t INDORE t BHOPAL t UJJAIN t MUMBAI t PUNEr Regd. No. Indore MP/ICD 216/2018-2020

FREE-PRESSINDORE | THURSDAY | JUNE 18, 2020 www.freepressjournal.in

r RNI No. 38281/83

PM Modi warns of befitting response

Our Bureau

NEW DELHI

Couched in a message ofpeace, PM Modi on Wednes-day warned of a befitting re-ply -- if provoked -- and saidthe supreme sacrifice of themartyrs in the Galwan val-ley will not go in vain.At the same time -- his first

remarks on the India-Chinastandoff -- he saluted the"brave sons of Mother In-dia" for their great sacrificeand expressed condolencesto the families of the mar-tyrs, while stressing that"whatever may be the situa-tion and circumstances, In-dia will firmly protect everyinch of the country's landand its self-respect."PM Modi, who had been

accused by opposition lead-ers of maintaining a deaf-ening silence on themonth-long tension withChina and Monday'skillings, underscored theneed for peace. Modi said:"India is culturally a peace-loving country. Our historyhas been that of a peace-loving country. In everyera, we have wished forpeace and welfare of theentire world and humani-ty."As regards neighbours,

he said: "We have alwaysworked closely with themin a cooperative and friend-ly manner. We have always

wished for their develop-ment and welfare. Whenev-er there have been differ-ences of opinion, we havealways tried to ensure thatthose differences neverturned into a dispute."He possibly made the re-

marks unmindful of Nepalunilaterally changing thecontours of its map, bring-ing within its ambit areasthat lie on the Indian side.

Contd. on P8

WEATHER34.20C.23.40C.

sunrise: 05 : 43

sunset : 07 : 14

Thought for the dayEndeavour to attain

concentration and growsteady and unshakablelike the mountain in

your spiritual pursuit.

- Sri Ma

t INDORE t BHOPAL t UJJAIN t MUMBAI t PUNENATION

KeRala maKes Covid -ve CeR-

tifiCate must foR all flights

EDIT

GLAM

naRendRa modi’s Biggest test in last siX YeaRs

r Regd. No. Indore MP/ICD 216/2018-2020

‘Blind items should

Be illegal’

free-pressvol. XXXvII no. 10 | IndoRe | thuRsday | June 18, 2020 | Pages 12 | ` 3 www.freepressjournal.in

r RnI no. 38281/83

4 try to pull down Dalit groom from horse, heldageNCieS

Chhatarpur

Police have arrested fourpersons for allegedly try-ing to pull down a Dalitbridegroom from a horse,which he was riding aspart of his marriage cere-mony in Chhatarpur dis-trict of Madhya Pradesh,and beating up anotherman, an official said onWednesday.

The incident occurred atChhapar village under Sa-

tai Police station area inthe district, they said.

The groom, Rajesh Ahir-war, said that accordingto tradition, a pre-wed-ding procession was tak-en out in the village tovisit the temple on June15, when some personstried to pull him downfrom the horse.The groom's father, Shob-

halal Ahirwar, later lodgeda complaint with the policeagainst the accused.

Contd. on P8

Our Staff repOrter

BHOPAL

This is the moment of griefand also of pride that a sol-dier from Rewa laid his lifefor the nation. This wasstated by Rewa MP Janar-dan Mishra while talkingto media on Wednesday. Naik Deepak Singh

Baghel, a resident of Rewadistrict, posted in Galwanstrategic point laid his life

while defending the coun-try border in a face to faceconflict with Chinesearmy. He was native ofFarenda village. On Tues-day at about 10 pm, his fa-ther Gajraj Singh receivedinformation from the regi-ment that Deepak lost hislife in the conflict. Deepakwas married to RekhaSingh in November 2019.He had joined the regimenton February 14 after the

vacations. The elder broth-er of Deepak PrakashSingh was also an armyjawan. About 12 days back, he had

informed his cousin brotherSachin Singh that he will re-turn to village after the lock-down ends. Sachin told me-diapersons that Deepak wasextraordinarily brave,would accept challengesand completed task with noerror. Contd. on P8

No small arms were usedon orders from top brass?

Our Bureau

NEW DELHI

India would not have suf-fered multiple casualties --20 slain soldiers, includingtheir commander Col. Sub-hash Babu, and critical in-juries to a score of others -- but for the orders to go un-armed to the Chinese PLA(Peoples Liberation Army)camp.These orders came from

the top military brass, de-fence expert Pravin Sawh-ney claimed on Wednesday.The orders were followed

to the hilt and that ex-plains why "no bullets werefired in the clash."Such orders emanated

from the top as it wasfeared that armed move-

ment may trigger a conflictthat may sabotage thetruce negotiations betweenthe two commanders.The Army moves fully

armed for any eventualitywhen face to face with theenemy, but this time the

Commanding Officer wentunarmed with a small con-tingent to check on Mon-day night whether the Chi-nese had dismantled thetents they had pitched onIndian territory.

Contd. on P8

fp NewS SerViCe

New Delhi

It is understood that theChinese ambush was pre-meditated and part of asinister game plan.Around 120 Indian sol-

diers -- almost an entirecompany -- was trapped,the commanding officerwas killed within minutes,and the Chinese People'sLiberation Army, perchedon a high altitude ridge,resorted to a savage attackin which boulders and ba-tons were used.Earlier, the Chinese re-

treat, marked by thinningof troops, was part of anexercise in subterfuge anddeception. The fact thatthe rules of engagementdon’t permit the use ofsmall fire arms in faceoffwith the Chinese added tothe helplessness on the In-dian side; they were re-duced to being sittingducks.Vicious hand-to-hand

fighting raged for overeight hours on Mondaynight, as PLA assaultteams armed with batonswrapped in barbed wire –which again suggests anelement of pre-planning –lynched the troops of the16 Bihar Regiment. (Thisis the account of a seniorgovernment official famil-iar with the debriefing ofsurvivors at hospitals inLeh, as told to News18.)A wire agency (IANS)

has, meanwhile, citedsources as saying that theIndian troops were out-numbered 1:5 when theycame under attack nearan observation post onPoint 14 in eastern

Ladakh.The PLA is also said to

have used thermal imagingdrones to ferret out the un-armed Indian soldiers, whohad scattered on thetreacherous terrain afterthe slaying of the Com-manding Officer, beforebrutally attacking them.‘‘Even unarmed men who

fled into the hillsides werehunted down and killed,”one officer was quoted assaying by News 18. “Thedead included men whojumped into the GalwanRiver in a desperate effortto escape.” Contd. on P8

Highest-ever spike of2003 COVID deathsin a day registered

New delhi

India registered the highest-ever spike of 2,003 COVID-19fatalities pushing the deathtoll to 11,903 on Wednesdayafter Maharashtra and Delhiadded earlier deaths thatwere not attributed to thedisease.The country's COVID-19

caseload rose to 3,54,065 with10,974 new infections beingreported in the last 24 hours.Of the 2,003 new deaths,

Maharashtra accounted forthe highest 1,409 fatalitiestaking its COVID-19 deathtally to 5,537, while coron-avirus deaths in Delhisurged by 437 taking its tollto 1,837, according to theHealth Ministry data updat-ed at 8 am. "The suddensurge in deaths is based onentry of data by the states.Maharashtra and Delhi havereconciled data from previ-ous days," a Health Ministryofficial said.Besides, Tamil Nadu has

reported 49 deaths followedby Gujarat at 28, UttarPradesh and Haryana at 18each, Madhya Pradesh 11,West Bengal 10, Rajasthan 7,Karnataka 5 and Telangana4. Bihar, Chhattisgarh, Jam-mu and Kashmir, Jhark-hand, Punjab, Puducherryand Uttarakhand have re-ported one fatality each inthe last 24 hours.

12 killed in tractor-truck

collision in AndhraVijayawada

Twelve devotees fromTelangana were killed and11 injured in a collision be-tween a tractor and a truckin Andhra Pradesh's Krish-na district on Wednesday,police said.The accident occurred

near Vedadri in Jag-gayyapeta mandal, about 75km from here.According to police a

truck laden with cementcollided head-on with thetractor, which was carrying26 people, who were return-ing after 'darshan' at a tem-ple.The victims were Telan-

gana's Khammam districtand were returning homeafter visiting LakshmiNarasimha Swamy templeat Vedadri.The deceased include four

children. The injured wereshifted to government-runhospital at Jaggayyapeta.Four of them are stated tobe in critical condition.The injured included the

truck driver. One of the sur-vivors said the speedingtruck coming from the op-posite direction rammedinto the tractor.s

CBI registers caseagainst Indore Co forduping banks to tune

of Rs 180crOur Staff repOrter

BHOPAL

The Central Bureau of In-vestigation has registered acase following a complaintmade by State Bank of In-dia against Indore-basedprivate company, its threedirectors and unidentifiedpublic servants on the alle-gations of cheating and de-frauding the bank to thetune of Rs 180.15 crore.The case was registered

against company directorsVijay Kumar Jain, Mahen-dra Kumar Jain and DevrajJain of M/s Indison AgroFoods Limited, Indore. It was alleged that the pri-

vate company was engaged inimports, processing and trad-ing of pulses including ex-ports to European and MiddleEast countries. The companystarted operation in 2003. It was further alleged that

the company was sanc-tioned credit facilities in2013 by consortium ofbanks comprising Alla-habad Bank, IDBI Bank ande-SB of Patiala led by SBI. It was also alleged that CC

account turned irregularfrom 2014. Contd. on P8

FrOM hANDshAKE TO hAND-TO-hAND COMBAT

NAKED AGGrEssIONsINIsTEr, PrE-MEDITATED

n Indians were entrapped on a narrow ledge

n Selection of ledge suggests a devious game plan

n Commanding Officer was killed within minutes

n They were targeted from a high altitude vantagepoint where PLA had a ready stockpile of bouldersand batons

n They outnumbered Indians 1:5, which againsuggests a well thought out ambush

n Thermal imaging drones were used to hunt downunarmed soldiers who scattered on the treacherousterrain

n They were brutally attacked to the point of mutilation

IT WAS FEARED that armed movement may trigger a conflictthat may sabotage truce negotiations between the two sides

COUChEd IN wORdS OF PEaCE…

the prime minister hascalled an all-partymeeting on friday todiscuss the situation atthe border via videoconferencing to modulatea consensual response tothe strife.

It’s moment of grIef & prIde that rewa’s son laId lIfe for natIon

NAIK DEEPAK SINGH BAGHEL had got married in November 2019‘I will be home once lockdown ends’

Deepak Singh Baghel wasmartyred in Ladakh face-off

Patients being discharged from Aurobindo Hospital

Soldiers stand guard on top of an armoured vehicle during as aconvoy moves along the Srinagar-Ladakh national highway atGagangeer in Sonmarg on Wednesday

FLUNG INTO RIVERMany of those killed

appear to have beenpunched or shoved off aridge onto rocks and intothe icy river. Post-mortemexaminations on thosekilled showed that the"primary reason for deathis drowning and it lookslike they fell from a heightinto the water because ofhead injuries," an officialtold news agency AFP

CAsEs

3,54,065

DEATh

11,903

ACTIVE

1,55,227

CurED

1,86,935

INdIa

CAsEs

11,295

DEATh

482

ACTIVE

2,374

CurED

8,388

MP

COVID-19

tripti Nath

New Delhi

China continued with itsaggressive posturing onWednesday and demanded athorough investigation byIndia into the violent clashin Ladakh and severe pun-ishment for those found re-sponsible.In a statement put out after

a telephone conversation be-tween Chinese Foreign Min-ister Wang Yi and ExternalAffairs Minister Dr Subrah-manyam Jaishankar, Chinaalso warned that India “mustnot misjudge the current sit-uation and must not underes-timate China’s firm will tosafeguard territorial sover-eignty.” The Chinese side fur-ther demanded that Indiashould strictly control itsfrontline troops and immedi-ately stop all provocative ac-tions to ensure that such inci-dents don’t occur again.India put the blame square-

ly on the Chinese side forcreating a dispute by at-tempting to raise a structurein Galwan Valley and saidthat its pre-meditated andplanned action resulted inviolence and casualties.While conveying in the

strongest terms, Jaishankarsaid the need of the hour isfor the Chinese side to re-assess its actions and take

corrective steps.He also said the unprece-

dented development willhave a serious impact on In-dia China relationship.Both sides were back to

blaming one another despitesuffering significant casual-ties. The two Asian giantsmaintained a firm tone buttheir messages wereflavoured with warning, as-sertion, veiled threat and ahint of reconciliation in mu-tual interest.The Indian statement men-

tioned that it was agreed nei-ther side would take any ac-tion to escalate matters andinstead ensure peace andtranquillity as per bilateralagreements and protocols. Itsaid that the two sidesshould scrupulously and sin-cerely implement the under-standing reached by seniorcommanders on June 6.China, however, accused

the Indian frontier troops ofopenly breaching the under-standing reached at the mili-tary level between the twoparties. It blamed troops forcrossing the LAC and delib-erately provoking the otherside. Statements put out bythe foreign ministries of In-dia and China had pre-dictably different percep-tions of how the eyeball toeyeball confrontation gotout of hand.

Reconciliatory noises, veiled threats, warnings

No China equipment for 4G

upgrade, Centre to BSNLThe Telecom departmenthas decided to rule out useof Chinese equipment in theupgradation of 4Gequipment of BSNL.Sources in the governmentsaid the ministry has decidedto "firmly tell BSNL" not touse Chinese equipment inview if security issues.

Talks between Maj Gens of

India, China inconclusiveTalks between MajorGenerals of India and Chinain Galwan Valley in Ladakhwere inconclusive, armysources said. "The talks haveremained inconclusive asthere is no immediatedisengagement or change inthe ground," sources said.

Tight security from

Nabhidhang to Lipulekh PassSecurity has been increased

from Nabhidhang toLipulekh Pass in Pithoragarhafter the violent clashbetween forces.

Our Staff repOrter

IndoreRate of positive patients

of coronavirus was record-ed 2.5 percent rise onWednesday with 57 patientstested positive out of 2,266samples reports received.With this, the total numberof patients reached 4,191.Three more deaths were

reported on Wednesdaywith which total number ofdeaths reached to 185."A 34-year-female of Janta

Quarter, a 76-year-female ofBrijeshwari Mansion, anda 65-year-female of AzadNagar succumbed to thedisease during treatment,"

Chief Medical and HealthOfficer said.According to the bulletin

released by the CMHO, re-ports of total samples re-ceived till Wednesday nightwas 65,402 and total num-ber of samples tested posi-tive are 4,191. As many as2191 samples were testednegative on Wednesday."We have taken as many as

838 more samples," headded. It is said that asmany as 875 patients are go-ing under treatment in vari-ous hospitals of the city.Meanwhile, a total of 3131patients have been dis-charged so far.

57 test COVID-19positive in Indore

2 INDORE CITYFREEPRESSTHURSDAY | JUNE 18, 2020 | INDORE

DOCTORCONSULTATION,SERVICES TURN

EXPENSIVE OUR STAFF REPORTER

Indore

The woes seem to be unend-ing. Global pandemicCOVID-19 had already putan adverse effect on thehealth of people whereasthe lockdown severely dent-ed the economy. Moreover,Unlock 1.0 too has yet notbrought any positive newsand wait… if you think

that's all… sample: Gettingconsultation and servicesfrom doctors have turnedexpensive. This has beenburning a hole in the con-sumers' pockets.

Many of the doctors haveincreased the consultationcharges by Rs 200-400 perpatient while the hospitalhave increased their visit-ing charges by Rs 500-1000per visit.

"We have not increasedthe consultation charges in-tentionally, it has gone upbecause of the proceduresinvolved. There are variousreasons for the same includ-ing the extra burden of san-itization, masks and othersafety equipment," a dentist

said, wishing anonymity.He also mentioned thatCOVID-19 has increased therisk and they will have tofollow all precautions to re-main safe and to keep the

patients safe too.Another consultant said

that they have to limit thenumber of patients due toCOVID-19 guidelines whilecharges of support staff, in-

cluding paramedical andothers have also increased.

Another practitioner, whovisits private hospitals, saidmost of the private hospi-tals have increased their

visiting charges as theyhave to bear the burden ofPPE kits and other safety at-tachment items.

Meanwhile, President ofIndian Medical Associa-tion-Indore Dr Satish Joshisaid doctors should not in-crease charges at this time.

"There may be reasonsand extra burden of safetyand hygiene costs but thehike would be minimal notanything extravagant. Iwant to appeal to the doc-tors for not increasingcharges for at least threemonths," he said adding"They will talk to the doc-tors about their issues andwill find a solution for thesame."

'MASKED' THREAT: Patients in thedock, pay more for medic, hosp visit

SAFETY MEASURES TO AVERT COVID CASES

"We have notincreased the

consultation chargesintentionally, it hasgone up because ofthe proceduresinvolved. There arevarious reasons forthe same includingthe extra burden ofsanitization, masksand other safetyequipment." Dentiston anonymity

Representative pic

While dealing with the coronaviruspandemic is most certainly not a war,there are striking commonalities.

Here are just a few:-One is dealing with the unknown. In battle itis the enemy, here it is the ubiquitous virus.The war is a long and bloody one; in both theenemy is deadly and quickly capitalises onthe weak and vulnerable spots.Patience is a virtue and everyday throws upnew challenges and opportunities.The picture becomes less foggy by the mo-ment.

Some of the lessons and similarities betweenwar like situations and the present uncertaintimes are:

A good plan made in time is better than a per-fect plan which takes ages. The current timethat we all are living in is totally new. TheCOVID-19 pandemic has truly disrupted lifeand businesses. Leaders in all organisationsare being compelled to make life and death de-cisions quickly, under intense pressure andwith incomplete information. Flourishing in-dustries have gone bankrupt and the stakes arehigh. Managers are having to make conse-quential decisions that will affect the lives and

livelihoods of their employees for years tocome.

Military leaders operating in the fog of waroften make decisions based on incomplete in-formation. For a CEO, the idea of taking "cal-culated risks" may seem counter-intuitive in the midst of a crisis.Not really true, crisis leadersmust be comfortable with uncer-tainty and have the confidence totake decisions which may be im-perfect but are much better thancorporate paralysis.

Once a plan is made and is set inmotion, review it regularly. Gen-eral (and later the President ofthe USA) Dwight Eisenhoweronce quipped "plans are useless,but planning is indispensable."One thing that the Army teachesyou is that plans are only good tillthe first bullet is fired. This is sobecause plans are always madebased on the available information and that in-formation is inevitably inaccurate or incom-plete. Nobody can predict accurately the waythe enemy will react. Similarly, in the ongoing

situation, one is learning new aspects andfacets of the virus daily. Just to give one exam-ple, while sanitiser tunnels were touted as goodand essential, later research revealed that it toohas negative connotations. The key is adapt-

ability and flexibility.Be Situationally Aware, Seize

the Opportunity. One needs tohave good situational awarenessand the reason for this is that nomatter how good the preparationis, in war one is often confrontedwith an unexpected set of circum-stances that may impose con-straints on one's actions. Howev-er, viewed positively, this can leadto opportunities. It is a Jack-be-nimble, Jack-be-quick environ-ment of fleeting moments of op-portunity. In war, the victor is notthe one who "sticks to the plan"but the one who does not hesitateto change his plan according to

the reality of the moment and seizes the op-portunity. Similarly, in the unfolding covid sit-uation, states which are doing well are thosethat have reacted positively to the situation,

whether it is in implementing precautionarymeasures or responding to the migrant crisis.

Cometh the Hour, Cometh the Man. Eachwar throws up a person who displays incredi-ble courage and facing insurmountable odds,does the seemingly impossible. Today, the per-sons fighting the covid war are in the sameunique situation. These are the doctors, nurs-es, many other health care workers, police of-ficials and public administrators. They are onthe frontlines of fighting Covid-19 and nowface the dilemma that those in the militaryface throughout: How does one weigh the de-sire to serve against the risk of personalharm? These personnel leave the security oftheir homes to work in an environment wherethey are threatened by an ever-present yethidden virus. Having served in the military,one can readily understand the burden shoul-dered by them.

In these trying times, every single citizen cancontribute and become a part of this long andtedious war by just adhering to the simple in-structions of the health care professionals andthe administration. As responsible citizens, wemust strive to be part of the solution and not bepart of the problem.

COVID CRISIS: GOOD PLAN BETTER THAN PERFECT PLAN

MAUSAM BEMISAL

GET FREE WITHNATURE: As

monsoon arrives,people with propersafety measures, areout to feel charm.Also, animals in thezoo seem to berelaxing after thesweltering heat. PHOTOS BY ANAND SHIVRE

Youth returnshome from

office, ends lifeIndore: A youth allegedlycommitted suicide by hang-ing himself from the ceil-ing of his home in Aero-drome area late on Tuesday.No suicide note was recov-ered from the spot so thereason could not be ascer-tained.

