationallevel sportspersons, outside the containmentzones, will be allowed to operate with effectfrom November 5. The SOPs for the same will

be issued by the Sports and Youth AffairsDepartment. The Sports and Youth AffairsDepartment will take into consideration theSOPs issued by the Ministry of Youth Affairsand Sports, Government of India,” the noti-fication stated. “Cinema halls, theatres, mul-tiplexes and drama theatres will be allowed toopen with 50 per cent of their seating capac-ity in areas outside the Containment Zonesonly with effect from November 5. No eata-bles will be allowed inside the cinema halls,theatres, multiplexes and drama theatres,” thenotification added.

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Uttar Pradesh Governmenthas imposed a complete

ban on Chinese firecrackersand the Deputy Chief ofExplosive Control Board, Agrahas also issued an order toarrest those who do so.

The sale and storage of for-eign firecrackers are bannedunder section 84 of theExplosives Act, 2008.

Deputy Chief of ExplosiveControl Board, Agra Dr. APSingh has issued an order to allDistrict Magistrate of the statestating that the manufacture,import, storage and sale ofsuch fireworks in India is ille-gal which include chloratechemicals (potassium chlorate,

sulforate etc.) This should bereported to the local police.

There is a provision ofpunishment under part 2 ofsection B of the Explosive Substances Act, 1908 for sale or storage of for-eign firecrackers, which cancarry life imprisonment or rig-orous imprisonment for up to10 years.

However, a three-memberteam decides the punishment,which includes DistrictMagistrate or first-class mag-istrate nominated on his behalf,District Arsenal In-charge andSuperintendent of Police levelofficers.

Most of the foreign crack-ers in the Indian market arefrom China.

Aligarh: The Phase-III, Covid-19 Covaxin tri-als will commence from 14th November atAMU’s Jawaharlal Nehru Medical CollegeHospital (JNMCH) aimed at evaluating the safe-ty and efficacy of the Covid-19 vaccine study ledin collaboration with ICMR and Bharat Biotech.JNMCH is the stand-alone site in Uttar Pradeshchosen for the trail by Indian Council forMedical Research (ICMR).

Registration of the subjects will start from10th November in the Old OPD Block Hall ofJNMCH from 9 am to 2 pm.

Prof Tariq Mansoor (Vice-Chancellor ofAMU) said that JNMC has enhanced thepreparations for the trails after a nod from theICMR which has sanctioned scientific, techni-cal and non-technical staff and financial grantfor the same. PNS

Aligarh: Tension emerged inthe old braj region, includingAligarh after some Muslimyouths offered Namaz inNandbaba temple in Mathuraand four youths read hanumanchalisa at the Idgah. This brijregion includes Aligarh,Mathura, Agra, kasganj,Hathras and Etah. Because ofwhich the intelligence forcesare keeping a close vigil onthese type of places so that suchtype of incidents does notbreak the social fabric andcommunal harmony in theseregions.

Aligarh is a sensitive city asit has a 100 year old history ofriots related to violation ofcommunal harmony and also acity which is a workplace ofSIMMI, an terrorist organisa-tion. The police and local intel-

ligence are keeping close vigilon such religious places so asto maintain communal har-mony.

According to intelligencesources this atmosphere of ten-sion began after the incident ofreading Namaz in a temple inUttar Pradesh, and readingHanuman Chalisa in Idgahhas come up. A case has beenregistered against four youthsfor reciting Hanuman Chalisaat Idgah in Govardhan area ofMathura. The video of this isalso becoming viral on socialmedia. The police have takenthe four youths into custody.

Four youths recitedHanuman Chalisa at Ibadatgahon Barsana Marg in Govardhanarea of Mathura. After this, theyouths made the photos viralon social media. PNS

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New Delhi: To boost the BJP’s preparations for next year’s WestBengal Assembly polls, Union Minister and senior party leaderAmit Shah will be on a two-day visit to the state from Thursday,during which he will have lunch with tribal and refugee fami-lies, the party’s national media in-charge Anil Baluni said onWednesday. Sharing details of Shah’s visit, he said the party’s for-mer president will hold number of meetings in Bankura andKolkata with booth workers, influencers and representatives ofdifferent communities. PTI

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French PresidentEmmanuel Macron musthave had the best inten-tions in mind when heproposed to pass a legisla-

tion to defend the secular values ofthe country. The Christians see theproposed law as a welcome anti-separatist drive which is long over-due. As the President has said,“Secularism is the cement of a unit-ed France.” Many others wouldagree with him. The Americans areproud of the wall of separation thattheir Constitution has built betweenreligion and the State. But hardlyany Muslim can see eye to eye withthis view.

The reason is that Islam does notapprove of religion being separatefrom the State or, for that matter,distinguish between any aspect oflife and religion. ProphetMuhammad was also the ruler ofHejaz (Mecca and Medina area). Hewas simultaneously a trader, soldierand a family man. So were his rep-resentatives or Caliphs; the last ofwhom was at once the head ofSunni Islam and the Sultan ofTurkey. There was and is no gulfbetween the spiritual and the mate-rial. Islam is a comprehensive pre-scription of life and does not per-mit any compartmentalisation. Thisis unlike the Bible, which expound-ed early in the Old Testament thatgive unto Caesar what is his andkeep for God what is his.

The Reformation, which wasled by Martin Luther and JohnCalvin in the 16th century, was pos-sible only because it was consistentwith what was ordained in theChristian holy book. No Pope,then or later, stood in its path withany degree of determination. In fact,the first separation in Christianitytook place early in the fourth cen-tury when Emperor Constantinemoved from Rome and encouragedthe formation of the OrthodoxEastern Church, based in nowwhat is Istanbul. His mother Helenahad the Church built at Nazareth indedication to Roman Mary, themother of Jesus Christ. HagiaSophia was built by the EasternRoman Emperor Justinian in 537,which has recently been reconvert-ed into a mosque by PresidentRecep Tayyip Erdogan of Turkey.

The Eastern Church does notaccept the belief in the Trinity ofFather, Son and the Holy Ghost. Itconfines its theology to the first twowhereas the Roman Catholics havefull faith in the Trinity. In other

words, the two Churches, theRoman and the Eastern dif-fered on a canonical principle.Islam, on the other hand, has notpermitted any difference of beliefon a canonical basis. The Sunnisand the Shias split on the ques-tion of who should be allowed tobe the Caliph. The latter felt thathe should belong to the blood-line of Prophet Muhammadwhereas the former believedthat he could be anyone from theQuraish tribe. The Shias fellbecause Imam Hussayn, thegrandson of the Prophet, wasdenied his rightful succession tohis father Hazrat Ali, who was anephew of Muhammad.

What is being emphasisedhere is that there is a gulfbetween Islam and Christianity,which Muslims are unable tobridge with secularism. A wall isbeing built between religion andthe State. India has had a simi-lar experience. In order to avoidPartition in 1947, MahatmaGandhi went to the extent ofinviting Mohammed Ali Jinnahto be the Prime Minister of anundivided India with full discre-tion. But even that failed to bringabout a reconciliation. This wasnotwithstanding the Muslimshaving lived in India since theearly 13th century. Until theBritish began to capture powerin India since 1757, Muslimsruled the greater parts of the sub-continent as sultans, nawabs orbadshahs. Muslims do not enjoydemocracy and secularism asthese contradict the Quran,which does not prescribe any-thing like the Biblical recom-mendation of God and Caesarbeing given their separate roleson earth.

Sharia or the Islamic law orig-inates from the Quran and is,therefore, indispensable toMuslims. How can a truly secu-lar country have two differentlaws being followed by differentcommunities? In India, we havethe extraordinary situation ofpolygamy or even bigamy beingprohibited since 1955. Yet theMuslim men can have up to fourspouses. Our Constitution, in itsPreamble, calls India secularbut that is a different matter.

Islamic theology recommendsthat Muslims should ideallyreside in a Darul Islam or landof Islam. India or rather theMughal empire was a DarulIslam until the reign of BahadurShah Zafar (1857-58). When theQueen of England took overfrom the East India Company, itbecame Darul Harb or land ofconflict. The Muslim endeavourshould be to reconvert it backinto Darul Islam; if that is notpossible, Muslims should under-take hijrat or migration to acountry which is a Darul Islam.In 1920, as a result of a feared fail-ure of the Khilafat movement,half a million Indian Muslims setoff for Afghanistan. While some20,000 odd remained there, therest were deported by the KabulGovernment.

The root of the present trou-ble in France may be in the fail-ure of President Erdogan tohelp Turkey join the EuropeanUnion. Had he succeeded,Turkish people could havemoved to wherever they chose,and the dream of Eurabia couldhave been achieved. On therebound, Erdogan turnedtowards dreaming about aCaliphate. Until 1924, the Sultan

of Turkey was the Caliph of allSunni Muslims. Mustafa KemalPasha abolished the institutionand exiled him. Nevertheless,Erdogan, evidently, is unable totake his eyes off Europe and hasencouraged a significant numberof available men of any nation-ality to infiltrate France to killand terrorise ChristianFrenchmen. Little wonder thenthat President Macron hasordered several hundred imamsto leave France.

