Regd. No. Indore MP/ICD 216/2018-2020 RNI No. 38281/83 ...€¦ · of Chingari, a desi alterna -...

FPJ NEWS SERVICENEW DELHI

The Ministry of Electronicsand Information Technologyhas banned 47 apps, whichare variants and clonedcopies of the 59 apps bannedearlier in June.According to a Ministry of-

ficial, “The apps were foundto be operating despite theearlier ban. So, they havebeen taken down from appli-cation stores.”The banned clones include

Tiktok Lite, Helo Lite,SHAREit Lite, BIGO LIVELite and VFY Lite.The 59 apps, most of which

were Chinese, had beenbanned by the Centre inview of the informationavailable that they are en-gaged in activities which are

"prejudicial to sovereigntyand integrity and defence" ofthe country.The initial list included

popular short video serviceTikTok, browser and contentapp UC Browser, file sharingservice Shareit, women-spe-cific fashion shopping appShein, popular mobile gameClash of Kings, and more.The ban had come amid bor-der tensions with China inEastern Ladakh.The government is prepar-

ing another exhaustive list ofover 250 Chinese Apps, in-cluding apps linked to Aliba-ba, which it will examine for

any user privacy or nationalsecurity violations, govern-ment sources were cited assaying by India Today TV.The list includes Tencent-backed gaming app PUBG.Some top gaming Chinese

applications are also likelyto be blacklisted. These ap-plications have allegedlybeen sharing data with theChinese agencies. Indian app creators on Mon-day welcomed the decisionto ban the clone apps.‘‘We need to be very con-

cerned about our data, andmake sure it remains withinIndia. We, at Chingari, havealways been on top of this,hence we decided to nevertake any funds from China,nor use any of their technol-ogy in our app," said SumitGhosh, CEO and Cofounderof Chingari, a desi alterna-tive to Chinese TikTokwhich has been downloadedby millions since the bancame into the force.

MP to witness virtual Cabinet for first timeMinisters, officers to take part in meeting online

OUR STAFF REPORTERBHOPAL

The state is going to witness a virtual Cab-inet meeting for the first time, after the vi-ral disease has afflicted Chief MinisterShivraj Singh and spread across the state.Chouhan and Cooperatives minister

Arvind Bhadauria, who have tested posi-tive, will also take part in the meetingfrom Chirayu Hospital. The ministershave been given links for the virtual meet-ing. The chief secretary and other offi-cers will also take part in the meeting.Nearly 24 items have been included in theagenda. The ministers and the officers oftheir respective departments will presentthose agenda online.If the virtual Cabinet succeeds, it will be

considered as an achievement. Before beginning of the meeting at 11am,

there will be a trial run of the event at9:30am. Except for special occasions,Chouhan holds Cabinet meeting on everyTuesday.It was decided that the meetingwould be put off, because the chief ministerwas down with corona. CONTD. ON P8

News BriefRussia suspends

deliveries of S-400 missiles

MOSCOW: Russia hasannounced suspension ofS-400 surface-to-air missilesystems to China and saidthe resumption of furtherdeliveries is yet to beascertained. Citing Chinesenewspaper Sohu, UAWirereported, "This time,Russia announced thepostponement of thedelivery of missiles for theChinese S-400 system. To acertain extent, we can saythat it is for the sake ofChina. Getting a gun is notas easy as signing an invoiceafter receiving a weapon."

WEATHER30.40C.23.60C.Sunrise: 05 : 56Sunset : 07 : 11Thought for the dayTo have a healthy heart,be a good-hearted personand feed the mind with ahealthy diet of purethoughts and feelings.- Brahma Kumaris

t INDORE t BHOPAL t UJJAIN t MUMBAI t PUNEN

ATIO

N KARNATAKA CROSSES 1L MARK IN COVID CASES EDIT

GLAMRAJASTHAN TANGLE HAS NO CLEAR END

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

PRIYANKA, NICKSTAND WITH ASSAMFREE-PRESS

VOL. XXXVII NO. 50 | INDORE | TUESDAY | JULY 28, 2020 | PAGES 12 | ` 3 www.freepressjournal.in

r RNI No. 38281/83

Raj Guv wants 21days prior notice

SANGEETA PRANVENDRAJaipur

Rajasthan Governor KalrajMishra has turned down forthe second time the govern-ment’s request to convene aspecial session of Assembly.The govt had sent a revised cab-inet note that answered all thesix queries pumt forth by theGovernor, but he returned itand put forth 3 pre-conditionsfor calling a session. CM Ashok Gehlot also held a

conversation with PM Modi andinformed him about the politicalsituation in Rajasthan. Gehlotgave this information while ad-dressing a MLAs meet on Mon-day. He said, “I spoke to Modiand told him about the situationand also about the kind of be-haviour the Governor is adopt-ing towards us. CONTD. ON P8

MP BOARD CLASS XII EXAM RESULTS ANNOUNCED

OUR STAFF REPORTER BHOPAL

Mandsaur girls PriyaRathore and Rinku Bathratopped the MP Board class12 exams securing 495 outof 500 marks. The Madhya Pradesh

Board of Secondary Ed-ucation (MPBSE) onMonday declared resultsfor Class XII exams, withgirls outshining boys inoverall pass percentage.Girls have recorded passpercentage of 73.40 percent against 64.66 percent for boys among reg-ular students conducted

by the Madhya PradeshBoard of Secondary Edu-cation. The resultshowed a decline of3.56% compared to previ-ous year.MP Board officials de-

clared the results online onMonday without any fan-fare because of Covid-19 in-duced lockdown. Priya and

Rinku from Mandsaurtopped the merit list scor-ing 495 out of 500 marks.Both are from science(math) stream. Mufaddalfrom Neemuch scored 487and topped in commercestream. Khushi Singh fromRewa topped the merit listin humanities scoring 486marks. CONTD. ON P8

GMC's forensic science HoD held for graft Dr Lalwani haddemanded Rs 1.50Lfrom student to helphim clear the exam


Lokayukta police have ar-rested Dr Murli Lalwani,the HoD of the forensicscience department inGandhi Medical College,for accepting Rs 40,000bribe on Monday. SP Lokayukta Manu

Vyas said that a studentdoing post graduation atthe medical college DrYashpal Singh lodged acomplaint with theLokayukta accusing DrLalwani of seeking Rs1.50 lakh to help him clearthe exams.

The HoD had even al-legedly threatened Singhto fail him in the exam ifhe did not concede to hisdemand. Recently, Singh had re-

ceived Rs 1.50 lakh as re-muneration for providingpost-mortem services inthe hospital. Two other medicos, Dr

Sanjay Jain and Dr AshokYadav too have made simi-lar complaints toLokayukta against Lal-wani. Acting on Singh’s com-

plaint, a case was regis-tered and a trap was laid tocatch Lalwani red-handed. On Monday, Singh ar-

rived at Lalwani’s officewith Rs 40,000 - the first in-stalment of the amountdemanded. When themedico was handing overthe cash to Lalwani, theLokayukta sleuths caughthim accepting the amount.The HoD was arrested butwas later released on thepersonal bail bond. The Lokayukta police

will take statements of UGand PG students also alsoof those who have passedout from the college.

Three childrenamong 8 killed

in bike-SUVcollision


Three motorcycles and aSUV collided head on inwhich eight people includ-ing three children died. Theaccidents occurred atChandrapur police post un-der the Bamitha police sta-tion in Chhatarpur districtat 1 pm on Monday. TheSUV was heading towardsChhatarpur from Pannawhile three motorcycleswere coming from Chat-tarpur. The dismembered bodies

were scattered over thehighway and the bikeswere also fully damaged.The SUV overturned andfell into the ditch locatedby side of the highway.The eight people on threemotorcycles were resi-dents of Surajpura andwere going to Bamitha tomeet their bedridden, oldrelative. They all died inthe accident.

CONTD. ON P8

NSA slappedon accused for

abducting,raping womanAlirajpur: NSA was in-voked on a man arrested onMonday for allegedly kid-napping a woman and rap-ing her in confinement, po-lice said.Rehmat Khan (32) was ar-

rested after the victim es-caped and approached police.Khan had kidnapped the 20-year-old woman from Dharand raped her for 20 days,said SP Vipul Shrivastava."Rehmat is a history-sheeterwith 9 cases against hisname. He also has 3 cases ofkidnapping and rape. He hasserved a jail sentence in onerape case," the SP said. "Wehave invoked NSA on Khanand sent him to Barwani'scentral jail," the SPsaid

FORCE MULTIPLIER: The first batch of Rafale aircraft prepare to take off from Dassault AviationFacility, Merignac, in France, on Monday

OVERALL TOPPERSSCORE NAME STREAM PLACE495/500 Priya Rathore Maths Mandsaur 495/500 Rinku Bathra Maths Mandsaur 490/500 Anushka Gupta Biology Shivpuri 487/500 Mufeel Arwiwala Commerce Neemuch486/500 Khushi Singh Humanities Rewa

Mandsaur girls state toppers

CM's 2nd report found +ve, Shah enquires his health

BHOPAL: The second swab sample of ChiefMinister Shivraj Singh Chouhan was foundpositive on Monday. After Chouhan testedpositive for Covid-19, he underwent a repeattest. Nevertheless, Chouhan is in the pink of hishealth. His medical parameters were normal.Union Home Minister Amit Shah enquiredabout CM's health over phone. Home MinisterNarottam Mishra and Medical EducationMinister Vishwash Sarang went to ChirayuHospital and took feedback on CM's healthfrom the hospital's CMD, Dr Ajay Goenka. All his Cabinet colleagues enquired after hishealth over phone. CONTD. ON P8


Examinations of students offinal year graduation andfourth semester of post grad-uation will be conducted byopen book system at theirhome itself to protect themfrom infection of corona.The CM said that ques-

tions are always raised ontheir final degree because ofgeneral promotion. Hence,decision has been taken tohold their examinations by

open book system, he added.The CM has said that impor-tant decisions have been tak-en in view of corona infec-tion, safety of students pursu-ing higher education andtheir career. Admission to stu-dents of the first and secondyear graduation as well as tostudents of PG second semes-ter will be given in the nextclass on the basis of examina-tion result of previous yearand internal evaluation of cur-rent session. CONTD. ON P8

Open book exams for final year & final Sem studentsPromotions based on previous scores

Keeping tab on ongoing pandemic, technical education, skilldevelopment and employment department has decided topromote all the students studying in 2nd to 7th semester based oninternal marking and their previous year scores. It was informedthrough a letter issued and signed by additional secretary Dr MRDhakkad. In the letter, it was stated that it's govt's duty to ensurebetter future for students studying in final semester and to keepthis in mind, orders to conduct online exams was issued. Thosewho fail to appear in online exams, separate special exam will beconducted for them in future.For students studying in an oddsemesters (3rd, 5th and 7th), regular online classes will be startfrom Aug 17 and admission in first semester for new academicsession will be commenced from October 15.

Indian creators welcome2nd 'digital strike'

Indian app creatorswelcomed the decision bythe government to ban47 more Chinese apps,most of those operatingas clones of the 59 appsbanned last month.

Results decline by 3.56%, 121 make it to merit list

47 MORE CHINESE APPS BANNED250 more Appsunder govt lens

OUR STAFF REPORTERIndore

With two more deaths reported onMonday, the number of deceased waslogged at 304 in the city. Death rate incity read 4.34 per cent. The number ofpositive cases crossed the 7,000-markin the city.As many as 73 more patients were

tested positive on Monday out of 1130sample reports received. Rate of positivepatients was recorded at 6.46 percent

and total number of patients reached7058. According to the bulletin releasedby CMHO, reports of total samples re-ceived till Monday night was 1,32,600and total number of samples tested pos-itive were 7058. As many as 1,027 sam-ples were tested negative on Monday."We have taken as many as 1,209

more samples," he added. As many as1,994 patients are undergoing treat-ment at various city-based hospitals.Total 4758 patients have been dis-charged so far.

Positive tally crosses 7K, 2 deaths reportedPiparia MLA Thakur Das Nagwansi wastested corona positive on Monday. Hewill be admitted in Chirayu Hospital.Bhopal with 5,827 cases and 159 deathsis at 2nd spot . Ujjain is at the third spotwith 72 deaths and 1,133 positive cases.Burhanpur recorded 464 cases whileNeemuch has 630 positive patients.Khandwa accounts for 582 positive caseswhile Khargone's tally stands at 666.Jabalpur recorded 1033 cases.

Piparia MLA tests +ve

As we approach theend of the 'Unlock 2'restrictions, which

were enforced to managethe Covid-19 pandemic,there is an air of uncer-tainty as to what newguidelines would apply fol-lowing 'Unlock 3', which be-gins on August 1.

Adding to the uncertain-ty of the guidelines fromthe Central government, isthe anxiousness with whatrestrictions state govern-ments will add to it. Thisgeneral environment ofuncertainty can give rise toa sense of helplessnessamongst business owners,employees and people atlarge, as they find it verydifficult to plan for the fu-ture.

We attempt to do twothings in this article. First,we try to explain the dilem-ma faced by policy makers,and why they are com-pelled to think and re-thinktheir policy decisions fre-quently. Second, we put for-ward a few suggestionsthat policy-makers mayemploy to ease the effectsof policy uncertainty re-garding lockdowns.

The first point that needsto be acknowledged is thatthe Covid-19 scenario inthe country is worrisome.One way to judge this is bytracking the rise in thenumber of cases, but at apersonal level also it is like-ly that many of us may, bynow, know of a friend or arelative that was infected.This suggests that the dis-ease has spread to a lot ofplaces. The Central andState governments are ofcourse responsible for con-trolling the spread of thepandemic, but as we ex-plain below, the particularcontext of India poses poli-cy-makers with a higherdegree of challenge ascompared to other coun-tries.

In a research paper pre-pared at IIM Indore in May2020, we highlighted fivestructural factors that pro-mote the rapid spread andmortality from Covid-19.These factors ranged fromthe quality of health infra-structure, health conditionof the population, popula-tion density, education leveland senior citizen popula-tion. We found that in a com-parative assessment of theworld's 30 largest countries,India was highly threatenedby four of these five factors,and moderately threatenedby one factor (senior citizenpopulation). This meantthat if we take the healthperspective alone, India cat-egorises as a high health-vulnerable country, whichthereby mandates stringentmeasures to manage thepandemic.

On the other hand, wealso studied three econom-ic measures to understandthe economic vulnerabilityemerging from stringentpolicies such as lockdowns.The first measure is thepoverty rate, the second iseconomic strength (meas-ured as GDP per capita)and the third is trade de-pendence. On two of thesethree measures India iseconomically highly vul-nerable and in the third

measure (trade depend-ence) it is moderately vul-nerable. In all, this analysisplaces India in the topquadrant of countries interms of economic vulner-ability.

The above empirics sug-gest that policy makers inIndia are in an extremelychallenging and unenvi-able position, in trying tobalance between two high-ly pressing vulnerabilitiesof health and economy. Toget a sense of the degree ofthe challenge, think aboutthe wide coverage that thepandemic receives in well-to-do economies and devel-oped health systems likethe US and Italy. Multiplythe challenge in thesecountries about 4 to 5 timesover, and you would proba-bly get close to the heat In-dian policy makers are fac-ing today.

Working in an environ-ment with high vulnerabil-ity on both the health andthe economy fronts meansthat you have to be con-stantly on your toes. Aweek or two of lockdownputs the economy in acutedistress, while opening upmakes you severely vulner-able on the health front. Ademocratic set-up does notmake things easy either, asthe media and opposition

are actively (and rightfullyso) throwing up statisticsto challenge you one way orthe other.

The likely consequencesof all these factors arewhat we are currently see-ing: Frequent changes inpolicy based constitutionalconditions, and a generalsense of uncertaintyamong people as to what iscoming next. We believesome uncertainty is un-avoidable, and is likely tocarry on till we reach somestability on the healthfront. However, it is impor-tant that policy-makers at-tempt to ease the effects ofuncertainty, at least to theextent possible. We make afew suggestions in this di-rection.

The first relates to thetiming of lockdown an-nouncements. It would beeasier if central and stategovernments coordinatethe timing of lockdown an-nouncements. This wouldenable citizens, particular-ly the business community,to plan keeping clear time-lines in mind. The secondrelates to the access to in-formation on central andstate guidelines. It wouldbe convenient if all guide-lines are available in a sin-gle online repository andin easy-to-understand lan-guage (and may be throughinteresting videos) so thatcitizens can access the in-formation easily and caninterpret guidelines with-out ambiguity. A third sug-gestion is for governmentsto develop clear metrics(such as growth in numberof cases, mortality rate),which help base decisionson Lockdown and Unlock.If there is public aware-ness about these metrics,and information to trackthe metrics is also avail-able, it would bring trans-parency, and ease the poli-cy uncertainty.

2 INDORE CITY Rape accused arrestedINDORE: A rape accused, who was on the run from 2017, was arrested by the police from theKhandwa toll plaza, under Dwarkapuri police station on Monday. Police said the 21-year old youthhad raped a minor girl and had been booked under Sections 363, 366, 376(2)(n) and 376(2)(i) ofIPC and 3/4,5/6 POCSO (Protection Of Children from Sexual Offences) act. Police had received tip-off that he would be there at Khandwa toll plaza and a team was sent there to arrest him.

FREEPRESSTUESDAY | JULY 28, 2020 | INDORE


Despite facing several finan-cial and societal challenges,girls outshone boys in Mad-hya Pradesh Board of Sec-ondary Education (MPBSE)class 12th board examina-tions.

The pass percentage ofgirls was 73.40 per cent,while that of boys is 64.66 percent. However, this year, thepass percentage has dippedsignificantly from the lastyear and stood at 68.81 percent. Last year, the pass per-centage was 72.37 per cent.

Four students from Indoremade their place in Statemerit topper's list. Three ofthem were from Commercestream and one was a topperin Science - Biology stream,as shared by divisional offi-cer Deven Sonwani.

Science - Biology topperfrom Indore who made it inthe State Merit list is DelanPatel. He scored 484 marksout of 500 and securedfourth position in state.

The three State Merit Top-pers from Commercestream are: VishnukantMishra, Khushbu Vermaand Nisha Patel.

Girls power ahead of boys in MPBSE XII results

4 in State merit list, pass percentage drops

PASSING PERCENTAGE OVER THE YEARSYEAR OVERALL PASS % GIRLS' PASS % BOYS' PASS % 2020 68.81 73.40 64.662019 72.37 76.31 68.94 2018 68 72.33 64.39 2017 70.11 69.47 70.07 2016 69.33 73.78 65.81 2015 65.94 69.42 63.32014 65.88 63.31 69.5

INDORE TOPPERSCOMMERCE STREAM TOPPERS

1. Vishnukant Mishra from Malhar Aashram Schoolsecured sixth position in state with 474 marks

2. Khushbu Verma from Pink Flower School securedeight position in state with 472 marks

3. Nisha Patel from Malhar Aashram School securedtenth position in state with 470 marks

SCIENCE BIOLOGY TOPPER

Delan Patel from Malhar Aashram School scored484 marks out of 500 and secured fourth position instate.

DISTRICT MERIT HOLDERARTS STREAM TOPPERS

1. Vinita Rathore, 453 Marks, Government H.S. SchoolBudgonda

2. Vinit Kumar Dodwa, 451 marks, Vidya Children'sAcademy, Palada

2. Neha Goyal, 451 Marks, Malav Kanya HS schoolSCIENCE MATH+BIO STREAM TOPPERS

1. Vishal Nagar, 473 marks, New Pink Flower School2. Mayur Tembhare, 470 Marks,

Malhar Aashram HS school3. Ramkumar Lodhi, 469 marks,

Malhar Aashram HS school

COMMERCE STREAM TOPPERS

Hariom Gurjar, 469 marksNeeraj Soni, 469 marksAkash Rajput, 469 marksKunal Soni, 469 marks

TOPPERS’ TALKFourth rank in MP, Science Bio city topper

FARMER'S SON, ENROUTE TO BECOMING FIRST DOC IN FAMILY

Learning to multitaskfrom his father, whoworks as an electri-

cian, farmer and labour,Delan Patel is the sciencecity topper, who securedfourth position in statewith 484/500 marks.

Originally from Damoh,he dreams of becoming thefirst doctor in his family. "Iscored 98.4 percent in class10th and made my placeamong Super 100, in fact, Iwas at fifth position instate back then," Patelsaid.

With a dream to followhis aspirations, he lived inMalharganj Aashram andhas been preparing forNEET 2020. "I have an eld-er sister (Aarti) and ayounger brother (Sumit),who motivated me," Patelsaid.

Eight in State, second in Indore in CommerceWALKED TO HER NANI'S HOME TO STUDY EVERYDAY

Khushbu Verma from PinkFlower School secured eight po-sition in state with 472 marks.

She is the second city topper of com-merce stream in Indore.

Residing in Jeevan-ki-phel, Khushbufaced several financial and logisticsproblems. "I had to go to my Nani's(maternal grandmother) house tostudy, because where I stay, it is verydifficult to study," she said.

With support from her family, shewas able to concentrate on her studies,when her father (Bhawani Verma)worked several jobs to manage theirdaily expenses. "I learned Henna art,which helps me in earning some mon-ey at times," Khushbu said.