Aerodrome police stationin charge Ashok Patidarsaid the deceased has beenidentified as Pawan Sahu(28), a resident of ShubhamNagar area. He was foundhanging by one of his fami-ly members and wasrushed to the hospital butcould not be saved. Pawanwas employed with a city-based company.

Preliminary investigationrevealed that Pawan camehome from office around 8pm after and retired to hisroom. His brother reachedwent to his room but Pawanwas not there. Later, hefound Pawan hangingaround 11 pm. He then fran-tically informed other fami-ly members and they rushedPawan to the hospital. Policeare taking statements offamily members. The bodyhas been handed over to thefamily members after theautopsy on Wednesday.

OUR STAFF REPORTERIndore

Rau police station staffershelped a minor boy reunitwith his parents on Wednes-day. The police searched forthe boy's parents on socialmedia and finally the familyhad a happy ending on ahigh note after hours ofsearch.

Rau PS in-charge, DineshVerma, said an unidentifiedperson had dropped thechild outside the police sta-tion. The little boy was veryscared and was stammeringtoo.

Sub-inspector AnilaParashar, pacified the boyand managed to calm himdown. She also got him

snacks and tea. Later, sheasked the boy about his par-ents and other details.

The boy somehow mus-tered courage to say that heis a resident of villageSanavadiya and had visitedRau area. He got confused onhis way home and soughthelp from a passerby whodropped him outside the PS.

Later, police circulated thephotograph of the boy atvarious police stations andon social media. After twohours, police received infor-mation that the boy's parentswere also searching for him.Rau police contacted them.They were called to the PSand they family got reunited.The boy's parents hailed thecops for their efforts.

How Rau copsreunited family!

OUR STAFF REPORTERIndore

A webinar on "cyber secu-rity issues trending dur-ing COVID-19" was organ-ised by the School Of Com-merce, DAVV on Wednes-day in the presence of 373people, including digni-taries.

Head of SOC, Dr PreetiSingh welcomed the chiefguest, ADGP VarunKapoor and Guest of Hon-our Prof Durgesh Mishra.Programme co-ordinator,Dr Sona Kanungo coordi-nated the session and DrDurgesh Mishra providedthe technical zoom sup-port connecting 373 partic-ipants online.

ADGP Varun Kapoorsaid the Corona pandemicand the imposed lockdownhas led to more people tobe confined at home withmany more hours to spendonline each day and in-creasingly relying on theInternet to access servic-es.

"The dangers of cyber-crime have been there formany years, but the in-

crease in the percentage ofthe population connectedto the Internet and thetime spent online, com-bined with the sense ofconfinement and the anxi-ety and fear generatedfrom the lockdown, haveprovided more opportuni-

ties for cybercriminals totake advantage of the situ-ation and make more mon-ey or create disruption",ADGP Kapoor added.

He also said although therisk of being attacked willremain, some mitigationmeasures may help usersand employers. For theusers, it is recommendedto be very vigilant aboutphishing emails and web-sites, practice good cyberhygiene, use only trustedwi-fi networks and consid-er adopting a passwordmanager to help to avoidusing the same passwordfor multiple websites.

Companies must providethe employees with appro-priate courses to enhancetheir cyber-securityknowledge.

LOCKDOWN EFFECT: Now, beware of cyber security

PAY TRIBUTE TO MARTYRS IN

A MEETINGOUR STAFF REPORTER

Indore

Public anger and wrath isvisible following the deathof 20 Indian soldiers in theface-off with Chinese sol-diers in Ladakh region.City transporters have de-cided not to ferry Chinesegoods.

CL Mukati, president ofIndore Truck operators'and transport Association,said, "We have decided notto transport Chinese goods.

We request truck ownersand all transporting mer-chants and porters, driversnot to transport Chinesegoods. We have also urgedtraders not to purchasegoods from China, whichwill make our job easy of'boycotting' the stuff. How-ever, even if they do so, ourmembers will not transportsuch goods."

Narendra Bafana, for-mer president of Plywoodand laminates Traders'Association, also said,"We (traders) have also de-cided to boycott the sale ofChinese goods." He saidChina has repeatedlyhurting the interest of thenation and it is our re-sponsibility to teach thema lesson."

Transporters decide notto ferry Chinese goods

Nominated forsocial work

OUR STAFF REPORTERIndore

On the recommendation of AkhilBhartiya Brahmin Samaj nationalpresident Pt Sanjay Tripathi and na-

tional convenor PtSantosh Awasthi,National Organisa-tion general secre-tary MahendraMishra has nomi-nated PramilaKailash Sharma(Indore) as nation-al president ofAkhil Bhartiya

Brahmin Samaj (Mahila Morcha).Pramila has been in social service

for the last several years and isknown for her relentlessefforts forthe upliftment of the society andwomen. State president Pt Pushpen-dra Mishra, Pt Vikas Mishra, Pt Ma-hendra Shukla, Pt JaiprakashMishra, Pt Piyush Purohit, SvetaSharma, Smita Sharma, Anita Vyas,Monika Shukla, Sindhu Joshi andothers congratulated Pramila.

Col. Gururaj GopinathPamidi (Retd),

chief administrative officer,IIM Indore

THIEVES 'BREAK OPEN'FLAT ON 9TH FLOOR,DECAMP WITH CASH,

VALUABLESINCIDENT TOOK PLACEWHEN ENTIRE FAMILY

WAS AWAY FOR FAMILYFUNCTION

OUR STAFF REPORTERIndore

Even as the markets andnormal life is yet to restartfully and flourish, thievesare on their job with com-plete intent… . They tar-geted a flat of an advertis-ing company owner andmanaged to decamp withcash and valuables worth12 lakh under Kanadiya po-lice station jurisdiction.The incident came to lighton Tuesday when the flatowner returned from a fam-ily function. The police arescrutinising CCTV grabs toidentify the looters.

The incident took place atthe flat of Rajesh Jain inHaven Grand Exotica nearPipliyahana Square be-tween June 11 and June 15,2020. Family members wereat a family function in thecity and they returnedhome on Tuesday to findthat the household was incomplete disarray. They im-

mediately informed the po-lice.

Jain said that he runs anadvertising company in thecity. On June 11, he alongwith family members hadgone to attend the function.They returned home onTuesday and were shock tolearn about the theft. Jainsaid the thieves had usedduplicate keys to open thedoor and managed to fleewith a booty of Rs 1.30 lakhin cash and valuablesworth around Rs 12 lakhfrom the home.

Jain resides on the 9thfloor of the building andsurprisingly other resi-dents of the building wereunaware about the inci-dent. The CCTVs installedin the apartment are beinglooked into to trace the ac-cused. However, police isyet to find any clue till fil-ing of this report. Police be-lieved that the thieves mayhave been in connectionwith a person close to thefamily. Further investiga-tion is underway.

Rs 12L STOLENFROM FLAT

STEAL FACTSTHIEVES APPARENTLY USEDDUPLICATES KEY TO MAKE AN ENTRY

NEIGHBOURS WERE,SURPRINGLY UNAWARE, OFTHE INCIDENT AS NO ONESAW ANYTHING 'SUSPICIOUS'

POLICE STILL CLUELESS

SCHOOL OFCOMMERCE,

DAVVORGANISESWEBINAR ON ISSUE

OUR STAFF REPORTER

The number of coronacases in MadhyaPradesh is less than

half in comparison withthat of other states in thecountry, said chief ministerShivraj Singh Chouhan.

Chouhan made this state-ment during a videoconfer-ence with Prime MinisterNarendra Modi. Chief minis-ters of other states were alsopresent at the conference.

The growth rate of coronain MP is only 1.7%, whereasit is 3.8% in the country,Chouhan said.

When Modi reviewed thesituation arising out of thespread of the disease onMay 12, the recovery rate ofpatients in MP was 46.7%, hesaid. Now, the recovery ratehas gone up to 73.6% onJune 16, but it is 52.5% in thecountry, Chouhan said.

As many as 8,152 patientshave been cured in the state,but the number of recoveredpatients is more than 1.80lakh across the country, hesaid. The number of coronacases has also declined inthe state which has 2,455 pa-tients now, Chouhan said,adding that there are morethan 1.53lakh corona casesacross the country.

Nevertheless, on May 12,the number of corona pa-tients was 1,901 in the state.

The rate of corona caseshas declined after Unlock-1.0. On May 30, it was3.01%, but the rate has de-creased to 1.7% on June 16,the chief minister said.

The number of coronacases has dropped in dis-tricts like Indore, Bhopaland Ujjain.

INDORE CITY 3FREEPRESS

THURSDAY | JUNE 18, 2020 | INDORE

TARUN TIWARIIndore

While the percentage of in-fected COVID-19 patients isfluctuating between 1.5 to2.8 per cent for the last sev-eral days, the percentage ofdeaths has been increasingswiftly which became themain reason of concern forthe officials. As many as 47deaths have taken placesince June 1 which has thepercentage increase of31.88 percent. Overall deathrate has also increased to4.45 per cent which is high-er than national rate of 3.34percent.

Number of deaths report-ed till May 31 was 135 whichincreased to 182 till June 16.

Moreover, Chief MinisterShivraj Singh Chouhan hademphasized on pulling thedeath rate down but it in-creased from 4.15 to 4.45 percent as 23 deaths have takenplace since his visit on June 8.

Deaths in last four dayshave shot up more as fourdeaths took place every dayfrom June 13 to June 16.

The constant number ofdeaths consecutively forfour days has also raised

questions as health depart-ment has been hiding thedate of the deaths of pa-tients.

Sources said that the de-partment has been adjust-ing the number of deaths

which they didn't add in thebulletin earlier. However,health officials continuedto blame hospitals for delayin reporting deaths butthey never take any actionon the same.

Health department hadeven shown the deaths of pa-tients died two months ago.

"Private hospitals gavethe details of the deathswith delay due to which itcould be reported on time,"CMHO (on leave) Dr PravinJadia said.

Meanwhile, in-chargeCMHO Dr MP Sharma toldmedia that they have beenauditing each death andtaking all necessary stepsto pull down the death ratein the city.

FOR WHOM THE DEATH KNELL RINGS...Overall death rate increased to 4.45%, higher than national rate of 3.34%

47 DEATHS SINCE JUNE 1 31.88% INCREASECM STRESSED ON

PULLING DOWN DEATHRATE BUT IT INCREASE

TO 4.45 PERCENT FROM4.15 PERCENT SINCE HISVISIT. CITY'S DEATH RATE

IS HIGHER THE NATIONRATE OF DEATHS I.E.

3.34 PERCENT

REPRESENTATIVE PIC

...BUT MP ahead of other statesin fighting COVID-19, says CM

PEOPLE WILL HAVE TO BRINGTHEIR OWN BARBER CAPE

OUR STAFF REPORTERIndore

Have been struggling with potionsand home-made "creams/lotions"to cleanse your skin or to colouryour hair yourself ? Gone are thedays… . Beauty parlours and salonswill reopen in the city from Thurs-day. However, apart from followingthe guidelines, customers will haveto bring their own barber cape.

After the meeting with operatorsof beauty parlours and hair salons,Collector Manish Singh said, "Werealise the need of reopening thebusiness. Thus, we have taken thecall. However, following the rules isan absolute must. Personal barbercape is important as common usageof a same cape by many may trig-ger the virus."

Members of Sen Samaj and Par-lour Association had been demand-

ing to reopen their trade for severaldays, following which, MP ShankarLalwani held a meeting with the as-sociation and administration onWednesday.

MP Lalwani stated, "We want toreopen the entire city gradually butthe decision to reopen salons willbe taken with extreme caution. Inthe past, there was an instance inKhargone where six persons wereinfected following their visit to thesalon. So, we had to tread cautious-ly. We have formed a committee

which will make the statement ofplan and report on this subject.

Based on the report of the com-mittee, a guideline will be made forprecautions at salons and it will bestrictly followed.

At the meeting, Advisor to theState Government, Dr NishantKhare, BJP City President GauravRanadive, Collector Manish Singh,DIG Harinarayanachari Mishra,representative of Sen Society andbeauty parlour-salon businessmanwere present.

Beauty parlours, salons to reopen today

HALLA BOL @ CHOITRAM MKT

The state president of Bhartiya Kisan Union, Anil Yadav accused theChoithram Mandi officials of doing illegal business in the Mandi. Hesaid the traders were not providing proper receipts to farmers and"extorting" money by putting extra charges on them

7 MLAS FAIL TO ATTENDCONG LEGISLATURE

PARTY MEETINGSeven MLAs of Congress party

failed to attend Congress legisla-ture party meeting called to discussRajya Sabha election at former chiefminister Kamal Nath’s residence onWednesday.

The political parties have startedpreparation for RS polls to be held onJune 19 for three seats.

While addressing the meeting, Nathand former chief minister and RajyaSabha candidate Digvijaya Singh saidthey have to win atleast two seats.

Congress party has given ticket totwo candidates Digvijaya Singh andPhool Singh Baraiya.

To elect one candidate, the partyneeds 52 votes and the party has only92 votes. It is claimed that the two BSP,one SP and four independent MLAswill support the party but none ofthem have exposed their strategy tilldate.

After getting charge of state, theAICC general secretary Mukul Vasniktook the meeting of the MLAs. Naththanked MLAs for serving the needyduring the national lockdown.

REPRESENTATIVE PIC

430 migrant workersfound positive

More than 14 lakh migrantworkers have returned

to MP from other states. Ofthem, over 12.3lakh migrantshave been home quarantinedand 63,000 in various centres.The swab samples of 19,130migrant workers were taken,but only 430 found positive.

Chain brokenthrough IITT system

MP has followed ‘identify,isolate, test and treat’ (IITT)

strategy to break the chain of thepandemic. Patients were identifiedthrough fever clinics. The firstcontact and high-risk patientswere quarantined in homes andisolated in various institutions.

MORE CITY NEWS ON PG 5

4 Ujjain CityFREEPRESSThURSDAy | JUnE 18, 2020 | InDORE

UJJAIN WEATHERMAXIMUM: 34.2°C, MINIMUM: 24.2° C

HUMIDITYMORNING: 73 per cent, EVENING: 52 per cent

SUNRISE: 5.41 am , SUNSET: 7.15 pm

FP NEWS SERVICE

Ujjain

As per the medical bulletinissued by CMHO at 8.50 pmon Wednesday, 4 more posi-tive reports took the num-ber of patients in the dis-trict to 825. Barring one pa-tient rest three patients be-long to Ujjain. The deathtoll is 67. New patients who testedpositive on the day includ-ed 50-year-old woman fromBegam Bagh, 50-year-oldwoman from Namdarpuraand a 70-year-old man fromGoverdhandham Nagar(all Ujjain) and a 30-year-old man from Vidhya Na-gar, Nagda. So far 12, 619samples have been testedin the district. According to CMHO, inall 269 sample reports werereceived on the day and noexamination report isawaited now. With onemore discharged, 657 pa-tients have been dis-charged till date from dif-ferent hospitals and quar-antine centers in the city.Total 102 active patientshave been getting treat-ment in the hospitals, butonly 29 of them have Coro-na symptoms and while 73are asymptomatic.

Patients tally reaches 825COVID-19 DISTRICT UPDATE

657 discharged

102 under treatment

Members of Om Sai Vision organisation taking out a Corona awareness rally in ward 41 FP PHOTO

‘Boycott of Chinese goods will be a great tribute to our soldiers’

FP NEWS SERVICE

Ujjain

City dwellers, social or-ganisations and BharatiyaJanata Party condemnedChinese aggression inGalwan valley and am-bush killings of our 20army men. On Wednesdaynoon Bharatiya JanataParty burnt Chinese pres-ident Xi Jinping’s effigy atDewasgate and expressedoutrage on this occasionthe party workers alsoburnt Chinese goods. On this occasion ad-dressing the party mem-bers BJP district headVivek Joshi told that theBJP opposed the Chineseact of cowardice and ap-pealed denizens to boycottChinese goods. Partyworkers paid tribute to themartyred soldiers of thearmy. BJP’s cultural andarts cell district coordina-tor Mangesh Shrivastavacondemning the killingsof soldiers told boycottingChinese goods will be agreat tribute to our sol-diers. On this occasiondistrict general secretarySuresh Giri, corportorSatya Narayan Chouhan,Arti Tiwari, RahulsinghBais and other party mem-bers were also present. Hindu Mahasabha andGoraksha Nyas membersstaged protest and black-ened the Xi Jinping’s por-trait for brutal killings of

20 Indian soldiers. Onthis occasion organisa-tion’s district unit headManishsingh Chouhanand other members were

present.Cultural organizationSaral Kavyanjali duringits online condolencemeeting paid the tribute to

Indian soldiers. Organisa-tion head Dr Sanjay Nagartold that members wereadministered oath not toboycott Chinese goods.

BJP members burning effigy of Chinese president Xi Jinping at Dewasgate FP PHOTO

Outrage in city over India-China border clash

Hindu Mahasabha Members hold photographs of Xi Jinping, which have been smeared with black ink.

NIRUKT BHARGAVA

Ujjain

Most of the booze lovers ofthe district, who were by-and-large getting theirfavoured brands of the for-eign-made liquor (FML)and country-made liquor(CML) on ‘minimum sell-ing price’ (MSP) for last 9days, may now have toshell out more for boozing.The reason is that the dis-trict is all set to be con-trolled by a one group ofliquor contractor (s) who isbound to provide theliquor on ‘maximum retailprice’ (MRP). Ujjain is among the 18districts of MadhyaPradesh where liquor busi-ness is considered to be the‘monopoly’ business. Thereason is that the govern-ment has formulated a pol-icy to give annual liquorcontract to a single groupcontract (s) only. BarringIndore, Bhopal, Jabalpurand Gwalior, where the ex-cise policy allows assign-ing the liquor contract totwo groups, such contractcan be assigned to only onegroup of contractor (s) atrest 14 districts includingUjjain district.Though the present BJPgovernment is using the ex-cise policy of Kamal Nathgovernment, the liquorcontractor of such 18 dis-tricts declined to operatethe business in respectivedistricts on the pretext thatthey cannot deposit the li-cense fees of April, Mayand June months. Themain reason which they cit-ed was that these threemonths is the most flour-ishing business time forthem as 60 per cent of theannual sale of beer occursduring these months andbooze lovers consume bothFML and CML during thiswedding season.The contractors, who en-joy monopoly business,had also moved High CourtJabalpur to get respitefrom license fees of thesaid three months, but the

court has directed them toeither start executing theannual contract or surren-der their license withinthree days, so the excise de-partment had to take thereins of liquor business di-rectly in its hands. Excisedepartment with the assis-tance of Home Guards de-partment started runningthe FML and CML shopsfrom June 8 in all those dis-tricts, including Ujjain,which were controlled byparticular group. To attract the privateplayers, senior officials ofthe excise departmentstarted giving weekly li-cense of every FML andCFL liquor shops, but itthrew up new set of prob-lems. Allegations werealso leveled that theirsleuths had been sellingthe FML and CML beyondthe MSP. Several evidenceswere furnished which indi-cated that the departmentstaff sold liquor on MRPand also pocketed hugemoney rather than de-positing it the governmentcoffers. During last three days inUjjain district, severalcomplaints were made re-

garding extra recovery ofmoney from the buyers,but neither the flyingsquad head nor the assis-tant commissioner, excisepaid any heed to them.Moreover, the deputy-com-missioner, excise also ap-peared helpless. Accordingto sources, despite the or-ders that liquor rates willbe displayed on every shopand no excise employeewill be allowed to sale theFML and CML on the ratesother than MSP, all suchcorrupt practices wererampant during past ninedays.Free Press also tried tocontact the authoritiesconcerned in this regard,in vain. However, onWednesday, an excise offi-cer, requesting anonymity,informed that the depart-ment earned Rs 3,14,38,424from selling FML and CMLfrom most of the shops ofthe district from June 9 to16. He admitted that sever-al complaints of irregular-ities were received but theauthorities did not do any-thing as they were asked tore-tender the contract. Before June 18 (Thurs-day) anyone (group of con-

tractor) can make a bid on-line as the tenders will beopened at 12.05 noon at thecollectorate. Now reserveprice (RP) for the renewedbid has been fixed at Rs3,436,183,358 (more than Rs343 crore). Previously, theRP was fixed at Rs 438crore, but as the licenseegroup surrendered its con-tract, excise duty of 80 daysof Corona lockdown hasbeen reduced and new ten-ders were issued. “To lurethe contractors, an offer isalso given that if they offerthe bid at RP then theircontract will be extendedfor two more months that isfor April and May 2021,”the officer added.However, one thing issure that if any singlegroup takes the reins ofliquor business again inthe district after couple ofdays of finalisation of thebids, the booze loverswould have to pay the MRPas in absence of any com-petition the new licenseewill surely sale the FMLand CML in MRP itselfand not on the MSP. Thisway the contractor will re-cover ‘Corona tax’ from thebooze lovers!