The killer of the schoolteacher,Samuel Paty, was an illegal immi-grant and the recent killers atNice were also similar infiltrators.Legalised Muslim settlers inFrance would be opposed to thekilling as a pathway to Eurabia.They would prefer the quietstrategy of big families andencouraging more immigrationfrom say, Algeria, Tunisia andMorocco. The French welfarerules are such that a family of fiveor six children can sustain a mid-dle-class life without anyonehaving to work. TheGovernment introduced suchliberal rules in order to encour-age larger White families but theyare being constructively used bythe settlers who live in Beneluxor the thousands of apartmentsin tall buildings around cities.

This tale of France is not a newone. India went through a some-what similar experience whichresulted in the birth of Pakistan.Nobody is to be blamed exceptthe short-sightedness of themajority as well as its lack of willto unite in order to find a solu-tion.

(The writer is a well-knowncolumnist and an author. Viewsexpressed are personal)

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������������Sir — I read the article,Beheadings in France, by A SuryaPrakash, published in this paperon November 3, with great inter-est and was immediately trans-ported to my youthful dayswhen the world was quite differ-ent from what it is today. Mostof the Muslim countries werefairly liberal in their outlook.However, things began to changeand liberal Islamic regimes gaveway to hardcore polities one afteranother. And now they havemoved to the next level.Extremist forces have spreadtheir wings beyond the so-calledIslamic world and secular, demo-cratic and liberal countries,where they have migrated bychoice, are their present victims.It is a matter of both anger andconcern not just for France alonebut for everyone who cares aboutliberal and democratic values. Itis so easy to lose one’s cool onsuch emotive issues but I foundthe said article so restrained, bal-anced, logical and objective.

As a senior and matured jour-nalist, Prakash has handled thissensitive subject deftly and witha great sense of responsibility.Points have been made in a calm,dignified and dispassionate man-

ner but without losing the punchand force of his contentions.

Dhirenjan Malvey

�������������������Sir — The Delhi Governmenthas launched a campaign tourge people not to burn fire-crackers this Diwali as the airquality continues to deteriorate,which is of great concern this

year owing to the relentlessCOVID-19 pandemic. TheGovernment has also publisheda list of over 800 open spacesacross the city where peoplewill be permitted to burn “green”firecrackers between 8 pm and 10pm on November 14.

In 2018 and 2019, despite theban on the sale of traditional fire-crackers, pollution levels in thecity saw a major spike after

Diwali. This was mainly due tothe lack of availability of low-emission varieties of fire crack-ers and limited awareness amongthe people. Though the Stateadministration has taken its ownsweet time to take the much-needed step, it is now crucial thatpeople act responsibly and followthe guidelines provided. Also,other States should follow thelead, allow only the use of green

crackers and promote such cam-paigns on their social media han-dles.

Bikash BarpujariGuwahati

������������������Sir — The caricaturing ofProphet Muhammad in a Frenchmagazine triggered the violentbeheading of a school teacherand some others by radicalisedMuslims. It is true that the mag-azine invited unnecessary trou-ble. However, it is no justificationto perpetrate violence. Also,freedom of expression should beused wisely and not to vitiate anotherwise peaceful atmosphere.

Freedom of expression hasalso been misused in India andit is time that courts take cogni-sance of people hurting religioussentiments and ensure swiftaction against them. It is crucialthat people disturbing the peaceand creating an atmosphere ofanimosity be given the samecondign punishment as the per-petrators of violence that haveresulted in fatalities and injuries.

KV SeetharamaiahHassan

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In response to the exponential hike in onionprices in the mandis (wholesale fruit and veg-etable bazaars) and retail markets, the Union

Government reintroduced stock limits onOctober 23 on traders and wholesalers byinvoking a provision of the newly-amendedEssential Commodities Act of 1955. Before this,to ease rising prices, the Government hadbanned export of the bulb and relaxed importnorms to increase the stocks available for retailtrade.

Wide price fluctuations are a recurringproblem in the country, with onion prices vary-ing from �10 to �100 during the same year. Insuch a situation, the farmers and consumers losewhile the traders and retailers gain. India pro-duces around one-quarter of the global onionsupply (second only to China) and exports about10 per cent of its total output regularly. Onionis an indispensable staple in Indian kitchens andas it has no substitute, prices are sensitive to sup-ply.

The yearly consumption of onion in India isabout 160 lakh tonnes and between harvests,stored onion is released into retail markets.However, given its perishable nature, it cannotbe stored beyond four to six months as it beginsto spoil after that. Storage losses are generally 30to 40 per cent but this season losses are in therange of 50 to 60 per cent because of heavy rain.Thus, onion prices depend upon seasonal factorsas they not only affect the standing crop but alsodamage the stored harvest.

Onion is mainly a Rabi crop (65 per cent ofproduction). Sown in the month of December-January, it is harvested during April-May and soldat about �10 per kg. A Kharif crop is sown in themonth of May-June and harvested during themonths of October and November. A late Kharifcrop is sown in the months of August-Septemberand harvested during January-February. A Rabiharvest is stable with better storage quality andused for about six months until October, whenthe arrival of the Kharif harvest starts. The mainand recurring problem with the Kharif harvestis that it fluctuates widely and production fallsbelow expectations unpredictably once in twoyears. If the harvest is below expectation, priceswill skyrocket during the months of Septemberand October. Hence, the retail prices of onionsmore than quadrupled between June andSeptember in 2010, 2013, 2015, 2017, 2019 andnow again this year. Last year, too, onion pricesrose due to simultaneous damage to the stand-ing crop in Karnataka as well as to the onion har-vest stored in States like Maharashtra, MadhyaPradesh and Gujarat due to flooding.

Policy decisions, like a ban on exports andpromoting sudden imports to bring down onionprices for the benefit of consumers, definitely hurtthe farmers, who were hoping for better prices.They are of the opinion that when they bear thelosses due to lower prices in a particular season,they have the right to reap the benefits of high-er prices, too. Why should they bear the bruntboth ways? In fact, farmers’ organisations com-plain that the Government favours consumersmore than it does the farmers. It intervenes inthe markets when the prices rise but does not pro-tect the agriculturalists when the prices dip,although Government agencies do procure theproduce above market rates during the harvestperiod.

Even if we keep the problems of the farm-ers aside, the fact remains that the knee-jerk reac-

tion of an export ban diminishesIndia’s credibility as a reliable supplieror exporter in the international com-munity. It will also go against invest-ments in the supply chain of onion mar-kets and importers may look for alter-natives.

If the recently-passed three farmActs are implemented in an effectiveway, these recurring problems could beavoided. Let us look at some alterna-tive policies in the light of the recentfarm reforms.

Price forecasting: The new farmActs clearly emphasise the need tostrengthen market intelligence to trackprice fluctuations. Onion prices areunpredictable, rising from �10 per kgto �100 per kg within a short span ofthree to four months, sometimes evenweeks. A localised flood during the har-vest period increases the prices by threeto four-fold. Hence, there is a need forstrengthening price forecasting systemsbased on agro-meteorological data toinform farmers in onion-growing areasabout taking optimal decisions regard-ing acreage, storage and marketing.This information system will helptraders transport the produce from lowprice areas to high price ones. It willenable them to take decisions like stor-ing the produce while the price is lowand selling it when the price is high.This will help in stabilising pricesacross space and time.

Open market: Onion productionis concentrated in only a few districtsof Maharashtra, Madhya Pradesh,Gujarat and Karnataka. In these dis-tricts, only a few traders in theAgricultural Produce MarketCommittee (APMC) mandis handle ahuge quantity of the bulb, with possi-ble cartel formation to buy at lowerprices from farmers and sell at higherprices to consumers to reap oligopolis-tic profits. There is a need to break these

cartels by encouraging the participationof private traders outside the APMCmandis so that the harvest can be soldto multiple players, including cooper-atives, farmer producer organisation(FPOs) and direct farmer-to-consumerchannels. This will inject competitionin a highly closed system and deter car-tel formation among traders.

Eliminate layers of middlemen:Before an onion stock can go from thefarm gate to the consumer, it has to passthrough as many as four layers of inter-mediaries. The onions have to beloaded, repacked and sorted betweeneach of these middlemen and all ofthem take their share of the profit mar-gin, which increases the retail price forthe consumers. Besides multiple fees,more intermediaries mean an increasein the manual handling of the onions,which results in them rotting beforethey reach consumers. This can beavoided through contract farming or byforming FPOs of growers. In the caseof onion farmers, it is easy to engage incontract farming as they are geograph-ically concentrated and have the com-mon purpose of getting higher prices.

Storage and processing: The Rabiharvest (arrivals in April-May) is storedin hessian bags and ventilated struc-tures without any temperature andhumidity control. These onions are soldin phases, up to September, dependingupon the need and prices. Usuallyprices spike after the sale of all theonions stored after the Rabi harvest inSeptember and October. With betterprice forecasting and adjustment ofacreage and storage decisions, pricescan be smoothened during this period.Further, there is a need for encourag-ing trade in dehydrated onion duringprice spikes, especially for bulk userslike hotels.