She loves to act and dance. "I concen-trated only on my studies because it ismy dream to become an IAS officer,"Khushbu said. She did not considerhow much she will score, just gave herbest. "In class 10th, I scored 93 per centand so hopefully, I will better and cleargovt exam in future," Khushbu said.Delan Patel with his parents (Asha & Hukam Patel)

Khushbu Verma with her teachers andparents (Aarti and Bhawani Verma)

Humanities Indore TopperSCHOOL ADDED A SUBJECT JUST FOR HER

Dreams come to us, whenwe dare to go after themfacing every challenge

with a smile. Such was thecase for Vinita Rathore, whowas the only student in herschool who studied Econom-ics. She has scored 453 marksand is Indore's topper in Hu-manities stream.

"I live in village Bargonda,where we do not have schoolsand coaching for studying sci-ence in class XII," Rathoresaid. She wanted to studymathematics.

"I had scored 95 per cent inclass 10th, but it is not possiblefor my parents to send me toIndore to study and pay fee,"Rathore. She choose humani-ties as she found arts more in-teresting than commerce.

In arts, she really wanted tostudy economics. "My school did nothave economics then, but my schoolprincipal (Dinesh Gupta) agreed andgot the subject in school just for me,"Rathore said.

She was the only student in schoolwho would study and give economicsexam. "I was lucky, because as soon

as I entered class 12th, an economicsteacher was transferred to my schoolwhich helped me in understandingthe subject better," Rathore said.

Helping her ace out the challengesof studies, her elder sister (Prachi)and father (farmer Raju) were herbiggest support.

Vinita Rathore with her parents (Rekha & Raju Rathore)

Commerce city topper, 6th state topperNOT LANGUAGE, BUT CONCENTRATE ON KNOWLEDGE

Vishnukant Mishra fromMalhar Aashram Schoolsecured sixth position in

state with 474 marks. He is thecity topper for Commercestream.

Inspired by (late) Dr APJ Ab-dul Kalam, Mishra hopes to be-come a successful chartered ac-countant. Sharing an importantlesson from his experience,Mishra said, "I like studying,but I faced a major challengewhen I was sent to English

medium school and my interestand score fell down from 90s to70s." After re-joining govern-ment school in class 9th,Mishra's scorecard and interestrekindled and he scored 94 percent in class 10th. "I got selectedin super 100 scheme and movedfrom Sidhi to Indore to fulfil mydreams," he said.

His father (advocate RajeshKumar Mishra) and mother(Rekha Mishra) always support-ed his aspirations.

3rd in city, 10th in stateCommerce toppers

FIRST TO STUDY IN FARMER'S FAMILY

Nisha Patel from Mal-har Aashram Schoolsecured tenth posi-

tion in state with 470marks. She is the first inher family to completeschool education.

"I come from Bhama vil-lage, where it is not usualfor people to study," shesaid. With support from herparents(Rewa andBabulalPatel), sheconcen-trated onstudies tofollow herdreams.

"I scored92.4 per cent in class 10th,which gave me an opportu-nity to move to Indore un-der super 100," Patel said.However, there was a twistthat due to her score, shecould not get science in thescheme and was selected incommerce stream.

"My school principal ex-plained to me that the op-portunity of studyingamong super 100 will helpme in building my career,so I took the chance andfound my new dream of be-coming a chartered ac-countant," Patel said

Vishnukant Mishra with his family

Poonam Mishra is thirdstate topper in specially

abled category fromIndore. She is city

topper in the categorywith 75.25 percent.

AGRICULTURE STREAM TOPPER

UmaNagar,

459points,Sitadevi

H.S. School, Palada

Nisha Patel

Anil Mahajannew MPTApresident


A yearly general assemblyof Madhya Pradesh TennisAssociation (MPTA) washeld on Monday through a

video con-ference ses-sion. Theimportantactivities inthe associa-tion, tourna-ments,trainingpro-grammes,annual fi-nancialstatementand other is-sues werediscussed in

the meeting.Also, the executive mem-

bers of the year 2020-2024were selected in the meet-ing. Anil Mahajan will bethe new president (Indore)of the association , AnilDhupar will be honorarysecretary (Indore), AnuragThakur will be the joint sec-retary (Gwalior) andPramod Dikshit will betreasurer (Bhopal).

MHOW

In order to restore the lostglory of Mhow Civil Hospi-tal, SDM Abhilash Mishrastarted a campaign to bringit back on track. For this,Mishra makes surprise vis-its especially at unearthlyhours.

On Saturday, he got a whiffof the fact that gynecologistDr Reena Churihar had re-ferred a village woman to In-dore for a minor problemeven as it could be treated atthe hospital itself. He reachedthe hospital late on Saturdayand summoned Dr Churiharand Dr Nasrin Ali for thisdiscrepancy. Caught on thewrong, both apologized andpromised that such "lapses"won't be repeated in future.

Mishra also received infor-mation that a laboratory as-sistant Amrin Shah was notcoming to work and was notdischarging her duties, onwhich she was attached toPC Sethi hospital in Indore.

Today also, the SDMreached the hospital in theafternoon for a survey. Henoted the problems and dis-

cussed the same with Dr HRVerma.

STRANGE REVELATION

During inspection, he sawa spectacle shop within thehospital premises. On in-quiry, it was revealed that

ophthalmic assistantChadrashekhar Bargal wasrunning it. He preparedlenses and provided framesand sold the same at a pre-mium to the patients. Bargalwas suspended and the shopwas sealed.

SDM's stern survey joltsMhow civil hospital right

Anil Mahajan

Anil Dhupar

The SDM has to be hailed forhis initiative. His robust ap-proach has attacked the flab

and slackness in the day-to-day operations. If such regu-lar and stern surveys were held in the past, the hospitalwouldn't have lost its name and people would have hadtheir faith in the institute. However, unfortunately this isnot the case, but it is always better late than never. It hasbeen out in the open that the hospital authorities havelost complete control of the staff and discipline wastossed out of the window. Hats off to the SDM for his wor-thy approach.

CHEATING PEOPLE OF THEIR HARD EARNED MONEY

5 advisory companies cheated Rs 39 lakh from 8 investors

One complainant committedsuicide due to fraud


The five advisory compa-nies have cheated eight peo-ple of Rs 39,91,000, said po-lice on Monday on the basisof the complaints receivedagainst the advisory compa-nies. One of the com-plainants from UttarPradesh even committed

suicide allegedly because ofthe fraud. Earlier on Sun-day, police raided five advi-sory companies in Lasudiaand Vijay Nagar police sta-tion areas and arrested tenpeople in that connection.

Police officials said thataround eight complaintswere received against thefive companies. The com-plainants are from differentstates. Shantanu Sarwabhu-mi of Jharkhand com-plained of being cheated of

Rs 3.10 lakh (investmentfund) and Rs 1 lakh as a lossin shares. Jitendra Verma ofUttar Pradesh was cheatedof Rs 2.79 lakh by the com-pany who obtaining his de-mat account id and pass-word and of Rs 1.15 lakh inthe name of brokerage. Sim-ilarly, Nandrsai Venkat Su-varao was cheated with Rs5.70 lakh, Dada SahebTutare of Ahmednagar Ma-harashtra was cheated withRs 10 lakh, Mansur Ansari

of Bihar with Rs 3 lakh andRam Raj Dhakad of Ra-jasthan with Rs 1.17 lakh.

Fraud victim committed suicideOne of complainants, AjayBabu of Uttar Pradeshcommitted suicide afterthe company cheated himof Rs 9 lakh. His motherUshadevi in her complaintto the Crime Branchalleged that the company'sfraud was the reasonbehind her son's suicide.

FP VIEW

EASING THE POLICY UNCERTAINTYASSOCIATED WITH LOCKDOWNS

Apolicy paper by IIM Indore director Prof HimanshuRai and faculty Prof Ajit Phadnis suggests that in the

context of India, a relatively stringent approach isnecessary to handle the pandemic

Prof Himanshu Rai Prof Ajit Phadnis


In a digital strike againstChina, the Information andTechnology Ministry onMonday banned 47 Chineseapps . These apps are clonesor variants of Chinese-linked 59 apps earlierbanned in June. Also, therewas a dilemma on banningthe PUBG game by TencentGames - the largest publish-er of video games in China.Free Press spoke to peopleon whether they supportedthe government's move toban PUBG and the otherChinese apps.

Aisha Khan, a college stu-dent said that she plays thegame often but after Chinaclashed with India in theborder she removed the ap-

plication and also made hercousins and friends do thesame, because of game'sChina connection.

Arjun Goyal, an Informa-tion Technology engineersaid that the game user in-terface is made such that aperson can get fascinatedeasily and later the fascina-tion turns into an addic-tion. On development ofgaming apps it is essentialto put heavy graphics in theconsole so that the playergets sucked into playing ittill the end. The PUBG doesthe same and keeps on up-dating and introducing newthemes and playgrounds tokeep people attracted.

Nikita Sahu, an Comput-er Science engineer anduser interface developersaid that the PUBG game

has the weakest point of aperson in its hand. Usually,the games have levels andmissions, which makesthem a lengthy game.Sometimes on losing a levelmultiple times people loseinterest in playing thegame and switch to anothergame because it is a humanbehaviour not to do thesame thing again andagain. In PUBG, the gameprovides a session of 30minutes and every timeyou get new people in yourteam as well as new peopleas an opponent, whichkeeps the excitement con-stant and indirectly forcesthe people, especially teensand youths to keep on play-ing again and again.

Vikalp Singh Rajput,working professional in a

call center said after know-ing about PUBG's connec-tion with China he unin-stalled the app and urgedeveryone on social media touninstall Chinese apps.Many people similar toVikalp and Aisha havestarted to uninstall suchapps and also after beingadmirers of the PUBGgame they are ready to sac-rifice the game for their na-tion.

COUNTRY FIRST: People ready tosacrifice PUBG, other Chinese apps

INDORE CITY 3Depalpur Patwari dies in accidentIndore: A woman riding a two-wheeler in Depalpur on Monday evening in the Super Corridorarea was rammed by a truck from behind. She died on-the-spot. The pillion rider is in a criticalcondition. The trucker has been arrested. Banganga Police Station incharge, inspector RajendraSoni said the deceased Nirmala Malviya, 53, was Patwari in Depalpur. The pillion rider, Noori, hasbeen admitted to hospital. Police said after the collision, Nirmala lost balance and was thrown offthe bike. After she fell on the road, the truck mowed her.


WHETHER IT’S POLITICAL PROTEST AGAINST THE GOVERNMENT OR THE RULING PARTY MEETING TO PLAN THE BYPOLL OR EVEN AN ATTEMPT TO APPEASE THE RAIN GOD, PEOPLE OF THE CITY HAVE MADE IT A POINT TO SCRAMBLE ON

TO THE ROADS TO MAKE A SHOW… LESS DO THEY KNOW THAT THEY ARE SPELLING DOOM FOR TOMORROW?

SUNDAY HOYA MONDAY

For netas, it's socialisingNOT social distancing


Social distancing and oth-er norms are meant (per-haps) for the aam aadmiand not for Netas (irrespec-tive of their politicalhues). While BJP organ-ized a meeting at the partyoffice on Sunday even as itwas lockdown in city, Con-gress leaders took out a ral-ly to protest against ad-ministration's step of left-right shop openingscheme, alleged "ruthless-ness" against handcartpullers and other issues onMonday.

Congress leaders organ-ized the rally from Parde-shipura Square to Patnipu-ra Square in which hun-dreds of activists gatheredand blatantly mocked thenorms of social distancingand masks. They evenmanaged to burn the effigyof Chief Minister ShivrajSingh Chouhan amid po-lice attempts to stop them.

The rally was organizedby Congress leader of con-stituency no. 2 ChintuChoukse and RajuBhadoriya while variousleaders, including formerhigher education ministerJitu Patwari was also pres-ent.

"Administration is dis-criminating and taking ac-tion against 'violators' ofsafety protocols as offi-

cials are running aftersmall traders and the com-mon man but BJP leadersare organizing meetingsand rallies without anypermission. We alsoprotest against the admin-istration action againsthandcart vendors alongwith demanding the gov-ernment to let all shopsopen in the city by endingthe left-right system,"Chintu Choukse said.

City president VinayBakliwal said traders are

facing trouble and hugebusiness losses due to theexperiments "conducted"by the administration."All shops should beopened as it is festive timeand traders already had ahuge rough patch duringthe lockdown regimes," headded.

He skirted the questionof violating social distanc-ing norms in rally by say-ing that BJP leaders areviolating norms as norules exist for them. "They

can organize rallies evenby riding horses. They canorganize meetings duringlockdown but administra-tion will keep mum on thesame," Bakliwal said.

CONGRESS LEADERS STAGE SIT-IN OUTSIDE

COLLECTOR'S CHAMBERCity president of Con-

gress Vinay Bakliwal andMLA Sanjay Shukla stagedsit-in outside Collector'schamber after they weredenied entry to the meet-

ing of traders with Collec-tor Manish Singh on Mon-day.

Congress leaders allegedthat they were intentional-ly not allowed entry to themeeting by the adminis-trative officials.

Both leaders werestopped by ADM PawanJain from entering themeeting room where Col-lector was meeting withrepresentatives of AhilyaChambers of Commerceand Industries.

"I am the vice presidentof Ahilya Chambers ofCommerce and Industrieswhile Shukla is public rep-resentative. Most of themarkets near Rajwada fallin his constituency and wehave the right to attendthe meeting," Bakliwalsaid.

Later, they met CollectorSingh and expressed dis-pleasure and also askedhim to stop the left-rightsystem and to allow openall shops in the city.

Rightly mentioned inthe article that allrules and terms like

COVIDIOTS are impliedONLY against those whoare the common man andthe tax payers of thenation. It is important andimperative for the aamaadmi to follow safetyprotocol in the largerinterest of themselves andthe nation. But what aboutthe public representativeswho are supposed to leadby example? Also it may benoted that the cops tookprompt action against theCongress leaders byregistering an FIR onMonday… but on Sundaywhat happened to thecops? Where were they?Questions galore…

FIR REGISTEREDAGAINST

PATWARI, CHOUKSE AND OTHERS

Meanwhile the copscracked down on theprotesting Congressleaders. CSP Nihit Upadhyaysaid,

"We have registered an FIRagainst Congress leadersand others, including JituPatwari, Chintu Choukseand Raju Bhadoriya.

We will identify otherpeople from the video andgather other evidence andwill add their names in theFIR."

FIR was registered underSections 341, 285, 269 of IPCand other sections ofPandemic Act.

People observe weird rituals to appease rain god


Clouds of concern are hov-ering over the skies of thestate and the district. Verymuch into the Monsoon sea-son, but the skies have hard-ly opened up this year. Wor-ried about less rainfall thanexpected, people have start-ed following various bizarrerituals to please Indra theRain God. Residents of Rauorganized a procession ofNagar Panchayat Presidentwho sat in a reverse positionon a donkey on Monday.

Large number of peoplegathered and the donkeyand the rider both were gar-landed amid a lot of "hub-bub."

Nagar Panchayat Presi-dent of Rau Shiv Dingu,who was the rider, said it'san old ritual observed in vil-lages. "The rider sits in a re-verse position on the don-key and throws cumin seedsand salt during the proces-sion. Our ancestors used todo the same and it is a veryeffective method to get rainsin the city," Dingu said.

City has recorded only301.8 mm (11.4 inches) rain-fall till Monday which isover four inches less thanthe average rainfall till date.Citizens were also facingtrouble as the weather hasturned itchy due to risingtemperature and humidity.Clouds have been hoveringover the city but there's nosign of rainfall.

Maximum temperature onMonday was recorded at31.7 degrees Celsius which

was three degrees Celsiusabove the normal. Similarly,minimum temperature alsoremained above one degreeCelsius from normal at 22.8degrees Celsius.

IS IT INDRAPRASTHAN

FOR STATE?

At a time of scientificrevolution when Isro's

Chadrayan almost made it tothe surface of the moon,people are still enactingwhacky rituals and claimingthat these are very effective.It may be noted that at thebeginning of the year,various astrologers hadpredicted good thingsabout 2020… however, evenas the year has unfolded, weall stand testimony to theharsh truth than hasweakened the world'sfoundation to the core. Evenafter witnessing all these,how come people stillorganize just shows andmind it notwithstanding thesafety protocol of the day!Truly with such civic sense,only God can save us…

I-T dept honoursthe '100-plus club'

On the occasion of 160th Foundation Day of Income-Tax Department, AjayChauhan (second from right) principal chief commissioner of MP-CGreleases the annual report. (Extreme right) Rajesh Dudeja, DGinvestigation MP&CG. (From left) UB Mishra commissioner Bhopal andPhagu Oram, commissioner Bhopal.


On the occasion of 160thFoundation Day of I-T De-partment, the direct taxcollecting agency paid re-spects to 4 women tax pay-ers, including 2 from thecity who are more than 100years old. Principal Com-missioner of Income TaxRegion, Indore was felici-tated as 'Corona Warrior'.

Keeping the pandemic inmind, safety protocolswere followed. AKChauhan, Principal ChiefCommissioner of IncomeTax (MP-CG) said, "It is in-deed a matter of pleasureand pride that taxpayerswere duly filing their re-turns and thus enrichingthe nation."

As part of the I-T Foun-dation Day, celebrations

and various programmeswere organized on Mondayin Bhopal, which includedfelicitation of taxpayers,inauguration of new in-come tax service centres inMorena and Balaghat, hon-ouring the best performerduring the year in varioussectors within the depart-ment and inauguration ofthe web page of archives.

HUNDRED-PLUS BUT STILL GOING STRONG

Ishwajaribai Lula, Indore 103Kanchan Bai, Indore 100

Girija Bai Tiwari, Bina 117Bina Rakshit, Bilaspur 100

FP VIEW

FP VIEW

NO RAIN REIGN

Farmers in 18 districtsof the state, who have

sown kharif crops, saidthey are staring at a hugeloss if the monsoon con-tinues to play truant inthe next week.

Poor and deficient rain-fall was witnessed mostlyin the Gwalior-Chambal,Bundelkhand and Ma-hakoshal regions, variesfrom minus 7% in Guna tominus 45% in Gwalior,data from meteorologicaldepartment's Bhopal unitshows.

Agree to two-daylockdown


In view of the upcomingfestival season, all shopsacross the city might be al-lowed to remain open fivedays a week instead of thepresent left-right system.However, the final decisionrests with the Crisis Man-agement Committee.

At a meeting of the dis-trict collector ManishSingh with Ahilya Cham-ber of Commerce and In-dustry led by its presidentRamesh Khandelwal, the

traders demanded thatshops should be allowed toremain open five days aweek and the left-right sys-tem should be scrapped, asit was detrimental to boththe traders and the shop-pers. They suggested thethere could be two-day lock-down every day. This couldbe implemented as an ex-periment for one week.

Khandelwal said that col-lector Singh was very re-ceptive to the idea andpromised that he wouldpush for this proposal at theCrisis Management Com-mittee, which has to takethe final call in this matter.

At the meeting, Khandel-

wal said that with the right-left system the tradershardly got 13 days businessa month (Sunday beinglockdown) and it was prov-ing to be very difficult fortraders who have to comefrom outside the district.He said that Rakhi and Eidare both major festivals forboth the traders and thebuyers and both should begiven an opportunity tomake the best use to the pe-riod.

Khandelwal also demand-ed that the IMC should stopharassing the traders andshopkeepers by threaten-ing to lodge FIR againstthem.

Traders want shops toopen 5 days in a week

All eyes at DHE for college admission guidelinesINDORE

With MP Class 12th boardresults out, all eyes are atDepartment of Higher Edu-cation (DHE) for release ofmuch-awaited guidelinesfor admission to undergrad-uate courses offered by gov-ernment and private col-leges in the state.

"The guidelines are ex-pected to be released withina week," said Indore divi-sion additional director(higher education) SureshSilawat.

He stated that the draft ofthe guidelines for cen-

tralised online admissioncounselling has been read-ied. "There is not much dif-ference in the guidelines forsession 2019-20 and session2020-21," he added.

Like previous years, hesaid, students will have thechoice of selecting nine col-leges priority-wise. On thebasis of marks of studentsqualifying exams, the allot-ment will be done in colleges.

Sources in DHE stated thatthe process for admissionsto undergraduate courses ingovernment and private col-leges will start in the firstweek of August.

State-level meeting on ‘Bharatiya Bhasha Abhiyan’ heldUjjain: A state-level meeting on ‘Bharatiya Bhasha Abhiyan’ was held on Monday. On this occasion, additional advocate general atMP High Court and chief guest Pushya Mitra Bhargava said that English language was generally used in courts while filingpetitions. As a result, in most of the cases plaintiff doesn’t understand the procedural activities of the court. “We are trying toprovide justice to the plaintiff in Indian language through ‘Bhartiya Bhasha Abhiyan’ and consequently in most of the stateslike Madhya Pradesh, Rajasthan, UP and Haryana the petitions are being accepted in Hindi language in courts,” he said.

4 UJJAIN CITYFREEPRESSTUESDAY | JULY 28, 2020 | INDORE

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Saka 1942 Samvat 2077

Month : Shravan Shukla 9 Tuesday 3.00 A.M.