Reins of liquor biz likely to go intohands of private contractors, again

Booze lovers throng foreign-made liquor shop run by the Excise Department under thesecurity cover of Home Guards FP PHOTO

Show cause notice issued to Tejankar HospitalDistrict administration has issued a show cause notice to prestigious Tejankar Hospital’s

management for not administering proper treatment to COVID positive patient. Thenotice was issued by Collector Asheesh Singh under Disaster Management Act 2005. Thehospital management has been asked as to why COVID positive patient was not referred toCOVID dedicated hospital. The administration told that the punitive action is likely if themanagement fails to provide satisfactory answer to the notice.

Akhil Bharatiya Brahmin Samaj (ABBS)submitted 16 affidavits of family

members of deceased patients and 79medical bulletins with 265 paged documentsagainst RD Gardi Medical College (RDGMC)to corroborate the petition filed by the ABBSat Hight Court. As per plaintiff and ABBSpresident Surendra Chaturvedi advocateManish Manana pleaded the case online.Plaintiff Chaturvedi told that family members

of deceased Manoj Choudhary, Abdul Aziz,Abdul Rashid, Aman Rathore, Kamini, DrRashid Ali, Riyazuddin, Famida Bi, AnjumQureshi, Padma Parmar and Nafees Fatimasubmitted their affidavits mentioning poormedical facilities and medication provided bythe hospital to the COVID patients; while onbehalf of RD Gardi Medical College and MPGovernment no corroborating documentshave been submitted by now.

FP NEWS SERVICE

Ujjain

On Wednesday morning adozens of women and menassembled at the maingate of ‘Chhatrapati Shiv-aji Bhavan’ the main of-

fice of Ujjain MunicipalCorporation (UMC) atAgar Road at 9.30 am. Bothmen and women had cometo the office of the UMC toget their Aadhaar Cardlinked for availing befitsof the various governmen-

tal welfare schemes. Asper sources long queueswere also seen at other on-line centers across the citywhile as per unlock normsfollowing of social dis-tancing is mandatory atpublic places.

Beneficiaries shun socialdistancing at UMC office

Crowd assembled at UMC office for updating Aaddhar Card

Illegalstrcutures

removed fromgovt land

FP NEWS SERVICE

Ujjain

The district administra-tion demolished illegalencroachment fromHousing Board’s land lo-cated at Udayan Marg onWednesday after receiv-ing the court’s order. Asper the reports on theland of housing boardsome people constructedtheir residences and thematter was at the courtunder consideration onwhich the court gave itsverdict on Tuesday tofree the governmentland.On Wednesday morn-ing under police protec-tion the administrationbulldozed the construc-tion and freed the gov-ernment land. The in-habitants were shifted tomunicipal corporation’s‘rainbaseras’ temporari-ly while Child Helplinetook the responsibilityof 15 children of the lo-cality.

Meeting on preparation ahead of monsoon

FP NEWS SERVICE

Ujjain

Ahead of the monsoon di-visional commissionerAnand Kumar Sharma onWednesday took a prepara-

tory meeting for arrange-ments of rescue and healthcamps in flood like situa-tion in the division. Onthis occasion the collectorsof districts under Ujjaindivision, SPs and other

concerned officials werepresent. Commissioner Sharmainstructed the collectors toearmark governmentschools where rescuecamps can be setup in flood

like situation. Sharma alsoinstructed to makearrangements of profes-sional divers, steamers,lifejackets, torches ropeand other provide rescuein flood affected areas.

Commissioner taking the meeting

Deaths at RDGMC case: ABBS submits docus before HC

FP NEWS SERVICE

Mandsaur

A couple tied the knot in asmall ceremony in Mand-saur on Monday. The cou-ple performed all ritualsand yet managed to keepthe ceremony cosy and sim-ple, instead of the regularbig fat Indian weddings. The bride, Priya Bansal ofBhilwara arrived with herfamily at the residence ofthe groom Siddharth

Agrawal. Siddharth, achartered accountant byprofession, said that hisparents had also gottenmarried in their house 47years ago in 1973. Groom’sfather, NandkishoreAgrawal, is a social work-er and was excited andblessed the couple. Bride’s father BharatBansal said that ritualslike riding the horse, tak-ing out wedding processionamong others were carried

out by the families with de-votion. The entire weddinghappened inside the housewith blessings of Pt Dur-gashankar Joshi. Both

families invited limitedguests and maintained so-cial distancing. Everyoneat the wedding was seenwearing masks and abun-dantly using sanitiser.Nandkishore Agrawalsaid that they were goingto opt for a resort as thevenue, but looking at cur-rent circumstances a sim-ple wedding was the bestalternative. Bharat Bansalalso said that he was happyas his daughter got mar-

ried in the presence of thepeople that actually careabout her.Pt Joshi said that he hasbeen conducting weddingsfor the last 50 years and thetraditional wedding of old-en days is returning. Thegroom said that any occa-sion becomes special ifloved ones are there to at-tend. Bride Priya alsoseemed excited about hernew life and thanked theguests for their presence.

Man holds son’s marriage at home just like his ownFP NEWS SERVICE

Ujjain

Mayor in councilmembers meetingwas held at UjjainMunicipal Corpora-tion’s office onWednesday in thechairpersonship ofmayor Meena Jonw-al. During the meet-ing many significant deci-sions regarding mainte-nance of public gardens,

tenure extension of ad-hocemployees, medical assis-tance to employees, allot-

ments of makeshiftshops in festive sea-sons and other publicwelfare decisions weretaken. On this occasionmunicipal commis-sioner Kshitij Singhal,MIC members SatyaNarayan Chouhan,Kalawati Yadav, Rad-heshyam Verma, Dur-ga Choudhry, Dr Yo-

geshwari Rathore, Mangi-lal Kadel and other mem-bers were present.

Significant decisions taken in MIC meet

MIC meeting being held

History repeats itself

His chief aide

Vaibhav Sharma

too nabbed

Our staff repOrter

Indore

The mastermind of Rs 400crore GST evasion scamGutkha king Kishore Wad-hwani was brought to thecity from Mumbai onWednesday. His chiefhenchman Vaibhav Shar-ma was also nabbed by offi-cials of directorate generalof GST intelligence (DGGI)on Wednesday. Wadhwani was arrestedby the DGGI from hotel inMumbai on Monday. Tues-day he was produced in acourt of Mumbai, whichgranted 48 hours transit re-mand to the DGGI. OnWednesday morning, ateam of officers of theDGGI brought him to thecity from Mumbai. He isbeing kept in the DGGI of-fice at CGO complex,where top officers of theagency are interrogating

him. On the information ofWadhwani, his chiefhenchman Vaibhav Shar-ma was nabbed from thedistrict court area onWednesday evening by theDGGI officials. Later, hewas also brought to the of-

fice of DGGI at CGO com-plex. The central agencyteams are interrogatingthem separately. On Thurs-day both would be pro-duced in the district courtfor a police (DGGI) re-mand.

Devpt works in ABD area to restart soon BHOPAL: Bhopal Smart City Development Corporation (BSCDCL) will restart works in area baseddevelopment (ABD) area near TT Nagar. The work was halted following a stay order issued by NGT. Thetribunal vacated the stay on Wednesday. The development works launched by smart city were stopped inFebruary this year. The Supreme Court had ordered NGT to conduct a hearing and pass an orderaccordingly on the issue. The BSCDCL was represented in Supreme Court by senior lawyer Tushar Mehta.

MADHYA PRADESH 5FREEPRESS

thursday | June 18, 2020 | indore

Our staff repOrter

Indore

Amid the scare of coron-avirus, eight passengersreturned from abroad ar-rived in city via New Del-hi by an Air Asia flight onWednesday. All the pas-sengers have been sent toquarantine centre for 14days. ADM BBS Tomar in-formed that the passen-gers were from Kaza-khstan (1), USA (6) andPakistan (1) and all ofthere were sent to Hotel

Amar Vilas where theyare quarantined for 14days. Citizens returning fromforeign countries are med-ically examined at the air-port itself from there theywill be sent to the specialquarantine centre wherethey will be in isolationfor 14 days to ensure thatthey are not afflicted withthe deadly virus.In case of domestic pas-senges, if they are asymp-tomatic, they are allowedto move to their next des-tination.

8 foreign returnees sentto 14 days quarantineOur staff repOrter

Indore

Joint teams of the CrimeBranch and Aerodrome policestation arrested two men with 9kg cannabis on Wednesday. Theaccused have been booked un-der relevant sections of NDPSAct.On the instruction of DIGHarinarayanachari Mishra, acrime branch team was workingto trace people indulged in sup-plying drugs to the city. Theteam received information thattwo persons were to supplycannabis to a 'someone' on Su-per Corridor. Following the tipoff, the crime branch along with

Aerodrome police team verifiedthe details and rushed to theplace near Tirumala Townshipon Chhota Bangarda Road. Twopersons carrying a bag on Bul-let bike were halted.They were stumped and mum-bled when questioned about thedetails of the 'consignment'.They were then arrested withthe "booty" and the bike wasseized. The accused have beenidentified as Pradeep Pathak ofVandana Nagar and Deepak Palof Garib Nawaz Colony. Ac-cused Pradeep allegedly told thepolice that he brought thecannabis from Dhar district.They were to hand over the stuffto a relative, they confessed.

Two held with 9kg cannabis

Nath upgradesSwapnil

Our staff repOrter

Indore

Eminent speaker and educationist CASwapnil Kothari has been appointed asvice-president of the State Congress Com-mittee. Former Chief Minister and StateCongress president Kamal Nath plans toconnect educated and energetic youth to theCongress. The Jain-Vaishya community isin abundance in Malwa region and keepingthis in mind, Kothari has been appointed.During Lok Sabha, Swapnil Kothari's namehad come up, but ticket was not providedthen. Currently, Kothari is the general sec-retary of state Congress.

Our staff repOrter

Indore

An engineering student was ar-rested for chain snatching inChandan Nagar area onWednesday. Two of his accom-plices were arrested earlier and

the prime accused was on therun. Crime Branch received atip-off that an accused namedShubham alias Chau was in-volved in chain snatching inci-dent in Chandan Nagar and heis absonding. The accused wasroaming in Chhoti Gwaltoli area

when the CB and Chandan Na-gar police team arrested himfrom there.Shubham resides in Parde-shipura area. Police claimedthat Shubham is the prime ac-cused in the chain snatching in-cident.

Engineering student held for chain snatching

Rajmohalla toBadaganpati...Admin gives nodfor road repair

INDORE: Road repairwork from Rajmohalla toBada Ganapati will takesome more time, thanksto the prevailing lock-down situation.Collector and DistrictMagistrate ManishSingh has given condi-tional permission to car-ry on constructionwork. Residents of thearea had urged for thecompletion of repairwork soon.However, the prevail-ing guidelines will haveto be followed strictlyduring the construction.The use of gloves, masksand sanitizers will bemandatory by workers atthe site. Arrangementsfor clean water and soapto wash their hands afterthe day's job must be en-sured. Permission willbe cancelled summarilyif the rules are not fol-lowed.

Independent, BSP & SPMLAs reach BJP office

Our staff repOrter

BhoPAL

The BJP is set to fire on allcylinders in the Rajya Sabhaelections after independent,SP and BSP law-makersreached its office onWednesday.Their reaching BJP officeindicates that they will votefor the BJP candidates dur-ing RS elections. Independent MLA Suren-dra Singh Shera and VikramSingh Rana were present atthe dinner hosted for BJPlegislators at the party of-fice. In the past these legisla-tors supported the Congressgovernment. BSP MLA Sanjiv SinghKushwaha, Rambai Prajap-ati and SP MLA RajeshShukla went to BJP the of-fice along with home minis-ter Narottam Mishra. Thelegislators spoke to theBJP’s central leadership. Besides that, Union minis-ter Prakash Javadekar,Narendra Singh Tomar, incharge of state unit Vinay

Shahasrabuddhe and ob-server Vijayant Pandareached Bhopal on Wednes-day. The party’s central lead-ership is keenly watchingthe RS polls. According to number ofmembers in the House, theBJP is all set to win two ofthe three seats. Since thereis not much difference be-tween the BJP and Congressin of number of members inthe House, the ruling partyis not ready to take any risk.The Congress is trying towoo BJP legislators, so thestate party leaders are hold-ing discussions with theircentral counterparts to stopthat. A dinner was organ-ised for the legislators tomake a strategy for the elec-tion.

There will be a meeting ofBJP legislative party onThursday evening whenthey will be informed aboutcasting of votes.The BJP wants it shouldget the support of the BSP,SP and Independent legisla-tors other than the party’sown law-makers. Therefore,the party is making a strate-gy for it.After the change of gov-ernment in the state, it is forthe first time that, the num-ber of legislators supportingeach party will be open.The Congress leaders havebeen claiming that some leg-islators from the BJP are incontact with them. Duringthe RS election, it will beclear, how strong is theclaim.

Dattigaon is Scindia’s main agentRajyawardhan Singh Dattigaon has been appointed chief

polling agent of Jyotiraditya Scindia, Arvind Bhadauriapolling agent and Girish Gautam counting agent. For SumerSingh Solanki, Santosh Sharma has been made chief pollingagent, Ajay Vishnoi polling agent and Yashpal Sisodia countingagent. Umashankar Gupta and Banshilal Gurjar have beenappointed party’s representatives.

PARTY SET TO FIRE ON ALL CYLINDERS IN RS POLLS; TOMAR, JAVADEKAR, SHAHASRABUDDHE IN CITY

BSP, SP and Independent MLAs with chief minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan at BJP office ahead of RajyaSabha Elections on Wednesday

BHOPAL: Railway has reduced ‘dead-load’ of Foot OverBridge (FOB) at Bhopal Railway station by 200kg per me-ter square. In February this year, a slab of a ramp con-necting the FOB between two platforms at Bhopal rail-way station had collapsed leaving nine injured. The FOBwas constructed in 1992. The railway team while lookinginto the causes of the incident came to conclusion thatFOB dead load (its own weight) had gone to to nearly 560kilogram per meter square. The decision was taken tobring it down to 360 kg per meter square. As per Rail-way, repairing and renovation undertaken during lastfew years had led to the increase in the FOB’s ‘dead load’drastically, the team concluded. Then, the railway had re-paired the slab and resumed passengers’ movement onFOB. Due to train operations and rush of passengers, itwas not possible for the Railway to undertake the re-quired repair.

Our staff repOrter

Indore

Days after state governmentordered for cancellation ofcollege examinations, DeviAhilya Vishwavidaylaya(DAVV) also on Wednesdayannounced cancellation ofits exams for students of uni-versity teaching depart-ments.Even though the universitywas unwilling to cancel theexams for colleges and UTDstudents, it had to go by thegovernment’s order whichwas not ready to put life ofstudents at risk followingCovid-19 scare.Department of Higher Ed-ucation (DHE) in consulta-tion with Raj Bhawan hadordered universities to holdexamination for undergrad-uate final year and postgrad-uate final semester studentsof college across the state.The DHE has also provideda window from June 29 toJuly 31 for conduct of exams.Following the directives,the DAVV had issuedtimetable for conduct of UG

exams from July 1 and PGexams from July 2 of stu-dents from college despiteopposition from studentleaders, especially fromNSUI. The student leadersopposed the exams statingthat it was not a wise idea tohold exams at the time whenCovid-19 was playing havocin the state. But the universi-ty authorities citing DHE or-der did not give any heed totheir demand even as protesttook place over the issue.The DAVV went one stepahead and also announcedexams of UG and PG final se-mester of UTD studentseven when there was noarrangements for accommo-dating the outstation stu-dents except for hostelswhich had limited capacity.With DAVV authority hell-

bent on holding exams evenat the cost of students’ lives,teachers of colleges comeout in protest of exams un-til Covid-19 scare ends put-ting who’s who of the uni-versity in the tight spot.Seeing the protest grow-ing the government can-celled the exams of collegestudents. Despite the gov-ernment’s order DAVV didnot cancel the exams stat-ing that they have not re-ceived a copy of the ordereven when the same wasavailing of MPInfo website,a government’s portal.When the higher-ups ofDAVV came to know aboutthis, they pulled up DAVVofficials who then not onlyannounced cancellation ofcollege exams but also ofUTD exams which werescheduled from July 6.“We will declare freshschedule for UTD exams af-ter approval from DHE,”said a senior officer atDAVV.Prof Renu Jain was un-available for her commenton the issue.

After colleges, UTD studentsexams also cancelled

Railway FOB dead weightcut down by 200kg/mt sq

Gutkha king Wadhwanibrought to city from Mumbai

Vaibhav Sharma, chief henchman of Gutkha king KishoreWadhwani being brought to DGGI office at CGO complex inIndore on Wednesday.

Defying rules: record1473 people, units fined

Our staff repOrter

Indore

As many as 1473 people andestablishments, includingfactories, super markets,banks, and liquor shops,were penalised for defyingCovid-19 protocol in thecity on Wednesday.Various teams of IndoreMunicipal Corporation(IMC) were on prowl tocheck people roaming with-out masks and violating so-cial distancing norms.The teams found 390 peo-ple and establishments de-fying social distancingnorms, 1066 for now wear-ing masks. Besides, 17 werefound operating withoutobtaining necessary per-mission."In total 1473 people andestablishments were founddefying Covid-19 norms.Fine worth Rs 5.03 was re-alised from them," said mu-

nicipal commissioner Prat-ibha Pal."Among the violators in-cluded factories, supermarkets, banks, shops,

liquor shops, mills etc.They were fined on thespot," she added.The district administra-tion had eased lockdown

restrictions from June 1with a condition that peo-ple will follow Covid-19 pro-tocols which includedwearing of mask and com-

ply with social distancingwhile being at publicplaces, For strict compliancewith the norms, the districtadministration had alsofixed fine for violations ofthe protocol with engagingIMC for realising the fineamount.Since the IMC was crack-ing down on violators. Withthe many people found tobe violating the protocol,the IMC has intensified thecrackdown and a result itpenalised nearly 1475 peo-ple and establishments onWednesday.Pal appealed from peopleto wear masks while beingoutdoors and maintain so-cial distancing at publicplaces."Covid-19 protocol is forour safety. People shouldlearn this else, IMC teachthe same hard way," sheadded.

IMC team taking action against people for not wearing mask while being at public place onAnnapurna Road on Wednesday FP Photo

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6EDITFREEPRESS

INDORE | THURSDAY | JUNE 18, 2020

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The terrible performance of Indian edu-cational institutions on the QS scoreranking (see chart) was to have been ex-

pected. And was it just coincidental that thegovernment of India released the NIRF rank-ings (National Institutional Ranking Frame-work) immediately thereafter? It was as if tosay that global scores do not matter. India hasits own scoring system. Sadly, the writing is onthe wall.

Create; don’t imitate or denigrateLook at the chart closely. We have taken the topten rankings in the world, the top five in Indiaand the top five in China. The first thing thatstrike the eye is that, in India, all the top five areIITs (or Indian Institutes of Technology). Forthe rest of the world, the best ranking univer-sities are truly autonomous universities, withno branches or clones in other parts of theworld or even within the home country. And this is the first lesson for India’s admin-istrators. Let every educational institute be to-tally autonomous, not governed by an IIT coun-cil of governors. You do not have an MIT-1,MIT-2, MIT-3. . . Nor do you have Tsinghua Uni-versity-1, Tsinghua University-2 or TsinghuaUniversity-3. Excellence does notcome from makingclones. On the contrary,it drags the best per-former down to the low-est common denomina-tor. And this is India’sproblem. It cannot toler-ate excellence. If aschool is excellent, itmust be replicated, as ifto show that excellencecan be replicated. But ifthere is a good Christian

school, god forbid. The government engineersprotests through a thousand entities calling forsuch schools to be taken over and their specialrights withdrawn. The special rights relate tothe minority protection that all minorities en-joy under the Indian Constitution. Fortunately,this is what has kept them good, uncontami-nated by the predatory moves of the govern-ment. The ability to keep the government at bay pro-tects non-minority institutions as well. That ex-plains why, in the NIRF rankings, JNU (Jawa-harlal Nehru University) has continue to rank#1 (if one keeps aside the IITs), notwithstand-ing the government’s attempts to call it a den ofterrorists and a breeding ground for anti-na-tionals.

