12
M ore than 10 months after he stayed its construc- tion in the wake of protests by environmentalists, Maharashtra Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray on Sunday announced that the proposed car shed for the Metro phase- III project would now be located at Kanjurmarg in north-east Mumbai to save forests at Aarey Colony at Goregaon in north Mumbai, where the project was initial- ly located. Meanwhile, former Chief Minister and senior BJP leader Devendra Fadnavis — under whose regime the Mumbai Metro –III car shed construc- tion started — slammed the Uddhav Government for its decision to shift the project, saying its re-location would result in an additional cost of 4000 crore. Addressing the people across the State through social media, Uddhav said the Maharashtra Government would not spend any money for acquiring the land for shift- ing the Metro phase-III car shed project from Goregaon and locating it at Kanjurmarg as it owned land at the new location. “We will now shift the car shed for the Metro phase-III project from Goregaon and locate it at Kanjurmarg. We will not be spending even paisa to acquire the land, as we have our land at Kanjurmarg. The struc- ture that was earlier con- structed for the car shed will be utilised for some other pur- pose. “Since the State Government has invested 100 crore on the construc- tion of the structure, we will utilise the structure con- structed for the car shed at Goregaon for some other pur- pose,” the CM said. Uddhav said his Government had declared ear- lier 600 acre at Aarey Colony as forest area. “We will now add another 200 acre area to the earlier 600 acre and declare a total of 800 acre area as forest area at Aarey Colony. The State Government will not do anything that would affect the lives of Adivasis liv- ing in the Aarey forest area. We will take all steps to protect the animals in the Aarey forests,” he said. “After the shifting of pro- posed car shed Metro phase- III, the two Metro corridors — Colaba-Bandra-Seepz (Line 3) and Swami Samarth Nagar- Vikhroli (Line 6) will be inte- grated,” Uddhav said. The CM — who in his first major decision taken after assuming the highest office in the State had on November 29 last year stayed the work on the construction of a car shed for Metro phase-III at Aarey Colony in the wake of Shiv Sena-supported protests — said his Government had already withdrawn cases filed against all the green activists who had opposed the location of Metro car shed at Aarey Colony. It may be recalled the MVA Government’s decision to stay the construction of Metro phase-III car shed project and order a review of the project should be seen in the develop- ments that took place in the run-up to the October 21 Maharashtra Assembly polls. The Shiv Sena had vehe- mently opposed “illegal” tree felling at Aarey Colony to pave way for the construction of a car shed for Metro phase-III. After the Bombay High Court on October 4, 2019 dis- missed all petitions challenging the proposed felling of 2,646 trees in Aarey Colony at Goregaon, the Mumbai Metro Rail Corporation Limited (MMRCL) felled 2,141 trees on October 4 and 5 following the HC’s order upholding of the BMC’s Tree Authority’s per- mission to fell 2,185 trees at Aarey Colony. After the MMRCL felled the trees indiscriminately at Aarey Colony on the night of October 4, 2019, the Shiv Sena, which was ruling the State in alliance with the BJP then, had two days later joined the activists and various political parties against the tree felling and also the arrest of 29 activists who had resisted the tree felling by the workers hired to fell the trees on the previous night. Continued on Page 2 S itting Member of Parliament from Srinagar and former Jammu & Kashmir Chief Minister Farooq Abdullah on Sunday made yet another provocative statement claiming China “never accepted” the Abrogation of Article 370 and hoped that it will be restored with China’s support. It is for the second time Farooq has attempted to link the issue of Abrogation of Article 370 and the Chinese aggression at the Line of Actual Control in Ladakh. In the last week of September 2020, Farooq had also claimed in an interview with a news portal that after the abrogation of Article 370, the Kashmiri people “do not feel or want to be Indian” and they would rather prefer to be ruled by China, instead of India. Speaking to a reporter of a pri- vate news channel on the side- lines of a function in Srinagar on Sunday, the National Conference president, wearing a black hat, also held the Centre’s decision to abrogate Article 370 responsible for the Chinese aggression at the Line of Actual Control in Ladakh. Further provoking New Delhi, Farooq went on to claim that China “never accepted” the Abrogation of Article 370, and hoped that it will be restored with China’s support. “Whatever they are doing at LAC in Ladakh all because of the abrogation of Article 370, which they never accepted. I am hopeful that with their support, Article 370 will be restored in J&K,” Farooq said. Taking a dig at Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Farooq claimed, “I never invit- ed the Chinese President, it was the Prime Minister who not only invited him to Gujarat but did jhoola sawari with him. “He even took him to Chennai and had food with him. Even then the decision (Abrogation of Article 370) taken by the Government was not unacceptable to them”. Referring to the recent Parliament session, Farooq said he was not even allowed to speak on the problems of Jammu & Kashmir in Parliament. In his brief speech inside the Parliament on September 22, Farooq had sought the restoration of Jammu & Kashmir’s special status which was abrogated on August 5 last year. “There will be no peace in Jammu & Kashmir unless deci- sions taken on August 5, 2019 are not revoked and the region’s special status is restored”. Farooq had also partici- pated in the protest outside Parliament along with sitting PDP MPs. T he Transport Department of the Delhi Government has issued a gazette notification stating full waiver of road tax on the battery-operated vehi- cles under the electric vehicle policy of the Delhi Government. The decision was taken on the direction of Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal. The Department has also sought suggestions from the public on the exemption of the registration fee even as the orders to waive the fee will be issued in the next three days. Kejriwal had announced the Delhi Electric Vehicle Policy (EV) 2020 last month with a focus to increase the adoption of electric vehicles in Delhi by incentivising the pur- chase and use of the EVs. The policy aims to register five lakh electric vehicles in the city by 2024. Taking to twitter, Delhi Transport Minister Kailash Gehlot said, “Congrats Delhi! As promised by CM @ArvindKejriwal when announcing landmark EV Policy, Delhi govt has exempt- ed road tax on Battery Operated Vehicles. With right incentives & supporting infra, we are determined to ensure Delhi leads the country in rapid transition to Elec Vehicles.” Continued on Page 2 C ongress leader Tara Yadav was manhandled after she allegedly threw a bouquet at party national secretary and Purvanchal co-incharge Sachin Nayak in protest against the party’s decision to give a tick- et to a “rape accused” leader from the Deoria Assembly seat in the upcoming bypolls. Meanwhile, two party workers of Deoria, Deendayal Yadav and Ajay Kumar Sainthwar, have been expelled from the party for the incident. A video has been doing rounds on social media in Deoria district in which a group of Congress workers is seen thrashing a woman party leader at an event. Yadav alleged on Sunday that she was thrashed by the party workers for questioning the party’s decision to give a tick- et to a rape accused to contest bypoll. She said, “I was thrashed by party workers when I questioned the party’s decision to give a ticket to a rape accused, Mukund Bhaskar Mani Tripathi, for the bypoll. Continued on Page 2 T he Central Bureau Investigation (CBI) on Sunday took over the investiga- tion into the gangrape and mur- der of a Dalit woman in Hathras district of Uttar Pradesh and reg- istered an FIR under Indian Penal Code (IPC) Sections relat- ed to gangrape and murder, and the Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes (Prevention of Atrocities) Act. The agency assigned the case to its Ghaziabad unit with a special team to investigate the crime that has led to a nationwide outrage, officials said. The 19-year-old girl was allegedly raped by four men on September 14. She succumbed to severe injuries at a hospital here a fortnight later. Her death culminated in reportedly a hushed up cremation at night allegedly at the behest of the district administration. The political slugfest was further accentuated following the con- troversial statement by the State police claiming there was no evidence of rape. Continued on Page 2 T ech-savvy farmers in the country can now look towards using an indigenous- ly-manufactured microdrone, ‘Agrix1’, equipped with multi- spectral sensors and artificial tools, to identify crop diseases and pests and take timely reme- dial steps to boost their agri- income. And in doing so, they need not require the Government’s permission. Agrix1 drone is the first remote-controlled unmanned vehicle in the country under the micro category to get the Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DCGA) nod for the agriculture sector, requiring no special permit for flying. “It can be flown without requiring a special UAOP per- mit from the Government. In other words, farmers do not need to seek special pilot approval and can fly them on their own. However, since the technology is new, we are inter- facing with the interested farm- ers,” said Ashish Sinha, CEO of Omnipresent Robot Technologies which has launched the micro agriculture drone with multispectral capa- bilities. The remote-controlled vehicle allows farmers to detect crop diseases up to 10 days before any visual features of the malady show up, thus helping them save the crop from dam- age and boost yield up to 20 per cent, Sinha said. He further explained that detection of the disease is achieved with the help of on- board five-band multispectral sensor that can gather informa- tion in red, green, blue, infrared, near red and red-edge bands. Continued on Page 2

0 /˚ 1 ’)*+ ˘’ ,˝-./ 526*7 8 ; .5˙75- 8˝ -:˝ 5 ˛1.5-˝1 8:˛ ˙7˙.6˝ 75.8 ......2020/10/11  · tree felling that took place on the night of October 4 2019, had tweeted,

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Page 1: 0 /˚ 1 ’)*+ ˘’ ,˝-./ 526*7 8 ; .5˙75- 8˝ -:˝ 5 ˛1.5-˝1 8:˛ ˙7˙.6˝ 75.8 ......2020/10/11  · tree felling that took place on the night of October 4 2019, had tweeted,

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More than 10 months afterhe stayed its construc-

tion in the wake of protests bye n v i r o n m e n t a l i s t s ,Maharashtra Chief MinisterUddhav Thackeray on Sundayannounced that the proposedcar shed for the Metro phase-III project would now belocated at Kanjurmarg innorth-east Mumbai to saveforests at Aarey Colony atGoregaon in north Mumbai,where the project was initial-ly located.

Meanwhile, former ChiefMinister and senior BJP leaderDevendra Fadnavis — underwhose regime the MumbaiMetro –III car shed construc-tion started — slammed theUddhav Government for itsdecision to shift the project,saying its re-location wouldresult in an additional cost of� 4000 crore.

Addressing the peopleacross the State through socialmedia, Uddhav said theMaharashtra Governmentwould not spend any moneyfor acquiring the land for shift-ing the Metro phase-III carshed project from Goregaonand locating it at Kanjurmargas it owned land at the newlocation.

“We will now shift the carshed for the Metro phase-IIIproject from Goregaon andlocate it at Kanjurmarg. We will

not be spending even paisa toacquire the land, as we have ourland at Kanjurmarg. The struc-ture that was earlier con-structed for the car shed will beutilised for some other pur-pose.

“Since the StateGovernment has invested�100 crore on the construc-tion of the structure, we willutilise the structure con-structed for the car shed atGoregaon for some other pur-pose,” the CM said.

Uddhav said hisGovernment had declared ear-

lier 600 acre at Aarey Colony asforest area.

“We will now add another200 acre area to the earlier 600acre and declare a total of 800acre area as forest area at AareyColony. The State Governmentwill not do anything that wouldaffect the lives of Adivasis liv-ing in the Aarey forest area. Wewill take all steps to protect theanimals in the Aarey forests,” hesaid.

“After the shifting of pro-posed car shed Metro phase-III, the two Metro corridors —Colaba-Bandra-Seepz (Line 3)

and Swami Samarth Nagar-Vikhroli (Line 6) will be inte-grated,” Uddhav said.

The CM — who in his firstmajor decision taken afterassuming the highest office inthe State had on November 29last year stayed the work on theconstruction of a car shed forMetro phase-III at AareyColony in the wake of ShivSena-supported protests —said his Government hadalready withdrawn cases filedagainst all the green activistswho had opposed the locationof Metro car shed at Aarey

Colony.It may be recalled the MVA

Government’s decision to staythe construction of Metrophase-III car shed project andorder a review of the projectshould be seen in the develop-ments that took place in therun-up to the October 21Maharashtra Assembly polls.

The Shiv Sena had vehe-mently opposed “illegal” treefelling at Aarey Colony to paveway for the construction of acar shed for Metro phase-III.

After the Bombay HighCourt on October 4, 2019 dis-missed all petitions challengingthe proposed felling of 2,646trees in Aarey Colony atGoregaon, the Mumbai MetroRail Corporation Limited(MMRCL) felled 2,141 trees onOctober 4 and 5 following theHC’s order upholding of theBMC’s Tree Authority’s per-mission to fell 2,185 trees atAarey Colony.

After the MMRCL felledthe trees indiscriminately atAarey Colony on the night ofOctober 4, 2019, the Shiv Sena,which was ruling the State inalliance with the BJP then,had two days later joined theactivists and various politicalparties against the tree fellingand also the arrest of 29activists who had resisted thetree felling by the workershired to fell the trees on theprevious night.

Continued on Page 2

����������� �� 4���2

Sitting Member of Parliamentfrom Srinagar and former

Jammu & Kashmir ChiefMinister Farooq Abdullah onSunday made yet anotherprovocative statement claimingChina “never accepted” theAbrogation of Article 370 andhoped that it will be restoredwith China’s support.

It is for the second timeFarooq has attempted to linkthe issue of Abrogation ofArticle 370 and the Chineseaggression at the Line of ActualControl in Ladakh.

In the last week ofSeptember 2020, Farooq hadalso claimed in an interviewwith a news portal that after theabrogation of Article 370, theKashmiri people “do not feel orwant to be Indian” and theywould rather prefer to be ruledby China, instead of India.Speaking to a reporter of a pri-vate news channel on the side-lines of a function in Srinagaron Sunday, the NationalConference president, wearinga black hat, also held theCentre’s decision to abrogateArticle 370 responsible for theChinese aggression at the Lineof Actual Control in Ladakh.

Further provoking NewDelhi, Farooq went on to claimthat China “never accepted” theAbrogation of Article 370, andhoped that it will be restoredwith China’s support.

“Whatever they are doingat LAC in Ladakh all becauseof the abrogation of Article 370,

which they never accepted. Iam hopeful that with theirsupport, Article 370 will berestored in J&K,” Farooq said.

Taking a dig at PrimeMinister Narendra Modi,Farooq claimed, “I never invit-ed the Chinese President, it wasthe Prime Minister who notonly invited him to Gujarat butdid jhoola sawari with him.

“He even took him toChennai and had food withhim. Even then the decision(Abrogation of Article 370)taken by the Government wasnot unacceptable to them”.

Referring to the recentParliament session, Farooq

said he was not even allowed tospeak on the problems ofJammu & Kashmir inParliament. In his brief speechinside the Parliament onSeptember 22, Farooq hadsought the restoration ofJammu & Kashmir’s specialstatus which was abrogated onAugust 5 last year.

“There will be no peace inJammu & Kashmir unless deci-sions taken on August 5, 2019are not revoked and the region’sspecial status is restored”.

Farooq had also partici-pated in the protest outsideParliament along with sittingPDP MPs.

����� ��� �� � �56�75.8��

The Transport Departmentof the Delhi Government

has issued a gazette notificationstating full waiver of road taxon the battery-operated vehi-cles under the electric vehiclepolicy of the DelhiGovernment. The decision wastaken on the direction of ChiefMinister Arvind Kejriwal.

The Department has alsosought suggestions from thepublic on the exemption of theregistration fee even as theorders to waive the fee will beissued in the next three days.

Kejriwal had announcedthe Delhi Electric VehiclePolicy (EV) 2020 last monthwith a focus to increase theadoption of electric vehicles inDelhi by incentivising the pur-chase and use of the EVs. The

policy aims to register fivelakh electric vehicles in the cityby 2024.

Taking to twitter, DelhiTransport Minister KailashGehlot said, “Congrats Delhi!As promised by CM@ArvindKejriwal whenannouncing landmark EVPolicy, Delhi govt has exempt-ed road tax on BatteryOperated Vehicles. With rightincentives & supporting infra,we are determined to ensureDelhi leads the country inrapid transition to ElecVehicles.”

Continued on Page 2

���� .219�:6

Congress leader Tara Yadavwas manhandled after she

allegedly threw a bouquet atparty national secretary andPurvanchal co-incharge SachinNayak in protest against theparty’s decision to give a tick-et to a “rape accused” leaderfrom the Deoria Assembly seatin the upcoming bypolls.

Meanwhile, two partyworkers of Deoria, DeendayalYadav and Ajay KumarSainthwar, have been expelledfrom the party for the incident.

A video has been doingrounds on social media inDeoria district in which agroup of Congress workers isseen thrashing a woman partyleader at an event. Yadavalleged on Sunday that shewas thrashed by the partyworkers for questioning theparty’s decision to give a tick-et to a rape accused to contestbypoll. She said, “I wasthrashed by party workerswhen I questioned the party’sdecision to give a ticket to arape accused, Mukund BhaskarMani Tripathi, for the bypoll.

Continued on Page 2

���� �56�75.8�

The Central BureauInvestigation (CBI) on

Sunday took over the investiga-tion into the gangrape and mur-der of a Dalit woman in Hathrasdistrict of Uttar Pradesh and reg-istered an FIR under IndianPenal Code (IPC) Sections relat-ed to gangrape and murder, andthe Scheduled Castes andScheduled Tribes (Prevention ofAtrocities) Act.

The agency assigned the case to its Ghaziabad unit with a special team toinvestigate the crime that hasled to a nationwide outrage,officials said.

The 19-year-old girl wasallegedly raped by four men onSeptember 14. She succumbedto severe injuries at a hospitalhere a fortnight later. Her deathculminated in reportedly ahushed up cremation at nightallegedly at the behest of thedistrict administration. Thepolitical slugfest was furtheraccentuated following the con-troversial statement by theState police claiming there wasno evidence of rape.

Continued on Page 2

� �����$����� �56�75.8�

Tech-savvy farmers in thecountry can now look

towards using an indigenous-ly-manufactured microdrone,‘Agrix1’, equipped with multi-spectral sensors and artificialtools, to identify crop diseasesand pests and take timely reme-dial steps to boost their agri-income. And in doing so, theyneed not require theGovernment’s permission.

Agrix1 drone is the firstremote-controlled unmannedvehicle in the country underthe micro category to get theDirectorate General of CivilAviation (DCGA) nod for theagriculture sector, requiringno special permit for flying.

“It can be flown withoutrequiring a special UAOP per-mit from the Government. Inother words, farmers do notneed to seek special pilot

approval and can fly them ontheir own. However, since thetechnology is new, we are inter-facing with the interested farm-ers,” said Ashish Sinha, CEO ofOmnipresent RobotTechnologies which haslaunched the micro agriculturedrone with multispectral capa-bilities.

The remote-controlledvehicle allows farmers to detectcrop diseases up to 10 days

before any visual features of themalady show up, thus helpingthem save the crop from dam-age and boost yield up to 20 percent, Sinha said.

He further explained thatdetection of the disease isachieved with the help of on-board five-band multispectralsensor that can gather informa-tion in red, green, blue, infrared,near red and red-edge bands.

Continued on Page 2

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Aam Aadmi Party (AAP)senior leader and MLA

Dilip Pandey on Sundayslammed the BJP over thedemolition of the shops ofessential items at Kargil SocietyDwarka where families ofretired and late army officersstay without any prior notice.

Pandey said that the partydemands that the BJP shouldimmediately restore thesedemolished shops within 48hours.

"We demands that the BJPshould put forward uncondi-tional apology to all these fam-ilies of martyrs," he said.

"The AAP will hold gherao

of the BJP leaders and dharnaagainst the BJP’s inhuman act,"he saud, adding that in the year2003, former prime minister ofIndia late Atal Bihari Vajpayeeestablished a housing society atDwarka named as Kargil soci-ety. In this society, the familiesof retired and martyred armymen stay but today, the BJP andMCD is destroying the dreamsof late Prime Minister by con-tinuously harassing the resi-dents of the society. To ensurethe day-to-day necessities ofthese families the governmentalso built shops of essentialitems in this society, he said."The BJP and MCD whichtakes money to build any shopor building in Delhi have nowdemolished these shops.

Gurugram: Unearthing a racket involved in supply-ing drugs inside the Bhondsi Jail in Gurugram, a crimebranch team of the district police arrested twoaccused, including a jail warden during the interven-ing night of Saturday and Sunday and recovered 110grams of Sulfa and 24 grams of Smack from their pos-session.

The accused jail warden has been identified asPrem Chand, a resident of Mahendragarh district inHaryana. The second accused was identified asAnkit of Rewari district.According to the police, theaccused were intercepted by the crime branch of DLFphase-4 near the Bhondsi Jail after a tip-off.The policerecovered 110 gms of sulfa and 24 gm smack from theJail warden. They were booked under relevant sec-tions of the NDPS Act at the Sector-65 police stationhere.ACP (crime) Preet Pal Sangwan told reporters onSunday that during interrogation Ankit revealed thathe used to supply the contraband to another accusedDeepak alias Deepu, through the Jail warden, who waslodged in the Bhondsi Jail and around 10 cases of ArmsAct, snatching and NDPS Act were registered againsthim. SR

New Delhi: Trains running onidentified routes at a speed of130 kmph or above on the rail-way network will have only air-conditioned coaches in thenear future as part of theRailways’ plans to upgrade thenetwork, an official said onSunday.

Stressing that the ticketprices of such trains will be“affordable", railway ministryspokesperson D J Narain clar-ified that it should not be mis-construed that “all non-ACcoaches will be made into ACcoaches."