Nakshatra : Svati 9.41 A.M. then Vishakha

Yoga : Shubh 6.05 P.M. then. Shukla

Karan : Balav 3.58 P.M. then Taitil

Moon : Tula 2.49 A.M. then Vrischik

PANCHANG 28.7.2020(DAKSHINAYAN)

FP NEWS SERVICEUjjain

Two city girls made it tostate-level merit list of dif-ferent disciplines of MPBoard Higher SecondarySchool Examination, re-sults of which were de-clared on Monday.Likewise, pass percent-age of regular and privatestudents of Ujjain divisionremained 73% and 26%, re-spectively while that of Uj-jain district’s regular andprivate students stood at75% and 34%, respectively.Anxious students crowd-ed kiosks to know their re-sult. They were quite en-thusiastic about their edu-cational career. Girls whobrought laurels to city bymaking it to state-levelmerit list include Priyan-shi Solanki of Govern-ment Madhav NagarSchool of Excellence whogot 471 marks out of 500and secured 6th position inthe merit list of Humani-ties Group. Similarly, Ju-mana Kapadawala ofTaiyyabi Higher Second-ary School by scoring 440marks got 2nd position inthe state-level merit list ofFine Arts and Home Sci-

ence Group.In district level meritlist, Richa Mishra of Gov-ernment Madhav NagarSchool of Excellence, Ki-ran of GovernmentJhutavad HS SchoolMehidpur and TriptiNimcha of Green FieldHS School, Dewas Roadgot first three positions,respectively, in Humani-ties Group. In Science (Mathematics

and Biolo-gy) Group,PratibhaPatidar ofJay AmlaConvent HighSchool, Har-navda, Vishi Ved of ShriDigamber Jain SanmatiVidya Mandir HSS Barna-gar, Palak Rathod of Gov-ernment Jharda HSSMehidpur and NyasaAgrawal of Gyan Varsha

International Schoolemerged toppers. VidhiJain of Government Mad-hav Nagar School of Ex-cellence and Ayesh Bee ofMother Mary HSS, Nagdasecured top two positions

in Commerce Group re-spectively. In AgricultureGroup, Balram Nayma ofGovernment Runjia HSS,Barnagar topped the mer-it list.In all 72,247 regular and24,273 private stu-

dents appeared inthe State High-er SecondarySchool Exam-ination thisyear from Uj-jain divisionand theirpass percent-age remained73% and 26%, re-spectively.

From Ujjain district,14,080 regular and 5,135private students ap-peared in examina-tion and their passpercentage re-mained 75% and34%, respectively. Among regular stu-

dents, 7,841 boys and6,239 girls appeared inexamination and their

pass percentage remained68% and 84%, respectively.Out of 3,163 boys and 1,972girls who appeared as pri-vate candidate 28% and42% were successful re-spectively.

Priyanshi, Jumana bring laurelsto city in state 12th board exam

Students checking their results online FP PHOTO

Priyanshi Solanki

Vidhi JainRicha Mishra


On fourth Monday ofShravan month of Hinducalendar, procession ofLord Mahakal was takenout from MahakaleshwarTemple. At the start, priests wor-shipped Lord Mahakal inthe form of Chandr-mouleshhwar in templepremises. Later, cops of-fered guard of honour tolord Shiva sitting in thepalanquin.

Procession took thescheduled route via BadaGanesh Temple, Harsid-dhi Temple and NarsingGhat to reach Ram Ghatwhere priests performed‘abhishek’ of Lord Ma-hakal’s replica and alsoperformed worship. The path of the proces-sion was decorated withbeautiful ‘rangoli’ and re-ligious flags. Carpet wasalso laid throughout theroute. Several TV chan-nels telecast live commen-tary. The procession waswelcomed with flowerpetals at Harsiddhi Tem-ple. The procession re-turned to MahakaleshwarTemple again via Ra-manujkot.Due to Covid-19, admin-istration had prohibiteddevotees from attendingthe procession and theroutes were barricadedfor commoners. Thedenizens had the glimpse

of the procession throughlive telecast by TV chan-

nels and social media likefacebook, twitter etc.

MLA STOPPEDPolice stoppedCongress MLA fromTarana Mahesh Parmarfrom entering thevenue of customaryworship of LordMahakal’s replica atRam Ghat. Despiteheated arguments, theydid not allow him to sitnear the venue ofworship saying that hisname was not includedin the permission list.

Mahakal processiontaken out with fervour


A ruckus was created atSabha Mandapam of Ma-hakaleshwar Templesoon before start of 4thShravan month proces-sion of Lord Mahakal onMonday evening. A video of the incidentalso went viral on socialmedia. In this video somepriests are seen in heatedarguments with CSP Ra-jnish Kashyap (IPS) onthe issue of entering cor-doned-off worship pointof Lord Mahakal’s repli-ca. Looking at the brawl, a

number of other priestsalso rushed to the spotand joined the argumentwith CSP and other policeofficials. Principal priestis also heard saying that ifsuch type of misbehav-iour continues, he wouldnot remain present dur-ing next processions. Inthe meantime, SP ManojKumar Singh alsoreached the spot and triedto pacify both parties.Normalcy was restoredafter sometime. However,this incident remainedtalking point though noneof the authorities wereready to comment.

Devotees shower rose petals on palanquin of Lord Mahakal when itwas passing through the Ramanujkot area FP PHOTO

RUCKUS AT MAHAKAL TEMPLEBEFORE START OF PROCESSION

Verbal duel between priests and police officials at SabhaMandapam of Mahakaleshwar Temple soon before start of 4thShravan month procession of Lord Mahakal FP PHOTO

FP NEWS SERIVICEUjjain

BJP senior leader UmaBharati visited Ma-hakaleshwar temple forthe fourth consecutivetime on Monday and paidobeisance. She has been offeringprayers to Mahakal on

every Monday of the ongo-ing Hindu month of Shra-van. Later, talking to re-porters, she said that atlast 500-year-long wait forRam Temple would end onAugust 5. She said that she per-formed ‘abhishek’ of lordMahakal on behalf of PMNarendra Modi for

smooth foundation stoneceremony on August 5.Start of the constructionof Ram temple would be ajoyous moment for the en-tire country, she added. Ripping into RahulGandhi and PriyankaVadra, Bharti said thatCongress did nothing inlast 72 years to solve RamJanmbhoomi’ disputehence, the siblings shouldquit politics. Uma also wished speedyrecovery of CM ShivrajSingh Chouhan. She ex-pressed concern over pollu-tion in Kshipra and urgeddistrict administration andstate government to takeconcrete steps to make theriver pollution free. Shealso called for boycott ofChinese products and mo-bile applications.

‘500-yr-long wait for Ramtemple to end on Aug 5’


Mahanirvani Akhada issending Mahakal-Van’ssoil, Kshipra water and‘Bhasm’ (ash) from fromShri Mahakaleshwar Tem-

ple to Ayodhya for founda-tion laying ceremony of‘Ram-Mandir’ on August 5.PM Narendra Modi wouldlay the foundation stone ofthe temple. A functionary of VishwaHindu Parishad (VHP) Ma-hesh Tiwari said that afterperforming religious ritu-als, Mahanirvani Akhadahas handed over the

Bhasm, soil and Kshiprawater. The same would beused during foundationlaying ceremony of ‘Ram-Mandir’ in Ayodhya. As per MahanirvaniAkhada, Lord Shiva hadgreat respect for lord Rama

and vice versa.As Lord Shiva’saffection forLord Rama waswell known andwell scripted,the soil of ‘Ma-hakal-Van’,‘Bhasm’ andKshipra’s waterwere sent to Ay-odhya. Akha-da’s mahant Vi-

neet Giri handed over thesame to VHP workers whowould participate in thefoundation stone layingceremony of the temple. According to Tiwari, VHPstate organisation secre-tary Nand Das, Anil Kasli-wal, Mahesh Anjana, VinodSharma, Ashok Jain, AnkitChoube and other memberswere present.

Mahakal-van soil,Kshipra water, bhasm

sent to Ayodhya

Boys shunmasks for

game, sent totemporary jail

FP NEWS SERVICE Ujjain

Boys playing in basket-ball court at Mahanan-da Nagar were on Mon-day sent to temporaryjail at Madhav College.Their crime: Not wear-ing the mask and failureto maintain social dis-tancing. Later, the cops admin-istered oath to boys thatthey would wear masksand follow Covid normsbefore releasing them.The police said thatCovid cases were risingin the city and hencestrictness was a must.Cops said that boys toldthem that mask madethem uncomfortablewhile running hencethey had discarded itwhile playing.

Uma pays obeisance to Lord Mahakal on 4thMonday of Shravan

Former Chief Minister Uma Bharati paying obeisance to MahakalJyotirlingam FP PHOTO

Soil, water and ash being handed over


As Covid-19 infection isspreading at Central Jailin Bhairavgarh, jail ad-ministration has kept 15prisoners under strictmedical observation while150 other prisoners suffer-ing from cold and coughhave been quarantined.Jail superintendentAlka Sonkar said thatICMR team took samplesof 60 prisoners. Out ofthem five tested positive.

ICMR team doctors saidthat contact history of in-fected patients was beinginvestigated. However,ICMR team was apprehen-sive of curbing infectionin the jail that houses2,000 inmates.The doctors said that all

prisoners should wearmasks and maintain so-cial distancing to Covid-19infection. Sonakar saidthat new prisoners werebeing shifted to the cell af-ter due checkup in view ofCovid-19 pandemic.

150 prisonersquarantined in

Central Jail

Doctors’ team examining Covid patients in jailFP NEWS SERVICE

Ujjain

Science and Technologyand Micro, Small andMedium Industry minis-ter Omprakash Saklechaand Higher Educationminister Mohan Yadavvisited modern observato-ry at Dongla village nearUjjain. During a meetingwith scientists concerned,both ministers stressed onexpansion of the observa-tory and recruitmentagainst vacant posts. Sakhlecha instructed of-ficials to prepare expan-sion plan. The duo

minutely inspected Opti-cal Telescope, ShankuYantra, Bhaskar Yantra

and Bhitti Yantra in theobservatory. Addressing the meeting,

Yadav underlined observa-tory’s importance for re-searchers and students.

Senior scientist Dr RajeshSharma, Dr Bhupesh Sax-ena and other scholarsthrew light on astronomyand utility of the observa-tory.The ministers also in-spected auditorium of theobservatory and other on-going construction work.Ministers also visited‘Taramandal’ near Ma-hananda Nagar.On this occasion MLABahadursingh Chouhan,divisional commissionerAnand Kumar Sharma,collector Asheesh Singh,and other officials con-cerned were present.

Ministers call for expansion of Dongla Observatory

Ministers holding meeting with scientists at Dongla Observatory

Ujjain: Eight new coronacases were reported onMonday, taking district’stally to 1,141. One patientsuccumbed to the virus dur-ing the day taking toll to 73.As per medical bulletin,a 55-year-old woman ofSemliya village died dur-ing the course of treat-ment at RD Gardi Medical

College. She was admittedto the hospital July 23.Out of 320 sample reportsreceived on Monday, 8were found to be positive.All the new patients hailfrom Ujjain city.Overall 207 patients, 71 ofthem symptomatic, are un-der treatment. Samples of42,196 people have been

taken across the district sofar and no report is await-ed. With 17 more patientsdischarged on Monday, thenumber of discharged pa-tients went up to 861. Those who tested positiveon the day include 39-year-old man from Tirupati Saf-fron near Zero Point Over-bridge, 23-year-old manfrom Pandyakhedi villagenear Ujjain Dugdh Sangh,Maksi Road, 36-year-oldman from Madhav ClubRoad, 17-year-old girl and12-year-old girl from KsheerSagar Colony, 65-year-oldman from Vallabh Nagar,23-year-old man from KothiRoad and 64-year-old fromMusaddipura.

Excessive use oftobacco behindrise in incidence ofhead & neck

cancer: Dr Gupta FP NEWS SERVICE

Ujjain

On the occasion of headand neck cancer day onJuly 27, city-based ear,nose, throat and oral can-cer specialist Dr RajeevGupta said that 30% ofcancer cases are related tohead and neck. Due to in-creased use of tobacco andtobacco-related productsin Indian subcontinent in-cidence of head and neckcancer are increasing rap-idly and lakhs of people

are infected with it. Manyhave lost lives.Dr Gupta said that thistype of cancer could beprevented if mass aware-ness campaign is conduct-

ed on initialsymptomsof head andneck cancer. Accordingto him, anylong-stand-ing ulcer inmouth and

tongue has to be checkedcautiously. Other symp-toms are changes in voice,swelling in throat, difficul-ty in swallowing and some-times inability to openmouth are one of the earli-est symptoms of this typeof cancer.

He pointed out that if peo-ple are aware about this typeof symptoms they can pre-vent the disease. If someonepresents with earliest symp-toms of this disease he canbe cured with good progno-sis and surgery. In some ad-vance cases, radiotherapyand chemotherapy is re-quired. The government ofIndia, Madhya Pradesh gov-ernment and many govern-ment schemes offer headand neck cancer treatmentsand management either freeor at very low cost. Dr Gupta appealed thepeople of Ujjain division togive-up the tobacco and to-bacco related products andshould be aware aboutsymptoms to make the oc-casion successful.

HEAD & NECK CANCER DAY

DR RAJEEV GUPTA

Corona update: 8 positive casesand one death in 24 hours

Doctors giving advice to patients being discharged from PoliceTraining Centre, Maksi Road FP PHOTO

Pithampur (Mhow)

Jaison’s Academyachieved 100% per centsuccess rate in Class XIIBoard results.Vaishali Raghuwanshi

secured 90% to becomethe school topper. Akansha Patel scored

89% per cent and stoodsecond in the school.Other achievers are…Neeraj Patidar 87% ,

Adarsh Shukla 85%,Priyatabh Pandey, 84%,Nancy Namdev 82% ,Shivani Damade 81%.Altogether 27 students

appeared and out ofthese, one studentbagged Merit list, sevenstudents got Distinctionmarks and 16 securedfirst division. Threecleared the exams withsecond division.The school director

Jaison Joseph congratu-lated all the achieversand said they couldachieve this feat becauseof systematic and sus-tained planning of theschool.

Class XII result: Jaison’sAcademy shines


Another Indian Adminis-trative Officer (IAS) officertested corona positive onMonday. He is posted atchief secretary's office inMantralaya. Earlier, fourIAS officers tested positive.Aishbag police station re-

ported four police person-nel including sub inspec-tors as corona positive.Bhopal reported 177 posi-tives cases taking tally to5,827 and number of deathsto 162. Three doctors fromGandhi Medical College(GMC) have tested coronapositive along with anoth-er family member of Chi-rayu Hospital chairman DrAjay Goenka. A civil hospi-tal (Bairagarh) staffer hasalso tested positive.Two persons from same

family in Char Imli havetested positive while an-other tested positive fromRishi Nagar (Char Imli). E-1, Arera Colony and Shiva-ji Nagar also reported posi-tive cases.Five members of same

family have tested positivein Emerald Park City. Sim-ilarly, five members of afamily tested positive inOld Subhash Nagar. Fourmembers of a family inBairagarh have tested pos-itive. Four members fromsame family in Durgesh Vi-har also tested positive.Two members of same

family tested positive fromJain Nagar (Lalghati). Sim-ilarly, two positive caseswere reported from a fami-ly in Amarawardkhurd andtwo from same family fromKalpana Nagar (Piplani).Two persons from a familyat Marwardi Road, Chowk

Bazar, also tested positive. Besides, two persons in

Panchwati Colony, twofrom Ansari Mansion, FishMarket, two from VinayakHomes have tested positive.Two came positive fromRGPV quarantine centrewhile Tulsi Nagar reportedtwo more positives.One positive was case re-

ported from colonies likeBag Dilkhusa (Capitalpetrol pump), C-21 IndusResidency, Shalimar andAlbert Ekka Colony, FineEnclave (Kolar), SumitraParishar (Kolar), GiridharColony (Kolar), Coral

Wood, Shivaji Nagar, NewCentral Jail, Bagmugalia,Shyam Nagar (Barkheda),Mullah Colony, GaneshElacity (Ayodhya Bypass),Shri Narayan Guru (Ayod-hya Bypass), BDA Colony(Kohefiza), Saket Nagarand Patel Mohalla, Bagse-wania, Premium Orchard(Ayodhya Bypass), KotaraSulatanabad, Trilanga,Iqbal Maidan (MotiMasjid), Amar Vihar (Ko-lar), Priyadarshani Nagar,Shahjahanbad, ShankarGarden, Radha Kunj (Kha-jurikalan), Old Court, Na-gar Nigam Colony.

MADHYA PRADESH 5FREEPRESS

TUESDAY | JULY 28, 2020 | INDORE

Events being held as corona

spreads OUR STAFF REPORTER

BHOPAL

A growing number ofpoliticians are falling preyto coronavirus. It was evi-dent on Monday when an-other legislator tested posi-tive. With this, the numberof politicians who havecontracted Covid-19 hasgone up to 20.Those who have fallen

prey to pandemic includechief minister ShivrajSingh Chouhan, ministersArvind Bhadauria, Om-prakash Saklecha, legisla-tors Rakesh Giri, NeenaVerma, Kunal Choudhary,Divyaraj Singh. Now, an-other MLA Thakur DasNagwanshi has tested posi-tive for Covid-19. The politicians like

Vikram Verma, Bhanu

Rana, Keshav SinghBhadauria, Ashutosh Ti-wari and many others wereafflicted with the disease.Moreover, virus has affect-

ed many office bearers of theRSS. MP is the only statewhere many politicians havesuffered from the disease.Despite such a stark sce-nario, the government hasfailed to deter politiciansfrom holding meetings. Both BJP and Congress

are organising politicalprogrammes. Events arebeing organised in the con-

stituencies where by-elec-tions will be held.It is because of such polit-

ical events that the coron-avirus is spreading. Politi-cal events were held onThursday and Fridaythough minister Bhadauriatested positive. A CongressMLA was given member-ship at the BJP office. Simi-larly, a former minister wasadmitted in Congress at theparty office.The guidelines issued by

the Union Home Ministryhave not allowed political

parties to organise gather-ings. But the political par-ties hardly bother aboutthose rules. Carelessness of politi-

cians about pandemic hascost their staff and the peo-ple dear. Among the present minis-

ters Inder Singh Parmarand Mahendra Singh Siso-dia, former minister JituPatwari and many otherpoliticians tested positivefor the disease.Public meetings are regu-

larly held in election-bound areas. Probable can-didates have launchedcampaigning. Still, the government has

yet to take action againstany politicians for violat-ing the corona protectionguidelines.Though the major politi-

cal parties agreed to put offthe assembly session, therehas been no accord betweenthem to stop the politicalevents. Nor, the administra-tion is taking any action tostop them.

Another IAS officer tests corona positive SIs among 4 cops diagnosed with virus

Corona patient flees from hospital, brought back

ACovid-19 patient managed to flee from Chirayu Hospital onMonday. He hailed from Baktra, Sehore district. However,

Khajuri Sadak police said that hospital has not informed anysuch case. Chirayu Hospital Chairman Dr Ajay Goenka said it isa daily practice wherein patients run away. “We bring themback to hospital with police help. It is just because patientspanic after they are found corona positive.”CMHO (Sehore) DrSudhir Deharia said, “We have admitted the patient in HamidiaHospital again. Patient had run away from Chirayu Hospital.”

Politicians' negligence hits people

Ban political events: Saluja

Congress party's media coordinator Narendra Saluja saidsince the virus afflicted many politicians, all events should

be banned. As a virus makes no difference between the richand the poor, all political programmes should be stoppedkeeping the people's welfare in mind, he said.

Functions should be put off: AgarwalBJP spokesperson Rajneesh Agarwal also thinks that the

way the virus is spreading, all political functions should bestopped. In such functions, politicians as well as partyworkers suffer, so such gatherings should be stopped, he said.

Order for increment issuedBHOPAL: The state government has issued a supposed order for yearly increments ofofficers and staff, keeping in mind the economic slowdown due to the corona pandemic. Thefinance department has issued the supposed order for giving increments to the officers andstaff from July 1, 2020 to January 1, 2021. It has been clearly stated in the order that it will beimplemented only when the situation arising out of the corona pandemic becomes normal. Ifany employee retires and passes away, his increment will be fixed on the basis of the order.

Daily wagers struggle to survive in lockdown


The lockdown has hitlivelihood of daily wagersin the city. The business es-tablishments have closedand people avoid employ-ing them because they arestrangers. Boy helpers working at

shops have no other in-come source left. As restau-rants are closed, waitershave no work. Similarly,plumbers, cart pullers,electricians, sanitationworkers employed by pri-vate entities, gardeners,helpers and house maidsare out of work. Likewise, people who

earn livelihood by sellingvegetables have very littleor no work left. Laxman,who was sitting in loadingauto and waiting for veg-

etable shop owner in Tri-langa, said, "As supply ofvegetables from mandi hasdisrupted, we are not open-ing shops. Our loading autois parked at shops but thereare no vegetables. Our dai-ly income has stopped."Most boys employed at

grocery shops face similarproblems though somehave begun to sell milk inthe morning as they havebeen hired by local shops."It is tough to survive," said

Raj Kumar who works attea stall. "There is no workin lockdown. How can wesurvive? Employers do notwant to take risk due to co-rona," he added. On every Shrawan Mon-

day, children (hawkers)used to sell puja goods likebel patra, flowers in resi-dential colonies for Rs 10.Earlier, people would pur-chase from children. Now,they avoid it fearing coro-na spread.