Procurement and distributionpolicy : In 2019, the National

Agricultural Cooperative MarketingFederation of India Limited (NAFED)procured 50,000 tonnes of onion dur-ing the peak market arrival months ofApril-May at about �10 per kg andoffloaded it at �23.90 per kg duringSeptember-October. This was doneunder the Price Stability Fund (PSF)scheme of the Central Government tokeep prices stable and tackle the scarci-ty of the bulb. Timely procurement andoffloading based on price forecastingmodels may reduce price fluctuations.However, the size of the procurementhas to be increased from the currentlow level of only one per cent of thedomestic markets to at least 10 per cent,to have a significant impact on pricestability.

Open trade policy: The currentpolicy of highly-regulated trade inonions, especially imports, needs tochange in the spirit of the new farmActs. In such a regulated environment,there are always time lags between sens-ing shortages, allowing imports andactual imports arriving in the retailmarkets. This always leads to higherprice fluctuations. The best way ofsecuring the interest of both the farm-ers and the consumers is through anoptimal mix of acreage allocation,buffer stocks and free trade regime.This must be backed up by scientificprice forecasting models.

Onion is so vital in the Indianhousehold and the domestic marketthat its price has become a yardstick forGovernment price policy performance.Free markets with the right infra-structure, better price forecasting toolsand dissemination of price informationwill deliver a permanent solution to ouronion woes.

(The writer is an agricultural econ-omist, ICAR-Central Research Institutefor Dryland Agriculture, Hyderabad.Views expressed are personal)

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Every year, there are nearly 37.4 mil-lion enrolments in higher educa-tional institutions in the country.

This reflects the student density in Indiaand also the expanding horizons of theeducation sector, which has been grow-ing at a rapid pace every year. However,the sudden “COVID shock” created atremendous negative impact. As aresult of the outbreak and the danger itposed to human lives, universities andcolleges had to be shut down and theirsyllabus curtailed. That was until thesector decided to initiate a revolutioninstead. Making a conscious choice togrow even in the time of crisis, it rein-vented its approach and pedagogy and

decided to digitise several fundamen-tal processes, which were core to itsfunctioning. The education processreforms seen in India and globally, too,in the COVID-19 era are a perfectexample of how necessity is indeed themother of invention. However, gettingback to “normal” is a long way off andin the current scenario, higher educa-tion institutions in India are facing twomajor challenges.

Operational challenges:Maintenance of staff, faculty and infra-structure is becoming difficult as feepayments have been pushed ahead.Expensive infrastructure and expert fac-ulty members make up a substantial partof the expenses for most higher educa-tion institutions. Due to the impact oflate payments and the unexpectedchanges in schedules, universities arestruggling to cover costs. Across thenation, institutions are facing issues withcash flow as are families, faced withmajor salary cuts or job losses in a crum-bling economy.

Another challenge comes from theparents and students, who are unable to

accept the ways and tools of online class-es and find it difficult to adjust to thenew methods of pedagogy. Besides, thefear surrounding classes in brick andmortar classrooms, even with social dis-tancing norms in place, is widely preva-lent and does not seem to be a viablesolution for the moment.

Poor network in far-flung areas:Geography, too, becomes another hur-dle as far as acceptance of the “new nor-mal” is concerned. Numerous studentsresiding in remote areas do not have aproper mobile network or alternativemeans for having a seamless digitalexperience. For example, a studentwho lives with his family near the sub-urbs of Kolkata faces regular networkproblems due to which his classes getdisrupted and his learning gets compro-mised. Similarly, there is a lack of cyberconnectivity even in cities like Jaipur.Students from tier-II and tier-III citieshave to struggle a lot due to connectiv-ity issues and often use dongles to beable to study online. That has its ownchallenges.

Earlier, students had to attend five

or six classes a day but now this has beencurtailed due to online education. Plus,given the lack of blackboards at home,which are used by most teachers todemonstrate practical models of appli-cation, the faculty finds it difficult toexplain problems and share solutions.And even if teachers research andshare findings with the students online,

they cannot be assured of student par-ticipation as they cannot monitor themremotely.

Absence of peer to peer learning:Learning goes far beyond classroomeducation and also involves inter-per-sonal engagement with fellow students.Extra-curricular learning has beenknown to provide a significant impetusto overall personality development.Peer to peer learning, which is a majorsource of new skills and knowledge inhigher institutions, has been majorlycompromised by distancing norms.Apart from this, there are tremendousproblems being faced by design andengineering students as they can learnthrough simulations but are now sadlydevoid of real experiences.

Limiting learning to theory andskipping practical applications hinderthe learning process of students. Thepsychological and mental challengesthat will result from prolonged isolationand lack of interaction for many stu-dents is another factor that needs to beaddressed. Many institutions will needto create in-house expertise for the same.

The way forward: What is the solu-tion to the challenges that the educationsector is facing? While institutes strug-gle to provide an integrated and holis-tic learning experience to students, theyneed a blueprint to bring back a certainlevel of “normalcy” in the sector.

There is a need for Governmentintervention at this point. Even thoughit is doing its best to bring the outbreakunder control, it will be a while beforethe pandemic goes away. Even then, fearand doubts will exist for a long time tocome. Which is why there is an urgentneed to create a plan for students andhigher education institutions in orderto sustain and increase the pace ofgrowth of the sector in the coming days.Additionally, the nature of teachingshould be such that it does not compro-mise on learning outcomes, particular-ly in courses which require laboratorypracticals, case studies or group activ-ity. These, too, merit some portions ofthe courses to be conducted in normalways as opposed to online.

(The writer is Vice-Chancellor, JKLakshmipat University, Jaipur)

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Karachi: A Hindu temple inPakistan’s Sindh province wasvandalised by an angry mobthat also attempted to attackover 300 Hindu families, butwere stopped by Muslims fromentering the century-oldneighbourhood, a mediareport said on Wednesday.

The incident took place onSunday in Sheetal Das com-pound, housing 300 Hinduand 30 Muslim families.

Residents of the neigh-bourhood said that scores ofmen had assembled outside thecompound’s only gate and

many of them intended toattack the Hindu families.

However, the Muslim fam-ilies, residing in and aroundthe compound, were quick toreach the gate and stop themob from entering the area.

“Police, too, reached thespot within a few minutesafter they were informed,” aHindu man, requestinganonymity, told The ExpressTribune.

Another Hindu man said:“Some of the angry men hadmanaged to reach the templeand tried to vandalise it”. PTI

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China vowed Wednesdaythat it will make a “prop-

er and necessary response” ifthe US proceeds with its latestplanned arms sale to Taiwan.

Foreign ministryspokesperson Wang Wenbinsaid the sale of USD 600 mil-lion in armed drones to theisland “brutally interferes inChina’s internal affairs andseriously undermines China’ssovereignty and security inter-ests.”

The US should cancel allsuch sales to Taiwan “so as toavoid further damage toChina-US relations and peaceand stability in the TaiwanStrait,” Wang told reporters ata daily briefing.

China, which claimsTaiwan as its own territory,will make a “proper and nec-essary response according tothe development of the situa-tion,” Wang said.

The State Department saidTuesday it had greenlightedTaiwan’s purchase of four“weapons ready” remotelypiloted aircraft and relatedequipment, the latest in aseries of arms transfers for theisland.

In its announcement, thedepartment said the proposedsale “serves U.S. National, eco-nomic, and security interestsby supporting the recipient’scontinuing efforts to mod-ernize its armed forces and tomaintain a credible defensivecapability.”

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The US formally exited theParis Climate Agreement

on Wednesday amid electionuncertainty, three years afterPresident Donald Trumpannounced his intent toremove the country from par-ticipating in the landmarkglobal pact to reduce green-house gas emissions.

President Trump original-ly announced his intention towithdraw from the agreementin 2017 and formally notifiedthe United Nations last year.

The US exited the pactafter a mandatory year-longwaiting period ended onWednesday.

The historic accord seeksto limit global warming to lessthan 2 degrees Celsius, thevalue that climate scientistshave determined will havedisastrous consequences ifexceeded.

Trump has repeatedly crit-icised the agreement as eco-nomically detrimental andclaimed it could cost the coun-try 2.5 million jobs by 2025.

He also said it gave othermajor emitters, like Chinaand India, a free pass.

The US is the only coun-try to withdraw from the glob-al pact. It can still attendnegotiations and give opin-ions, but is relegated to“observer status”.

Trump stated that heintended to renegotiate thedetails of the United States’smembership within the ParisAgreement that can betterprotect US workers in indus-tries like coal, paper, and steel.

The US is the second lead-ing producer of all carbondioxide emissions globally,behind China.

But whether the US exitturns out to be brief or lastingdepends on the outcome of thepresidential contest, TheWashington Post said.

A possible second Trumpterm would make clear that aninternational effort to slowthe Earth’s warming will notinclude the US government.

Washington: Twitter onWednesday placed a “disputed”label on a tweet from PresidentDonald Trump in which heaccused the rival Biden cam-paign of trying to “steal” thetightly-contested 2020 presi-dential elections.

In his first reaction to theelection results, Trump tweet-ed, “We are up BIG, but theyare trying to STEAL theElection. We will never letthem do it. Votes cannot be castafter the Polls are closed!”