Currently on most routes,speeds of mail/express trainshave a ceiling of 110 kmph orlower.

Premium trains likeRajdhanis, Shatabdis andDurontos are allowed to oper-ate at 120 kmph on significantparts of the GoldenQuadrilateral and Diagonals.The rakes for such trains are fitto operate at 130 kph or above,officials said.

“AC coaches have become

a technical necessity whereverthe speed of the train is goingto be above 130 kmph. IndianRailways is working on a mas-sive plan to upgrade the railwaynetwork to high speed poten-tial," Narain said.

Tracks on the GoldenQuadrilateral and Diagonalsare being upgraded to cater tospeeds of 130 kmph to 160kmph. The non-AC sleepercoaches would be replaced byAC coaches only for such trainswhich will be running at130/160 kmph.

“Non-AC coaches will con-tinue to run in trains runningat 110 kmph," he said.

"It will be ensured thatwhile the price of tickets ofmodified AC coaches remainsvery affordable for the passen-gers, the comfort and conve-niences increase manifold andthere is substantial reduction intravel time," Narain said.

He said that a prototype ofsuch an AC coach is beingmanufactured at Rail CoachFactory at Kapurthala and

should be ready in a few weeks.“Presently, an 83-berth

coach is being designed. It isplanned to have 100 suchcoaches this year and 200 nextyear. The coaches will be eval-uated and experience gainedfrom the running of thesecoaches will lead to furtherprogress," he said.

Officials said that the newAC coaches will be economicalas their tickets will be pricedbetween AC 3 and Sleepercoaches.

Compared to 72 berths ina sleeper coach, this new ACcoach will have 83 berths, butthe number of berths in acoupe will remain the same.However, there will be no extramiddle berth between side-upper and side-lower berths.The coaches are being re-designed by moving the elec-trical units and removing thespace reserved for storing blan-kets and bed sheets, sinceRailways will stop providingthem due tocoronavirus. Agencies

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The police have registered an FIR underSection 420, 467, 468 and 506 of the IPC

against Independent MLA from MehamBalraj Kundu, his brother Shivraj Kunduand their company officials MohammadHashim and V K Lamba on the basis of acomplaint of �14 crore fraud lodged by acity resident.Following the complaint, asenior police official has also confirmed theregistration of the case.

The complainant, Parivartan Singh, aresident of Sector 51, has maintained thatBalraj Kundu and his brother ShivrajKundu a resident of Nirvana Country atSector-50 and two of their company offi-cials, who runs a construction company'KCC Buildcon' had given him �75 croreroad construction work in Madhya Pradesh.

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Hyderabad: The number of Covid-19 recoveries againoutnumbered new positive cases detected in Telanganaduring the last 24 hours, officials said on Sunday.

With 1,717 new cases, the cumulative tally roseto 2,12,063. For a fourth consecutive day the dailycount was below 2,000 mark.

Five more people succumbed to the Covid-19, tak-ing the cumulative death toll to 1,222.

The fatality rate stands at 0.57 per cent against thenational average of 1.5 per cent.

Officials said the percentage of deaths due toCovid-19 was 44.96 while the remaining 55.04 had co-morbidities.

Last 24 hours ending 8 p.m. Saturday saw morerecoveries than the new cases. With 2,103 more peo-ple recovering from the virus during the period, thetotal recoveries jumped to 1,85,128. The state's recov-ery rate climbed to 87.29 per cent while the nationalaverage is 85.9 per cent.

The state now has 25,713 active cases, including21,209 who are in home/institutional isolation.

Both the state capital and districts continued toshow declining trends in new cases. Greater Hyderabadreported 276 cases. Rangareddy district recorded sec-ond highest number of cases at 132 followed byMedchal Malkajgiri (131), Karimnagar (104), Nalgonda(101), Bhadradri Kothagudem (87), Siddipet (85),Khammam (82) and Sangareddy (59).

During the last 24 hours, 46,657 tests were con-ducted. With this the cumulative numbers have goneup to 35,47,051. IANS

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The victim's family isextremely upset with the

Naxal connection on theBulgadhi episode. When themedia asked the question, thevictim's brother got angry andsaid that we have lost our sis-ter, suffered persecution andnow Naxal connection is beingconnected with our relatives.SP Vineet Jaiswal has alsodenied the woman related toNaxal connection. He said thatthere is no such input.

Unnecessary things arehappening. Is it time to talk likethis? Meanwhile, the deceased'skith and kin are angry over thefact that a woman with familyhas a Naxal connection. It wastold that the woman hadbecome a sister-in-law andstayed with the family. SPVineet Jaiswal has also deniedthe woman related to Naxalconnection.

Lucknow: The Uttar Pradeshgovernment has conditionallypermitted the reopening ofschools from class 9 to 12 acrossthe state on October 19 after agap of almost seven months.

Online education will con-tinue for children from class 8and below. The in-person class-es will be held under the advi-sory of the Centre's HomeAffairs Ministry and the guide-lines of the Uttar Pradesh gov-ernment.

According to the guide-lines, the classes will run in twoshifts and a written consentfrom the parents would berequired.

Schools would need to takeregular necessary precautionslike sanitization near gates,classes and washrooms; com-pulsory wearing of face masks;and maintaining social dis-tancing between students.

The schools cannot exceeda specified number of studentsin a class and no morningprayer meetings will be allowedin an effort to avoid gatherings. IANS

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New Delhi: Lower fare limitsdecided by the government foreconomy class seats of domes-tic flights on May 21 would nowalso be applicable to premiumeconomy class seats, theMinistry of Civil Aviation hassaid.

However, the upper farelimits set by the government foreconomy class seats would notbe applicable on the premiumeconomy class seats, accordingto a ministry order datedOctober 5 which was accessedby PTI.

The Ministry of CivilAviation (MoCA) had on May21 placed upper and lower lim-its on domestic airfares throughseven bands, classified on thebasis of flight duration, tillAugust 24. Later, it was extend-ed till November 24.

Among the Indian domes-tic carriers, only Vistara has pre-mium economy class seats in itsflights.

Domestic passenger ser-vices resumed in India on May25 after nearly two months ofsuspension owing to the coro-navirus pandemic situation.

Modifying its May 21 order,the MoCA in its October 5 com-munication stated, "The faresindicated... are not applicable forbusiness class and premiumeconomy class. However, inpremium economy class, thelower fare band would beapplicable." The ministry had onMay 21 said that there would beseven bands of ticket pricingwith lower and upper fare lim-its based on flight duration.

The first such band consistsof flights that are of less than 40minutes duration. The lowerand the upper fare limits for thefirst band is Rs 2,000 and Rs6,000, respectively.

The subsequent bands arefor flights with durations of 40-60 minutes, 60-90 minutes, 90-120 minutes, 120-150 minutes,150-180 minutes and 180-210minutes. The lower and upperlimits for these bands are: Rs2,500-Rs 7,500; Rs 3,000-Rs9,000; Rs 3,500-Rs 10,000; Rs4,500-Rs 13,000; Rs 5,500-Rs15,700 and Rs 6,500-Rs 18,600,respectively, the DirectorateGeneral of Civil Aviation(DGCA) said. Agencies

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From Page 1Yuv Sena leader Aditya

Thackeray, who had steadily beenopposing the tree felling at AareyColony and was among the first lotto raise a protest against massivetree felling that took place on thenight of October 4 2019, hadtweeted, “A project that should beexecuted with pride, the Metro 3,@MumbaiMetro3 has to do it inthe cover of the night, with shame,slyness and heavy cop cover. Theproject, supposed to get Mumbaiclean air, is hacking down a forestwith a leopard, rusty spotted catand more”.

On the following day, Adityahad come out with one moretweet, “The use of a large numberof police personnel. Hacking treesin the dead of the night, even afterwinning in court (then why notbroad daylight) and detention ofpeaceful protesters and citizens.Who is authorising this? DuringCode of Conduct? All these pow-ers handed to MMRC?”

Later on October 7 2019, theSupreme Court had restrained theMMRCL from cutting any more

trees at Aarey Colony till October21. Hours after the apex courtrestrained it from cutting anymore trees till October. On its part,MMRCL had said that while it“respected” the apex court’s order,it had already felled 2,141 trees onOctober 4 and 5 following theBombay High court’s order uphold-ing of the BMC’s Tree Authority’spermission to fell 2,185 trees atAarey Colony.

However, on October 21, 2019the Supreme Court clarified thatthe controversial Metro car shedproject in Mumbai’s Aarey Colonycould continue, but the freeze ontree cutting would remain. Theapex court had also asked for aWhite Paper on the issue, seekingdetails on the trees cut, trans-planted and those that survived thetransplant.

Subsequently, a day after itassumed office, the Shiv Sena-ledMVA Government assumed officehad on November 29 last year,Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeraystayed the work on the construc-tion of a car shed for Metro phase-III at Aarey Colony in north

Mumbai, pending a total review ofthe project.

Within a couple hours afterassuming the office at Mantralaya(State Secretariat), Uddhav said, “Ibelieve in fulfilling promises Imake... I have been thinking whatto do for Mumbai... You mayremember the Mumbai car shedissue had generated considerableheat during the elections.. As a first,I have stayed the Metro car shed atAarey Colony. The car shed workwill not resume till we take a fullreview of the project.”

Speaking to mediapersons afterhe was felicitated by the StateSecretariat and LegislatureReporters’ Association on hisassuming the office, Uddhav said:“This (the review of Metro car shedwork) is essential. I read newsreports today that some trees werefelled at Aarey Colony last night. Iwill not allow this kind of butcher-ing of trees. I will take a total reviewof the whole thing,” the ChiefMinister had said.

Indicating that he was per senot against the Metro project,Uddhav had said, “Whatever nec-essary will happen. I am all fordevelopment. I have not given anystay on the development work. But,I do not want any development that

comes at the cost of our preciousassets. Hence I have given directionto the people concerned that noteven a leaf is removed from AareyColony”.

“Unfortunate decision to shiftMetro CarShed from Aarey toKanjurmarg and that too just to sat-isfy ego. This decision will increasethe cost of the project by at least Rs4000 crore and this cost escalationis assessed by the committeeappointed by this Government,”Fadnavis tweeted.

“This means that the Metroproject, which would have been inthe service of Mumbaikars just nextyear, has now been postponedindefinitely. Rs 400 crore wasalready spent for Aarey Car Shed,Rs 1300 crore wasted due to stay-ing of project & additional costescalation of Rs 4000 crore... Rs2400 crore cost burden if in caseKanjurmarg land dispute remainsas it was. What will be today’scost?,” the former chief ministertweeted.

“Metro project delayed forindefinite period. What exactlydoes the state Govt want to achieveby blocking the seamless journeyof Mumbaikars? MVA Govt mis-leading Mumbaikars,” Fadnavisadded.

From Page 1The brutal injuries suffered by the victim and

the local administration’s move to cremate herbody late at night triggered massive outrageamong people resulting in a political battle fromthe national capital to Lucknow and Hathras.

The political slugfest was further accentuat-ed following the controversial statement by theState police claiming there was no evidence ofrape. The widespread public outcry compelledthe State government to transfer the case, orig-inally registered at Chandpa police station inHathras.

The Hathras police had registered a case ofattempt to murder on a statement by the victim’sbrother who had said the accused had tried tostrangulate his sister in a millet field andescaped when she raised an alarm.

Following the State government’s request toprobe the case, the notification issued by the cen-tre had asked the CBI to probe rape, murder andatrocity and “any attempt, abetment and/or con-spiracy, in relation to or in connection with suchoffence(s) and/or for any other offence committedin the course of the same transaction or arisingout of the same facts”.

“The complainant had alleged that onSeptember 14, 2020 the accused tried to stran-gulate his sister in the millet field. The case hasbeen registered by CBI on the request of UttarPradesh Government and further Notificationfrom Government of India,” the CBI said in astatement.

A team has been constituted and investiga-tion is continuing, it added. Agency sources saidthe CBI will not probe the international plot andcriminal conspiracy to defame the Uttar PradeshGovernment as claimed in an affidavit by theState Government before the Supreme Court.

From Page 1As per the notification issued

by the department, the rulesissued in the policy for the exemp-tion of registration fee have beenopened for public opinion.

“The draft will be taken intoconsideration after expiry of aperiod of three days from the dateon which the copies of this noti-fication as published in theGazette of Delhi are made avail-able to the public. Objections orsuggestions in this behalf shouldbe addressed to Secretary-cum-Commissioner (Transport),Government of National Capitalof Delhi, Transport Department,”it said.

The Delhi Government led byKejriwal has implemented theelectric vehicle policy to pro-mote the use of electric vehiclesto reduce Delhi’s air pollution.Thereafter, the SpecialCommissioner of transport

department Shashi Kaushal hasissued a notification with theorder of the Lieutenant Governorof Delhi, under which tax exemp-tion on all battery electric vehicleshas been provided. This policy hascome into force from the date ofissue of this notification, i.e.,road tax will not be paid on theelectric vehicles starting October10 this year.

As per the notification, theDelhi EV policy 2020 has beenhailed as one of the most pro-gressive EV policies in the world,which aims to have 25 percent oftotal vehicles as electric by 2024.

It also focuses on the creationof employment in sectors such asdriving, selling, financing, andcharging of EVs, and heavy incen-tives for the rapid adoption ofEVs, it said, adding that the pol-icy was framed to adapt to the useof EVs, with an aim to reduce airpollution in the capital.

From Page 1“Now, I am waiting for Priyanka

Gandhi to take action.”“On one hand, our party lead-

ers are fighting for justice for Hathrasvictim and on the other, party tick-et is being given to a rape accused.It is a wrong decision. It will malignthe image of our party,” Yadav said.

The leader, who has been asso-ciated with the Congress for the pastfour years, said she went to the partyoffice to meet Nayak to oppose theparty’s decision to give ticket to atainted candidate but was manhan-dled by the male party workers.Three other women were also man-handled, Yadav alleged.

The Deoria assembly seat fellvacant after the demise of BharatiyaJanata Party MLA Janmejaya Singh.The bypoll for the seat will be held

on November 3. The Congressannounced Mukund Bhaskar ManiTripathi as its candidate after a meet-ing on Saturday. Tripathi has rub-bished the allegations, saying theywere baseless.

He said that he was not con-victed in any case. However, takingcognisance of the incident, UPCongress chief Ajay Kumar Lallusaid the top leadership had takennotice of the incident in Deoria andhad assured that strict action wouldbe taken against the guilty.

The three-member team com-prises AICC member Talat Aziz,president of Mahila Congress’Purvanchal unit Sahala Aharari andvice-president Mahila CongressPurvanchal unit ChandrakalaPushkar, will submit its report toLallu within three days.

From Page 1Sinha pointed out that the Artificial

Intelligence software called ‘Nerve Centre’(developed by his firm) helps quickly iden-tify crop diseases from UAV data and auto-mates the process of digitisation andclassification of crops.

Given that at least 50 per cent of India’sGDP is still agriculture-based, it is hopedthat such drones can play a big role inboosting agriculture yield by 10-20 percent. Crop diseases and pests have becomea major headache for the farmers in recentyears due to pollution and climate changeimpacts.

However, as Indian farms tend to besmall and a single farm’s plots are oftenscattered throughout a region, Agrix1 iscurrently helpful for large agricultural areasonly.

To this effect, Omnipresent is work-ing jointly with a large agriculture indus-try player in Telangana using the drone.“We are developing machine learning algo-rithms to quickly identify diseases in cropsusing large amounts of training data.Additionally, we plan to deploy a sprayerdrone for taking appropriate correctiveaction on affected crops.

“Automated disease identification andremedial measures using drones would bea big game changer for the agricultureindustry and farmers and we are lookingforward to disrupting this segment,” saidSinha.

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Ahead of festivals, DelhiDisaster Management

Authority (DDMA) on Sundayissued certain guidelines inview of Covid-19, first —fairs/melas/food stalls (insideand outside the venue) jhoolas/rallies/exhibitions /processionswill not be permitted duringfestivals till October 31, 2020.

As Navratras/Devi Punjanis approaching, the area DistrictMagistrate shall appoint anofficer of suitable seniority asNodal Officer for each siteand venue of Ramlila andPooja Pandas etc.

As per the DDMA guide-lines aligned with Ministry ofHome Affairs (MHA), all eventorganisers will have to obtainrequisite permission from DMconcerned for organising festi-val events, well in advance ,besides obtaining permissionfrom all other authorities con-cerned as per applicablelaws/rules and practice in vogue.

As per the order, in con-tinuation, in a closed space, amaximum of 50 per cent of thehall capacity will be allowed,with a ceiling of 200 persons

while in open space, keepingthe size of the ground/space inview but with strict obser-vance of social distancingnorms.

The DDMA notificationfor festivals signed by ChiefSecretary Vijay Dev furtherread, “Each such permission(which is applied to DM con-cerned) shall be jointly grant-ed by DM and District DCPconcerned on the basis of jointinspection report of area exec-utive magistrate area SHO andlicensing Inspector of MCDwhich shall clearly certify thatthe festival celebrations site issuitable for the conduct of theevent and meets all the stipu-lations laid down in this order.”

While DMs shall have tomake arrangements of videog-raphy to ensure implementa-tion of strict Covid-19 guide-lines, at all events, related to fes-tivals, no person will be allowedin standing or squatting posi-tion only sitting on chairs withsocial distancing norms shall beallowed. “Only such seatingcapacity would be ensured thatpermits compliance of Covid -appropriate behaviour,” theorder read.

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In the sixth week of the 10Hafte 10 Baje 10 Minute anti-

dengue campaign of the DelhiGovernment, CM ArvindKejriwal inspected his resi-dence for stagnant water to pre-vent dengue mosquito breedingalong with his family memberstoday. He also encouragedDelhiites to involve their fam-ily members in the 10 Hafte 10Baje 10 Minute campaign and

change the accumulated waterto prevent dengue.

Taking to social media,Kejriwal tweeted, “Today is thesixth Sunday of the campaignagainst dengue, my family alsojoined the campaign this time.We checked the house andreplaced the accumulated cleanwater. You must also involve yourfamily in this campaign. We haveto defeat dengue together#10Hafte10Baje10Minute HarRavivaar, Dengue Par Vaar.”

Announcing the 10 Hafte 10Baje 10 Minute campaignagainst Dengue, Kejriwal hadsaid “We will stop the breedingof dengue mosquitoes and pro-tect our family and all of Delhifrom dengue through the col-lective efforts of all the Delhiites.This year, the Delhi Governmenthas also launched a Denguehelpline — 01123300012 andWhatsApp helpline —8595920530 to assist the gener-al public with dengue.

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Delhi Environment MinisterGopal Rai on Sunday said

the Delhi Government hasimposed a fine of �50 lakhagainst the National CapitalRegion Transport Corporation(NCRTC) for not followingthe anti-pollution directives ofthe Government.

Rai said only one anti-smoggun was found on the NCRTCsite and directions issued to thefacility not to start work untilanother anti-smog gun isinstalled. The Minister saidChief Minister Arvind Kejriwalwill launch spraying of anti-stub-ble burning solution from inGhazipur village on October 13.He added so far we havereceived applications to spray theanti-stubble burning solution onnearly 1,500 acres of land.

The Environment Ministerconducted an on-site inspec-tion of the NCRTC as part ofthe anti-dust campaign.“Massive dust pollution is hap-pening here. The guidelinesissued by the DelhiGovernment regarding pollu-tion control are not being fol-

lowed by the agency, therefore,strict action will be takenagainst the NCRTC,” he said.

The NCRTC is alreadyaware that anti-dust operationsare being carried out all overDelhi but they are not followingthe rules completely. “I havepenalised the NCRTC of Rs 50lakh. If despite this they con-tinue the violation then thework will be banned,” he said.

Rai said the anti-dust cam-paign is being carried outacross the Capital and theteams of Delhi Government areinspecting at different places.

“There are 39 large sites inDelhi, covering an area ofmore than 20, 000 squaremeters where either construc-tion work or demolition workis going on,” he said.

On the instructions ofDelhi Government, anti-smogguns have been installed at 33of these places to prevent dustpollution but six anti-smogguns have not yet been installedat six sites.

Earlier the Minister visitedFICCI where the work wasgoing on without notifying theDelhi Government.

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The Delhi Police has arrest-ed four men for allegedly

killing a person and injuring hisfriend during a robbery incentral Delhi’s GB road area.

The accused have beenidentified as Rahat Ali (19), aresident of New Seelampur,Fardeen (21), a resident ofGautam Puri, Suhaib (19) andSalman (22), both residents ofSeelampur.

Polide said Rahat Ali andFardeen were arrested byKalmla Market police staffwhereas Suhaib and Salmanwere arrested by the CrimeBranch.

According to a seniorpolice official, on October 5,one Anirudh Kumar Yadavcalled his friend Aman andmade a plan to visit Aman’smaternal uncle’s house inKarawal Nagar.

“They met at ITO and wentto visit G B Road to get ciga-rettes. Yadav was urinatingwhereas Aman was standing onthe road. Meanwhile, Yadavheard Aman’s voice who wassaying that his phone has beensnatched by one person,” he said.

“Later, Aman caught thesnatcher and started beatinghim, meanwhile, another per-son came there and attackedAman with knife. Yadav inter-vened in the matter and triedto save Aman, but the accusedalso attacked him with knife.The accused persons, after rob-bing the mobile phone, fledfrom the spot,” said the seniorpolice official.