Only two vendors are al-lowed to sell vegetables andfruits in a municipal ward.The minimum populationof a ward is above 5000 butits 15,000 or above in denseareas like Old Bhopal. Two veg-

etable ven-dors are un-able to meettheir de-mands. Thiswas observedon Monday.The residentsmanaged withthe stock ofvegetables andfruits for firsttwo days ofthe lock-down. Buton Mon-day, theyfelt theneed tobuy freshvegeta-bles. Theycontactedformer corpo-rators for help.Among the worst suf-ferers were the senior citi-zens who were not able tomove out of their houseonce the vegetable sellersleft their colonies. Keeping the residents' dif-

ficulties in view, the localzone officials have request-ed senior municipal offi-

cials to allow more vendorsin each ward. They saidthere is a need to publishthe contact number of veg-etable sellers of each ward.Former corporator RashmiDiwedi said the elderly citi-zens are worst sufferers asthey can't sit out in

their housesfor longand waitfor veg-etableven-dors toarrive.Shesaid ad-ministra-tion

should issueextra passes for

municipal wards.Akhilesh Gupta, a resi-

dent of Saket Nagar, saidvegetable vendor did notarrive in their colony."There should be a fixedtime for it. How long should we sit outside and wait for sell-ers?" he asked.

Residents contact ex-corporators for help

NO FOOD TO FEED: Vegetables vendors, hawkers,plumbers, cart pullers, electricians face tough time

Running out of vegetable, fruit stocks...


The MP Board results havedemonstrated a fact thatschools located in biggercities of the state with bestfacilities and faculties didnot do well while schoolsfrom the smaller townsperformed better. Harda district topped in

performance with 81.97%results, closely followed byNeemuch where the passpercentage stood at 81.68,while Khandwa stood onthe third rank with 79.89%students passing in class

12. The bigger cities likeBhopal, Indore, Gwalior,Jabalpur could not evenmake place in the top tendistricts. Shajapur, Khargone, Shiv-

puri, Narsinghpur, Bal-aghat, Umaria andHoshangabad districts re-mained in the top ten per-forming districts. The resultof students from Bhopal dis-trict stood as low as 66.53%and ranked at 36th place inoverall districts. Indoreranked at 26 place with70.63% pass average. Dates for conducting sup-

plementary exams will be

declared later, said theboard spokesperson.

THE WORST PERFORMERS

Bhind district was theworst performer with only

37.45% of the studentsclearing the exams. More-na district stood secondworst in performancewith 53.96% while Mandlaranked third from bottomwith 54.97% results.

MP BOARDRESULTS

Performance: Small towns excel whilecities with better facilities lag behind

Use of unfair means checked

Another remarkable phenomenon marked this year wascases registered for use of unfair means during exams of

class 12. According to information provided by the boardofficials only 276 cases were registered for cheating and useof unfair means during exams. This figure is very lowcompared to figures that went up to thousands in previousyears. Board spokesperson said that arrangements done tocheck cheating in the exams have shown results therebybringing down the numbers drastically.

ADARSH SHUKLA AKANSHA PATEL NEERAJ PATIDAR VAISHALI RAGHUWANSHI

Letters should be limited to 150 words and must be sent via e-mail. Letters may be edited for clarity or space. E-mail: [email protected]

6EDITFREEPRESS

INDORE | TUESDAY | JULY 28, 2020

The crisis Congress is facing in Rajasthan is taking new twists and turnson a daily basis. With Rajasthan Speaker C P Joshi’s decision to with-draw his petition in the Supreme Court (SC) on Monday morning, it

seems the Congress has decided to fight a political battle with the BJP for atrust vote. The Speaker’s petition related to whether the courts can interferewith disqualification proceedings by an assembly speaker against lawmakerseven before a decision has been taken. Joshi wanted the SC to cancel the Ra-jasthan High Court’s order of July 21 to defer disqualification proceedingsagainst 19 rebels MLAs led by former Deputy Chief Minister Sachin Pilot. Butlast week, the SC refused to cancel the High Court’s stay order on disqualifi-cation proceedings pointing out that the High Court had already reserved itsorder to be pronounced on Friday.However, in a major relief for the rebel MLAs in the disqualification case,the Rajasthan High Court on Friday said no action can be taken againstSachin Pilot and other rebel Congress MLAs. The court said there will be ‘sta-tus quo’ until its decision on the rebels’ petition against the Speaker’s dis-qualification notices. While the High Court was scheduled to give its verdicton Friday morning, a surprise twist to the case came after the court acceptedteam Pilot’s eleventh-hour request to add the Centre to the disqualificationcase on whether the anti-defection law applies to them. The rebels have arguedin the court that such notices cannot be served by a Speaker when the assem-bly is not in session. They have challenged a rule that allows the Speaker todisqualify members if they have ‘voluntarily given up the party’s member-ship’. The rebels say they do not intend to quit the Congress; they only want achange in leadership. A day before the High Court’s verdict, chief minister Ashok Gehlot had ap-proached Rajasthan Governor Kalraj Mishra with the cabinet recommenda-tion to call an assembly session for the floor test and reportedly submitted alist of 102 MLAs who are supporting his government. Since the rebel crisisbroke out two weeks ago, Gehlot has met the Governor four times, which re-flects the Congress party’s strategy for the crucial test of strength on the as-sembly floor. But the Governor asked for certain clarifications and also raiseda query regarding the agenda for convening the assembly. A fresh proposalwas submitted on Saturday and the Governor, while in principle is not againstconvening assembly, is reported to have raised a fresh set of queries concern-ing the trust vote. Reports suggest that the Governor doesn’t seem inclined to call the assemblysession any time soon. Gehlot has also alleged that the Governor is under pres-sure to delay calling for the assembly session because the BJP fears that he willwin the trust vote. In an assembly of 200 members, the Congress had 107 MLAsand one MLA from its coalition partner Rashtriya Lok Dal (RLD). The BJP has72 MLAs and its ally Bhartiya Loktantrik Party (BLP) has three. The Bhartiya

Tribal Party (BTP) and CPI (M) have two each and there are 13 Independents.Based on how things have progressed so far, the Congress has 19 fewer MLAsfrom its original tally of 107. This means Congress has 88 MLAs. Besides,Gehlot has claimed the support of 10 Independents as also the support ofBTP’s two MLAs and one CPI (M) MLA. The majority mark is 101 and in thebest case scenario Gelhot has the support of 102 MLAs.The role of independent MLAs is crucial for Gehlot to pass the majoritymark. Disqualification of the Pilot camp would have benefitted Gehlot, as thehalf way mark would have come down to 91 and he would have needed the sup-port of just three MLAs outside of his own party to prove his majority. But theHigh Court’s order restraining the assembly Speaker from conducting dis-qualification proceedings against the rebel MLAs led by Pilot has come as asetback for Gehlot. Since he cannot rely on the Pilot camp’s disqualification,he is pushing for an immediate floor test to get done with the suspense overhis majority. Constitutionally, once the cabinet sends a recommendation, thegovernor is bound to convene a meeting of the assembly. But the Governor’sreluctance, citing the pandemic and asking for more clarifications, has givena political twist to the crisis, which political experts suspect is now a battle be-tween Congress and Pilot-BJP combine. This is only going to heighten the uncertainty over the fate of Gehlot’s gov-ernment, while the Pilot camp is well protected by the High Court order. Forthe first time since the Rajasthan drama began, Rahul Gandhi on Fridayblamed the BJP in his tweet for its alleged conspiracy in removing the Ra-jasthan government. But the BJP has so far denied its involvement and stayedaway from the crisis, relying largely on Pilot to corner the Congress in a diffi-cult situation. While Pilot has succeeded in prolonging the crisis by getting itmired in a legal tangle, the BJP, while denying its involvement, seems to bewaiting for an opportune time to strike. The BJP’s denial cuts no ice with any-body who understands the saffron party’s power-grabbing methodology usedseveral times earlier—from Arunachal Pradesh to Karnataka and Goa to Mad-hya Pradesh.Pilot wouldn’t have been so adamant in his rebellion without a back-channelunderstanding with BJP. The IT raids on Gehlot’s close aides, the ED raids onhis brother, legal services offered to the Pilot camp by senior lawyers close tothe current regime at the Centre and the governor’s prevarication in conven-ing the assembly are sufficient grounds to presume that the BJP has played animportant behind-the-scene role in the political crisis. Whether ‘Operation Ka-mal’, as alleged by the Congress, is underway in the desert is anybody’s guess;whether it will succeed remains to be seen. A lot will depend on the role of theIndependents: the floating boats that will move with the tide. Pilot’s rebellionraises an important question: what is he trying to achieve? He is still a Congress member but refuses to attend party legislature meet-ings. He has said that he is not against the party and its leadership. His ambi-tion is fairly clear: he wants to be the chief minister and the Congress hasruled out the possibility. This means he is defying the party leadership, whichamounts to not just plain dissent but voluntarily giving up party membershipindirectly. His keenness to bring down the Gehlot government can only beachieved on the floor of assembly. But he doesn’t have the numbers in hisfavour and, therefore, buying time through legal battle, hoping that moreMLAs may join him. But the uncertainty can’t go on endlessly and in the bestinterest of democracy, the Governor, a constitutional authority, should play aneutral role and help bring an early end to the two-week old crisis. The HighCourt can settle the constitutional validity of disqualification notices later.

The writer is an independent Mumbai-based senior journalist.

Rajasthan tanglehas no clear end

The power struggle in Rajasthan between twofactions of the ruling party shows no signs ofan immediate resolution. Both Chief Minister

Ashok Gehlot, desperate to keep his job, and his nowsacked deputy, Sachin Pilot, determined to pull himdown, are engaged in a no-holds-barred fight to thefinish. Who eventually comes up trumps remains un-clear. Sensing rebellion, Gehlot pressured the policeto immobilise Pilot, filing a sedition charge againsthim. Pilot responded by openly raising the banner ofrevolt. Along with 18 loyal MLAs he took refuse in ahotel in Haryana while Gehlot herded his flock to ahotel in Jaipur. The State Assembly Speaker C PJoshi entered the fray, sending show-cause notices tothe rebels on a Congress leader’s complaint for theirabsence from a meeting of the Congress LegislativeParty. Failure to attend a meeting of the legislativeparty in no way falls in the ambit of the anti-defec-tion law. The Speaker further played into the handsof Pilot and Co. when the latter approached the Ra-jasthan High Court questioning the validity of theshow-cause notices. After hearing both sides, the HCframed 13 pertinent questions, including whether

the anti-defection law circumscribes internal dis-sent, virtually rendering legislators captives of thedominant leadership. This was a point agitated bythe late Socialist leader Madhu Limaye and a fewothers when the anti-defection law was first pro-posed to curb the ‘aya ram, gaya ram’ syndrome. Thelaw does curb legislators’ freedom of thought and ex-pression, denies conscience vote even within partyforums since the forfeiture of membership hangslike the Damocles’ sword over their head for steppingout of line with the leadership. After the SupremeCourt declined to give relief to the Speaker in thematter of stay granted by the High Court, Gehlotcould not get the nineteen rebels thrown out underthe anti-defection law, especially when the latter in-sist they have not resigned from the Congress Party.Belatedly, the Speaker has withdrawn as a party inthe matter before the Supreme Court. Meanwhile,Gehlot is engaged in public acrimony with GovernorKalraj Mishra, pressing him to summon a session ofthe Assembly here and now, which the former wasnot inclined to do without seeking a few clarifica-tions of his own. Given the coronavirus pandemic,with even Parliament hard put to figure out how andwhen to convene the customary monsoon session,calling a session of the Rajasthan Assembly at shortnotice without any plan in place for social distancingand other precautions would be problematic. TheGovernor did not ask the Chief Minister for a floor-test. A miffed Gehlot accused the Governor of play-ing partisan politics, and threatened to gherao theRaj Bhavan. Better sense prevailed and the threatwas abandoned, though Governor Mishra has beenshowered with choicest abuse by the Congress lead-ership for not calling the session. The Congress in-sists the apex court had settled the matter, leavingthe Governor no option but to act on the advice of theCM and the Council of Ministers. It is curious that in March the Congress Party wasvehemently opposed to the Madhya Pradesh Gover-nor Lalji Tandon, since deceased, summoning theAssembly for a floor test when a large group of par-ty MLAs had resigned under the leadership of Jyoti-raditya Scindia. At that time, the BJP was insistingon an early floor-test. Here in Rajasthan, the Con-gress is seeking an early Assembly session while theBJP is not too keen. Meanwhile, Mayawati may haveinjected another twist in the Rajasthan drama, issu-ing whip to her six MLAs to vote against Gehlot. Howthe six will behave is uncertain, since Gehlot hadwon them over soon after the Assembly poll to bol-ster his wafer-thin majority. The matter of their de-fection/absorption in the Congress Party was neverclearly pronounced upon by the Speaker, but the Pi-lot rebellion may be a golden opportunity yet againfor the six MLAs to prosper—and in the process if ithelps to obey the BSP Supremo’s whip all the better.In short, the Rajasthan lottery is wide open. Punditsmight lament the opportunistic politics, the abuse ofgubernatorial authority, courts being dragged intothe thicket of partisan politics. But all this will re-main par for the political course so long as the ~aamaadmi~ does not penalise errant politicians. There isno need for despair, though. All democratic systemsare vulnerable to opportunistic politics.

Crisis averted not abated by legal tangle

Stay vigilantIndia needs a strongermedical infrastructure notonly to face the pandemictoday, but to treat patientssuffering from otherailments also. It must keepits eye firmly on theCOVID-19 ball and not getdistracted by communalissues or regional brawls,which dissipate time,money and energy. We mustexercise maximum caution,for if cases keepincreasing, lockdowns willbe re-imposed, which willhalt economic activityagain. It is becomingequally important toeducate people on how tocontinue living withCOVID-19. Personalhygiene, social distancing,exercise and self-immunisation have to beadvocated, even in villages.

Rajendra Aneja

Set the toneRef: Uddhav fires 'RamBaan', July 27, 2020. It is a'blunt arrow' which is notgoing to injure anyoneexcept his own party. If hechooses not to go toAyodhya for theinauguration of the temple,he might remain in goodbooks of his coalitionpartners but alienating hiscore voter base in theprocess. He knows BJP willnever allow his Govt to fallin case Congress NCP pullsthe rug from under his feet.Uddhav must use this timeto display exemplarygovernance, his trump cardin the next elections, ratherthan waste time for somecheap claps and thrills.

Bholey Bhardwaj

Obsoleting NPAsThe RBI and CommercialBanks under it must bemade an independent body.They need to be grantedtotal autonomy if themenace of NPAs has to bebid adieu. It is farcical thatthe additional burden fallson the shoulders ofinnocent bank depositors.Personal responsibilitymust be fixed on theofficials concerned and theNPAs amount has to berecovered from themconcurrently fighting legalbattle for recovering theamount from the loanees.Strict action must be takento make “NPA” obsolete.

Tushar Anand

Should Gehlot learn conflictresolution from Thackeray?

CommentA L I Chougule

LETTERSTO THEEDITOR

Political twist by Governor Mishra is an indication of BJP involvement

Google is going to let employees work from home through the end of June 2021, according to a company spokesperson, in a move thatsuggests big corporations are bracing for a long pandemic.

Brian Fung, Tech reporter, CNN

Google to keep most employees home until July 2021. They assume things will be bad enough until then and/or they figured out most ofthis work can be done from home.

Adan Quan

80+ million Americans working at home in midst of pandemic represent a huge psychological experiment:62% feel more empathetic toward coworkers but 60% feel less connected to their teams.

Christopher Mims, Writer

26 million people work from home at least part time and we think it’s being savvy. 3 million Teachers have to do it during a pandemic andpeople want their pay cut since they think they’re not working. Teachers sure do put up with a lot of crap just to educate our youth.

Brad Johnson, Motivational speaker

ONE FLEW OVER THE NEST #workfromhome

THOUGHT FOR THE DAY: Happiness is a garden walled with glass: there'sno way in or out. In Paradise there are no stories, because there are nojourneys. It's loss and regret and misery and yearning that drive the storyforward, along its twisted road.

— Margaret Atwood

One may think that it is all due tothe machinations of the BJPthat Rajasthan Chief Minister

Ashok Gehlot is bumbling his waythrough the shenanigans orchestratedby him to vanquish a determined chal-lenger Sachin Pilot. But one cannothelp but wonder whether a veteranlike Gehlot should take cue from hismuch younger Maharashtra counter-part who has so far managed to wardoff the troubles within the Maha VikasAghadi—without fireworks.True, any comparison between thetwo CMs may seem inappropriate inrelation to the challenges faced bythem. One is CM as the head of the sin-gle largest party that claims the loyal-ty of the half number of MLAs in theRajasthan Assembly. Another is en-sconced in the Mantralaya as the re-sult of a deft political manoeuvringthat saw sharing of power among whatwas once thought to be an incompati-ble lot. Despite being a greenhorn as CM,Uddhav Thackeray (who has justturned 60 and done seven months in of-fice) has shown that he is capable ofdoing everything to consolidate his po-sition without ruffling too many feath-ers—in spite of the crisis caused by themanagement of the pandemic and fre-quent disagreements among the exact-ing alliance partners—the NCP andthe Congress.Uddhav has shown that he won't losehis cool easily and put on an air ofoverzealous authority. He has also nottried to destabilise his alliance part-ners even once. Even his relationshipwith the opponent BJP has weatheredthe bitterness of the divorce with theSena in November 2019.

On the other hand, 69-year-oldGehlot, who is into his third term in of-fice since December 2018, has tried allhis pressure tactics to force the youngchallenger in Pilot and his Congresslegislators into submission.Endowed as he is with a sharp acu-men, Gehlot has surprised many of hisadmirers for the course he has adopt-ed. Otherwise, he is known to be quiteaccommodative when it comes to han-dling his rivals within his party andeven political opponents outside. Afterall, Gehlot learnt his style of politicalmanagement when he served as CM ofRajasthan from 1998 to 2003 and againfrom 2008 to 2013.Gehlot’s hardcore supporters arguethat he was driven to the wall by Pilot’stantrums and his tolerance level hadbreached beyond repair. Not just be-cause of Pilot’s soaring ambitions buthis refusal to accept the reality of theCongress high command’s act ofchoosing Gehlot over him made even aworking relationship with him almostimpossible. As admitted by Gehlothimself, he and Pilot were not on talk-ing terms for more than 18 monthssince they assumed office as CM andDeputy CM respectively. One can imag-ine what kind of the government theywere running in the state.Pilot felt immensely slighted by treat-ment meted out by Gehlot despite So-nia Gandhi and her family’s assur-ances to him that his interests wouldbe protected and also they had not for-gotten his role as PCC chief for threeyears to win the 2018 assembly polls.Gehlot’s acolytes, who are upset thatPilot’s rebellion has put the Congressgovernment in deep trouble andbrought glee to the BJP, have also

blamed Pilot’s sheer immaturity andno game plan. So much so, they con-done Gehlot’s adoption of hitherto un-heard acts like foisting police casesagainst Pilot and his MLAs and rush-ing through disciplinary steps to see ifthe younger leader is somehow out ofthe party for good. This is in spite ofneither Rahul Gandhi nor PriyankaGandhi wanting to shut the door per-manently on Pilot, who has still main-tained that he is not joining the BJP.Maybe Gehlot has the backing of akey old guard who is out of reckoningwith the Sonia Gandhi family and isegging him on to go for the final as-sault on Pilot. But so far Gehlot’s at-tempts to force the Rajasthan HighCourt to corner the rebel MLAs doesnot appear to have borne fruit, leavingthe Congress’ legal strategy in confu-sion. Attempts to seek the interventionof the Supreme Court too has gotbotched up, with the Rajasthan Assem-bly Speaker finally withdrawing hisplea against the High Court’s order,which gave some breathing time to thePilot gang.One cannot but wonder who advisedGehlot to attempt to brow beat Ra-jasthan Governor Kalraj Mishra whois no push over, having lived the life ofa hardboiled politician from UttarPradesh. Gehlot’s publicised warningsto the Governor, accompanied by thethreat of gherao of the Raj Bhavanwere not only in bad taste but also fool-hardy—till Kalraj Mishra drew the lak-shman rekha.Gehlot is desperate as he does notwant Pilot to crawl back into the confi-dence book of the Congress high com-mand nor lose his grip over the 100-oddMLAs (who are supposed to be withhim). That brings us to the questionwhether Uddhav Thackeray’s presentstyle of approach holds out a workablesolution to Gehlot?Uddhav may have had several runs-inwith his alliance partners, both the

NCP and the Congress, on the issuesranging from the steps to contain thepandemic, lifting of the lockdown, al-lowing some functional space and dis-cretionary powers enjoyed by the MVAministers. But, even as some politicalopponents had begun counting thedays for the arrangement, Uddhav hassomehow managed to show that, with-out compromising the position of CMwhich he holds, he can get his alliancepartners to agree on some issues whileleaving the disagreement on others tobe settled another day.Perhaps, his man Friday Sanjay Rauthas had a role to play through his “in-terviews” with NCP chief SharadPawar in the Sena organ Saamana andwith Uddhav himself to let out steamand narrow the gap as and when theyarise.Can Gehlot learn to do the same? Ifhe can forget that he is running thegovernment on strength of his politi-cal dexterity, Gehlot too can reach outto Pilot himself. He can end the sham ofan investigation by a police specialgroup into the dissidence against himand actively seek the intervention ofSonia Gandhi, Rahul Gandhi andPriyanka to resolve the stalemate.The 10th Schedule of the Constitu-tion, or the anti-defection law asknown popularly, may have been a con-venient tool for many a sitting CM tosmother out challenges posed to him.But, as the experiences of ruling dis-pensations in many states show, thereare still several legal dimensions or la-cunae to invoking and interpreting asto what is deemed as “voluntarily” giv-ing up of one’s membership of a polit-ical party and whether the Speaker asa hand-maid of the sitting CM can al-ways be of help in this regard. Gehlothas still time to rectify his strategy.