The tweet was placedbehind a warning on the pres-ident’s account that the contentshared is “disputed and mightbe misleading about an electionor other civic process.” Twitterhas taken similar action against

Trump’s account in the past.Facebook also flagged the

post of president Trump. “Finalresults may be different frominitial vote counts, as ballotscounting will continue for daysand weeks,” Facebook said,quoting Bipartisan PolicyCenter.

The social media giant alsoflagged the second post byTrump in which he claimedthat he is winning big and willsoon make a statement.

“I will be making a state-ment tonight. A big WIN!” hesaid.

Flagging the post,

Facebook said, “the winner ofthe 2000 US PresidentialElection has not been project-ed.”

Earlier, Twitter pinned awarning on a Trump cam-paign tweet declaring victory inthe battleground state of SouthCarolina, saying it was prema-ture and not confirmed byofficial sources.

A message under the tweet,in which the campaign trum-peted that Trump had won theSouthern state, said “officialsources may not have called therace when this was Tweeted,”the Politico reported.

The action came even asmultiple news outlets - includ-ing The New York Times, TheWashington Post, CNN andPOLITICO - have similarlyprojected that President Trumpwill win the state, the report

said.The tweet, said the social

media giant, violates a rulerolled out for this election thatrequires such tweets to bebacked by calls from at leasttwo of seven specified newsorganisations.

Twitter, though, left alonea similar Trump campaigntweet declaring victory inFlorida because, the companysaid, it included a nod to oneof Twitter’s seven approvedrace callers.

The US’ biggest socialmedia companies have inrecent days said that so-calledpremature declarations of vic-tory were one of their prima-ry concerns headed into thisfraught Election Day, especial-ly on a night expected to be fullof close contests across thecountry. PTI

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Washington: In an impressiveshow, all the four Indian-American Democratic law-makers — Dr Ami Bera,Pramila Jayapal, Ro Khannaand Raja Krishnamoorthi —have been re-elected to the USHouse of Representatives.

The Indian-Americancommunity has emerged as aforce to reckon with for thefirst time in the history of theUS presidential election. Boththe Democrat and theRepublican campaigns hadinitiated several measures towoo the approximately 1.8million members of the com-

munity who have emerged asa critical voting bloc in the bat-tleground states of Florida,Georgia, Michigan, NorthCarolina, Pennsylvania, andTexas.

The so-called ‘Samosacaucus’, a termed coined byKrishnamoorthi for informalgrouping of Indian-Americanlawmakers, might expand withat least one more as physicianDr Hiral Tipirneni was lead-ing against Republican incum-bent David Schweikert fromthe sixth Congressional districtof Arizona when last reportscame in. PTI

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Nearly 69 per cent Muslimvoters cast their ballot for

Democratic Presidential nom-inee Joe Biden while 17 per centsupported President DonaldTrump, according to a surveyconducted by Muslim civil lib-erties and advocacy organisa-tion in the US.

The Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR), thenation’s largest Muslim civilrights and advocacy organisa-tion, released the results of its2020 Muslim Voters PresidentialElection Exit Poll on Tuesday.

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Washington: DemocratParty’s Ritchie Torres hasmade history by becomingthe first openly gay Black manelected to the US Congress.

Torres, 32, a New YorkCity Council Member, wonthe election from New York’s15th Congressional District,defeating Republican PatrickDelices to become the nextrepresentative, New YorkDaily News reported.

“Tonight, a new erabegins for the South Bronx,”Torres said in a statement. “Itis the honour of a lifetime torepresent a borough filledwith essential workers whohave risked their lives sothat New York City couldlive. PTI

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New Delhi:Adani GreenEnergy on Wednesday report-ed over 82 per cent decline inits consolidated net profit to�17.57 crore in Septemberquarter mainly due to higherexpenses. The consolidated netprofit of the company was �102.29 crore in the quarterended on September 30, 2019,a BSE filing said. Total incomeof the company rose to �718.14crore in the quarter from�711.96 crore in same period ayear ago. It said that theimpact of COVID-10 outbreakon the business and financial

position of the group is not sig-nificant and the managementwill continue to closely moni-tor the performance of thegroup. The group’s activitiesrevolve around renewablepower generation and otherancillary activities. GautamAdani, Chairman, Adani GreenEnergy Ltd said in the state-ment, "the company is comingtogether in line with our ambi-tion of achieving of renewablepower capacity of 25 GW by2025 and becoming the world’slargest renewable power com-pany by 2030." PTI

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On the third day of thecommercial coal mining

auction on Wednesday, JindalPower won a block inChhattisgarh, while JMSMining made the highest bidfor a mine in Madhya Pradesh.

Boulder Stone Mart wontwo coal blocks - Gotitoria(East) and Gotitoria (West) - inMadhya Pradesh, the coal min-istry said in a statement.

Jindal Power made thehighest bid for Gare-Palma-IV/1 block, at 25 per cent rev-enue sharing.

The mine has geologicalreserves of 84.26 milliontonnes.

Besides Jindal Power,

Adani Enterprises Ltd andHindalco Industries Ltd werealso in the race for the block.

JMS Mining made thehighest bid for Urtan North inMadhya Pradesh at 9.50 percent revenue sharing, the state-ment said.

For the Urtan North block,Stratatech Mineral ResourcesPvt Ltd and Sunflag Iron andSteel Co Ltd were also in therace.

For Gotitoria (East) andGotitoria (West) mines, thehighest bid made by BoulderStone Mart was at 54 per centrevenue sharing. Companieslike Andhra Pradesh MineralDevelopment Corp and DilipBuildcon were also in the racefor the block, it said.

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To attract investment intothe country, Prime Minister

Narendra Modi will onThursday chair the VirtualGlobal Investor Roundtable(VGIR) 2020, which will beattended by the heads of 20 topinstitutional investors fromvarious parts of the world.

VGIR 2020 will focus ondiscussions around India’s eco-nomic and investment out-look, structural reforms and thegovernment’s vision for makingthe country a USD 5-trillioneconomy.

"All the major globalinvestors, including sovereign

wealth funds and pensionfunds of the world, would beparticipating. We have confir-mation from such investorswho would be participating inthis virtual conference,"Economic Affairs SecretaryTarun Bajaj said while sharingdetails of the event.

He added that as a matterof fact, assets under manage-ment for these funds would bemore than USD 6 trillion.

The Indian side at theroundtable will be representedby business leaders, financialmarket regulators, FinanceMinister Nirmala Sitharamanand RBI Governor ShaktikantaDas.

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Equity indices ticked higherfor the third straight session

on Wednesday, largely in tan-dem with global markets asinvestors awaited the outcomeof the tightly-contested USpresidential election.

Robust buying in market-heavyweight RelianceIndustries and IT stocks boost-ed the benchmarks, even as asharp depreciation in the rupeeweighed on sentiment, traderssaid.

After a volatile session, the30-share BSE Sensex ended355.01 points or 0.88 per centhigher at 40,616.14.

Similarly, the broader NSENifty climbed 95 points or0.80 per cent to 11,908.50.

IndusInd Bank was thetop gainer in the Sensex pack,surging 4.85 per cent, followedby Sun Pharma, RelianceIndustries, Infosys, Kotak Bankand Tech Mahindra.On the other hand, HDFC,

Axis Bank, PowerGrid, ICICIBank, NTPC and L&T wereamong the laggards, sheddingup to 2.02 per cent.

Sector-wise, BSE energy,IT, teck, consumer durables,healthcare, capital goods andoil and gas indices advanced upto 2.74 per cent, while realty,telecom, utilities and metalindices fell up to 1.90 per cent.

Broader midcap andsmallcap indices rose up to 0.43per cent.

According to Vinod Nair,Head of Research at GeojitFinancial Services, a close con-test in the US election spikedvolatility in the global marketafter Tuesday’s strong rally.

European markets slid atthe open after US Presidentonald Trump claimed that a"major fraud" was being per-petrated on the American peo-ple.

Trump said he will take thematter to the Supreme Court,even as the counting of voteswas in progress in the battle-ground states.

“Trump played the voterfraud card which unsettledmarkets as a long and pro-tracted battle in the courts isprecisely what investors do notwant,” said Deepak Jasani,Head Of Retail Research,HDFC Securities.

Later, Biden regained leadresulting in European marketsbouncing up from early weak-ness.

Elsewhere in Asia, bours-es in Shanghai, Seoul andTokyo ended with gains, whileHong Kong settled in the red.

Meanwhile, internationaloil benchmark Brent crudewas trading 2.72 per cent high-er at USD 40.79 per barrel.

In the forex market, therupee depreciated 35 paise toclose at 74.76 against the USdollar.

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The Income Tax departmenthas issued refunds worth

over �1.29 lakh crore to morethan 39 lakh taxpayers so farthis fiscal.

This includes PersonalIncome Tax (PIT) refundsamounting to �34,820 croreand corporate tax refundsaggregating to �94,370 croreduring this period.

"CBDT issues refunds ofover �1,29,190 crore to morethan 39.49 lakh taxpayersbetween 1st April, 2020 to 3rdNovember, 2020.

Income tax refunds of�34,820 crore have beenissued in 37,55,428 cases &corporate tax refunds of �94,370 crore have been issuedin 1,93,059 cases,” IncomeTax department said in atweet.