New Delhi: A day after SouthDelhi Municipal Corporation(SDMC) Mayor Anamika saidhealth licence is crucial toensure hygiene standards of therestaurants premises and safe-ty of visitors, Delhi ChiefMinister Arvind Kejriwal saidrestaurants contributes to Delhieconomy in a big way facingharassment due to license raj.

The CM appealed to worktogether to remove harassmentbeing faced by the hotel andrestaurant industry due to tradelicense issued by municipal cor-porations.

Kejriwal said CentralGovernment body FSSAI hasdirected Corporations to stopissuing food licenses. “I hopeMCDs will comply soon withCentres directions,” he said.

“Restaurants contribute toDelhi economy & taxes in a bigway. They face harassment dueto license raj. All Governmentsshould work together toremove harassment. CentreGovernment body FSSAI hasdirected MCDs to stop issuingfood licenses. I hope MCDswill comply soon with Centresdirections,” he tweeted. TheAAP on Saturday accused theBJP-ruled municipal corpora-tions of running “license-Raj”.

AAP MLA and spokesper-son Saurabh Bhardwaj hadattacked the municipal corpo-rations for continuing to issuehealth trade licenses to restaurantowners despite being asked byDelhi and Central Governmentto stop doing so. SR

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Three persons were killed inan accident between a car

and a tractor on early hours ofSunday in west Delhi’s MotiNagar area.

The deceased has beenidentified as Rajesh Sharma(32), Tarun Gupta (42) andCharandeep Singh (38), allresidents of Pandav Nagar.

According to a seniorpolice official, a call wasreceived at Moti Nagar policestation regarding accident infront of Kirti Nagar metro sta-tion around 1.30 am followingwhich n Emergency ResponseVehicle (ERV) was dispatchedfor the spot.

“After reaching the spot, acar and a tractor, with a loaded

trolley, were found in acciden-tal condition on the roadtowards Moti Nagar to PatelNagar on Shadipur flyover,”said the senior police official.

“Later, information wasreceived from Acharya ShreeBhikshu Hospital, Moti Nagarthat one Rajesh, Tarun andCharandeep were declaredbrought dead while oneParveen Singh (38), a residentof Jhilmil, was under treatmentand not fit for statement,” saidthe senior police official.

“An First InformationReport (FIR) has been regis-tered and all the three bodieswere shifted to DDU hospitalfor autopsy. Vehicles have beenseized and further investigationis underway,” said police offi-cial privy to investigation.

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Terming the property cards,which he distributed under

the ‘SVAMITVA’ (ownership)scheme, as a “historic move”that will transform rural India,Prime Minister Narendra Modion Sunday said this will pavethe way for villagers to use theproperty as a financial asset fortaking loans and other financialbenefits, and end disputesamong villagers over land own-ership.

The Prime Ministerlaunched the physical distri-bution of property cardsunder the scheme via video conferencing and interactedwith several beneficiaries ofthe scheme called Survey ofVillages and Mapping withImprovised Technology inVillage Areas (SVAMITVA).Modi said it is a big step forthe country towards becom-ing ‘aatmanirbhar’ (self-reliant).

“Experts across the worldhave stressed that propertyownership rights play a bigrole in a country’s develop-ment,” he said to highlight the significance of the measureand noted that only one-thirdpopulation globally has a legalrecord of the properties theyown.

The youth living in vil-lages now can avail of bankloans against their propertiesto start out on their own, hesaid, asserting it is necessary

for a developing country likeIndia to have clear land own-ership rights.

Property rights will givethe youth self-confidence thatcan lead to their self-reliance,he said.

The beneficiaries are from763 villages across six states,including 346 from UttarPradesh, 221 from Haryana,100 from Maharashtra, 44from Madhya Pradesh, 50from Uttarakhand and twofrom Karnataka.

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As India gears up for a stringof festivals against the

background of rising coron-avirus cases, Union HealthMinister Dr Harsh Vardhan onSunday urged people to stayaway from large congregationsand diligently follow Covid19guidelines, saying no religion orGod asks people to celebrateostentatiously.

He also warned thatupcoming winter season maysee increased rates of trans-mission of the novel coron-avirus, citing the nature ofsuch pathogens.

Requesting people to cele-brate the approaching festivalsat home with their loved onesinstead of going out to fairs andpandals, he said fighting againstCovid-19 is everyone’s foremost“dharma” and as the country’shealth minister it is his “dhar-ma” to mitigate the virus andprevent deaths at any cost.

He invoked Bhagwad Gitamessage to make his pointsaying that the “Bhagwat Gitacondones war for the warriorclass. So, there is no need to

congregate in large numbers toprove your faith or your reli-gion,” he said during the fifthepisode of ‘Sunday Samvaad’, avirtual interaction with peopleon social media.

“Extraordinary circum-stances must draw extraordi-nary responses. No religion orGod says that you have to cel-ebrate in an ostentatious way,that you have to visit pandalsand temples and mosques topray,” Dr Harsh Vardhanunderlined.

He also discussed the pos-sibility of increased novel coro-navirus transmission duringthe coming winter season astransmission of respiratoryviruses is known to increaseduring the colder weather.

These viruses are known tothrive better in the cold weath-er and low humidity condi-tions. In view of these, it would

not be wrong to assume thatthe winter season may seeincreased rates of transmissionof the novel coronavirus in theIndian context too, he noted.

He stressed that if peoplecongregate in large numbers toto celebrate festivals, “we may beheading for big trouble”. Indiahas recorded 70,53,807 Covidcases while deaths have climbedto 1,08, 334 as on Sunday.

“Lord Krishna says con-centrate on your goal...our goalis to finish this virus and savehumanity. This is our religion.The religion of the whole world,”he said.

Answering questions onthe efficacy of AYUSH formu-lations in the treatment ofCovid-19, Dr Harsh Vardhanexplained the concept ofSalutogenesis and how theseformulations target holisticrecovery of patients.

Pointing to in-depth studyof literature and scientific evi-dence generated from in silicostudies, experimental studies,and clinical studies, he said,Guduchi, Ashwagandha,Guduchi and Pippali combina-tion and AYUSH 64 have a sub-

stantial number of studies whichprove their immuno-modula-tory, anti-viral, antipyretic andanti-inflammatory properties.

On progress about theindigenously developed Feludapaper strip test for SARS-CoV-2 diagnosis, he said it could berolled out in the next few weeks.

Presently Covid-19 vac-cines are in various stages ofphases 1, 2 and 3 of human clin-ical trials, the results of whichare awaited. “Adequate safetyand efficacy data is required foremergency use authorisation,vaccine approval for ensuringpatient safety. Further course ofaction will depend on the datagenerated,” the Minister under-lined.

Categorically rejectingspeculation that the govern-ment is prioritizing young andworking-class for the Covid-19vaccine for economic reasons,Vardhan said, “The prioritisa-tion of groups for Covid-19 vac-cine shall be based on two keyconsiderations -- occupationalhazard and risk of exposure toinfection, and the risk of devel-oping severe disease andincreased mortality.”

Asked how the govern-ment plans to roll out theCovid-19 vaccine, he said thatit is anticipated that supplies ofvaccines would be available inlimited quantities in the begin-ning.

“In a huge country likeIndia, it is critical to prioritisevaccine delivery based on var-ious factors such as the risk ofexposure, comorbidity amongvarious population groups, themortality rate among Covid-19cases, and several others,” theminister said.

Vardhan also highlightedthe need for massive advocacyfor building community sensi-tization activities to under-stand the reasons for vaccinehesitancy and address themappropriately.

Referring to reports of rein-fection surfacing in variousstates, Vardhan said an analy-sis by the ICMR has revealedthat many cases reported asCOVID-19 reinfection havebeen misclassified because RT-PCR tests can detect dead-virus shed for prolonged peri-ods after recovery.

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The Congress on Sundayformed several panels for

the Bihar Assembly polls withparty general secretaryRandeep Surjewala namedchairman of the election man-agement and coordinationcommittee.

Mohan Prakash was madethe convenor of the 14-mem-ber election management andcoordination committee. Thepanel includes senior leaderslike Meira Kumar, Tariq Anwar,Shatrughan Sinha, Kirti Azad,Shakeel Ahmed and SanjayNirupam.

Congress president SoniaGandhi also approved the set-ting up of the publicity com-mittee, media coordinationcommittee, public meeting andlogistics committee, legal com-mittee and office managementcommittee for the Bihar elec-tions, a party statement said.

While Subodh Kumar hasbeen appointed the convenor ofthe publicity committee, JaeyaMishra was named the co-convenor of the panel.

Congress spokespersonPawan Khera has been namedthe chairman of the mediacoordination committee forthe polls, while Prem ChandMishra will be the convenorand Rajesh Rathor co-con-venor of the panel.

Brijesh Kumar Munan hasbeen appointed convenor of thepublic meeting and logisticscommittee, while VarunChopra has been named thechairman of the legal commit-tee.

The party’s office manage-ment committee includes thelikes of Ashok Kumar andKaukab Quadri.

The party had announceda list of 30 star campaigners aday earlier with leaders likeSonia, Rahul Gandhi,Shatrughan Sinha, Kirti Azad,Navjot Singh Sidhu amongstothers in the star campaignpanel.

Congress is contesting theBihar assembly polls as part ofthe Grand Alliance. Under aseat-sharing formula for theupcoming assembly polls, theCongress will contest 70 of atotal 243 seats.

The Bihar Assembly pollswill be held in three phases onOctober 28, November 3 andNovember 7, and the countingof votes will take place onNovember 10.

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As it kickstarted its cam-paign in the State, the BJP

on Sunday released a list of 30star campaigners for the firstphase of Bihar Assembly elec-tions, scheduled to be held onOctober 28. It also releasednames of 46 candidates,including some fresh faces, forthe second phase of polls inthe State.

Prime Minister NarendraModi, Home Minister AmitShah, Defence MinisterRajnath Singh, party presi-dent J P Nadda, GeneralSecretary in-charge of theState Bhupendra Yadav, BiharBJP President Sanjay Jaiswal,Deputy-Chief Minister SushilModi, Union TextileMinister Smriti Irani, UttarPradesh Chief Minister YogiAdityanath and formerMaharashtra Chief Minister,also state in-charge of cam-paign, Devendra Fadnavis,figure in the list of main

campaigners in the three-phased election.

Several of the centralministers who hail from thestate and form the core ofBihar leadership includingRavi Shankar Prasad, R KSingh, Giriraj Singh, AshwaniKumar Chaubey, NityanandRai have been given charge ofspearheading the campaign inthe high-stake Assembly poll.

This apart, former centralMinister R K Yadav, formerDelhi BJP Chief ManojTiwari, former state ChiefMangal Pandey, SanjayPaswan and Nivedita Singhare also to hit the campaignground.

BJP has also enlisted ser-vices of former ChiefMinisters of JharkhandRaghubar Das and BabulalMarandi for the state pollbesides Union PetroleumMinister DharmendraPradhan, an old hand in theState affairs.

The BJP is contesting theassembly elections in alliancewith the JD(U). Two otherparties —Vikassheel InsaanParty (VIP) and HindustaniAwam Morcha (HAM) —have also been included in thealliance.

BJP will ‘focus on thegovernance of the Modi-Government’ and its fulfil-ment of the centrally-fundedstate projects, including majorbridges, roads, railway lines,power projects, many ofwhich have been completedand inaugurated recently byPrime Minister NarendraModi. “The brand Modi willplay and work in the state,”sources said.

Hours before releasingthe list of 30 star campaign-ers , the BJP released a list of46 candidates for the secondphase of the Bihar Assemblyelections which will be heldon November 3.

Launching the party’scampaign for the Bihar pollsat the historic GandhiMaidan in Gaya, Nadda list-ed out the BJP-JD(U) gov-ernment’s achievements andlauded Nitish Kumar for hishandling of the coronaviruscrisis in the State. “Leadershipof India is secured in thehands of Prime MinisterNarendra Modi and it isimportant that the leadershipof Bihar is secured withNitish Kumar,” Nadda furthersaid.

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Just two years ago, nobody hadeven thought that the mar-

ginalised potters’ community inBihar would have their day. Butlife is changing for hundreds ofthem now thanks to the“Kumhar SashaktikaranYojana” launched by Khadi andVillage Industries Commission(KVIC) to empower theKumhar community in Bihar.

“It was the dream of noneother than Prime MinisterNarendra Modi to empower theKumhar community throughmodern technology and revivethe dying art of pottery makingin the country,” says KVI chair-man VK Saxena.

Saxena points out that onesuch beneficiary of the programis Jai Shankar Pandit, a potterin Muzaffarpur district of Biharwho along with his father usedto work earlier on stone chaak.His life has changed after hereceived an electric potter wheelfrom KVIC. High productivityand higher income are all thathe can boast of now. And thefamily has a unique way toexpress their gratitude to thePrime Minister.

Jai Shankar is now makingthe idols of the Prime Ministerand also earning a respectablelivelihood by selling them inBihar and West Bengal. Panditcould now also earn a sustain-able livelihood. “The idols ofthe PM are selling in goodnumbers and fetching me good

price. So far he has sold 75-80such idols at a rate of �800 perpiece,” Saxena points out.

Keeping in view the festiveseason and the ban on Chineseclay items by Modi, he is alsomaking idols of deities - Durga,Laxmi and Ganesh - and a vari-ety of diya (earthen lamp) anddecorative items to reap max-imum advantage.

“Empowerment of themarginalised potters’ commu-nity is the dream of the PrimeMinister and it is heartening tosee potters like Jai Shankarexpressing their gratitude to the

Prime Minister in such a nobleway,” Saxena maintains.

Connecting the potters’community with the main-stream of society by increasingtheir production and income isthe sole objective of KumharSashaktikaran Yojana. The pro-gram has been currently sus-pended in Bihar due to theModel Code of Conduct butsoon after the elections, theMission will be restarted andspread to the remotest parts ofBihar empowering every pot-ter family.

In just two years KVIC has

distributed 500 electric potterwheels to an identical numberof potter families and empow-ered nearly 20,000 people inBihar with an estimated 10lakh potters population. KVIChas distributed electric chaakto potters in districts likeRohtas, Bhojpur, Nawada,Samastipur, Muzaffarpur,Patna, East & west Champaran,Khagaria and Sitamarhi.

Earlier, a potter couldhardly make 100 to 150 diya orKulhar a day, but on the elec-tric chaak, he is able to make500 to 600 of them daily.

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The Congress on Sundaysought the resignation of

Karnataka Chief Minister BSYediyurappa over the �662-crore corruption allegationsagainst him, his son, grandsonand son-in-law.

Launching a sharp attackat the BJP Government inKarnataka, Congress leaderAbhishek Manu Singhvi saidthat it is engulfed in a clutch ofcorruption with “dented andpainted leaders ruling”.

Singhvi was referring tothe allegation levelled by leader

of opposition Siddaramaiahagainst Yediyurappa’s son BYVijayendra of taking a bribefrom a Bangalore develop-ment authority contractor.

He also said that allegedaudio and Whatsapp conver-sation involving Yediyurappa ‘sson and grandson disclosethire direct involvement inthe corruption and asked whyno criminal complaint hasbeen filed so far. “You have abribe giver and a taker infront of you”.

“Why is he not subject tocriminal proceedings?” he alsoasked. Is “Karanataka chiefminister has special leverage?”

Singhvi said while questioningthe Government’s silence overthe matter.

“If BJP and the chief min-ister has a basic sense of shamethen Yediyurappa shouldresign or be sacked,” Singhvisaid at a press conference.

He further took a jibe atPrime Minister NarendraModi saying, “Why thewatchman is sleeping inYediyurappa’s case?”

“It is unfortunate that you(PM Modi) are being watch-men for others’ homes but let-ting corruption take place inyour own home, “ Singhvisaid.

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After vegetables, it is the turnof the pulses to witness a

major spike in their prices. Inthe retail markets, tur (arhar)is being sold between �120 and�140 a kg while dhuli urad isbetween �90 and �120 a kg.

As per the Ministry ofConsumer Affairs (MoCA),the wholesale prices of gram,tur and urad is �6,700, �9,700and �9,700 per quintal in themarkets. Besides tur and dhuliurad, masoor dal pricesincreased from �60 to �80 perkg and moong dal pricesincreased from �80 to �90-100per kg. The prices of kabulichana (chickpea) and gramdal are also skyrocketing in theretail markets.

Traders say prices of puls-es are rising due to short sup-ply. Another reason is thatthere is a possibility of a fur-ther increase in pulses stocks.The rainfall in Maharashtraand Madhya Pradesh has ledto the low production of puls-es. The traders complain thatthe speedy increase in priceshas reduced the sale by 60 per-cent. They added that theprice hike has taken a toll onretail business with the con-

sumption of pulses which isdrastically reducing.

Prices of vegetables arealso high in the retail market.Potato prices have increasedfrom �25 to �40 per kg, cap-sicum from �80 to �120, cau-liflower from �70 to �100,green chilli from �70 to Rs100, onion from �30 to �50per kg.

In an attempt to check therising price of pulses, MoCAhas offered ‘urad’ and ‘tur’ atsubsidised rates for retail saleto state governments.

Tur is being offered forretail intervention at �85 perkg. Accordingly, dhuli urad isbeing offered to states at �79per kg for K-18 variety and at

Rs 81 per kg for K-19 variety.According to the min-

istry, the retail packs are beingprovided for retailing fairprice shops of PublicDistribution System (PDS)and other marketing/retailoutlets of the state gover-ments such as dairy and hor-ticulture outlets and consumercorporation society.

The ministry had earlierintroduced a mechanism tosupply pulses from the bufferstock to states at minimumsupport price plus 10 percentother charges.

Overall, India is a pulse-deficient country, with theoverall domestic productionfalling short of consumption.

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With Punjab’s farmers’organisations continuing

with their agitation against thefarm laws, the Ministry ofAgriculture has once againinvited them for a meeting onOctober 14.

Beginning October 13, theBJP has lined up its Cabinetministers to address farmers,arhtiyas, agriculture experts,educationists and the mediaover eight consecutive days ina bid to counter the protests.

The ministers namelyHardeep Singh Puri, KailashChowdhary, Smriti Irani,Anurag Thakur, Dr SanjivKumar Balia, Som Parkash,Gajendra Singh Shekhawat andDr Jitendra Singh will addressand answer queries over farmbills in district-specific videoconferences.

The farmers’ organisationshad last week rejected theUnion agriculture department’s

invitation to participate in a“conference to address theirconcerns” on October 8. “Wehave received an invitation fora meeting on October 14,” saidJagmohan Singh, general sec-retary of Bharatiya KisanUnion (Dakaunda).

“Though the invite hascome from the agriculturesecretary, it mentions that thecentral government wants totalk to farmers,” he said. “Allfarmers’ organisations willdecide whether to go to Delhifor talks in a meeting slatedfor October 13 in Jalandhar,”he added. Farmers in Punjabhave been demanding thatthese three laws be repealed.

Farmers fromAmritsar, Ferozpur inPunjab have been holdinga ‘rail roko’ agitationagainst the “anti-farmer”laws, with protesters squat-ting on railway tracks atvarious places in the statesince September 24. In

Haryana, farmers are protest-ing in sporadic manner acrossthe state.

Farmers have expressedapprehension that the newlaws will destroy the mini-mum support price mecha-nism, end AgriculturalProduce Market Committeesand allow corporates to arm-twist them. The Government,however, has been saying thatthese laws, which were passedby Parliament recently amid av o c i f e r o u sOpposition protest, will raisefarmers’ income, free themfrom the clutches of the mid-dleman and usher in newtechnology in farming.

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The Yogi AdityanathGovernment in Uttar

Pradesh has announced a 5 percent reservation for jobs in theGroup C posts for former ser-vice personnel.

Adityanath said that retiredand former service personnelfrom all three services -- Army,Navy, Air Force -- will be eli-gible for the 5 per cent reser-vation.

To be eligible for the job,one will have to be an originalresident of Uttar Pradesh andthe reservation will be provid-ed at each level on a 'horizon-tal basis'.

“This move will encourageformer officials and workersand help their families finan-cially,” said a governmentspokesperson.

He added that UttarPradesh also sends the major-ity number of people in thedefence services and at present,a large number of former ser-vice personnel reside in thestate.

The state government hasalso recently increased thefinancial assistance given to thefamily of a slain servicepersonfrom Rs 25 lakh to Rs 50 lakh.

“The government is alsoproviding jobs to a member ofa martyr's family. It was decid-ed that a member of the fami-ly of any defence services andparamilitary forces, who ismartyred after April 1, 2017,will be given a government job.An order to this effect wasissued on March 19, 2018,” thespokesperson said, adding thatthere was no such provisionunder previous governments.

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ASikh delegation on Sundaymet Bengal Governor

Jagdeep Dhankhar seeking jus-tice for Balwinder Singh whoma cop allegedly pulled down byhis Pagdi (turban) during theThursday’s BJP march to theState secretariat even as theBengal Home Departmentrejected the allegations sayingwhat happened with Singh wasnon-discriminatory and thatthe “Sikh brothers and sisterslive in Bengal peacefully andhappily.”