The writer is a former Senior AssociateEditor of Hindustan Times and Political

Editor of Deccan Herald, New Delhi

Uddhav hassomehow

managed toshow that,without

compromisingthe positionof CM whichhe holds, hecan get his

alliancepartners toagree on

some issueswhile leaving

thedisagreementon others tobe settled

another day.

Long ShotShekhar Iyer

TUESDAY’S SWIPEAshok Gehlot during a prayer meeting organised under the Save Democracy-Save Constitution

protest against the (BJP)-led Central government

FREE PRESSFOR FREE FLOW OF TRUTH

NATION 7Sushant case: Mahesh Bhatt records statementMUMBAI: Mumbai Police on Monday recorded filmmaker Mahesh Bhatt's statement in connection with actor Sushant Singh Rajput's death, anofficial said. Bhatt reached the Santacruz police station around noon along with his legal team, recorded his statement and left at around 2.30 pm,the official said. Mumbai police have recorded statements of Bollywood personalities including Sanjay Leela Bhansali, film critic Rajeev Masand,actress Sanjana Sanghi, the actor's girlfriend Rhea Chakraborty, casting director Shanoo Sharma, filmmaker Mukesh Chhabra, and Aditya Chopra ofYash Raj Films.


News from South

Houses are seen submerged in flood watersfollowing heavy monsoon rain, in Gopalganj district,on Monday PTI

First online cabinet meetingheld in KeralaTHIRUVANANTHAPURAM: In a first of itskind in Kerala, the state held a special cabinetmeeting chaired by Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayanin online mode. While Vijayan participated fromhis official residence, the other cabinet ministerstook part in the meeting from their office orresidence. This is the first time such a thing hashappened and it was decided to go into onlinemode after the state has seen a spike in Covid-19cases. The special cabinet meet held on Mondaytook the decision to pass an Ordinance to effectthe passing of the Finance Bill, as the special oneday sitting of the Kerala Legislative Assemblyscheduled for Monday was suspended last week.

Naidu to sponsor education of AP farmer's daughtersAMARAVATI: Former Andhra Pradesh chiefminister N Chandrababu Naidu has come forwardto take care of the education of the twodaughters of a farmer, whose plight moved actorSonu Sood to gift a tractor to the family. TheTelugu Desam Party (TDP) chief said he spoke toSonu Sood and applauded him for his inspiringeffort to send a tractor to Nageswara Rao's familyin Chittoor district. "Moved by the plight of thefamily, I have decided to take care of theeducation of the two daughters and help thempursue their dreams," tweeted Naidu. Sonu Soodreplied to Naidu's tweet, thanking him.

Bride's father booked forviolating Covid-19 protocolKASARAGOD: A man who conducted hisdaughter's marriage without following COVID-19protocol, resulting in 43 people, including thenewly-weds testing positive, has been booked bypolice. The case has been registered againstAboobacker, the bride's father,under the KeralaEpidemics Act. The marriage was held on July 17.Police said over 50 people had reportedlyattended the function. The bride, groom and 41others who took part in the wedding testedpositive, they said. Kasaragod has 658 positivecases so far, as per the latest medical bulletin.

New Vice-Admiral takes chargeat Naval Academy at EzhimalaKANNUR: Vice-Admiral M A Hampiholi onMonday took charge as Commandant, IndianNaval Academy, (INA) at nearby Ezhimala. Hesucceeds Vice-Admiral Dinesh K Tripathi, whowas accorded a warm send-off with the traditional"Pulling Out" ceremony, a press release from theNavy said. Flag Officer Hampiholi is a specialist inanti- submarine warfare and has commanded INships Nashak (missile vessel), Magar {landing shiptank (large)}

TN Cong protests against BJPon Rajasthan power playCHENNAI: Congress leaders courted arrestwhen they attempted to take out a march to theRaj Bhavan here on Monday protesting against theBJP for allegedly trying to destabilise the AshokGehlotgovernment in Rajasthan. Party workers,led by Tamil Nadu Congress Committee (TNCC)president K S Alagiri, raised slogans against theBJP alleging it was trying to 'purchase' MLAs tounseat the democratically electedCongressgovernment in the western state. TNCC workingpresidents K Jayakumar, H Vasanthakumar and MK Vishnuprasad were among the leaders whoparticipated in the protest, organised as part ofthe party's call for nation-wide agitation in a"Gandhian way" in front of Raj Bhavans for theprotection of the Constitution and democracy.

Two held for smuggling goldworth Rs 62 lakhMALAPPURAM: Two persons were arrested byCustoms officials at the international airport hereon Monday for allegedly smuggling gold worth Rs62 lakh from Saudi Arabia. Muhammed and AbdulJabbar, the accused, had arrived by a charteredflight from the Gulf nation, an airport official said.A case has been registered and investigations havebegun.

Sathankulam victim Jayaraj'sdaughter gets TN govt jobCHENNAI: Chief Minister K Palaniswami onMonday gave away an appointment order todaughter of Jayaraj, who died following allegedpolice torture at Sathankulam in southern TamilNadu recently. The order, appointing her as ajunior assistant in the revenue department oncompassionate grounds was given by Palaniswamito Percys, the eldest daughter of Jayaraj at theSecretariat, an official release said. Speaking toreporters, Percys said the Chief Ministerexpressed grief over the death of her father andyounger brother Bennicks and assured her familyof justice.

TN CM launches free mask plan for ration card holdersCHENNAI: Tamil Nadu Chief Minister KPalaniswami on Monday launched a free maskdistribution scheme to benefit over 69 lakhfamilies in the first phase, as part of measures tohelp fight Covid-19. Palaniswami gave away themasks to five people at the Secretariat markingthe inauguration of the first phase of the scheme,which would witness distribution tobeneficiariesthrough ration shops.

India hands over 10 broad gauge locomotives to B'deshAGENCIESNew Delhi

India on Monday handedover 10 railway locomo-tives to Bangladesh, re-flecting its continued ef-forts to further boost bilat-eral economic engagementand expand ties with theneighbouring countriesnotwithstanding the coro-navirus pandemic. The broad gauge locomo-tives were virtually flaggedoff to Bangladesh by Exter-nal Affairs Minister S Jais-hankar and Railway Minis-ter Piyush Goyal. From the Bangladeshside, the online ceremonywas attended by Ministerof Railway Md. Nurul Is-lam Sujan and Minister ofForeign Affairs AbulKalam Abdul Momen. Speaking on the occasion,

Jaishankar highlightedthe depth of "time tested"relationship between Indiaand Bangladesh based onmutual trust and respect. He expressed happinessthat the COVID-19 pandem-ic has not slowed down thepace of bilateral coopera-

tion and conveyed that helooked forward to moresuch "milestones" in thecurrent year marking thebirth centenary of Banga-bandhu Sheikh MujiburRahman. In his comments, Goyalunderscored the signifi-

cance of railway coopera-tion in enhancing bilateraltrade and connectivity andin further boosting the eco-nomic partnership be-tween the two countries. "The handing over ofthese locomotives, undergrant assistance from thegovernment of India, ful-fils an important commit-ment made during the visitof Prime Minister ofBangladesh Sheikh Hasinato India in October 2019,"the Ministry of ExternalAffairs said in a statement. "In keeping with the re-quirements of BangladeshRailway, the locomotiveshave been suitably modi-fied by the Indian side.These locomotives willhelp handle the increasingvolume of passenger andfreight train operations inBangladesh," it said.

First batch of 5 Rafale jetsto reach India tomorrow

AGENCIESNew Delhi

The first batch of India-bound Rafale jets flew out ofFrance earlier on Mondayand reached the United ArabEmirates (UAE) in theevening, reported ANI onMonday. The five Rafale air-craft are expected to arrive inIndia by Wednesday.

The Indian Air Force (IAF)confirmed, "All five Rafaleshave landed safely at AlDhafra airbase in UAE after asortie in excess of sevenhours."According to sources, therewill be air-to-air refuelling ofthe fighter jets during their7,000-km journey to India.After arriving in India on

July 29, the fighter jets will beofficially inducted into theIAF fleet in Haryana's Am-bala.Rafale jets, manufacturedby France-based DassaultAviation, are twin-enginemulti-role fighter aircraft.These are nuclear-capableand can engage in both air-to-air and air-to-ground attacks.If reports are to be believed,the five fighter jets will be de-ployed at the Indo-China bor-der in Eastern Ladakh, which

recently saw a violent clashbetween the troops of the twocountries.The aircraft are expected tosignificantly boost the IndianAir Force's combat capabili-ties at a time India is lockedin a tense border row withChina in eastern Ladakh.An official statement saidthe delivery of 10 aircraft hasbeen completed on scheduleand five will stay back inFrance for training missions.It said the delivery of all 36

aircraft will be completed bythe end of 2021.The first Rafale jet washanded over to the IAF in Oc-tober last year during a visitto France by Defence Minis-ter Rajnath Singh. The firstbatch of five Rafale jets onMonday took off from Francefor India, nearly four years af-ter New Delhi inked an inter-governmental agreementwith Paris to procure 36 ofthe multi-role fighter aircraftunder a Rs 59,000-crore deal. "You can call them (Rafale)both beauty and the beast,"said Indian Ambassador toFrance Jawed Ashraf who in-teracted with the IAF pilots atthe Merignac airbase beforethey set off for India. The aircraft flew out fromthe airbase in the French portcity of Bordeaux and will cov-er a distance of nearly 7,000km with air-to-air refuellingand a single stop in the UnitedArab Emirates before arriv-ing at Ambala airbase onWednesday, officials said.

Karnataka crosses 1Lmark in Covid cases

SHANKAR RAJBengaluru

With 5324 new Covid-19 cases be-ing reported on Monday, Kar-nataka’s total Coronavirus cas-es crossed the 1 lakh mark end-ing at 1,01465 even as the num-ber of people who succumbed tothe pandemic neared 2000.The state has 61,819 active cas-es as on Monday. Bengaluru re-ported 1470 new Covid cases tak-ing the total to 46,923. Cases arealso on the rise in Ballari (840)and Kalburgi (631).To deal with the rising num-ber of cases in the Capital, thestate government Mondaythrew open the largest CovidCare Centre at the sprawlingBangalore International Exhi-bition Centre (BIEC) on the out-skirts of the city.The new facility will have10,100 beds, of which 6,500 bedsbecame operational in the firstphase. The Centre was supposedto be opened last month, but gotdelayed as it got mired in con-troversy after opposition lead-ers levelled charges of corrup-tion in buying beds and othermaterials at a high cost.Of the 6500 beds, 5,000 are re-served for Covid patients and

1,500 beds are for healthcareworkers who test positive forcoronavirus.The centre also has an enter-tainment section with televi-sions and sofas.Meanwhile, sources said ChiefMinister BS Yediyurappa iskeen on reopening of theatresand gyms, if the Centre leavesthe decision to the states as partof Unlock 3.0. But with restric-tions that are reported to comewith it, most producers, distrib-utors and theatre owners seemreluctant in resuming bite thebullet.However, swimming pools andschools would remain shut.

BIHAR HEALTH SECRETARYCHANGED FOR THIRD TIME

LAW KUMAR MISHRA / PATNA

Pratayay Amrut, a 1991 batchIAS officer on Monday becamethe third principal secretary ofhealth since outbreak of Coronain Bihar. He replaces the 1993batch IAS, Uday Singh Kumawatwho had replaced the 1991 batchIAS, Sanjay Kumar on May 21.Decision to change the princi-pal secretary was taken by thechief minister following com-plaints from the health minister,Mangal Pandey on Saturday atthe Cabinet meeting. Bihar chap-ter of Indian Medical Associa-tion on July 24 had demanded re-

moval of Kumawat as he wasmisbehaving with the doctors.Association has also demandedremoval of district magistratesof Bhojpur and Gopalganj too asthey were not co-operating withthe doctors during Corona crisis.In the cabinet meeting, NitishKumar had admonished Ku-mawat and had warned, “If youare not interested, better quit”.The CM was upset when healthminister told him, the principalsecretary was not having coordi-nation with minister in fightingCorona. Nitish wanted at least20,000 tests daily, but only 10,000people were being tested.

SC notice to UGCon final year exam

OUR BUREAUNEW DELHI

The Supreme Court on Monday is-sued notice to the University GrantsCommission, seeking its reply byWednesday on pleas seeking to cancelits circular for conduct of the finalyear exams by September 30 despitethe Covid-19 pandemic. It was hear-ing four petitions seeking not to holdany exams, one of the petitioners be-ing Maharashtra Tourism MinisterAditya Thackeray.Appearing for a student petitioner,senior advocate Abhishek ManuSinghvi asserted that the UGC guide-lines are harsh and unreal.Solicitor General Tushar Mehta, onthe other hand, said that the UGC hadgiven options like an online exam, anoffline exam or a merger of both, tothe students. "There are MHRD andMHA guidelines which state thatthere should not be more than 10 stu-dents in one room with social dis-tancing," he argued.

Kerala gold smuggling case

CM’s top ex-aidegrilled for 9 morehours by NIA

K RAVEENDRAN/Kochi

M Shivasankar, the formerprincipal secretary and ITsecretary, was let off byNIA investigators for theday after nine hours ofgrilling. He has been askedto report back at the NIAoffice, Kochi on Tuesdayfor further interrogations.After completion of theday’s questioning, the sen-ior bureaucrat, consideredas the conscience keeper ofChief Minister Pinarayi Vi-jayan when he was in office,drove straight to a leadinglawyer of the city, but ap-parently changed his planin view of the large pres-ence of media, with a num-ber of cars following him.With Monday’s grillinglasting 9 hours, Shiv-asankar has been interro-gated for 14 hours alreadyin two sessions. The con-tinuing questioning, whichwill resume on Tuesday,suggests that the premierinvestigating agency, prob-ing the terrorist angle in

the sensational case of goldsmuggling through thediplomatic channel, proba-bly means that the bureau-crat has to provide satisfac-tory answers to many morequestions.Shivasankar’s interroga-tion was being watchedwith anxiety in the rulingcircles and keen interest inthe opposition camps asany further action, whichcan include his arrest,would put the Pinarayi Vi-jayan government on thedefensive.It is widely believed thatif he is arrested, it couldlead to further links in thechief minister’s office,which would make the gov-ernment’s position evenmore vulnerable. The in-terrogation is progressingeven as the central leader-ship of the party pledgedfull support to Chief Minis-ter Pinarayi Vijayan andremarked that the opposi-tion Congress and BJP aremaking a joint bid to desta-bilise the government.

The fighters will be officially inducted into IAF fleet in Ambala

There will be air-to-airrefuelling of the jets

during their 7,000-kmjourney to India

Family members offer prayers before immersing ashes of late MPgovernor Lalji Tandon in Ganges, in Haridwar, on Monday PTI

Aishwarya,Aaradhyadischargedfrom hosp

MUMBAI: Aishwarya RaiBachchan and daughterAaradhya Bachchan onMonday tested negative forCovid-19 and were dis-charged from a city hospi-tal here. The 46-year-old actor's hus-band, Abhishek Bachchan,confirmed the news on Twit-ter. "Aishwarya and Aarad-hya have thankfully testednegative and have been dis-charged from the hospital.They will now be at home,”Abhishek tweeted. The actor added that heand his father AmitabhBachchan, are still underthe care of medical staff atthe Nanavati Hospital's iso-lation ward. “My father andI remain in hospital underthe care of the medicalstaff. Thank you all for yourcontinued prayers and goodwishes. Indebted forever.” Aishwarya and her eight-year-old daughter wereshifted to the isolationward of Nanavati Hospitalon July 17, almost a weekafter testing positive forCovid-19.

Broad gauge diesel locomotives stationed at Gede Railway Stationahead of their flag off, before entering Darshana railway stationinto Bangladesh, in Nadia, on Monday PTI

'Shourya', 3-D armscollage of Keralapolice unveiled

THIRUVANANTHAPURAM

State Police chief LoknathBehra on Monday unveiled athree-dimensional monumentmade up of discarded rifles,revolvers and magazines atthe Kerala Policeheadquarters. The more than 20-foot tallstructure is made of 1,422discarded rifles, revolvers andmagazines (ammunitionstorage and feeding devicewithin or attached to arepeating firearm). "It hasbeen named as 'Shourya'which means valour and wasmade by us.

Amid China face-off, SFJ tellsSikh soldiers to desert India

AGENCIESNew Delhi

Amid the border tensionwith China in easternLadakh, designated terror-ist outfit and pro-Khalistangroup Sikhs For Justice(SFJ) has started targetingsoldiers of the Sikh com-munity in the Indian Army,threatening them to desertthe force, intelligence agen-cies warned on Monday.The agencies have alertedthe armed forces and secu-rity establishments aboutthe terrorist outfit's nefari-ous activities. Pakistani ISIhas been backing the mali-cious campaign launchedby the SFJ.The US-based proscribedoutfit Sikhs for Justice(SFJ) is instigating Sikh de-fence personnel in thebackdrop of the recentmartyrdom of four Sikhsoldiers in Ladakh sectorduring the recent clasheswith Chinese troops at Lineof Actual Control."Besides exploiting opensocial media platforms, the

outfit is also using the en-crypted chat platforms par-ticularly WhatsApp for dis-seminating these inflam-matory messages," intelli-gence agencies alerted.The agency found thatpropaganda voice callsfrom an organsiationnamed Sikhs For Justice(SFJ) campaign are mak-ing the rounds on socialmedia. "The call is a prerecorded one with the fwdnumber being+1 (617) 390-7018, likely to be belongingto Massachusetts, NorthAmerica," the agenciesstated.The outfit members in thecall are "motivating SikhIndian soldiers not to getmartyred for India". Theyare inciting people by say-

ing that India has a historyof "not supporting Sikhpeople that is why theyshould leave Indian Army".As per the message, Sikhpeople are being asked tojoin the ‘Sikhs For Justice'campaign wherein on join-ing they will get Rs 5,000more than their presentsalary in Indian Army.It was found that Gurpat-want Singh Pannun, chiefprotagonist of ‘Sikhs forJustice', has uploaded ahighly provocative video(duration 138 seconds) onJune 18 instigating theSikh soldiers of IndianArmy to desert and join hissecessionist outfit.A similar audio message(115 seconds) of Pannun di-rectly instigating the Sikhsoldiers, was also sent toGlobal System for MobileCommunications (GSM)subscribers, in Punjab andnearby areas through theinternational telemarket-ing numbers the same day.The message was later alsodisseminated through so-cial media.

CRPF at forefront tokeep nation safe: Modi

AGENCIESNew Delhi

Prime Minister NarendraModi on Monday greetedthe Central Reserve PoliceForce (CRPF) on its 82ndRaising Day, saying theparamilitary force is at theforefront of keeping thenation safe."Greetings to all CRPFpersonnel on the 82nd Rais-ing Day of this outstandingforce. The CRPF is at theforefront of keeping ournation safe. The courageand professionalism ofthis force are widely ad-mired," the Prime Ministertweeted. He further wished theforce achieve greaterheights in the comingyears. The CRPF, mandated toprovide internal securityespecially in Jammu andKashmir and Maoist-affect-ed states, came into exis-tence as the Crown Repre-sentative's Police on July27, 1939 under the British.

After Independence, itwas rechristened the CRPFon the enactment of theCRPF Act on December 28,1949 by the country's firstHome Minister Sardar Val-labhbhai Patel.The 3.5-lakh strong Cen-tral Armed Police Force(CAPF) is the country'slargest paramilitary force. It is for the first time thatthe force is skipping itsmega Raising Day eventthis year in view of theCOVID-19 pandemic andphysical distancing proto-cols.

The event involvingmarching contingents anddisplay of combat skills inan open ground was sched-uled for March 19 in ad-joining Gurugram inHaryana but was post-poned due to the coron-avirus outbreak in thecountry.Union Home MinisterAmit Shah on Monday vis-ited the CRPF headquar-ters here on the occasionand addressed the CRPFpersonnel posted acrossthe country through avideo link.