Teachers matterSecond, excellence comes when the teachersare outstanding and not given employment justbecause they belong to some reserved category.The government needs to remember, that of themost sacred positions in education, the teacheris the most important. Have a bad teacher, andyou will find a hundred students suffering.They will end up either mocking the teacher, orsimply boycotting that teacher’s classes. Nei-ther is desirable. As a result, on account of a po-litical move to contaminate teaching standards,educational standards too get diminished, andthe ranking of such institutions begin to tum-ble. If you look at the global rankings of the IITsduring pre-reservation times and their rank-ings now, you will notice how terribly they havefallen. As this author has pointed out in thepast, it is sad to see a country insist on selectionof the best cricketeers to represent India – with-out any heed to reservations. Yet it demandsthat teachers and judiciary be subject to reser-

vation. It is then that you realise that many ofIndia’s legislators have lost their sense of per-spective and even their ability to craft good far-sighted legislation. Third, good education can take place onlywhen there are funds available. The govern-ment’s spending on education – especially pri-mary and secondary education – is pathetic. Fourth, the solution does not lie in shootingthe messenger. Remember the OECD-organisedPISA scores of 2009? Two of India’s states – Tamil Nadu and Hi-machal Pradesh – participated in the evalua-tion exercise. India emerged 72nd from among74 participating countries. The Indian govern-ment was so incensed, that it withdrew from allPISA evaluations. It was only in January 2019that India and OECD signed an agreement toparticipate in the 2021 PISA tests. What hap-pens next year remains to be seen. Lastly, India cannot be counted among thebest in the world unless it learns to focus onthree things – health, education and respect forwomen. Go to China. Despite a worse off ratioof girls to boys, you will not hear a single cat-call when a girl walks down a street, even in themiddle of the night. Respect begins with swift penalties for everyminor infraction. In the past few years, Indiahas witnessed elected representatives beingguilty of paedophilia, rape and abuse. Yetpenalties against them – if at all – were pro-nounced after much delay. None of this bodes well for India. The primeminister may talk about atmanirbharta (self-re-liance) and dignity. But there can be no dignitywithout education, health and respect forwomen.India’s policies need urgent change.

The writer is consulting editor with FPJ.

NARENDRA MODI’SBIGGEST TEST INLAST SIX YEARSThe death of 20 Indian soldiers, including a colonel,

in a violent face-off with the People’s LiberationArmy on the Line of Actual Control in eastern

Ladakh on Monday night puts the Modi Governmentunder tremendous pressure. Quite aside from the Indi-an public, the armed forces would feel demoralised un-less the unprovoked atrocity is not avenged. And soon.Prime Minister Modi himself would feel the pressure,having created an impression of a strong leader, an in-vincible leader who brooks no slight to India’s honour.His Unique Selling Point would be eroded if he reflect-ed in this hour of his greatest challenge in the last sixyears any sign of weakness. The perfidious Chinese,who had agreed to clear out of the Indian side of theGalwan Valley at the commanders-level talks, insteadchose to attack a small party of Indian soldiers check-ing on whether the illegal occupation had been vacated.Reportedly, there were casualties on the Chinese side aswell. According to the US intelligence sources quoted ina section of the American media more than 40 PLA mendied, including their commanding officer. As a rule, theChinese do not disclose their casualties. The escalationis bad news for India at a time when it is in the midst ofthe coronavirus pandemic and the economy has taken asharp downturn. But the Monday-Tuesday night violentconfrontation at the LAC may have altered the prioritiesof the government. Even as the fight against the virusgoes on unabated, it must find ways to inflict costs onChina for its unprovoked attack on our soldiers. Afterits violation of the un-demarcated LAC to occupy areason the Indian side in early May, its reneging on theagreement to withdraw from the Galwan Valley was aclear violation of trust. No self-respecting nation can ac-cept the Chinese aggression lying down. India may notmatch China economically and militarily, but it is nopushover. Besides, in any warfare, courage, righteous-ness of the cause and global public opinion favours thevictim of aggression.Unless China is ready to make amends for its unac-ceptable behaviour, and restore the status quo ante, thewar clouds will hover over the Sino-Indian sky. Xi Jin-ping may have his own reasons to project power to hismany rivals in the Politburo, whom he has riled furtherby self-anointing as president-for-life, but he cannot beallowed to menace the world. From Australia to Europeto the Americas everyone is a victim of Chinese arro-gance. Whether Xi wants to warn India against cozyingup to the US, or it joining the Quad of the US, Australiaand Japan, or to warn against India stopping growingChinese investments is irrelevant. As a sovereign na-tion, India has absolute freedom to conduct its affairs tobest serve its own interests. To begin with, the huge im-balance in trade with China needs to be tackled. Ordi-nary Indians can help by boycotting cheap but popularelectronic devices. Several unicorns among start-upswill soon begin to feel the heat once India weaponisestrade with China. Solidarity with nations feeling intim-idated by China can be another tool. The point is that ifthere is one country in Asia which can stand up to theintimidation and bullying of China it is India. And it isfor Modi to show that India is not to be trifled with. Theplace and timing of the Indian response on the 3,450-kmdisputed border can be left to the military planners, butcome it must. Unless before it, China is makes amends.Which we doubt very much. Meanwhile, in the WHO, where India is the chair thisyear, and in the UN, where it is set to be elected a non-permanent member of the Security Council, and in allother global forums India’s voice must be heard clearlyand loudly. The global community is at the receivingend of the Chinese arrogance, be it the arm-twisting ofsmaller nations in the South China Sea, or using mon-ey to buy influence in Africa and Latina America, or onforcing a security-suspect 5-G technology on Europe, thecase against China for being treated as a pariah is pret-ty strong. Given the inter-linked trade relations, it maytake time to disengage fully from China but that processought to get a major fillip once it is recognised that Chi-na is a rotten apple in the global community, a threat topeace and order. Meanwhile, the Congress leader RahulGandhi seems barely to conceal the vicarious pleasureof seeing Modi in a corner. Being unmindful of the larg-er national interest is bad politics. The current rulingparty while in the opposition aggressively questionedthe border security policy of previous governments butwithout people ever suspecting its strong sense of na-tionalism. The current Opposition needs to reassure thepeople on this score.

QS scores: The crumbling edifice of education

Suicide is a paradox. An act wherethe victim and perpetrator are oneand the same, where an organism

hardwired for self-preservation choosesto self-destruct. An act which evokes par-adoxical feelings of empathy and alien-ation. Empathy, because deep down weare all capable of self-harm, and alien-ation, because it defies our most funda-mental evolutionary instinct, to survive. The solitary nature of the act, in aspecies designed for social behaviour,makes it still more disturbing. We searchobsessively for rationalisation. In the ab-sence of closure in the form of an ex-planatory suicide note, we look for trig-gers: a former lover, a sadistic employer,a band of cyber-bullies, or a demandingfamily; financial ruin, public humilia-tion, ill-health or an altruistic motive.Sometimes, our survivor's guilt andanger at the pointless waste of a life ismisdirected and we lapse into scapegoat-ing. The tragic death of actor SushantSingh Rajput has opened the floodgatesto recriminations. Bollywood's powerelite has been castigated on social mediafor allegedly ill-treating the young actorand sabotaging his career. The outsiderversus the establishment narrative hascaught the imagination of the Twitterati,prompting certain members of the Bol-lywood aristocracy to hit back.Assigning blame is a desperate effort tomake sense of a senseless act, but is itselfillogical. Every profession has its bulliesand exclusive clubs that make outsidersfeel unwelcome. Why should the enter-tainment industry be any different?Many young outsiders like RajkumarRao, Nawazuddin Siddiqui, AyushmannKhurrana and so on, have made theirmark in Bollywood in recent years.Granted, they may not command the bigbudgets and massive fees that the morewell-entrenched stars enjoy, but haveachieved tremendous success nonethe-less. Perhaps they were fortunate and didnot provoke the ire of the brat-pack, orperhaps they didn't care two hoots if theydid.Which brings us to the question of be-ing “strong enough” to withstand theslings and arrows of an unkind world.The suicide victim is characterised as“weak”. The premium on strength is rit-ualised in various ways. In certain com-munities, running the gauntlet of physi-cal or verbal abuse is a rite of passage.Witness the hazing that newcomers incollege go through, before they are ac-cepted as members of the student body.Sadistic ragging has claimed more livesthan we care to acknowledge and to de-scribe the victims as weak is to add insultto injury.Depression does not discriminate be-tween the so-called weak and strong. Itknows no boundaries of age, class, gen-der or education. It could be induced bypsychological or physiological (as ap-pears to have been the case with SushantSingh) factors and aggravated by stress,which in turn may be caused by anynumber of things: professional setbacks,social isolation, etc. It is hard to deter-mine how a melancholic train of thoughtis set in motion and where it leads.Few of us can claim never to have ex-perienced depression, however fleetingly.Who can forget the violent emotionalstorms of adolescence? Many of us, inthe throes of a broken relationship, willhave had dark thoughts and vague ideasof ending it all. A minority may have es-caped the plunge into despair altogether,but most others will have confronted thedark side and survived, congratulatingthemselves on their strength of mind.The truth is that they are more luckythan strong.Depression is a condition with poten-tially serious outcomes, like diabetes orheart disease. Precautionary measuresand/or medication are just as necessary.To treat it as a form of self-indulgence orweakness is like a heart patient shuttingout the necessity of exercise and a con-trolled diet. Sadly, the cultural emphasison mental strength may prevent the vic-tim from reaching out for help when theyneeds it most.Family, friends, spiritual advisors andmental wellness professionals can play acritical role in keeping depressed indi-viduals from falling off the precipice.Everybody needs someone to reach out toat any time, for any reason. The “3 amfriend” is a necessary feature of the mod-ern urban family, a tribal unit not neces-sarily related by blood. But no matterhow strong the support structures are,they may not always succeed. It is all tooeasy to confuse self-pity with depressionand tell our friends to “get a grip” or“snap out of it”, thereby aggravating theproblem.Every 40 seconds, someone, somewherein the world, commits suicide. More livesare lost to suicide every year than awhole decade of war and terrorism. Ourresponse to news of suicide is visceral,particularly when the victim is an ap-parently healthy and successful young-ster. It seems irrational, inexplicable, il-logical. We are wired to look for meaning,because without it, there is only chaos.So we try to solve the unsolvable. Butsome questions don't have answers andall we can do is to try and ensure it does-n't happen to someone we know.

The writer is a senior journalist with 35years of experience in working with majornewspapers and magazines. She is now an

independent writer and author.

In his address to the Nation on May 12, Prime Minister Narendra Modi em-phasised the importance of making India aatmanirbhar (self-reliant) andpromoting domestic production and home-grown brands ("Vocal for Lo-

cal" and "Local for Global"). Many may scoff at these goals, but I believe that achieving them isn't im-possible for a country of 1.38 billion people. The question, then, is: How to goabout it when we are already importing billions of dollars’ worth of petrole-um oil, electronics and electrical goods, vegetable oil, coal and other miner-als? The best example, perhaps, of a sector that has managed to become rela-tively aatmanirbhar is agriculture and animal husbandry. And that has beenmade possible because of the three major stakeholders - farmers, industryand political leadership/policymakers - committing to achieve self-reliance. Take milk for example. In the early 1970s, India's production was one-thirdof the US' and one-eighth of the European Union's. Today, it is twice the for-mer's and 25 percent more than the latter's. This wouldn't have happened butfor the "Amul model" – which ensured both remunerative prices (through di-rect procurement and elimination of middlemen) and market access (by sell-ing branded consumer dairy products) for milk producers – being replicatednationally through the Operation Flood programme under the leadership ofthe Father of the White Revolution, Dr Verghese Kurien. India's current milk production of around 189 million tonnes is over a fifthof the world's, while growing at a compounded annual rate of 4.5% over thelast 2 decades, as against below 2% globally. India has been the world's leadingmilk producer for the last 22 years. Also, animal husbandry and dairying hasemerged as the primary source of income for about 100 million rural house-holds — most of them landless or small and marginal farmers. The annualvalue of India's milk production is now Rs 8 lakh crores which exceeds that ofall cereals and pulses! A similar story of hardworking farmers contributing to India's aatmanirb-harta has been repeated across most crops, including pulses. The one excep-tion, however, is edible oils, where we had actually attained self-sufficiency to-wards the early-1990s. But in order to serve narrow urban consumer interests,while focussing just on the short-term, the government allowed cheap importsand in a matter of 25 years India turned an edible oil importer to the tune ofRs 75,000 crore annually. Imports today meet roughly two-thirds of our edibleoil consumption requirement. India's population in the next 40 years is expected to increase to 1.7 billion,with half of it going to reside in urban areas, compared to the current lessthan a third. Feeding this increasingly urbanised population, amid rising in-comes, will present a huge challenge. The NITI Aayog has projected the coun-try's milk production alone to touch 330 million tonnes by 2033-34. But all ofthis will also create income and employment opportunities, both for our ru-ral producers and those reaching their produce to consumers. Again, take milk. Every one lakh litres per day (LLPD) that is collected fromproducers and supplied to consumers by organised dairies provides employ-ment for roughly 6,000 households. That includes 5,000 farmers delivering 20litres daily on an average and another 1,000 engaged in procuring, processing,transporting, distributing and retailing this milk. The Modi government has, as part of its recent COVID-19 stimulus package,announced a Rs 15,000-crore Animal Husbandry Infrastructure DevelopmentFund. This fund, if channelised through a body like the National Dairy De-

velopment Board that spearheaded White Revolution-I, can help enhance In-dia's milk processing capacity from the existing 1,200 LLPD to 1,700 LLPDwithin the next decade. That can, in turn, potentially create additional jobsand incomes for 30 lakh families: 25 lakh dairy farmers and 5 lakh along thesupply chain. Such a scheme should ideally be implemented in eastern UttarPradesh, Bihar, Jharkhand, Chhattisgarh, Odisha and West Bengal, which arenow seeing a reverse flow of migrant labourers from the urban and industri-al centres of western, northern and southern India. The Modi government has rightly identified animal husbandry and dairy-ing as a sector that can provide livelihoods to millions of rural households.Other recent measures announced include the extension of Kisan Credit Cardfacility to dairy producers (thereby treating milk as an agricultural crop andbenefiting landless farmers owning only milch animals), providing interestsubvention of 2% to dairy cooperatives and an additional 2% for prompt re-payment (releasing liquidity and enabling them to convert excess milk pro-cured during the lockdown into skimmed milk powder and white butter) anda Rs 13,343-crore National Animal Disease Programme to eradicate Foot andMouth Disease and Brucellosis (these cause up to 10% annual milk produc-tion losses valued at around Rs 80,000 crore). The above interventions will help boost incomes of rural households, lead-ing to increased spending and the wheels of the economy moving again. An-imal husbandry and dairying apart, the Modi government has also proposeda major reform that allows farmers to sell their produce outside APMC (agri-cultural produce market committee) mandis. This option of selling directly tobig private processors and retailers can result in more competitive pricing.However, policymakers should ensure that farmers get a reasonable share ofthe realisation of private agri-businesses through value addition. We knowthat in most of the so-called free market economies – be it the US, EU, NewZealand or Australia – dairy farmers get only 30-40% of the consumer price,compared to 70-80% through our milk cooperatives. Our home-grown dairy cooperatives have, moreover, spawned aatmanirb-harmodels in other farm produce as well. One such recent example – again Made in Anand – is from Jakariyapura vil-lage of Gujarat. Its residents, who supply milk to the local Amul union, havecome out with a solution to reduce dependence on imported energy and fer-tilisers. They have all installed individual biogas plants, whose anaerobic di-gesters convert the dung produced by their animals (10-20 kg per day each)into biogas and slurry. The biogas has replaced both LPG cylinders and fire-wood as cooking fuel, while the slurry is sent to a common facility that con-verts it into nutrient-fortified organic fertilisers. This business model is gen-erating an additional annual income/savings of Rs 36,000 per family. Another example is from Thamna. This village in Anand district has creat-ed the first ever solar cooperative. Its farmers "harvest" solar energy throughpanels on their farms, which is first utilised to fulfil their own irrigation pow-er requirements. The surplus energy is sold to the state electricity utility, thusproviding additional income and power savings to the farmers. It is not only aatmanirbharta. Equally important is the Prime Minister's "Vo-cal for Local" and "Local for Global" mantra. India is one of the world's biggest and fastest-growing markets for all prod-uct categories. Consumers don't buy brands, they buy benefits. For them, ex-cellence matters more than nationality. For this, we need to build our ownbrands that are first leaders in the domestic market, which can only be basedon superior product quality and affordable pricing. But why go global? Forany commercial entity, brands are is its most valuable assets. When a brandsells in the global market, its owner earns royalty apart from price premiumfor the underlying product. And it makes a difference when the ultimate own-ers here are producers themselves!

The writer is managing director of Gujarat Cooperative Milk Marketing Federation.

Milky Way to Atmanirbharta

Policy WatchR N Bhaskar

LETTERS TO THE EDITOR

Woke up to Twitter going wild about dexamethasone treatment for COVID-19 infection. Went to look at the paper. Stilllooking...uh oh, this looks like another case of trial results by press release, a very unfortunate trend.

Dr Angela Rasmussen, Virologist, Columbia University

Dexamethasone data is good news though seem a bit too much hype. Dexamethasone shouldn't be used in earlyinfection and shouldn't be used in high dose, otherwise could be detrimental. Many doctors already use it on ventilatedpatients, so more like a confirmatory data instead of a new game changer.

Andy Biotech, Biotech Investor

The key thing to recognize is that this is not a general treatment for COVID-19. What it does is to improve the odds ofsurvival in severely ill patients suffering respiratory distress. Presumably it works by suppressing the overactive immuneresponse in these patients.

Carl T. Bergstrom, Prof. Biol. University of Washington

Today, we've approved Dexamethasone for immediate use across our NHS. This life-saving discovery was made inBritain and is a testament to the brilliant work of scientists & the national effort to save lives & protect our NHS.

Matt Hancock, Secretary of State for Health & Social Care and MP for West Suffolk

THURSDAY’S SWIPEONE FLEW OVER THE NEST #Dexamethasone

DirectionR.S. Sodhi

THOUGHT FOR THE DAY: There is no standard normal. Normal issubjective. There are seven billion versions of normal on this planet.

— Matt Haig

Sena cannot have its cake and eat itRef: Sena calls Congress a ‘old cot’, Dt. 17/06/20. Uneasyrelations between Congress and Shiv Sena and their ‘unholy’alliance with them is destined to break, for its inherentideological differences. Few days back, Rahul Gandhi hadcastigated MVA Govt but ‘old fix’ Pawar came to their rescue.SS knows too well that their silence on key issues may costthem dearly and MVA cannot let them have the cake and eatit, too. Mr Raut may come to their defense stating they arenot ‘power greedy’ but that is the very reason which broketheir alliance with BJP. Only way SS can redeem itself fromthis mess is by impeccable leadership.

Ashok Goswami

Deadliest escalation of violenceThe martyr of 20 Indian soldiers by the Chinese Army hasthe potential to vitiate and undermine the disengagementagreed upon only a few days ago between senior militaryofficers on both sides and harden the standoff between thetwo countries. The provocation is grave, this is not the tolltaken by an act of terror by a non-state actor, but a clashbetween two armies. India must keep a clear and determinedhead. What China hopes to gain from its incursions isunclear. Since territorial control is a matter of national self-esteem, it might be playing for leverage over us in support ofits agenda of Asian dominance. If this is so, it may bechasing a chimera. India is a sovereign democracy. And NewDelhi’s role in global affairs and geopolitics is thereforeshaped by the country’s own interests. These we arecommitted to guarding with all the resources at our disposal,diplomatic and military. Perhaps our diplomats should putthis point across to Beijing for it to ponder. Whilenegotiations to defuse this crisis should continue. It’s also atime for the country to stay together as it has demonstratedduring such crises in the past.

Ravi Teja Kathuripalli

InsightBhavdeep Kang

FUTILE SEARCH FOR RATIONALE IN SUICIDE

FREE PRESSFOR FREE FLOW OF TRUTH

NATION 7Catholic diocese in Kerala allows cremation of COVID-19 victims Kochi: The Roman Catholic church recommends continuing the pious practice of burying the dead but anarchdiocese in Kerala has allowed the parishes facing shortage of land to cremate the deceased infected bycoronavirus. In a circular issued to parishes under it, Thrissur archdiocese of the Syro-Malabar churchunder Vatican has said considering the prevailing situation, bodies of those dying of COVID-19 can becremated with the permission of relatives and under the supervision of the civic authorities. FREEPRESS

thursday | June 18, 2020 | indore

News from South

Yuva Morcha activists prepare to set ablaze theChinese national flag, during a protest against killingof 20 jawans in Ladakh on Monday night.

Cong fields Hariprasad, Naseerfor Karna MLC pollsBengaluru: Congress on Wednesday decided tofield senior party leader B K Hariprasad andincumbent Naseer Ahmed as candidates for thecoming legislative council polls in Karnataka."The Congress President Sonia Gandhi hasapproved the proposal for the candidature of B KHariprasad and Naseer Ahmed as Congresscandidates to contest the biennial elections to theLegislative Council of Karnataka to be elected bythe MLAs," the AICC said in a release.