With Assembly electionsscheduled to take place in mid2021 and the BJP managing tomake it a pan-India issue ques-tioning Mamata BanerjeeGovernment’s true secular cre-dentials, the State HomeDepartment tweeted a clarifi-cation saying the Sikh man was

detained after he was foundwith a gun in the middle of therally.

“Our Sikh brothers andsisters live here in West Bengalin perfect peace and harmony,in happiness and tranquility,with respect from all of us fortheir faith and practices. Arecent incident when one iso-lated individual got caughtwith one illegally carriedfirearm … in an agitation thatwas not authorized is nowbeing twisted out of context,being distorted, and beinggiven communal colors in frac-tious and partisan interest,” anofficial statement form heHome Department said.

Stopping short of namingthe BJP the Government said“One political party is givingcommunal colour to the subjectin narrow partisan interest ina manner that Bengal does not

believe in. Policing was done asper law, but highest respect forthe Sikh panth and ways fromGOWB is affirmed.”

The Government state-ment came almost in tandemwith a delegation led by SikhGurudwara ManagementCommittee member ManjinderSingh Sirsa meeting theGovernor seeking speedy jus-tice for Balwinder Singh.

“We are determined totake this issue to its logical con-clusion,” said Sirsa after meet-ing the Governor wondering“is this the way you treat yourmen in uniform who havetaken all the risks to fight theterrorists near the border.”SGMC had lodged a complaintwith the Howrah Police Station.

Balwinder Singh who wasreportedly present in the BJPcrowd in the capacity of a per-

sonal security guard of a saf-fron leader Priyangshu Singhwhen he was caught carrying agun is an ex-central forcesofficer.

Subsequently he wasdetained and forcibly pinneddown by an overenthusiasticpolice man following a minorscuffle.

The accused who was ear-lier given four-day police cus-tody was on Sunday presentedbefore a local court one day inadvance where the magistrateallowed another 8-day policecustody for him.

With the Sikhs having asizeable presence in parts ofBhawanipore area (ChiefMinister Mamata Banerjee’sconstituency), Asansol, Siliguriand Kharagpur the BJP hasbeen firmly backing Singhaccusing the Government ofreligious persecution.

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Awar of words broke out between the BJP andthe Trinamool Congress with Union

Minister Babul Supriyo on Sunday prescribingimposition of Article 356 in Bengal even as hesaid that the State combined all the material con-ditions required to enforce President’s Rule.

Supriyo, a second-time MP from Asansol,said that the recent chain of events in Bengaldemanded imposition of Article 356.

“From the arrest of six Al Qaida terror molesfrom Murshidabad to murder of oppositionworkers including BJP councilor Manish Shuklato insulting the Sikh community by assaultinga Sikh man by his turban during a BJP rally,shows that Bengal is a fit case for Article 356,”the singer-turned-politician said drawing sharpremarks from senior Trinamool Congress lead-ership. Senior TMC MP Sougato Roy prompt-ly hit back saying Babul Supriyo was a politicalgreenhorn with little knowledge of the consti-tutional laws.

“A novice as he is, Babul has jumped intopolitics from Bombay where he was a singer. He

has no idea of constitutional laws. He shouldknow that before imposing Article 356 there isan advisory needed under Article 355,” Roy saidwondering whether in Uttar Pradesh where oneperson had killed 8 cops President’s Rule hadbeen imposed. He also said “the murder ofManish Shukla was an affair among theBahubalis (strongmen) which however is beinginvestigated into by the CID.”

He further said that union minister wasmaking “absurd claims to hog attention, as heis not in good terms with State BJP presidentDilip Ghosh which is why he is not getting anyprominence in his party.”

Incidentally a BJP delegation led by its all-India vice president Mukul Roy on Sunday metGovernor Jagdeep Dhankhar with a demand fora CBI investigation into the Shukla murder case.This even as BJP strongman and MP fromBarrackpore Arjun Singh on Sunday alleged thatthe State Government was trying to implicatehim in the murder case.

Shukla, a former TMC leader like Singh, wasconsidered the right hand man of theBarrackpore MP..

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The Pakistan Army lateSunday evening resorted to

“intense” artillery/mortarshelling along the line of con-trol in Poonch and Rajouri sec-tors. In response the IndianArmy retaliated befittingly.

Till the time of filing thereport, tensions prevailed in thePoonch sector as two back toback incidents of ceasefire vio-lation were reported inDegwar and Khari Karmarasectors of Poonch. Artilleryshelling was also reported fromSunderbani sector of Rajouri.

Unconfirmed reportsclaimed, by regularly targetingseveral forward posts of the

Indian army, the Pakistan armyis attempting to push smallgroups of heavily armed infil-trators inside the Indian terri-tory. In retaliatory strikes, someof the Pakistani forward postssuffered heavy damages afterthey caught fire. Meanwhile,according to eyewitnessreports, several shells fired bythe Pakistani army landed inthickly populated areas.

A cordon and search oper-ation was also launched in theBalakote area of Poonch in thewee hours of Sunday after sev-eral rounds of firing wasreported from the close vicin-ity of a house of a local BJPleader.

According to a Jammubased Defence spokesman, Lt-

Col Devender Anand, “a totalnumber of three incidents ofceasefire violations werereported along the line of con-trol in Rajouri and Poonch sec-tors on Sunday evening wherePakistan reported intenseartillery shelling”.

According to a DefenceSpokesman, “at around 6.45p.m Pakistan initiated 'unpro-voked' ceasefire violation by fir-ing with small arms andartillery shelling along LoC inSunderbani sector of Rajouri.Indian army retaliated befit-tingly. Earlier, the Pakistanarmy had also targeted forwardIndian locations in Degwarand Khari Karmara sectors ofPoonch using intense mortarand artillery shelling”.

Amaravati: Covid-19 recover-ies in Andhra Pradesh reached7,03,208 on Sunday, healthofficials said.

The southern state's recov-eries have been consistentlyoutnumbering infections forthe past several weeks already.

Among the 13 districts,East Godavari witnessed thehighest number of recoveries at97,630.

On Sunday, the state regis-tered 5,210 more cases, raisingthe tally to 7.55 lakh.

West Godavari accountedfor the highest number ofinfections, 786, followed byChittoor (713), East Godavari(701), Krishna (462), Guntur(431), Kadapa (418) andPrakasam (362) among others.

With the new additions,Chittoor's tally crossed the70,000 mark while WestGodavari's reached 75,000.

Meanwhile, 30 morepatients succumbed to thevirus, raising the statewide tollto 6,224.

Chittoor accounts for thehighest number of deaths, 705,followed by East Godavari(568), Guntur (560) andAnantapur (524) among others.

Of the 7.55 lakh cases,active cases currently stand at46,295, even as the state hascompleted 65.6 lakh Covidtests.

On Sunday, AP tested75,517 samples for Covid evenas the state's positivity ratecurrently stands at 11.56 percent. IANS

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Rajasthan recorded 14 morefatalities due to the novel

coronavirus on Sunday, takingthe death toll in the state to1,650, a health departmentbulletin said.

The state also reported2,144 new cases on Sunday. Thetotal number of infected peo-ple now stands at 1,59,052, outof which, 21,412 are undertreatment, it said.

As per the bulletin,1,35,106 people have been dis-charged after treatment till

now.In Jaipur, the COVID-19

death toll is 336 followed by156 in Jodhpur, 123 in Bikaner,119 in Ajmer, 107 in Kota, 85in Bharatpur, 71 in Pali, 49 inNagaur, 54 in Udaipur, 46 inAlwar, 42 in Sikar, 30 inBarmer, 26 in Dholpur and 25in Rajsamand.

Of the 2,144 fresh COVID-19 cases, 389 were recorded inJaipur, 303 in Jodhpur, 346 inBikaner, 152 in Alwar, 100 inKota, 96 in Ajmer besides thecases reported in other districtsof the state, the bulletin added.

Shillong: At least 139 personstested positive for Covid-19 inMeghalaya on Sunday, pushingthe tally to 7,683, while onemore death raised the toll to 63,a senior health departmentofficial said.

East Khasi Hills, of whichstate capital Shillong is a part,continues to be the worst-affected district with 74 newcases, Health services directorAman War said.

Ri Bhoi registered 25 freshcases, followed by West GaroHills at 17, East Garo Hills atnine and South West KhasiHills at five. Four cases wererecorded in South West GaroHills, two each in West JaintiaHills and West Khasi Hills andone in South Garo Hills. PTI

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Varanasi: Letters with objec-tionable content are being sentin the name of famous SankatMochan Temple to religiousinstitutions and monasteriesacross the country, templeauthorities have said.TheMahant of the temple, ProfVishwambhar Nath Mishra,has filed a police complaintseeking a through probe intothe matter.

“The matter came to lightwhen undelivered letters start-ed coming to the temple'saddress in large numbers sincethe past couple of days. Thecontent of the letter is highlyobjectionable and derogatory

against the Akshardham tem-ple of the Swaminarayan sect,”he said.

The Mahant said that hehas given a written complaintto the Lanka police with thebunch of such forged lettersand has also informed higherauthorities.

“It seems to be an organ-ised conspiracy to defame thetemple. Since the letters bearthe sender's address as MahantSankat Mochan Temple, thematter hurts our reputation,” hesaid, adding that the mattershould be investigated proper-ly to expose the conspiracy.TheMahant said that he also

received phone calls regardingthe letters, and he had to clar-ify that the letters were not sentby the temple.Meanwhile, Lanka Inspector,Mahesh Pandey, told reporters:“We have received a complaintin this regard.The matter is being investi-

gated.”In the letter, printed onan Inland letter, theAkshardham temple ofSwaminarayan sect has beentermed as a threat to theSanatan Dharma. The letteralso discourages people fromvisiting the Akshardham tem-ple in order to protect theSanatan Dharma. IANS

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The Covid-19 infectionsdropped below 11,000-

mark in Maharashtra for thesecond time in less than aweek on Sunday, even as 309more people succumbed topandemic in various parts ofthe state.

Six days after the staterecorded a daily infection tallyof 10,244 on October 5, asmany as 10,792 people testedpositive for Covid-19 in thestate.

With the fresh infections,the total infected cases in thestate jumped from 15,17,434 to15,28,226.

Similarly, with 309 newdeaths, the Covid-19 toll in thestate mounted from 40,040 to

40,349.On a day when 10,461

people were discharged fromvarious hospitals in the state,the number of people dis-charged from various hospitalsafter full recovery since the sec-ond week of March this yearwent up to 12,66,240. Therecovery rate in the state rosefrom 82.76 per cent to 82.86per cent.

Of the total 309 deathsreported on Sunday, Mumbaiaccounted for a maximum of42 deaths, followed by 35deaths each in Thane andNagpur, 30 in Pune, 25 inKolhapur, 20 in Satara, 19 inRatnagiri, 15 in Sangli, 14 inSolapur, 11 each in Nashikand Ahmednagar and 10deaths in Nanded.

In the lower range, therewere 9 deaths in Raigad, 5 inJalgaon, 4 each in Palghar andAkola, 3 each in Beed andGondia, 2 each in Amravati,Bhandara and Gadchiroli andone death each in Aurangabad,Jalna, Latur, Osmanabad,Yavatmal and Chandrapur. Inaddition, two persons fromoutside the state died inMaharashtra.

With 42 deaths, theMumbai Covid-19 toll went upfrom 9,391 to 9,433 while theinfected cases rose by 2,170 totrigger a jump in the totalnumber of infections from227,276 to 229,446.

Meanwhile, the mortalityrate in the state stood at 2.64per cent. The authoritiespegged the number of “active

cases” at 2,21,174.Pune district, which con-

tinued to be the worst-affectedcity-district in Maharashtra,saw the total number of casesto up to 3,15,774, while thetotal number of deaths in Pune increased increased to6248

Thane district remainedin the third spot --after Puneand Mumbai – with 2,04,437total cases, while the pandem-ic toll rose to 5201..

Out of 76,43,584 samplessent to laboratories, 15,28,226have tested positive (19.99 percent) for COVID-19 untilSunday.

Currently, 23,10,783 peopleare in home quarantine while24,726 people are in institu-tional quarantine.

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Bengaluru: Karnataka ChiefMinister B S Yediyurappa onSunday said it was necessary totake extra precautions duringthe upcoming festive season,amid Covid-19 pandemic.

The Chief Minister held ameeting with Chief Secretary TM Vijay Bhaskar and othersenior officials of the stategovernment to discuss the pre-cautions that need to be under-taken to check the spread ofCOVID-19, during the MysuruDasara.

“It was necessary to takeextra precautions during theupcoming festive season amidCOVID-19 pandemic. A meet-ing was held with the MedicalEducation Minister, ChiefSecretary and senior officials

regarding the precautions thatneed to be undertaken to con-trol the spread of COVID-19specially during the MysuruDasara,” Yediyurappa tweeted.With COVID-19 pandemiccasting a shadow, the govern-ment has decided to organisethe world famous Dasara cel-ebrations in the palace city ofMysuru in a “simple” way.Celebrated as “Naada Habba”(state festival), the 10-day eventevery year showcasesKarnataka''s cultural heritageresplendent with folk art forms,and attracts large crowds andtourists.

This year Dasara festivitiesare likely between October 17-26, the last day beingVijayadashami. Recently,

COVID-19 Technical AdvisoryCommittee (TAC) has givensome recommendations forconducting Dasara 2020 inMysuru during the pandemic,for continuation of traditionand cultural activities andsimultaneously ensuring thatthe events are COVID-19 safe.

The recommendations,include Mysuru Dasara inau-

gural on October 17 beingstrictly limited to 200 people,cultural programmes in theevening for 8 days shall be lim-ited to 2 hours per day by localartists only not exceeding 50people, police personnel atstrategic places shall preventcrowding and check wearing offacemasks by all. Only 300people shall be allowed for theworld renowned Jamboo Savari(procession of caparisoned ele-phants) with all COVID pre-cautions.

The government hasalready said that ''Jamboosavari' ' on the last day-''''Vijayadashami”, that marksthe end of ten day long Dasarafestivity in Mysuru will berestricted to palace premises.

The event usually attracts largecrowds, as it is the most await-ed one

. The other recommenda-tions include, to make Dasara2020 celebrations virtual for thepublic, RT-PCR negative testreport (done after 14th October2020) shall be mandatory for allthose attending the events,artists and other performersshall be local artists preferablyfrom Mysuru and other dis-tricts of Karnataka only. Alsoadherence to COVID-19 pre-cautions like compulsory face-masks, physical distancing,provision of hand sanitizers,hand washing facility with soapand water, and appropriateplaces to ensure physical dis-tancing. PTI

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Page 6: 0 /˚ 1 ’)*+ ˘’ ,˝-./ 526*7 8 ; .5˙75- 8˝ -:˝ 5 ˛1.5-˝1 8:˛ ˙7˙.6˝ 75.8 ......2020/10/11  · tree felling that took place on the night of October 4 2019, had tweeted,

Politics is the engine ofsociety. The best of car-riages, bogeys andsaloons would come tonaught if the engine was

not maintained well. India hashad satisfactory governments andpoor ministries but still littlethought has been given to the qual-ity of men and women who shouldgovern the country. Neither votersnor parties and their leaders or evenour political scientists have givenmuch thought to this subject. If thelatter have thought about it, they donot seem to have written or prop-agated any ideas about it.

Indian elections have experi-enced positive polling, negative vot-ing, voters choosing with their feetand polarised mandates, caste,class or community-wise. Peoplehave been heard saying that theyvoted to feel safe as a country afterIndira Gandhi’s assassination in1984. Never have I heard anyonesaying that he/she voted to try andensure good governance. Althoughafter the 2019 polling, I did hearsome Kolkata voters say that theyvoted for Narendra Modi for he wasthe fittest ruler among the choicebefore us at the Centre, althoughthey did not agree with his party’sideology.

That a successful democracyneeds an effective Opposition isuniversally agreed. To add, a cred-ible Opposition should also have aninner-party democracy. Out of the68 years of India’s democratic func-tioning, most of the time we haveeither not had an adequateOpposition or the main Oppositionparty lacking internal democracythat would have injected freshenergy and perspectives. Lately, wehave the doubtful benefit of hered-itary parties or family-led organi-sations. The flip side to this prob-lem is that most politicians in recentdecades belong to mainly three cat-egories — a family tradition, theunemployables and the freaks.Most others and their parents pre-fer secure careers or pursuits. Evenwell-to-do, financially secure fam-ilies do not encourage their off-spring to risk years in politics. Yetit is the same India which sent outtheir best youth, grown-ups andold, women and men to agitate forfreedom. Was this patriotism spon-taneous to the people or was itinspired by the leadership ofMahatma Gandhi? Before 1920,there was no tradition of such massparticipation in the country’s polit-

ical destiny, although India, cer-tainly large swathes of it, wasunder the heels of invaderssince the 12th century. And soonafter 1947, the patriotic enthu-siasm began to dry up.

Independence from theBritish did not mean that free-dom was guaranteed or evensecured forever. We experienceda shock in 1962 in Ladakh andArunachal Pradesh (then North-East Frontier Agency, NEFA) atthe hands of China to the extentthat the Prime Ministerappeared to weep on All IndiaRadio when he said, “my heartgoes out to the people of Assam”.Radio China was broadcastingin November 1962 that thebrave soldiers of People’sLiberation Army (PLA) werelooking forward to spendingChristmas at Calcutta. And theState Bank had unlocked its trea-sury at its branch in Tezpur andcurrency notes were beingblown by the breeze on thestreets.

Retaining freedom is moreimportant than winning it.Therefore, the best talent in thecountry should try going intopolitics. Everyone would notsucceed. As planned, I roundedup my commercial career andcame to Delhi nearly 40 yearsago en route Gujarat. In thoseyears caste mattered so muchthat even the most generouspolitical party could not allot anyseat (Lok Sabha). I, therefore,held back in Delhi and workedhere quietly for 16 years andthen got to the Rajya Sabha fora part term as a result of a byelec-

tion. I did my best and that wasmy satisfaction out of the serviceI performed. For example, I wasable to build 49 Sulabh shaucha-layas in Baroda city and in all 88bus stops in the district with theMembers of Parliament LocalArea Development Scheme(MPLADS) funds I was allotted.

In India, members of theelite and intelligentsia oftenconsole themselves that politicsis a dirty game and good peopleshould avoid it. This is not true.In my years, I found politics wascleaner than my earlier 25 yearsin business. Let me quote oneexample, most of the non-per-forming assets (NPAs) with thebanks are purely business fail-ures. There are much fewerscams in politics.

If I did not go farther in pol-itics, it was because of my pecu-liarities. I was an ethnic Gujarati,brought up in Bengal and hadspent 25 years in business withno experience in politics. Wemust remember that while busi-ness management is a game ofselection, politics is one of elim-ination and in business onegenerally succeeds without grab-bing anyone else’s money. In pol-itics, one wins by dispossessingsomeone else of his seat.Nevertheless, one’s attitudeshould be similar to the militarynational service. Whether onelikes soldiering or not, two yearsare to be devoted to training asa matter of duty. In Britain, manyOxbridge graduates join politicsas do a significant number ofpublic school boys and girls.True, in the US it has not been

quite the same. When my fatherwas at the University of Boston,between 1929 and 32, he oftensaid he would return to Indiaand join the Congress party.Gandhi was already anacclaimed leader and yet thereaction was often, “After suchexpensive studies, why go to pol-itics?” Yet the American stan-dards are reasonably good.

Our voters should be moredemanding and not so tolerantof standards as they often can be.Take the issue of dynasty. In May1981, when Rajiv Gandhi wascontesting his first byelectionsfrom Amethi, I spent a few daysmotoring through the con-stituency accompanied by a col-league. One afternoon westopped at a dhaba where anenthusiastic discussion wasgoing on. The general tenor washow well Rajiv spoke. Whatchaste Hindi he used and so on.After 15 minutes or so I inter-vened to ask, “What service hashe done for the country exceptfor flying aeroplanes for IndianAirlines?” One sleepy personpresent suddenly woke up toassert, “He is learning his moth-er’s vocation. Don’t doctorsbequeath their dispensaries totheir children? Don’t lawyerstrain their children how to beadvocates? At least Rajivji had tocome and get elected again andagain to get the people’sapproval.”

Coming to corruption, wecame across a lucid explanationon the outskirts of Malihabad inthe 1984 General Election.Again a dhaba discussion,

Anwar Ahmed, a Minister in theState Cabinet, was being praisedfor being such a good and hon-est man. One of the participantslost his patience and intervenedto ask, “Yes, Anwar Saheb is veryupright and honest, he has beena Minister for 10 years but hasnot been able to build a housefor his family. If a person cannotdo this least bit for his wife andchildren, what can he do to helpcommon people like you andme?”

What management is to acompany and its success, theGovernment is to a country. Yetmost of our people do not con-nect the country’s stake whenthey go to the ballot box. Thedebacle of 1962 caused byunpreparedness needs recollec-tion. The Indian Army did nothave mountain guns or how-itzers to fire in mountainousNEFA. The second batch oftroops that was sent up to 16,000feet had canvas shoes, no glovesand ordinary woollen pullovers.General Rob Lockhart, the inter-im Commander-in-Chief of theIndian Army afterIndependence, said that we area peace-loving nation. We do notreally need an Army. And thatthe police is sufficient for ourpurpose. After all this, the samepolitical party was re-elected inthe following election. And inthe 1990s, our Prime Ministertold in a reply to a journalist thatIndia is too large a country toworry about terrorism.