Took right decision at righttime to fight Covid: Modi

FP NEWS SERVICENEW DELHI

PM Modi does not mincewords; and he surely doesnot hesitate in giving creditwhere it is due. On Monday,the Prime Minister exhibit-ed more than his usual can-dour, when he declared thatIndia is in a much better po-sition than many othercountries in the fightagainst Covid-19, owing tothe "right decisions takenat the right time."No wonder, the deaths inIndia are much lower thanin many large countries, hepointed out. Likewise, In-dia's recovery rate was alsohigher than that in othercountries and there was aperceptible improvementin the tally every day. Thenumber of people who haverecovered thus far from thevirus is about to reach the10 lakh mark, he remindedhis audience. "The world ispraising us because of the

efforts of the foot soldiers.We don't lack awareness,"the Prime Minister said.Incidentally, India onMonday recorded the high-est 5.15 lakh Covid-19 testsin a day. The good newstrickled in even as PM Modiunveiled three labs of theIndian Council of MedicalResearch through video

conferencing, which willramp up the daily tests to 10lakh soon.These new labs are locat-ed in three institutes -- Na-tional Institute of Researchin Reproductive Health inMumbai, National Instituteof Cholera and Enteric Dis-eases in Kolkata and theNational Institute of Can-

cer Prevention and Re-search in Noida on the out-skirts of Delhi. These labscan do high volume of testson multiple machines.Apparently, as the PM re-minded the nation, thecountry has expanded itshealth infrastructure at arapid pace to deal with thepandemic. All this, in turn,was possible as the Centrehad the good sense to an-nounce a package of Rs15,000 crore at the begin-ning of the Covid-19 battle."We want to save each andevery Indian," the PrimeMinister declared, addingthat the country now hasmore than 11,000 Covid fa-cilities and more than 11lakh isolation beds.‘‘What India did withPPE, masks, test kits, it is amassive success story. Atone point, India didn't man-ufacture a single PPE kit.Now, it is the world's sec-ond largest manufacturer,"he said.

TIME CAPSULE TO BE PLACED UNDER RAM TEMPLE AYODHYA: The Shri Ram Janmab-hoomi Teerth Kshetra Trust has saidthat a time capsule will be placedabout 200 feet underground beneaththe Ram Temple construction site inAyodhya.According to Kameshwar Chaupal,a member of the Shri Ram Janmab-hoomi Teerth Kshetra Trust, the cap-sule will help anyone in the futurewho wishes to study the history of

the temple. "The time capsule will beplaced about 200 feet underground atthe Ram Temple construction site. Infuture, anyone who wishes to studyabout the history of the temple, willget all facts related to Ram Janmab-hoomi in the time capsule," he said.Kameshwar Chaupal, incidentally, isa Dalit from Bihar who had laid thefoundation stone for a Ram temple inAyodhya on November 9, 1989.

Since then, the 64-year-old Chaupal,has been anxiously waiting for theconstruction of the temple to begin.Almost nine months after the his-toric verdict of Supreme Court on theBabri Masjid vs Ram Janmabhoomidispute, Prime Minister NarendraModi will visit Ayodhya on August 5for the 'bhoomi pujan' ceremony tobegin the construction of a grandRam Temple.

MP to witness virtual...Chouhan, however, asked his ministerial colleagues andthe officers to hold video conferencing so that work doesnot suffer. According to Home Minister Narottam Mishra,the corona pandemic has changed lifestyle of peopleacross the world, so the virtual Cabinet meeting shouldnot surprise anyone. There may be many changes incoming days, he said.

CM's 2nd report found +ve...He asked all the ministers and others not to come to thehospital to know about his health. In a twit, Chouhansaid, "Covid-19 is a different type of disease. So I do notwant that anyone should be afflicted with it."Chouhan reviewed the law and order situation and thecorona pandemic through video conferencing from thehospital. He discussed about many issues with theofficers. Chouhan discussed with the officials of thetechnical education department and higher educationdepartment about the examinations.TO TAKE PART IN NADDA'S MEETINGNational president of Bharatiya Janata Party, JP Nadda,will hold a video conferencing on street vendors onTuesday. Chouhan will take part in it from the hospital.TO DISCUSS WITH GOWDA ABOUT UREAChief Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan will discuss withUnion Chemicals and Fertilisers Minister SadanandGowda about supply of urea to Madhya Pradesh. Thediscussion will be held through video conferencing.Chouhan will take part in it from the hospital bed.

3 children among 8 killed...The deceased include Rahul (20) son of Balu, his brotherDevendra (9), Pappu son of Lila (38), Sunita wife ofBhavuddin (40) her son Karan (6), Rani daughter ofKharga (16), Ram Sanehi (40) and his daughter (3). Sunitaand Karan died on the spot and the other six died in thehospital during course of treatment. SP ChhatarpurSachin Sharma said two persons sitting in SUV fled fromthe spot. The Bamitha police have registered the case andsearch is on for them.CM condoles deaths: Chief minister Shivraj SinghChouhan expressed grief over deaths in his tweets. Theformer chief minister Kamal Nath also tweeted condolingthe deaths.

Raj Guv wants 21 days...I told him you know how the system works. He told methat he will get it looked into.” The pre-conditions putforth by the Governor are: there should be a mandatory21-day advance intimation before the session;guaranteed social distancing and safety of 1200 persons,which includes 200 MLAs and 1000 others who would bepresent in the Assembly; last, but not the least, in casethere is a floor test, then complete transparency andvideography of the same should be done. Meanwhile, the Congress MLAs have sent amemorandum to the President of India and told himabout the efforts being made to topple the governmentin Rajasthan. The letter points out that similar to whathad happened in other states, efforts are being made totopple the democratically elected government ofRajasthan through horse trading and other corruptmeans.The memorandum urges the President to intervene in theissue, gather all information about Rajasthan and protectthe democratic values.While protests were held at all other Raj Bhawans acrossthe country, in Rajasthan the MLAs took part in a prayermeet at Hotel Fairmont where they are staying. This wasthe form of protest decided for Rajasthan.

Mandsaur girls state ...This year, a total of 7.84 lakh students, comprising 6.60lakh regular and 1.24 private ones, appeared for theHigher Secondary School Certificate Exam, MPBSE officialssaid. Of them 121 students in all made it to the covetedlist. The merit list prepared by the state board has 19students from humanities, 37 from science (math), 19from science (biology), 34 from commerce, 7 fromagriculture and 5 from home science and fine arts. Previous year the results of MP board were 72.37% whilethis year only 68.81% of students managed to pass theexams- thereby showing a decline of 3.56% in overallresults. 71.43% of students from government schoolspassed the exams while the pass percentage in privateschools stood at 64.93%. The analysis of the results show that 2,77,750 studentssecured first division, while 161544 passed with seconddivision and 14,704 got third division. 97,960 studentswill appear supplementary exams. Results of 835 studentshave been withheld due technical reasons. Ministermaintains distance as his PA tests corona positive:Shadow of corona pandemic was quite apparent on theevent as the results were announced online andprogramme was not held. School education ministerIndar Singh Parmar maintained distance after his personalassistant tested positive for coronavirus. The declarationof results remained a low key affair because of covidpandemic.

Open book exams...Question papers will be made available to students of finalyear graduation and to students of the fourth semester ofpost graduation on their login ID and prescribed website.In the open book system, the students will be able to writeexaminations at their home itself. Examinees are requiredto submit their answer sheets at the collection centres.Collection centers in thousands have been established forcollecting answer sheets. Students will also have twooptions for submission of answer sheets i.e. facility forsending answer sheets by post and email. The examinationresults of final year graduation and 4th semester postgraduation will be declared by granting 50 percentweightage of marks obtained in previous years and 50percent weightage of marks obtained in the open booksystem. As many as 5.71 lakh students will appear inexaminations of final year graduation and 4th semesterpost graduation. The university examinations will beconducted in the month of September and results will bedeclared in October.

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8 NATIONUddhav seeks PM help to setup infectious disease hospital

MUMBAI

Maharashtra Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray on Mon-day sought support and help from the Centre for setting upa permanent infectious disease hospital and research fa-cility near Mumbai. He put forth the demand while inter-acting with Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Unionhealth minister Harsh Vardhan at the virtual launch ofCOVID-19 testing facilities in Noida, Mumbai andKolkata. Chief ministers of Uttar Pradesh, West Bengaland Maharashtra joined the inauguration of the testingfacilities in their respective states via video conference. Addressing the PM at the event, Thackeray said, I wantto set up a permanent infectious disease hospital nearMumbai city, where people will be admitted for treatmentand simultaneously research can also be undertaken. Ineed your support and help for its construction. He also sought extension of the ongoing supply of PPE(personal protective equipment) kits and N-95 masks tothe state from the Centre beyond September to deal withthe rising cases of Covid-19.


PM launches Covid testing labs in 3 states where in future Hepatitis B, Dengue, HIV testing will be done

Prime Minister Narendra Modi launches 3 new high-throughput labsof ICMR at Noida, Kolkata & Mumbai through video conferencing,in New Delhi, on Monday PTI

Centre should clearWB's dues to tackleCovid effectively,says Mamata

KOLKATA: West BengalChief Minister MamataBanerjee on Monday askedthe Centre to clear all fi-nancial dues of the state tohelp it fight the Covid-19pandemic effectively. Banerjee, during an on-line programme wherePrime Minister NarendraModi inaugurated new test-ing facilities in West Ben-gal, Maharashtra and UttarPradesh, also sought thecreation of a separate fundfor the combating the dis-ease. She also said that themoney from the state's dis-aster relief fund was beingused for rehabilitationwork after cyclone Am-phan. "I would request the cen-tral government to clear thefinancial dues of the stateimmediately. We are yet toget our dues of Rs 53,000crore. If we utilise all mon-ey from the state disaster re-lief fund for post-cyclonerestoration works, how arewe supposed to fight thepandemic," the CM said.

Set up panel on OBC quota inmedical courses: HC to Centre

CHENNAI

The Madras High Court on Monday directed the Centralgovernment to constitute a committee to decide on the is-sue of providing OBC reservation in all-India seats (AIQ)surrendered by Tamil Nadu for medical admission. Such acommittee comprising representatives from Centre, stateand Medical Council of India should be constituted withinthree months, the court said. The first bench of Chief Jus-tice AP Sahi and Justice Senthilkumar Ramamoorthy alsomade it clear that any decision made by the committeeshall be applicable only from the next academic year. Asserting that there was no legal bar in providing OBCreservation in AIQ seats as contended by the MCI, thebench said it was not passing a positive order to provide thereservation only in view of settled law that courts cannotinterfere in policy matters of the government, unless incases where fundamental rights are affected. "Reservationis not a legal or fundamental right," the court added.

Actress Vijayalakshmi attempts suicide CHENNAI: Actress Vijayalakshmi was admitted to a private hospital on Sunday in Chennai after she allegedlyattempted suicide. She had released a video on social media wherein she alleged harassment by followers ofNaam Tamilar Katchi leader Seeman and Panangkattu Padai Katchi party's Hari Nadar. In the video, she said,"This is my last video. I have been under extreme stress in the last four months because of Seeman and hisparty men. I tried my best to survive for my family. I have been humiliated by Hari Nadar in the media."

WORLDFREEPRESS


9CORONAVIRUSCURE CORNER

GURDIP SINGH / Singapore

Scientists in Singaporehave developed a methodto improve the speed ofobtaining COVID-19 labo-ratory test results in 36minutes or by up to fourtimes.The current testing

method requires highlytrained technical staffand can take a few hoursbefore results are fi-nalised.The new method, devel-

oped by scientists at theNanyang TechnologicalUniversity's (NTC) LeeKong Chian School ofMedicine, has demon-strated a way to improve"the speed, handling timeand cost of COVID-19 lab-oratory tests", the univer-sity said on Monday. Thetest, which can be donewith portable equipment,could also be deployed inthe community as ascreening tool, it said.The new method can im-

prove the speed of obtain-ing COVID-19 laboratorytest results in 36 minutesor by up to four times, itsaid.Currently, the most sen-

sitive method for COVID-19 testing is through a lab-oratory technique calledpolymerase chain reaction(PCR), in which a machineamplifies viral genetic ma-terial by copying it overand over again so anytrace of the SARS-CoV-2virus can be detected.

Now get virus results in 36 minutes

Covaxin begins human trials

The human clinical trial ofindigenously developed Covaxin, apossible vaccine against the novelcoronavirus, began at OdishaHospital on Monday, a senior officialsaid. The much-awaited trial of

BBV152 COVID-19 vaccine or Covaxincommenced at the Institute ofMedical Sciences and SUM Hospital,one of the 12 centres selected byIndian Council of Medical Research(ICMR) for conducting phase one and

AGENCIES / Beijing

A Chinese doctor, who diag-nosed early coronavirus cas-es in China, has accused thelocal authorities of a cover-up of the initial scale of theoutbreak at the epicentreWuhan, saying the evidencewas already destroyed whenthey went for investigation,according to a media report.Speaking to the BBC, Pro-

fessor Kwok-Yung Yuen, amicrobiologist, physicianand surgeon in Hong Kong,who helped to investigate theCOVID-19 outbreak in thecentral Chinese city ofWuhan, said the physical ev-idence at the Huananwildlife market was de-stroyed and the response toclinical findings was slow."When we went to the Hua-

nan supermarket, of course,there was nothing to see be-

cause the market was cleanalready. So, you may say thatthe crime scene is alreadydisturbed because the super-market was cleared. We can-not identify any host whichis giving the virus to hu-mans," Yuen was quoted assaying."I do suspect that they have

been doing some cover-up lo-cally at Wuhan. The local of-ficials who are supposed toimmediately relay the infor-mation have not allowed thisto be done as readily as itshould," he said in the re-port.The coronavirus originat-

ed from the Huanan wildlifemarket in Wuhan in Decem-ber last year and has global-ly infected over 16 millionpeople and claimed the livesof more than 648,000 peopleand bringing the world econ-omy to a standstill.

• HK bans dining at restaurants, public

gatherings limited to 2

• 7 more US soldiers in S.Korea test positive

• Confirmed coronavirus cases surpass

100,000 in Indonesia

• Spain is safe despite rise in cases: Govt

• Faithful return to Mexico churches

DASHBOARD

Says COVID-19 evidence wasdestroyed as part of cover-up

Chinese doctorunveils the truth

AGENCIES / Paris

Olivia de Havilland, the doe-eyedactress beloved to millions as thesainted Melanie Wilkes of "GoneWith the Wind," but also a two-time Oscar winner and an off-screen fighter who challengedand unchained Hollywood's con-tract system, died Sunday at herhome in Paris. She was 104.Havilland, the sister of fellow Oscar

winner Joan Fontaine, died peace-fully of natural causes, said NewYork-based publicist Lisa Gold-berg De Havilland was amongthe last of the top screen per-formers from the studio era,and the last surviving leadfrom "Gone With the Wind," anirony, she once noted, since thefragile, self-sacrificing Wilkes

was the only major character todie in the film.

Olivia de Havilland, last surviving starfrom ‘Gone With the Wind’ is no more

Saudi gears upfor downsizedHajj this year

DUBAI: Muslim pilgrims have started arriving in Mecca for a drastically scaled-down Hajj as Saudi authorities balance the kingdom's oversight of one of Islam'skey pillars and the safety of visitors due to pandemic. The hajj normally drawsaround 2.5m people for five intense days of worship.

No buy 1 get 1, ban on junk food adverts, calorie count on menus...

Time for Britons to shed those extra kilosADITI KHANNA

London

The UK government onMonday launched a newanti-obesity drive to helppeople lose weight and be-come healthier after whathas been pegged as a COVID-19 "wake up call".UK Prime Minister Boris

Johnson, who has himselflost weight since his ownhospitalisation after testingpositive for the deadly coron-avirus earlier this year, saidthat getting fitter is impor-tant to help protect against

the virus as well as the state-funded National HealthService (NHS) from addedpressures."Losing weight is hard but

with some small changes wecan all feel fitter and healthi-er," said Johnson. "If we alldo our bit, we can reduce ourhealth risks and protect our-selves against coronavirus -as well as taking pressure offthe NHS," he said."We know obesity increas-

es the risk of serious illnessand death from coronavirus -so it's vital we take action onobesity to protect the NHS

and improve our nation'shealth," added UK HealthSecretary Matt Hancock.The raft of new measures

unveiled by the Departmentof Health and Social Careare being launched along-side a new "Better Health"campaign, led by PublicHealth England (PHE),which will call on people toembrace a healthier lifestyleand to lose weight if theyneed to, supported by arange of evidence-basedtools and apps providing ad-vice on how to slim down thewaistline.

LUNCH DATE WITH TEDDYMEXICO

Portugal onwildfire alertLISBON: Authorities inPortugal put the entirecountry on a state of alerton Monday due to the highpossibility of wildfires.High temperatures in re-

cent weeks have left manyforested areas bone dry, anddeclaring a state of alert al-lows officials to place fire-fighting assets on standbyfor quick deployment.Portugal is deeply wary

of the threat of wildfiresafter two major blazeskilled 106 people threeyears ago. Major wildfiresoccur each year, with poorforest management isblamed for repeated out-breaks.

MONTGOMERY: More than 40 people were infected withthe coronavirus after attending a multi-day revival event at anorth Alabama Baptist church, according to thecongregation's pastor. "The whole church has got it, justabout," Al.com quoted pastor Daryl Ross of Warrior Creek

Missionary Baptist Church in Marshall County as saying.The pastor says the churchgoers, including himself, testedpositive after the congregation held a series of religiousservices featuring a guest pastor over the course of severaldays last week.

40 infected with virus after Alabama church event

outh Korean pop group BTS will be releasing a new digital single in English onAugust 21. According to Billboard, the band shared the news on V LIVE, aKorean live stream broadcasting app, saying that they “wanted to share somepositive energy” amid the coronavirus pandemic. The seven-piece boy band,

made up of Jin, Jungkook, RM, Suga, J-Hope, V and Jimin, is also planning torelease a new album later this year. “We have prepared a new single for ARMY, set forAugust 21. We are preparing an album for the second half of this year, but decided tofirst release a single because we wanted to reach our fans as soon as possible,” thegroup said. – PTI

SFREEPRESS

10INDORE | TUESDAY | JULY 28, 2020

BTS to releasenew Englishsingle inAugust

yushmann Khurrana isnot a method actor, anddoes not like to take hischaracters back home. The

actor says he likes to explorenew things without putting unduepressure on himself.Ayushmann embarked on hisBollywood journey with offbeatroles, going on to become a posterboy of unconventional films andBollywood’s most unconventionalhit machine.When the actor entered Hindifilms with Shoojit Sircar’s VickyDonor in 2012, he instantly wonhearts with his charm and wittyscreen presence. He has been partof stories about flaws and imper-fections and has delivered back-to-back hits while showing off hisversatility as an actor.Asked if his characters stay withhim after work, Ayushmann saidhe can “switch on and switch off”with ease. “I am not a method ac-tor. I switch on and switch off veryeasily. So, I never take my charac-ters back home,” said Ayushmann.“To evolve more as a person, Ineed to just move on and explorenew things and learn new things.Of course, there are certain films

like Article 15 or AndhaDhun. ForAndhaDhun, I started taking pi-ano lessons, so that was an evolu-tion for me. For Article 15, I gotaware about the caste system in In-dia. So that was again, a kind oflearning for me. In Gulabo Sitabo,more than the character, it was thelearning experience with Mr.Amitabh Bachchan and ShoojitSircar,” he added.He might be touted as Bolly-wood’s hit machine, but he re-frains from taking pressures fromthe expectations. “The pressure is

always there, but at the same timeI enjoy whatever I’m a part of. I re-ally enjoy the process and I don’tput undue pressure on myself. Idon’t have to change myself withevery film. As I’ve said earlier, Ican wait for the right script forthat,” said the actor, who startedhis journey on the small screen.“The only pressure is churningout great content,” headded.Ayushmann wasrecently seen in theAmitabh Bachchanco-starrer Gulabo Sitabo. TheShoojit Sircar directo-rial, which wasscheduled to get atheatrical re-lease, pre-miered onAmazonPrime Videoin June ascinema hallsremain shutamid the on-going COVID-19pandemic.“The biggestchallenge wasto face the leg-end (AmitabhBachchan). Itwas a very internalchallenge, apartfrom that the ex-ternal challengeswas the heat,” saidthe actor whilelooking back at themaking of the film.