Karna govt to take steps toimprove telecom system Bengaluru: With the concept of "Work-from-Anywhere" gaining popularity, a meeting of allstakeholders will be called soon to improve thetelecommunication system in Karnataka and actionwill be taken in this regard, Chief Minister B SYediyurappa said here on Wednesday.

Flight from Sharjah lands atMIA with 168 passengersMangaluru: A chartered flight from Sharjah,carrying 168 passengers and six infants landed atthe Mangaluru International Airport (MIA) onWednesday. The Air Arabia flight, which leftSharjah at 9.45 pm (UAE time) Tuesday, landed atthe MIA at 2.50 am Wednesday, airport sourceshere said.

Karnataka to observe "MaskDay" on June 18Bengaluru: The Karnataka government has

decided to observe June 18 as "Mask Day" tospread awareness about the use of masks,sanitisers, washing hands with soap, andmaintaining social distancing among other thingsaimed at controlling the spread of COVID-19.

TN CM seeks Rs 9K croreCOVID-19 grant from CentreChennai: A grant of Rs 9,000 crore tocombat COVID-19 and its after effects, reliefpackage to ease the burden on power sector andsanction of Rs 3,000 crore for medical equipmentwere among the demands made by ChiefMinister K Palaniswami in a virtual meeting withPrime Minister Narendra Modi on Tuesday.

We stand united, TN CM tellsPM Modi on Ladakh face-offChennai: Tamil Nadu stands united behind theCentre on the Ladakh face-off in which 20 Indiansoldiers were killed, Chief Minister K Palaniswamisaid on Tuesday. Taking part in a virtual meetconvened by Prime Minister Narendra Modi,Palaniswami said: "There are some unpleasantdevelopments in the border. We stand united withyou in this hour."

AP assembly pays glowingtributes to 20 Army personnelAmaravati: The Andhra Pradesh LegislativeAssembly on Wednesday paid glowing tributes tothe 20 Indian Army personnel martyred in askirmish with China in the Galwan Valley inEastern Ladakh on June 16. The House adopted aresolution paying tributes to the martyrs.

Upset over woman tehsildar'sarrest, husband ends life Hyderabad: A woman Tahsildar's husbandallegedly committed suicide on Wednesday as hewas upset over her arrest in connection with acorruption case, police said. The 40-year-old manjumped off the fifth floor of a residential complexand died on the way to hospital. He was anassistant professor, the police said.

TDP files complaint with NHRCagainst arrest of party leadersAmaravati: Telugu Desam Party (TDP) chief NChandrababu Naidu on Wednesday said his partyhas filed a complaint before the National HumanRights Commission (NHRC)against the AndhraPradesh government for "undemocratic andinhuman" arrest of three party leaders in the stateover graft charges.

OuR BuReau

NEW DELHI

The Supreme Court onWednesday ordered paymentof full salary on time to doc-tors and other healthcare staffand without deductions. It hasfurther asked the Centre notto deny quarantine facilitiesto those treating Covid-19 pa-tients.A bench of Justices AshokBhushan, S K Kaul and M RShah passed the orders on apetition filed by a doctor, DrArushi Jain, pleading fortimely release of salaries andextending separate quaran-

tine facili-ties toCovid-19frontlinehealthworkers.Thecourt post-ed thematter for

further hearing after fourweeks. Solicitor General (SG)Tushar Mehta told the Benchthat the Central governmenthad already issued a circularsaying that salaries must bepaid to doctors & other healthcare staff and that the ChiefSecretaries of states must en-

sure this. He even offered tomake non-payment of salariesto doctors and medical work-ers an offence under the Na-tional Disaster ManagementAct (NDMA).He also undertook to issuean order to states and unionterritories within 24 hours toensure timely salaries to doc-tors and healthcare workers.The top court asked the Cen-tre to file a compliance reportwithin four weeks on paymentof salaries and quarantine fa-cilities to doctors and health-care workers and warned thatnon-compliance would beviewed seriously.

Citizens burn posters of Chinese President Xi Jinping after 20 army personnel were martyred during aclash with Chinese troops in Ladakh's Galwan valley.

agencies

New Delhi

A surveillance post set upby the Chinese Army on anarrow mountain trail inviolation of an agreementwas the trigger for the highaltitude border clash ineastern Ladakh's GalwanValley in which at least 20Indian soldiers were killed,people familiar with thematter said on Wednesday.Indian troops, command-ed by the late Col B San-tosh Babu, strongly object-ed to the post on the Indianside of the Line of ActualControl (LAC) on thesouthern banks of the Gal-wan river and attempted toremove it on Mondayevening, sources in theknow said, recapping theevents leading to thebiggest military confronta-

tion between the twoneighbours in five decades. A small group of Chinesepersonnel present at thecamp reacted angrily to theobjections of the IndianArmy's patrolling team butsoon retreated to the Chi-nese side of the LAC. Theyreturned shortly after withmore troops, wearing pro-tective gear and armedwith stones, nail-studdedsticks, iron rods and clubs,and confronted the Indianpersonnel.At that point, the Indiansoldiers had also beenjoined by additional troopsand were attempting to re-move the temporary struc-ture, those familiar withthe matter said.The clash that followedwent on for several hourson the vertiginous heightsof eastern Ladakh with

Chinese soldiers brutallyattacking the Indians, theysaid. One portion of theroad caved in followingwhich some Indian andChinese soldiers fell intothe Galwan river, they said.The LAC goes over the Gal-wan river in the area.Babu and 19 other IndianArmy personnel werekilled in the fight on thesteep heights. It is learnt that initially anumber of Indians werecaptured by the Chineseside but were released later.The Indian side also retali-ated strongly, but the casu-alties on the Chinese sideare not yet known. However,government sources, citingan American intelligencereport, claimed the totalnumber of soldiers killedand seriously woundedcould be 35.

Kerala makes COVID -ve certificate must for all flightsK RaVeenDRan

ThiruvananthapuramThe Vijayan governmenthas alienated lakhs of non-resident Keralites and theirfamilies back home by or-dering that all returneeshave to necessarily producea Covid-negative certificateto board flights to Kerala.No other state in India hasasked for such a condition,which has reinforced thefears of overseas Malay-alees that they are not wel-come to come back. The em-bassy websites, carrying anannouncement to this ef-fect, clarify that the step hasbeen taken on the request ofthe Kerala government.

Earlier, the requirement ofnegative certificate was ap-plicable only for charteredflights carrying the strandedworkersas they have beenwithout job or the means tosupport themselves formonths together. This led towidespread protests fromthe overseas Keralites thatthey are being discriminatedagainst as there is no suchrequirement for VandeBharat flights.Instead of removing theanomaly in favour of the af-fected people, the govt hasopted to make the require-ment across the board,bringing the regular VandeBharat flights also under

the requirement. Now no-body can come without acertificate.The expatriate Malayaleesare shocked at the indiffer-ence of the state govern-ment, which apparently isworried that a bigger influxwould spoil its record ofhandling the pandemic withrelatively greater success.They point out that mostof the stranded people can-not afford a test, becausethey don’t have any money,apart from the fact that for alarge number of people get-ting a test done would meantravelling thousands of kilo-metres by road as their sta-tions do not have the facili-

ties.Even if there are hospitalscapable of doing the tests,most people do not have ac-cess to these as the govern-ment hospitals only test peo-ple with clear Covid symp-toms. Also, the priority ofgovernment hospitals is totreat their own citizens, as aresult of which the expatri-ates do not get a chance.Many countries do not evenhold PCR tests. Private hos-pitals are far too beyond thereach of most people.The Kerala government’sstand is that if people are al-lowed to board the flightwithout the negative certifi-cate, there is a risk of

asymptomatic passengerstaking the flight, whichwould expose the entire pas-sengers and crew of theflight to the disease. Thegovernment has, therefore,asked the Centre to organisespecial flights to bringCovid patients alone.CM Vijayan has written tothe Prime Minister, request-ing for his help in organis-ing tests in foreign coun-tries through the embassiesand diplomatic missions. Hehas not received a reply yet,but his government hasgone ahead with the advi-sory not to let anyone with-out a Covid-negative cer-tificate to board any flight.

China face off: Answer people's questions: Oppn to PMagencies

New Delhi

The death of 20 Indian soldiersalong the LAC in Ladakh onWednesday saw the opposition ask-ing the Prime Minister to explainhow the Chinese occupied Indianterritory, even as the governmentcontended that the sacrifice of sol-diers would not go in vain.Congress president Sonia Gandhiurged PM Narendra Modi to comeforward and tell why 20 soldiers werekilled, while Rahul Gandhi askedhim to come out of "hiding" andshare the truth of the India-Chinaface off, saying the entire countrywas standing behind him.Modi, while addressing chief min-isters at a virtual meeting, said thesacrifice of Indian soldiers will notgo in vain. He said India wantspeace but is capable of giving a be-fitting reply if instigated.The prime minister has convened

a virtual meeting of presidents ofvarious political parties on June 19to discuss the border situation atLadakh. Defence Minister Rajnath Singhsaid the loss of soldiers was deeplydisturbing and painful and the na-tion will never forget their braveryand sacrifice. Home Minister Amit Shah saidthe country will always remain in-debted to its soldiers who lost theirlives at Ladakh's Galwan and theirbravery reflects commitment to-wards the motherland.In a video message, Sonia Gandhiassured the country of her party'sfull support to the Indian Army andthe government. She asked whethersome Indian Army personnel werestill missing and how many were se-riously injured. She said the gov-ernment should explain its think-ing and strategy to deal with the sit-uation on the border in Ladakh."Today, when there is so much

anger in the country over Chineseintrusion into Indian border, theprime minister should come outand tell the truth on how the Chi-nese occupied the Indian territory,why brave soldiers were martyredand what is the current situationalong the LAC," Gandhi said."Which portions of the Indian terri-tory have the Chinese occupied?What is their location? What is thegovernment's thinking and strategyto deal with this situation?" sheasked the PM .Rajnath Singh said in a series oftweets that Indian soldiers dis-played exemplary courage and val-our in the line of duty and sacri-ficed their lives in the highest tradi-tions of the Indian Army."The Nation will never forget theirbravery and sacrifice. My heartgoes out to the families of the fallensoldiers. The nation stands shoul-der to shoulder with them in thisdifficult hour. We are proud of the

bravery and courage of India'sbravehearts," he said. Rahul Gandhi questioned theprime minister's silence on thefierce clash between Indian andChinese troops in eastern Ladakhand said the country needs to knowwhat has happened and why Modiwas silent."Why is the Prime Minister silent.Where are you hiding? You shouldcome out, the whole country isstanding behind you together. Comeout and tell the truth to the country,don't be afraid," Gandhi told theprime minister in a video message.CPI-M general secretary SitaramYechury earlier tweeted, "Govern-ment should make an authoritativestatement as to what actually hap-pened. It's imperative that both gov-ernments advance the process ofdisengagement on the basis of theagreed understanding on maintain-ing peace and tranquility."West Bengal chief minister Ma-

mata Banerjee said, "Nothing cancompensate for the supreme sacri-fice made by them for the nation orthe bereaved families' loss. We standby the next of the sons of our soil inthis difficult time."Kerala chief minister Pinarayi Vi-jayan said, "We are deeply shockedby the reports of a standoff in Gal-wan valley. Deepest condolences tothe families of the martyred sol-diers. We stand in solidarity withthe personnel of our armedforces....our thoughts are with thebrave soldiers and their families." Samajwadi Party leader AkhileshYadav said the government shouldnot only give a strategic but also aneconomic reply to China. "All con-tracts awarded to Chinese compa-nies should be suspended with im-mediate effect," Yadav said. Sena leader Sanjay Raut demand-ed a befitting reply to China's ag-gression, and said the people of In-dia stood with the prime minister.

Ban China firmsfrom tenderingprocess: SJM

agencies

New Delhi

A day after the IndiaArmy said 20 of its officersand soldiers were killed ina violent face-off with theChinese troops in Ladakh,the Swadeshi JagranManch on Wednesday de-manded that Chinese com-panies be banned fromparticipation in the ten-dering process in the coun-try.The Manch -- an affiliateof Rashtriya Swayamse-vak Sangh that deals witheconomic issues -- also de-manded the cancellation ofthe lowest bid made byChina's Shanghai TunnelEngineering Co Ltd for theconstruction of an under-ground stretch of the Del-

hi-Meerut Regional RapidTransit System project.Appealing to the Indiansto boycott Chinese prod-ucts, the Manch demandeda ban on the import of Chi-nese goods and levy of cesson China-made productssold in India.Manch co-convener Ash-wani Mahajan told IANSthat he is appealing to theIndian actors, sportsper-sons and other celebritiesnot to promote Chineseproducts which, he said,would be a true tribute tothe soldiers who made theultimate sacrifice.Mahajan also demandedthat an agreement inkedrecently between the Ma-harashtra governmentand a Chinese auto compa-ny be cancelled.

India should be readyfor conflict not

amounting to full-scalewar with China, says

ex-Army chiefagencies

Kolkata

Former Army Chief GeneralShankar Roy Chowdhury (retired)on Wednesday said it should be re-

membered thatIndia is not in1962, and assert-ed that the coun-try should beprepared for aconflict notamounting to afull-scale warwith China. Twenty IndianArmy personnel

including a colonel were killed in aclash with Chinese troops in theGalwan Valley in eastern Ladakhon Monday night, the biggest mili-tary confrontation in over fivedecades between the two neigh-bours.Roy Chowdhury said that thestrength of both sides has multi-plied immensely since 1962, whenthe two neighbours fought a briefwar. "India is not in 1962, (and) wemust remember that neither Chinais in 1962," he told PTI.The Chinese Army is also report-ed to have suffered several casual-ties in the face-off. Asked how Indiashould respond to the People's Lib-eration Army's (PLA) aggression,the general said, "India should beprepared for an outbreak of conflictbelow war, but above (the scale of)incidents of border skirmishes."India should also handle issuesdiplomatically at the same time,said the general.Roy Chowdhury said India mustbe prepared since China is militari-ly much stronger than Pakistan,which India has handled success-fully.

l Bravery of jawans reflects commitment towards motherland: Shah l Explain strategy to deal with situation: Sonia to govt l Soldiers displayed exemplary courage: Rajnath l Why is Prime Minister silent. Where're you hiding: Rahul l Sena wantsbefitting reply l Govt should make authorative statement: Yechury l Cancel all contracts to Chinese companies: Akhilesh

SC RELIEF FOR HEALTH STAFF

Surveillance post set up by Chineseon Indian side of LAC triggered clash

Tri-service contingent forRussian V-Day parade

NEW DELHI: India will send a 75-member tri-service con-tingent to Moscow to participate in Russia's military paradeto celebrate the 75th anniversary of the nation's victory inWorld War II. "The contingent will participate in the paradein Moscow to honour the heroism and sacrifices made by theRussian and other friendly people," the Defence Ministry saidon Wednesday. The VictoryDay Parade is scheduled tobe held on June 24. The con-tingent is visiting Moscowon invitation of the DefenceMinister of Russia. Contin-gents of other countries arealso expected to participatein the parade. The partici-pation in the parade will bea mark of tribute and soli-darity with the people ofRussia at a time when theyremember their heroes ofthe war.NAKED AGGRESSION...

‘‘It was the deadliest attack carriedon Indian Army personnel by theChinese in our memory," the govern-ment sources said. Pointing firearmsat their faces, the PLA tortured somesoldiers to death, sources have toldIANS. Many of the soldiers, en-trapped on a narrow ledge, fell off thecliff. Two dozen soldiers are current-ly "critically injured" and undergo-ing treatment. The "fatalities couldincrease," it is feared. The IndianArmy official, however, refused tocomment on the numbers. Sourcesstated the deceased Colonel wantedto verify whether the Chinese troopshad withdrawn from the standoff po-sition, as promised by them. The Chi-nese trapped the soldiers and brutal-ly attacked them to the "point of mu-tilation". On Tuesday, Indian helicop-ters flew 16 sorties to ferry the bodiesand the injured personnel from thesite of the attack.

No small arms...The Chinese had withdrawn from thetents, but stationed themselves highin the hills to take advantage of thehigh altitude ridge to attack the Indi-an troops below. That explains whyin this era of modern warfare, thetwo sides clashed with stones andiron clubs, a throwback to medievaltimes. The army is now expected tochange the decade-old rules of en-gagement with China, which stipu-late that in a violent face-off, soldiersare not to open fire. The Galwan Val-ley in eastern Ladakh has strategic

significance for India because of itsproximity to the vital road link toDaulat Beg Oldie (DBO), the world'shighest landing ground. This airstrip lies close to the Line of ActualControl (LAC) and serves as an im-portant aerial supply line. The DBOarea is known in the Army as Sub-Sector North.

PM Modi warns...Laying stress that India never pro-vokes anyone, the Prime Minister de-clared: "We also do not compromisewith the integrity and sovereignty ofour country. Whenever it was need-ed, we have demonstrated ourstrength, proving our capabilities inprotecting and defending the integri-ty and sovereignty of the country."Sacrifice and endurance are part ofour national character, but braveryand valour are equally a part of it,"he stressed, noting that "India's in-tegrity and sovereignty is supremefor us, and no one can stop us fromdefending it and nobody should haveany iota of doubt about this." ‘‘Thecountry will be proud of the fact thatour soldiers have been martyredwhile they were fighting. I urge all ofyou to pay homage to these sons byobserving two minutes of silence,"the Prime Minister added.

‘I will be home...He said the body will reach village onThursday. Chief minister ShivrajSingh Chouhan tweeted and paidhomage to the martyr. Former chiefminister Kamal Nath too tweeted and

stated that Deepak had laid his lifeserving nation. He paid homage tothe departed soul.

4 try to pull...In his complaint, Ahirwar said thatfour persons, identified as BrajendraYadav, Krishnapal Yadav, Rakesh Ya-dav and Mahipal Yadav, stopped themwhen the procession was going to-wards a temple. "They started abus-ing the people in the procession andtelling them not enter their area rid-ing a horse. They also passed somecasteist remarks," the complaintsaid. Mahipal Yadav then tried topull down the groom. He also beat upthe man holding the horse's rope. Heand the other accused also askedthem not to file a police complaint,the complainant said. Based on thecomplaint, a case was registeredagainst the four accused under IPCsections 294 (obscene act), 323 (caus-ing hurt), 506 (criminal intimidation)and 34 (criminal act is done by sever-al persons with common intention)besides provision of the SC/ST (Pre-vention of Atrocities) Act, said SataiPolice Station in-charge Deepak Ya-dav. All the four accused were arrest-ed on Wednesday, he said.

CBI registers case...The account was declared as a nonperforming asset in 2015. Searcheswere conducted at nine places in-cluding eight locations in Indore andone at Jodhpur at the premises of ac-cused, which led to recovery of in-criminating documents.

Continued from page 1

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8 NATION24-year-old tribal man killed by tigerWayanad/Thiruvananthapuram: A 24-year- old man is suspected to have died of a tigerattack in Wayanad, Kerala, police said. Sivakumar, a resident of Kattunayakan tribal colony, wasmissing since Tuesday evening,the police said. Forest and police officials conducted a searchandfound his remains in a jungle. Forest minister K Raju announced a compensation of Rs 10 lakh,saying Rs 5 lakh would be immediately handed over to his family.FREEPRESS

thursday | June 18, 2020 | indore

Our cOrrespOndent

Lucknow

The enforcement directorate office inLucknow was sealed Wednesday af-ter tainted real estate firm Amra-pali’s auditor who was arrested onTuesday and taken to the ED officefor questioning tested positive later.“Anil Mittal, the auditor of the Am-rapali group of companies was pro-duced before the special ED court onTuesday which granted seven days

custody to the agency. Before ques-tioning, his medical test was con-ducted which revealed his covid-19status as well,” an official told themedia.Now the entire ED building hasbeen shut for three days and is beingsanitized. Officials who took his cus-tody have been quarantined for 14days. Mittal has been admitted to thehospital.Mittal is accused of manipulatingthe balance sheets of the real estate

company between 2008-2015 which al-legedly helped the builders to gethuge loans from banks.Later, the promoters were accusedof duping the home buyers and in-vestors to the tune of Rs6,000 crore. Afew officials of the Noida develop-ment authority have reportedly abet-ted the scam.ED started probing the companyonly after direction of the supremecourt last July. The promoters are alsofacing charges of money laundering.

Firm official called for questioning tested +veED office in Lucknow sealed

LONDON: UK Prime Minister Boris Johnson's car wasinvolved in a crash outside the gates of Parliament inLondon on Wednesday as a protester rushed towards hisconvoy. Downing Street said there are no reports of any

injuries after social media images emerged of theincident, which took place shortly after Johnson, 55, leftthe House of Commons after the weekly Prime Minister'sQuestions (PMQs) session.