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

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�����������Sir — J Jayalalithaa, the late ChiefMinister of Tamil Nadu andleader of the All India AnnaDravida Munnetra Kazhagam(AIADMK), never entertainedany alliance with the BJP despiteits repeated requests. And wasadept at extracting favours thathelped her State. On the contrary,the present leaders of theAIADMK have started to playsecond fiddle to the saffronparty by adhering to all their dic-tates despite most of their plansbeing detrimental to the interestof the people of Tamil Nadu.Their subservient attitude is vis-ible and the electorate is angrywith the ruling dispensation forpawning the self-respect andrights of the State for the person-al interests of its leaders.

It is time the AIADMK realis-es its folly and drops the saffronparty from any plan it might haveon seat adjustments. This way itcan save its face by winning atleast a few seats in the forthcom-ing Assembly elections. The peo-ple of Tamil Nadu, who are fedup and angry with the function-ing of the AIADMKGovernment as well as the BJPat the Centre, are eagerly waitingto pack both off lock, stock and

barrel in the polls, paving the wayfor Dravida MunnetraKazhagam led by MK Stalin.

Tharcius S FernandoChennai

������������Sir — When the pandemicmuted our growth completelyacross the globe, our immediateresponse should have been to

absorb the shock and embracethe new normal. But unfortu-nately, a conservative invest-ment approach holds the econ-omy, something that has nevertruly benefitted society at large.Also, business houses are con-serving cash across organisations,leading to a significant shrinkagein the market economy. Thus,big-spending decisions muststart from somewhere to support

the growth of credit demand.Fortune 500 companies shouldcome forward, lending a hand torebuild the ecosystem with theirhigh-risk appetite, like rolling outa capital expenditure outlay plan,without waiting for this pandem-ic to be over. However, the con-servative approach should not becompletely foregone. Yet thelimit needs relaxation up to a cer-tain extent. Without that finan-

cial flexibility, the recovery is notexpected to happen.

SK NagMumbai

���������������������Sir — The love for cricket inIndia is well known but nothingcan remotely justify the disturb-ing incident of Mahendra SinghDhoni’s five-year-old daughterreceiving rape threats from socialmedia trolls following ChennaiSuper Kings’ loss to KolkataKnight Riders (KKR) on October6. It was Dhoni’s wife, Sakshi,who received the threats on herInstagram account. It makes onewonder where the “New” Indiais heading?

While the Hathras rape-murder case questions the polit-ical will to bring justice to the 19-year-old Dalit gang-rape vic-tim, obnoxious comments beingmade towards a child on socialmedia highlight the mental stateof the country. Rape threatsshould be taken seriously and theculprits should be punished.

Bhagwan ThadaniMumbai

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That an innocent sounding word, “cancel”, hascome to define contemporary culture inmodern democracies may sound rather baf-

fling to a lay person. The fact that it actually has, atleast in select spaces involving debate and dialogue,reveals the degeneration of those spaces, theoreti-cally given to welcoming diverse opinions. In every-day usage, cancel may mean withdrawal or scrap-ping of a contract, but the “cancel culture”, whichunfortunately has become the logic of an impatientgeneration, has many more layers of meaning thatare interlocking and complex. Regardless of its advo-cates from contrasting ideological umbrellas, “can-cel culture” implies that the country and its institu-tions have failed the people, prompting the militant-ly “conscientious” groups to take over. Needless tosay, such campaigns remain predominantly urbanand middle-class. Analysts have traced the preva-lence of this culture as definitive of our intellectu-al reality to the #MeToo campaign in the US. A pow-erful and perfectly legitimate movement slowlybecame the weapon of a generation glued to theinternet, though without any sincere commitmentto the cause that defined earlier generations of pro-testers, involving marches or picketing, which weredemanding in terms of time and energy. Before werealised its frequent occurrence and increasingmoralising tendency, it had become part of our cul-tural sphere and expressed itself through withdraw-al of support, challenging authority and advocatingsuspension of the offender. Thus, Starbucks was tar-getted for asking its employees not to wear “BlackLives Matter” badges, a gym club brand, Equinox,faced backlash after its owner was found collectingdonations for US President Donald Trump. Opinionwriter Bari Weiss resigned from her job when heremployer, The New York Times, failed to protect herfrom constant harassment by her colleagues for hold-ing on to different political values. JK Rowling was“cancelled” because of what was seen as her intol-erance of trans-women.

The war among liberals: In-built into “cancelculture” is an ethical imperative on the part of thepeople championing it, who see themselves as thedefenders of democratic ethos, prompting them toraise their voices against what they feel is unjust.What is ignored in this so-called ethical order is thereality of an anti-democratic force that betrays intol-erance of difference and disagreement. That explainswhy the same group of people demanding freedomend up cancelling conservative intellectuals. So “can-cel culture” remains anti-democratic and promotesa culture of purity where being different and adver-sarial are offensive. In spite of buzzwords such asdiversity and heterogeneity, such a culture stands forhomogeneity and singularity in thought and action.It always looks for new outrages almost as an obses-sive compulsive and pounces upon the politicallyincorrect to threaten him/her or the organisation soas to impose costs.

If it silences democracy in the name of democ-racy, tramples upon freedom in the name of free-dom, we must understand where this habit of speak-ing in a forked tongue is coming from. It is not dif-ficult to understand that it emanates from within lib-eral discourse and survives on its propensitytowards double-speak and obfuscation. Writing let-ters to put pressure on governments and organisa-tions for protecting rights, which the Left liberal intel-ligentsia excels in, is a technique whereby they legit-imise themselves. When JK Rowling joined hands

with Chomsky, Fukuyama, Rushdie,Atwood and so on, and called out this“cancel culture” as intolerance in an openletter published in Harper’s Magazine, shewas, to some extent, joining hands withthose who gave oxygen to such a culture.They wrote, “Censoriousness is spreadingmore widely in our culture: An intoleranceof opposing views, a vogue for publicshaming and ostracism, and the tenden-cy to dissolve complex policy issues in ablinding moral certainty.” What these peo-ple often forget is that writing such lettersis always more about protecting theirauthority over liberalism than the causeitself. If they suddenly realise the violenceof “cancel culture”, they should not lookbeyond themselves to find its provenance.“Cancel culture” is a product of their mus-cular approach to truth.

Even as “cancel culture” is a productof liberal discourse, it poses an existentialthreat to that discourse in its demand fora forced outcome rather than a process-oriented approach. It is equally protestantin nature in the sense that it has scantrespect for liberal idols and high priestswho symbolise entitlement. In fact, wemay discern inter-generational conflictwithin this liberalism or a kind of castra-tion anxiety (in Freudian terms). It marksthe coming of age of the next generationof relatively young champions, who seetheir ideological fathers as patriarchswho have always benefitted from peddlingliberal wares. When Pankaj Mishra trashedthe Harper’s Magazine letter, he showeda mirror to these ideologues and accusedthem of fighting for their own freedomrather than that of free speech. This com-petitive liberalism is not a fight betweenright and wrong, but the sign that asmooth transition is not taking place.

Unlike political parties or sports teams, the“liberal progressive” shop has the same setof owners who refuse to allow the newgeneration to replace them. Impatient,restless, combative and young, “cancel cul-ture” warriors cannot see themselveswaiting perpetually to be counted as intel-lectual adults. When Pankaj Mishra tookissue with Rushdie for being called “thevoice of the continent”, he was protestingagainst an intellectual culture that con-demns authors like him (Mishra) to thewaiting room of intellectual history.

The Indian story: In India, unlike theUS, this culture has traversed both Left-and Right-wing narratives as well as notso politically-conscious actors. In therecent Bloomsbury controversy relating toa book on Delhi riots, the first move camefrom the Left to cancel the book followedby backlash from the non-Left quarters,who took issue with Bloomsbury’s cancel-lation and then cancelled Bloomsbury asa publisher of their choice. The death ofactor Sushant Singh Rajput (SSR) also cre-ated a polarising climate where the out-siders to Bollywood, such as SSR, were pit-ted against the privileged insiders, whotook their stardom for granted. This infu-riated and angry group collectively trashedSadak 2, a movie made by one who is seenas a promoter of nepotism.

However, it will be off the mark toproject this as the expression of Right-wingangst. On most occasions Bollywoodprima donnas of liberal hue have voicedtheir opinion against politicians, fellowactors and producers and whoever theyimagined is expressing anti-democraticvalues. The present polarisation ofBollywood and its adoption of “cancel cul-ture” implies the culture’s traction, cuttingacross ideological lines.

“Cancel culture” in India remainsderivative of American leads, as in the“Black Lives Matter” movement beingconverted into “Dalit Lives Matter.”However, the cultural Right is learningfrom its past mistakes and using the vocab-ulary of democracy and victimhood forits own purpose. Like its Left adversaries,its supporters are writing letters to the pub-lic or to the President to raise awareness.They are writing books and speaking frompublic fora and forcing the Left to dehu-manise itself by turning violent. Even asthe Right is learning from the Left, the lat-ter is getting into the slush of what itaccused the Right to be. The liberal Left,which claimed to have exclusive right overfree speech, now understands that liber-ty and free speech are no longer its exclu-sive domains. Leftists fear that liberty canbe effectively used by the Right and thismakes it suspect liberty as an impedimentto its ideals of democracy and justice.

Economic imperative: There is yetanother dimension of “cancel culture”,namely the economic imperative.Sometimes, acting on public outrage, asin sacking an employee for contrarianpolitical values or insensitive posts, organ-isations seek to arrest a backlash or cashin on public outrage or hold on to theirclientele. Given that the US intellectualsphere is totally dominated by the Left andthe so-called multi-culturalism complex,and common people do not care muchuntil election time, the media and publish-ing industry actually gain from this com-petitive outrage. In India however, due toits millennia old culture that has been evo-lutionary rather than revolutionary, suchdisruptive changes remain confined toselect, elite spaces.

(The writer is Professor, IIT, Madras)

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Ever wondered why stock mar-kets have huge upswings ordownswings? Most of the

times, they are like a domino effect,a chain reaction, caused by herdbehaviour. Herding is an inclinationof investors to follow the crowd, thusdestabilising stock prices. It is a verypowerful bias, and in the process ofmimicking each other, the impact onthe stock prices gets intensified,leading to bubbles when the demandis high and crashes when investorsdetect overpricing.

This is contrary to the classicalfinance theory, which believes thatinvestment decisions are taken byrational investors. But are investorsreally rational? A Boston-basedresearch group reported in 2007 that

an average stockholder earned 4.3per cent per annum returns wherethe returns of American S&P 500Index averaged at 11.8 per cent perannum. The reason for this variancewas the irrationality of investors ofbuying high and selling low.

A peek into the past can showthat players in the stock market havebeen irrational since the time thebourses have existed. One of the ear-liest instances of unreasonable herdbehaviour is the Dutch tulip bubbleof the 1630s, also known as “TulipMania.” When the tulip was intro-duced as a new variety of flower inthe Netherlands, the Dutch people,because of some strange reason,became excited about this new exot-ic flower and vied to invest in tulipbulbs.

Progressively, the investmentsgrew huge and at the pinnacle of thismania, a single bulb was sold at aprice that was more than ten timesthe annual income of a skilled work-er. But when people realised thatinvestments in tulip bulbs were waymore than their actual worth, theypanicked and started selling tulipstocks, leading to a sharp fall in the

stocks, resulting in huge losses. This and many other subse-

quent events after this, like thedot.com bubble and the more recentreal estate bubble, have led to thebelief that investors do not behaverationally and that their decisions aremostly driven by emotions likepanic, fear and greed. Theseinstances are in contradiction of thetraditional financial theories that arebased on efficient market hypothe-sis, that assume that all the informa-tion is reflected in the stock pricesefficiently and in a timely manner. Somuch so that the investors are unableto make any abnormal profits by buy-ing stocks. There are four pillars oftraditional finance: Rationalinvestors; efficient markets; tradition-al portfolio designs; and linearexpected returns-risk relationship.

However, stock markets in real-ity are largely inefficient, which is evi-dent due to various market anom-alies, speculative bubbles and over ormuted reaction to any new informa-tion about stocks. These prevalentconditions in the stock markets sug-gest that investors are more emotion-al than rational about their invest-

ment decisions, leading to creationof bubbles.

A bubble is created when thestock price is driven higher than itsfair value as people invest in thesestocks, neglecting the fundamentalvaluation. Such investmentsstrengthen the overpricing evenmore and put pressure on the stockprices to generate higher returns forinvestors, failing which, the sellingstarts and picks up momentumwhen investors follow one another,leading to the bursting of the bub-ble. Behavioural finance, as a disci-pline, emerged as an attempt toexplain the psychology of financialdecision-making and how thehuman angle affects the same.Several researchers believe that prin-ciples and morals of people influencetheir economic, social and financialdecision-making. Sentiments likepride, shame, insecurity and egoismalso play an important role in invest-ment decisions. By accepting the factthat investors are irrational and havebiased decision-making, behaviour-al finance entends the limitations oftraditional finance theories into pos-sible inefficiencies in the financial

markets and provides a realisticview.

Research has identified two typesof behavioural biases. The first one,a heuristic-driven bias, also knownas cognitive bias, acknowledges thatinvestors are investigative in natureand use rules of thumb to processdata for decision-making. For exam-ple, people predict future perfor-mance of stock market movementsthrough historical data. Emotionslike overconfidence, anchoring andadjustment, reinforcement learning,excessive optimism and pessimismform a part of this bias. The secondone, frame-dependent bias, is wherethe investors’ decision-makingprocess is affected by the way theyframe their options, like narrowframing, mental accounting and thedisposition effect.

It can be concluded that aware-ness about behavioural biases isindispensable since it is unequivocal-ly associated with human beings andits implications are far and wide.Ignoring such behaviour of the deci-sion-making process can prove to bequite expensive in the financial mar-kets as it can result in stock market

anomalies. Financial investmentmanagers and advisors can identifyinvestment mistakes if they have agood understanding of this behav-iour of retail investors and becomemore effective by understandingtheir clients’ psychology and needs.It helps them in creating a behav-iorally-adjusted portfolio, which bestsuits their clients’ requirements.Investment bankers can put thisknowledge to use by correctly tim-ing the IPOs and understanding thegeneral sentiment in the stock mar-kets. Behavioural finance also helpsfinancial analysts in forecastingfuture stock market movements andrecommending appropriate stocksfor investments. Finally, individualretail investors can use this expertiseto make wise, rational and effectivefinancial decisions.

Investors, financial advisors andfund managers are all humans andare subject to biases. Understandingthe psychology of financial decision-making can help in reducing thestock market movements and reduc-ing losses on the bourses.

(The writer is Associate Professor,Amity University, Noida)

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Baku (Azerbaijan): Azerbaijanon Sunday accused Armenia ofattacking large cities overnightin violation of the cease-fire dealbrokered by Russia that seeks toend the worst outbreak of hos-tilities in the separatist Nagorno-Karabakh region.

Azerbaijani authorities saidthat nine civilians were killedand more than 30 otherswounded after Armenian forcesfired missiles at Ganja,Azerbaijan’s second-largest city,and hit a residential building.The city of Mingachevir alsocame under missile attacks,according to Azerbaijan’sProsecutor General’s office.

Nagorno-Karabakh’s mili-tary officials denied attackingGanja and said the territory’sarmy is observing the cease-fire.They added that during thenight Azerbaijani forces shelledStepanakert, the region’s capital,and other towns in violation ofthe truce.

The recent bout of fightingbetween Azerbaijani andArmenian forces started Sept. 27and left hundreds of peopledead in the biggest escalation ofthe decades-old conflict overNagorno-Karabakh since a sep-aratist war there ended in 1994.The region lies in Azerbaijan buthas been under control of eth-nic Armenian forces backed byArmenia.

The foreign ministers ofArmenia and Azerbaijan signeda truce in Moscow after Russian

President Vladimir Putin hadbrokered it in a series of callswith Azerbaijani PresidentIlham Aliyev and ArmenianPrime Minister Nikol Pashinian.

The ceasefire took effect atnoon Saturday, after talks inMoscow that were sponsored byRussian Foreign Minister SergeyLavrov. The deal stipulated thatthe ceasefire should pave the wayfor talks on settling the conflict.

If the truce had held, itwould have marked a majordiplomatic coup for Russia,which has a security pact withArmenia but also cultivatedwarm ties with Azerbaijan.However, minutes after thecease-fire took force, both sidesaccused each other of continu-ing attacks in violation of thedeal. The situation in the regionwas “relatively calm” on Sundaymorning, according to Nagorno-

Karabakh leader ArayikHarutyunyan, with only minorhostilities along the front line.But it was unclear whether thecalm would last, he said.

“There is no shelling of ourtowns and villages. At the frontline, there is some shootingwith the use of artillery. Thereare some skirmishes on theborder,” Harutyunyan said.“Since the morning, it seemscalm, but within minutes the sit-uation can change.”

Nagorno-Karabakh’s armyin a statement Sunday promiseda “disproportionately harsh”response if Azerbaijan “contin-ues to violate the cease-fire.” TheAzerbaijani Defense Ministrysaid that “the political and mil-itary leadership of Armeniabears the responsibility for theaggravation of the situation inthe region.” AP

Fort Lauderdale (US):President Donald Trump andJoe Biden are entering the finalstretch of the campaign in afierce battle for Latino voterswho could sway the results inFlorida and determine whowins the White House.

But in this ultimate battle-ground state where nearly 10million voters participate inelections often decided by amere percentage point, othercommunities could suddenlybecome critical.

That’s where the boomingBlack Caribbean communitycentered in Broward Countycomes in.

Voters in this Democraticstronghold are eager to defeatTrump, but say they are evenmore energized to turn out insupport of California Sen.Kamala Harris, Biden’s run-ning mate whose father isJamaican.

“The fact she has a lineagemeans you are going to see a lotof Jamaicans voting even if theywere not doing so before,” saidAntoinette Henry, director ofcorporate relations at the DutchPot Jamaican Restaurant, acompany with several loca-tions in South Florida.

“Part of Jamaica will be inthe White House.”

Broward County, home toFort Lauderdale, is the countywith the most Jamaicans in theUnited States. Florida has morethan 974,000 people of WestIndian ancestry — a Caribbeancategory that excludes Hispanicnationalities such as Cuban.

That total includes morethan 300,000 Jamaicans andmore than 530,000 Haitians,according to census figures.

A conservative estimatefor the number of Jamaicanvoters in Florida stands at91,000, because many may notreport Jamaica as their countryof origin. Haitian voters areestimated at about 115,000.

“These naturalized citizensvote. They turn out,” said DanSmith, a University of Floridapolitical science professor.

“We also know that there is alot of mobilization that goes onin these communities.”

Laura Uribe, who is gettingher doctorate in political sci-ence at the University ofCalifornia, San Diego, hasclosely studied five immigrantgroups in Broward County.

She said 77% of voters ofJamaican origin are Democratswhereas 3% are Republican and20% have no party affiliation.

In the last presidential elec-tion, 78% of Jamaican-American voters turned out tovote, while the total turnoutwas about 66%. BetweenOctober 2016 and September2018, more Jamaicans becamenaturalized US citizens thandid Venezuelans, a group pur-sued by the GOP, according tothe most recently available datafrom the Department ofHomeland Security.

“I can tell you Kamala is inthe tongue of everyone. Theyare talking about what must bedone to make sure we deliverfor the team of Biden and Sen.Harris,” said Jamaican-bornHazelle Rogers, the mayor ofLauderdale Lakes who in 1996became Florida’s first Jamaicanto be elected to office. AP

Karachi: In a rare publicappearance, Maryam Nawaz,Vice President of PakistanMuslim League-Nawaz (PML-N), will address the grand anti-government rally on October 18here organised by the allianceformed by the opposition par-ties to oust the Imran Khan-ledgovernment.

On September 20, the lead-ers of 11 major Oppositionparties announced formation ofthe Pakistan DemocraticMovement (PDM) and launchof a three-phased anti-govern-ment movement under an“action plan” starting with coun-trywide public meetings, protestdemonstrations and ralliesbefore a “decisive long march”towards Islamabad in January2021.

The first anti-governmentrally is scheduled on October 16in Gujranwala in Punjabprovince followed by anotherrally on October 18 in Karachi,in Quetta on October 25,Peshawar on November 22,Multan on November 30 andthen a rally in Lahore onDecember 13.

Shahid Khaqan Abbasi,former prime minister andsenior PML(N) leader, said thatMaryam, daughter of formerprime minister Nawaz Sharif,would address the rally onOctober 18.

“She will address the rally.The momentum has now been

built against the governmentand is in fact a reflection of thepeople’s annoyance over thecurrent situation in the country,”Abbasi said.

Abbasi said that Maryam’sappearance at the rally willboost the confidence of thepeople in the PDM.

The schedule announcedearlier showed that the first rallywould be held on October 18 inQuetta. The change was madeat the request of PakistanPeoples Party (PPP), one of themain Opposition parties in thealliance, which commemoratesthe day October 18 to payhomage to victims of Karsazbombing in 2007 that killedscores of people attending a rallyin Karachi to welcome slainprime minister Benazir Bhutto.She escaped unhurt in the blast.