–IANS

What happens atwork stays at work

AyushmannKhurrana who waslast seen in GulaboSitabo, reveals thathe never takes hischaracters back

home because he canswitch on and off

with ease

A

Priyanka,Nick standwith Assam

The coupleurged peopleto donate forAssam flood

relief

ctor Priyanka ChopraJonas and singer hus-band Nick Jonas havedonated towards Assam

flood relief and have askedpeople to do so too to help effortsto help those in the State, whichhas been ravaged by floods andhas left close to 100 people deadand at least 129 animal casualties.Taking to social media the ac-tor-singer couple shared thenames of a few organisations,who that are involved in reliefand rescue operations in thestate to which people could sendin their donations.“While we are all still dealingwith the effects of the global pan-demic, the Indian state of Assamhas been grappling with another

major crisis. It has been devastedby floods triggered by heavymonsoon showers affecting thelives of millions.” wrote Priyanka in a Tweet.“The impact to life andland/property is unimaginable.The rapidly rising water levelhas also flooded the KazirangaNational Park, one of the finestwildlife sanctuaries in theworld,” the actor wrote.Priyanka also posted the refer-ence of two organisations - Ac-tion Aid and Rapid Responsewho are working on the groundto help people. Nick also sharedthe same message on his socialmedia accounts. They shared de-tails of Action Aid and Rapid Re-sponse, two organisations work-ing towards flood relief. –ANI

A

idyutJammw-al trig-gered a

meme feston Twitter, afterhe accidentallysent a virtualhug to Home

Minister Amit Shah, instead of actor Amit Sadh.Avrodh actor had taken to Twitter to laud thetrailer of Jammwal’s upcoming film KhudaHaafiz. Sadh tweeted, “Bro you’re kicking some real ass-es in this one! As a human being you were alwaysspectacular but the growth that you’ve shown withevery film of yours is truly amazing. Everythingthat you do truly touches my heart. All the best for#KhudaHaafiz!” While replying to the BreatheInto The Shadows actor tweet, Vidyut accidentallytagged Shah and wrote, “Thank you @AmitShah..A tight virtual hug to you.” The goof up left neti-zens in splits and received hilarious reactions onthe micro-blogging site. A user wrote, “Was it in-tentional to send the hug to teddy bear..If yes thenmuch love.” Another commented, “This happens

with everyone! esp with somany Amits, Rahuls,

Priyankas andSanjays on Twit-ter!” “Can’tstop thinkingof you huggingAmit Shah Facewith tears ofjoy,”

Vidyutaccidently

sendsvirtualhug to

Amit Shah

WhatAnuskhawants

As an actor and aproducer, Sharma

wants to tell the beststories through

movies

nushka Sharma is ridinghigh with two back toback successes withPaatal Lok and Bulbbul as

a producer. With Bulbbul par-ticularly, Anushka and her brotherKarnesh Ssharma, again experi-mented with the supernaturalgenre. Interestingly, this is theirthird project that’s exploring thisstyle of filmmaking after Phillauriand Pari and merits prodding intoexploring the reason for such boldcreative decisions.Ask Anushka if she finds herself

attracted to stories about the super-natural, ghosts and spirits becauseshe has created a sub-genre of thefeminist supernatural in India andshe says, “One should see a moviefor the story that it is and for what istrying to say and try to engage a lit-tle more deeply with stories. Wehave never tried to create a moviespecific to a genre. We have neverever discussed things like – let’s doa horror film right now. We havealways seen stories.”Anushka adds, “For us, Pari was

not a horror film. It was a film abouthow a human being can be so de-monic and a demon can still bemore humane. For us, that was thebeauty of Pari as a film. For us,Bulbbul is a story about a girl find-ing her strength in an unfamiliarworld. For us, Phillauri was aboutlove and longing. It was never aboutgenres or we never thought aboutthe supernatural element of it. Be-cause of the characters we had tolend that treatment to it.”Anushka, who became the

youngest woman producer of thecountry at the age of 25, says shelikes to chase and find the best sto-ries for Clean Slate Filmz and alsowants to be a part of the best proj-ects as an actress. “For us it’salways the stories and it willalways remain about thestories. We want to pro-duce the best projectsand find the best sto-ries. Hopefully after apoint maybe whenpeople see the kindof work Karneshand me are do-ing, people willstop maybeasking usquestions onwhether welove a partic-ular genre ornot and seeus for whatwe are try-ing to do,”she said.

A

V Apurva slamsarticle questioningSushant’s sanity

ilmmaker Apurva Asrani has be-come the crusader to fight againstall those who maligned SushantSingh Rajput’s reputation. From

blind pieces to news articles citing thelate actor and ‘bipolar and depressed’, As-rani is leaving no stone unturned to nameand shame the film industry and media.His latest attack was on a 2017 news arti-cle published in a daily, which was shutdown in 2019. Asrani shared a picture ofSushant’s tweet, which included the pub-lished article titled as “Decoding Sushant’stweets”.Singh captioned it as, “Your attempt tomock me is appreciated but in doing soyou’re also claiming that Sartre, Escherand Joel were bullshitting all their lives.(Credits were given). Oouchh!!”

Asrani quote-tweeted the same andwrote, “Sushant Singh Rajput: To cure asane man is way more difficult than cur-ing one’s own insanity. DNA Aftr hrs:Clearly MR Rajput, tweets like these aremaking us question your sanity. In 2017,DNA compiled brilliant quotes from SSR &spun them all to make him seem insane.Do read.”Earlier, Asrani named a Hindi daily foran article claiming Sushant was bipolar.He stated that the daily hasn’t names itssource, adding that there’s a PR drive to in-fluence public perception and to paintSingh as unstable.Besides that in a detailed blog post titledas ‘Do Words Have the Power To Kill?’, As-rani asked questions leading to Rajput’sdeath. From being ignored by his peers, toeven being accused of being a rapist underthe MeToo Movement; he wondered ifSushant was bullied throughout.

–FPJ Web Desk

F

ikTok sensation SachinTiwari, lookalike of thelate actor Sushant SinghRajput, stars in a film

with a title shouting out thewords Suicide and Murder. A sec-tion of fans, media and film in-dustry watchers were naturallyquick to infer that the film inquestion is a biopic of Sushant.Director Shamik Maulik of thefilm Suicide Or Murder, however,hastens to quash such ideas. Thefilm is neither a biopic, nor doesit deal with Sushant’s untimelyand tragic death, he insists. “Thisis not a biopic. The film is abouthow young men and women fromsmall towns come to Mumbaiwith a lot of dreams. They alsotaste success, and when they areabout to reach where they want-ed to, suddenly they find otherforces stopping them, becausethose people don't want to losetheir position at the top,” saidShamik. While Sachin plays the lead,right now the casting process ison for the rest of the characters,informs the director.But why pick such a title for afilm starring Sushant’s looka-like? “There are some situationswhere you have been forced to

kill yourself. Not that somebodyhas killed you, but the situationis such that you are depressedand you kill yourself,” explainedMaulik. Suicide Or Murder was recent-ly announced. The film's firstlook poster was shared on socialmedia last week and everyonenoted Sachin’s uncanny resem-blance with Sushant.

T

‘Not a

biopic

...’

Ryan Reynoldsoffers $5Kreward to helpfind woman’sstolen teddy bear

ollywood starRyan Reynolds isoffering USD 5000reward for the

person who finds theteddy bear belonging to awoman from Vancouver. Thestuffed toy, created by Build-a-Bear, features the woman’smother’s voice who died last June after losing her battle withcancer. The Deadpool star announced the reward in response to a

news story shared by CBC TV about Mara Soriano, whose blackbackpack containing the stuffed bear along with importantdocuments, an iPad, and a Nintendo Switch, was stolenrecently. “Vancouver: $5,000 to anyone who returns this bearto Mara. Zero questions asked. I think we all need this bear tocome home,” Reynolds posted on Twitter. In an emotionalsocial media post, Soriano had said that the teddy bear was agift from her mother and has a “voice recording saying that sheloves me”. –PTI

Natalie excited to play ‘The Mighty Thor’atalie Portman is set to return to the Marvel CinematicUniverse with the upcoming Thor: Love and Thunder,in which she will become the first female to play thetitular character. According to People magazine,

Portman recently shared that her version of Thor is notconsidered “Lady Thor” but rather “The Mighty Thor.” The Oscar winner star told Serena Williams in a recent

Instagram Live about their female-led WFCLA/Angel City soccer team, “She’s actuallyThe Mighty Thor. The comics had thefemale Thor when Jane becomes Thor,and she’s The Mighty Thor.” Portmanexplained to Williams that due to thecoronavirus pandemic, the upcomingMarvel film has yet to start production. “We haven’t started,” the

actress said of filming. Whilethe production is beingdelayed due to coronaviruspandemic, Portman said thatshe is “very excited” for thenew film, which she saidwill begin shooting inAustralia in early 2021.

–ANI

HOLLYWOOD TALK

H

N

BIZ BUZZGold inches to Rs 53,000 per 10 gm

NEW DELHI: Gold prices in the national capital continued tohit new highs, rising by Rs 905 to Rs 52,960 per 10 gram onMonday, in line with the rally in international market,according to HDFC Securities. The yellow metal had closed atRs 52,055 per 10 gram in the previous trade. Silver was alsoin huge demand as it zoomed by Rs 3,347 to Rs 65,670 perkg from Rs 62,323 per kg in the previous trade. "Spot goldprices for 24 carat in Delhi continued to hit new highs,witnessing a jump of Rs 905 with rally in internationalprices," HDFC Securities Senior Analyst (Commodities) TapanPatel said.6----------------------------------------------------------------------------EPFO updates KYC details of 73.58 lakhmembers in Apr-JunNEW DELHI: Retirement fund body EPFO updated KYC detailsof 73.58 lakh subscribers in April-June, which enabled themto access a host of its online services, the Labour Ministrysaid. KYC updation enables a member to avail online servicesthrough member portal. A subscriber can file online for finalwithdrawal and advances including the recently introducedCOVID-19 advances under Pradhan Mantri Garib KalyanYojana (PMGKY). "To extend the availability and reach of itsonline services, which have become crucial in the wake of theCOVID-19 pandemic, the EPFO updated Know Your Customer(KYC) data for its 73.58 lakh subscribers during the month ofApril to June 2020," the ministry said in a statement. 6----------------------------------------------------------------------------Govt extends deadline for mandatorygold hallmarking to Jun 1, 2021 MUMBAI: The Centre has extended the deadline formandatory hallmarking of gold to Jun 1, 2021 from theprevious deadline of Jan 15, 2021 in view of the ongoingCOVID-19 situation that has hit business activity, ConsumerAffairs Minister Ram Vilas Paswan said. In January, thegovernment had issued a notification that made hallmarkingof gold jewellery and artefacts compulsory to protectconsumers from impure gold. 6----------------------------------------------------------------------------Majority consider health insurance cover asa necessity in post-COVID era, says surveyKOLKATA: New age disease outbreak like COVID-19 has ledto more awareness among people towards health insuranceand a majority of them now consider it as a necessity to befuture ready for unforeseen situations like this, a survey byMax Bupa Health Insurance has revealed. Before the outbreakof coronavirus pandemic in India only 10 per cent of peoplewere interested in buying health insurance to cover new agediseases, but now 71 per cent people consider healthinsurance as a necessity to fight unforeseen pandemic likethis, the survey said. 6----------------------------------------------------------------------------Country's mineral sector could be potentialdriver of high growth: CII to NITI Aayog MUMBAI: Industry body CII said the mineral sector could bea potential driver of growth under the current times andstressed that reforms announced for the sector, including theproposed National Mineral Index, will help attractinvestments. In a letter to NITI Aayog VC Rajiv Kumar, CIINational Committee on Mining President Sunil Duggal said,"Under these times of economic stress, where the governmentis under pressure to spur growth, the mineral and resourcessector could be a potential driver of high growth capable ofcontributing 8 per cent of GDP by 2025-taking India on apath towards USD five trillion economy." Given the presentemployment crisis in the country, the mining sector could bethe key to utilise India's phenomenal demographic dividend,Duggal, who is also Vedanta Ltd Group CEO, said. A recentstudy pegged the employment potential of the mining sectorat over 48 lakh direct jobs by 2025. 6----------------------------------------------------------------------------FAITH revises tourism value at risk guidance to Rs 15 lakh crore MUMBAI: The Federation of Associations in Indian Tourismand Hospitality (FAITH) on Monday further revised upwardsits value at risk to Indian tourism to Rs 15 lakh crore due tothe coronavirus pandemic. Given the way the virus isprogressing, it said, tourism supply chains have broken downin India across all its key inbound, domestic and outboundmarkets. It is not expected to recover for the next fivemonths. "The direct and indirect economic impact of thetourism industry in India is estimated at 10 per cent of theGDP. This roughly puts the full-year economic multiplier valueof tourism in India at Rs 20 lakh crore," said the nationalfederation of 10 tourism, travel and hospitality organisations.FAITH said the cumulative job losses for the full year in theorganised and unorganised category of tourism could go ashigh as four crores.6----------------------------------------------------------------------------Construction equipment sales volumedecline 70% in Apr-Jun: Crisil MUMBAI: As construction activities came to a screeching haltdue to COVID-19 pandemic-induced lockdown, constructionequipment sales volume witnessed a sharp 70 per cent fall inApril-June 2020 quarter, Crisil Research said. According to theratings agency, volume would decline on-year this fiscal,especially since public spending will be diverted towardshealthcare and public welfare. 6----------------------------------------------------------------------------Industry should spend funds on CSR activi-ties to help build a better India: ThakurMUMBAI: The industry should not shy away fromspending its CSR fund as it would help make India abetter place for present and future generations, Ministerof State for Finance and Corporate Affairs AnuragThakur said on Monday. He also said that thegovernment has made several changes in the CorporateSocial Responsibility (CSR) law to de-criminalise certainprovisions. Without taking name, Thakur said that amulti-national company which had not spent close to Rs500 crore in the last two years as part of its CSRactivities was issued notice earlier after which it was"happy" to spend that money at that time.6----------------------------------------------------------------------------

MONEY FREEPRESS


11SOON, A SINGLE WINDOWSYSTEM FOR CLEARANCES

AGENCIESNew Delhi

The government will soon set up asingle window system for clear-ances and approvals for industry,and is working on creating a landbank with a view to attract invest-ments, Commerce and IndustryMinister Piyush Goyal said onMonday.He said six states have already

given their consent for land bank,and potential investors would beable to locate and identify landfrom their distant offices for in-dustries, without frequently visit-ing the offices of land owningagencies.The minister made the com-

ments while talking to sovereignwealth funds, foreign pensionfunds and others on ease of doingbusiness and investments in infra-structure sector in India."The government is soon going

to set up a single window systemfor clearances and approvals of in-

dustry in the country. This wouldbe a genuine single window andall the concerned state govern-ments and central ministries arebeing taken on board for the sys-

tem," Goyal said.He said a nodal officer has been

appointed in every central depart-ment, and project developmentcells are being set up which willhelp in development of investibleprojects in coordination betweenthe central and state govern-ments.The government, he added, has

identified 20 industrial sectors tofocus on.

UGST investigation wing Directorate Generalof GST Intelligence (DGGI) has booked threefirms for tax evasion of over Rs 600 crore."Acase was booked against M/s. Fortune Graph-ics Limited, M/s. Reema Polychem Pvt. Ltd. &M/s. Ganpati Enterprises, who were found in-

volved in issuance of invoices without any ac-tual supply of goods," an official statementsaid. The case was detected and developed bythe officers on further data analytics out of acase booked against one of the exporters, M/sAnannya Exim.

DGGI books three firms for over Rs 600 cr GST evasion

8Meanwhile, thegovernment is

working on completing thestake sale process of about23 public sector companieswhose divestment hasalready been cleared by theCabinet, Finance MinisterNirmala Sitharaman said onMonday.

AGENCIESMumbai

Tech Mahindra Ltd said its dealpipeline was the strongest inthree years, as the faster adoptionof technology had led to a returnof spending in several sectors."We are witnessing a wave of

new-age technologies being adopt-ed by the customers as businessesacross the globe are actively pur-suing digital transformation,"Managing Director and Chief Ex-ecutive Officer C.P. Gurnani said.He, however, said the companywas not "celebrating" this dealpipeline yet as deal closures werelikely to take longer during an un-certain period such as this.Tech Mahindra is, instead, fo-

cusing on imagining and buildingthe future together with itsclients, Gurnani told reporters ina virtual press conference.The company won deals worth

$290 mln in the June quarter, ofwhich $105 mln came from thecommunications segment, andthe rest from enterprises.Analysts had expected the com-

pany's deal wins to moderate to$250 mln-$300 mln in the Junequarter from over $500 mln aquarter ago.The spread of the COVID-19 pan-

demic and the consequent lock-downs enforced globally led to thecompany's sales falling 6.3% se-quentially in constant currency

terms in the June quarter.Seasonal weakness in its sub-

sidiary, Mahindra Comviva, alsoweighed on the topline. Whilethree-fourth of the total hit tosales was demand-led, the restwas on account of supply con-straints, the company said.The hit to supply from the com-

pany's end was largely from itsbusiness process services unit,where sales fell 13% sequentiallybecause of the longer time takento shift to working from home. The fall in Tech Mahindra's

sales was lower than what ana-lysts had anticipated, leading toits consolidated sales of 91.06 blnrupees surpassing estimates.The sales fell 4% sequentially,

and were over 5% higher com-pared to the year-ago period. Thecompany's profitability was alsosignificantly higher than expect-ed at 14.3%, up by 10 basis pointscompared to the previous quarter. Tech Mahindra has gone

through "every line item" in termsof cash management, and willcontinue to work on managing itsmargins, the management said.

Kotak Bank net falls8.5% on provisioning

API, med parknorms out

AGENCIESNew Delhi

Private sector lender Kotak Mahin-dra Bank on Monday reported 8.5%decline in its standalone net profitto Rs 1,244.45 crore in the first quar-ter ended June 30.The bank had posted a net profit

of Rs 1,360.20 crore in the year-agoperiod. However, the Q1 FY21 net profit

remained nearly flat when com-pared sequentially from Rs 1,266.60crore in March quarter.Total income (standalone) too de-

clined to Rs 7,685.40 crore in April-June quarter of 2020-21, over Rs7,944.61 crore in the same period of2019-20, Kotak Mahindra Bank said.The bank's provisioning for bad

loans and contingencies were raised

substantially to Rs 962.01 crore forthe quarter ended June 2020 asagainst Rs 316.76 crore, it said.However, it was down quarter-on-

quarter from Rs 1,047.47 crore pro-visioning and contingencies forthree months ended March 2020.On the asset quality front, the

lender witnessed a slight deteriora-tion, as the gross non-performingassets (NPAs) rose to 2.70% of thegross advances as on June 30, 2020from 2.19% in the year-ago period.

AGENCIESMumbai

The government on Monday re-leased guidelines of fourschemes for the development ofbulk drug and medical deviceparks in the country to promotetheir domestic manufacturing."In line with the vision of

Prime Minister Shri NarendraModi, the schemes have been con-ceptualised for making India 'At-ma Nirbhar' in the pharma sec-tor," Union Minister of Chemi-cals and Fertilisers D V Sadanan-da Gowda said.The objective is to make India

self reliant in production of 53critical Active PharmaceuticalIngredients (APIs) or Key Start-ing Materials (KSMs), and in pro-duction of medical devices, forwhich India is crucially depend-ent on imports, he said in a seriesof tweets.The schemes seek to reduce de-

pendence of the country on theimports of critical APIs/ KSMsand medical devices, he added."The details of the schemes

have been drawn up meticulouslyafter having in depth consulta-tions with stakeholders includ-ing industries and State Govern-ments. The selection of their lo-cation will be based on objectivecriteria, and in spirit of competi-tive federalism," Gowda said.

RED ALERT

NEW DELHI: Around 84,545 fraudcases - involving about Rs 1.85 lakhcrore - were reported by scheduledcommercial banks and select FIs dur-ing 2019-20, an RTI activist said, cit-ing information received from theReserve Bank of India.RTI (Right to Information) activist

Abhay Kolarkar said that he hadsought various banking relatedqueries under the jurisdiction of theRBI in June 2020, and the replies to

the same he received a few days back.Kolarkar in his RTI query sought to

know how many fraud cases havetaken place during April 1, 2019 toMarch 31, 2020 and the amount in-volved in it. The RBI stated that thetotal number of frauds reported byScheduled commercial banks and se-lect FIs during Financial Year 2019-20is 84,545 and the amount involvedtherein is Rs 1,85,772.42 crore.To the query about how many bank

employees are involved in fraud casesand how much amount is involved,the RBI replied that the informationon the question is not available."However, it may be noted that to-

tal number of frauds reported tohave been committed by staff, as re-ported by Scheduled commercialbanks and Select FIs during FY2019-20 is 2,668 and amount involvedtherein is Rs 1,783.22 cr," the centralbank said.

Banks report 85K fraud cases in FY20

HDFC CHAIRMAN PITCHES FOR ONE-TIME LOAN RESTRUCTURING SCHEME WAS OFFERED AFTER THE GLOBAL FINANCIAL CRISIS

AGENCIESMumbai

Responding to industry veteran Deep-ak Parekh's view that Reserve Bank ofIndia should not extend the loan mora-torium further and instead consider aone-time debt restructuring, GovernorShaktikanta Das declined to commenttoday, although he said that the sugges-tions have been noted.Parekh, who is the chairman of

Housing Development Finance Corp,

was echoing the call for a loan restruc-turing initially raised by Kotak Mahin-dra Bank Managing Director Uday Ko-tak, who is also currently the presidentof the Confederation of Indian Indus-try. Speaking at the CII event today, Dassaid "I have made a note of these sug-gestions. I will not be able to commenton any one of them now, but I have not-ed the suggestions." The RBI had initially offered a three-

month moratorium on loan repay-ments due between March and May,

only to extend it by three months toend-August as lockdowns to containCOVID-19. However, after initially of-

fering loan moratoriums to most cus-tomers, lenders have been using theRBI-given leeway to determine who ac-tually need the moratorium support,and who were using it to just delay pay-ments and asset classification. "Pleasedo not extend the moratorium becausewe see that even people who have abili-ty to pay, whether it is corporates or in-dividuals, are taking advantage underthis moratorium and deferring pay-ment," Parekh said, "There is some talk that there will be

some extension of three months. It isgoing to hurt us and hurt the smallerNBFCs particularly." However, RakeshBharti Mittal, from Bharti EnterprisesLtd, used the same forus to suggest thatthe moratorium should be extended toprevent many more companies fromturning into non-performing assets. Instead of an extension in moratori-

um on repayments, Kotak and Parekhpitched for a one-time loan restructur-ing scheme as was offered post theglobal financial crisis.