UK PM Boris Johnson unhurt in car crash

Beijing cancels 1,255 flights & ramps up testsChina battles 2nd virus wave

K J M VARMABeijing

Beijing moved on a war footing onWednesday, cancelling hundreds ofdomestic flights and trains whileramping up the mass testing of90,000 people to stem the spread ofthe coronavirus, as the city report-ed 31 new COVID-19 cases, pushingthe tally to 137.Two airports in Beijing have can-celled 1,255 domestic flights, nearly70 per cent of the scheduled trips,the official media reported. Beijingcurrently does not operate interna-tional flights.The national railway operatorwill allow passengers, who hadbooked train tickets in and out ofBeijing as of Tuesday, to refundtickets without any extra charges.Starting Wednesday, Beijing haltsreturn to campus, and resumes on-line courses for middle and pri-mary school students, as well assuspends college students' return tocampus, the reports said.Beijing has asked libraries, muse-

ums, parks to limit visitorsup to 30 per cent of fullflow and haltedcross-provincegroup tours, thereports said.The flightand traincancellationscame afterBeijing be-came a "no-go-zone" onTuesday asmany provin-cial citiesraised alerts ontravel to the Chi-nese capital.Beijing onTuesday up-graded itsemergency re-sponse toCOVID-19 from level III to II start-ing.The city is also testing 90,000 peo-ple who had visited Xinfadi whole-sale market in the last six days and

a senior city officialwarned that the situa-tion is "extremelysevere".After Beijing'sCOVID-19 in-fections in-creased, itseems thatthe capitalhas now be-come a "no-go zone" forother parts ofChina, asmany placeshave raised alerton travels to Bei-

jing and strength-enedhealthcheck onarrivalsfrom Bei-

jing, state-run Global Times report-ed.China's National Health Commis-sion (NHC) said on Wednesday that55 new confirmed COVID-19 cases

were reported on the Chinese main-land on Tuesday, of which 11 wereasymptomatic cases.Of the domestically transmittedcases, 31 cases were reported in Bei-jing, one in Hebei Province, and onein Zhejiang Province, the NHC saidin its daily report said. Beijing onMonday reported 106 cases.Also on Tuesday, 11 new asympto-matic cases, including four fromoverseas, were reported on themainland. Six cases were re-cate-gorised as confirmed cases. TheNHC said 106 asymptomatic cases,including 62 from overseas, werestill under medical observation.No deaths related to the diseasewere reported on Tuesday, accord-ing to the commission.As of Tuesday, the overall con-firmed cases in China had reached83,265, including 252 patients whowere still being treated, with sevenin severe condition.Altogether, 78,379 people havebeen discharged after recovery and4,634 people had died of the disease,the NHC said.

People with face masks ride their motocycles during rush hour in Beijing.

North Korea reverses deals with SouthSays it will redeploy troops, reinstall guard posts and resume military exercises at front-line areas

AGENCIES / Seoul

North Korea said Wednesday that itwill send soldiers to now-shuttered in-ter-Korean cooperation sites in its ter-ritory and reinstall guard posts and re-sume military exercises at front-lineareas, nullifying tension-reducingdeals reached with South Korea justtwo years ago.The announcement is the latest in aseries provocations North Korea hastaken in what experts believe are cal-culated moves to apply pressure on

Seoul and Washington amid stallednuclear negotiations. On Tuesday, theNorth destroyed an empty inter-Kore-an liaison office in its territory.Though North Korea's recent actionshaven't lead to clashes or bloodshed,it's still raising animosity on thepeninsula to a level unseen since Py-ongyang entered nuclear talks in 2018.The North's General Staff said mili-tary units will be deployed to the Dia-mond Mountain resort and theKaesong industrial complex, both justnorth of the heavily fortified border.

The two sites, built with South Koreanfinancing, have been closed for yearsdue to inter-Korean disputes and US-led sanctions.The North also said it will resumemilitary exercises, reestablish guardposts and boost military readiness inborder areas as well as open front-linesites for flying propaganda balloonstoward South Korea. Those stepswould reverse agreements reached be-tween the Koreas in September 2018aimed at lowering military tensionsalong the border.

Trump signs orderon police reformsAGENCIES / Washington

Following weeks of nation-al protests since the deathof George Floyd, PresidentDonald Trump has signedan executive order that hesaid would encourage bet-ter police practices.But he made no mentionof the roiling national de-bate over racism spawnedby police killings of blackmen and women.Trump met privatelywith the families of sever-al black Americans killedin interactions with policebefore his Rose Gardensigning ceremony and saidhe grieved for the lives lostand families devastated.But then he quickly shift-ed his tone and devotedmost of his public remarksto a need to respect andsupport "the brave menand women in blue who po-lice our streets and keep ussafe." Trump's executive orderwould establish a databasethat tracks police officerswith excessive use-of-forcecomplaints in theirrecords. Many officers whowind up involved in fatalincidents have long com-plaint histories, includingDerek Chauvin, the whiteMinneapolis police officerwho has been charged withmurder in the death ofFloyd.Those records are often

not made public, making itdifficult to know if an offi-cer has such a history.The order would also givepolice departments a fi-nancial incentive to adoptbest practices and encour-age co-responder pro-grams, in which socialworkers join police whenthey respond to nonviolentcalls involving mentalhealth, addiction andhomeless issues.Trump said that, as partof the order, the use ofchokeholds, which have be-come a symbol of policebrutality, would be banned"except if an officer's life isat risk." Actually, the orderinstructs the Justice De-partment to push local po-lice departments to be cer-tified by a "reputable inde-pendent credentialingbody" with use-of-forcepolicies that prohibit theuse of chokeholds, exceptwhen the use of deadlyforce is allowed by law.Chokeholds are alreadylargely banned in policedepartments nationwide.

NO MENTION OF RACISM

As part of the order,the use of chokeholds,which have become asymbol of policebrutality, would bebanned "except if anofficer's life is at risk."

• 400 people test positive at German meat plant

• Australia accuses China and Russia of

coronavirus disinformation

• Mexico records 3rd highest daily death toll

• Nepal records 586 new COVID-19 cases

• Indian-origin newspaper vendor in Singapore

gets jail for breaching stay-home notice

• Honduras president, first lady test positive

DASHBOARD

COUNTRIES CASES DEATHS USA 2,212,605+ 119,199+

Brazil 929,149+ 45,467+ Russia 553,301+ 7,478+ India 3,59,398+ 12,028+ UK 2,99,251+ 42,153+

Spain 2,91,408+ 27,136+

DEATHS

447,312+

8,309,362+

CASES

18

Corona cure cornerChina's inactivated Covid-19 vaccineshows promise in initial trialsAn inactivated Covid-19 vaccine candidate has shownpromising results in both safety and efficacy in phase 1 andphase 2 clinical trials, according to the China NationalPharmaceutical Group (Sinopharm).The vaccine, developed by the Wuhan Institute of BiologicalProducts under the China National Biotec Group (CNBG)affiliated to Sinopharm, involved 1,120 volunteers agedbetween 18 and 59 in its clinical trials, which started on April12, Xinhua reported on Wednesday.The results revealed a good safety record, with no cases ofsevere adverse effects found in the clinical trials.

Undersea hunt for vaccineNot just above the Earth, efforts are underway beneath thesea to search for a Covid-19 vaccine as an experimentalMicrosoft data centre in Scotlands Orkney Islands is processingworkloads for a global, distributed computing project tounderstand the viral proteins that cause the disease anddesign therapeutics to stop them.Distributed computing projects harness otherwise idlecomputer processing power to perform specific tasks for bigscience research. Ongoing projects include efforts tounderstand climate change, map cancer markers and fightinfectious disease.The Folding@home distributed computing project waslaunched in October 2000 to simulate protein dynamics.

Singapore scientists discover five antibodies that can combat COVID-19A team of Singapore scientists has discovered five antibodiesthat can block COVID-19 infection and protect against the keymutations that have emerged in the virus during thepandemic, the country's defence research and developmentorganisation said on Wednesday.Human trials for the lead antibody, AOD01, will commence inthe coming months, pending approval from the HealthSciences Authority, said the Defense Science Organisation(DSO) National Laboratories.The DSO said that its scientists have screened "hundreds ofthousands" of B cells - the cells that produce antibodies totarget pathogens - from the blood samples of recoveredCOVID-19 patients since March this year.The scientists managed to isolate the first two antibodies fortesting within a month of receiving the blood samples fromthe National Centre for Infectious Diseases and SingaporeGeneral Hospital. Two months later, it identified another threeeffective antibodies.

AGENCIES / Wellington

New Zealand Prime Minis-ter Jacinda Ardern onWednesday ordered a top de-fence official to monitorCOVID-19 isolation facilitiesand borders after a "failureof the system" in which twooverseas arrivals were ableto leave managed quaran-tine and later tested positivefor the virus.Ardern, whose govern-ment has been praised for itsearly, strict and effective re-sponse to the pandemic,adopted the measure afterreports emerged that twowomen, who had arrived inNew Zealand from the Unit-ed Kingdom on June 7, trav-elled some 650 kms (404miles) from Auckland toWellington without complet-ing the mandatory 14-dayquarantine or undergoingCOVID-19 testing, Efe newsreported. The women, whowere allowed on compas-sionate grounds to travel sixdays after their arrival inNew Zealand, later testedpositive for COVID-19, fol-lowing which New Zealandauthorities have contactedthe 320 close contacts of the

pair to ask them to be testedfor the virus."This case represents anunacceptable failure of thesystem. It should never havehappened and it cannot berepeated," Ardern said.Ardern reiterated that peo-ple in quarantine and isola-tion facilities were requiredto be tested for the virus onDay 3 and Day 12 of theirstay. "That should have hap-pened in the cases welearned about yesterday. Itdid not and there are no ex-cuses," she said. "Our bor-ders and our controls at theborders must be rigorous,"the leader stressed. "Theymust be disciplined and theymust have the confidence ofministers and all of you,New Zealanders, who got ushere (to zero cases).

AGENCIS / Dhaka

Bangladesh on Wednesday recorded 4,008new coronavirus cases, the highest-singleday count, taking the total number of casesto 98,489.The death toll due to the COVID-19 rose to1,305 after 43 people died on Wednesday, ac-cording to the health directorate.Another 1,925 COVID-19 patients recov-ered in the same period, raising the total to38,189, DGHS Additional Director GeneralNasima Sultana said in a media briefing.A total of 17,527 samples were tested at 59authorised labs in the country in the sameperiod, 22.87 per cent of which returned

positive results, the bdnews reported.The rate of recovery from COVID-19 inBangladesh currently stands at 38.77 percent while the mortality rate is 1.33 per cent.The latest fatalities include 28 men and 15women, among whom, 27 people passed awayin hospital care, 15 at home while anotherperson died on the way to the hospital.

BEATING THE HEAT

MOSCOW

Ardern adopted themeasure after two

women, who had arrivedin New Zealand from UK on June 7, travelled 650kms from Auckland toWellington without

completing mandatory 14-day quarantine

NZ PM calls militaryto deal with COVID

B’desh cases near 100,000The rate of recovery from COVID-19in Bangladesh currently stands at38.77 per cent while the mortality

rate is 1.33 per cent.

UK governmentapproves use ofDexamethasone

ADITI KHANNALondon

The UK government onWednesday authorisedthe state-funded NationalHealth Service (NHS) touse steroid dexametha-sone, the "world's first"coronavirus treatmentproven to reduce the riskof death among severelyill patients.The Department ofHealth said the cheapand widely availableanti-inflammatorysteroid has been immedi-ately approved to treat allhospitalised COVID-19patients requiring oxy-gen, including those onventilators, after an Ox-ford University trial con-firmed positive resultson Tuesday.UK Prime MinisterBoris Johnson hailed thegovernment-funded trialas the "biggest break-through", which has"greatly reduced" pa-tients' chances of dyingfrom COVID-19.

Thailand ends curfewPHUKET: Thailand onMonday lifted a nationwidecurfew after more than twomonths and allowed restau-rants to resume selling al-cohol as the coronaviruscrisis eased, with 21 dayssince a recorded case of lo-cal transmission, Accord-ing to Reuters report.The Southeast Asian na-tion was the first countryoutside China to report acase of coronavirus, onJan. 13, and has been a rela-tive success story in con-taining it, with just 3,135confirmed cases and 58

fatalities. Officials have creditedThais’ early adoption ofwearing masks - ubiquitousin public since January - aswell as its border closure,shuttering of many busi-ness and the curfew for theretreat of the coronavirus.Other establishments al-lowed to reopen on Mondaywere schools with less than120 students, exhibitionhalls, music concerts, filmproductions, playgrounds,amusement parks andsports competitions with-out spectators.

WORLD 9FREEPRESS

INDORE | THURSDAY | JUNE 18, 2020

riti Sanon on Wednesday posted alengthy statement, expressing ireover how people, including the mediaand social media users, have reacted

to Sushant Singh Rajput’s demise. “It’sstrange that the otherwise trolling, gossipingworld suddenly wakes up to your nicenessand positive sides once you are gone. Socialmedia is the fakest, most toxic place and ifyou have not posted RIP or said somethingpublicly, you are considered not to be griev-ing, when in reality, those are the peoplegrieving for real. It seems social media is thenew ‘real world’ and the real world has be-come fake,” Kriti wrote. Sushant passed away on June 14. He was

found hanging at his residence in Mumbai.Kriti was among industry colleagues presentat the late actor's funeral on June 15, alongwith his family. In her post, Kriti also highlighted about how

mediapersons banged her car's window to geta clear picture while she was on her way toSushant’s last rites. “Banging the car windowand saying, ‘madam sheesha neeche karo na’to get a clearer picture of the someone goingfor a funeral. Funeral is a very personal andprivate affair. Let’s put humanity before ourprofession! I request media to either not bepresent there or at least maintain some digni-ty and distance, behind the starry glitter andthe so-called glamour, we are normal humanbeings with the same feelings you have. Don’tforget that,” she appealed. A lot of people have come out with theories

and assumptions over Sushant’s demise. Em-phasising on the need to stop playing theblame game, Kriti continued: “The blamegame never ends... stop talking bad about any-

one at all... stop the gossip...stop think-ing you know it all, or your opinion isthe truth. Everyone is battling a fightyou know nothing of. So know that anynegativity coming out of your mouth,any trolling, any bitching shows whatyou are, not what they are. Andwhile most of us manage toignore it or filter it or notget bothered by onenasty comment, it stillsubconsciously af-fects us, some morethan others.” Calling for better

reportage ofnews, Kriti alsosaid, “BlindItems should beILLEGAL,should bebanned! Theyshould comeunder MentalHarassment...You write“hear-say” andcall it journal-ism while youhave no ideahow badly thatcan affect some-one’s mind, theirfamily, their life. Lit-tle Birdie is usuallynot right.” Kriti ended her post

with a strong message.She asked everyone tostop using phrases like“ladke nahin rote(boys don’t cry)” and“don’t cry be strong”.

—ANS

elevision host Jimmy Kimmel will host and produce the Emmy award ceremony thisyear. This marks the third time Kimmel will be hosting the Emmys, following the 64thevent in 2012 and 68th in 2016. Other details about the 72nd Emmy Awards areawaited, reports variety.com. “I don’t know where we will do this or how we will do

this or even why we are doing this, but we are doing it and I am hosting it,” said Kimmel,who will also serve as executive producer. The Primetime Emmy telecast is still scheduled to beheld on September 20, but information about the telecast’s producer, or how the show willlook in the time of pandemic is yet to be revealed. According to sources, many scenarios arebeing explored for an Emmy’s broadcast, which include a fully virtual version and an in-personevent, which incorporates some virtual and other “non-traditional” elements. —IANS

Kimmel tohost, produceEmmy Awards

TFREEPRESS

INDORE | THURSDAY | JUNE 18 2020

WEB TALK

Kriti Sanon pens an emotionalnote, calls social media ‘the most toxic place’

In Sushant’s memory... ate actor Sushant Singh Rajput now has awebsite dedicated to him, aimed at sharing allthe “positive energies” he left behind. Thewebsite called selfmusing.com is currently being

developed. It will highlight the actor's thoughts,learning, dreams and wishes that he would have sharedwith his fans. “He is away but he is still alive with us.Kickstarting #SelfMusing mode https://selfmusing.com/.Fans like you were real “godfather” for Sushant. Aspromised to him, converting this space into a collection ofall his thoughts, learnings, dreams, and wishes, he alwayswanted people to know. Yes, we are documenting all thepositive energies he has left behind in this world.#AlwaysAlive #BestofSSR,” posted Sushant Singh Rajput’steam on Facebook. An introduction on the homepage says: “Sushant Singh

Rajput was an Indian actor, dancer, entrepreneur, andphilanthropist. #SelfMusing was his passion. As promisedto him, this is a space having all his thoughts, learnings,and wishes he always wanted people to know. We are inthe process of documenting all the positive energies he hasleft behind in this world. This space will ensure that he is#AlwaysAlive.”The website also aims to communicate Sushant’s thinking

process, through quotes by the late actor, like: “Reality isnot what it is, until we observe or measure it”, “Themoment you know the limit, you are limitless” and “Theway you learn is what you learn”. —IANS

‘Blind items should be illegal’ K

L

Vicky’s filmnot affected by pandemic

irector Shoojit Sircar says his periodfilm Sardar Udham Singh, which starsVicky Kaushal in the title role, has notbeen hugely affected by the coron-

avirus pandemic, adding that he plans tostart with the post production work on the project soon. “I won’t say we are hugely affected at this mo-

ment,” Sircar said when we asked him aboutthe impact of the virus crisis on the film. “Thatwill be wrong of me to say because we had fin-ished our shoot. We were at the beginning ofthe post production stage and it’s a long post

production because it’s a period film. Andthat got halted because of the lockdown,”he added. Vicky will bring alive the story ofmartyr Udham Singh, who assassi-nated Michael O’Dwyer, the formerlieutenant governor of Punjab in pre-Independence India, to avenge the Jal-lianwala Baghmassacre ofAmritsarin 1919.Singhwas

subsequently tried andconvicted of murder,and hanged in July1940.

“Now, I thinkwe’ve been al-lowed to do a postproduction but weare looking at how

to start. I think we’llslowly start the postproduction. It is slated

to release next year. But I have afeeling that everything is goingto spiral into a lot of bottleneckjam (once theatres reopen)... Wewill know a bit more in anothertwo months possibly, how it isaffected,” said the director. On the work front, Sircar re-

leased his latest Gulabo Sitabo,which featured AmitabhBachchan and Ayushmann Khur-rana. The film premiered world-wide on Amazon Prime Video.

—IANS

D

ctors Anupam Kher, NeenaGupta, Rakesh Bedi, andMakarand Deshpande areamong the popular names

from the film industry to join afundraising campaign in support ofthe theatre community. Zee Theatrehas partnered with Give India Founda-tion to support the staff and techni-cians at the cinema halls who havebeen badly hit due to the coronavirus-forced lockdown.Kher, Gupta, Bedi along with Divya

Dutta, Aahana Kumra and Shikha Tal-sania feature in a campaign videowhere they talk about the people whoare the backbone of the theatre experi-ence. Shailja Kejriwal, chief creativeofficer of Zee Special Projects, said themonth-long fundraising initiativeaims to help those who find them-selves without any source of income

and are “unlikely to get any relief inthe coming months”.Kher said he instantly came on

board to be a part of the fundraiseras he shares a “deep and personalconnection” with theatre halls. “Notheatrical production is completewithout the help and presence of thetechnicians and support staff. Theirsurvival is vital for our community. Iwould request everyone to donategenerously,” he said. Gupta said shefeels fortunate to be in a position tohelp colleagues who are struggling tomake ends meet. “Many of the sup-port staff and technicians are wor-ried and helpless because of the un-certainty surrounding the reopeningof theatre halls... Through this initia-tive, we want to reach out to peopleacross the country and urge them todonate,” she said. —PTI

For the love of theatre! Anupam Kher, Neena Gupta, others join fundraising campaign to

support theatre staff amid COVID-19 crisis

he web series Panchay-at is gearing up for asecond season, confirmsthe show’s lead actor Ji-

tendra Kumar. “Actually, thelockdown started soon after wefinished the first season, andthings came to a halt. Writingand story lineup for the secondseason is already underway. Offi-cial planning will be done afterthe lockdown is lifted. But yes,it’s on,” Jitendra Kumar said. After his feature debut in the

Ayushmann Khurrana-starrerShubh Mangal Zyada Saavdhanearlier this year, and with Pan-chayat finding a ready audienceon Amazon Prime, the actor isgearing up for the release of thedigital film Chaman Bahaar. “It is a one-sided love story of a paan shop owner. The story is about a young

man who runs a paan shop but does not get good business. Suddenly a beautifulgirl shifts in the locality with her family, and he falls for her at the first sight. Soon,young men start flocking to his paan shop to catch a glimpse of the girl who livesopposite the shop. As a result, he starts getting good business. But now also he is-n’t happy because he doesn’t like all these men looking at her and talking aboutthe girl he admires! Only, he looks at the girl from a distance but can never gatherthe courage to talk to her,” revealed the actor about Chaman Bahaar, which willstream on Netflix. —IANS

etflix has taken down anepisode of its 2015 seriesW/Bob and David, starring BobOdenkirk and David Cross, over

a blackface sketch. The removal ofthe episode comes after the streamerpulled Little Britain and Come Fly WithMe over blackface characters.According to Deadline, titled Know

Your Rights, the sketch showed Cross inblackface as Gilvin Daughtry, the leaderof Citizens Against Unlawful Abuse!Daughtry stops at a DUI checkpoint andinteracts with an affable policeman(Keegan-Michael Key). The driver constantly tries to force a

confrontation with the officer and ulti-mately applies blackface, a type ofmakeup used by a non-black performerin an attempt to play a person of colour,in an effort to prove that “every race”

has equal rights in the US. Daughtrythen is tased and pepper-sprayed.Cross defended the sketch said in a

tweet on Monday, that the includedvideo that since has been disabled, say-ing that the point of using blackfacewas to “underscore the absurdity”.“Hey all, Netflix is going to pull thissketch from With Bob & David becausethe ridiculous, foolish character I playputs on ‘black face’ at one point. Thepoint of this was to underscore the ab-surdity,” he wrote.The development comes as media com-

panies reappraise content in the wake ofprotests over police brutality and sys-temic racism after the death of GeorgeFloyd, an African American man killedby a white police officer in Minneapolis,Minnesota last month.