The Opposition leadershad announced that theywould use all political anddemocratic options, includingno-confidence motions andmass resignations fromParliament to seek “the select-ed prime minister’s resignationand an end to the role of theestablishment in politics.” PTI

Wellington: New ZealandPrime Minister Jacinda Ardernhas visited supporters in anarea that is especially popularwith her Labour Party, encour-aging them to vote in theOctober 17 general election.

Ardern was thronged bysupporters during her visitSaturday to a market in theheavily Polynesian southAuckland suburb of Otara.

Her Labour Party has gov-erned since the 2017 generalelection, when it was able toforge a narrow majority inNew Zealand’s 120-seatParliament in a coalition withthe left-wing Greens and right-wing New Zealand First parties.

Recent polls show a morecomfortable result this year,with the Labour Party leadingthe National Party, led by 61-year-old conservative JudithCollins, by as many as 13points. Ardern’s visit to Otarawas an effort to get out the votein an electorate in whichLabour out-polls National byaround four votes to one. “We’reseeing really high turnout at themoment for advance voting,”said Ardern. AP

Beijing: China’s ForeignMinister Wang Yi has called fora new forum to defuse tensionsin the Middle East after a meet-ing with his Iranian counterpartwhere he reiterated Beijing’ssupport for Tehran.

Wang and Javid Zarif alsoreaffirmed their commitment toIran’s 2015 nuclear deal withworld powers, according to theChinese foreign ministry, animplicit rebuke of the UnitedStates for abandoning theaccord during their Saturdaymeeting in China’s southwesternTengchong city.

Iran has been locked in anacrimonious relationship withSaudi Arabia, the other majorMiddle Eastern power, over thewar in Yemen, Iranian influencein Iraq and Saudi support forWashington’s sanctions onTehran.

“China proposes to build aregional multilateral dialogueplatform with equal participa-tion of all stakeholders,” said theChinese foreign ministry state-ment.

The forum would “enhancemutual understanding throughdialogue and explore political

and diplomatic solutions tosecurity issues in the MiddleEast”, the statement added.

Wang added that supportfor the Iranian nuclear deal,negotiated by the Obamaadministration but ultimatelyabandoned by Donald Trump,would be a precondition ofentry to the forum.

Zarif said on Twitter his“fruitful talks” with Wangamounted to a rejection of “USunilateralism” and had alsofocused on strategic ties and col-laboration on the developmentof a coronavirus vaccine. AFP

Wauwatosa: Police used tear gason demonstrators and arrested28 people during a third straightnight of protests over the lack ofcharges against a suburbanMilwaukee police officer whofatally shot a Black teen, author-ities said, as they took to Twitteron Saturday to outline what theycalled an “escalation in force bythe protesters.”

About 100 people gatheredoutside City Hall on Fridaypast Wauwatosa’s 7 pm curfewand refused multiple orders todisperse, according to police.

Police said they used tear

gas on the crowd, after bottleswere thrown at officers.

On Saturday, theWauwatosa Police Departmentposted on Twitter that peoplehave been asking valid questionsabout the police response overthree nights of protests.

Police posted a picture ofbottles they said were found ina backpack, including a bottle oflighter fluid, noting that thematerials can be used to startfires.

“Over the past three nights,we have seen an escalation inforce by the protesters. Our law

enforcement response is in reac-tion to this escalation,” policetweeted.

They said that on Fridaynight, protestors had Molotovcocktails and other fire startingsupplies and guns were spottedin the crowd.

Protesters have gatheredevery day since prosecutorsannounced Wednesday thatthey would not charge OfficerJoseph Mensah in 17-year-oldAlvin Cole’s death. Mensah,who is Black, shot Cole after afoot chase outside a Wauwatosamall in February. AP

Washington: US PresidentDonald Trump has alleged thatDemocratic presidential can-didate Joe Biden in his previ-ous capacities as Senator andvice president was busy ship-ping jobs to China, promptingthe latter to hit back.

Biden said Trump will bethe first president in modernAmerican history to “leaveoffice with fewer jobs thanwhen it began”.

Making his first publicaddress from Blue RoomBalcony of the White Houseafter being discharged fromhospital where he was treatedfor COVID-19 infection,Trump charged Biden and hiscampaign of taking the coun-try on the path of socialism,which he vowed would not lethim do.

“The Democrats’ is asocialist program and plat-form -- and it really is morethan socialist. It’s not justsocialist; it’s beyond social-ism,” he said.

As one member from theaudience screamed “commu-nist”, Trump said, “Communist.That’s about right.”

Biden, who was cam-paigning in Erie city in the bat-tleground state of Pennsylvania,on the other hand alleged thatTrump was only protectingthe interests of the rich and bil-lionaires.

“The Trump presidencywill be the first presidency inmodern American history toleave office with fewer jobsthan when it began. AndPresident Trump is leaving usa ‘K-shaped’ recession, wherethose at the top keep going up,while everyone in the middleand below are seeing things getworse,” Biden said.

“It means that while the top100 billionaires in Americahave done pretty well, they’reup more than USD 300 billionthis year -- you get the bottomhalf of that K-shape. Thedownward slide. Because thefact is, President Trump canonly see the world from ParkAvenue. I see the world fromScranton. From Erie. And that’swho my Build Back Betteragenda is for,” he said.

The Democratic presiden-tial candidate’s campaign doesnot allow a large gatheringbecause of COVID-19 restric-tions, with at the most a scoreof people sitting at a distance.

On the other hand,Trump’s first public event at theWhite House was full of enthu-siasm and energy with hisblack and Hispanic supporterschanting “We Love You” and“Four More Years”.

Trump, 74, and First LadyMelania, 50, tested positive forCOVID-19 last week. The pres-ident was taken to a military

hospital for treatment. Afterspending four days there, hecame back to the White Houseon Monday.

His White House addresson Saturday to “PeacefulProtest for Law and Order” wasdescribed as an official event,but had all the inklings of anelection campaign.

“We’re starting very, verybig with our rallies and with oureverything, because we cannotallow our country to become asocialist nation. We cannot letthat happen,” Trump said.

“Black and LatinoAmericans are rejecting theradical socialist left, and they’reembracing our pro-jobs, pro-worker, pro-police — we wantlaw and order; we have to havelaw and order — and pro-American agenda.” he said.

Trump alleged the agendaof the Democrats was “muchbeyond socialism” and they hadbeen “shipping jobs to Chinafor half a century”.

“Sleepy Joe Biden hasbetrayed black and LatinoAmericans. If you think he canrun this country, you’rewrong... For half a centuryshipping your jobs to China.That’s what they’ve been doing.We are bringing the jobs back.We have been charging Chinaa lot of money too, with the tar-iffs. Billions and billions of dol-lars,” Trump added. PTI

Colombo: China announced onSunday that it was providing a$90 million grant to Sri Lanka,two days after the island nation’spresident sought help from avisiting Chinese delegation indisproving a perception thatChina-funded megaprojects are“debt traps.”

Calling the financial assis-tance a “timely grant,” theChinese Embassy in Colombosaid that it would be used formedical care, education andwater supplies in Sri Lanka’srural areas and that it would“contribute to the well-being of(Sri Lankans) in a post-COVIDera.”

The announcement followsa visit to the Indian Oceanisland nation Friday by aChinese delegation led by YangJiechi, a Communist PartyPolitburo member and a formerforeign minister.

During talks with Yang, SriLankan President GotabhayaRajapaksa asked China to helphim in disproving a perceptionthat China-funded megapro-jects are “debt traps” aimed atgaining influence in local affairs.

China considers Sri Lankato be a critical link in its mas-sive “Belt and Road” globalinfrastructure building initiativeand has provided billions of dol-lars in loans for Sri Lankan pro-jects over the past decade. Theprojects include a seaport, air-port, port-city, highways andpower stations.

Critics say that the Chinese-funded projects are not finan-cially viable and that Sri Lankawill face difficulties in repayingthe loans.

In 2017, Sri Lanka leasedout a Chinese-built port locat-ed near busy shipping routes toa Chinese company for 99 yearsto recover from the heavy bur-den of repaying the Chineseloan the country received tobuild it.

The facility is part ofBeijing’s plan for a line of portsstretching from Chinese watersto the Persian Gulf. China hasalso agreed to provide a USD989 million loan to Sri Lankato build an expressway that willconnect its tea-growing centralregion to the Chinese-run sea-port. AP

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Aprominent Pakistani SunniMuslim cleric was shot

dead along with his driver byunidentified assailants inKarachi, police said on Sunday.

Maulana Dr Adil Khan,head of Karachi’s JamiaFarooqia seminary, wasattacked in a market onSaturday evening, they said.

According to a seniorpolice official, as the car car-rying Khan stopped near ashopping centre in Shah FaisalColony to purchase sweets,armed pillion riders openedindiscriminate fire on the carand fled.

The police official said itappeared to be a targetedattack.

Khan was the son of lateprominent scholar MaulanaSaleemullah Khan, who found-ed the Jamia Farooqia, a sem-inary located in Shah FaisalColony.

Jamia Farooqia adheres tothe Sunni Muslim teachings ofthe Deobandi sect.

The seminary spokesper-son, Amjad Rizvi, said that theMaulana expired in hospitalfrom multiple bullet woundswhile his driver, MaqsoodAhmed, died on the spot.

Khan was shifted to theLiaquat National Hospital

where he was pronounced deadon arrival. His driver was alsodeclared dead on arrival at theJinnah Postgraduate MedicalCentre (JPMC), the hospital’sexecutive director Dr SeeminJamali said.

A third person, Umair,who was accompanying thescholar, survived the incidentas he had gone inside the shop-ping centre to buy sweets.

“We are gathering state-ments from eye-witnesses,”Police chief Ghulam NabiMemon said.

On Sunday, the funeralprayers of the religious schol-ar were offered by his brotherMaulana Obaidullah Khalid.The deceased was buried in thevicinity of his father’s grave inJamia Farooqia.

According to CounterTerrorism Department (CTD)in-charge Raja Umar Khitab,the attack is “a conspiracy toincite sectarian violence”.

President Arif Alvi andPrime Minister Imran Khanstrongly condemned the assas-sination of Maulana Khan.

Pakistan Army chief General Qamar JavedBajwa also condemned theassassination of Khan, said astatement issued by the Inter-Services Public Relations(ISPR), the media wing of thearmy.

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Chachoengsao, Thailand: Atleast 18 people were killedand more than 40 injured inThailand on Sunday when afreight train crashed into a bustaking passengers to a religiousceremony, officials said.

The morning collision,around 50 kilometres (30miles) east of the capitalBangkok, toppled the bus on itsside and sheared off part of itsroof.

Dozens of injured passen-gers were rushed to nearbymedical facilities for treat-ment, said provincial hospitaldirector SombatChutimanukul.

“Four are in critical con-dition and eight remain underobservation” out of the 23admitted to her hospital, shetold reporters.

State Railway of Thailandgovernor Nirut Maneephanconfirmed the death toll at thesite of the crash to reporters.

Footage shared by a gov-ernment department showedthe bus edging from the roadonto train tracks before a bluecargo train slammed into itsside.

Early photos taken by res-cue workers showed gnarledmetal and debris, with bodieslying by the tracks and people’sbelongings scattered aroundthe scene. AFP

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The global PC marketclimbed 12.7 per cent from

a year ago to reach 79.2 millionunits in the third quarter of thisyear, registering the highestgrowth the market has seen inthe past 10 years, according tothe latest report from Canalys.

After a weak Q1, the recov-ery in Q2 continued into Q3this year in which Lenovoregained the top spot, showeddata released by the analystcompany. Global notebookshipments touched 64 millionunits -- almost as much as therecord high of Q4 2011 whennotebook shipments were 64.6million -- as demand continuedto surge due to second waves ofCovid-19 in many countriesand companies continued toinvest in longer-term transi-tions to remote working.

Shipments of notebooksand mobile workstations grew28.3 per cent year-on-year.

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Multiplex operators are stillawaiting nod from many

state governments to resumeoperations even though theCentre has already issuedguidelines with regard toreopening of cinemas and the-atres.

Multiplexes, cinema hallsand theatres have been allowedto reopen from October 15,with up to 50 per cent of theirseating capacity. Standard oper-ating procedures (SOPs) havebeen issued by the central gov-ernment.

Though the Ministry ofHome Affairs (MHA) has givenits go-ahead to resuming cin-ema and theatre activitiesunder Unlock 5.0, it has left forthe states to take a final call inthis regard.

Multiplex chains includingPVR, Inox, Cinepolis andMukta A2 Cinemas are all setto re-open their cinema hallsfrom october 15 with half oftheir seating capacity whileensuring contactless opera-tions and maintaining socialdistancing norms. These oper-

ators have lined up “promisingcontents” to entertain the audi-ences in the coming months.

Leading multiplex opera-tor PVR, which operates 875screens in 22 states, would beable to open only 496 screensas only 14 state governmentshave granted permission tore-open its multiplexes, accord-ing to its CEO Gautam Dutta.

The company is yet toreceive any direction from thestate government ofMaharashtra, where it operatesthe highest number of screens.

“Maharashtra is anextremely important marketfor us, occupying the largestpercentage of our screen share,”he said.

Mexican movie theatrechain Cinepolis said the com-pany is fully ready and wouldabide by the directions issuedby the government.

“We welcome the movefrom the central government.Almost 75 per cent screen ofthe 350 screens, which weoperate in India would beopen. We are requesting theother state governments toallow us to open the balance

screens as soon as possible,”Cinepolis India Chief ExecutiveOfficer Devang Sampat said.

Subhash Ghai’s film pro-duction company Mukta Arts,which runs multiplex chainunder the brand name ‘MuktaA2 Cinemas’, said it will be ableto open approximately 40 percent of the screens which itoperates.

“We welcome the decisionto reopen cinemas and multi-plexes. The SOPs that havebeen released are highly com-prehensive and will guaranteethat the return to normalisationis a smooth one. Thisannouncement brings enor-mous relief to media and enter-tainment industry and the

thousands of people it employs,many of whom have beenseverely impacted by this shut-down,” Mukta Arts MD RahulPuri said.

Moreover, as the numberof permissible seating in theauditorium has gone down to50 per cent under the Unlock5.0 guidelines, some multiplexchains are now exploring pri-vate screenings for familiesand smaller groups.

INOX Leisure CEO AlokTandon said, “We are alsolooking to innovate with pri-vate screenings, where familiesor smaller groups of guests canbook the entire auditoriumand enjoy the content of theirchoice.”

“Our shows will be pro-grammed in such a mannerthat there are no simultaneousentries, intermissions andexits,” he said.

All multiplex chains haveassured that they will strictlyfollow the SOPs issued by thegovernment in this regard.

“We have some verypromising content lined up inthe coming months, andMaharashtra opening makes us

hopeful of things speeding upin this direction. With that wemust also reiterate our priori-ty to ensure the safety and well-being of our customers throughstrict adherence to all the safe-ty protocols and guidelineslaid down...,” said Dutta.

Besides mandatory tem-perature checks, masks, pedal-operated touch-free hand sani-tisers, the multiplexes wouldnow rely on the digital wayssuch as e-tickets instead oftraditional paper tickets, self-check in with QR codes, shar-ing of auditorium’s seat chartand location of the seat andonline order of food and bev-erages, under the new normals.

Some multiplex operatorslike Mukta A2 Cinemas isusing ‘matrix seating’ method,which will ensure an empty seatbetween patrons, while allow-ing families and groups to sittogether.

“This starts right from thebooking of the tickets, whichwill take place exclusivelythrough the Mukta A2Cinemas website and mobileapplication. Upon arrival at thetheatre, customers will be able

to self-check by scanning a QRcode. Social distancing will bealso be maintained duringscreenings, with occupancy ofthe cinema hall capped at 50per cent,” Puri said.

Inox will also keep PPEkits available for purchases,which would include a mask, apair of gloves and sanitiser. Itwould also provide a web linkto its viewers through SMS toaccess the food and beveragemenu to place order.

Many cinema halls wereclosed even before the lock-down period started.

Several states includingDelhi, Kerala, J&K, Maharastraetc had directed to close thecinema halls between March 11to 16 for a temporary period,till March 31, 2020.

Later, the central govern-ment had directed a completelockdown of the country, effec-tive from March 25.

According to estimates,India has a total number ofaround 8,750 screens, in which3,100 are in multiplexes andbalance 5,650 are single screensoperating mostly in small tierII, III and below cities.

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Concerted efforts by theReserve Bank to move to a

non/less-cash economy bypushing digital payments havebegun to pay rich dividends asthe volume of such paymentshas jumped manifold in thepast five years, the latest datafrom the central bank showed.

Between 2015-16 and2019-20, digital payments havegrown at a compounded annu-al growth rate of 55.1 per cent- from 593.61 crore in the yearto March 2016 to 3,434.56crore in the year to March2020.

In absolute terms, valuehas grown from �920.38 lakhcrore to �1,623.05 lakh croreduring this period, clipping atan annual compounded rate of15.2 per cent.

Giving a year-wise data,in 2016-17 digital paymentsjumped to 969.12 crore from593.61 crore in the previousyear in volume terms, while invalue the same rose to�1,120.99 lakh crore.

Similarly, the numberscontinued to scale new peakswith volume growing to1,459.01 crore and value jump-ing to �1,369.86 lakh crore in2017-18.

Come 2018-19, the num-bers clipped at a faster pacewith volume jumping to2,343.40 crore transactionswhile the value rose to�1,638.52 lakh crore.

However, FY20 saw amassive spike in volumes overthe previous year to 3,434.56crore but in value slipped downto�1,623.05 lakh crore, whichcan be attributed to the steep

fall in the overall economyand the massive job losses, forc-ing people to spend less andpreserve more cash.

Yet from a five-yeargrowth perspective, the num-bers shine with an annualgrowth rate of 55.1 per cent interms of transaction volumesand 15.2 per cent in terms ofvalue, show the RBI data.

Given the pandemic andthe lockdown restrictions, dig-ital payments volumes are setto jump manifold while thevalue could see a further plungegiven the mammoth crisis thateveryone faces following thepandemic.

Digital payment pushstarted almost a decade backwith limited access to NEFT,RTGS and ECS payments.Later with the governmentpush following the controver-

sial note ban, digital paymentsrose sharply.

The development ofUPI-based payments as well asapp-based payments justpushed the boundaries andhas since witnessed blossomingof a myriad of payment sys-tems, entry of non-bank play-ers, and a gradual shift in thecustomer behaviour from cashto digital payments.

Behind all these, theReserve Bank has played thecrucial role of an operator,catalyst and facilitator, regu-lator and supervisor, as theoccasion demanded towardsachieving its public policyobjective of developing andpromoting a safe, secure,sound and efficient paymentsystems.

Some of the initiativesintroduced decades ago in

payment systems to safeguardthe interests of customers arevalid even today.

Some of the recentRBI initiatives for enhancingsecurity and increase cus-tomer confidence in digitalpayments include mandatinguse of only EMV chip andPIN-based debit and creditcards from January 2019;tokenisation from January2019, when RBI issued aframework for tokenisationof card transactions whichallowed all authorised cardnetworks to offer tokenisationservices, irrespective of the appprovider, use case; facility toswitch on/off transactionrights; mandatory positiveconfirmation to remove anyambiguity for funds trans-ferred through NEFT andRTGS from March 2010, and

January 2019, respectively. Another innovation

has been contactless cardswhich allows cardholders to“tap and go”; mandatory datastorage within the country;harmonisation of turnaroundtime for failed transactionsfrom September 2019 and set-ting up of a digital ombudsmanand also institution of theCentral Payment FraudsInformation Registry amongothers.

One of the biggest out-comes of these measures is themassive change in the behav-ioural trends of customers–-forinstance, as percent of cardusage, they are being usedincreasingly for payments--from 20 per cent in FY16 to 45per cent in FY20, with debitcard turnover outpacing cred-it card values.

���� �56�75.8�

Foreign portfolio investors(FPI) have invested �1,086

crore on a net basis so far inOctober in Indian markets,tracking encouraging factorsincluding improved GST col-lection, acceleration in eco-nomic activity and positiveglobal cues.

According to the deposi-tories data, overseas investorspumped in a net �5,245 croreinto equities and withdrew�4,159 crore from the debtmarket during October 1-9.

This translated into a totalnet inflow of �1,086 crore.

In September, FPIs werenet sellers at �3,419 crore.

Harsh Jain, co-founderand COO at Groww, said thatboth domestic as well as glob-al factors contributed to netinflow so far in October.

“Better than expected Q2(earnings) performance, rising

GST collection and a generalopening up of the economy arehelping India in becoming anattractive investment destina-tion,” Jain said.

In addition, the globalmarkets are performing at pre-COVID-19 levels, he added.

“Few of the Asian marketslike Japan, S Korea and Taiwanalso saw positive FPI flows thisweek. The reversal of INR VsUSD from 74 to 73.1 and cor-rection in the dollar indexhave been supportive for FPIflows into India,” Rusmik Oza,executive vice president, headof fundamental research - PCG,Kotak Securities Ltd, noted.

Going forward, continua-tion of accommodative stanceby global central banks mayensure flow of foreign invest-ments into emerging marketsincluding India, saidHimanshu Srivastava, associatedirector - manager research,Morningstar India.