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Data centers are to becomethe Next big segment

after warehousing and nearlyUSD 3.4 billion foreign invest-ments is expected in this spacein the coming 3 -4 months, atop official of a real estate ser-vices company said onWednesday.

India is the largest con-sumer of data, the govern-ment had suggested that datacenters of the world be built inIndia, thereby making all thedata majors to considerinvestment in the country, hesaid.

"Nearly USD 3.4 billionforeign investments is expect-ed in this space in the coming3-4 months," Anarock Groupchairman Anuj Puri said at theICC organised ‘Build EastConclave’.

Puri said at the initialphase of the pandemic thesector stalwarts were scepticalof any short-term revival butcurrent statistics are more opti-mistic, given that 1.5 croresquare feet of new leasing hasbeen witnessed in the officesegment and it is expectedthat the current year statisticswill move up to 2.4-2.5 crore sqft which is quite encouraging.

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Telcos need to boost theiraverage revenue per user

(ARPU) by at least 25 per centin the next year to be sustain-able, which would result inanother round of tariff hikes,domestic rating agency Crisilsaid on Wednesday.

It said the returns on cap-ital employed are “abysmallylow” for telcos at present andalso considering the SupremeCourt ruling on Adjusted GrossRevenue (AGR), which hascreated huge liabilities.

Apart from the tariff hikes,which were last done inDecember 2019, the telcos willneed to up the number ofusers opting for the moreexpensive 4G offerings andalso bundle plans with content,it said, adding that the indus-try can invest in 5G onlythrough ARPU growth.

Intense competition overthe past three years, heavycapital expenditure (capex) toroll out 4G networks, andpending AGR liabilities have

weakened their balance sheets,the rating agency said in a note.

At present, return on cap-ital employed (RoCE) needs tomove up to 10 per cent levelfrom the 3 per cent level inFY20, it said, adding that hadit not been for the SC’s AGRruling, the RoCE would haveincreased to 7 per cent by endof financial year 2021 andmoved up further to 9 per centby financial year 2022.

“Telcos have a compellingreason to push ARPU up 25per cent over the next 6-12months to achieve a sustainableRoCE of 10 per cent, giventheir abysmally low returns atpresent and the increased lia-bility on account of AGR dues,”the rating agency warned.

The Rs 1.15 lakh crore tobe paid in AGR dues will erodeall the benefits of December’stariff hikes and take the RoCEdown to 4-5 per cent levels, itsaid.

base case assumes month-ly ARPU reaching Rs 175-180by next fiscal from Rs 140 inthe first half of the current fis-

cal so as to generate a sustain-able RoCE of 10 per cent,” itssenior director Sachin Guptasaid.

Such a scenario will pushthe industry revenue by a thirdto Rs 2 lakh crore in fiscal 2021as compared to financial year2020’s Rs 1.5 lakh crore despitemuted subscriber growth, itsaid.

The pandemic will alsohelp the ARPU throughincreasing data consumptiondue to proliferation of workfrom home, video conferencingand other forms of online busi-ness communications, alongwith a big uptick in over-the-top streaming services, it said.

It estimated data usage persubscriber per month is expect-ed to grow 28-30 per cent to 15gigabyte by the end of this fis-cal.

A Re 1 increase in ARPUadds about Rs 1,000 crore tothe industry’s earnings beforeinterest, tax, depreciation andamortisation (EBITDA), indi-cating high operating leverage,it said.

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The Indian rupee onWednesday plunged by 35

paise to close at its weakestlevel in over 10 weeks at 74.76against the US dollar asinvestors appeared cautiouslooking for clarity on the USelection outcome and the lat-est tranche of fiscal stimulus.

At the interbank forexmarket, the rupee opened at74.74 against the greenbackand witnessed an intra-dayhigh of 74.57 and a low of

74.90. It finally settled at 74.76- its lowest level since August21 this year.

The dollar index, whichgauges the greenback’sstrength against a basket of sixcurrencies, rose 0.35 per centto 93.88.

"The rupee will continueto be in focus till clarityemerges on the US electionoutcome and the latest trancheof fiscal stimulus.

In times of uncertainty,investors tend to rush towardsthe USD which is a safe

haven," Nish Bhatt, Founder &CEO, Millwood KaneInternational, said.

Brent crude futures, theglobal oil benchmark, rose0.38 per cent to USD 39.86 perbarrel.

On the domestic equitymarket front, BSE benchmarkSensex ended 355.01 points or0.88 per cent higher at40,616.14; and the the broad-er NSE Nifty climbed 95points or 0.80 per cent to11,908.50.

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Delhi: Generic Aadhaar,founded by pharma wonderkid Arjun Deshpande, hasopened its outlets in Delhi,Ballabhgarh, Gurugram.“This is the best feeling when

you are helping the nation in aninnovative way through yourstart-up venture for boostingthe economy and firmly stand-ing with the common man byproviding the inexpensive andeasily accessible generic med-icines, as medicines are neces-sity, not luxury,” said GenericAadhaar CEO ArjunDeshpande.

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Japan is considered as a nation forrestoring culture, where traditionsare deep-rooted and technology is

the fulcrum. The incredibly developedtechnology is what makes life full ofconveniences there. From the provisionof vending machines containing clothesand shoes to ETAF automatic doors thatopen shifting bars according to yourbody shape; the Japanese incorporatetechnology into their everyday lives.

The government introduced theuse of smart gates at airports for foreignnationals visiting Japan. These passen-gers using the facial recognition systemneed to have a passport with electron-ic chips, which are scanned by the ded-icated devices at the gates to automat-ically match the photo in the travel doc-ument taken at the gate. The systemallows passengers to finish customs dec-laration procedures through an app ontheir smartphones. Some of the airportshave recently introduced personalmobility machines.

The autonomous machines aredesigned to replace wheelchairs bytransporting passengers who face diffi-culties in walking long distances or whohave limited mobility to their designat-ed boarding gates. The system is com-patible with the WHILL autonomousmodels and operates using sensors andarea maps. After transporting the pas-senger, the self-driving machine iscapable of returning to the base auto-matically. At Haneda Airport, they areintroducing contactless systems to allowpassengers to check-in and check theirluggage without meeting an employee.Through the use of posters, we ask pas-sengers to refrain from having conver-sations in locations where people are inclose proximity. This is to encouragepassengers to stay at a safe distance fromeach other by suggesting a standard dis-

tance and changing the way they use thepublic area.

One of Tokyo’s most popular dis-tricts has recently added some unusu-al new attraction: transparent public toi-lets. Designed by Shigeru BanArchitects, the two new sets of see-through restrooms have been installedin Shibuya, the bustling city centrefamous for its busy pedestrian crossing.Though the restrooms sound risqué,they’re actually part of an innovativeproject aimed at changing people’s per-ceptions of public toilets. It focusses ontwo important aspects — cleanlinessand another person’s availability inside.The architects design tackles these twoconcerns by offering a toilet with glasswalls that — at first — allows the pub-

lic to see through from the outside. Butonce a user enters the toilet and locksthe door, the walls turn opaque to pro-vide privacy. The goal of this new ren-ovation project is to get rid of old stereo-types about public toilets and ensurethat anyone can use the facilities,including people who are disabledwhile maintaining the safety andhygienic levels.

One thing that every tourist imme-diately notices there is a large numberof vending machines. Known locally asjidou hanbaiki, you’ll find them onevery corner, at every station, outsideevery convenience store and adjacent toevery rice paddy. You’ll even find vend-ing machines on top of Mount Fuji.Japanese vending machines are at theforefront of a convenience renaissance.There are 4.14 mill ion vendingmachines there, according to Japanvending system manufacturers associ-ation. For reference, that means morevending machines than sushi restau-rants. The vending machines can tellyou the weather, help you take a selfieor use facial-recognition software toguess your age and gender and thenoffer a personalised beverage recom-mendation. To further ensure safety,these machines now have a sheet withantibacterial ef fect on vendingmachines.

As we all know, robots are impera-tive to Japanese culture. They have beenaround for the longest time. Rightfrom assisting customers in shops toguiding patients in hospitals robots arenow present in every corner of Japan.Some entities are even highlightingrobotic colleagues as a selling point toyoung recruits.

As global trends show the roles ofrobots growing ever greater, the ‘RobotNation’ of Japan is putting to use cut-ting-edge robotic technologies in avariety of fields besides manufacturingwhile keeping in mind societal demand.Robots are now working on the frontlines in a diverse array of areas, includ-ing aeronautics, medicine/welfare, dis-aster mitigation, disaster investigationand rescue. The use of age-old technolo-gies and the invention of robots haveproved to be a blessing in today’s sce-nario for the Japanese and the world canfollow.

Over the years, we’ve seen musicintegrate with our moods and

moments across our day. The rightsong may brighten you up in moreways than one. And if there’s onething that’s as good as the rightsong, it’s the right playlist. Thisholds true for everyone, includingrenowned artists. If we talk ofplaylist curation, it is not confinedto one genre or mood, ratherthere’s a playlist for everything —household chores, grocery shop-ping, chill time and more. Perhaps,we all have a playlist to cater to ourmoods and moments. But have youever wondered, ‘What music doartists listen to?’, we have an answerfor you. And even you can makeyour own, personalised playlist onSpotify. Seeking inspiration? Readon.