—PTI

Netflix pulls out an episodeover blackface sketch

Panchayat season 2 confirmed

N

T

A

HOLLYWOOD TALK

Pop star Yohan, a memberof the boy band TST (for-merly known as Top Se-cret), passed away on

Tuesday, June 16. Yohan’s realis Kim Jeong-hwan. He was 28.The cause of Yohan’s death hasnot been revealed. His wake is be-

ing held at Severance Hospital inSinchon. The singer will be crematedon Thursday in Yongin. The Korean band's label KJ Music

Entertainment confirmed the news. “Weare sad to relay the most unfortunate, sor-

rowful news. Back on June 16, TST mem-ber Yohan left this world. The late Yohan'sfamily is currently in deep mourning. Thefamily has pleaded that media articlesabout Yohan's passing, such as thosemaking speculations about the cause ofhis death, be refrained out of respect.

We express our deepest condolencesin light of Yohan's final parting,”reads the statement.Kim Jeong-hwan, known by thestage-name Yohan, first shot to fame

after making his debut in 2015,with the NOM group. Afterthe band separated, Yohanjoined Top Secret in 2017.The band's fourth single al-

bum, Count-down re-leased ear-lier thisyear.

—FPJWebDesk

K-Pop star Yohan passes awayat the age of 28

K

Beyonce, Jay-Z sued by Jamaican artist ne of the power couples, Jay-Z and Beyonce’s songs, Black Effect, leans heavily on aJamaican artist, who claims she was never given proper credit or compensation,despite being the leading voice on the track. According to TMZ, Dr L’AntoinetteStines says she’s renowned in Jamaica for “her artistry and wisdom,” and to thatpoint, she says The Carters' sought her out in March 2018 to provide dancers for a

video promoting their upcoming tour.According to a lawsuit, filed Tuesday in federal court, Dr Stines claims she hooked them

up with dancers, and then Jay and Bey wanted to record her views on love. She claims shewas told the interview would be used in the video “for promotional purposes” only.In the documents obtained by the outlet, she says she was shocked when she heard Black

Effect, from The Carters’ Everything Is Love album — because the whole first minute ofthe track is just her voice. Hearing herself on the song — uncredited, left Dr Stines feeling “artistically raped”, as per her lawsuit.The document claims a contract for her services was only thrust in front of her on the

day of the shoot, and she alleges that the representatives of Jay Z and Beyonce told her notto worry, after all, her interview would only be used for promotion. —ANI

O

10

ACCORDING TO BP STATISTICAL REVIEW, IN 2019

AGENCIES/ New Delhi

India was second biggest growth driv-er of primary energy consumption inthe world, behind China, in 2019 eventhough it witnessed fall in demand inoil and coal, according to BP Statisti-cal Review released on Wednesday.Global primary energy consump-

tion growth slowed to 1.3% last year,less than half the rate of growth in2018 (2.8%), BP said.The increase in energy consumption

was driven by renewables and naturalgas, which together contributed threequarters of the expansion. All fuelsgrew at a slower rate than their 10-year averages, apart from nuclear."By country, China was by far the

biggest driver of energy, accountingfor more than three quarters of netglobal growth. India and Indonesiawere the next largest contributors to

growth, while the US and Germanyposted the largest declines," it said.But the growth in 2019 was slower

than 2018.World primary energy consumption

rose to 583.90 Exajoules (EJ). India'sconsumption rose 2.3% to 34.06 EJ.The growth was lower than 5.2% in2018.In absolute terms, India's energy

consumption was only behind that ofChina (141.70 EJ) and US (94.65 EJ)."Growth in energy markets slowed

in 2019 in line with weaker economic

growth and a partial unwinding ofsome of the one-off factors that boost-ed energy demand in 2018. This slow-down was particularly evident in theUS, Russia and India, each of whichexhibited unusually strong growth in2018," it said.The energy consumption is made up

of oil, natural gas, coal, electricityand renewables. Global oil consumption grew by 0.9

million barrels per day (bpd), or 0.9%,slightly lower than the 10-year aver-age of 1.3% per annum. India posted the third biggest rise in

oil consumption in the world at159,000 bpd, just behind 681,000 bpd ofChina and 183,000 bpd of Iran.World coal consumption fell 0.6%.

"Growth in India, usually a key driverof coal consumption, was only 0.3%(0.1 EJ) - its lowest since 2001," BPsaid.

India 2nd biggest driver of energy consumption

FinMin releases Rs 15,187 cr to states as rural local bodies grantThe finance ministry on Wednesday releasedRs 15,187 crore to 28 states as grants to rurallocal bodies to help them restart economicactivity. "Based on the recommendations ofthe 15th Finance Commission, @FinMinIndia

today (Wednesday) released Rs 15,187.50crore to 28 states as the 1st instalment ofRural Local Bodies Basic (Untied) Grants for2020-21," the Office of Finance MinisterNirmala Sitharaman tweeted.

BIZ BUZZSensex slips on China tensions, viruswoes; financials, ITC lead fallMUMBAI: Equity benchmarks closed lower after a see-sawsession on Wednesday as border tensions with China andspiking coronavirus cases kept investors on the back foot.After gyrating 600.70 points during the day, the 30-share BSESensex closed 97.30 points, or 0.29 per cent, lower at33,507.92.

PM to launch auction of comm miningtoday; 41 coal blocks to be put on saleNEW DELHI: Prime Minister Narendra Modi will on Thursdaylaunch the auction of coal mines for commercial mining viavideo conferencing at an event here. As many as 41 coalblocks will be put up on sale for commercial mining,according to sources

Denied full pay for May, workersbesiege NTC Mills officeCOIMBATORE: About 100 workers of National TextileCorporation (NTC) Mills on Wednesday laid siege to the millheadquarters here seeking full salary for May as was agreedupon in front of the district collector on June 2. Themanagement decided to give half the salary for Mayfollowing the lockdown due to the coronavirus scare. Theworkers rejected the decision and a tripartite meeting washeld in the presence of Collector K Rajamani andrepresentatives of NTC Ltd and trade unions.

Companies get relaxation in filingforms related to creation of chargesNEW DELHI: In the wake of the coronavirus pandemic, theCentre has relaxed the time period for corporates to submitforms related to creation or modification of charges. TheMinistry of Corporate Affairs has now decided to condone thedelay in filing of the forms under the companies law.

City importers holding back orders toChina after Galwan clashKOLKATA: City-based importers have started holding backtheir orders to China after the death of Indian Army personnelin a fierce clash with the People's Liberation Army in Galwanvalley of eastern Ladakh. A large range of consumer productsfrom toys to lights and indusial items are imported fromChina, president of Calcutta Customs House AgentsAssociation, Sujit Chakrabarty said.

Restrictions on tyre imports to curbinflow from China: ATMANEW DELHI: Automotive Tyre Manufacturers Association(ATMA) said restrictions on import of tyres will pave the wayfor increased domestic production while accelerating exportsbesides unlocking job creation potential. In case of tractortyres, Chinese import is three-fourths of total import.

‘Realty most preferred asset class forinvestment, but buyers cautious’NEW DELHI: Real estate has emerged as the most preferredasset class for investment but nearly 50% of potentialhomebuyers, currently living on rents, feel that prices are stillhigh and unaffordable for them to purchase flats, accordingto a survey by Housing.com and Naredco. Housing.com,which is part of Elara Technologies that also owns PropTigerand Makaan.com, said the survey was conducted in April-May across 8 cities through a random sampling technique.

IAMAI launches helpdesk to assistinvestors in electronics mfgNEW DELHI: Industry body Internet and Mobile Associationof India (IAMAI) on Wednesday said it has launched ahelpdesk for mobile and its component manufacturers seekingto relocate their production bases in India. Its reach-outprogramme will seek to amplify the policy packages to helpcreate a buzz around India as the preferred destination forinvestment through Indian and international agencies such asInvest India and others.

Jio to capture 48% market share byFY25: BernsteinNEW DELHI: Mukesh Ambani's Reliance Jio is likely tocapture 48 per cent of Indian mobile subscriber marketshareby 2025 with over half a billion users, Bernstein said in areport. "At our last model update in December, we proclaimedReliance Jio the new king of Indian telecommunications. Sincethen, we have seen a multitude of international investorsreach the same conclusion," the analyst said in the report.

Hospitality ind concerned on hotelrequisitioning as COVID-19 facilities NEW DELHI: Requisitioning of hotels for hospitalisation ofCOVID-19 positive patients and as an extension of designatedhospitals by the Delhi government has caused deepconsternation and has come as a major blow to the sector,according to the hospitality industry. The latest trigger forconcerns arose as Delhi government authorities on Tuesdayissued an order asking Indian Hotels Company Ltd's (IHCL)iconic Taj Mahal hotel at Mansingh Road to have its roomsand premises be placed at the disposal of Sir Ganga RamHospital (SGRH) for using it as an attached COVID-19 facility.

Air cargo volumes for export-importat Kolkata airport hit in lockdownKOLKATA: Air cargo volumes for export and import at the cityairport have been severely hit during the lockdown, an officialsaid. According to data provided by AAI Cargo Logistics andAllied Services Company, a subsidiary of the AirportsAuthority of India, the export-import (Exim) cargo at Kolkataairport was around 30 lakh kg in February 2020, whichdeclined to nearly 11 lakh kg in May.

Court denies bail to ex-FortisHealthcare promoter Shivinder SinghNEW DELHI: The bail application moved by former FortisHealthcare promoter Shivinder Mohan Singh was onWednesday junked by a Delhi court. Shivinder Singh hadknocked on the doors of the court, seeking to be released onbail in a money laundering case related to allegedmisappropriation of funds at Religare Finvest Ltd.The court, however, dismissed the application. The order wasannounced after the Enforcement Directorate averred thatShivinder Singh smuggled in his mobile phone through hisdriver, who was bringing food. The agency said that theaccused used that mobile phone to chat with his associates.

—Agencies

MONEY FREEPRESS

INDORE | THURSDAY | JUNE 18, 2020

11

NEW DELHI: Petrol pricewas hiked by 55 paise perlitre and diesel by 60 paisea litre, marking the 11thconsecutive day of increasein rates that now totals toRs 6.02 for petrol and Rs6.4 for diesel onWednesday.

Petrol price in Delhi washiked to Rs 77.28 per litrefrom Rs 76.73, while dieselrates were increased to Rs75.79 a litre from Rs 75.19,according to a pricenotification of state oilmarketing companies.

Rates have beenincreased across thecountry and vary from stateto state depending on theincidence of local sales taxor VAT. This is the 11thstraight day of increase inrates since oil companieson June 7 restarted revisingprices in line with costs,after ending an 82-dayhiatus in rate revision.

Aramco donates $500,000 to IndianRed Cross Society for COVID-19 reliefNEW DELHI: Saudi national oil company Aramco hasdonated USD 500,000 (about Rs 3.8 crore) to the IndianRed Cross Society to support its efforts to contain thespread of COVID-19. The humanitarian support is part ofAramco's global response to COVID-19, the company said.

Domestic travel set to take centrestage: Thomas Cook IndiaNEW DELHI: An overwhelming number of Indians are likely totake a domestic holiday towards the year-end after Covid-19lockdown ends and authorities consider it safe to travel,according to a Thomas Cook India and SOTC Travel joint surveyreleased.

The holiday readiness report says 64% of respondents areinclined towards a domestic holiday and 36% an internationalholiday. Among the preferred travel destinations in India areKerala, Goa, the Northeast, Ladakh, Kashmir and HimachalPradesh.

At the same time, 41% of the respondents preferred short-haulinternational travel destinations like Thailand, Singapore,Malaysia, Dubai and Abu Dhabi. And 38% of them said Europeremains their favourite with countries like Switzerland, Britain,France, Germany and Czech Republic.

Nearly 20% opted for Australia and New Zealand while 16%of the respondents chose the United States.

However, 50% of them said they will prefer to travel inDecember and 29% in November. About 72% of respondentsprefer reputed brands including tour operators and hotels and75% said health and safety is a key factor.

Nearly 35% of them are willing to increase their spends toensure higher levels of health and safety. Interestingly, 51% ofthem prefer four to seven days of holiday and 35% prefer eightto eleven days. —Agencies

AGENCIESMumbai

The Centre cannot say thatit is between the banks andthe customers, observed theSupreme Court while hear-ing petitions against the levyof interest on loan repay-ments, which were deferredfor customers availing thesix-month moratorium giv-en by the Reserve Bank of In-dia (RBI).A bench comprising Jus-

tices Ashok Bhushan, San-jay Kishan Kaul and M.R.Shah noted that the Centralgovernment cannot raise itshand in helplessness, andthen say it is between thebanks and the customers.The bench said if the Centrehas announced the morato-rium, it must ensure that thebenefits are passed to thecustomers.Solicitor General Tushar

Mehta, representing theCentre, contended before thecourt that the interest waiv-er would have an adverse ef-fect on the stability of thebanks. Mehta argued that

waiver of the interest mayjeopardize the interest of thedepositors. He insisted thatthe RBI and the Centre sharethe worry; if interest iswaived, then it may have acascading effect on deposits.The top court observed

that the issue in the petitionswas that the banks shouldnot charge interest on inter-est during the moratoriumperiod. The bench listed the matter

for hearing in the first weekof August, and in the mean-while, the Centre and theRBI may examine the issuesraised. The court also asked the In-

dian Banks' Association toexplore if the new norms orguidelines can be broughtinto shape.

‘India-China tension maynot impact trade relations’

NEW DELHI: The ongoing India-Chinaborder tensions may not have any immedi-ate impact on the bilateral trade relations,according to experts. Experts pointed outthat if the situation aggravates further thenit could affect bilateral trade relationships."I do not see any impact on the bilateral

trade relations due to the current bordertensions between the two key trading part-ners," Federation of Indian Export Organi-sations (FIEO) President S K Saraf said.Headded that there are huge trade opportuni-ties for businesses of both the countries toexplore in each others' market.Ludhiana-based Hand Tools Association

President Subhash Chander Ralhan saidthat China is a big market for Indian ex-porters and there is a need to look at waysto boost exports to the neighbouring coun-try to bridge the widening trade deficit."Putting any kind of restrictions on im-

ports from China may impact our exports.But if the tensions at the borders wouldget aggravated then it may impact the bi-lateral trade relations," Ralhan added.Apparel Export Promotion Council of India

(AEPC) Chairman A Sakthivel also hintedthat trade may take a hit if both the countrieswould not be able to resolve the issues soon."If the situation get worsened then there

will be a problem. We do not export appar-

el in huge numbers but we import lot offabrics from China," Sakthivel said.Biswa-jit Dhar, a professor of economics at Jawa-harlal Nehru University, said putting anykind of trade restrictions on China mayhave implications for India."Our dependence on China is huge on

several critical products like APIs (activepharmaceutical ingredients). There are noserious alternatives or market for us forthose critical products and situationwould not change in a day," Dhar said.Headded that increasing tariffs or import du-ties will only burden domestic consumers."The only solution left is to strengthen

domestic manufacturing in critical sec-tors," he said. The Indian Army on Tues-day said that 20 Army personnel, includ-ing a Colonel, were killed in the clash onMonday night, in the biggest ever militaryconfrontation between the two armies inover five decades.

PETROL PRICEHIKED BY 55 P/L,DIESEL BY 60 P

ON DAY 11

FinMin to banks: Deferavoidable expenditure

NEW DELHI: The government askedstate-owned banks to defer avoidableexpenditure, including purchase ofstaff cars and refurbishment of guesthouses, to ensure more productiveutilisation of financial resourcesamid the coronavirus pandemic.In a detailed advisory to the heads of

all public sector banks, the Depart-ment of Financial Services (DFS) saidit was necessary that the banks takeappropriate measures to ensure pro-ductive use of their financial re-sources for core business activities.The advisory also comes against the

backdrop of Punjab National Bank re-cently purchasing three Audi carsworth over Rs 1.30 crore for travel ofits top executives.Banks are advised to defer avoidable

expenditure beyond the current fi-nancial year, including purchase ofstaff cars, except where unavoidable,the advisory said.DFS has also directed the banks to

postpone expenditure on decorative,non-functional items for the interiorsin non-customer facing premises likeadministrative offices and back of-

fices, and refurbishment of guesthouses. Further, the banks have beenasked to effect significant reductionin expenditure on activities otherthan those pertaining to core busi-ness activities."Economy in expenditure to the

tune of 20 per cent year-on-year ormore may be effected on activities orheads of expenditure such as enter-tainment, publicity, by making effica-cious use of social media and press re-leases, and pooling resources withother PSBs (Public Sector Banks) forcommon publicity campaigns whereappropriate," it said.Besides, DFS has directed banks to

avoid travel and adopt digital meansof communication as well as make ef-fective use of locally available admin-istrative officers."The bank board's executive com-

mittee/ management committee mayreview the composition of the exist-ing fleet of vehicles engaged on hire,while taking into account functionalimperatives and the profitability andthe cost to income ratio of the bank'soperations and the occupancy level ofguest houses," the advisory said.DFS, which comes under the finance

ministry, has asked banks to place theadvisory before their respectiveboards and issue appropriate instruc-tions internally."Top management may also suitably

sensitise senior executives to give ef-fect to this advisory in letter and spir-it," it said.In addition, DFS has directed banks

for revision of entitlements andperquisites such as entitlements tofixed assets like vehicles and furni-ture and lease/ rent amounts admis-sible for hired residential accommo-dations.

RBI for changes inregulations for HFCsNEW DELHI: The ReserveBank proposed to double theminimum net owned fund(NOF) requirement for hous-ing finance companies to Rs20 crore and classification ofsuch firms under its draftframework for these firms.The step is aimed at

strengthening the capitalbase mainly of small hous-ing finance companies(HFC), the RBI said while re-leasing the proposedchanges in the regulatoryframework for HFCs.A new category of system-

atically important HFCsbased on financial parame-ters and restrict lending byHFCs either to a construc-tion company or flat buyersof that company have alsobeen proposed in the draftframework.The RBI said that existing

HFCs would be providedwith a glide path to achieveminimum Net Owned Fund(NOF) of Rs 20 crore. Theywill be required to reach Rs15 crore within one year and

Rs 20 crore within two years."This step is aimed at

strengthening the capitalbase, especially of smallerHFCs and companies pro-posing to seek registrationunder NHB Act," the RBIsaid.Regarding the classifica-

tion of HFCs, the RBI draftsaid that they would be splitinto systemically importantand non-systemically impor-tant companies on the linesof NBFCs.At present, HFC regula-

tions are common for allHFCs irrespective of theirasset size and ownership,the draft said adding, "non-deposit taking HFCs (HFC-ND) with asset size of Rs 500crore and above; and all de-posit-taking HFCs (HFCD),irrespective of asset size,will be treated as systemi-cally important HFCs." Onthe other hand, HFCs withasset size below Rs 500 crorewill be treated as non-sys-temically important HFCs(HFC-non-SI), the draft said.