���� �56�75.8�

The GST Council in itsmeeting on Monday is like-

ly to discuss the suggestion ofnon-BJP ruled states of settingup a ministerial panel to devel-op consensus on the issue ofcompensation, sources said.

The Council, chaired byUnion Finance MinisterNirmala Sitharaman and com-prising of State finance minis-ters, will for the third time ina row discuss the issue of fund-ing the shortfall of Goods andServices Tax (GST) revenue ofStates.

While some oppositionruled states are demandingthat a Group of Ministers be setup to arrive at a decision on the

mechanism for funding com-pensation shortfall, BJP ruledstates, which have alreadyopted for the borrowing optiongiven by the Centre, are of theview that they should be givena go ahead so that they can getmoney quickly.

The single agenda 43rdmeeting of the Council will dis-cuss on the way forward,sources said.

In its previous meeting lastweek, the Council had decid-ed to extend the surcharge ontaxes on luxury goods such ascars and tobacco productsbeyond June 2022, but failed toreach a consensus on ways tocompensate states for loss of taxrevenue.

The projected total com-pensation shortfall in currentfiscal stands at �2.35 lakh crore.

The Centre in Augustgave two options to the statesto borrow either �97,000 crorefrom a special window facili-

tated by the RBI or �2.35 lakhcrore from market and had alsoproposed extending the com-pensation cess levied on luxu-ry, demerit and sin goodsbeyond 2022 to repay the bor-rowing.

Following demand bysome states, the amount of�97,000 crore was increased to�1.10 lakh crore. As many as21 States -which are BJP ruledor have supported it on variousissues -- have opted to borrow�1.10 lakh crore to meet thecompensation shortfall. TheCentre has released �20,000crore to the states towardscompensation shortfall so far inthe current fiscal. Under theGST structure, taxes are leviedunder 5, 12, 18 and 28 per centslabs. On top of the highest taxslab, a cess is levied on luxury,sin and demerit goods, and theproceeds from the same areused to compensate states forany revenue loss.

���� �56�75.8�

Revenues for mobile opera-tors are expected to

improve sequentially inSeptember quarter, as factorslike increased recharges,reverse migration, and easingof lockdown curbs helped over-come what is otherwise a sea-sonally weak quarter, say sec-tor analysts.

In its note on earnings pre-view, Axis Capital said revenuefor wireless service providers isexpected to improve in the sec-ond quarter on increasedrecharges as lockdown restric-tions eased.

“Subscriber additionexpected for RJio/Bharti Airtel(though at muted levels), whileVodafone Idea to continue los-ing subscribers,” it said addingthat margin improvement fromrevenue increase is likely to bepartially offset by higher com-missions, and sales and mar-keting cost.

The Axis report said Jiowill benefit from higher sub-scriber addition than competi-

tors, as well as per user reali-sation improvement from addi-tion of higher ARPU Jio Fibercustomers.

“Bharti Airtel’s andVodafone Idea’s revenue also toimprove quarter on quarter inseasonally weak Q2, asrecharges improve on easing oflockdown restrictions,” it saidbut added that margin expan-sion will be “muted” in Q2.

For infrastructureproviders, it expected a gradual

sequential recovery.“Bharti Infratel to post flat

ex-penalty rental revenuethough tenancy addition isexpected to pick up QoQ,”Axis said. In its Septemberquarter preview, Emkay talks ofa “stable quarter despite sea-sonality”. It said, in a season-ally weak quarter, wireless rev-enue will inch up sequentiallydriven by the reverse migra-tion, better gross additionsand data subscriber additions.

���� �56�75.8�

The Government may con-sider allowing India Inc to

deposit GST on cash basis tohelp them tide over the liquid-ity woes during the Covid-19pandemic, a PwC report said.

It said while formalisingits support strategy for theindustry in the next phase, thegovernment could also con-sider suspending GST pay-ments for select sectors duringthe COVID-19 period.

In its report titled‘Reimagining GST@3’, PwCsaid cash liquidity supportschemes that advance busi-ness continuity are the need ofthe hour.

“The government hasannounced a timely budgetarysupport scheme in line with therelief packages of various devel-oped nations. Despite thesesteps, much ground remains tobe covered,” it said.

The report said that somekey issues which require imme-diate attention of the govern-ment before taxpayers getentangled in long-drawn liti-gation include eligibility ofITC on expired stock, inter-mediary services and taxabili-ty of discount schemes.

“The government shouldconsider issuing clear guide-lines around these criticalissues, keeping in mind theevolving international taxationprinciples and business modelsprevalent in the trade andindustry,” it said.

With regard to suggestionsto overcome the current crisis,the PwC report suggested somemeasures the governmentcould consider while formalis-ing its support strategy forIndia Inc in the next phase.

These are facility todeposit GST to the treasury oncash basis, suspension of GSTpayments for select sectorsduring the COVID-19 period,dispensation of credit reversalrequirement on expired stock

during this period.It also suggested one-time

dispute settlement schemeunder Goods and Services Tax(GST).”The government canconsider introducing a schemeunder the GST regime for vol-untary disclosure of tax pay-ments before the taxpayerundergoes GST audits. TheGST law has evolved over thepast three years and the gov-ernment has clarified severalprovisions after its introduc-tion. Therefore, a one-timescheme to clear previous irreg-ularities can be considered,which will help the industry inclearing past baggage andreduce litigation,” it said.

PwC India, Partner &Leader, Indirect Tax PratikJain said with the wealth ofdata available with the gov-ernment and measures such ascoordination between direct,indirect tax administrationsand technological advance-ments such as E invoicing andE waybills, tax base is likely toexpand further.

“We now need a ‘whitepaper’ articulating what is theform of GST we want in thenext few years. The regimerequires more stability, sim-plicity and transparency. Thereport provides some food forthought as we reimagine thenew and much improved GSTregime,” Jain added.

����� �56�75.8�

Acommittee constituted bythe Insurance Regulatory

and Development Authorityof India (IRDAI) has suggest-ed that the capital require-ment for entities entering intothe microinsurance segmentshould be lowered to Rs 20crore.

Currently the entry-levelcapital requirement is at Rs 100crore under the Insurance Act.

The ‘Report of theCommittee on the StandaloneMicroinsurance Companies’noted that the penetration ofinsurance is “all the moreurgent” now in the context ofthe pandemic when millions ofIndians, especially in the infor-mal sector, have lost their liveli-hoods. It said that dedicatedstandalone microinsuranceinstitutions can play a majorrole in such situations by mak-ing insurance affordable andavailable to low-income fami-lies, thereby providing a mea-

sure of risk mitigation andsecurity.

“The committee thereforerecommends that the govern-ment and the InsuranceRegulatory and DevelopmentAuthority of India (IRDAI)license such businesses whichcan cater to the low-incomesegment,” it said.

Recommending a cut in thecapital requirement, the reportsaid that the minimum capitalrequirement of Rs 100 crorestipulated under the InsuranceAct has acted as the biggestimpediment to the expansion ofthe microinsurance market.Italso recommended that therisk-based capital (RBC)approach should be adopted toenable the progressive growthof the microinsurance busi-ness while maintaining thehighest prudential standards.Further, microinsurance com-panies should be allowed to actas composite insurers to trans-act both life and non-life busi-ness through a single entity.

����� �56�75.8�

Online shopping is likely toget a new boost in the

coming festival season, asaround 51 per cent consumersare likely to shop online duringthe period, according to arecent survey.

In the 2019 survey of‘LocalCircles’, only 27 per centof those planning festive spend-ing had indicated using ecom-merce sites as their primarychannel for shopping.

“This shows that 51 percent of those doing festiveshopping this year will useecommerce sites and apps astheir primary channel, a sizablechange from previous years,”said the 2020 survey for festi-val season by LocalCircles.

Further, on the question ofwillingness to buy fromMSMEs, small businesses,emerging brands, weavers andartisans, around 80 per centsaid a definite ‘yes’ while only

10 per cent said ‘no’. Around 10per cent were unsure.

The survey received overthree lakh responses from over330 districts of India.

In the survey, 61 per centconsumers have indicated thatthey will engage in festivespending this year, a reductionfrom 2019 when 78 per centconsumers had indicated thatthey will shop during the fes-tival season.

“When consumers in the2020 survey were asked aboutthe primary channel theywould use for their festiveshopping, in response, 26 percent said e-commerce sites andapps, 11 per cent said they willcall local retail stores and gethome delivery, 25 per centsaid local stores and ecom-merce sites, while 24 per centsaid they will visit malls, localretailers, and markets. Only 14per cent were unsure about it,”said a statement byLocalCircles.

����� �56�75.8�

As the pandemic has severe-ly hit businesses and more

so in the case of automobiles,hospitality and real estate sec-tors, a PwC report has sug-gested the suspension of Goodsand Services Tax (GST) onthese sectors for a minimum ofsix months.

The report titled“Reimagining GST@3” saidthat such a measure will pro-vide much-needed cash liq-uidity to these sectors andensure business continuity.

It noted that consideringthe impact on the economy, theCentre provided relief to theindustry by extending dead-lines for payment of taxes.Businesses were allowed todelay their tax payments for 15days without incurring interest.

“However, several sectorssuch as hospitality, automobileand real estate have beenseverely impacted and the gov-ernment should consider sus-

pending the GST payments ofthese sectors for at least sixmonths,” it said. It has also rec-ommended the implementationof a facility to deposit GST tothe government treasury oncash basis and suggested dis-pensation of credit reversalrequirement on expired stockduring this period. Amongother suggestions, the reporthas also recommended expand-ing the tax base under GST.

It noted that a reason forthe implementation of GSTwas to levy a single tax on allgoods and services, resulting infree-flowing credit in the coun-try. However, at present, certainitems such as petroleum prod-ucts -- petrol, diesel, aviationturbine fuel and natural gas --and alcohol are outside theGST net. To reassure statesregarding protection of theirfiscal autonomy, the govern-ment had initially decided tokeep petroleum products,which form a major part ofstate revenues, outside the

ambit of GST till revenue col-lections stabilise.

However, it is notable thatdue to the inward supplies ofthese sectors being subject toGST and the output suppliesbeing beyond the scope of GSTlevy, the tax incidence in thesesectors is significantly high, itsaid, adding that moreover,their compliance-relatedrequirements have become fair-ly complicated. “This is to someextent defeating theGovernment’s purpose ofimplementing the new taxregime. Representations havebeen made to bring industrialfuel, including natural gas andATF, under the GST net,” it said.

Noting that bringing thepetroleum sector within theGST net requires more con-sensus-building, however, inthe absence of constitutionallimitations, it is only a matterof time before this shift takesplace and states are assured thatthey can maintain their levelsof tax revenues.

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�������������Conceived, cast and executed entirely remotely during quarantine,

the narrative anthology series features both dark and funny takes onhow people strive to stay connected while staying apart. It releases onOctober 15 on Netflix.

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clash with the police. What followed was one of the most notorioustrials in history — the 1969 trial of seven defendants charged by the USfederal government. The film releases on October 16 on Netflix.

� �� �������������������������Live Broadway cast production of Heidi Schreck’s play presents mul-

tiple facets, historical perspectives and her personal experiences withthe Constitution of USA. The drama releases on October 16 on AmazonPrime Video.

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The Hyundai Venue was theIndian Car of the Year(ICOTY) for 2020

because the jurors felt thatthe small Sports UtilityVehicle ticked all the boxeswhen it came to affordabil-ity and performance againstsome very stiff competition. Thecar was named what it was because itwas a new space in itself — a ‘Venue’in a manner of speaking and at ThePioneer we celebrate a year of tremen-dous sales and critical success of theHyundai Venue by taking the latest‘Sport’ variant of the car to some greatvenues across the capital, starting withIndia’s first large public art district, theLodhi Art District in Lodhi Colony,New Delhi.

Lodhi Colony was among the lastresidential quarters built for govern-ment servants in colonial times, sincethen its low-rise houses and locationnext to areas like Meherchand Marketand Lodhi Gardens have made it oneof the most desirable areas for govern-ment servants. But back in 2015, the

St+Art India Foundationstarted work by painting the

outside walls of the apartments withgiant murals. Supported by the likes ofGoogle Arts, St+Art had already com-missioned giant murals of DadasahebPhalke in Mumbai as well as thefamous mural of Mahatma Gandhi onthe wall of the Delhi PoliceHeadquarters. With the support of thecentral and the Delhi government andthe New Delhi Municipal Corporation,50 prominent street artists from acrossthe world — Japan, Poland and manycountries in between as well as bothrenowned and young Indian artistswere let loose on the walls of the colony.

What Delhi received was India’slargest public art areas, a place whereanybody and everybody can walk ordrive through and while the pandem-

ic forced the closure of sever-al public spaces, the Lodhi ArtDistrict remained open forfamilies and everyone to visitat any time. Old murals areconstantly being changed. Themurals are not just colourful

but many of them send a powerfulsocial message as well. The NDMC hasfurther added a skating and cyclingpark and is building cycling lanesacross the area. It is a great ‘Venue’indeed and is coupled with the fact thatthere are several top restaurants inLodhi Colony Market and MeherchandMarket in the area, including Jamunand Tres.

The Hyundai Venue ‘Sport’ editionhas several touches to make it stand outfrom the crowd, including dashes ofred on the interior and a very special‘Red Cross’ on the grille. We were dri-ving the 1.5 U2 CRDI diesel variantwith 100PS of power and a six-speedmanual gearbox that is both extreme-ly economical and offers a lot ofoptions to the driver when they wantto have a splash of fun.

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The novel Coronavirus hasgrabbed an large-scale atten-tion across the globe.

However, it also needs an effectivesolution of an equal scale to buildawareness, bust myths and educateeveryone about maintaining healthand distance. The solution needs tobe customised to cater to the audi-ence being spoken to in differentparts of the country, and even theworld. Various government andhealth organisations have a hugeresponsibility here of keeping thepublic informed and educatedabout the preventive measures, aguide on the next steps to tackleinfection, and enforce lockdownrules on a large scale.

The sudden and fast-spreadingcrisis has put all organisations andtheir communication measures totest. It now encourages govern-ments and agencies to thinkbeyond the traditional media(radio, TV, print) and basic one-way information-disseminatingwebsites and to fully leverage cut-ting-edge technology that willreach and engage the audiencefrom metros to rural cities usingsmartphones and the internet.And one such technology that hasenabled authorities to build aware-ness and enhance their responsive-ness to this mega-crisis is —Conversational ArtificialIntelligence (AI), which is the setof technologies behind automatedmessaging and speech-enabledapplications that offer human-likeinteractions between computersand humans.

At the forefront of creatingdeep and engaging conversationsvia media interactions, conversa-tional AI has proven itself to be ofimmense value in the current cri-sis with vast potential as a newpowerful form of two-way commu-nication. It enables brands to over-come the difficulties and limitationsthat they face while communicat-ing digitally with their customersand always be accessible and con-sistent across multi-platforms.

�������False information about

Coronavirus has been spreadingfaster than the virus itself. And hasfurther given rise to concerns,questions, and requests for moreinformation. It made its way to thetop of search terms and trendingtopics on social media and has cre-ated a paranoia everywhere.Nefarious parties on social mediaadd fuel to the fire with the esca-

lated spreading of misinforma-tion. There is a need to put an endto misconceptions regarding theoutbreak and its risks, symptoms,and statistics, and disseminatereal-time, up-to-date informationon the ways to tackle it. It is veryclear that the COVID-19 pan-demic has strangely changed ourwork and life culture globally.Traditional forms of communica-tion or mass-broadcasting were notas effective as the reach was stillrestricted with publications slow-

ing down or even closing duringthe lockdown, call centres employ-ees being restricted to their homesfor safety purposes. The speed ofdisseminating relevant informationas the news and updates too keptchanging quickly and what wasbeing shared soon became stale.Even the text-based notificationsexecuted by certain local authori-ties were not effectively reachingtheir target audience, leaving a largepart of the population living amidoutdated or erroneous information.

Apart from this, many companiesfaced problems while communicat-ing with their customers due to thelockdown.

��0��������� ���#�The importance and effective-

ness of Conversational AI havealways been spoken about in theecosystem. In fact, before the pan-demic, a Gartner report from July2019 stated that by 2025, customer-service organisations that embedAI in their multi-channel cus-tomer engagement platform willelevate operational efficiency by 25per cent. The Conversational AIplatforms have also helped author-ities in disseminating information

and solving crises across borders inreal-time, enabling the pro-activedistribution of real-time informa-tion, receiving feedback, evaluatingneeds, and anticipating outbreaks.These platforms are not restrictedto linguistic barriers and supporthealthcare authorities and gov-ernment in engaging in meaning-ful conversations and offeringemergency services in times of thepandemic. From automated patientoutreach to patient engagementand reminders, and providing theright drug information, the conver-sational AI can act as a completeremote medical equipment kit.

The best use of technology iswhen it can help enhance a human’s

productivity and efficiency. Inthese unprecedented times,Conversational AI has also enabledcall centres to deploy minimumhuman agents to maintain socialdistancing norms while function-ing itself at the forefront of this bat-tle. To fight back COVID-19, theIndian government deployed aconversational AI-based virtualassistant through MyGov, a govern-ment-to-citizen digital infrastruc-ture, with more than half a billionusers. This unique engagementsolution is discoverable on thewebsite (www.mygov.in) viawebchat, on Google Search, Maps,Facebook, Instagram, Messengerand WhatsApp. Not only werethese services accessed by millionsof users across India but they werealso accessed by people around theworld that were monitoring therapidly changing pandemic.

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Brands are also leveragingConversational AI to redefine theway they communicate with con-sumers as their focus moves fur-ther into digital with always-on,real-time, and interactive experi-ences. These changes spurred onby the pandemic will become partof the new normal for digitalcommunication. This shift is hap-pening across the customer jour-ney, from driving user acquisitionto sharing updates about theirorders, products, and promotions,Conversational AI superpowers areenabling natural language-driven,self-service engagement.

Well, the tool has certainlybeen a powerful one to help com-bat the COVID-19 pandemic. Ithas proven it’s utility at scale,working to address the concerns ofmillions of citizens around theworld while personalising theexperience along the way, keepingmillions informed and at ease, andmost importantly, safe. It hasbrought about a digital revolutionin the healthcare services andenhance the citizen-to-govern-ment engagement. It opens a lot ofopportunities for government andhealthcare authorities to tap intothe power of Conversational AI tovastly improve the disseminationof important information and toengage constituents in interactiveexperiences that will enrich andempower citizens around theworld.

(The writer is Head ofOperations, India, Amplify.ai.)

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Most of us have a deep quest toknow the truth that is complete

and unmixed. However, it has beenlearnt from experience that generally,when a man is told the truth which doesnot square well with his currrent belief,he does not accept it, or at least, putsup a strong resistance towards it.

Man has so much attachment to hisexisting beliefs that he has learned fromhistory that not only does he offer resis-tance to new ideas and knowledge butalso becomes intolerant to new thoughtsso much so that he can commit violenceand indulge into destructive acts. Thisp r e j u d i c etowards freshperspective isbuilt not mere-ly by people’signorance orattachment toold beliefs butalso by estab-lished schoolsor institutionsof learning.They havebeen resistingknowledge that contradicts with whatis stated in the course books or theauthorised versions. However, thedegree of the action has decreasednowadays because the educated peopleare more open to new ideas. The edu-cational institutions also encourageresearch on various fresh and new top-ics. There is thus some change in theenvironment as compared to what it wasabout a hundred or fifty years ago. Butthe in-built prejudice towards newideas and resistance and new beliefs hasnot yet completely vanished. There arereligious fanatics around the world whostill threaten people with death whovehemently express opinions oppositeto their beliefs and try to influence thegeneral mentality of the society.

It should be remembered that falseknowledge or ignorance builds updeep prejudice, hatred and emotionalattachment which leads to violent reac-tions. Hence, in order to remove prej-udice and hatred, we need to work onits base, that is, false knowledge. Forthat, it is important to tell the truth sothat people can frame right opinions.This might also lead to violence.Therefore, we should devise methodswhich can stop people from putting upviolent reactions.

We must understand the fact thatpeople who oppose new ideas or knowl-edge are too small in number. Throughthis, we must also understand that thishas always been the case. Initially, onlya small number of people would acceptnew knowledge. However, as time goesby, more and more people have start-ed accepting the truth. Remember, thetruth of the knowledge should not bejudged by the number of people but bythe change it brings in the life of thosewho accept it. Hence, we must now riseup from deep slumber and give up ourresistance and opposition and try tolearn a lesson from history. We muststart recognising and accepting newideas and knowledge which wouldhelp in bringing about a great transfor-mation worldwide.

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Taking a cue from the edutain-ment show Main Kuch Bhi

Kar Sakti Hoon (MKBKSH), agroup of young women fromNawada district of Bihar have setup a sanitary napkin bank. Theycollect �1 a day from each girl anduse the money to buy sanitary padsfor themselves and other girls whomay not have the means to pur-chase them. The girls decided tocome together to assist each otherwhen they saw how their individ-ual menstrual needs were often notmet due to lack of money. This ini-tiative is helping young girls fromthe district to speak up abouttheir menstrual needs.