%�����������Did you know India’s favourite

artists from the North love genresranging from ‘Latin’ to ‘Electronic’?Stream Bhangra beats and thensome chill music to cool down andunwind after.

While Rapper Badshah’sfavourite is latin hits, B Praakmakes its obvious by choosing BPraak Musical. Harrdy Sandhu

goes after Drive Like Me andHarshdeep Kaur likes songs sooth-ing to the soul.

%�������� ���Discover music collections

ranging from the 60s to the latestacross languages — Malayalam,Tamil, even Hindi — with theseartists from the South. What’seven better is that they’re curatedwith love, so if you’re looking forpeace and hope at home, look no

further.Film composer and singer

Anirudh Ravichander choosesChill Pill, A R Rahman goes hisown way with — ARR Eclectic.Anurag Kulkarni goes the basicway, Happify and Gopi Sundermakes it obvious again withFavourites of Gopi Sundar.

%����������No matter what your emotion

is, these artists from the West got

all your moods covered (especial-ly if pop music’s your jam). Tuneinto these playlists to listen to thelikes of Ariana Grande, Beyonce,Drake, Justin Bieber, Lauv, Maroon5, Rihanna, Shawn Mendes, andmore (it’s a concert, isn’t it?)

Popular among the youth,Armaan Malik and Darshan Ravalchoose Hooked and My Melodiesrespectively. Next, we all can cer-tainly guess Prateek Kuhad’s choice— sad but full of excitement.

When it comes to cele-brating his birthday,

model-actor Milind Somansure believes in doing it withsome originality. He cele-brated turning 55 by postinga picture that shows himrunning nude on a Goa beachand netizens have come upwith funny memes inreaction.

“Happy birthday tome! #55,” he wrote whilesharing the picture onInstagram andTwitter, and gavephoto credit to hiswife Ankita Konwar.

The commentsections in his socialmedia are full ofhilarious messagesand memes. “Whenyou and your girl-friend having somequality time at herhome and her parentsenter the home withduplicate set of keys,” auser wrote.

Another edited thephoto and added aswimsuit on him, andwrote: “Fixed it for you@milindrunning.”

Another added

to the atmospherics of theimage by adding a dinosaurchasing him in an editedphoto.

One even cracked a jokefeaturing actor Anil Kapoor,also a fitness enthusiast whoseems to have defied age.

Sharing a collage of a shirt-less Anil and Milind’sphoto, the user comparedKapoor and Milind with a

joke.“I don’t think

clothes are tooheavy to carrywhile running sir.Meanwhile happyBirthday,” wrote auser.

This is not thefirst time Milind

has bared it all for thecamera. He createdquite the frenzy wayback in the early1990s when he posednude along with for-mer Miss IndiaMadhu Sapre for anadvertisement.

Milind was lastseen in the web seriesFour More ShotsPlease as Dr Aamir

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Information and Public Relations CommissionerMahendra Soni said that no news is ever confiden-

tial. It is the responsibility of an administrator to exam-ine the facts thoroughly and give the right news of pub-lic interest to the media at the right time.

Soni addressed the trainee officers of the IndianAdministrative Service at the Session on MediaHandling programme held at Harishchandra MathurState Public Administration Institute, Ripa, on Tuesday.

He shared his nearly 30 years of administrativeexperience and media-related experience of theCommissioner in the Information and Public RelationsDepartment.

He informed the trainee officers about the struc-ture of the Public Relations Department, the work ofthe District Information Centre and the functioning ofthe department, and also informed about the variousdimensions of media through various media such asprint, electronic, radio, digital and social media.

He said that the information, public relationsdepartment, the government’s action plan, policies, forpublishing programmes, messages, information etc, inpublic interest, press notes, releases, information arepublished in print media, TV channels, MM radio,social media, websites, etc, are used.

“In today’s era, media is of utmost importance. Inthis time of viral and breaking news, we should be wiseand quick enough to decide to give the right news tothe media with proper facts, and should not carry anymistakes. He said that as a skilled administrator youshould treat all media equally,” he said.

Railway Energy ManagementCompany Limited

(REMCL), a subsidiary ofRITES Ltd, organised a pro-gramme for distribution of tri-cycles to divyangs at its office inGurugram on October 29,Thursday.

Motorised tricycles pro-viding mobility to 21 divyangswere distributed by RajeevMehrotra, CMD-RITES andChairman-REMCL; ArunThakran, Secretary, Haryana,Weightlifting Association, and

Ajay Kumar Singhal, ChiefExecutive Officer, REMCL.

The dignitaries presidedover the event underlined theneed for the public not to justshow compassion, but to instillconfidence among the divyangs.

The camp, wheremotorised tricycles worth �9.86lakh were distributed among 21beneficiaries, demonstrates thecompany’s commitment to thesocial welfare of the divyangsand engagement with localcommunities.

In its endeavour towards100 per cent utilisation

of the by-product pro-duced during power gener-ation, NTPC Ltd has start-ed collaborating withcement manufacturersaround the country to sup-ply fly ash. The power pro-ducer is leveraging IndianRailways’ sprawling net-work to transport fly ash inan economical and envi-ronment-friendly manner.

NTPC Mouda expand-ed its footsteps towardsthe ash utilisation by send-ing the by-product tocement manufacturersthrough railway rakes. Theplant transported 3,186metric tonnes (MT) of dryfly ash in 51 BCCW wag-ons to Rajshree Cement (aunit of Ultratech Cement)Kalburgi in Karnataka.With this mega initiative,NTPC Mouda has becomethe first power plant ofNTPC in Maharashtra tosend a massive amount ofdry fly ash through rail.

During the financial

year 2019-20, almost 23.57lakh metric tonnes of flyash was utilised for variousproductive purposes byNTPC Mouda. The powerplant produces approxi-mately 25 lakh metrictonnes of ash annually, outof which 80 per cent(approximately 20 lakhmetric tonnes) is fly ash.Presently, almost 100 percent of ash is being utilisedfor the production ofcement and fly ash bricks,construction of roadembankment, develop-ment of low-lying land,and raising of ash embank-ment.

With a total installedcapacity of 62.9 GW,NTPC Group has 70 Powerstations comprising of 24Coal, 7 combined cycleGas/Liquid Fuel, 1 Hydro,13 Renewables along with25 Subsidiary & JV PowerStations. The group hasover 20 GW of capacityunder construction,including five GW ofrenewable energy projects.

The Uttar Pradesh ExportPromotion Council’s market fair,

currently running at the RiverHeights Complex, RajnagarExtension, Ghaziabad, is a pilotproject of the UP government, wherefinished products are being soldwithin the country so that small-scale and medium-scale entrepre-neurs of the country can get achance to move forward.

The Apohan India Group’s stallof organic products, that is theJeevan Mitra items, have become thecentre of attraction among the pub-lic at the fair. The operator of thisstall is Dr. Rahul Chaturvedi, wholost both his eyesight in a chemicalaccident. Dr. Chaturvedi has alsobeen the Ayurvedic physician of for-mer President of India PranabMukherjee. At present, he is also incharge of the Ayurvedic medicine ofthe President, he says that whenchemical can make the eyes light,then fertilizer products made from

chemical can harm too! It is very dif-ficult to imagine how much damagecan be done to life. This incidentinspired Dr. Rahul to take life-friendly items among ordinary citi-zens. Under the banner of theApohan India group, at this time allkinds of puja ingredients preparedwith all kinds of indigenous pulses,rice, ghee, vegetable and flowerjuices, magic pots made from specialclothes, beauty cosmetics, amla andsugar sweets made from amla, laddu,Besan and flour from the windmillare attracting the people a lot. Thespecial thing is that the income thatcomes from the sale of these prod-

ucts is spent on the education ofpoor, promising students from thecountryside. In SwarnajayantiPuram, Ghaziabad, Dr. RahulChaturvedi runs a Gurukul underthe aegis of the National Society andCharitable Service Institute where 42poor students are studying. At thefair, Dr. Rahul also informs con-sumers about the benefits of con-sumption of Jeevan Mitra items.During this time, he also informsconsumers about the identity offake and real-life friend items. Thistime for lighting pollution-freeDiwali festival, for lighting theyhave prepared.

For the first time after taking over asthe General Manager of Northern

Railway, Ashutosh Gangal conducted areview meeting with the departmentalheads and DRMs of Northern Railwaythrough video conferencing.Deliberations were held on keepingfocus on safety, punctuality duringChatth and Diwali festival rush.

Gangal, expressing his keen concernabout minimising accidents on tracks aswell as within yards, stressed upon bet-ter coordination between adjoining divi-sions of other zonal railways.

He also reviewed the arrangementsfor Diwali at Delhi stations. He instruct-ed that additional arrangements may beplaced for better crowd-control, keepingin mind COVID-19 protocols for safe-ty and social distancing. He said, ifrequired, special, additional and reservedtrains will ply, additional counters at sta-tions will be setup to facilitate the pas-sengers.