SEBI nod to promotersfor raising stake by 10%

AGENCIESNew Delhi

Stock market regulator, Se-curities and ExchangeBoard of India (SEBI) hasamended the takeovernorms to allow promoters toincrease their stake by up to10% through a preferentialallotment.The move will give a boost

to promoters wanting to in-crease their stake and en-hance investor confidenceas the promoter buyingmore shares is a good signalto shareholders.Amendment in the regula-

tions allows a promoter own-ing 25% or more voting rightsin a company to increaseshareholding by up to 10% ina year versus the earlier limitof 5%. This is valid only forthe current financial yearand is allowed for a preferen-tial issue of equity shares."SEBI relaxation on the

creeping acquisition is adouble whammy for promot-ers. They will not only be

able to increase their stakebut this will also build in-vestor confidence." said Ra-jesh Thakkar, Partner &Leader/ Transaction Tax,Tax & Regulatory Services,BDO India.As per a notification, the

amendments have beenmade to the Securities andExchange Board of India(Substantial Acquisition ofShares and Takeovers) Reg-ulations, 2011.These regulations may be

called the Securities and Ex-change Board of India (Sub-stantial Acquisition ofShares and Takeovers)(Amendment) Regulations,2020.

Consumer loans disbursementback to pre-Covid level: HDFC

AGENCIESNew Delhi

India's largest private sectorlender HDFC Bank onWednesday said its con-sumer finance loans aregrowing and the amount dis-bursed has got back to thepre-Covid levels of Rs 1,000crore a month.The city-headquartered

lender's country head for con-sumer finance Parag Rao saidchanges in lifestyle due to as-pects like lockdowns andwork from home has createdadditional demand for itemssuch as television sets, lap-tops, Wi-Fi routers and evenvacuum cleaners, which thebank is funding at present.It can be noted that driving

consumption demand in theeconomy has been one of thetoughest challenges whichpolicymakers are grapplingwith, and economists haveexpressed concerns aboutthe same.Acknowledging that a part

of the traction being wit-nessed by the bank is pent-up demand, Rao said there isa "set of consumer appli-ances where demand is go-ing up".In April, the consumer fi-

nance business had fallen by80-85 per cent and recoveredto the March levels in May,even though the non-lock-down conditions prevailedfor only ten days.Rao, who also heads the

credit card and paymentsverticals, said traditionalhigh ticket expenditures incategories like air ticketsand hotel bookings is notpresent as the services con-

tinue to be shut and it willtake time for the same tojump back to the old levels.From an expenditure per-

spective, shares of small val-ue transactions have gone upas a share of the overall pie,Rao said.As against 8-9 per cent ear-

lier, the small value spendsof up to Rs 500 generallymade for daily errands nowaccount for nearly a fourth ofthe overall card spending onthe reduced denominator,Rao said."People are pulling out

their cards for more numberof occasions and hence, ac-tivity on cards has gone up,"he said.The upcoming fintech play-

ers are competitors but notdisruptors, he asserted,adding that emergence ofnewer players helps broadenthe market opportunity."The yeoman's job which

this competition is doing is Ithink it is expanding themarket," he said.

Yes Bank mullsraising $1bn

from share sale

SC to Centre: Ensurebenefits for customers

NEW DELHI: Yes Bank Ltd isexploring to raise around $1billion through a public offer ofshares to boost its capital,according to reports.

The bank is expected tocommence its capital raise soon,which could help Yes Bank raiseits Tier-1 core capital ratio toaround 10 per cent, from 6.3per cent as of March, it said.

The Yes Bank stock hasrebounded by 73 per cent, sincethe Reserve Bank of Indialaunched a rescue plan afterputting it under smoratorium.

Yes Bank, which received Rs10,000 crore of capital infusionfrom eight banks including the SBI,can issue instruments includingshares or convertible bonds.

Yes Bank CEO Prashant Kumarhad said the bank plans to raiseRs 15,000 crore to boost itsstrength. Yes Bank said themanagement and board ofdirectors have made anassessment of its ability tocontinue as a going concern,based on the projected financialstatements for the next 3 years.

12SPORTSFREEPRESS

INDORE | THURSDAY | JUNE 18, 2020

THIS DAY, THAT YEARKapil brutalised opposition

Some unseemlyviolence amid

the tranquil surroundings of the Nevill Ground at Tunbridge Wells, allfrom the bat of Kapil Dev. Kapil brutalised the Zimbabwean bowlers inan unforgettable display of hitting, as India recovered from 9 for 4, andthen 17 for 5. Wickets continued to fall at the other end, but it didn'tmatter as Kapil creamed an amazing 175 not out off 138 balls, with 16fours and six sixes. The next highest score was Syed Kirmani's 24 notout, and in all, Kapil's innings comprised 66% of India's total of 266 for8. Before it, India's qualification for the semi-finals had been in doubt.Seven days later they were world champions, courtesy anothersensational victory, over West Indies in the final.

1983

INSPIRATIONAL QUOTEINSPIRATIONAL QUOTE

Hard work beats talent whentalent doesn’t work hard.”– Tim Notke

SPORTS CAFEJones reinstated as Test cricketerLONDON: Exactly 50 years after his only appearance for England,former batsman Alan Jones has finally been reinstated as a Testcricketer. Jones played the first test of England's series against aRest of the World XI in 1970, matches which originally carried teststatus only to be subsequently downgraded by the InternationalCricket Council in 1972. Jones was dismissed for 0 and 5 by MikeProcter and was never called on again, meaning he spent 48 yearsstripped of his achievement. The England and Wales Cricket Boardhas now formally inducted the 81-year-old Jones as cap No. 696.Ongoing lockdown restrictions meant his cap presentation wasconducted via video link.

Jean recovers from coronavirusRIO de JANEIRO: Former Brazil international midfielder Jean hasresumed training with Cruzeiro after recovering from the novelcoronavirus. Jean trained separately from the rest of histeammates on Tuesday in his first session since being forced toself-isolate two weeks ago, according to media reports. "I took all ofthe precautions that the club doctors gave us and followed all of theguidelines. Thankfully everything went well and it makes me veryhappy to be able to come back and train," Jean told reporters.

US Open will go ahead behind closed doorsWASHINGTON: New York Governor Andrew Cuomo hasannounced that the US Open will be played from August 31 toSeptember 13 behind closed doors. In a tweet, Cuomo on Tuesdayalso said that the United States Tennis Association will takeprecautions to protect players. "The US Open will be held inQueens, NY, without fans from August 31 to September 13. TheUSTA will take extraordinary precautions to protect players andstaff, including robust testing, additional cleaning, extra locker roomspace, and dedicated housing and transportation," Cuomo said in atweet. However, the official announcement is expected to be madeby the USTA later.

Ex-NFL player charged with rape ATHENS: A former NFL player and University of Georgia footballstandout has been arrested and charged with raping a UGAstudent, authorities said. Bacarri Jamon Rambo, 29, was chargedMonday with rape, news outlets reported. He was being held at theAthens-Clarke County Jail without bond Tuesday afternoon.Athens-Clarke County Police responded to a reported rapeSaturday near the university at an apartment complex whereRambo reportedly lives.

Top golfers forcharity contest

NEW DELHI: The Championsfor a Cause- Charity GolfMatch, India’s first live sportevent post the Covid-19induced nationwide lockdownand also the first domesticsports event for Covid-19relief, received a huge boostas top golfing associationshave rallied in its support. TheProfessional Golfers Tour ofIndia (PGTI), the Golf IndustryAssociation (GIA), Golf CourseSuperintendents andManagers Association of India(GCSMAI), have all pledgedtheir support to the event.

SportsTiger tiesup with PDC T10 JAIPUR: SportsTiger, a multi-sport aggregator application byMyTeam11 - on Wednesdayannounced winning the GlobalStreaming Rights for the SriLankan PDC T10 league. Atotal of eight teams will beseen in action vying for the tophonours at the SamadhiCricket Ground, located at thehistoric and world heritage siteAnuradhapura in Sri Lanka. Allthe matches will be streamedon SportsTiger Applicationfrom June 25.

Woman cricketerfound dead

KOLKATA: A Tripura U-19women's cricketer, AyantiReang, was found dead at herresidence on Tuesday, TripuraCricket Association secretaryTimir Chanda has confirmed."It is really unfortunate. I amstill in shock. We don't knowthe reason for her death butshe was perfectly fine till lastseason. She was verypromising," Chanda told IANSfrom Agartala.

Parameswaran forDronacharya AwardBENGALURU: RameshParameswaran, 70, one of themost experienced hockeycoaches in the country withover 50 years of service to thegame as a player, coach andmentor, has applied throughHockey Karnataka, for theDronacharya Award.

Boxing returns toMexican TV

MEXICO: Professional boxingis set to return to Mexicantelevision after a three-monthhalt on matches due to thecoronavirus pandemic, said thepromoters. The bouts arescheduled for Saturday in atelevision studio with nospectators. Even under thoseconditions, the Mexico Cityboxing commission hasrefused to sanction the fights,citing the pandemic. Mexicohas had 150,246 confirmedcoronavirus cases and 17,580deaths.

Vijayan for PadmaShri Award

KOLKATA: The All IndiaFootball Federation (AIFF) hasdecided to send legendaryfootballer IM Vijayans name forPadma Shri Award to thesports ministry, a top officialhas said. Former India captainVijayan, 51, was the recipientof Arjuna Award in 2003. Athree-time AIFF player of theyear, Vijayan is one of themost skillful footballers thecountry has ever produced.

India in pot 3 forofficial draw

NEW DELHI: India have beenslotted in pot 3 for the officialdraw of the AFC U-16Championship Bahrain 2020which will be held in KualaLumpur on Thursday. Indiaqualified for the U-16 finalswhen they finished as Group Bchampions in Tashkent from agroup which had Uzbekistan(hosts), Bahrain andTurkmenistan. The Indian coltsfinished with seven points fromthree matches scoring 10goals, while conceding one.

Bairstow eager toget back in squadLONDON: Wicket-keeperbatsman Jonny Bairstow sayshe is confident of regaining hisplace in England's Test teamfor the upcoming seriesagainst the West Indies afterputting in the hard yards toimprove his glove-work. Hewas dropped from the NewZealand tour late last year.

AGENCE FRANCE PRESSECamp Nou

L ionel Messi was rugby tackled and thenscored a penalty as Barcelona put thepressure back on Real Madrid by easing

to a 2-0 victory over Leganes at an empty CampNou on Tuesday.Messi was hauled to the ground in the firsthalf by a diving Unai Bustinza wrapping twoarms around his waist and he was knockedover again in the second, this time earning apenalty, which he converted.After 33 appearances, Messi now has 26 goalsthis season. In his last eight games, he has sev-en goals and eight assists.The 17-year-old Ansu Fati had earlier givenBarcelona the lead, continuing his break-through season with a fifth goal in eight leaguestarts.Leganes could have made the reigning cham-pions feel uncomfortable if Miguel-AngelGuerrero had taken either of two golden earlyopportunities but the first was cleared off theline and the second denied by the post."We had a bit of luck at the beginning," ad-mitted Barca coach Quique Setien.But his team's reward for a rather under-whelming performance is a five-point advan-tage over Madrid, who can reduce that back to

two by winning at home to Valencia on Thurs-day.Valencia will be a more thorough examina-tion of Madrid's sharpness after the three-month break and Barca can expect toughertests to come than Leganes too, starting with atrip to third-placed Sevilla on Friday.Setien will hope Gerard Pique recovers froma nasty challenge that means he will needstitches in his shin. "It split his shinpad," saidSetien. "We hope it's not serious."Leganes have dropped to the bottom of the

table and look doomed to relegation,their chances of survival damaged

by Barcelona snatching away their topscorer Martin Braithwaite as an emergencysigning in February.Leganes were not alone in feeling the rulehad hurt them disproportionately and theirsense of injustice might have been deepenedby the fact Braithwaite was left on the benchfor the entire 90 minutes.Barcelona controlled possession in the first

half but created little and would have been be-hind early on if Guerrero had been more pre-cise.First, Javier Eraso sprinted clear and despitetaking too long to shoot, the ball spilled out forGuerrero, whose drive hit the foot of ClementLenglet on the line.Guerrero had another go moments later, thistime from an acute angle, but his rasping half-volley flew across the area and shaved the farpost.Barca were laboured, even as they dominatedthe ball, but Leganes might have been tiring bythe 42nd minute when Junior Firpo's bustlingrun allowed Fati to take an instinctive shot,which he fired through the legs of Rodri Tarinand into the bottom corner.In the 69th minute, Messi gave his team thecushion they wanted, earning a dubious penal-ty with a storming run. He won the ball on thehalfway line, nutmegged one defender and heldoff two more.After an exchange with Luis Suarez, he wasfinally knocked over, even if it appeared less ofa foul than the previous attempts to stop him.Messi curled into the bottom corner.Suarez had come on for Fati and SergioBusquets, Gerard Pique, Arthur Melo all de-parted too as Setien turned his attention toSevilla. Leganes coach Javier Aguirre wassent off for whistling on the sidelines in in-jury-time.Earlier, Getafe dropped more points in therace for Champions League qualification asthey failed to break down Espanyol despitetheir opponents playing most of the matchwith 10 men.A goalless draw represents a missed opportu-nity for Jose Bordalas' side and they could evenhave lost to Espanyol, who had Bernardo Es-pinosa sent off in the 16th minute but arebuilding momentum.Getafe stay fifth, level on points with fourth-placed Real Sociedad, who will play their gamein hand at Alaves on Thursday. Getafe couldalso be overtaken if Atletico Madrid win on

Wednesday against Osasuna.Espanyol move to within two points of safetyafter resuming with a 2-0 victory over Alaveson Saturday.Villarreal stayed in the hunt for the Euro-pean places by beating Real Mallorca 1-0. Car-los Bacca's early finish leaves Villarreal sev-enth, three points from fourth. Mallorca re-main 18th.

REAL FEEL BARCA'S HEATAs Messis and men canter past the challenge of Leganes scoring twice

Lionel Messi was fouled by Unai Bustinza during the first half of Barcelona's 2-0 win at Camp Nou on Tuesday

We had a bit of luck at the beginning ”– Quique Setien, Barcelona coach

AGENCE FRANCE PRESSEBerlin

Robert Lewandowski saidhe hopes Bayern Munichwill be able to play in frontof their own fans againsoon after winning aneighth straight Bundesligatitle on Tuesday behindclosed doors.Lewandowski's first-halfgoal sealed a 1-0 win atWerder Bremen which sawBayern become the firstteam to secure a top leaguetitle on the pitch since thecoronavirus lockdown."It was tough without ourfans, without the energythey give us, but we are hap-py that we are Germanchampions again," saidLewandowski after Bayernwon their eighth straight

match following the re-sumption of German foot-ball last month."It wasn't easy, but weshowed our quality."I hope we can play infront of our fans in our sta-dium soon."Club chairman Karl-HeinzRummenigge admitted itwas a 'curious, strange' feel-ing to see only a handful ofBayern officials and back-room staff in the Wesersta-dion to cheer the players.Lewandowski admittedBayern endured a nervouslast few minutes as only afinger-tip save from goal-keeper Manuel Neuer pro-tected the lead."When you are 1-0 up, youknow you need to scoreagain to be sure. WerderBremen played well, but

luckily for us, we managedto hold them out," saidLewandowski."The most importantthing is that we can cele-brate as German champi-ons."That was typical of'Manu' (Neuer), he lovessaves like that and he did re-ally well and we had to bereally careful with theirlong balls."Bayern face Bayer Lev-erkusen in the GermanCup final on July 4 and areamong the favourites towin the ChampionsLeague. "We have our nextgame in three days, that isthe priority, but after that,we will have enough timeto prepare for the Champi-ons League," saidLewandowski.

Bayern too muchClaim the Bundesliga championship for the eight time in-a-row

Bayern Munich players celebrate in front of near-empty stands after securing an eighth straight Bundesliga title

PRESS TRUST OF INDIANew Delhi

Young India batswomanJemimah Rodrigues believesa full-fledged women's IndianPremier League (IPL) canmake a difference by un-earthing talent such asShafali Verma which wouldhelp the national team dowell at the global level.Countries such as Australiaand England organised T20tournaments for women todevelop the game and the 19-year-old Rodrigues believesthe same will happen in Indiaif there's a women's IPL."If you see the Big Bash andthe Kia Super League havedeveloped the game out thereso much for Australia, Eng-land and now even NewZealand has started. That's(IPL) definitely going to de-velop the game and it's alsogoing to get newer talent,"Rodrigues said on ICC's'100% Cricket'.She cited the example of

the 16-year-old Shafali, whoshone at the ICC Women'sT20 World Cup with her ex-plosive batting, as one of thefinds of the IPL."We came to know aboutShafali Verma through theIPL, she did so well in theIPL. We knew she could dowell in the domestic circuitbut after that playing againstinternational players and be-ing that fearless person wecan get many more talentsrising up playing suchmatches," she said.Rodrigues feels playing inthe IPL will not only help de-velop the game in the coun-try but also bolster the Indi-an team's bench strength."Definitely it is going to de-velop the game so much andalso give a lot of benchstrength to India."The BCCI has hostedwomen's IPL exhibitionmatches in the last two yearsbut has said a full-fledgedtournament will take sometime to take shape.

AGENCE FRANCE PRESSELondon

R eigning world 100mchampion Christian Coleman

was provisionally suspended onWednesday over a missed drugstest, putting him at risk of a two-year ban that would rule him outof next year's Tokyo Olympics.The American sprinter is'suspended temporarily fromparticipating in any competition oractivity,' said the AthleticsIntegrity Unit, World Athletics'anti-doping arm. Coleman, whoonly narrowly avoided beingbanned last year after threeviolations of anti-doping'whereabouts' rules across 2018and 2019, revealed details of hislatest missed test on Twitter. Theworld's fastest man, who clocked9.76sec to win 100m gold at lastyear's World Championships in

Doha, said he had unsuccessfullychallenged an AIU finding that hemissed a test on December 9,2019. "And now this might resultin me being suspended fromother filing failures that occurredwell over a year ago at thispoint," Coleman said. The 24-year-old is now barred fromcompetition pending a hearingunder World Athletics anti-dopingrules, the AIU website said.Coleman's impassionedstatement on Twitter was

accompanied by what appearedto be a copy of his formalnotification from the AIU of amissed test. Coleman, escapedsuspension on a technicalityahead of last September's WorldChampionships after it emergedhe had committed threewhereabouts failures in a 12-month period. Those offenceswere recorded on June 6, 2018,January 16, 2019 and April 26,2019. However, Coleman hadsuccessfully argued that the first

missed case should have beenbackdated to the first day of thequarter, April 1, 2018, meaningthe three failures fell just outsidethe required 12-month period.But news that Coleman missedanother meeting with testers inDecember means that hisoffences in January and April oflast year now come into play.Under World Anti-Doping Agencyrules, any combination of threewhereabouts failures, eithermissing a test or failing to filepaperwork on time, within a 12-month period is deemed adoping offence punishable by atwo-year suspension. "I've beencontacted by phone literallyevery other time I've beentested," Coleman said. "Literally.(I don't know) why this time wasdifferent. He even said hecouldn't hear the doorbell so whywouldn't you call me?"

World champion Coleman suspendedThis could put him at risk of two-year ban; may miss Tokyo Olympics

PTI / New Delhi

India's leading sportspersons,including cricket captain Vi-rat Kohli and former footballskipper Bhaichung Bhutia,have paid tributes to the 20Army personnel killed dur-ing a clash with Chinesetroops in eastern Ladakh. The clash at the Galwan val-ley was the biggest Indo-Chi-na military confrontation inover five decades and escalat-ed the volatile border standoffin the region. "Salute and deepest respect tothe soldiers who sacrificedtheir lives to protect our coun-try in the Galwan Valley. Noone is more selfless and bravethan a soldier. Sincere condo-lences to the families.," Kohliwrote on his twitter page.His white ball deputy RohitSharma also mourned thedeath of the soldiers."Salute to our REAL HE-ROES who laid their livesprotecting and honouringour border. May god givetheir families utmoststrength," Rohit tweeted.Bhutia, termed the attack a"planned one".

Sports personspay tribute to

Indian soldiersAFP / Madrid

Former snooker star WillieThorne has died after a shortillness at the age of 66, it wasannounced on his Go-FundMe page on Wednesday.The two-time world cham-pionship quarter-finalist hadbeen suffering fromleukaemia and was in an in-duced coma in a Spanishhospital following respirato-ry failure."It is with a very heavy andbroken heart that I have to of-ficially announce that at 1:55am this morning WillieThorne lost his battle andpassed away," read the mes-sage written by his carerJulie O'Neill on the Go-FundMe page."Willie went into septicshock and was not respond-ing to any treatment so the de-cision was made by the hospi-tal to turn off the machines."I was with him all the wayto his end and reading outmessages to him from people."The GoFundMe page set upto help pay for his treatmentraised more than two-thirds ofits 30,000-Euro ($34,000) target.

Former snookerstar Thorne is

no more

Women's IPL willhelp unearth newtalent: Jemimah