Ahead of International Day ofthe Girl Child, they share how theywere inspired to act by MKBKSH,a trans-media initiative launchedby the Population Foundation ofIndia to address issues of familyplanning, early marriage,unplanned or early pregnancies,domestic violence and adolescentreproductive and sexual health.

Addressing why and how thesanitary napkin bank was created,youth leader Anu Kumari fromAmawa village says, “To helpsomeone who doesn’t have money,we deposit one rupee every day.That means each girl raises �30 a

month. We buy sanitary pads anddistribute it among poor girls,who cannot afford to buy them, inorder to protect their menstrualhealth.”

The creator of the show, filmand theatre director Feroz AbbasKhan says, “When I wrote the con-cept for the show seven years ago,I could have never imagined thekind of impact we have seen overthese years. I wanted to make ashow that was effectively commu-nicating important social issueswithout being preachy. It makes mehappy that Main Kuch Bhi KarSakti Hoon has become an empow-ering slogan for young, adolescentgirls who are now spearheading thechange on the ground.”

Not just creating and sustain-ing a sanitary napkin bank, the

message of self-reliance andempowerment in the show inspiredthese girls to also conduct dia-

logues about critical but taboo sub-jects like contraceptive options. AsMausam Kumari, a 17-year-old

youth leader from Hardiya says,“Now we talk about family plan-ning too. We visit villages andexplain these subjects to women.We tell them about options likeAntara injection, Chhaya, CopperT and condoms.”

The girls also came together todemand youth-friendly health clin-ics to be set up in existing publichealth centres. “Authorities hold apublic dialogue twice a year and weexpressed our wish of having ayouth-friendly health clinic so thatwe can discuss our issues and talkwithout any fear. Our request wasfulfilled and now all the girls of thevillage go there and use the servicesavailable,” adds Mausam.

Poonam Muttreja, ExecutiveDirector of Population Foundationof India is delighted with how theshow has given voice to young girlsand women. Says she, “I am gladthat the show is impacting theirlives. That is our goal precisely.Through the character of Dr SnehaMathur, the protagonist of theseries, we have initiated difficult butimportant conversations about sexselection, violence, gender dis-crimination, safe sanitation, fam-ily planning, spacing, child mar-riage, mental health, drug abuse,nutrition and adolescent health.”

The women watching thischange unfold are recognising theshift in the conversation aroundmenstruation. Community mem-ber Sangeeta Devi observes, “In thepast, we used to suffer silently dur-ing menstruation. Our daughterstold us about napkins. We also sawthe show and felt encouraged.”

The show revolves around theinspiring journey of Dr Sneha, ayoung doctor who leaves behindher lucrative career in Mumbai anddecides to work in her village. Itfocusses on Sneha’s crusade toensure quality healthcare for all.Under her leadership, villagewomen find their voices throughcollective action.

Over three seasons, it has dealtwith various issues. The first sea-son comprising 52 episodes dis-cussed issues like child marriage,sex selection at birth and genderdiscrimination. The second seasonfocussed on youth and adolescents.Season 3 of the show was producedwith support from the RECFoundation and Bill & MelindaGates Foundation (BMGF). Thefirst 104 episodes were supportedby DFID (UK’s Department forInternational Development) andBMGF also supported 27 episodesof Season 2.

The law of love could be best under-stood and learned through littlechildren,” believed Mahatma Gandhi

who always had a special place for childrenin his heart. His immense belief in childrenhas, undoubtedly, inspired generationsand the values he had advocated continueto guide the young minds even today. Onesuch young mind following the teachingsof Gandhi is Maharashtra’s 16-year-oldSaloni Todkari.

“Non-violence is a successful strategy.It is a tool that we use to fight for our rightssuch as right to education and right tohealthy childhood,” believes Saloni who hasbeen protesting against injustice usingGandhian methods since she was just 12years old.

Saloni’s journey into “activism” beganwhen she had started attending the BaagShala (garden school) of Maitrakul — a res-idential study centre for students rununder the aegis of Chhatrashakti Sanstha.Maitrakul is an abode for children from theweaker sections who find it difficult to pur-sue school education due to challenging cir-cumstances at home. Here, the childrenstudy in a local aided school. In 2014,Maitrakul boarding was established byKishor at Bapgaon, Kalyan in Thane dis-trict realising the need for a shelter for thechildren coming from low-income back-ground such as Saloni’s. Originally fromVirar, a town in Palghar district, Saloni con-vinced her mother to allow her to relocateto Thane. Her mother Manali Todkari whoworks as a domestic help understood herdaughter’s dream and helped her achievethat.

After moving there, Saloni startedattending the local secondary school notvery far from the boarding. While she wasstudying in Class 10th, she learnt that stu-dents wanting to appear for the SecondarySchool Certification (SSC) Board examdirectly had to fill the form 17 exam formthrough a school. Although the charge forthe form is �400, the schools were over-charging these adolescents around �4000-5000 per form. When Saloni noticed theexploitation, she raised the issue with theschool administration but they dismissedher concerns. Looking at the administra-tion’s response, she and the fellow studentsdecided to peacefully protest against theSSC Board.

“We tried to seek an appointment withthe SSC Board officers but to no avail. Wewrote several letters but didn’t receive anyreply. As our pleas were falling on deaf ears,we staged protests outside the board office.Even after days of protests when the boardrefused to act, we decided to change ourstrategy. We created a trophy — an effigyof a beggar with a note pasted on its torso

that read: “Since the officers don’t get paid,they have turned to begging” and enteredthe office. We wanted to present the tro-phy to the officer but we were whiskedaway. Although none of the office bearersmet us, the board took cognisance of ourgrievance and acted on the schools whichwere overcharging the students for theform,” remembered Saloni.

She also informed about the protocolsthey had followed while organising theprotests. “We had informed the nearestpolice station about our plans. We went bythe regulations and used peaceful methodsfor making our voices heard,” explained sheemphasising on the need of following theconstitutional norms while organisingpeaceful protests.

Known for her understanding, peace-loving and empathetic nature at the board-ing, Saloni was entrusted with the respon-sibility of reaching out to the neighboringKatkari Wadi (Hamlet), under Maitrakul’sChiranjeevi programme. The Katkaris arean aboriginal forest tribe who continue tolive in abject poverty even today. Parentsgo for work leaving behind young childrenat home. It was found that schools in andaround the area had limitations in meet-ing their educational needs and almost no

Katkari child was enrolled in school.When Saloni entered the hamlet, she

was welcomed with mud and stones,hurled at her by older children. Saloni per-sisted and tried to broker a truce with thechildren by proposing to play games.Soon, the children were playing games withher. In a month’s time, she was able to holdan exercise on alphabets with them in theKatkari Wadi. Since then, regular BaagShala is being organised by Maitrakulactivists here.

As she grows older, her grasp onsocial concerns especially on the challengesfaced by the deprived children has alsomatured. On her way to school, Saloni start-ed noticing the child beggars stalking thewalkers on the street for money and food.She felt for the children who have beenrobbed of their right to live with dignity.

Swayed by the issue, Saloni decided toact by staging a protest outside Kalyan sta-tion. Maitrakul backed the decision as shewent on to fast for three days against theinsensitivity of the administration, policeand public regarding child beggars. Herprotest and fast against child beggingattracted the attention of the administra-tion, media and political leaders. Saloni wasjust 15 when she launched the agitation andfast for the cause. But how did she copewith the pangs of hunger?

“When I decide, I act. There werefriends from Maitrakul who joined my agi-tation and they took turns to fast for a daywith me. When my mother came to see me,she was shocked and broken but didn’t dis-courage me. She understood that I wasdoing it for a good cause and gave me herblessings,” shared Saloni.

On the third and the last day of the fast,the local corporators and members of polit-ical parties came to meet her and promisedto address the child beggars’ issue. The fastwas undertaken in the second week ofMarch after which the pandemic had setin. Saloni has not been able to pursue theissue of child beggars since then but shekeeps the issue alive by fasting once amonth. Other children at Maitrakul alsojoin her for the cause.

‘Saloni is not all agony and anguish,she’s fun loving and easy going. She’s a goodactor and a performer. Her coordinationskills are great; she plans the schedule, helpsin contacting the resource persons andseeks police permission for the camps,”shares Ashish Jadhav, one of the func-tionaries of Maitrakul.

This adolescent is one of the manyyoung minds who are trying to keep alivethe spirit of the father of the nation bywalking on the path of Satyagraha andShanti.

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Kolkata Knight Riders will havea lot on their plate when they

take on a resurgent RoyalChallengers Bangalore in an IPLmatch here on Monday with theirlethal weapon Sunil Narine blunt-ed by a chucking complaint andfitness clouds hovering overenforcer Andre Russell.

Narine, who have had multi-ple complaints of suspect actionagainst him, is again in troubleafter on-field umpires’ report postKKR's thrilling two-run winagainst Kings XI Punjab in whichthe spinner played a massive role.

Not only KXIP, the matchagainst CSK also witnessedNarine’s entry after 10 overs, sti-fling Mahendra Singh Dhoni'smen. It seemed that the spinnerwas getting his mojo back andcould have been a handful forVirat Kohli's in-form men.

However, the first warning (asecond one would bar him frombowling) from the IPL authoritiesis certain to ring alarm bells in theKKR camp as he was supposed tobe Dinesh Karthik’s ‘go-to’ man inpressure situations.

It has been learnt that Narinehas a problem with a few deliver-ies, especially the one that breaksback into a right-hander wherethere is believed to be an elbowflex beyond permissible limit.

With his batting also notexactly clicking, how KKR fits himin the playing XI will be interest-

ing, knowing that another offencecould end his tournament as abowler.

The two sides have won fourof their six games with KKRahead of RCB on net run rate but

inconsistency in batting has beenan issue for both the teams.

KKR are placed third in thestandings and the two-time cham-pions will be going all out for a vic-tory at the Sharjah CricketStadium after registering twoback-to-back wins againstChennai Super Kings and KingsXI Punjab.

Andre Russell, who hurt hisknee when he accidentally divedinto the advertisement boardsafter missing a catch on Saturday,could also be a doubtful starter.

Skipper Dinesh Karthik didnot reveal the extent of the injuryafter the match against KXIP.

“Whenever Russell getsinjured, you know it is hard. Heis a very special player, he is a veryspecial person. We need to go andlook at him,” he said.

RCB, on the other hand, arecoming into the game followinga 37-run morale boosting victo-ry against CSK and will fancy theirchances.

The biggest positive for RCBis that captain Kohli is slowly hit-ting the peak with the tournamentreaching halfway stage. Hisunbeaten 90 off 52 balls agaistCSK with gold standard runningbetween wickets will be remem-bered for years to come.

Young Devdutt Padikkal hasbeen in good touch, but AB deVilliers, who played some exquis-ite knocks at the beginning of thetournament, has looked off colourin recent outings.

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India’s white ball captainsHarmanpreet Kaur and Mithali

Raj along with their 'doubledeputy’ Smriti Mandhana havebeen named captains ofSupernovas, Trailblazers andVelocity squads respectively for theupcoming women’s T20 Challengescheduled from November 4 to 9in the UAE.

All the three senior players ledthe teams during last edition alsoand their appointments were onthe expected lines.

The most notable inclusionwas Thailand’s NatthakanChantham, who is the first fromher nation to get a maiden call-up in the mini-league.

Chantham scored hercountry's first Women’s T20World Cup half-century inAustralia earlier this year.

The T20 Challenge,to be played duringthe IPL play-offs,will begin withlast year's final-ist Supernovastaking onVelocity inthe openinggame.

“The bestof Indian women’scricket will combinewith some of the lead-ing stars from England,

South Africa, Sri Lanka, WestIndies, Bangladesh and NewZealand in a four-match tourna-ment,” BCCI secretary Jay Shahwas quoted in a media release.

Each team has four overseasplayers each. Amid the ragingCOVID-19 pandemic, there werequestion marks over the event withno selection committee in place till10 days back.

However BCCI presidentSourav Ganguly was always con-fident about holding the event andonce Neetu David led selectioncommittee was appointed, thedecks got cleared.

The other issue was the datesof the tournament clashed

with Women’s Big BashLeague (WBBL), whichstarts later this month.Neither the top playersfrom Australia nor the

star attractions fromEngland and New

Zealand are avail-able this timearound.

In fact, BCCI'smove to have the

T20 Challenge inOctober invitedcriticism from

star keeper-opener AlyssaHealy who

didn't hide her dis-appointment onsocial media.

���� 723��

Rahul Tewatia’s uncan-ny ability to wintricky games rescued

Rajasthan Royals yet againas they eked out a five-wick-et victory against SunrisersHyderabad to snap theirfour-match losing streak inthe IPL, here on Sunday.

Tewatia, who became ahousehold name with fivesixes in an over againstKings XI Punjab, smashedan unbeaten 45 off 28 ballsas Royals overhauled the159-run target with a ball tospare.

Along with Riyan Parag(42 not out off 26 balls),Tewatia won the game in‘Royals’ style keeping SteveSmith’s men in the mixafter they were reduced to78 for 5 in 12 overs.

With two needed offtwo balls, Parag hit KhaleelAhmed for a six over extracover and broke into animpromptu ‘Bihu jig’. Theyadded 85 runs for the sixthwicket in eight overs whentheir illustrious interna-tional stars flattered todeceive.

Tewatia brought backmemories of the Sharjahnight but this time it wasRashid Khan who was atreceiving end in the 18thover as the left-handerstruck three consecutiveboundaries.

With 22 needed offtwo overs, Tewatia launchedinto T Natarajan, who losthis length trying to bowlyorkers, for a four and a sixover short fine leg that

swung the match in favourof Royals.

The bizarre decision tosend comeback man BenStokes (5) up the orderdidn't work too well as theslowness of the track didhim in. Left-arm pacerKhaleel got one to rear upoutside the off-stump butthe ball came late as Stokes,shaping for a pull, played itonto his stumps.

Steve Smith (5)chanced Vijay Shankar’sarm in the deep but failedin the process while JosButtler (16) got a delivery

from Khaleel that came inafter the fingers were rolledover. The inside edge wastaken by a diving JonnyBairstow as Royals werereduced to 26 for 3 insidePowerplay.

Earlier, Manish Pandeystruck an impressive half-century but RajasthanRoyals restricted SunrisersHyderabad to 158 for 4 instipulated overs. With thepitches getting slower by theday and stroke-makingbecoming increasingly dif-ficult, Pandey struggled ini-tially but finished with two

fours and three sixes in his54 off 44 balls.

He had a partnership of73 off 10 overs for the sec-ond wicket with skipperDavid Warner (48 off 38balls), who also lookedscratchy and struggled fortiming.

Kane Williamson (22not out off 12 balls) showedhis class briefly at the end,including a one-handedstraight six off Royals' bestbowler Jofra Archer (1/25 in4 overs) and ended withanother off the last deliveryof the penultimate over.

���� 723��

Fluent and fiery half cen-turies by Quinton de Kock

and Suryakumar Yadav shapedMumbai Indians’ five-wicketwin over Delhi Capitals in theclash between the two mostconsistent IPL sides of theseason, here on Sunday.

Chasing 163, the defend-ing champions overhauled thetarget with two balls to spareand claimed the top spot in thepoints table with five winsfrom seven matches so far.

Shikhar Dhawan scoredhis first half-century of the sea-son and shared a 85-run standwith skipper Shreyas Iyer (42)to help DC post 162 for four.

DC’s competitive-lookingtotal proved insufficient in theface of some confident battingby the Mumbai Indians bats-men.

Kieron Pollard (11 notout) and Krunal Pandya (12not out) took MI past thefinish line after DeKock andSuryakumar laid thefoundation with theirknocks and IshanKishan (28 off 15balls) chipped inwith a useful cameo.

De Kock's 53came off 36 balls withthree sixes and four shotsto the fence, whileSuryakumar took 32balls for his 53 that wasstudded with six foursand a six.

After losingSuryakumar andHardik Pandya (0) inquick succession, MIalso lost Kishantowards the end butthere was no twist inthe tale.

To their credit,Kagiso Rabada (2/28)

and Anrich Nortje dragged itto the last over with their inci-sive bowling.

DC’s spin all-rounder AxarPatel, who has made an impactsince replacing Amit Mishra,got the big fish when he sentback dangerous Rohit Sharmajust when he was looking tobreak the shackles.

Rohit was already strug-gling and it was De Kock, whowas doing the bulk of scoring.The South African was intremendous touch and in notime raised his fifty with aboundary off Harshal Patel.

Suryakumar, who replacedRohit at the crease, also struckthe ball hard and clean fromthe word go.

However, RavichandranAshwin applied some breaks byinducing a top-edge from DeKock, who tried a sweep andwas holed out to Prithvi Shawat deep square leg.

Suryakumar was watchingthe ball nicely butdid not giveenough respect to

Rabada and paid theprice. Similarly,young Kishan should

have finished off thegame himself but lost hiswicket by being overaggressive againstRabada.

Earlier, Dhawan'sunbeaten 69-runknock came off 52balls with six foursand a six, while Iyer’s

33-ball 42 had fiveshots to the fence.

Dhawan gavehimself enoughtime to play the

sheet anchor's roleeven as MI bowlers did

a decent job in the slogovers to not let the bats-

men play too many bigshots.

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Lewis Hamiltonmatched Michael

Schumacher’s record of91 wins in Formula Onewith victory in the EifelGrand Prix on Sunday ashe took another stridetoward his seventh cham-pionship title.

Hamilton startedbehind his Mercedesteammate Valtteri Bottasbut took the lead whenthe Finn ran wide on lap13. Bottas retired with acar problem five lapslater. Hamilton comfort-ably held off MaxVerstappen in the Red

Bull after a safety carbunched up the pack latein the race. Hamiltontook the win by nearlyfive seconds fromVerstappen, with thirdfor Daniel Ricciardo inRenault's first podiumfinish since 2011.Another record fell asKimi Raikkonen startedhis 323rd race, beatingthe mark set by RubensBarrichello from 1993through 2011.

Raikkonen placed12th after he picked up atime penalty for collidingwith George Russell andsending the Williams dri-ver into a spin.

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Rahul Tewatia alwayshad self belief that he

can take the game deepduring tough chases andwin it for his team,something he did forthe second time in thisedition of IndianPremier League.

“The wickets werefalling so I just wanted tohold one end up andwait for the boundaryballs. I knew if I keep myself-belief and take itdeep, I could pull itoff,”Tewati said at thepost-match presenta-tion.

“I told Riyan (Parag)that the wicket was play-ing slow and the deeperwe take it, the better ourchances, even if weneeded 50 off the last 4because we have theshots,” added Tewatiawho was adjudged manof the match.

Talking about thechat he had with RiyanParag, who alsoremained not out on 42,in the middle, Tewatiasaid, "Riyan asked mewhat to do. I told him torespect the good ballsand take singles, and Icould take on the attack.

“Against Rashid, Isaw the opportunity toplay the reverse sweepand took it.”

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Mumbai topples Delhi

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Rafael Nadal tied RogerFederer with 20 Grand Slam

titles by producing a nearly per-fect performance against NovakDjokovic in the French Openfinal.

Nadal equalled long-timerival Federer for the most majorsingles tennis championshipswon by a man and added to hisown record at Roland Garroswith No 13 on the red clay, cour-testy of a surprisingly dominant6-0, 6-2, 7-5 victory over the No1-ranked Djokovic on Sunday.

When Nadal ended it withan ace, he dropped to his knees,smiled widely and pumped hisarms. He did not cede a set in hisfavorite tournament this year.

Nadal, No 2 in the rankings,improved to 100-2 at the French

Open, including a combined 26-0 in semifinals and finals, andpicked up his fourth consecutivetitle in Paris.

The 34-year-old left-handerfrom Spain previously put togeth-er streaks of four French Openchampionships from 2005-08,then five in a row from 2010-14,to go alongside his four trophiesat the US Open, two atWimbledon and one at theAustralian Open.

Nadal is now even withFederer for the first time since

each man had zero Slams to hisname in 2003. Federer’s firstarrived at Wimbledon that year;Nadal, naturally, earned his firstin France in 2005, by which pointhe trailed 4-0.

Djokovic’s loss left him at 17majors; had he won, the trio’sstandings would have read 20-19-18. Nadal is the oldest FrenchOpen champion since 1972 andthe more than 15 years betweenhis first and most recent GrandSlam titles is the longest suchspan for a man.

This was the 56th installmentof Nadal vs Djokovic, the mostmeetings between any pair ofmen in the professional era, andtheir ninth in a Grand Slam final,equalling Nadal vs Federer for themost. Djokovic had won 14 of thelast 18 matchups against Nadal,and led 29-26 overall, including

a 6-3 6-2 6-3 win at the 2019Australian Open final.

Nadal allowed Djokovicone fewer game this time.Nadal maintained his relentlesspush, going to a double breakfor 4-1 as even the Serb’s usualdeft touches on the drop shotdeserted him.

Nadal wrapped up a two-setlead with his unforced errorcount at just six to Djokovic’s30.

Nadal broke for the sixthtime for a 3-2 lead in the thirdbefore Djokovic suddenlyrestored his reputation as thesport's best returner by carvingout his first break of the after-noon for 3-3.

However, there was to be nomiracle recovery as a doublefault handed Nadal a 6-5 leadand he took the title with an ace.

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