No more moratorium, says Deepak Parekh; RBI non-committal

AGENCIESMumbai

The government has not taken anydecision to reintroduce the contro-versial Financial Resolution andDeposit Insurance Bill (FRDI Bill),the Finance Ministry said on Mon-day.The Financial Resolution and De-posit Insurance Bill, 2017, was in-troduced in the Lok Sabha on Au-gust 10, 2017, and, thereafter, was re-ferred to the Joint Committee of

Parliament for examination and re-port thereon, the ministry said in astatement.However, after a year, the govern-ment decided to withdraw the billas concerns were raised about theprotection of depositors'' money ifit was passed with the controversial"bail-in" clause that proposed use ofdepositor money by a failing finan-cial institutions to stay afloat.The government had withdrawnthe FRDI Bill in August 2018 for fur-ther comprehensive examination

and reconsideration of the subject,it said."There are some media reportsabout reintroduction of the FRDIBill. This is to clarify that the Gov-ernment has not taken any decisionto reintroduce the FRDI Bill," itsaid. The FRDI Bill among otherthings sought to make an enablinglaw for creation of an independentresolution corporation to carry outspeedy and efficient resolution of fi-nancial firms in distress, providingdeposit insurance to consumers.

No decision to reintroducecontroversial FRDI Bill: Govt

Brokerages flagasset qualityrisks at ICICI

MUMBAI: While ICICI Bank hasreported a sharp fall in loans un-der moratorium, the overdue bysome customers indicates thatsuch loans could increase andkeep asset quality risks elevated,brokerage houses have said. While detailing its Apr-Jun earn-

ings on Saturday, the private sectorlender disclosed that 17.5% of itsloans in value terms was undermoratorium as on Jun 30, downfrom 30% at the end of April.The number is higher compared

to peers HDFC Bank and AxisBank, whose moratorium bookstood at 9% and 9.7%, respectively."Moratorium 2.0 (from June to

Aug) is based on opt-in by cus-tomers every month and declinein moratorium levels does not im-ply that borrowers have clearedtheir past dues. Therefore, whilemoratorium levels have declined,a commensurate reduction in tailrisks looks uncertain at thispoint," Dolat Capital said. The brokerage house has re-

tained its 'buy' recommendationon the bank's shares with a targetprice of Rs 500.

Sebi slaps Rs 1 crfine on CARE inRCom case

NEW DELHI: Markets regulatorSebi has imposed a penalty of Rs 1crore on CARE Ratings in connec-tion with lapses in assigning creditrating to non-convertible debenturesof Reliance Communications(RCom). The case relates to defaultcommitted by RCom on the repay-ment of principal amount of Rs 375crore and interest of Rs 9.7 crore duein February 2017 and March 2017, re-spectively.In May 2017, CARE Ratings down-

graded the ratings assigned to non-convertible debentures (NCDs) is-sued by RCom to default.Sebi found that CARE Ratings had

failed to monitor the factors affectingthe creditworthiness of RCom in atimely manner, resulting in signifi-cant delay in conducting the ratingprocess and downgrading the rating.It further said the rating agency

had failed to initiate a review of itsearlier ratings assigned to RComeven after the publication of thirdquarter of FY17 results. The resultsshowed a major decline in cash ac-cruals affecting its credit profileand major development in thetelecommunications industry withthe entry of Reliance Jio dentingthe profit margins of all other play-ers in the market, it added.

Bullish codeWe are witnessing a wave ofnew-age technologies beingadopted by the customers asbusinesses across the globe areactively pursuing digitaltransformation.

TechMa deal piplinestrongest in 3 years

Infrapush canreigniteeconomicgrowth:RBI Guv

RBI Governor Shaktikanta Das on Monday made a strong case for stepping up investments inthe infrastructure sector to restart the economy reeling under the impact of the COVID-19pandemic.In his address to India Inc at a CII event, Das said both private and public sectors have to

play an important role in developing infrastructure that requires huge investments.The infrastructure space, he said, could act as a force multiplier for the economy, adding

that a big push to certain targeted mega projects can "reignite" the economic growth. Stating that recent agriculture reforms have opened up new opportunities, the RBI Governor

said the sector is emerging as a bright spot and "fortune is shifting in favour of the farmsector in the economy".He noted that 1 per cent increase in global value chain participation can boost per capita

income level of a country by more than 1 per cent.The central bank governor further said that it may be necessary to focus on greater strategic

trade integration, including in the form of early completion of free trade agreements with theUS, EU and the UK.

BIG REFORMS

LAND BANK— SIX STATES HAVE GIVENCONSENT FOR LAND BANK

SECTORAL FOCUS— THE GOVERNMENTHASIDENTIFIED 20 INDUSTRIALSECTORS TO FOCUS ON

FREEPRESS12 INDORE | TUESDAY | JULY 28, 2020FP MONEY

13SPORTSFREEPRESS


AS JUVENTUS NOTCH UP THEIR NINTH STRAIGHT SERIE A TITLE

ASSOCIATED PRESSRome

It's no exaggeration to saythat Cristiano Ronaldo hadmore of an impact on Ju-ventus' record-extendingninth straight Serie A titlethan anyone else.The five-time Ballon d'Orwinner matched a recordby scoring in 11 straightleague matches before thebreak for the coronaviruspandemic and quickly re-gained his form during therestart by reaching the 30-goal mark after only 30games in his second seasonin Italy.For his 31st goal, Ronaldoscored the opener when Ju-ventus beat Sampdoria 2-0on Sunday to seal the titlewith two games to spare.Ronaldo needs only onemore goal to break a tie forthe Juventus single-seasonrecord for league goals setby Felice Borel in 1933-34.Ronaldo's 10 goals after thelockdown are more than anyother player has scored in Eu-

rope's top five leagues, withManchester City's RaheemSterling and Bayern Mu-nich's Robert Lewandowskieach scoring nine."Records are always im-portant, but the importantthing is that the team

wins," Ronaldo said."These things are nice,but the scoring title is anatural process that comesas a consequence of scor-ing to win games for theteam."At 35, Ronaldo has startedevery match since the

restart."He has this incredibleability to recover," Juven-tus coach Maurizio Sarrisaid."I think it's just in hisDNA, his ability to projecthimself on to the next goal,

every time. His mental andphysical recovery rate isdefinitely unique."Ronaldo has developed aneffective partnership withPaulo Dybala during therestart."We might have some mo-ments in a game where we

don't cover the penalty areato perfection, but every-thing is compensated bytheir individual strength,"Sarri said."We're talking about twoplayers who combined toscore 41 goals this season.That's a world-class level."Until recently, the mostconsecutive titles won inSerie A had been five, firstset by Juventus from 1931-35.The five-season streakwas then matched by Tori-no from 1943-49, including aperiod interrupted byWorld War II; and Inter Mi-lan from 2006-10.Juventus already has thelongest streak in Europe'stop five leagues. AlthoughBayern Munich, which re-cently won the Bundesligafor the eighth straight time,isn't far behind.The longest top-flightstreak anywhere in Europewas 14 set by Latvian clubSkonto from 1991-2004 andLincoln of Gibraltar from2003-16.

Ronaldo's impact was decisive

'It's creeping me out': OsakaNEW DELH: Rising tennis star Naomi Osaka has said that she iscreeped out by fans who urge her to maintain her "innocentimage" in apparent response to social media comments on herbeing pictured in swimwear. "I just wanna say it's creeping me outhow many people are commenting at me to maintain my"innocent image" and "don't try to be someone your not"," Osakasaid in a tweet. "You don't know me, I'm 22, I wear swimsuits tothe pool. Why do you feel like you can comment on what I canwear?" she added.

Kevin Pietersen lauds Frank LampardNEW DELHI: Former England batsman Kevin Pietersen onMonday lauded Chelsea manager Frank Lampard as the clubqualified for the Champions League after finishing fourth at thePremier League 2019-20 season. Pietersen went on to say thatthis is "one of the great seasons" for the Blues, the first underLampard's leadership. "So, @ManUtd fans celebrating 3rd! @LFCcelebrating to NO crowds! @Arsenal coming 8th! And my greatbuddy, Lampard, making the Champs League & could possiblyWIN FA Cup without spending big money and in his firstcampaign with a young team.

SPORTS CAFE

Tennis not ready to compete: DimitrovNICE: World No.19 Grigor Dimitrov has conceded that he isn'tready to play top-level tennis yet after recovering from COVID-19recently. Dmitrov was one of the few players who had testedpositive for the deadly virus after taking part in Novak Djokovic'sdisastrous Adria Tour exhibition event last month. Dimitrov recentlymade a return to the court over the weekend as he took part inUltimate Tennis Showdown event in France. He lost both hisgames and later admitted he is still farway from competing at thetop-level.

Bagan to have functionon foundation day

KOLKATA: Mohun Bagan willinclude the category of a bestadministrator award in this year'sMohun Bagan Day in memory oftheir former General SecretaryAnjan Mitra, the club said in astatement. Indian FootballAssociation (IFA) SecretaryJoydeep Mukherjee will beconferred the award for 2019-2020. Former Secretary AnjanMitra died last year in Novemberafter being associated with thefamous club as an administratorfor three decades.

Everton defenderBaines retiresLONDON: Everton left-backLeighton Baines has announcedhis retirement from football.Baines joined Everton from WiganAthletic in summer 2007 andplayed 420 matches, scoring 39goals. He made his finalappearance in Everton's closinggame of 2019/20 Premier Leagueseason, against Bournemouth,coming on for Lucas Digne with20 minutes remaining on Sundayevening. "I am incredibly proud tohave represented Everton for thepast 13 years," he said.

‘Had no idea Dijkwould be so special’NEWCASTLE: Liverpoolmanager Jurgen Klopp hailedVirgil van Dijk's mindset and saidhe had no idea that the defenderwould be 'so special'. "I am notsure if he needs another hour ofpraise or stuff like that. He isgood, really good! He is a goodcentre-half. He is special. Thecombination of skills is absolutelyspecial.

Jan Vertonghen confirmsTottenham exit

LONDON: Jan Vertonghen onMonday confirmed that he will beleaving Tottenham Hotspur afterplaying his final game for the club.The Belgian defender confirmedon Twitter that he would indeedbe leaving the club. The defenderplayed his last game for the sideon Sunday as the side played outa 1-1 draw against CrystalPalace.

Qatar submits tohost 2032 Olympics

DOHA: Qatar on Mondayannounced it has formallysubmitted to the InternationalOlympic Committee (IOC) itsrequest to join the non-committal"Continuous Dialogue" to host afuture edition of the Olympic andParalympic Games, as early as2032. Qatar delivered therequest via an official letter to theIOC's headquarters in Lausanne,Switzerland, said the QatarOlympic Committee (QOC). Qatarhad made an unsuccessful bid tohost the 2016 and 2020 games.

India’s Atwal impresseson final day

BLAINE: India's Arjun Atwalcarded a fine five-under 66 on thefinal day to finish tied 53rd at the3M Open golf tournament here. Itwas Atwal's second start sincegolf's resumption amid theCOVID-19 pandemic. He will alsotee off at next week's BarracudaChampionship. Atwal finishedwith a total score of seven-under281 here. Michael Thompsoncarded 67 and coasted to asecond career win at 19-under,ahead of second-placed AdamLong, who finished at 17-under.

CL is the best, saysBruno FernandesMANCHESTER: ManchesterUnited's Bruno Fernandes saidthat he has nothing againstEuropa League but everyoneknows that the ChampionsLeague is the best competition inthe world. His remark comesUnited defeated Leicester City 2-0in their final Premier Leaguegame to seal a ChampionsLeague spot. Fernandes also saidthat the time has now come forthe side to start winning majortrophies.

“As long as you are havingfun, I think you are doing the

right thing.”– Sania Mirza

WHAT’S ON15.30: England vs WI; Sony Six19.00: UFC; Sony Ten 223.00: Serie A; Sony Ten 201.15: Serie A; Sony Ten 2

THIS DAY, THAT YEARIAN BOTHAM MADE HIS TEST DEBUT

Talking of all-rounders, on this day a likely lad called IanBotham made his Test debut for England. He started as he

meant to go on, by taking five Australian wickets on his first day, andimmediately served notice of his ability to buy wickets through sheer forceof personality. His maiden scalp was a memorable one - Greg Chappell,bowled off what can only be described as a rank long hop. Botham addeda handy 25 from No. 8, as England won by seven wickets.

1977:

Indian football oncusp of next level NEW DELHI: The All IndianFootball Federation GeneralSecretary Kushal Das on Mondaysaid the country is on the cusp ofreaching the next level of footballdevelopment and the role ofcoaches is important in achievingthat. Speaking at an onlineopening session of a coacheducation course jointly organisedby the AIFF and the SportsAuthority of India (SAI), Das saidIndian football has improved itsstandard in recent years.

ASSOCIATED PRESSLondon

Once the final whistle blewon the Premier League'slongest season, 352 days afterit began, there was a sense ofrelief and grief for DeanSmith.Joy at Aston Villa ensuringit avoided relegation on thefinal day of the pandemic-in-terrupted season was tingedwith sadness for the manag-er who could not share theachievement with his father.Ron Smith was one of the45,752 recorded coronavirusvictims in Britain, dying atthe age of 79 in May duringthe league's shutdown."It's been emotional," DeanSmith said after Sunday's 1-1draw at West Ham."I'm sure he'll be lookingdown on us."The point earned in eastLondon kept Villa just abovethe relegation zone.Bournemouth and Watfordjoined Norwich in droppinginto the second flight of

competition.When the league was sud-denly halted in the secondweek of March, after coron-avirus infections were re-ported at Arsenal andChelsea, Villa was twopoints from safety and usedthe hiatus to regroup."I thought we used it reallywell," Smith said, "We hadto, because we couldn't keepdoing what we were doing."Throughout the unprece-dented 100-day pause in play,uncertainty persisted overwhether the season wouldresume at all. Safety con-

cerns collided with self-in-terest and fears about thebillion-pound bill for notcompleting the 380 games.It was a test of resolve fornew Premier League chiefexecutive Richard Masters,but Project Restart was ac-complished.Rules restricted the num-ber of people allowed in sta-diums to 300 meant whenLiverpool fulfilled its 30-yearmission to be champions ofEngland again, players liftedthe Premier League trophyin an empty Anfield.

EPL's longest season endsPRESS TRUST OF INDIA

Chennai

Former world championViswanathan Anand's strug-gles continued in the US $150,000 Legends of Chess on-line tournament as he suf-fered his sixth consecutivedefeat with a 2-3 loss to IanNepomniachtchi of Russia.Anand started the sixthround match with a draw ashe came up with good defen-sive moves to keep the Russ-ian at bay in a 53-move draw.However, Nepomniachtchiwent ahead by pulling off a34-move win in the secondgame. The third saw the play-ers sign peace after 48 moves.The five-time world champi-on then fought back well toclaim the fourth game in 42moves to push the contest intothe Armageddon (a tie-break-er). Nepomniachtchi won thedecisive tie-break in 41 movesto shatter the hopes of the 50-year old Indian superstar andleft him winless after sixrounds.

Anand yet to findwinning ways

BY KUSHAN SARKARNew Delhi

The World Test Champi-onship schedule has beenthrown haywire by theCOVID-19 pandemic and itsmuch-awaited final next yearwill depend on the number ofrescheduled bilateral seriesafter the disruption, ICC GM(Cricket Operations) GeoffAllardice said on Monday.The COVID-19 pandemichas thrown the FuturesTours and Programme (FTP)into disarray with the T20World Cup already post-poned to give member na-tions time to complete theirbilateral commitments."We are currently in dis-cussion with members onwhat their plans are aroundrescheduling their series,"Allardice answered to aquery from PTI during an in-teraction with news agen-cies.Given the circumstancesand tight schedules, ICCmight have to postpone the

June final at the Lord's asBangladesh, New Zealand,Sri Lanka, England havebacklog series but Allardice,a former Australian first-class cricketer, would like towait a bit more."Obviously their teamshave re-scheduled them(their engagements) asquickly as possible. Depend-ing on how many of them(postponed series) could bere-scheduled within theavailable time will give usthe most appropriate timingfor the final. But at this stagethe final is scheduled forJune 2021," he said."We are working with themembers on that...Countries

are now working out on howto resume and when it's bestto resume and they are all intheir process of looking atcalenders," Allardice added.Allardice also made it clearthat the ICC's role in this sce-nario would be of a facilitatorfor the members as the bodycan't directly get involved indrawing up their calendars."I don't see us taking agreater role in terms of be-ing pro-active. ICC plays arole in coordinating competi-tions, but it has no role inscheduling as it is on mem-bers," he clarified.He admitted that there is alot of "uncertainty aroundwhen international cricket

can resume in a number ofcountries" considering thatthe situation is differenteverywhere.Allardice also said thatsince 2018, when the ICC ODILeague was first devised, theglobal body has tried to rec-ommend a bit of balance be-tween ODIs and T20 Interna-tional formats with bilater-als featuring three 50-overand an equal number of 20-over games."The rules around leaguewere established, back in 2017-18, a decision was taken atthat time that T20Is and ODiswill be three-match series."Earlier, it used to be fiveODIs and a T20 Internation-al. Probably it changes thebalance but when the leaguewas designed, the countriesagreed that there would bethree ODIs and three T20 In-ternationals," he added.While South Africa hasstarted with 'Three TeamCricket' or better known as3TC on an experimental ba-sis, ICC will only be fo-cussing on the three formatsat its disposal.

Aston Villa's Jack Grealish celebratesafter scoring the opening goal of the gameduring their match against West Ham

ICC rescheduling of WTC Test series

FPJ SPORTS DESKMumbai

The Physically ChallengedCricket Association of India(PCCAI) is disappointed thatBCCI is yet to integrate themin their system despite repeat-ed appeals."When Sourav Ganguly waselected as the BCCI President,many had hoped ..... especiallythe disabled cricketers werevery hopeful that someonewould finally look into theirmatter and change their lives,"PCCAI said in a statement."Their hopes further wereraised when there were coupleof meetings between the dis-abled cricketers and Dada(Ganguly). But nothing hasmaterialised till now. And thehope has turned into disap-pointment," it said.The Association furtherclaimed that disabled crick-eters aren't recognised in In-dia.

"It has been more than acouple of years, but BCCI isstill dormant when it comesto do anything for the dis-abled cricketers of India," itfurther stated.Since the physically chal-lenged cricketers are not un-der BCCI umbrella, theyhardly get any assistance."The result of this behav-iour of BCCI is that disabledcricket that includes blind,wheelchair, deaf and dumbcricket is still not recognisedin India and hence the playerswho are part of these teamsget absolutely no assistanceor no recognition from anyquarters of the society," itstated.Ravi Chauhan, PCCAI sec-retary general claimed thatthe condition of the playerswas marginal before theCOVID19 and after that it hasbecome worse.

BCCI ignoringus: PCCAI

PRESS TRUST OF INDIAManchester

Seasoned pacer Stuart Broad hasshown that he still has the fire inthe belly to achieve a lot more forEngland, said former skipperMichael Atherton, asserting thatthe "champion sportsman" has thepotential to claim 600 Test wickets.After being ignored for the se-ries opener against the West In-dies in Southampton, the 34-year-old pacer silenced his critics byputting up scintillating perform-ances in the remaining two Tests.He ended the third day of the se-ries decider with 499 Test wickets,just one short of the coveted 500mark."The mark of a championsportsman is not when you getknocked down, but how youbounce back and we've seen thatin this series with Stuart Broad,"

Atherton wrote in a column for'Sky Sports'."When you get left out, that'swhen you find out a little bit moreabout yourself. Some players,when they get to that stage andget left out, they might just say,'Well, I've done enough with mycareer'."But clearly Stuart Broad, withthat fire in the belly he showed,has got more to come and he does-n't just want to get 500 wickets - hewants to get up to 600 as well,"Atherton added.Broad, who is England's all-timesecond highest wicket-taker inthe longest format of the game,had minced no word in criticisingthe decision of leaving him out ofthe first Test, which the hosts lostagainst the West Indies.But brought back into the sidefor the remaining two games,Broad went on to claim six wick-

ets in the series-levelling secondTest before handing England theadvantage with eight wickets inthe ongoing final Test."After being left out for the firstTest at the Ageas Bowl, he hadsome things to say about it but my,

has he backed up those wordswith actions. When you look atthe way he's bowled in this match,he just looks like he's going to geta wicket every ball," Athertonsaid.Recently, Broad said he wanted

to emulate compatriot James An-derson, who is still going strong at37. The duo had been leading Eng-land's bowling attack for yearsand are considered as one of themost successful fast bowling pairsin world cricket."Broad made the point that he'sactually quite a bit younger thanJames Anderson. Of courseeveryone brackets Broad and An-derson together because they'veplayed together for so long,"Artherton said."True, he's not going to get any-where near Muttiah Muralitharanat 800 but just to be the fourth fastbowler to get 500 wickets wouldshow remarkable longevity andstamina."He's had a body that's enabled himto do it and central contracts havehelped as well - he doesn't play white-ball and he doesn't play much coun-ty cricket now either," Atherton said.

‘Broad still has fire in the belly’Day’s playabandoned

Rain covers protect the pitch on the fourth day of the third Testcricket match between England and the West Indies at OldTrafford in Manchester

Regd. No. Indore MP/ICD 216/2018-2020 RNI No. 38281/83 ...€¦ · of Chingari, a desi alterna -...

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