He further emphasised on the rail-way working, which should be “transpar-ent.” He stressed upon maximum use oftechnology so that human interventioncan be minimised and transparency inall sphere of railway working may beestablished. He told the efforts should beenhanced to minimise the human fail-ure in train operations.

He added that the monitoring sys-tem of progress of construction projectsshould also be a prime area of focus asthe development/improvement of rail-ways are very much dependent on theseprojects. He told the department headsto expedite and complete the work instipulated time manner in particularconstruction projects. He also reviewed

the work done over the zone in improv-ing the maintenance standard of track,welds and the removal of scrap lying nearthe tracks. He instructed the divisions onconducting drives to enhance the safe-ty and counsel the staff whenever nec-essary.

In another meeting, Gangal reviewedthe performance of BusinessDevelopment Units setup at Zonal andDivisional levels this year with thedepartmental heads of Northern Railwaythrough video conferencing. The meet-ing aimed at enhancing the share offreight business of railways, customermapping and engagement.

He informed that the efforts ofBDUs has started giving yields asNorthern Railway has successfullyreached new areas of freight business likeloading of sugar to Nepal, operation ofVayapar Mala trains, TEEVRA services,SMS alerts to consignees, etc. As of now,52 meetings of BDUs have been organ-ised at various levels with differentstakeholders.

He said that through constant helpfrom BDUs, there is a 26 per centincrease in loading and 30 per centincrease in earnings in October 2020,which is quite significant given theongoing COVID-19 pandemic. Thefood grain loading is about 50 per cent.

Talking about the freight businessdevelopments, he took stock of the out-reach of the Business DevelopmentUnits. He also instructed that BDUsshould create an environment of trust,support and confidence amongst the cus-tomers. He informed that loading of foodgrains and other items have steadilyincreased with every passing month.

The Airport Authority ofIndia’s (AAI) Rupsi Airport

in Assam is ready to commenceoperations under the RegionalConnectivity Scheme.

The airport has been re-developed at an estimated cost of�69 crore and has also receivedits license by Directorate Generalof Civil Aviation. The airport isone of India’s newest in the RCSroute, which will cater to the localpopulation providing direct con-nectivity to cities like Guwahati,Assam, and Kolkata, WestBengal.

Spread across 337 acres ofland, the newly developed airporthas a terminal building with anarea of 3,500 sqm. Equippedwith 10 check-in counters, theterminal is designed to process200 passengers during the peakhours. The newly built runway ofthe airport is suitable for landingATR-72 type of aircraft.

The city side of the airporthas car parking available, forarrivals and departures in samelevel having a capacity of accom-modating 100 cars. The airportis also provisioned with sustain-

ability features like rainwaterharvesting system, solid wastemanagement system, horticultureworks, etc. The airport is coveredby fenced forest with rich faunaand flora.

The project work whichincludes construction ofTerminal Building, ATC Tower,Security Hut and other alliedworks and development of airside facilities like strengtheningand re-carpeting of runway, taxi-way, apron and allied works,including car parking, approachroad, and boundary wall, havebeen completed and its commer-cial operation is likely to beginfrom January 2021.

The foundation stone fordevelopment of Rupsi Airportwas laid on February 22, 2019.The airport will cater to the needsof air travellers from four districtsof Lower Assam viz Dhubri,Kokrajhar, Bongaigaon andGoalpara as well as neighbouringstates like West Bengal,Meghalaya and some parts ofBhutan. The airport is located 64km from the Kokrajhar district inAssam.

Over 100 additional products inthe Forest Fresh Naturals and

Organics range were unveiled onlineon Monday. Since October 26, TribesIndia has been expanding its productrange and catalogue by including 100new products/ produce on a weeklybasis.

The produce/products will beavailable in 125 Tribes India outlets,Tribes India mobile vans and also ononline platforms such as the TribesIndia E-marketplace(tribesindia.com) and e-tailers.

Speaking on the occasion, PravirKrishna, Managing Director,TRIFED, said, “This is the second setof 100 organic, essential naturalimmunity-boosting products thathave been included in our catalogue.It is our continued endeavour to pro-mote and empower tribals (both

artisans and forest dwellers) acrossthe countr y and create anAtmanirbhar Bharat (a self-reliantIndia).”

Sourced from different parts ofthe country, among the productslaunched in the second edition,include Gora rice, roast and plainKurthi dal, the tribes of Jharkhand;a new range of beeswax cosmeticproducts, a range of Ragi productsfrom the tribes of South India; drychilli, black rice, magic rice, Assamtea from Assam and the North East;bamboo products like floor lamps,table mats and baskets; honeyGulkand f rom the t r ibes ofUttarakhand. There is also fresh pro-duce such as Kinnauri walnuts,almonds and Rajma have been pro-cured from the Kinnaur tribes inHimachal Pradesh make for some

ethnic, natural products. Differentforms of rice (magic, red, gora, andblack) from various tribes of Indiahave also been launched.

With the launch of these new, uniqueproducts on a weekly basis, both the cus-tomers and tribal population will be pos-itively benefitted. On one hand, pure nat-ural produce, a gift of nature will reach andboost families across the country, and onthe other, it will support tribal livelihood.

Adapting ‘Go Vocal for Local’mantra in these troubled times,TRIFED has been striving to amelio-rate the condition of the distressedand affected tribal people by puttingin place several pathbreaking initia-tives, in addition to its existing flag-ship programmes and implementa-tions, which have emerged as apanacea and relief, especially in thesetimes of COVID-19 pandemic.

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They stand on the oppositeends of IPL’s success spec-trum but there is little to

separate between MumbaiIndians and Delhi Capitals inthe tournament’s 13th edition asthey head into a blockbuster firstqualifier here on Thursday.

The team to beat in theleague stage, four-time winnersMumbai lost a bit of theirmomentum after a 10-wicketdefeat to Sunrisers Hyderabadon Tuesday.

While chasing theirmaiden title, DelhiCapitals roared back toform by thrashingRoyal Challengers Bangalore bysix wickets to grab the secondspot, after four successive loss-es.

The biggest positive forMumbai has been the return ofskipper Rohit Sharma, who hadmissed four games to recoverfrom a hamstring injury. Thestar opener, though, perishedcheaply against SRH and needsto come good on the big day.

The defendingchampions boast anexplosive batting line-up coupled with an

equally lethal bowling attack,but the batters had an off dayagainst SRH.

Their bowlers too weretaken to the task — a wake-upcall before the crucial game.

Mumbai top-order has beenfiring on all-cylinders andyoung Ishan Kishan (428 runs)has been a revelation. QuintonDe Kock (443) would be keen tocontinue his sublime form while

opening with Rohit.And so would Suryakumar

Yadav (410), who has playedsome scintillating knocks.

Known for their six-hittingprowess, Hardik Pandya (241),Kieron Pollard (259) and KrunalPandya (95) have pummelledbowling attacks to submission.

Pollard’s six-hitting abilitywas on display again when heplundered four maximumsagainst SRH. The three couldprove to be the difference.

Mumbai rested key bowlers— Jasprit Bumrah (23 wickets)

and Trent Boult (20 wickets) —against SRH. Both have beenlethal at front and at the death.

Spinners Rahul Chahar (15wickets) and Krunal (5 wickets)will need to forget the hammer-ing they received from DavidWarner and Wriddhiman Sahabefore taking on DC.

One the other hand, Delhi’smiddle-order has been sluggishand heavily dependent on one ortwo batters.

But the good news isAjinkya Rahane (111 runs) isback among runs after scoringa match-winning 60 againstRCB.

Shikhar Dhawan (525) hasbeen in blazing form, with twohundreds and three fifties, butwill need support from others ina big game.

A major cause of concern isthe form of two youngsters —opener Prithvi Shaw (228) andRishabh Pant (282) — whohaven’t lived up to their truepotential. So has been the caseof their key overseas players —West Indian Shimron Hetmyer(138 runs) and Marcus Stoinis(249 runs).

Skipper Shreyas Iyer (421)will have to play the anchor’srole.

On the bowling front, theSouth African pace duo ofKagiso Rabada (25 wickets) andAnrich Nortje (19) have beenexceptional.

Ravichandran Ashwin andAxar Patel have also done well tosuffocate the opposition teams.

TEAMSMumbai Indians: Rohit Sharma,Aditya Tare, Anmolpreet Singh,Anukul Roy, Chris Lynn, DhawalKulkarni, Digvijay Deshmukh,Hardik Pandya, Ishan Kishan,James Pattison, Jasprit Bumrah,Jayant Yadav, Kieron Pollard,Krunal Pandya, MitchellMcClenaghan, Mohsin Khan,Nathan Coulter-Nile, PrinceBalwant Rai, Quinton De Kock,Rahul Chahar, Saurabh Tiwary,Sherfane Rutherford,Suryakumar Yadav, Trent Boult.Delhi Capitals: Shreyas Iyer(c), Kagiso Rabada, MarcusStoinis, Sandeep Lamichhane,Ajinkya Rahane, RavichandranAshwin, Shikhar Dhawan,Shimron Hetmyer, Alex Carey,Mohit Sharma, Prithvi Shaw,Lalit Yadav, Avesh Khan, AxarPatel, Tushar Deshpande,Rishabh Pant, Harshal Patel,Keemo Paul, Anrich Nortje,Daniel Sams, Praveen Dube.

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Diogo Jota scored a stunninghat-trick in Liverpool’s 5-

0 demolition of Atalanta in theChampions League on Tuesday,as holders Bayern Munichscored six and Real Madridstruck late to beat Inter Milanin a thriller.

On a prolific night acrossEurope which also saw a ram-pant BorussiaMonchengladbach hit six inUkraine, the star individualperformances came from Jotaand Alassane Plea.

Portugal forward Jotajoined Liverpool fromWolverhampton Wanderers inSeptember and has wasted lit-tle time making an impactwith seven goals from just fivestarts.

In Bergamo, against anAtalanta side who reached thequarter-finals last season, Jotawas brought into the startingline-up in place of RobertoFirmino and required just 16minutes to open the scoring.

Another emphatic finishallowed the 2019 ChampionsLeague winners to double theirlead before the break, andMohamed Salah then brokeaway to get the third just afterthe restart.

Salah set up Sadio Manefor Liverpool’s fourth beforeJota got his hat-trick goal as thePremier League championsrecorded their biggest win in

Europe since beating Porto 5-0 away in February 2018.

“I’m playing in the bestteam of my career so far. I don’tknow if it’s the bestmoment of my career butobviously scoring goals ismy way of playing football,”Jota told BT Sport.

With three wins fromthree, Liverpool are well oncourse to top Group D, withAjax and Atalanta both fivepoints back.

Ajax won 2-1 away toMidtjylland in Denmark, as

Brazilian youngster Antonyopened the scoring in the firstminute and Dusan Tadic net-ted from an indirect free-kick

inside the box soonafter. Anders Dreyergot one back for thehosts, who remainpointless.

French forwardPlea had earlier scored

a hat-trick as Gladbach claimeda stunning 6-0 victory overShakhtar Donetsk in Kiev, theGerman side’s biggestEuropean triumph since their

1970s heyday.The unfortunate Valeriy

Bondar scored an own goal,with Ramy Bensebaini andLars Stindl also scoring asGladbach went top of Group B,a point clear of Shakhtar andReal Madrid.

RODRYGO WINS IT FOR REALReal, the 13-time European

champions, ran out 3-2 win-ners in a dramatic encounterwith Inter behind closed doorsat the Alfredo di StefanoStadium, as Vinicius Juniorset up his fellow Brazilian sub-stitute Rodrygo to lash in thedecisive goal 10 minutes fromtime.

Karim Benzema had putthe hosts ahead and SergioRamos headed in his 100thMadrid goal in the 33rdminute, but Lautaro Martinezpulled one back shortly after.

Inter were missing theinjured Romelu Lukaku butlooked set to escape with adraw when Ivan Perisicequalised midway through thesecond half, only for Rodrygoto pounce and leave the Italiansbottom of the group.

BAYERN MAKE IT 14Reigning champions

Bayern have now won arecord-extending 14 consecu-tive Champions League gamesafter a 6-2 victory againstSalzburg in Austria.

German forward MergimBerisha gave Salzburg an earlylead only for RobertLewandowski to level from thepenalty spot, and a RasmusKristensen own goal putBayern ahead before the break.

Japanese substituteMasaya Okugawa restoredparity midway through thesecond half only for Bayern torun away with the game lateon.

Jerome Boateng headedthem back in front, LeroySane got their fourth andLewandowski strained to headin his 12th of the season,before Lucas Hernandezwrapped up their win.

Hansi Flick’s side are firm-ly in control of Group A, fivepoints ahead of AtleticoMadrid, who drew 1-1 atLokomotiv Moscow.

Meanwhile, Marseille’s 3-0 loss away to Porto saw themequal Anderlecht’s record of 12consecutive ChampionsLeague defeats.

Manchester City are firm-ly in control of that sectionafter Pep Guardiola’s side easedpast Olympiakos 3-0, withFerran Torres, Gabriel Jesusand Joao Cancelo netting.

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Mumbai Indians bowling coachShane Bond on Wednesday said

no team wants to face them, knowingthe extent of damage they can do withtheir explosive batting and lethalbowling attack.

Defending champions MI enteredthe play-offs with nine wins and 18points.

“We have got as good batting line(up) as anyone in the tournament, ourbowling line up is as good as anyone’sin the tournament.

“I think we are the team thatnobody really wants to play, because

they know if we play well, we can dosome damage,” Bond said on the eveof the first qualifier.

“We have got a whole lot of play-ers, who have experienced winning thetournament. They know how to winwith one tight game, so we go in withthat weight behind us and that makesa huge difference..,” the former Kiwipacer added.

He said that the team has a set ofplayers who knows how to play in keymatches and that could be an advan-tage for the four-time championsagainst Delhi Capitals.

“You have got Pollards, the Rohits,Pandya brothers now, Suryakumar...

Guys who know how to win, theyknow the intensity of the finals, pres-sures of the finals, they have playedwell and have had success in thosefinals.

“So if you take that into the final(play-offs) against the team which had-n’t had success and are nervous, thenit goes in your advantage,” he said.

“We are a team that knows how towin, we have got some big players inour team, we still have to play bloodywell, because we play whoever hasearned their spots and are outstandingteams.

“There is confidence in this groupthat we know how to get the job done.”

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Delhi Capitals’ flam-boyant opener

Shikhar Dhawan is enjoy-ing one of his best seasonsin the IPL, having alreadyscored 525 runs at a per-sonal best average of47.72. The left-handerhas effectively used hisexperience at the top ofthe order for the DelhiCapitals throughout theseason, and will look toimpress again as his teamfaces Mumbai Indians inQualifier 1 on Thursday.

Speaking to themedia over a virtual pressconference onWednesday, the 34-year-old batsman when askedif Mumbai Indians havean upper hand going intoThursday’s encounter,Dhawan said, “I don’tthink they have an upperhand. We’ve got a qualityteam and we know we canbeat any team. We justhave to playgood cricketand have to bevery clear withour plans. I believeif we manage to dothat, we can cer-tainly win.”

Thursday’s clashcould see the return of

Rohit Sharma toMumbai’s starting XI, andDhawan was asked if histeam will look to takeadvantage of the formerhaving missed somematches. “Rohit is a verygood player, and yes hehasn’t played manymatches so I’m not sureabout his touch, and thatmeans that we can defi-nitely take advantage of it.My best wishes to him,but yes as opponents, wecan take advantage of thatfor sure and make plansaccordingly.”

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South African Sune Luus conjured upan unbeaten 37 under pressure as

Velocity overcame a jittery start to stundefending champions Supernovas by fivewickets in the opening match of theWomen’s T20 Challenge here onWednesday.

Chasing a modest 127, Velocity were38 for three inside nine overs but Luustook them over the line with her calm-headed 37-run knock that came off 21balls with four fours and a six.

Luus also shared a crucial 51-runstand with Sushma Verma (34) torepair the innings after the early set-backs.

The Velocity bowlers, led by left-armspinner Ekta Bisht (3/22) had restrict-ed Supernovas to 126/8 after electing tobowl.

South African medium pacerAyabonga Khaka (2/27) gaveSupernovas the perfect start dismissing

both the openers, Dani Wyatt (0) andsupremely-talented Shafali Verma (17).

Shafali had lit up the modest chasesmashing a hat-trick of boundariesagainst Khaka.

But Khaka bounced back to dismissthe talented Indian batter after sheflicked one straight to deep midwicket.

Mithali Raj then fell victim toSiriwardene after a sluggish seven from19 balls as it was left for VedaKrishnamurthy (29) and Sushma to keepthem in hunt.

The seasoned Sushma turned itaround for Velocity in the 16th overhammering Poonam Yadav for twosixes with some clean-hitting display tobring the run rate down.

She however failed to take them overthe line falling to Poonam Yadav in thepenultimate over.

Needing nine runs from the lastover, Luus sealed the chase in thepenultimate ball with two boundaries.

Velocity will take on Trailblazers onThursday.

Earlier, apart from Ekta Bisht’seffort, New Zealand off-spinner LeighKasperek (2/23) and medium pacerJahanara Alam (2/27 also contributed instifling the holders.

Jahanara dismissed key batters —Harmanpreet Kaur (31) and Chamara

Atapattu (44) — to derail Supernova.Sri Lankan T20 skipper Atapattu

and her Indian counterpartHarmanpreet had seized control in theback end but their 47-run partnershipwas broken by Jahanara with VedaKrishnamurthy taking calm-headedskier in the long on.

Jahanara later dismissedHarmanpreet for 31 after the Indianskipper holed out at short fine leg. It trig-gered a collapse as the defending cham-pions lost four wickets for 15 runs.

Chamari slammed two sixes andtwo boundaries in a 39-ball 44, whileHarmanpreet hit two sixes and oneboundary.

Velocity made some early inroadswith their spinner duo of Leigh Kasperekand Ekta Bisht dismissing Priya Punia(11) and Jemimah Rodrigues (7) insideeight overs.

But Supernova took control in theback end with Chamari breaking freeagainst Manali Dakshini.

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